He responded with something on the order of “Rakul,” except that the k somehow came out as two syllables. It sounded like a nut being cracked. It didn’t matter. His eyes lit up, and Hutch followed her inclination and hugged him. “I’m glad to meet you, Arin. Maybe we have more in common that I thought.”

“And maybe,” added Derek, “you just did something damned stupid. Be careful.”

There were more attempts at exchanges. The islanders were talking with one another in a manner than made it clear that whatever fear they might have felt had dissipated.

Gradually, Hutch was feeling more relaxed. Getting off this world was going to be a major problem, but the atmosphere had certainly calmed.

Someone arrived with a food tray. It was filled with strips of a lemon-colored fruit and crackers. Hutch picked up one of the strips and looked toward Beth.

“Probably won’t hurt you,” Beth said. “But no guarantees.”

It was going to be all they’d have for a while. She put the strip on a cracker and took a small bite. Not particularly tasty, but it went down easily. It might have been trout that hadn’t been cooked properly.

“It’s good,” said Derek, trying to look pleased.

•  •  •

“We have to let Wally know we’re still alive,” said Derek.

Hutch nodded. She’d been doing an internal count, trying to keep track of the time. Her best guess was that it had been about forty minutes since the Eiferman had left the area. It would take approximately an hour and twenty minutes to complete an orbit. So, it was probably halfway around the planet. “So how are we going to do this?” asked Ken. “Go out on the beach and jump up and down?”

“That’s probably the best we have.”

The islanders came close, two and three at a time, and tried talking with them. They were obviously enjoying themselves. The nonverbals weren’t hard to pick up, especially from creatures with large eyes that lit up every time one of the visitors spoke to them. They were especially good at signaling that whatever had just been said had eluded them. But it was okay. We’re all friends here.

In time, the young ones came in too, invariably accompanied by parents.

Eventually, Derek and Arin came over and sat down beside Hutch. “I’ve been trying to explain to Arin that we’ve got another vehicle in the sky, and that we need to signal it and let Wally know we’re alive.”

“How has that gone?”