Cherry Blossom Snow

A Series of Easily Avoidable Conflicts

On Earth, it was 1976. Not on or even near Earth, Nathan's ship made a close approach to Qualaso, a planet mostly covered by open plains and oceans of liquid water. Orbiting the planet was an enormous space station resembling a roulette wheel, slowly spinning to simulate gravity. Seeing the space station, Ruby, Henry, and Nathan decided that they should visit the planet's surface. They deorbited and flew low in search of a settlement. It did not take long to find one. As Nathan was unfamiliar with this planet, he first scanned the atmosphere, which he determined to be safe for the others. Upon landing, Ruby, Henry, Nathan, and Aurelia exited the ship, and as always, they had a Universal Communicator™ ready. Olivia tried to follow them with Schkalmfeld alongside her. Ur, however, would not allow it and went to stop them.

"This is an unfamiliar planet," said Ur. "We cannot allow you to go outside, as it is our duty to keep you safe, and we do not know yet whether this planet is safe."

"I think I'm old enough to be able to take care of myself," said Olivia.

"You are still a child," said Ur. "We cannot allow you to endanger yourself. Furthermore, we cannot allow you to endanger Schkalmfeld, as it is also our duty to keep her safe."

"You never let me have any fun," said Olivia.

"It is certainly possible that you both may be allowed to go outside later. You are usually permitted to do so once the threat level is assessed. Please wait until then."

"Fine."

Olivia picked up Schkalmfeld as she turned back, and as they returned to the ship, Schkalmfeld looked over Olivia's shoulder to Ur and held up her middle finger. Ur, however, was accustomed to being insulted and not being appreciated. Ur returned to the ship after Olivia and Schkalmfeld, and then met with Ja and Io. Meanwhile, Ruby, Henry, Nathan, and Aurelia were heading toward a nearby settlement. Then, they were unexpectedly met by a small green humanoid with four horns growing from his disproportionately large head.

"Hello," he said. "I am Crown Prince Tramdoflir of the Zhlarmpf Empire. I am here for a short time to supervise the research being conducted here. I was actually just preparing to return home when I was informed of some unexpected visitors to this planet. I hope your intentions are peaceful."

"We're nice," said Ruby. "We ain't gonna hurt you."

"That's good. I'm thankful. Welcome. The native Einosaf call this planet Qualaso."

"We only recently arrived, but thus far, it seems rather pleasant," said Nathan.

"Just be careful," said Tramdoflir. "They are easily frightened."

"What is the Zhlarmpf Empire?" asked Henry. "Where did you originate?"

"They are an empire controlled by the Zhlarmpf people," said Nathan. "They come from the planet Estvox in the galaxy of Nubecula Major. I'm surprised to see them here, though."

"The orbiting station is a recently established base for conducting scientific research in this galaxy," said Tramdoflir. "As you are in the process of forming a government for this galaxy, it would seem reasonable to suspect that you have noteworthy information about it. Would you care to share?"

"I suppose so," replied Nathan, who then turned to his companions. "You three may as well go on ahead. I'll stay here and talk."

"Finally, we have time to ourselves," Tramdoflir said to Nathan. "It's been too long, but you're still just as handsome as ever."

"Yes, I know. We can talk more about how wonderful I am later."

"You left so suddenly, and never explained why."