"So that's you're world?" I asked Tah as I pointed to the reddish ball.

"Yes," Tah said. "That's our home world. It is called 'Sar' or 'Earth' in your language. It's about the size of two earth's and has two suns."

"Oh..." I said amazed. "When will we get there?"

"In a few hours," Tah said. "I'll hail Sentry guard to let them know that we're-"

Suddenly a white laser flash streaked by.

"Brother, laser fire!" Yobah said.

"Sharah, magnify!" Tah said.

Sharah worked at the panel. And on the window panel, that section of space appeared larger.

"It's one of our ships," Sharah said. "It's being attacked by a," Sharah paused. "A Tazi ship."

All three Sarfnars looked at each other, silent.

I didn't like silence. It meant that something was wrong.

"Aren't there suppose to be a treaty of peace between us and the Tazis?" Yobah commented.

"Yes," Tah answered. "These must be those rebellious renegade group of Tazis."

"Just shoot them and get it over with!" I said.

"It's not as easy as that young one," Tah said. "We can't shoot them without a possibility of causing another war."

"Oh," I said, simply. "We wouldn't want that."

"No, we wouldn't want that," Yobah repeated my words with a slight sneer. "We better do something before our fellow Sarfnar is killed."

"Try hailing the ship," Tah said.

"Hailing," Sharah said.

The computer responded with several beeps.

"The ship's emergency back up power is on line," Sharah said. "The ship can't answer our hail."

"It must be heavily damaged," Tah stressed.

At that moment, a burst of white light came out from a red and black ship which struck the sliver Sarfnar ship which had a wing blown off. The Sarfnar ship wobbled into a sharp right turn trying to get away.

Tah growled under his breath.

"That ship can't last much longer," Yobah said. "I suggest we-"

"Fire back!" I blurted out. "Knock one of the ship's wings off or something. That wouldn't count as starting a war. It's not like you killed anybody. You do have a right to protect your people."

Tah winked his brow thoughtfully.

"She does have a point brother," Sharah said. "If that renegade Tazi ship destroy one of our people, it will start up the war again. That's what they want!"

"Hail the Tazi ship," Tah said.

Sharah hailed the ship.

A few seconds later, a pinkish reptile skinned face with red eyes and salt and pepper hair popped up on the window panel.

"I suggest you cease with your fire," Tah said. "You're actions are a direct threat to the Sarfnar Tazi peace act."

"Really," The Tazi said sarcastically. "Let me introduce myself, Sarfnar. My name is Shinir. The time of disgrace and hiding is over! It's time for us Tazis to claim the victory we deserve!"

"You and what army?" Yobah said with a laugh.

Tah gave his brother an acid look.

"Why do this?" Tah said. "In a few moments Sarfnar patrol scouts will be here to arrest you and send you back to you're own people. Why try to end the peace our two people had for centuries?"

"More like a truce," Shinir spat. "We rather die than surrender!"

Then the transmission ended.

Tah sighed.

"Alright," Tah said. "Fire. But just the engines and the cannons."

Yobah pressed a button and the ship fired. Four bursts of white light came out, and struck the Tazi ship. The two engines and the cannons shook and then exploded.

"He must be angry now," I said.

Seconds later the computer beeped.

Shinir's face popped up on the window panel again. And he was not happy. His eyes glowed a bright red.

"ARRRRRRRR!" Shinir roared angrily. "You'll pay for this Sarfnar!!!!"

"Not really," Tah said calmly. "Our scouts will soon come and arrest you."

"You fool!!!" Shinir shouted. "They'll take me back to my people!!!!"

"Exactly," Tah said.

"They'll torture me!!!!" Shinir yelled. "You don't know the penalty for Tazis who betray the high council!!!"

"Are you asking for protection?" Tah asked. "All you have to do is-"

"NEVER!!!" Shinir yelled. "But this isn't over! When I die my son will come after you and dance on your grave!" Then he ended the transmission.

Tah stood there a little guilty.

"What did he mean by 'when I die'?" Yobah asked cautiously.

"Don't worry brother," Sharah said. "I see two of our patrol ships approaching."

"Can we teleport our fellow Sarfnars from their damaged ship?" Tah asked.

"No," Sharah said. "They're out of range. I'll hail the patrol ships and tell them that-"

Suddenly there was a bright orange explosion.

"No!" I gasped.

The Tazi ship blew up. The shock wave struck the damaged Sarfnar ship causing it to spin wildly. But after a few wild spins it stopped.

I stood there with my mouth open shocked.

