The pyramid-shaped creature used one of its eight appendages to scratch the deep purple tentacle which emerged from a hole at the pinnacle. "What is this species, Deenoo? I've never seen anything like it.
A similar creature moved towards a clear, dome-shaped stasis chamber. Its maroon tentacle came out, and began to lazily bob up and down. When Deenoo spoke, the sound waves emanated from the tentacle. "It says here that the dominant species calls it an Elephant. It's an intelligent, social, herbivorous species, Sidinn."
Sidinn regarded the long trunk, and four legs. "Do they have two sexes, like us? Or do they have another method of reproduction?"
"This little one is a male like you, Sidinn. The big one next to him is his mother, a female like me. From what I understand, they reproduce in much the same way as our species, but more often."
Sidinn looked at the rest of the information about elephants, then walked around the stasis chamber to view the animal from all angles. "Fascinating. Have you ever seen one that's awake?"
Deenoo looked around the vast cargo bay, which housed tens of thousands of different species, of various sizes. "No, I can't wait until we get to Sanafarel. So many of these creatures are unlike anything I've ever encountered, and I'm looking forward to watching them move, and observing their behavior."
Deenoo moved towards the cargo bay door, and then she was gone.
Sidinn was still looking at the baby elephant. "There's really no reason to wait until we get there to see what some of these aliens are like. And this one seems harmless," he thought.
Soon he had the stasis chamber turned off, and raised high above the small pachyderm. A few seconds later, the little trunk began to curl.
Once fully awake, it waddled over to Sidinn. Despite it being a baby, Sidinn's pinnacle barely reached the animal's knees. "I hope they were right about you being social," he whispered as he stretched to see the top of the looming creature.
As if in reply, the elephant gently took his tentacle in its trunk for a brief moment.
Reassured, Sidinn stroked it with an appendage. "I think I'll call you Tanderoo. I'm Sidinn."
Tanderoo looked around curiously, then saw his motionless mother. He was beside her in an instant, tapping on the glass and trumpeting softly.
"No, you'll have to wait. I'm not even supposed to have you out. If I let her out too and got caught, Deenoo wouldn't let me down here for the rest of the trip!"
He carefully approached Tanderoo, and calmed him. "Let's go look at some of your soon to be new friends. Most of the big ones are herbivores like you, so I think you'll like them."
He moved away, and to his delight the baby elephant followed. He stopped to look at a small animal with six legs, feathers, and a long thin body similar to a squirrel.
Tanderoo turned his attention to the floor. The lush green carpet was comprised of several plants, and they apparently appealed to his taste buds.
Sidinn was delighted. "You must be hungry. You've been receiving nutrients while in stasis, but that doesn't fill your stomach. Eat as much as you want, it'll grow back quickly."
Once the baby elephant finished, the two of them moved on. Soon Tanderoo noticed the yellow flashing light above the cargo bay door, and went over to investigate.
Sidinn tried to hold him with four of his eight appendages, but was pulled along as if he weren't there. "Tanderoo, stop! We can't leave the cargo bay, Deenoo might see us.
Tanderoo ignored him. Focused on the light, the baby elephant almost didn't notice the door sliding open. But the soft whooshing noise diverted his attention, and he beheld the corridor.
Unlike the cargo bay, the narrow walkway had a low ceiling. The entire corridor was covered with a bioluminescent plant, which glowed gently in seemingly endless pulsating colors.
Tanderoo sampled one, and spit it out.
Sidinn let go, and stepped back into the cargo bay. "Come on Tanderoo, there's nothing out there for you. Let's look at more of the animals."
Ignoring him, the curious baby ducked his head, and squeezed along through the narrow passageway. A few minutes later, a panel to his right slid open.
Tanderoo entered the room, which was large enough to accommodate him comfortably. The first thing he noticed was the many dials, levers, panels, screens, and buttons, all situated on the lower parts of the walls.
Sidinn began prancing around, waving his tentacle and appendages wildly. "No, come out of there! That's the ship's bridge, you'll get us all killed!"
Before he could get in, Deenoo appeared in the corridor. "What did you do?!?! Get him out of there now."
Miraculously, Tanderoo wasn't touching anything, simply looking. Sidinn took a calming breath. "Let's go get you another snack. Come on, let's go."
The baby elephant looked at him, almost as if he understood. Sidinn took two steps back, away from Tanderoo's view. Deenoo followed him. Then Sidinn called him again.
Tanderoo appeared, and a few seconds later he was squeezing back towards the cargo bay, with Sidinn and Deenoo in the lead.
After the three were beside the little elephant's stasis chamber, Sidinn tossed a few extra plants onto the floor under it. The motion caused Tanderoo to go see what had been placed there.
While he was busy sifting through the plants with his trunk, they quickly lowered the dome, and turned on the machine. Seconds later, Tanderoo was sound asleep.
Deenoo waved her tentacle at Sidinn. "You could have caused our mission to fail - not to mention we'd both have been killed, and our charges would have perished too."
Sidinn's tentacle drooped like a piece of cooked spaghetti. "I know, I'm sorry. I'll never do anything like that again."
Deenoo's tentacle swayed, like a cobra about to strike. In a low voice, she spoke slowly and calmly. "I know you won't, because you won't be in here alone until after we land."
His tentacle still drooping, Sidinn took one last look at the incredible diversity of the creatures, then he slowly dragged himself towards the cargo bay door.
Deenoo followed closely behind. Seeing how utterly devastated her shipmate was, she took pity on him. "We'll be there soon. Then you'll have a lifetime to learn about them, and even make friends. Until then, we have to keep all of them in stasis."
Sidinn stopped. "I know, I didn't realize that it was so dangerous. They're in stasis for their own safety as well as ours."
After what seemed like an eternity, the spaceship landed on Sanafarel.
Deenoo and Sidinn began to remove the animals from stasis, starting with the smaller ones which could be carried out of the huge outer cargo bay door while still asleep.
They placed them in the lush vegetation, or upon the warm black sand. When they awoke, they began to explore their new home, and forage for food.
"Do you want to get the elephants?" asked Deenoo.
Sidinn considered for a second. "I think I'd like to save them for last, so I can stay with them when they start to explore. Let's get the others out first. We should probably lure them out with food, if possible."
Deenoo bobbed her tentacle. "Yes, we will need to make sure they leave the ship without doing any damage. If the baby elephant could find his way into the bridge, just think what the Caftawwas might do."
After a good many close calls, the animals were finally free. Sidinn woke Tanderoo, and coaxed him out before Deenoo woke the other elephants. The huge elephant matriarch proudly led her herd out into the light, happily reuniting with her son.
Sidinn stepped back, giving the family space. Soon they were busily enjoying a type of dark blue watermelon the size of a compact car.
He walked over to Deenoo. "I can't believe that except for when we go to look for more species, we will be here for the rest of our lives. It's better than anything I could have imagined."
"I agree, Sidinn. And now I know what you mean about the elephants. When the biggest one woke up, I felt a deep connection to her. There's more to them than I thought..."
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery