A New Way of Life

We must find a planet now to land on and live or else everyone that is left will die and there will be no hope of being able to survive another day, Seketa told the others. Three of them were very old, five were just babies, and the other ten were in their mid-age but could still reproduce.

Seketa, we are picking up signals from this planet that is 70% covered in water. This would be the best planet to pick since the radar is picking up life forms. Let's check it out, Slyvia pointed at the radar. Sure enough, there was water they could drink and oxygen in the air.

Okay, Sylvia, get this ship into landing position. Let's go down into the planet and see what its like. If it qualifies, we will live there. If not, we shall go to that red planet next to it, Seketa was more than eager to start a new life.

Used to the coolness of their planet, they picked a spot to the north, what humans knew as Alaska. They first made the dial to shrink the ship, so it would arrive as a shooting star to a human watching. Unfortunate in their trip into Earth, the controls broke as it went from super cold to super hot and there was a problem they didn't realize existed. All took their wings (covered in feathers) and gracefully went down until they hit the ground. A couple ended up in the water.

Are you okay? Seketa called out to them, fearful that they could drown. Ever since their planet became absent of water they adapted to not be able to swim anymore. Finally the two oldest ones arrived out of the water, still remembering their swimming skills from before the water of their planet disappeared entirely. Seketa was glad they made it, since she needed someone to care for the babies. She knew even the most powerful magic conjured would not return water to their planet.

Yes, we are okay.

Satisfied, they decided to hold a meeting right then and there. Often meetings lasted a long time, but since they did not know what to expect on a planet not their own, they had to act fast. At anytime they knew they could be hunted down or killed by weather.

We need to split up into groups of two and go our own way. There is no other choice. I will miss each and every one of you since I'll be on my own, Seketa concluded.

As she watched the others leave, she felt a strange sense of relaxation as well as something watching her. This was making her feel very uncomfortable. She looked around to see what was causing this. A man in his early 20's was watching her, awed by her look. He admired her scales as well as her large size and feathered wings that could spread over four yards easily. He watched as she stared back at him.

Hello inhabitant. What are you doing here? She asked in hopes he could understand her. Telepathic communication was what she's used to.

"I live here," he said simply, still speechless.

Nice.

For awhile they looked at each other. He saw her as a dragon like creature, an alien out of nowhere. Then Seketa decided to make herself like him. She transformed, right in front of the man, into a beautiful young woman around his age, using simple magic to judge his age and what he expect a person to look like. He admired her looks, forgetting that this woman was not human at all.

"Let me bring you into my house and put clothes on you that my sister used to wear," he said, not sure if he could trust her.

"Okay, lead me the way," she smiled, thinking she might have an inhabitant who was willing to show her the ways of life on this planet and how they could manage to keep so much water on their planet. She wondered if any of the others were doing the same too if she did end up lucky.

She was wrong about being able to keep enough water on their planet, realizing they were just like her kind, ignorant about the warning signs of what could happen to the planet. The atmosphere gave signs that this planet was not cold all the way around and she should find the others and find a cool planet which would hopefully have water.

"Science Fiction Short Stories"  [E]