"Oh that's what he meant." Yobah said flatly.

"He," Sharah started to say.

"At least he didn't take the Sarfnar ship with him," Tah said.

At this time, the patrol ships surround the damaged ship. One of the patrol ships flew away and came towards us.

The computer beeped and a aqua blue Sarfnar face with fish fin shaped ears popped up.

"Greetings," Tah said. "I’m Tah-Chron-Tak, second-in-command of the Tak Clan. I'm returning from my scout mission with my brother and sister. I also have with me a guest. An alien from the planet earth."

The aqua Sarfnar nodded. "It's good to see that you made it back safe," he said.

"Barely," Yobah whispered under his breath.

"Our fellow Sarfnars on the damaged ship have been rescued." The aqua Sarfnar talked on. "They thank you for your help."

"What about the Tazi who killed himself?" Tah asked.

"We'll send the data recorder to the Tazi high council," The aqua Sarfnar said. "We will escort you the rest of the way and announce you're arrival to Sentry Guard."

Finally, after all this time, we made it. There is nothing like landing on solid ground. It may not be earth, but it's solid ground all the same. At the time I didn't know that it wasn't going to be as simply as that. But I wasn't thinking about that. All I knew that this was the first step to going back home.

Three hours later, with the ship's engines racing at full power, our trip was over. I stood there at the bridge looking at the planet.

Planet Sar was a reddish blue planet, with swirls of white red clouds. Through the clouds I saw land and water. The planet had one big ocean with one big continent that covered almost half of the planet. In the middle of the ocean was a smaller sub-continent. There was also polar ice caps like earth but they were slightly smaller.

"What do you think so far?" Tah asked.

"It's nice," I said. "It's just like earth but redder."

The aqua Sarfnar image popped up again. "The Sentry Guard request the bio scan of the earth alien before gaining you clearance," He said.

"Sending scan now," Tah said as he pressed a button.

I remembered that. Sharah gave me a bio scan after we left the Razer planet. She told me that I might need one to get on the planet. The bio scan is done by a hand held device that aim's a red laser beam on your body. It's something like the scanner in the supermarket. Sharah also had to take my blood but that didn't bother me much.

"How long will this take?" I asked.

"Several minutes," Tah said.

After several minutes, a blue-white Sarfnar face popped up.

"This is Ari-Joh-Ke of the Sentry Guard," He said. "Give us your report."

Tah told Ari the Cliff Notes version of what happened. Tah told him how he got kidnapped by the Lar Kap and how he met me. He mentioned how we barely escaped the Razar.

When Tah was finished Ari nodded. He was about to say something but he turned his head away like as if someone was talking to him. He nodded a few times and turned back towards us.

"The doctors and scientist at the Health Center just told me that the human will have to be kept at the center."

"For how long?" Tah asked concerned.

"Until we can send the Human back to her home world," Ari said.

"Why?" Tah demanded. "She can stay with me. There is no need for that."

Ari just shook his head.

I started to get a bad feeling.

"From the information from the bio scan the human can survive in our atmospheric conditions," Ari said.

"So why can't she stay with me?" Tah asked.

"The human was kidnapped by the Lar Kap," Ari said. "The human could be unknowingly carrying a virus."

"She been with us for 2 Sar weeks now," Tah said. "If she was carrying a disease we would of found out already. I think the real reason why the Health Center want's her is because she is from the planet of our ancestors and the scientist want to keep her as an experiment!"

Ari jerked back. Tah must of struck a nerve.

"What is this about using me as a medical experiment?" I demanded. "Excuse me?"

Sharah took my hand and tried to lead me away from the bridge. I snatched my hand away. I didn't want anything hidden from me.

"It looks like your people are no better than the Lar Kap," I said acidly.

Ari's eyes widened. His head moved forward. "What did the creature say?" He asked.

"Excuse her," Yobah said. "She is young and doesn't know what she is saying."

"I know exactly what I'm saying!" I practically yelled. "I'm not going to be used! If your people so much as lay a hand on me, they are goin' to get hurt! And," I added, "I have a name. It's Chante Hall!"

Ari gave me a sideways look. Then he spoke.

"There is one thing you can do," he said. "To prevent the Health Center from taking her."

We flew down to the surface. We went through the bluish red atmosphere and into the red white clouds. Soon I saw a large patch of green that were trees. In the middle of that patch I saw a sliver square clearing.

"Is that where we are going to land?" I asked.

"Yes," Tah said.

Finally, we landed on the ground. Tah led the way to the exit hatch.

