We finally break through the brush and vegetation, our feet finding cobblestone pathways rather than dirt and leaves. Without the trees blocking our vision, we watch as silver bodies mill about the open space, moving in and out of buildings, carrying various items, and speaking amongst one another.

            We've stopped just outside of the woods, quietly observing the people go about a normal evening, doing what they can before losing the sun. After a moment, the Celxians start to stop what they're doing, looking back at us with this sense of awe that I'm sure is written across our faces as well.

            There's a final moment of stillness so complete that the trees have even seemed to stop their subtle swaying in the breeze. The two groups just look at the other, savoring the first moment of civility and contact between the people that would be sharing a planet from here on out. I swear nobody even breaths, afraid that any noise would tarnish the purity in this one moment.

            Soon, we're surrounded by a repeated series of hisses and clicks that move about the crowd of Celxians. Almost one by one, they each drop to a knee, lowering their heads in a submissive bow. Now, each of the once active bodies kneel before us. With their heads down, I chance a curious look to Bartlett, waiting for him to explain their reaction.

            "Their people are run by a monarchy, remember? So, to them, you eight are the human equivalent to royalty. This is a sign of respect." He whispers behind me and is just loud enough for the others to hear.

            "Okay...how do they know when to get up? Or how do we let them know it's okay?" I whisper back, trying to push away the uncomfortable feeling of being bowed to.

            Bartlett raises his eyebrows slightly and motions to move forward. That's a lot of help. Holding back a sigh, I turn around and almost as one, our group walks forward. The world is silent except for the clicking of our shoes on the pathway. Before long, we're only a few paces from the first Celxians and we stop, the officers falling back a few steps so the eight of us stand out from the crowd.

            Slowly, the Celxians begin to rise and we all release a collective sigh of relief. They begin to move all about, moving into a coordinated formation with the more important people in front and the more common in the back. As they move, their robes and cloaks move around them, all in varying shades of earthy tones. The dull browns seem to congregate in the back, many holding children still in front of them. Next, are the dark ambers who appear predominantly male, standing in a subtly protective stance, almost like they're trying to hide the action. Lastly, are the three hued sages, standing before us with their hands clasped in front of them. It would seem that coloration plays a part in determining status.

            "Wel—come," A female begins, a large smile on her face. "My name is Kree." She struggles through the word "is", her tongue getting caught on the s, dragging out the sound in a sort of reptilian lisp. Although, with their native language being a mixture of hisses and clicks, I'm not surprised that they naturally want to emphasize the sound.

            "Here, is Moct and Ara." She gestures to the male to her right then to the female on her left. "We happy to have you in our home."

            I take a deep breath and a small half step forward. "Thank you, my name is Serina." Kree's eyes light up at the sound of my voice and a large smile splits across my face. It lightens my heart to see her enthusiasm. I turn to the right slightly and introduce each of the others. Each give a small wave and a smile as I say their names, Leon being the last to be introduced. Turning back to face Kree, I pray I don't butcher what I'm about to say. I start into a series of hisses and clicks of my own then finish with the translation in our Galactic Common. "We are happy to be here."

            The three Celxians each react in their own way. Moct grins, Ara covers her mouth in surprise, and Kree claps her hands with a giant smile. "Good! Good! You do well with Crix."

            Everyone relaxes slightly at their pleasure in hearing their native language on a human tongue. "Come with us, we show you rooms." Kree reaches out and takes my hands, pulling me to follow her. I look back and watch Moct and Ara do the same to Will and Lorna before five more Celxians appear, taking the hands of the last of the elders.

            We're guided deeper and deeper into their charming little village, weaving between stone huts with straw roofs. As we go farther into the village, the huts become more tightly packed and we're taken to their version of a square where the main path is.

            Kree and I are the first to reach the square. She sets a hand on my shoulder and leans close to speak in my ear over the commotion around us. "This is the village hall; we hold all meetings there. This where meeting be next day."

