When we got back to the ships, however, we found one of the nurses was having a problem with the atmosphere, and was throwing up. She would be fine, but it would be several days before she would be pleasant company. My wife said "What about the Pilot? She's got us in enough trouble with her desires to be mated. Why doesn't she entertain one of these kings?"
2 "Wait a minute!" Posi put in.
3 "You be quiet!" I snapped. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do with you yet! But right now we need to make a good impression on these people. And the lady does seem to be appropriate, one of the fairest among us. Let's get dressed! Light perfume. No telling what these people can tolerate!"
4 We got dressed, I inspected everybody, and told the women "I'll introduce you as my daughters. Play along with it!"
5 Both of them nodded. We could not believe how fast the natives had set up their tents! I noticed Aphroditi was carrying a case. "What's that?" I asked.
6 "My flute!" she answered. "It is said I'm rather good. Primitives like this usually enjoy music."
7 "Very good idea!" I complimented.
8 We started to leave the circle of ships and head for the tent when some of the native soldiers began to point in the sky and cry "Creos! Creos!" Some of them hurried off towards the king's tent. I looked up to see a winged being circling around and obviously heading in to land. "Droids!" I heard Airs snap, "Defend!"
9 The being was landing when one of the droids fired a dart at him. The being caught it out of the air and was barely turned around by its momentum! He walked over and tossed it to Airs, snapping "Turn that thing off or lose it!"
10 I spoke into my bracelet, "Drone! Cease attack! Take up patrol!"
11 I noticed the natives watching some of the other drones retrieve their darts and replace them with great interest. The being looked us over rather curiously.
12 "Wow!" he remarked, "These three can definitely pass for goddesses! Look, whoever you are, I'm these people's spiritual protector, and Those associated with me do not particularly like advanced people dropping out of the sky and pretending to be The Gods of the locals! Have a good visit with the kings, then rev your craft back up and get off this world!"
13 "We're not pretending to be The Gods!" I answered. "I just told them my name and where I was from, and they started proclaiming that we were The Gods! And we can't leave. Our ship is gone. Our life ships can be converted to solar power. They can be used to carry us around the planet. But the engines would need atmosphere to react on, so they can't take us to any other world. We're stuck here! You're simply going to have to tolerate us!"
14 "Getting this all sorted out," the being remarked, "could take all night!" He looked at my wife. "You seem to be the senior female," he continued, "would you become one with me? I will give you all the knowledge I possess. You will give me yours. It is how we teach our children., how we pass our knowledge from generation to generation. I promise you, it will do you no harm! But it's the quickest way for me to find out the truth!"
15 "You consider us children," Airs snapped, "that must be taught your ways? I would consider that an insult to my people!"
16 My wife raised her hand. "No!" she snapped. "He says it is the quickest way for us to come to know one another. And for some reason I feel complete trust in him. I have no fear of him, whatsoever! I do not think he intends us any harm! What you will do," she bid, "do."
17 The being stepped forward and put his hand to the side of her face, and put her hand on his. "Oooh!" my wife moaned. "Your fur is so soft, so luxurious!" The being smiled.
18 "We are one," he remarked, "we are one body, we are one mind, we are one soul. What I know, you know, what you know I know. We are one. I give to you all that I am, and you give to me all that you are. We are one. We are one body, we are one mind, we are one soul." He repeated this three times, and then him and my wife seemed to be locked in each other's eyes for some time. And then the being put down his hand.
19 "Incredible!" he remarked. "Absolutely incredible! You people don't come from another world, you come from another galaxy! But you land right in the middle of a people that would recognize your names and associate them with The Gods! Incredible! Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Athene, Aires! Incredible! Absolutely incredible! It just can't happen! But it obviously has. Well, if you go by your culture you really shouldn't be that much of a problem. There's no way you're going to establish a thriving colony here, there's too few of you. You're going to be absorbed into the natives just like we were. It's little doubt you'll cause a few more problems, but probably no more than we already have."
20 "Surely," my wife spoke up, "your calculations are wrong! Your presence won't cause this race to destroy itself. You will be able to wait for them to mature, take on their forms, and return to the stars. Surely we will be able to go with you! All that your people created can't be gone! All of that beauty can't be destroyed! It would be unthinkable!"

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