When i opened my eyes the first thing i saw was Samuel standing at the entrance to the cave with a worried look on his face. I looked down to check my watch, 12h we had now been on this planet for. So either the nights were very short and we had missed it, we were asleep or it had not come yet. I got up to my feet , Samuel turned around and saw me he smiled and said " got enough rest ? "

" Of course i did , I hope you are well rested because we are headed out " I replied trying to sound confident.

But i was worried we didn't have any water. Our species can go some time without food so that does not worry me but without water and with the sun as hot as it is things will start to look dire soon. Heading in the direction of the river again, the suns do not seem to have gotten any lower. I am starting to worry there are no nights on this planet. I look at my watch again,15h we have been on this rock. I think the heat is playing tricks on my mind. I thought i saw a flying water bottle.

I look over and Samuel is looking worried as well he must be thirsty as well, just then Samuel stops in his tracks i ask him

" What is it are you okay ? "

He starts to smile and says

" Can you hear it ? Water "

He takes off running i follow behind as best as i can quickly we see the river. It was like seeing an oasis in a desert, i jumped into the river and immediately started to cool off. I drank so much i felt full. Samuel was by the side of the river drinking some water and collecting it in a water bottle. I am thankful he has one because i do not want to do that again. We spent the next 2h walking down stream until we happened across a small village not far from the river. The village has not got any defensive measures at all. It looks like a small farming village with crops growing everywhere , the people clearly live in harmony with nature, their houses are built around or on the trees making sure that nothing is hurt. We approach the village by what looks like the main entrance. We have yet to see any living people, we walk further into the village and still do not see anyone. I turn to look at Samuel and say

" Do you think the place is abandoned ? "

He looks around at the houses and then pulls out a galactic translator , i have never seen one before. They aren't used that commonly. Nowadays we have microbes that live in our cerebrum and feed off the neural pathways, they translate everything we hear into our native language . Completely harmless since they live off language. This planet might be on the outer edges of the Sun empire but it still belongs to us so we should have their official language stored on the translator.

Samuel holds the translateur up and says:

" We mean you no harm we are travelers who lost our ship and are looking for a place to stay and some food , until we can get a new ship "

The message played over the translateur , then nothing happens i looked around, the doors and windows where still closed as tightly, just when i thought the place really was abandoned a door on the house to the left of me opened up out came this beautiful creature skin as green as freshly cut grass long and slender limbs, a face that had markings like a rose petal . It wasn't wearing much, merely a simple cloth to hide the lower half. I stood there amazed at what i was seeing , the creature started walking towards me i didnt move too stunned to do anything. Then Sam (Samuel) touched my shoulder and I came out of my daze a little embarrassed. The creature stood right in front of me and said

" Welcome strangers, we do not get many of your kind here, forgive our rudeness, we were afraid you may be.... bandits. If you are looking for a place to stay you are welcome in my home i am the village matriarch moni. "

I looked at Sam to see if he was going to say something but he just looked at me and smiled , I guess it was up to me then.

I turned back towards the matriarch and said

" We did not mean to cause alarm i apologise if our arrival has upset any of you, We will have to impose on you for a little while matriarch thank you for your kindness "

"Well then follow me please, we will be more at ease talking inside "

We followed her into her home. It is beautiful on the inside. Everything has been carved from wood , there is a faint smell of herbs and spices throughout the house. We go toward the dining area where she offers us some tea we both happily accept once we are sitting down at the table with our tea i ask

"Have you been having trouble with bandits lately ? "

"No but one can never be too careful when protecting others, so what brings you to our planet? we do not get many visitors especially in this small village "

I answer a bit nervous " our ship has failed us we came to your planet with the only escape pod left on our ship hoping to be able to secure transport or perhaps another ship "

"I see well if it is transport or even a ship you seak than you will have to travel to xenia that is where you will find what you desire it is a days travel from here "

"Is there any way we could get a map ? And could you tell us how long the days last here and if the suns ever go down "

" I will give you a map so that you may continue your journey, the days are very long here our people are evolved from plants and many of us still retain the ability to photosynthesise , the days last a total of 31h with 23h of them being of sunlight and only 8 of darkness there is only 3h left of sunlight today "

" Thank you very much for all you have done if it is okay with you we will leave for xenia after the suns have set "

"Of course i shall go get you a map " before she could get up from the table samuel said

" I'm sorry but i have one more question, is there any dangerous animals we should be on the lookout for when traveling at night "

She looked at us both and gave us what i can only describe as a creepy smile and said

" No on kion we are the only species and we will not harm you " Then she walked away to get the map.

I felt chills over my body when she said that, Sam seemed to have felt the same by the look on his face. A moment later she was back with the map she told us to rest and that she will be back before we leave to say goodbye, we were sitting on the couch in silence for about 10 mins when we were sure she was gone Sam said " I don't like this place it ain't normal they are the only species, there aren't even insects here " now that he said it that's true i haven't seen one living thing here apart from plants. I look around to make sure no one is around and say " Yeah that's true we should leave this planet as quickly as possible let's wait until dark they don't seem to want to harm us and walking around in that sun will do us no good but tire us out " samuel looked like he wanted to argue but decided to say nothing else . The 3h went by very slowly but night was finally here and it was time to go.