"Chante when you walk outside, you might feel a little heavier," Tah said. "Our atmospheric pressure is higher therefore, everything weighs more."

I heard a soft "swoosh" of escaping air as the exit hatch opened. I felt a rush of nervousness. I didn't know what to expect.

When I stepped out on the ramp, the first thing I noticed was how hard it was for me to walk. It was like walking through molasses. I hope Tah didn't notice how shaky my legs were.

The next thing I noticed was how bright it was. But my eyes quickly adjusted. I looked up and saw two yellow red suns in the sky. One of the suns was almost below the horizon. It must of been late in the afternoon or something.

I tried to distract my thoughts from my heavy legs by looking around. There were Sarfnars walking around carrying gray boxes of cargo. I looked around and saw other ships that looked like Tah's on the ground. I saw smaller ships that hovered over the ground. They were like trucks I think. Each of those ships were topless and driven by a Sarfnar, who was hauling cargo.

Everywhere was Sarfnars walking around doing something. It was like a small city.

We were greeted by four Sarfnars, all in different shades of green.

"Greetings Tah-Chron-Tak second-in-command of the Tak Clan," A blue green Sarfnar said. "We will escort you and your "guest" to the Clan elders."

We were led to one of those topless ships.

"That is a hover ship," Sharah said to me. "We use it to travel over long distances."

"They are like cars back on earth," I said. "But our cars don't float. We use wheels instead."

As we walked to the hover ship, I noticed that the Sarfnars were watching us. Or to put it in a better way, watching me.

Some of the Sarfnars who was carrying cargo on their hover ships slowed down to get a good look at me. Some of them were just being curious or inquisitive. But most of them gave me that inferior look. And I stared at them right back.

I hoped Tah didn't notice. I didn't want him to get into trouble.

But soon Tah noticed. He definitely did.

When one Sarfnar looked at me the wrong way, Tah put the jerk back in his place. His brow wrinkled, and he bared his teeth into a snarl.

The Sarfnar lowered his head in submission and walked away quickly.

I was about to protest, but we were at the hover ship. The Sarfnars that led us stepped over the side of the ship and sat down. Even though the ship was close to the ground, I would have to climb over the side of the ship to get in.

Tah gently scooped me up in his arms solving my problem. He stepped in the ship and sat me down next to him.

Sharah and Yobah stepped in the ship and sat down facing Tah and I. We were sitting in face-to-face style seats. The four Sarfnars sat in the front, facing away from us.

I felt the hover ship lift up from the ground. Then we accelerated forward towards the trees.

I tried to sit up in my seat to see where we were going. But it was hard to look over a seat designed for a eight foot tall Sarfnar. My feet didn't come close to touching the ship's floor.

So I turned back around. "Are we going to your home now Tah?" I asked.

"Yes, and no," Tah sighed. "We have to go to the Clan elders first."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because," Tah said with a pause, "Because the elders must decide if they should let you be part of the Clan."

"What?" I said confused.

"Tah could only keep you if you are adopted into the Clan." Sharah explained to me.

"What?!" I exclaimed. "So that's why you're people were looking at me like that! Tah you know that is not going to happen!"

"It's the only way!" Tah explained. "I'm not going to have you taken away from me."

"Your people don't know me like you guys do!" I said. "They'll look at me like some weak, inferior creature."

"Don't worry Chante," Yobah said. "If it is any help, my brother is second-in-command of the Clan. He'll be listened to. Besides you are from the planet of our ancestors. The elders will have to respect you."

"That is not the point," I said. "This is like me trying to get into a white school! It can't happen."

Tah, Sharah, and Yobah just stared.

"On my planet, some people are hated just because their skin color is different. My people get the short end of the stick just because we're a shade too dark. My brother had a friend who was burnt to death by a gang of white boys because he looked at a white girl 'the wrong way'."

Three the Sarfnars who was sitting in the front turned around when I said that.

"People are judged by skin color on your world?" A lime green Sarfnar asked. "Why?"

"I don't know," I said. "Some people are just jerks I guess. I bet you're people don't fight over stupid stuff like that."

"A very long time ago, different Sarfnar Clans used to fight each other," Tah said. "But not any more. We never fought over skin color."

"Why would you want to go back home to a place like that?" Yobah asked me.

"That would be running away," I said. "You can't always run away from your problems. If my people didn't fight back we would still be slaves. My parents told me that you always have to fight to get what you want. Most of my people are doing that right now. Slowly but surely we are gaining rights. Someday black people will be just as equal to white people."

"I think she'll make a good edition to our Clan," The lime green Sarfnar said to Tah.

