Pilgrimage (The New World) by Kurt Winans

It was an ongoing process for their species to try and communicate with life forms that they thought were ready both philosophically, and technologically, for the encounter. They also informed Ross that the two of them had actually only been to a few dozen of that large number of systems, and their current observation assignment had them rotating between this and three other nearby solar systems.
    According to the archives, many of the life forms that had been discovered were not yet ready for such contact, while others had developed to the point of searching the stars themselves for other inhabitants. In that regard they classified ₹-829-Ԅπ-3 , or Earth as they now knew it to be called, as an emerging planet whose dominant species could be ready for contact. During their most current observations of the past few centuries, the aliens had witnessed some significant progress on the planet from a technological standpoint. They also had major concerns about the mental and philosophical element of human evolution, because of the seemingly endless need for killing each other, and the destruction of natural resources.
    That new found information explained several things to Ross, such as the emblem on his grandfather Hank’s necklace that Ross had cherished for many years. Hank had received the gift from his father when he was only four years old in 1897, and it supposedly came from the crash site of a flying machine of some sort.
    When Ross informed the aliens of the necklace that he currently wore, which was the prototype of the emblem on the rover, they conveyed to him that it was indeed from one of their crashed scout vehicles. What was also intriguing to Ross was that by the aliens’ calendar that crash in western Texas had occurred less than four months ago. That meant that one of their months was approximately equal to twenty-five years on Earth.
    At the conclusion of their educational discussion, the two aliens helped Ross bring the dead body of Dennis back to the rover before they returned to their base. Ross had removed the heavy and cumbersome breathing pack from the body before doing so, as it was both no longer needed by Dennis, and the missing piece would be challenging for Ross to explain back on Earth. Ross then assured the aliens that he would not report their existence to his superiors back on Earth, but that future scheduled missions to the Moon could detect their base. If that were to happen, Ross couldn’t guarantee that those astronauts would also remain silent.
    The two aliens had seen so many acts of kindness from Ross over the past few Earth hours that they believed his statement. They informed Ross that they hoped future contact with him would be possible, but didn’t really think it was probable. If future contact could be made, they would attempt to do it in a discreet way to protect Ross. With that they shook hands, bid farewell, and Ross climbed into the rover.
    His new friends walked away and disappeared into the darkness, while Ross sat in reflective silence for several minutes before turning his voice recorder back on. It had been one hell of a few hours to say the least, as he had encountered an alien species from a distant world, watched his good friend and fellow astronaut Dennis die, and then formed a friendship with the aliens who were indirectly responsible for his death. Ross turned to see his dead friend in the second seat of the rover, and then began the powering up procedure so he could return to the shuttle and communicate with mission control.

 

     
     
    THE NEWS ROSS delivered to mission control had been shocking. Astronaut Dennis Strickland was dead due to an accident while conducting a normal survey exploration on the surface of the Moon. Ross had explained that he had heard a cry for help in a moment of panic, which was confirmed by the voice recorder, and that he immediately made his way towards Dennis. Unfortunately by the time he got to his side there was nothing that