Chapter One
Going For A Ride
If you read the first book, you know that Zem, Bev, Sue and I were on our way out of Zem and Bev’s island beach house. We are heading to the door to go outside. Heading toward their spaceship that they had parked out on the beach. Panny, a creature called a Falik and a female falik named Lika were out playing on the beach. Zem and Bev were walking arm in arm. Sue and I were walking arm in arm following a few paces behind them. Zem and Bev exited their house and walked out onto the beach. As Sue and I exited also, Sue looked at Zem and Bev and said with a big smile, “The first place we’re going to. Do you visit it very often?” Zem and Bev turned slightly with smiles on their faces. They paused briefly to let Sue and I walk next to them. As they did so, Bev said, “We sometimes do. But most often in our free time, we just explore.” While we walked toward the ship, I noticed that off toward the horizon the clouds were beginning to break up and there was more sunlight shining through the gaps. I said, “It’s too bad I couldn’t send my sister some postcards. Boy would she flip out.”
Zem, Bev and Sue chuckled a little. I just grinned more widely. Zem said, “I’m sure she would. But something tells me she is going to be flipping out at some point in the future anyway.” (As you probably remember from the first book, human caused global warming was going to cause the earth’s demise a lot faster than anybody expected. In about fifty years, most of the live on earth will be gone. But Zem and Bev were going to allow us to save our families) I chuckled a little as Sue beamed a wide grin at Bev and Zem. I then said with a wide beaming grin myself, “I suppose she will be. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.” As we approached the ship, I could see Pim and Mim settling into their hemispherical depressions on the front instrument panel. Zem said, “Do you know if your sister or her husband believe in U.F.O.’s?” I said, “My sister and I discussed it a few times in the past. We both came to the conclusion that they probably existed. As for her husband Ed, we never discussed it.” Zem said, “Well hopefully they won’t flip out too bad. And the less religious they are, the less they will flip out.” I said with a more somber expression, “I don’t think my sister or her husband Ed are very religious.”
As we all stepped onto the ramp of the ship, Bev said, “I hope not. I would hate the thought of helping anybody who thought of advanced beings such as ourselves as demons.” We paused at the top of the ramp and turned back toward the beach as I added, “I know my sister wouldn’t. But if Ed even hinted at it, though I love my sister and am fond of my niece and nephew, I would just leave them to their fate.” Zem said with a slight smile, “Well that will be your decision to make.” Sue said to Zem and Bev with a smile, “As I said before, after learning what Erik and I have learned, I can’t see anybody holding onto any stupid monkey voodoo religion.” Panny and Lika had come over to the edge of the ramp. Zem looked at Panny and he reluctantly came aboard. Making slight little whimpering sounds as he kept looking back at Lika. Panny turned around and sat down when he got to the inside of the ship. Lika had her cute little front paws on the ramp. Lika was making a little louder whimpering sounds as she and Panny looked at each other longingly. Sue said with some slightly sad compassion in her voice, “Aw. It looks like Lika wants to be with Panny.”
Bev looked at Zem and said, “Can we bring her?” Zem looked at Bev with a somewhat stern look and said, “We’ve talked about this before. You know what a handful two of them can be.” (As you remember, back on the ship Pol-Wim, Sue came out of the bedroom after everybody had gone to bed. Sue looked at me with a hopeful look mingled with a little apprehension. The whole event which we later showed to Zem and Bev) Bev clasped her hands over her chest and said with pretty much the same expression as Sue had, “Please darling.” Sue and I also looked at Zem with hopeful looks. A loving look came over Zem’s face as he looked at Bev. Zem caressed his hands up Bev’s arms as he said, “You know what that look does to me darling. I suppose it will be alright.” Sue and I grinned at each other. Bev kissed Zem and then hugged him enthusiastically. Then Bev said, “Thank you sweetheart!” Zem became more pleased as Bev hugged him. After a few moments of this, Bev seemed to think something to Zem. Because Zem said verbally with passion in his voice, “Oh darling!” Zem had his eyes lightly closed with a loving look on his face as he embraced Bev a little more firmly. Sue and I looked at each other as we grinned and hugged also.