The other Sarfnars nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," Tah said. Tah had a look on his face that translated to, "You got that right!"

I felt flattered. But I proved my point. At least to these four Sarfnars. I'm not some weak and helpless creature.

"If you talk like that to the elders, there'll be no problems," Yobah said.

"Yeah I guess so," I said. "But we'll see when we get there."

About an hour later, the hover ship stopped in mid air and began a slow descent towards the ground. One minute we were up in the sky. The next we were surrounded by huge green trees. The brownish green trunks were the width of my house. The branches were the width of my bed. Near the top of the trees the leaves were the size of blankets. But as we descended farther down, the leaves became smaller. Then I noticed greenish brown oval buildings that were built on a strong platforms that went around the trunk of the trees. Above and below the buildings were patio platforms. Sarfnars were standing on the platforms looking at us. Wanted to get a good look at the human who might become part of their Clan. I tried not to pay any attention to them.

"Your home is like a city in the trees," I said to Tah.

"We live both in the trees and on the ground," Tah said.

When we finally landed on a small clearing at the base of the trees. The clearing was mostly dirt and grass. When Tah lifted me out the hover ship and placed me on the ground, I saw the reason why Tah's people built their homes in the trees. The ground was too hilly and uneven. It was like a valley. The area we landed on was level but not completely. I noticed that it was slightly darker too, being surrounded by the tall trees and all.

When everyone got out of the hover ship, we were greeted by a large crowd of Sarfnars. They were looking at me but they were a little more subtle about it.

"Where are we going?" I asked Tah.

"There," Tah said as he pointed to a tall decorated oval building that was built into the side a rocky hill. "That's the Great Hall. All Clans have one. It's actually the entrance to a cavern. It's where we have meetings. It's also a-"

I knew what Tah was trying to do. He was trying to distract me from all the hidden stares. But I wasn't going to let that bother me. I held my head up with dignity as we were being led to the Great Hall.

Finally we were at the front door. The two Sarfnar guards let us in. As I walked inside, I held my breath, hoping that everything was going to turn out okay.

We were led in a large room. It reminded me of the principle’s office, but much larger. In the center of the room was one of those wooden tables that looked like the ones Tah had on his ship. Sitting at the tables were five Sarfnars. All of them had gray hair, except one. His hair was going gray around his ears He was almost the same color as Tah's but lighter. He stood up and walked towards Tah.

"I glad to see you made it back safe!" The forest green Sarfnar said happily as grabbed Tah's forearm in some sort of hand shake. Then, looking at me he said, "So you are the one who is causing such a fuss among our people."

"Yeah," I said kind of shocked of how nice the Sarfnar was treating me. "I guess I'm kinda famous."

The Sarfnar laughed. "Where are my manners," He said. "My name is Jah-Chron-Tak leader of the Tak Clan."

"My name is Chante Hall," I said. Then I added, "Of the Hall Clan."

Jah laughed again. "Well, Chante we are going to talk to Tah for a while," He said. "I going to have you wait outside with Sharah and Yobah until we are finished."

"Alright," I said.

Sharah and Yobah led me outside.

The door then slid closed.

"Jah was very nice to me," I said.

"Yes," Sharah said. "He is a great leader of our clan. He treats everyone equally."

"Is he Tah's father?" I asked hesitantly. "I wanted to ask but I didn't want to be rude. Tah looks just like him."

"He is our biological father," Sharah said. "But we don't see him that way. The whole family, the whole Clan is our parents."

I was going to ask Sharah why, but then I heard a loud voice from behind that door.

It was Tah.

And he didn't sound to happy.

From what I can tell things wasn't going well.

"Let me show you around the hall," Sharah said as she led me away, "to pass the time."

I really hate it when Sharah try to hide things from me.

"I'm going to end up at that health center right?" I said. "You don't have to hide the truth from me."

Sharah sighed. "I don't know," She said.

"Everything is going to turn out just fine," Yobah said. "You must remain positive."

Suddenly the door opened, and Tah walked out.

"What happened?!" I said as I ran up to him.

Tah took a deep breath. "The Elders want to talk to you," he said.

"What?" I said confused.

"They want to talk to you alone," Tah added.

"But why?" Sharah asked.

"I don't know," Tah said. "All I know is that they want to talk to her without me there."

I suddenly felt very afraid.

"Don't worry Chante," Sharah said. "I know that you will convince the Elders to keep you here."

"Chante I believe in you," Tah said.

"Alright," I sighed. "Wish me luck."

