The planet. A genuinely peaceful world; a wonderful place. A place I had wondered about since the day I was born. I was twenty years old now and had spent my entire life training for this moment.
I felt my heart pounding as the starship glided skillfully down through the clouds and through the first of three protective domes that covered the alien world. I knew that every time a spaceship had landed on this planet there had been a violent conflict. Our people wanted to control it, but they were unable to; the alien people who lived here had a natural ability to thwart any attempt at control.
Even our personal stun guns weren't effective here and attempts to use them usually resulted in injury to the wielder. The aliens had tried to avoid any human contact at all, until they discovered a small band of survivors on a massive planet just outside the potentially habitable area of their own solar system.
These ships contained all the people they could save. I was ordered to bring the daughter of the leader of the aliens back to our leaders. The truth was that we knew so little about this planet, and this mystery begged for a solution that could come only from the daughter. She knew things about the planet mentally she couldn't possibly know, and even our scientists couldn't explain that. We all knew she was special.
Wake up, lieutenant; we have arrived. I jumped up from the table. The ship had fired its thrusters and drifted slowly through the dome, revealing a view of the alien planet. We were landing in a broad area near a forest. I could see individual trees, some of them towering hundreds of meters high. Their thick trunks enclosed a bower of bright foliage, and there were small paths winding around their bases. The planet was empty of life for millions of kilometers, and looked much the same now as it had millions of years ago. I walked out the door as the ship lowered its landing gear.
The blowing winds had a crisp fragrance, and there were colorful flowers growing near the edge of the trees. As I walked to the center of the ship, I noticed the landing gear had started to retract. "Captain, we have to leave now." I turned to my communications officer. He was a nervous man, completely loyal to our people and without a doubt a good man, but this was his first mission. I would have felt fear if I were in his place, but he was clearly very nervous. He had been raised in a military family and was accustomed to structure.
I had been raised in a more colonial family; freedom was encouraged. I had grown accustomed to being told what to do, but he had never known that. "All right lieutenant, everyone out." We scrambled and made our way along the landing pad that had been prepared, to the door that would open upon pressure and leave me in the cold cruel night of space. I knew it was the right thing to do, the right way, and that feeling of rightness gave me strength to face the unknown of this strange planet. All I had left was my duty and my honor. I felt my friends were lucky to have people like me to do their dirty work.
I was greeted as a hero by my commander, and am now second in charge of the mission. The odds will be even higher now that my fearless lieutenant is out of the way. The planet is much more difficult than we had anticipated.
What I thought was nothing but barren rock is an alien culture that closely resembles our own but also has unique characteristics. When we first landed, we expected some sort of hostility from the alien people. Instead, we were welcomed by hundreds of children who gathered around our landing gear in awe. After a surprised minute, I began to hear children's voices calling to me in a language I had never heard before.
It was silent a moment, but then I heard the children singing. The sound was haunting, the way it changed in the wind, and I realized that it was a song unique to this planet, and the children had been practicing it all their lives. After a few moments the children stopped. I reached down and pulled my blade, and the children allowed me to pass by them.
"Stop! You are armed?" The commander's voice was nervous. I was surprised to see tears threatening to enter his eyes. I held up my blade, so that they could see it. It was not unusual to see tears in his eyes when he was commanding on the battlefield, but this was different. "My children need us." His voice was quivering. I let the blade sheath the hover disc and motioned for like-minded children to follow me. We passed into the forest and the singing from the children was suddenly louder and clearer. When I first entered the forest I saw a small pathway.
We walked forward along this path. I knew that the planet was many times larger than the one the children were from, but it seemed that the forest was endless. Perhaps there were several forests, or perhaps this one was so enormous it seemed spreading from horizon to horizon. We walked in silence.
I knew that we were heading to the capital of the alien race. The singing from the children grew as we moved, and it seemed to be a song of welcoming. The air was rich and warm and comfortable, like a blanket over our face and body. After half an hour I heard the singing from the children getting louder in front of us. It was now possible to discern the words. They were, "Milward, Milward, Milward", and I suddenly knew that I had the right path. Suddenly the path opened and revealed hundreds of children all singing together, and sitting in the center a large child.
He was the child I had seen speaking to the children at the edge of the forest. The singing was so loud that even Milward had to cover his ears to avoid being deafened. I had never heard anything so loud. The commander and a few others stood behind me, watching. "Be peaceful and quiet." I said. The children were amazed at my command. Although they were quiet after a few seconds, they were not peaceful. "You are Milward. I am come to speak with you.