After a few extended moments of their loving embrace, Zem and Bev parted a little and they both smiled at Lika. One of them must have thought something to her. Because Lika abruptly leapt onto the ramp, scampered aboard the ship and tackled Panny. They rolled around on the floor chattering excitedly to each other. They were obviously happy to be together. Zem and Bev released each other more as we all grinned at them. The ramp began to raise and the little bit of sand that was on it slid off from it as if pushed by some invisible broom. Panny and Lika were running around on the couches as Sue and I smiled at Zem and Bev. Zem and Bev smiled at us as Bev said, “One of our favorite places happens to be in this galaxy. We’ll go there first.” Sue and I were grinning with anticipation as Zem and Bev turned and started walking toward the front of the ship. Sue said to Zem and Bev as we went with them, “Can we set up front with you?” Zem and Bev both grinned at Sue. Bev said, “Sure.” Zem said, “Erik is half way to being a UFO pilot anyway.” Though Sue and I figured that Zem was just being kind, Sue and I’s grins widened a little. Panny and Lika were still excitedly scampering around.
Panny jumped on Zem’s mid section to very briefly hold on before jumping off of him to the other couch. Lika followed Panny in the same manner. Zem glanced at Panny and Lika and apparently thought something to them. Because they immediately settled down. As we approached the front of the ship, I stepped over by Panny and Lika, who were hugging each other on one of the sofas. I held out my arm and said, “Panny, Lika.” Zem and Bev glanced back with smiles on their faces as first Panny and then Lika jumped on my arm and clambered onto my shoulders. Zem, Bev and Sue laughed as Sue reached and took hold of Lika. Zem said, “I told you two could be a handful.” I laughed a little as I took hold of Panny in my arms and Sue took Lika in her arms. We both petted them as we continued toward the front of the ship. Zem sat down in the front seat on the left. Bev held out her hands to me and said, “I’ll take Panny for now.” As I handed Panny to Bev, I said, “Ok.” After Bev took Panny, she held him in her arms and petted him as she sat across Zem’s lap. I sat down in the other front seat and Sue sat across my lap. Both Zem and I held our girls a little as they petted their pets.
The holographic sphere appeared in the air. As before, it was near where Pim and Mim were. It showed a representation of the galaxy we were in. This quickly changed to an arm of the galaxy. Which then changed to a group of stars, then a solar system and then to a planet. The view outside the window went black for a few seconds and a half lit planet materialized out the front window. Bev turned to us and said, “This is a very popular destination. This planet’s called Sachen. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some other beings about.” As Bev was saying this, Zem flew the ship toward the lighted area of the planet at a frightening speed. Panny moved from Bev’s hold and sat his back paws on Bev’s thigh. He put his front paws on the instrument panel. As he excitedly looked out the front window, Sue said, “Panny isn’t going to activate something he shouldn’t is he.” Zem continued to pilot as Bev smiled at Sue. At the same time, Bev put an arm around Zem’s shoulders and said to Sue, “The instruments aren’t programed to respond to the touch of a falik.” We stopped abruptly in the atmosphere. Though as usual, I didn’t feel a thing.
We must have been about eight to ten miles above the surface. Below us, I could see partially forested mountains and canyons. There were lakes and rivers here and there. To the right, there was a bit of ocean in the distance. There were large puffy clouds scattered about here and there below us. Zem smiled at Sue and I and said, “Without Pim and Mim around, they will respond to a human touch. So be careful.” This made Sue and I grin. Sue said, “I’m not touching a thing!” This made Zem, Bev and I laugh a little. Which Sue quickly joined in on. Lika was wiggling around a little. Apparently she wanted to do what Panny was doing. So Sue released Lika. Lika put her front paws on the instrument panel with her back paws on Sue’s thigh. Lika happily took in the scenery too. Sue put an arm around my shoulder as I petted Lika a little. Bev looked out the front window and looked back to Sue and I. Bev said, “This planet is a little larger than earth and the atmosphere is a bit thicker. But at this altitude, you won’t notice much difference.”
