"By late in the 21st century, the nations of the Earth were finally at peace, working together to explore and colonize... the distant reaches of space." "Unfortunately, we weren't alone out there." "A race of nonhuman aliens called the Dracs... were claiming squatters' rights... to some of the richest star systems in the galaxy." "Well, they weren't going to get it without a fight." "Space was the new battleground." "For many of us, Earth became a precious memory light-years away." "Our only home was a fortress in space." "As in any war, there were long periods with nothing to do but wait." "And then..." "All personnel to battle stations." "Prepare to launch." "This is not an exercise." "All personnel to battle stations." "Prepare to launch." "This is not an exercise." "Flight leader." "This is Echo Two." "I have four bandits at 3:00." "Roger, Echo Two." "I copy." "Right ninety and go for it." "Echo Six to flight leader." "Our buddies are pulling the yellow line." "Roger, Echo Six." "Cleared one on one with two backup." "Snuff these bastards, get home early." "I got a hot date with Merchison." " The nurse?" " She's gonna give in." "I guarantee it." "Isn't that the same Merchison we used to call "the white balloon"?" "Come on, she's lost 20 pounds." "Got you!" " That'a boy." "Six more bandits on three." " Yeah!" " Leader, copy that?" " They thought we didn't see 'em." " I didn't see 'em." "Did anybody see 'em?" " I see 'em now." " Well?" " Will, bandit on zero." "Hold on to your lunch, Joey." "Echo Six, bandit's closing!" " Where is he, Will?" " He's right on your damn..." " Oh, Jesus!" " Bastard!" " How many K's we got left?" " Sixty-five." "We have a heat problem." " What the hell's Will doing?" " Say your prayers, toad face." "Shit!" "Engine heat beyond normal!" "Blast 'em, and let's get out of here!" "That's Fyrine four, unexplored territory." "Okay." "Do it." "Aah!" " We're hitting atmosphere." " Visors down!" "I lost him!" "What's on the scope?" "Willie, pull out!" "We're gonna burn up!" "Damn it, where is he?" "He ejected!" "He's out!" "The bastard's out!" "Come on, Joey." "We're punching out!" "Oh, shit!" "Get your nose up." "Get your nose up." "That's it." "Get up, get up!" "Easy." "Come on, Joey." "Come on." "Joey!" " Are you ok, Will?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "Will... when you see Merchison, just don't call her "the white balloon" anymore." "It hurts her feelings." " Okay, Joey." " And don't let the guys call her that." "I liked her." "It's a promise, Joey." "Now, you be still." "You lay quiet." " Will." " What?" "I'm really tired." "I'm sorry, Joey." "I'm sorry." "I could see where the Drac fighter went down." "Its ejection capsule couldn't be far from the wreck." "I just hoped it wasn't dead... yet." "It's funny, but I'd never actually seen a Drac." "I knew they were completely inhuman, not even male or female, but both, bundled together in a scaly reptilian body." "Burn, you mother!" "Burn!" "Ha!" "Burn, sucker!" "You blew it, toad face!" "...Earthman." "Hey, Drac, I'm hungry." "Hungry." "You understand that?" "Hungry, huh?" "Hey, you understand any English, toad face?" "What?" "...Earthman." "Stick it." "So your name's Jerry Sheegan." "So what?" "Do you want to know my name?" "Willis E. Davidge." "How about some food?" "Some food." "Give me some food!" "Fooood." "Davidge?" "You're kidding." "Drac!" "Wake up, Drac!" "Wake up!" "Wake up!" "Cut me loose!" "Help me!" "Meteors!" "Help me!" "Yeah, you said it." "Drac!" "I could have killed you easy." "You owe me one." "What did you say your name was?" "Your name!" "Your name!" "All right." "All right." "Now, listen, Jerry." "Listen." "Listen." "Meteors fall here." "Uh, shwoo!" "Shwoo!" "Many meteors here." "You understand meteors?" "Uh, zerki." "Zerki fall here." "Zerki fall here, many zerki." "We're out in the open." "If we stay here, we, we die." " Die." " Die." " Die." " Yeah." "What we got to do... is we got to take all... the goodies out of that thing of yours." " Neesay." " The neesay." " Nehsayyy!" " Nehsay!" "Yeah, nehsay." "Get our butts up higher in the forest." "Up there." "At least there's some cover up