I gave Tah, Sharah, and Yobah a hug before I walked inside, realizing that in the end I would have to defend myself.

"Alright young one," Jah said to me. "I'm going to ask you some questions. Answer them the best way you can. If you don't understand something let me know."

I nodded. I felt like I was taking a test in school. I looked at Jah and then looked at all the other older Sarfnars in the room.

"Can you tell us exactly how you met Tah?"

I took a deep breath. I told Jah and the Elders how the Lar Kap snatched me away from my home. I told them how I then met Tah and how he helped me break out of there. When I mentioned how Tah, Yobah, Sharah, and I barely escaped the Razars on the Razar home world, the Elders eyes went wide.

"You made those alien's chase you to lead them away from Tah and the others when they were in their stone sleep?" An olive green Elder asked amazed.

"Yes," I answered.

"When Tah told us we thought that he was making it up," the Elder said. "But now that we heard it from your own mouth..."

"It's nothing to make a fuss over," I said, trying to be modest. "Tah saved me and I was just returnin' the favor. And any ways I was just lucky. I didn't think I would live."

"That's besides the point," Jah said. "The point is that you risked your life when the odds were against you. That takes courage."

"Well..." I said feeling myself blush.

"We just have one more question for you," Jah said. "Have you ever seen one or more of these creatures?"

Jah then held up a thin flat, square shaped, brown shale stone. On the stone was a carved picture of a demon-like figure that looked like a Sarfnar.

I stared at the carving very hard.

Jah and the Elders looked at me in a suspenseful way.

"It does look familiar," I said. "It looks like one of those water spouts that shoot out water in water fountains. 'Gargoyles' I think they are called."

When I said "Gargoyles" Jah fell back into his seat. He had an flabbergasted look on his face. The Elders had the same reaction. They all started to talk among themselves, totally forgetting about me for the moment.

At first I wondered what all the fuss was about. But then it hit me.

When I first met Tah, I remembered him telling me that earth might be the planet his ancestors came to a long time ago.

Could it be that those Gargoyle water spouts were a reminder of the ancient Sarfnars of long ago who died out and were forgotten?

After a few moments of excitement, Jah and the Elders calmed down. Jah spoke to me again.

"Are there any of these "Gargoyles" alive?" Jah asked excitedly.

"No, not any that I know of," I answered.

Jah and the Elders looked down sad.

"Tah told me about his mission," I said. "I'm sorry about your people's ancestors. Knowing how my people are they might of been destroyed. When I first saw Tah, I didn't accept him with open arms at first. I was scared to death. But as I spoke to Tah, I didn't see him as a monster anymore. But a lot of my people are not that understanding."

Jah nodded like he understood. "If all of our ancestors are dead, we still want to know what happened to them. But we can still hope that at least some of them survived."

After a brief pause, Jah spoke again.

"That's all the questions we want to ask," Jah said. "You can go now. Ask Tah to come back inside."

I turned around and left.

"What happened?" Tah asked when I was outside. "Did everything go well?"

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it was," I said. "Jah wants to speak to you."

"Alright," Tah said as he walked back in the room. "I'll let you know of the decision."

Tah didn't stay inside long. After a few minutes Tah came back outside. I couldn't tell from Tah's expression if everything turned out good or not.

"What happened?" I exclaimed. I had my fill of suspense for the day.

I yelped as Tah suddenly scooped me up and swing me around in the air.

"We won!" Tah said happily. "You can stay! You have been adopted into the Clan!"

"You're now official part of the Tak Clan," Yobah said smiling.

"Congratulations," Sharah said as she put her hand on my shoulder.

"I guess after all the stuff I went through, I deserve a break," I said.

After the Elders made me a member of the Clan, Jah had a ceremonial feast in my honor, welcoming me to the Clan. All the Sarfnars were there. There was food at the feast I never seen before that freaked me out a little, but I didn't show it of course. I ate some meat that looked like green steak and a vegetable that looked like a green moss pancake. The food wasn't bad. The meat tasted something like fish and the green moss pancake tasted like rice. After the feast Jah and Tah had a speech to all the Sarfnars. As they were talking I was thinking of the many other stumbling blocks I would have to over come to have Tah's people accept me. I had a lot of things to learn in my new home. But I was unaware that this moment was the start of my new life. Tah's people was going to become my life, because it was going to be fifty years before I see earth again. By that time earth would seem so alien to me. And then all the strands of the events in my life would come together.

But all of this was unknown to me at that time. All I knew that this was the beginning. A new beginning of my life and all the things to come.