They watched from below the darkness, an expanse of blank sometimes light by the beautiful light of their hot red star. They knew what it was, despite their inability to see like others, they understood much and knew much more. Across the salted, barren wastes of their planet stretching for miles in all directions dark like the sky except for where their star warmed it.

They expected the visitors to return long before the visitors knew that they might . It was inevitable and so they waited very patiently floating about their sunny planet, soaking up the heat from their glorious creator above.

That is until the day a spark of light glorious light lit up the sky in the distance, and they turned themselves to face it. They knew this light, cause by the fusion of particles together, and finally the burning of fuel, It was a strange suite, a glorious little piece of light glowing down from above.

It was good, and they waited.

It landed not far off from them brightening the dark desert with it's light. They did not approach, knowing that the creatures would come to them and so they waited. Eons they had waited and eons more they would be willing to wait. Time was like the glowing of the brightness in the sky above, it was immortal and forever, ethereal, eternal and passing.

Little sparks of light appeared on the horizon moving towards them shedding heat in familiar patterns that waved and undulated in pulses off their bodies. There were more than one of them now, more than one type as well in many sizes and shapes.

***

"But how can we know they are friendly?" Sunny asked her breath fogging up the inside of her helmet.

Outside, Krill floated happily along, soaking up the burning light of the star above his head tilted back as if he was enjoying himself. Despite the high oxygen content, there was still more than enough carbon for him to breath. While the humans and Sunny could probably take off their suits, they oud be at risk for quick and coming oxygen poisoning due to the extreme content in the air about them.

Admiral Vir stepped ahead of them, "They saved my life, so I think it is safe to assume that they are at least friendly."

"Or they had no idea what they were saying at the time." Sunny muttered to herself

They walked across the open dessert, their feet crunchin against the salt leaving mild indentations where they feet passed. Everything was so blinding here, even the sky seemed white against the blazing star overhead (a blue giant)

One of the hottest and brightest stars in existence.In the distance Sunny thought she saw a structure poking out over the horizon.

It wasn't much, simply a large covered gazebo almost, with walls made out strange white/cream material carved into elaborate organic shapes. Out of all the things in the galaxy thy had seen, this was.... This was one of the strangest and most alien things.

Generally the civilizations tended to have things in common. And that was city structures and geometric architecture, but not these creatures. It was almost like walking up to a giant onion that had been carved out and molded into flowing spiral shapes up the sides.

Sunny could see the creatures now, floating there, as if waiting for them. They were grey in color, their the ends of their tentacles trended towards a strange bluish color tipped in pink.

Large, protrusions, almost like elephant ears stuck out from the sides of their six foot bodies flapping slowly like the fins of a stingray.

"Amazing." one of the scientists said a xenobiologist who had accompanied them.

The rundi./vrul pair of xenolinguistics seemed very interested as well.

"And you said they do not speak?" One of them asked

Adam Vir nodded, "No, I think they might communicate through radio transmission as the vrul and the Mikes can, but I would be lying if I said I knew for sure, The Lumin are still as much a mystery to me as they are to you."

"And you said they saved your life?"

"Yes, it was strange, like they knew exactly what to do. Hard to explain."

"Well, hopefully we can make some sense of them before the day is out."

Adam nodded his head and slowly took front as the others fell into step behind him. They were almost to the font of the large alien structure, watched by the strange floating creatures and their waving tentacles.

Adam paused before one of them not more than six feet away.

He raised his hands to his helmet and unlatched it with a hiss throwing his head back a little and taking in a gulp of high concentrated oxygen.

It felt fine for now, but he only had a little while before he would have to return to the suit.

He raised a hand, "Remember me?" He wondered, knowing that they couldn't hear him so keeping his voice low.

The creature ahead of him billowed and undulated before floating softly forward and reaching out with one of its delicate tentacles. He kept his hand held up as the creature wrapped a tentacle around his wrist, prodding at his fingers arna farms with the pod-like structure at the end of the tentacle.

He smiled, "I thought you might. I remember you."