            My eyes follow her finger and stop to stare at a giant building—well, giant compared to the small huts around us. It was the size of four huts, two up and two across, giving the building an air of importance. Of course, a building like this would be the focal point of the village. This is where they congregate to make decisions, where they meet with ambassadors from the royal family.

            I watch as the setting sun sends a halo of colors around the building, giving it a type of heavenly glow. Setting a hand over Kree's, her cool fused-scale like skin chilling my palm, I smile and look between her and the building. "It's beautiful. I'm truly grateful for the warm welcome into your home you have shown us."

            She smiles, but briefly purses her lips. "Mmm—gra—ful? What is gra—ful?"

            A small laugh comes out of my mouth and I smile at her confusion, the language barrier will be a problem for many years to come. "Grateful, it's like happy and thankful, together." I weave my fingers together to show her "together" in case the word had been lost in translation.

            "Ah, good." She nods her head then looks around at the group. "Come, we go now."

            Kree is quick on her feet. She gently pulls me to a hut not far from the square and I struggle to stay upright on the stilts I'm wearing. "Here, girls sleep here."

            A hand grabs mine and I give it a small squeeze. "They're awfully excited, aren't they?" Astrid whispers and I shake my head.

            "A, shut up, they can hear you." She frowns and I sigh. "We'll talk later, yeah?"

            She nods and we both turn to look at Kree again. "Boys sleep there." She points to the hut across the pathway where they stand all grouped together with their guides.

            Pulling my hand from Astrid's, I step forward to take Kree's, bowing my head slightly. "Thank you, Kree. You are most kind."

            When I look up, Kree stands still with a look I can only assume is a version of being star-struck. To have someone of my station lower my head to her was a big deal. She starts to mumble in Crix and her eyes shine. She raises my hands and bows. She speaks in Crix, not knowing the correct words in Galactic Common. When she finally rises, the gratitude in her eyes is enough to make me teary-eyed.

            "It late now, sleep. We see you next day." Kree bows her head one more time, then she and the other guides rush off, leaving us to settle in the hut they brought us to.

            We're slow to move, stunned by the Celxians' ways of gratitude. I look at the other girls. "Come on, it's going to get cold soon with the sun almost gone. We should get settled and try to get some sleep." They all agree, and we pile into the hut.

The hall is quiet with only the noise of our chattering while we wait for the ambassador to arrive. The majority of our officer envoy didn't join us and stayed out in the village, patrolling for any possible threats. The only officers that stayed with us are Bartlett and Cavanaugh, both of which stand against the back wall with stoic expressions, primed and at the ready should all Hell break loose.

            "Did she say anything about how the rest of the colony is doing?" I look back to Elena who's set a hand on my arm with her question.

            "No, all she said was that everything was running smoothly and was maintainable, then she gave the phone to Rosemary."

            Halloway had called over the sat-phone to give a general breakdown of how the colony had been doing in the time that we've been gone. I just happened to be the closest to Bartlett when she called which is why I talked to her.

            "What did Rose say? How is the guard doing with the cut and training?" Jax had been fairly bored with the conversation until Rosemary was mentioned. He hadn't heard from his rep before we got to the hall where all communication devices were prohibited except for the sat-phone on Bartlett's hip for emergencies.

            "She said that there were a few small injuries, a sprained ankle, and a couple minor cuts and bruises. But in all fairness, you seemed to be running them ragged, so I'm not surprised they kept up with the routine and got hurt without the supervision."

            Jax frowns and opens his mouth to defend himself and his people, but the sound of the large oak doors at the front of the room opening stopped the words on his tongue. In walk three Celxians, two males and one female. They all wear black cloaks, but that is where the similarities end. Unlike the villagers, the three of them each have some sort of marking along their foreheads.

