"Mom? Mom, are you there?"

Zeebee looked up, and saw the human moving. Maybe he's finally regaining consciousness, Zeebee thought to himself. He had been making unintelligable noises before, but that was the first intelligable sentence he's made since the crash.

Zeebee pulled himself to a standing position, and walked the meter between where he had been sitting to where the human was lying. They were still in the muddy grass next to the river, about three meters from where the human's vehicle had crashed.

Zeebee was still cursing himself about that fiasco. He couldn't help feeling that the crash was his fault. After all, there is a reason for the regulations prohibiting contact with the native life forms; they're still too primitive to fully understand the concept of extra-planetary life. If only Zeebee had followed the regulations, and kept his head down, this all might not have happened.

Zeebee was only lucky that he had managed to grab his kinetic mobilizer while the vehicle was careening crazily down the road, and had managed to adjust it to project a shield around him before the vehicle went off the road, and crashed into the river. He had still been thrown out of the vehicle, but the shield protected him from the sudden impact of hitting the ground, so he managed to escape unharmed.

That was, however, more than he could say about the human. Apparently, the vehicle didn't have shields of its own, and the human was injured in the crash. Zeebee had managed to pull him out of the vehicle, just in case a fuel line broke and the vehicle exploded. Luckily, it hadn't.

Zeebee didn't know just how badly injured the human was, unfortunately. Zeebee was a collections specialist, not a xenobiologist. It was his job to get the specimens to the research laboratory. He wasn't the one who performed the examinations himself. Luckily, he had been trained with some basic first aid, and had done what he could for the human, but he would just have to wait and see if the human recovered on his own.

The fact that the human had spoken seemed like a good sign to Zeebee, but the fact was that he really didn't know, and that worried him even more. He sat down next to the human again, and set about checking the bandage on his arm, to make sure the wound wasn't infected from the mud, and resigned himself to the fact that he might be there for a while.

* * * * *

The first thing Josh noticed when he woke up was the mud. It felt like he was lying in pudding. The next thing he noticed was a dull headache, and a general soreness throughout his body. Wondering where he was, he opened his eyes. It was fairly dark, dawn or dusk, he couldn't tell which, but he could tell he was outside, somewhere near the river.

He began to sit up, and immediately regretted it. The dull headache flared up into fresh pain, and he closed his eyes for a moment to wait for it to pass.

When the pain passed, he opened his eyes again, and took stock of his surroundings. He was definitely lying in the mud next to the river, and his truck was about ten feet away, sitting nose-first in the river.

In the meager light, he could also barely make out a breathing body lying about four feet away from him. It definitely wasn't Bear, though it was about the right size. It was a person, but a weird-looking one. The arms and legs were a little too long for the rest of the body, and the head was way too big! Josh began wondering what kind of freak had kidnapped him, when his memories of the crash came flooding back to him.

He remembered 'Risa's phone call, and he remembered the rain. And he also remembered the face in his back window that totally freaked him out. For a moment, his panic returned, but he fought it back. It's asleep this time, he told himself. And anyway, we're not on the road now.

Josh stood up slowly, taking a moment to remember how to balance properly, and walked over to the . . . whatever it was. Yes, it was definitely the same one: the same pale skin, the same enormous head, the same contorted facial features. There was no way he would ever forget that image!

Then, suddenly, the being's eyes opened, and looked directly at Josh.

"Whaaa!" Josh exclaimed, startled.

"Eeee-yaaah!" the being replied, equally startled.

"Aaaaagh!" Josh added, then stumbled backward, and fell on his back. In the process he knocked his head on the ground, which caused the pain to redouble.

As soon as he could focus his eyes again, he saw the strange little being standing over him, looking anxious. It was as if it wanted to do something, but couldn't decide if it should or not.

"If you want to kill me, go ahead," Josh said. "In the condition I'm in right now I couldn't stop you."

The creature seemed taken aback. It simply stood there for a moment, looking around wildly, then sunk to its knees next to Josh.

"Don't be afraid," it said haltingly. It's voice was high-pitched, but not as strange as Josh was expecting. Whether or not it noticed Josh's confusion, it continued.

