Chapter Six

The pilot picked up his pistol and helped Adria to her feet. He kept an eye on the spot where the creature disappeared but saw nothing. Not even a twitch of that deadly tail.

They looked up as a rescue vessel circled to land. The distress calls made it through after all.

Adria wobbled a bit as they walked toward the shuttle waiting to take them back to The Explorer.

"Adria, Tee," called a voice sounding too much like Tee's own.

The creature slid to a halt as Tee turned, pistol at the ready. Pushing aside the hood, it pointed toward the shuttle.

"Yep, we're leaving," Tee responded, but refused to lower his weapon.

"Yep, we're leaving," mimicked the creature. The alien scurried around to stand between them and the ship. He held his narrow palm up as Tee did earlier when he tried to make friends. The deadly tail lay flat along the planetoid's surface in a non-threatening manner.

"He doesn't want us to leave him," Adria guessed. "Poor thing, I wouldn't want to be alone on this rock either. Wonder how he got here?" She reached out and touched Tee's arm. "Look at him. You won't need that. Maybe our anthropologist will know what he is and where he came from."

"The Captain is going to love this," Tee chuckled and holstered his weapon.

The creature chuckled and repeated, "The Captain is going to love this."

Tee pointed toward the ship and nodded. "I'll get a containment dome for him"

The creature stepped aside then meekly followed them to the ship. Waiting patiently, it accepted being enclosed in a cage-like dome, even tucking the spine-covered tail in carefully when it presented a problem. The creature settled down and grew still except for the occasional flicker of the end of his tail from beneath the cloak.