            The one in the middle walks a step in front of the others, his cloak flowing around him. His marking is in a dark fig purple; twisting, looping, and pointing in an elegant design that was surprisingly masculine. As they get closer, I notice that the purple of his markings are the same shade as his eyes, only appearing darker when the light hits his eyes just right, making them a light violet. To pair with the markings and brilliantly bright eyes, there's a silver ring pierced near the outer end of his right brow.

            His compatriots have similar markings, but they are light turquoise with more loops than points. It would appear that the two who follow are of the same station and possibly position; which would leave the one in the middle to be the ambassador.

            Wanting to meet them in the middle, we all move in a line, side-by-side until we met them in the middle of the room. There's a moment of silence as our two groups size-up each other, but soon the Celxian ambassador clasps his hands in front of him and speaks. "Welcome to our side of the planet. I hope you all had a pleasant evening; I know that staying in foreign places can be hard on your human bodies."

            The sense of shock that grips me in immense. The understanding difference of Galactic Common from the leaders of the villagers to the ambassador was almost like day and night. An elbow jabs into my ribs and I compensate with a slight step forward, refusing to look back at whoever it was.

            "Uh—yes, we all slept just fine. Thank you."

            The ambassador grins and tilts his head, his friends moving to the wall behind him to stand much like Bartlett and Cavanaugh. "Yes, it can be shocking, the difference of understanding, that is. To go from people who stumble over their words to someone who is very eloquent, it's a bit of a shock to the senses." That doesn't sound arrogant at all. "You see, when our planet was first being prospected for human colonization, everyone of a certain status and above were required to become fluent in your Galactic Common. Isn't that right, Nira?"

            We all look to the back wall—well, all but the ambassador. The female bows her head slightly. "Yes, my Lord."

            I quickly look back to the ambassador and notice a slight shift in his expression, a slight purse of the lips and furrow of the brow, almost like he despised the title. All too soon, however, his face shifts back into the pleasant greeting he had only a moment ago, nobody else having seen the slight falter in the façade. "Wonderful, which means that you won't have to worry about trying to speak our tongue; the order of certain sounds can be easy to mix up. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that you tried, however. Very diplomatic of you." His eyes zero in on mine and I hold back the urge to gulp down my nerves under his gaze. He's an ambassador to the royal family, we technically out-rank him, therefore, I should not feel small under his eye.

            "Simply trying to bridge the gap between us, Ambassador."

            "Ah," He smiles and moves his hands behind him. "Title, of course. Please call me by my name, Telenoch. Seeing as I will be returning to your colony with you in the coming days, we will be spending a lot of time together. It will be much more pleasant to say names rather than titles, wouldn't you all agree?"

            There's a slight ripple of fabric behind him as the two Celxians, who I can only assume are guards, bristle at the idea of him being called by name. He must be of a high enough station that they think it inappropriate to not use his title, which could be any of a wide range.

            We each take turns introducing ourselves, giving our name and what we represent. Telenoch gives us each a smile and nod as we go through the line. "Great to know everybody. I know that you are really all of the same statuses and govern the colony together, but who is the unappointed head of your council?"

            I can feel every eye in the room turn to me, some fingers even pointed as if the eyes weren't enough. "Really, guys?" I sigh under my breath and start to twist my ring around my finger.

            Telenoch tilts his head to the side and takes a moment to analyze me. "You don't feel comfortable with that decision, yet everyone appointed you the position without even a second of hesitation. Why?"

            I look around at the other elders and send them each a solid glare. "I'm not exactly sure, I just help the sick and injured. I'm not in charge of our safety or anything overly important like that." I give Lorna and Jax a final look before turning back to Telenoch.

            "Exactly." I do my best to not look confused, but by the laugh that Telenoch makes, I'm sure I didn't do very well. "Miss Serina, as the elder of Health, you are in charge of rehabilitating the sick and injured. In other words, you are responsible for the well-being of everyone in the colony. It would make sense that this would make you reliable—dependable really, in that the people around you know that you have their best interests at heart. Yes, some of the others would have more dependent roles, like the safety of your colony, but you, as a doctor, inherently can do no real harm towards others. If you did, you'd be going against your very nature as a caregiver."