there." "Cover?" "You know, cover?" "Earthman..." "Exactly." "I'm glad you agree." "Yeah, yeah." "Next time, huh?" "I'll put that knife right up your kazoo, if you got one." "Okay, toad face." "You gonna shoot me?" "Go ahead, shoot me." "Go on, shoot me!" "Go ahead." "Do it now!" "Shoot me!" "The point is, Draco, whether we live or die." "I don't love you, and you don't love me, but we're stranded, understand?" "You get it or don't you gavee English, huh?" "Yeah, poogah." "Write and tell my mother, you big frog." "Look." "We have to build a shelter with stones." "Shelter." "You gavee?" "Shelter?" "It was slow going." "Since I had to communicate with that lizard," "I tried learning a few words of its crude lingo." "Hey, Drac." "Drac, uh..." "Forget it." "Enough talk." "Let's get on with it, huh?" "Shit!" "Of course, the Drac was picking up a few words of English, too." " Yeah!" " Shit!" "Shit?" "What do you mean, shit?" "No solid." "It's solid." "I'll show you." "Huh?" "Ha ha!" "Not solid." "Left foot." "Right foot." "This is my left foot." "This is my right foot." "And this am both my feet." " Yeah, great." " Yeah, great." "This is my head." "That is your ugly head." "No, no." "This is my head." "That is you head." "You ugly head." "Ha ha." "That is Davidge's ugly head." "All right, that's enough!" "You keep that up and you can learn English all by yourself... because I'm not gonna be your teacher anymore." "Sorry, Davidge." "That's better." "You know, while you're having such a good time and doing nothing," "I am trying to think of ways to improve our situation." " Okay." " You know the old saying, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." "Davidge, you learn this from great Drac teacher, Shismar?" "No, from Mickey Mouse." " Who?" " Mickey Mous-s-s-se." "Mickey Mouse." "Is this great Earthman teacher?" "Yeah." "Sort of." "Shine its ever-lovin' light on me" "Let the midnight special" "Shine its light on me" "Let the midnight special..." "Forget it." "Mmm!" "Delish." "Have one." "Don't forget you helped me acquire the taste." "Besides, I'm going to improve the menu." "Soon we picked up..." "one side or other side." "What, with the war going on?" "We got more chance of catching a Greyhound bus." "Humans, easy you give up." "Shismar teaches us... intelligent life takes a stand." "Where did you get that crap?" "Out of that little book you're always reading?" "I'm the one that's taking a stand." "Remember, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you sons of Shitmat." "Shismar!" "Yeah, whatever." "This war begun by you, by humans!" "You know something, Jerry?" "Your great Shismar ain't shit." "Earthman, your Mickey Mouse is one big stupid dope!" "Yea!" "Meat!" "Stay there, you mother!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Aha!" "You dirty rotten son of a bitch!" "Shit." "Hey." "Hey, God dang it!" "Hey." "Get out of here!" "No!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Aah!" "Jerry!" "Oh!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "Jerry!" "Help!" "Get it!" "Thank you." "Thank you." "Go ahead." "Aah!" "Aah, God!" "You saved my life." " Why?" " Maybe..." "I need to look at another face... even as ugly as yours." "So you still think humans are ugly, huh?" "Compared to a Drac, very ugly." "But that thing out there... was even more ugly than you." " Thank you." " You are welcome." "Ha!" "That's it!" "Even that thing under the ground couldn't bite through this." "I bet these shells are meteorproof." "They're meteorproof!" " What?" " Zerkiproof!" "Zerkiproof!" " Where would you be without me, huh?" " Back home." "Ah, shit!" "Hey, Professor, how about a little help, huh?" "Don't you ever get tired of reading that book?" "No." "Well, what's in it, anyway?" "Things." "Oh, for Christ's sake!" "It is called talmon." "It contains the words of our great teacher, Shismar." "I suppose you have to know the Drac language to read it, right?" "It would help." "So teach me the Drac language." "It is not for you, Davidge." "Shismar is too good for us humans, is that it?" "Not too good for humans, but too good for you." "Now you're a judge of character." "Do you not remember what you