Lona of the Three Moons

Birth

Dark, masculine eyes stared at the dimly lit room and watched with nervous intent, the swift, sure movements of the mid-wife.

Presently, the harsh cry of a baby broke the tense silence of the cottage and the man's vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. A daughter, Lona. At the midwife's consent, he stepped across the room to his wife's side and lightly carressed her cheek.

"My beautiful daughter, my beautiful Lona," she whispered, holding the child gently. She smiled up into her husband's glowing face.

Outside, the three moons of Erron flashed in a glowing triangle above the dark horizon and the people celebrated the sign. One gazing from a tower far away did not.

Thus began the life of Lona among her people.

The Corpse That Should Not have Been

Genesis

The dead man had been found floating face down in a musty-smelling river that ran through the steaming jungle world of Geshun. Amazingly, the corpse had not been touched by predators and Geshun had many as the Sci-Scout team had discovered with the loss of several members. The body was perfectly preserved. The technicians from the Universal Lab soon discovered the reason.

Galactic records showed no human life ever having existed on the planet. Geshun was newly discovered and had as yet not received the necessary approval for colonization. Hence, the purpose of the expedition that found the dead man.

The Galactic Confederation had no trouble believing most of the Lab's report. The man had been murdered with a space-age biological agent. Hence, the unique preservation and lack of animal mutilation. And the body could have been dumped there by a ship that had neglected to post this particular stop-over for obvious reasons.

But one detail left the VIPs in the Confederation flabbergasted and more than a little disturbed.

The corpse was over 3,000 years old!