Day 183 on the planet. Ppnlak stretched two tentacles over his head while another two removed the covers from his body. He slid out of his bed and greeted Isiuta. The creature had been sleeping on the makeshift table next to the bed.

Did you have a good rest?

Isiuta replied with a predictable mental image of food. It always had one thing on its mind. Although, there were occasional breaks where it thought about drinking. It was a good thing Ppnlak wasn’t a stranger to uncooperative conversation partners. He had perfected the art of talking to himself.

You don't need me to get food. The door is wide open. 

When Ppnlak had turned the escape pod into his home, he had removed the door entirely. Isiuta was a little persnickety about the door, so that was the agreed-upon compromise. The creature had learned how to bombard their mental connection with complaints until Ppnlak was forced to agree. 

Isiuta sent another picture of food. Ppnlak pet the creature's head with one tentacle. He sighed, I suppose we can get food. How did you survive without me?

With the door having been removed, Ppnlak felt he had no reason to wear his spacesuit anymore. Would the planet's atmosphere have negative effects on him? Ppnlak didn’t know, but it had not killed him so far. He figured, despite his lack of scientific knowledge, the effects would be minimal. 

Ppnlak grabbed Isiuta in one of his tentacles and plopped the creature onto his head. Isiuta was a carnivorous thing that ate small insects. The bugs that constituted its diet reminded him of the insects that the pirates sometimes brought on board. Although he was a janitor, he was required to deal with them as well. He wished he had an Isiuta then. The creature mowed through hundreds of the bugs every day.

Ppnlak walked past a giant web that tangled many alien animals within it. He saw glittering eyes hiding in the shadows, so he raised a tentacle to Isiuta and covered it. The last thing he wanted was it to become food. They continued their trek until they reached a giant mound in the clearing.

The compacted sediment stored the colonies of Isiuta's favorite food. It flew to the mound and started pecking at the structure. The vibrations from the pecking compelled the insects to exit their tunnels, and Isiuta snatched them up as they exited. Ppnlak sat on the ground a couple of paces behind the feeding. 

There's that alien again, Ppnlak said to Isiuta. He knew it wouldn’t respond because it was busy eating, but he warned it nonetheless. He discreetly turned his head so he could look at the alien. He could recognize the ICC uniform from a unit away. However, he wasn’t as familiar with what the color indicated. He had mostly dealt with the ugly yellow of the Military Sector. 

Ppnlak wondered what the grunt intended to do with him. He was almost one hundred percent sure he hadn’t committed any intergalactic crimes. Well, at least, none that they could charge him with. He turned back to Isiuta, who was hopping toward him. It flew the rest of the distance to the top of Ppnlak's helmet. 

He asked, Are you finished?

A feeling of contentment flowed through their channel. Ppnlak laughed, Let's get going then.

He stood up and made his way back to the refurbished escape pod. Isiuta hopped down from his perch, gliding down to the ground. It bounced around Ppnlak's tentacles. He brushed past the creature and sat down at the dashboard. Over the past six months, the electronics had been exposed to a variety of elements. The hot and humid air hadn’t been kind to the inner workings of the device.

Ppnlak was also not treated kindly by the planet. The gel he produced to keep warm had stopped being secreted, leaving his skin horribly dry and cracked. He had taken to rubbing the smashed-up remains of plants onto his body. 

Isiuta jumped onto the dashboard and pecked at one of the monitors. Ppnlak said, I know, fiend. I'm trying.

His inability to read both numbers and letters kept him from being able to decipher how to use the computer. And the pirates failed to leave a beginner's guide to Common in the escape pod. He had been on this planet for almost 200 days, and he had no way of getting off.

A thought hit Ppnlak, startling Isiuta. The creature fell off the dashboard with a squeak. He grabbed it with his tentacles and hugged it to his chest. He spun around in the meager space of the pod. 

We have a way out! Ppnlak sang, The ICC grunt must know Common. He can help us.

Isiuta let out a grunt, trying to get out of the alien's grip. However, the tentacles were impossible to remove. The creature sent a wave of anger toward Ppnlak, who looked down at it. He released it with a smile, sending a simple apology through. Isiuta ruffled their feathers before stomping away.

With this new idea in his head, Ppnlak ran through the door. He hadn’t noticed what direction the other alien went in every time they left. He just needed to find out where they were. He ran aimlessly for a while before stumbling upon a clearing. 

Ppnlak glowed a dim white. A standard-issue spaceship was stationed in front of him. He walked up to the landing door. He took a deep breath, mentally going over everything that he was going to say.

He knocked on the door. Nobody answered, so he knocked again. Ppnlak reached out his mind, searching for the alien. There was a chance that they hadn’t returned yet. Triumph echoed through his mind when he brushed against another mind. He knocked for the third time and sent a pulse of emotion to the alien's consciousness.

After a few seconds, the door swung open. The ICC alien was covered in a spacesuit, but Ppnlak saw that he had a tail. It looked quite agitated. 

Ppnlak said, Hello.

The alien stood there silently, not responding to Ppnlak.

Hello?

Finally, they spoke, "Making contact with a native species is against ICC regulation."

Oh, you're in luck! I'm not a native. I crash-landed here six months ago.

The door slammed in Ppnlak's face. He's guessing the alien wasn’t happy with his response. Ppnlak said, I can still talk to you. This door won't stop me.

He could feel the alien's panic. The door opened again, and the alien stuck their head out. "Who are you?"

I'm Ppnlak. Who are you?

"Eyuy Aeum-yinh, an explorer for the Exploration Sector of the Inter-Cosmic Coalition.”