Nick brought Rockhunter to a halt and stared at Petra's little game animation for a moment, then switched to the resource scan they had been doing all along. Iron was present in the hill ahead, in the shape of bars, columns, and a few other things. Blinking, Nick turned off the filters that were preventing Petra from showing the most common elements. Most of the screen filled up...but there were gaps, containing oxygen and probably nitrogen? Whatever element 7 was.

  They've dug out a tunnel system just like Petra did. They're hiding underground from the Death Star, the same as me.

  Nick searched for the entrance, and it took him a minute of fumbling with the scanner to figure it out. He wished he had brought the 3D display along. Once he had found what he was looking for, he started Rockhunter up the slope again, slowly, heading for the access to the tunnels. He started getting very nervous.

  Oh, man, do not fuck this up, do not fuck this up... He watched the cameras, which were not showing as much as he would like in the starlight. Rudolph was below the horizon, so it was dimmer than usual outside, with nothing bright enough to cast shadows.

  “Distance to the entrance?”

  “10,450 centimeters and less.” 'And counting', she means.

  How close should I get? Nick wondered. He hit the transmission control. “Hello. This is Nick. I am close to you now. Where should I stop?” He knew that the aliens wouldn't understand him, but hoped they would get from his tone of voice that he was not hostile and was asking questions.

  He caught movement on one of the cameras, coming from up ahead. He squinted, trying to see details. They looked...sort of people-shaped. He saw two, then four, then six, then eight, all spreading out in a line facing him.

  Okay, yeah, that looks a little too much like a firing line to me. Imma stop right here. Nick brought Rockhunter to a halt. What do I do?

  Nick did not want to start a war by accident. He didn't know how to talk to these people. He couldn't offer them food because he didn't know what they ate. He had been hoping to show them the element samples from Petra and see if they liked them...

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Actually, yeah. Let's do that.

  Nick turned Rockhunter so that the hatch was facing away from the aliens, then he opened it and stepped out. Quickly, he set out the samples in a neat row, including one silver coin and one copper coin along with the hexagonal ingots Petra used. On impulse, he put out a can of tuna as well. Maybe they can look at the label and see the alphabet and stuff? Then he hopped back inside and closed the hatch. A quick look at the aliens on the camera showed that some of them were staying put but one was moving to either side, like they wanted to encircle him.

  Yeah...no thanks. Bye. Nick got Rockhunter moving away, and built up speed quickly. A few of the aliens seemed to be moving in pursuit, but they weren't as fast as Rockhunter so Nick went up the neighboring hill and then paused.

  He hit the transmit button again. “Hello. This is Nick. You... get... gifts.” He adjusted the headlights on Rockhunter into a very narrow beam, and aimed it at the spot where he had dropped off the samples. He flashed the headlights a few times, then backed up a little more and waited.

  If they keep coming after me, I run south for a while until I lose them before I go home. The aliens moved closer...and closer...and one of them approached the spot where he'd laid out the ingots. Nick fiddled with the cameras, trying to get a better look.

  They did seem people-shaped: one head, two arms, two legs. It was hard to make out more in the dark at this range, and he didn't want to spook the aliens by blasting the searchlight on one of them. Half of them were gathering around the samples, while the other half spread out but didn't advance towards Rockhunter.

  Do I stay or go?

  Nick suddenly realized that he should have built a video communicator and left it with them. Now that I know where they are, I can drop it off whenever. Sounds like a plan.

  He hit the transmitter and said, “I ...go...now. Goodbye.” He turned Rockhunter away from the aliens and headed south. The aliens kept talking on the radio, but Nick just made sure Petra was recording everything and didn't respond. After a few more minutes, the alien radio fell silent. It was a long, quiet ride back. Nick didn't have much to say.

  First contact, and nobody died yet. Could have been worse, he thought, trying to look on the bright side. I just really hope my germs don't kill them or visa versa.

  He made it back to Petra's dungeon before the Death Star rose. As soon as he had eaten and washed up, he looked through Petra's communicator options again, until he found the cheapest one with video and enough range. They had enough materials to build two of them, so he got that going.

  Next time, after I drop one of these off, I'm going after that element 90.