            Well, damn.

            I've never heard a position so clearly stated before. His description of my position fills me will a feeling of pride—pride for being a caregiver, for dedicating myself to the betterment of others. My elation is only tempered by the realization that I'm not actually a doctor yet, merely an unlicensed equivalent.

            "Anyway, I merely wanted to know so I have a set person to contact or be contacted by. Of course, inquiry can be done by anyone present, I simply think it would be more organized if there's a set person to go through." He nods again, he seems to do that quite often, almost like his ticking speaking points off a list in his head.

            "Now, onto official business. As you know, I'm the ambassador for the royal family. As such, I will be staying in your colony for two moon cycles and in that time, we will discuss technicalities as far as diplomacy between our two peoples goes and I will also be around, observing the ways of you humans. I will learn how you handle your subjects—sorry, your colonists, and how you govern over your people in general. That's a brief overview of what the next two moon cycles will look like. Any questions about specifics?"

            Moon cycles. So rather than months, they use the moon as the unit of time. "I think that the majority of our questions relate to the ways of your people—the marking some of you have for example," Astrid speaks for us, saying her literal one thing she was charged with saying. Good job, A. You said one sentence.

            "Ah, yes, our markings." He raises a hand to his forehead and when he lowers it, a few of his fingers are tinted purple. "Kaju, come here please." The male steps forward and makes the same motion with his hand, however, his fingers come back clean. "Thank you, you may go back."

            Telenoch raises his hand to show us the pigment on his fingers more clearly. "We signify a person's—uh, occupation—with the markings on our bodies. Until you've mastered everything, your markings are done in paint, put on every morning as a way of showing your dedication to what you've chosen." He wipes his fingers on his dark robe and clasps his hands in front of him again. "Once you've mastered your chosen area, you're dubbed the title of a 'Doyen' of your area and your paint markings are replaced with permanent ink just under the surface of the skin. Nira and Kaju's markings are permanent, showing that they are both Doyen, but the color shows that they are both guards, the configuration showing that they are directly employed by the royal family. There are a lot of different determiners as far as our markings go. It can be hard to understand without growing up learning the meanings." Why only explain their markings? What about yours, Mr. Ambassador?

            "You said 'on our bodies', rather than just foreheads. This may sound personal, but where else are you marked?" Elena chances the question and my eyes widen. It may sound personal? How about it just is personal?

            Telenoch briefly looks back at Nira and Kaju, then unhooks his cloak and undershirt, setting them on the table and leaving himself bare from the waist up. He makes a slow turn with is arms half-out at his sides. Winding up and down his arms and spattered across his chest and back are numerous markings, all with their own design and significance. One that catches my eye would be the one that's wrapped around his right upper arm. It is a series of dots and dashes, almost like a form of Morse code that ripples with the movement of his muscles.

            "As I said before, there are many different meanings behind each marking on our bodies. It would take a very long time to try and explain everything now. Perhaps, I can take some time to explain them to your scholar in the days that we've returned to your colony?" He shoots Astrid a smile before reaching for his clothes and putting them back on.

            With his eyes covered, I take a moment to punch Astrid in the arm who had previously been all but drooling over the display of pure Celxian muscle, completely oblivious to the hurt look on Will's face. "Ow! Bitch." She mouths, rubbing her arm.

            "What do you say about telling me a little about your people, now?" Telenoch rights himself now that he's dressed again, having no clue of what the source of the dull thud was.

            I smile and take Astrid's hand, pulling her a step forward. "Astrid, our scholar, would love to give you a brief history of how we humans began the colonization process." I turn to Astrid with an innocent expression. "Wouldn't you?"

            I watch as she pales to the shade of paper. Maybe you shouldn't drool over someone else in front of the guy that would give you everything and more? I take a step back to be in line with the others and remain silent with a devious glint in my eye. It's time for someone else to be the center of attention.