say about Shismar?" "Well, maybe you forgot what you said about Mickey Mouse!" "That was wrong." "I did not mean it." "I didn't mean what I said about Shismar, either." "Jerry, what, what are you..." "This book must be given to the pupil." "I then become the master." "I am not worthy, but there is no one else here." "Time passed, as time does." "We ate, we slept." "And sometimes I listened to the skies... for some faint hope of rescue." "In the meantime," "I studied its language and read its talmon." "Translate." ""If one receives evil from another," ""let one not do evil in return." ""Rather, let him extend love..." ""to the enemy, that love might unite them."" "I've heard all this before... in the human Talmon." "Of course you have." "Truth is truth." "But what you have not yet learned... is the way we Dracs express the truth." "The words of Shismar must be sung." "Jerry!" "Let's go!" "Come on, Jerry, move it!" "Run!" "Get up!" "Get up, damn you!" " What do I have to do, carry you?" " I am sorry." "We live like cannibals." "You get so fat, you can barely move." "You'll never conquer the universe in that state." "Conquer the universe?" "We were here 1,000 years before you!" "Well, in case you haven't heard, Drac face, we legally annexed this star system." " You invaded this star system!" " Bullshit!" "You're the invaders." "No." "We are explorers." "We are founders of worlds!" "What do you think we are, Drac face, homebodies?" "We've settled twice as many worlds than you." "Exactly." "You spread like a disease." "Then what the hell are you going to do about it, huh?" "You'll see what we do about it, Earthman." "We fight." "Some fighter you are." "You wouldn't last a week without me." "You owe your miserable existence to me." "We'll see about that!" "Get out of my shelter!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out of my shelter!" "You son of a bitch!" "It's my shelter!" "I built it!" "You son of a bitch!" "I'll kill you, you bastard!" "I'll kill you!" "I'll kill you!" "Jerry..." "I think we're starting to go crazy." "What we have to do, we have to start moving." "Do you think we really are alone out here?" "Of course we are alone." "I don't know." "I had that dream again." "There's this big ship in my dream." "It's so loud, I wake up." "And then I can still hear it." "It was a dream." "I don't know." "Maybe." "But I do know if we stay here, we die." "Sooner or later, we'll die." "If this planet don't kill us, we're gonna kill each other." "You sure you won't come with me, huh?" "Davidge, I stay here." "I have no interest in your dreams." "Any chance is better than no chance." "Come on, Jerry." "You're just being stubborn." "No, I am not just being... stubborn." "If I find help..." "I'll come back for you." "And if you do not?" "Then I guess we both die." "Alone." "I'll see you later." "Hello!" "Anybody!" "Core samples." "They're core samples." "Scavengers." "What I'd been hearing at night was the scavenger ship." "The scavengers were human..." "barely human." "They were outlaw miners who raped whole planets for precious ores." "They hunted Dracs for slave labor so we tolerated them." "I could only hope they'd found nothing." "I had no idea what I was going to say to Jerry." "Davidge... how cold do you think it's going to get?" "I don't know." "I guess we'll find out." "I am happy you came back." "Jerry?" "Hey, Jerry, what's wrong?" "I could not go with you." "It is no longer my life that matters." "I am not fat." "I am not lazy." "Davidge." "I await a new... life." "A new life?" "From where?" "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God?" "Are you telling me you're pregnant?" "You're going to have a baby?" "A little Drac?" "But how?" "Well, don't look at me!" "Jerry, you can't do this to me." "With you humans, birth is a matter of choice." "With us Dracs, it happens." "When the time comes, it just happens." "That is why I could not go with you." "My child is all..." "I have now." "Davidge, tell me." "What... did you find... out there?" "Nothing." "Like you said, it was just a dream." "Zammis." "Hmm?" "Zammis?" "Zammis." "Soon." "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry, look