Zem slowly moved the ship down lower and off to the right a bit. In the distance, there appeared to be a rather large mass of birds. Though as we got closer, I could see that they weren’t all of the same size and they weren’t quite as bird like. Sue said, “Wow!” as we got closer. Getting closer yet, they started to become more massive. Panny chattered excitedly. I had no doubt he had done this before. Following Panny’s lead, Lika also chattered a little excitedly herself. Looking at the flock of creatures, there had to be at least a hundred of them. The closest thing I could describe them as would be manta rays. But a tiny bit thicker. Along the bottoms of them, they were fairly flat. Though there was a bit more outward curvature along their backs. Here and there, the wings of some slowly flapped up and down in the air. As we got close to them and started flying amongst them, Sue and I’s expressions had changed to amazement. These creatures were massive. The largest had to be two hundred yards across and nearly as long. Though there were a few babies flying that weren’t quite as big as our ship.
There were a few others which were laying on larger ones’ backs and others on their undersides. They had wide mouths in the front and rather small eyes off to the sides of their mouths. The color of these creatures on their undersides was pale bluish color. Though their backs were a deeper shade of greenish blue. Sue said, “They’re beautiful! What are they called.” Zem and Bev grinned at Sue and I. Zem said, “They’re called Tasers. (The first S is pronounced as an S. Not a Z) And they’re a lot of fun to ride too.” I said, “It that what we’re going to be doing?!” Bev then said, “Yes.” Sue and I looked at each other with surprised, happy looks on our faces as Zem and Bev looked back out the front window. Sue and I’s surprised, happy looks turned to grins and we turned also to look out the front window. Bev pointed to one and said, “Let’s go to that one honey.” Zem brought the ship quickly to a point about sixty feet above the back of the one Bev pointed to. Bev grabbed Panny and set him on the floor. Sue did the same with Lika. They both happily scampered toward the back. Chattering a little excitedly as they went. Then Zem and Bev stood up and smiled at Sue and I.
Sue and I were still grinning as we stood up also. Bev said, “Shall we go?” Sue and I took hold of each other’s hand as we started toward the back of the ship. Zem and Bev took hold of each other’s hand as they walked next to us. Pim and Mim followed them. Sue said to Bev as we went, “It isn’t going to be too cold up here with your top is it?” (Bev was wearing the same top she had on back at the beach house. It was light blue and long sleeved. The collar was slightly V necked. There was a solid band of material that went around the top at breast level. The solid strips of fabric that went down the tops of Bev’s shoulders, around her collar, cuffs and around the bottom of her top were appropriately wide. The rest of it was made up of strips of fabric that were about an inch wide. These ran horizontally and vertically. Between the strips of fabric were squares about an inch wide that had no fabric. Making these areas look like a lattice) Answering Sue question about her top, Bev said, “No. It’s nice out.” Panny and Lika were happily playing around a little at the back of the ship.
As you know if you read the first book, some maketake machines had two alcoves. One for making and one for taking. The one on this ship had a larger than normal sized single maketake alcove. As we approached the back of the ship, eight Nal came out of the maketake alcove in a group. These split up and two came to hover near Sue and I. Another went to hover near Panny and Lika. The others went up near the top of the ramp. Eight more Nal came out of the make alcove. These all lined up near the ceiling where the other ones were.
The back ramp began to open. As soon as there was room, the Nal that were lined up near the top of the ramp darted out. As we stopped near the ramp, Sue and I turned to Zem and Bev. Sue said, “Where are those Nal going.” Bev said, “You have probably seen nature shows showing fish around reefs who go and hang out while smaller fish clean them. Well the tasers appreciate it when we send Nal to perform the same sort of function. Though they can do a little more than just clean.” Sue and I smiled at each other. Bev’s answer made perfect sense.
The smell of this atmosphere was clean and fresh smelling, with a tinge of coolness to it. Panny and Lika scampered onto it before it was completely down. The back ramp stopped at a horizontal position. Bev stepped over to the maketake machine and retrieved what I took to be a beach blanket. Bev handed it to Zem. As Bev went for another, Zem said, “The tasers aren’t that dirty. But a blanket will help.” This brought grins to Sue and I’s faces again. Then Bev handed me a blanket. I said, “Thank you.” Zem held their blanket as he and Bev walked out onto the ramp. Sue and I went with them. We paused out on the ramp to take in the view. It was magnificent. We were about three miles above the surface of the planet. There were tasers flying all around. One near us was a little over half the size of the one we were above. It was about thirty five feet above and fifty feet behind the back end of the one below us. The distance between most of the tasers averaged about a hundred yards. Some were flying higher than ours and some were flying lower. Here and there, we could hear these creatures give out short, foghorn like calls. We all walked to the back edge of the ramp. Zem looked at us with a grin and said, “Lets go.”
Zem and Bev then jumped off the ramp. Panny and Lika went next. Sue and I briefly exchanged grins. Then we jumped. We fell about thirty feet. Then, just like when Pim first levitated Zem and I back on earth, I again had that brief sensation of being surrounded by water. We then all floated down onto the back of the taser. After we all landed on its slightly spongy feeling back, it started to move a bit erratically up and down. Sue and I briefly took on slightly alarmed looks as Sue steadied herself and said, “Whoa!” Zem and Bev weren’t bothered much. Which quickly relieved any anxiety Sue and I were feeling. Zem said in a slightly jovial manner, “Everybody scratch!” Zem dropped his blanket as he and Bev dropped to their knees. Then they started scratching all around them. Panny and Lika started doing the same. Sue and I dropped to our knees too as I dropped my blanket next to me. We started scratching all around us too. The skin of this creature felt like somewhat soft plastic.
Our taser gave out a low frequency foghorn like call that seemed to have a hint of pleasure in it as the creature settled down. I could also feel the sound through the parts of my body that were in contact with the creature. Bev looked at us with a smile and said, “He’ll be fine now.” Sue and I both grinned. Which Bev and Zem did too. The Nal that accompanied Sue and I flew off to tend to other tasers. Panny and Lika’s Nal flew to just in front of and a few feet above the head of our taser. Pim and Mim stayed behind. Bev and I picked up our blankets as we all stood up. While we did so, the other smaller taser that had been behind us flapped its wings a little quicker and started to glide toward us at slightly above the height of my head. I could tell that it would easily fit between us and our ship that was hovering above us. Bev dropped her blanket and said, “It looks like somebody wants a pet.” I dropped my blanket again. Pim and Mim lowered a little to let it pass. Sue and I instinctively ducked a little and we both said with awe and surprise on our faces, “Whoa!”
Again, rather than being bothered, Zem and Bev found pleasure in this. Probably because it was something that they were used to. Zem and Bev started happily scratching on its underside. Sue and I did the same as it slowly passed over us. I could feel its body vibrate briefly as it emitted a low frequency sound that was almost too low to hear. Our taser gave a similar response that I could feel through my feet. There were two fairly large nostrils near the front underside of the taser passing over us. Farther off to either side were two areas with five slats that appeared to be gill like structures. Which I took to be used for filtering things out of the air. It made a low pitched, moaning like call from its mouth as it continued to pass overhead. Its nostrils opened as it passed over. I could hear air rushing in and then out. Once it had gone past us, it banked a little off to the right and gained a little altitude. The Nal that had apparently been under our taser, cleaning it, started making passes around its mouth.