It floated a little forward, tentacles reaching out, primarily its two front tentacles, longer than the others, which brushed through his hair and slowly ran down his face. The skin of the creature was soft and delicate, like the lips and nose of a horse, almost velvety somehow.

HE took his hand and gently wrapped his fingers around one of it's tentacles, rubbing his thumb over its skin in a, hopefully, calming gesture, "We come in peace he muttered to himself.

***

Their light shone in great pulsing waves from their skin, shedding heat and light like dying stars. Their warmth, and the light they brought was pleasant,, and the Lumin welcomed it. For sure they welcomed the creature, who took off the casing from around its body, and shed its heat on them personally. They knew this creature, recognized him from long ago as his heat was something they ememembered, and the patterns with which it rolled over its skin.

They did not recognize the other creatures , some of them in shapes that they did not know, and shedding less light than the first, who shone like a beacon. They greeted it with pleasure and joy at it's return. They had missed it's light, and craved having some so close,even now.

The burning light of their own little colony greeted it with softness and was, in return rewarded with such.

Together, the Lumin inched forward floating to greet the others as they were instructed by their leader. They came in groups of two touching and prodding at the strange new subjects, who made no sound.

There was one creature, however, that was not so quiet. It burned surprisingly cold compared to the others and was only really a shadow in comparison. But it let of a strange sort of hissing buzzing that made their radio antenna rattle a bit.

They swarmed around it in surprise, pleasantly shocked and pleased when it floated up to meet them, much smaller but quite similar. It had no tentacles but many legs, and there was evidence that it could understand the silent, bright ones that hung around it.

They buzzed in excitement and the creature buzzed back

Extraordinary, and exciting.

It was a pleasure that the creature had returned with friends.

***

The swarm of Lumin took each of them by the hand and gently pulled them back towards the shade. Adam was more than thankful for the sun was hurting his eyes, something terrible.

"They seem happy to see us.:" Sunny mused, "Though I have no idea why."

"Are you always this suspicious?" Adam wondered.

"Forgive me for being cautious."

They were brought into the center of the room, and clustered about by the large glowing creatures. Adam smiled and remained still as more of the creatures floated by rubbing their tentacles against the hair on his had, in what seemed like some sort of greeting, though he could have been very wrong.

"I can hear them." krill muttered staring around at their hosts with wide eyes.

Adam sat up, "You can!"

"Yes, it is like a distant humming that rises and falls in pitch, though I am afraid much of it might be outside of m range of hearing."

"Alright everyone, turn on your radio receivers and see if that makes any sort of difference."

They did as he ordered, and he did the same clipping the specially designed earpiece to his ear.

He turned it on, "Testing, one two, can you hear me."

All around them the lumin billowed and spun. At first he worried that he had somehow bothered or offended them, but the way they touched his hands after he spoke made it seem that it was good news.

"I think they can hear you, and the best part is they understand that it's you."

"Well technically since radio frequencies are a form of light, it means they can see you." Krill added

Adam turned his head to frown at Krill, "Just go ahead and kill the moment why don't you."

"I was just correcting your science."

"No one likes a know it all, Krill." He glanced over at the scientists, "Anyway, is this something that we can make sense of?"

The two of them had their heads together whispering together, and when he spoke they looked up, "It is hard to say. I believe their language works in oscillation of radio waves, though the patterns are going to be hard to decipher. They do not have individual words, and because of this I think it is a possibility that they may not speak in.... Specifics if that makes sense.""

"Will we be able to communicate with them at all?"

"I think it could be possible." hold on

It was just then that Adam heard a strange static in one ear and was suddenly confused when he heard his own voice repeated back at him through what seemed to be TV static.

He turned to stare at the Lumin, which lay a tentacle on his shoulder. It looked like it was staring directly at him.

He heard his voice repeated back at him, "Will we be able to communicate with them at all?"

The scientists stared, "They are mimicking your radio signals back.... This might be possible after all."

***

They were a very old species, they were a very wise species. These were not the only ones who had come before, and they would not be the last to come. When they changed their vibrating voices to vibrating waves of light, the Lumin understood. Not so much the words, but the meaning.

As before, they were very old and very wise.

They understood light in a way that it was not understood by anyone else.