out!" "I can't see!" "I can't see!" "Over here!" "Help me!" "Come on, Jerry." "Don't you quit on me." " Tell me about Zammis." " Zammis?" "What kind of name is Zammis?" "There are five names in a Drac's lineage." "I am Sheegan." "Before me was Gathic." "And before Gathic was Islane." "Come on, keep talking." "Before Islane was Tighe." "Before Tighe was Zammis." "Up there." "Look!" "One day I must stand with Zammis... before the holy council on Dracon... and recite our lineage... so that Zammis may join... the society of all Dracs." "You wanna eat?" "I can't." "Maybe we should open up a little place here." "I could ruin the food." "You could frighten the customers." "Davidge." "I will teach you the Farebeat line." "Before or after breakfast?" "It is an honor I offer you." "I'm sorry." "Right now just staying alive is honor enough, huh?" "All right." "I will learn your lineage." "Let us begin with your parents." "Who were they?" "My dad's name's Carl." "My mom's name's, uh..." "Dolores." "Their deeds?" "Well, Dad works for a company that makes computers." "And my mom, she used to be a waitress." " Waitress." " Yeah, before they got married." "And their parents?" "We used to visit my grandpa when I was just a kid." "He had this place out in the country." "I think he was a farmer." "And, uh..." "Grandma was just a good cook." "Oh." "That is your lineage." "Here stands before you..." "Willis E. Davidge." "Fighter pilot." "Son of Dolores, who used to be a waitress." "And Carl, maker of computers, who in their time were born of Grandpa, possibly a farmer." "And Grandma, good cook." "You make it sound pretty thin." "It is thin." "But I am honored... that you entrusted it to me." "My own lineage is very rich, Davidge." "Learn it from me." "Allow me to do you this honor." "It will be a good gift between us." "Jerry went on singing its lineage, back to the founding of its home planet... 170 generations ago." "To keep Jerry happy as the winter raged on," "I, too, learned to sing the Farebeat line." "What's wrong?" "Zammis... is coming." "Oh, God." "God." "What do I do?" "I don't know." "Something..." "is wrong!" "Oh, no." "No, no, no!" "You're gonna be all right." "The women always get nervous before labor." "I am not a woman." "Oh, but pregnant people..." "Things get nervous." "Everybody gets nervous before labor." "Besides, I mean, if anything happened to you," "I'd be left here all alone." "Huh?" "Just because business has been a little slow lately, you expect me to run the whole place alone?" "You are alone." "Within yourself, you are alone." "That is why you humans... have separated your sexes... into two separate halves, for the joy of that brief... union." "You don't know diddly-poop about humans." "Do you think just because you Dracs got a lineage 200 miles long, you can blah, blah this name and blah, blah that name?" "Jerry!" "Jerry!" "Jerry?" "Jerry?" "Davidge." "Listen to me." "You... must be a parent... for Zammis." "Don't kid around, Jerry." "What do we do now?" "You... must take my place." "When the time comes... you must find a way... to take Zammis... back home... you must stand beside Zammis... before the holy council... of Dracon... and recite... its lineage." "You must, Davidge." "Swear this to me." "Shut up." "Keep pushing." "Do whatever you do." "You must... take Zammis to Dracon." "Swear." " No!" " Swear." "Swear." "All right." "All right, I swear it." "I swear it." "Just don't die on me." "Now... you must open me." "Here." "This place." "Don't be afraid, my friend." "I can't!" "Then you... must... want... to... have this war." "You... have... s-s..." "No." "Jerry." "Oh, please." "Gosh, Jerry, what am I supposed to do now, huh?" "You taught me all about the Talmon, the line of Jareeba, but you didn't say nothing about taking care of baby Dracs." "So long, Jerry!" "Oh, all right." "Ok, we're going to try it again, huh?" "Come on, doll." "Come on." "Eat." "Come on." "Zammis." "Zammis, come on." "Come on." "What am I supposed to do, run down to the market for Gerber baby Drac food?" "This is all there is, pal." "Watch." "Watch me." "Watch." "Hmm?" "Hmm?" "Mmm!" "Come on." "Okay." "Come