"I pulled you out of the crash," it said, pointing at Josh's truck.

"I bandaged your wound," it added, pointing at Josh's arm. He then noticed a piece of cloth wrapped around his upper arm, with a small blood stain on it.

"So you're not trying to kill me," Josh reasoned. "Because if you were, you wouldn't have tried to help me."

The being smiled and nodded.

Slightly reassured, Josh sat up. His vision went a little swimmy, but he managed to keep it under control.

"So what do you want with me?" Josh asked.

The being hesitated for a moment, almost as if embarrased.

"Help," it said, finally.

"From me?" Josh exclaimed. "You nearly got me killed!"

The being retreated a few steps.

"Not intentional," it said in its own defense, but Josh had gotten a hold of himself again, seeing how meek the being seemed to be.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to yell at you. Why don't you tell me what's going on, then we can see about help."

"Okay," the being said, and sat down in the mud next to Josh. It then took a deep breath, and seemed to pause for a moment to organize its thoughts. Josh realized that it was behaving very much like a normal person, and not the weird space alien that it looked like, whatever they were supposed to behave like.

"My name is Zeebee," it began. Josh choked back a laugh.

"I am Collections Specialist," it continued. "I was sent to collect two young Earth beings for examination. My scanners tracked down a pair of candidates last night: you."

"You were going to 'collect' me?" Josh interrupted. "For what? And -- wait a minute. You said two. You were going to get Theresa too?!?"

The being put up its hands in a placating gesture.

"We do not harm specimens," it explained. "Only examine. Since you were already sleeping, you would not have even noticed."

This satisfied Josh, for the time being.

"I landed my craft in front of the dwelling you were in last night," it continued, "and prepared to enter when I was attacked by a large furry creature."

Josh noticed that Zeebee's grammer was improving as he spoke, as if he had learned English well once, but hadn't used it for some time.

"I dropped my remote controller, and the animal accidentally caused it to depart for its next programmed destination. The controller was damaged in the launch -- it was under the engines. Then the creature chased me into your cargo vehicle. I managed to stun it, but it knocked me unconscious."

"Bear!" Josh exclaimed. "That's what happened to her!"

Zeebee looked at him quizzically.

"That 'furry creature' was my dog, Bear," Josh explained. "My girlfriend found her lying in the woods hurt."

"My appologies," Zeebee said, in a meek voice. "I did not mean to hurt it -- her. The stun should have worn off fully by now. I hope she did not get injured by the fall."

Josh was amazed by how genuinely concerned this Zeebee guy sounded. He couldn't stay angry.

"Well," he said, "at least 'Resa found her. She should be able to take care of her."

Then Josh did a mental double-take.

"Wait, you said it 'should have ' worn off by now. How long has it been?"

"Since we crashed here, two solar cycles have passed," Zeebee explained.

"IT'S BEEN TWO DAYS? " Josh exclaimed.

Zeebee only nodded meekly.

Josh looked up at the sky, and saw the increasing light in the east. Dawn. Then he buried his face in his hands.

"Theresa was supposed to move last night," he mumbled through his fingers. "I wanted to say goodbye."

"She was important to you?" Zeebee asked.

Josh took a deep breath, then finally looked up.

"Very," he answered. "I'd do anything for her."

Zeebee nodded.

"I do not have a mate back home," Zeebee said sympathetically, "but several siblings that I am very close to. I miss them greatly, but my duty keeps me away. Sometimes I bring one along, though, and that helps considerably."

Josh nodded back.

"I wish I could go . . . well, I wish I could have gone with Theresa," he commented. "But I can't."

"Why not?" Zeebee inquired.

"Well," Josh began, but then narrowed his eyes as he thought.

"Actually," he continued after a pause, "there really isn't that much keeping me here. I just graduated high school, Mom doesn't really need me around anyway, and my job isn't exactly critical."

Josh then shook his head.

"Geez, why didn't I ever think of that before?" he asked himself.

"I offer a deal," Zeebee then said. "I will help you repair your vehicle if you will help me reach my ship. Then I can take you to Theresa."