They understood the fluctuation in the bodies before them, they understood the fluctuation in the radio signals all around them. There was nothing that they did not understand

Happiness burned bright from the creatures as they mimicked their light back at them. They wanted to communicate, and the Lumin wanted to speak back. They wanted to speak and make peace with these strange curious creatures.

The Lumin understood, and they felt the heat and the light brighten as they made physical contact with the creatures. Physical contact brought out familiarity and warth, bring up the heat even higher than it was before. It worked the most on the one they knew from before.

As it spoke to them, filling their eyes with its light, it ran its strange appendages through theirs, the little tentacles at the end of its fingers winding about them and then letting go, allowing them to slip through. It's hands were gentle, and they saw no malice from it.

Of course, they knew what the creature was. They knew it had danger.

With the heat it produced it was clearly a consumer, and producing more heat and light than others it was a predator. Predators were the most beautiful with their great ebbing and flowing light, despite how dangerous they were, through the lumin were not one to judge.

They were not difficult to understand, these creatures.

It was not so hard to parse out what they were thinking and saying. They clearly wanted to know how the Lumin communicated, they wanted knowledge that the Lumin were willing to give them. With their great knowledge they would help. They knew these creatures did not speak like the lumin did. They did not speak as a collective, but as individual voices taking turns.

The lumin could do that if they so wished, but after a thousand yars they saw no need.

It was not their desire to speak separately from each other if they did not have to.

So The lumin fed them phrases slowly, and mimicked their own, extrapolating the information from the patterns of light.

Lumin understood light more than they understood anything else.

Light was sacred.

Light was pure.

And now that these creatures spoke with light, they could speak back to them.

THey noticed things.

Words that referenced the self, and words that referenced others. They understood when the creatures were talking bout them and when they were talking about each other.

Slowly they were beginning to understand, and when they understood, every one of them understood with greater comprehension.

It would not be long before they understood completely.

***

Adam Sat on the floor next to one of the lumin, who floated with its tentacles dragging along the ground.

He held one of it's front tentacles in his palm as if they were holding hands, "We come in peace."

The creature stared at him, its large flaps billowing slowly as if underwater.

"We." It repeated back,, and as it did it waved a tentacle towards the others, and then around to him.

He nodded eagerly, "We, yes."

The scientists stared on in awe, "How they can understand us so quickly.... I.... Its almost a miracle. How...."

Adam paused looking up at the creature, "They must be far more intelligent than any creature that we have ever discovered. There is no other explanation."

"They do not seem to have a word that includes me or I just we and us. It is as if they think as a collective."

Krill shifted and buzzed a bit, floating closer to one of the creatures, "IF they were able to think as one miind, than it would make sense that they could be so intelligent. A single brain that large working on one problem. There is nothing that they could not do."

"Than why havent they bothered to leave their planet?" Sunny wondered staring at them with her eyes still narrowed.

Adam placed his hand against the creature rubbing over it's soft skin, "I think.... Well I think they don't WANT to leave."

"What gives you that impression?"

"Because..... wellI don't know. Its just when they speak, it seems so peaceful.... As if they could want for nothing more."

"Now your just making things up," Krillannounced

Adam rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say. I still think that they are.... Peaceful, tranquil almost.

"Wish I could have some of that." one of the marines muttered, twisting one of the creature's tentacles through his fingers and then letting it billow away.

"Now we just let the linguists do what they need to do, and hopefully this is communication that we can have sooner rather than later."

***

They began at first with words, their light had a system of communicating. And when more abstract concepts came, they were s"end strange impressions of.... images , light brought still to their minds.

It was a strange way to communicate, but any light was important, any light was accepted, and so they brought the light into themselves, and they understood it like none could understand.

The light was what they lived for.

The light is what they hoped for.

The first words that were spoken between the two species and understood was.

"We are here."

When they had to leave, the Lumin hoped for a return, and received it. The light passed overhead many times as they came and went, and the lumin understood more and more.

The first words that were really understood between the two was.

"We come in peace."

And the lumin responds.

"We accept your peace."

The lumin could understand them and they could understand the lumin.

Together they shared light and all was well