here." "Like this." "Come on." "See if you like that." "Do you like that?" "Huh?" "Huh?" "Come on, kid." "Yes, that's it!" "That's it." "Chew it now." "There you go." "Hey, squirt!" "Let's fly, huh?" "I guess he was an ugly little cuss, but no uglier than the pictures of those other kids... that used to be shown around the mess hall." "Of course, he grew slightly faster than a human child." "I'm going to start calling you beanstalk." "You outgrow your clothes faster than I can even catch them." "Don't spread your fingers." "Fingers?" "Yeah, these." "Fingers." "Cattuh." "Fingers." "They're not the same." "Well, of course they're not the same." "You're a Drac, I'm a human." "Look, look, uh... now, you have three fingers." "One, two, three." "Now, I have five fingers." "One, two, three, four, five." "Zammis get four five?" "No." "You're a Drac, and I'm a human." "Human?" "Yeah, um..." "human is me." "Drac is you." "Now, I'm a human because my parents were human, and your parent was a Drac, so you are a Drac." " Got it?" " I'm a Drac!" "Yeah!" "Yeah, great." "Uncle!" "Uncle, wait!" "Wait!" "Huh?" "Uncle." " What was that?" " Spacecraft." " Were there humans inside?" " I don't know!" "I'm going to go find out!" "Uncle, please, can I come?" "No!" "Stay here until I get back." "Uncle, why are you afraid?" "Uncle, please!" "No!" "You stay inside the cave!" "So, that's why when we walk or we hunt, we always go in the direction of the rising of the sun." "Never in the direction of the setting of the sun." " Is that clear?" " Yes." "Because if those men ever find us... we'll never see each other again." "But, Uncle, they're humans, like you." "Shut up and eat." "I tried not to think about the scavengers." "Instead, I concentrated on Zammis." "I finally figured it was time to start his education." "The name of this game, Zammis..." " Is football." " Football." "Now, these trees are my defensive line." "Those trees over there are your team." "They're a bigger than real players, like the Houston Oilers, and a little bit slower, but not much, all right?" "You go down to that end of the field." "That's your end zone." "Okay?" "Go on." "Hey-o!" "All right, now, when I kick the ball to you, you catch it and you try to run past me, if you can, through these two guys there." "That's your goal line." "You got it?" " No." " Just do what I tell you." "It'll be fine." "All right?" "All right?" "Here comes the kickoff." "Pick it up!" "Pick it up!" "Now run!" "Now run." "Run!" "Come on!" "Go!" "Zammis has got the ball!" "Look at him weaving through that defense!" "Davidge has got the ball!" "Oh!" "At the 20-yard line." "I like this game." "It's a great game." "You don't normally get to eat the ball." "That's a bonus." "I've simplified the rules for the conditions here." "Small teams and so on." "I've been thinking, Uncle, about those humans you saw." "Maybe they are friends with the Dracs." "Maybe they asked them to come and work." "I wish that was true." "I have never seen a Drac, only my own face in the water." "I wish I was not a Drac." "I wish I had your face." "Oh, Zammis." "I wish I had five fingers." "Oh, Zammis." "Listen to me." "As Dracs go, you are a great-looking kid." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "It's just that... you've never seen your own kind." "Now, someday, you're going to go home, and you're gonna forget all about this god-awful planet... and all about me." "I will never forget you, Uncle." "No, I guess you won't." "I won't forget you either." "Uncle?" "What was my parent like?" "Zammis... your parent... was my friend." "Hey, Zammis." "Hey, Zammis." "Hey, Zammis!" "Oh, no." "Hey, Zammis!" "All right, move it now." "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Hey, Johnny, look here." "A fine little woggie, if I ever saw one." "Surprise, surprise." "Looks a bit stringy to me, though." "No, he's just fine." "Tough as nails." "A born worker." "Ah, you pathetic little bugger!" "Run about!" "Run about!" "How do you suppose he got here?" "Aah!" "Let's have a look." "See if his daddy's around." " Aah!" " Aah!" "Hey, you slimy bastard!" "God damn, he's got you hot and bothered!" "Don't worry." "I'll