"Oh, yeah. Your ship took off without you. You're stranded," Josh realized. "Sounds good."

After taking a glance at his truck, he added, "How much do you know about pickups?"

* * * * *

If Zeebee had had to repair the primitive vehicle on his own, he probably couldn't have done it. He was highly trained in equipment maintenance, but he was used to somewhat more sophisticated machinery. The workings of Josh's cargo vehicle were so archaic that Zeebee was out of his element.

However, the human boy was an able technician himself (to Zeebee's surprise), and between the two of them, the managed to get it working.

The first thing they did was get the truck out of the mud. This was where Zeebee came in the most useful, since his Kinetic Mobilizer was able to lift it over to solid ground with ease.

"Man, I'd kill to have one of those," Josh had commented, obviously impressed.

Then Josh set to work on the engine itself. Zeebee had him explain what everything did, and was almost surprised that it had ever worked at all, being so primitive. Now and then, when Josh was not able to repair something as it was, Zeebee suggested an improvement, and the repairs were able to continue.

By the time they were done, night had fallen again, but the truck was running smoothly. Zeebee was impatient to get moving -- he had already missed his scheduled rendezvous with the Xenobiology team -- but Josh was still injured, and needed at least a good night's sleep.

As they settled into the cargo bay of the vehicle to sleep -- Josh called the area the 'bed' of the truck, so using it to sleep seemed to make sense -- Zeebee looked over at the large young human.

"You know, Josh," he said, using one of the colloquialisms that Josh used frequently, "I have never had the opportunity to directly observe one of your species directly."

Josh looked back at him.

"Really?" he remarked. "Was this your first 'abduction' assignment then?"

"No," Zeebee replied. "I have been a Collections Specialist assigned to your planet for several years now. But that's all I do. I catch the specimens, then deliver them to the Xenobiology teams to examine. Usually, the targets don't even see me. Those that do usually are afraid. I do not get to interact with them, as I have with you."

"Yeah, well, I don't get abducted by aliens often, either," Josh countered. "This has probably been good for both of us, then. It broke up a tedious assignment for you, and made me realize how much I really need 'Resa."

Zeebee nodded.

"I think I will go home after this, and spend some time with my siblings," the alien commented. Then put on a wry smile, and added, "And maybe find myself a 'Resa."

Josh burst out laughing at that, and Zeebee soon followed. After they laughed themselves out, they spent another half hour trading stories, like old buddies, then drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

In the morning, Zeebee moved the truck onto the road, using that miraculous little gizmo of his, and they got moving. The first thing they had to do was go to an electronics store, to pick up some supplies. Since Zeebee's remote control had been fried by his spaceship, he had told Josh that it needed to be repaired.

"What, doesn't the ship have a doorhandle on the outside?" Josh jokingly asked.

"No, actually," his small companion replied seriously. "Any controls on the outside of the ship would be burned up when it entered an atmosphere."

"Okay," Josh said. "I guess that makes sense. I'm just too used to cars, I guess."

So they pulled out and made their way into town. They had no trouble finding the electronics store, since this town only had the one.

Josh went in to buy the parts, but had to come out several times to ask Zeebee exactly what he needed.

"No, the don't carry parasistors," Josh told him. "Or trisilicate semiconductors, or Tachyon whatchamathingies. I don't even know what the Earth gizmoes do, much less your super-technology contraptions."

So Josh went in and out several times, until Zeebee had figured out what he could use.

"It won't be perfect," he complained as they drove away. "But it should get the ship to open, at least."

"Good," Josh replied. "So which way is the thing?"

"East," Zeebee answered. "Approximately three-hundred microvroots, in a rocky area near the primary local freshwater body."

Josh turned on him, with bulging eyes.

"Come on," he said. "Let's not get into that again!"

Zeebee looked up, shocked. Then they both burst out laughing. When Zeebee caught his breath again, he repeated the directions, this time translating the distance into something Josh could understand. Josh was starting to like his companion. They were developing a friendship that Josh would never have expected, and Josh couldn't help wondering what it would be like to have to say good-bye this time.

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