slow him down for you." "You ripped my face, you slimy little Drac!" "I'll make you pay." "Uncle!" " Who the hell are you?" " Let him go!" " Uncle!" " Zammis, no!" "Uncle!" "Uncle!" "We entrust our brother to God's merciful keeping, and we commit his body to space." "From ashes to ashes, from dust to dust..." "Jesus Christ!" "Didn't they just fix that thing?" "Oh, shit." "Who's listening, anyway?" "Next." ""Gavorki, George W. Agnostic."" "No music." "So long." "Next." "Where's the damn tag on this one?" "Those jerks in prep are really getting sloppy." "So, have a look inside." "Look at this poor freak." "At least he's in one piece." "Some guys have all the luck." " Nope, no tag." " We'll give him a John Doe." "Protestant." " Hold it!" " What?" "Go ahead, take it." "Zammis..." "Jesus, he speaks Drac." "Three years." "Where the hell has he been?" "That's Will, turning up when you least expect him." "He was found on the fourth planet of the Fyrine system, where he just might have been working for the other side." "Are you crazy?" "That's Will Davidge in there" "Davidge!" "I will die!" "I will die!" "I don't know how long I lay there... before the surveillance team picked me up." "They thought I was dead." "Well, the medics have had time to nail me back together." "Now I've got to go back." "Will!" " Hold it!" " I'm going, with or without your help." "No way." "I'm sorry." "We put our asses on the line for you." "You owe us for that." "I can't let you go, Will." "Never mind." "Let him go if he wants to be an asshole." "Hello, pilot." "Please identify." "Davidge, Willis E. Got to log a couple of hours." "Mr. Davidge, you have no authorization." "Please de-plane immediately." "No way, Charlie." "I'm going out." "Shut down those engines, mister!" "Get the hell out of there!" "I'm going through!" "I swear it!" "Now you open those doors." "We have an emergency." "I'm going through!" "Open them up!" "Open the doors!" "Now!" "Zammis." "Jareeba Zammis." "Jareeba Zammis!" "Zammis?" "Zammis, huh?" "Zammis?" "Zammis?" "Gavee?" "Talmon." "Talmon!" "Hey!" "What's all this standing around?" "Come on, back to work!" "You miserable slime!" "Where do you think you are?" "A goddamn retirement home?" "Move!" "Move!" "What are you staring at, slimebag?" "Son of a bitch!" "You are Uncle." "Of course we know your Zammis." "He spoke only to me, for only I know the Earthman speech." "Where is Zammis now?" "Somewhere in their ship, if he's still alive." "What a lousy hand this is." "How about a redeal?" " Is that you, Dagget?" " Yeah." " What's going on out there?" " Trouble." " What kind of trouble?" " This kind!" "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Zammis, wake up!" "It's Uncle." "Zammis!" "Oh, no, no, no." "Zammis." "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Aah!" "Hi." "Hey, this guy's B.T.A." "Thanks for the hot tip." "What are you doing here, B.T.A. Man?" "You see that I'm impatient, don't you?" "I remember you now." "You killed my brother Johnny." "I thought you croaked out there." "Wake him up and bring him along." "Get up!" "We don't carry you." "Shit!" "Hold it, sucker!" "Yeah!" "Let's drop the little woggie in the soup." "What do you say?" " Boil his bones!" " Don't do it!" "Stop!" "Yeah!" "Hey, B.T.A. Man, where are you?" "I want you to see this." "Where are you, you son of a bitch?" "Come on!" "Don't!" "No, don't!" "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Zammis!" "Yah!" "Wait, wait, wait!" "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!" "For my little brother." "Oh, no!" "Oh, no!" "It's time to say good-bye." "Zammis." "Zammis." "It's me." "Wake up." "Zammis, wake up." "Wake up." "It's Uncle." "It's Uncle, huh?" "Zammis... get four five." "Uncle, you look terrible." "I do?" "I really do." "So do you, you little tadpole." "I told you I'd never forget you." "And so Davidge brought Zammis and the Dracs home." "He fulfilled his vow... and recited the line of Zammis' fore fathers... before the holy council on Dracon." "And when, in the fullness of time," "Zammis brought its own child before the holy council, the name of Willis Davidge... was added to the line of Jareeba."