Our taser opened its cavernous mouth and the Nal went inside. Presumably to clean in there as I had seen videos of small cleaner fish do with larger fish around reefs. A baby taser had been on the back of a nearby, apparently adolescent taser. It pealed itself off it’s back and did a spin in the air as it flew in our direction. It flew down and started heading toward the back of our taser. We all grinned as Bev said, “Look at the baby!” Sue said, “It’s adorable!” It made a more high pitched call as it came to land on the back of the taser were on. It landed a little ways closer to the rear. The taser we were on vibrated. Emitting a sound from its body that we could feel in the air and through our feet. Though it was at too low of a frequency to actually hear. Zem said, “I think it’s curious.” Other tasers without a Nal tending to them seemed to be heading in our direction. I could see some other Nal coming from the back of our ship and head toward these other tasers. I didn’t know if they were going to chase them off or clean them. Maybe they were going to do both. I was too enchanted by the baby taser to bother asking.
I looked at Zem and said, “Could you make a couple more Nal to take more panoramic shots of us?” Zem said with a grin, “Sure.” Then Zem seemed to briefly think something. We all then went back to looking at the baby taser. I could see the baby taser’s eyes looking us over. It then undulated its wings across the back of the larger one we were on and came right up to us. Our grins widened a bit as we all knelt to pet this creature around its front. It had its mouth open a little and was breathing in and out of it. I figured that it was using its nostrils on its underside to create a suction for holding on. Panny and Lika climbed onto its back and started scratching it a little. Sue said to the creature, “You’re so cute!” Bev giggled a little. Zem said while he was rubbing it, “What ya doing little fella!” The baby wasn’t exactly what I would call little. But it was cute. It gave out five short higher pitched calls almost as if it was answering Zem. It also vibrated its body a little. The creature we were on again vibrated itself in its own fashion. We continued to rub and scratch around the front of the baby. I ran my hand across its lower lip.
Sue saw what I was doing and did the same. The baby snapped its mouth shut on our hands. Sue gave out a delighted little high pitched utterance and pulled her hand out. It didn’t hurt at all. Sue giggled. Zem, Bev and I laughed a little. Then I pulled out my hand. Sue started petting the baby again and said, “I think we’ll call you “Snappy.” We all laughed at this new name as we continued scratching and rubbing around its front. As we did so, it gave out another series of short, higher pitched moaning like calls. Bev said with a grin, “This is a friendly one. They don’t often initiate contact this.” We continued to pet it as Sue said to Bev with a grin, “Maybe it’s because it hasn’t seen a human before.” Zem said with a smile, “I don’t think one this young has seen much of anything before.” Then Zem grinned again as the rest of us were doing. I said, “I can see why this is one of your favorite places. This is all so amazing!” Bev said to Sue and I, “We knew that you would like it.” Sue’s grin was accompanied by a bit of a surprised look as she said to Bev, “How could anybody not!” Zem, Bev and I laughed a little. Which Sue quickly joined in on.
We were of course all in agreement with Sue’s enthusiasm. Panny and Lika continued to help us pet the baby as they sat on its back. Bev started to rub a hand along the baby’s lips again. Sue did the same. The baby again clamped its mouth shut on both of their hands. This made both Bev and Sue give off giggle-laughs. Zem and I laughed too as Bev and Sue pulled their hands out. The baby taser then gave out a few short calls. Almost as if it was expressing amusement too. After a few extended moments, it blew some air out from its underside and flapped its wings a little. The front of its body started to rise up. Panny and Lika slid off its back as it rose up into the air more. It then started to glide over us. Zem, Bev, Sue and I scratched on its underside as it slowly passed over. It seemed to like this as it gave out a little louder, higher pitch call. As it passed out of reach, it flapped its wings and slowly rose up to near the other one that had flown over us earlier. We all stood back up. Sue said, “That was wonderful!” I said, “Yeah. But I’m glad it didn’t poop on us.”
Zem, Bev and Sue laughed. Which I quickly joined in on. After a few moments, Zem added with a little bit of laugh still coming out of him, “That would have been pretty bad.” We all laughed a little more. After the laughter, we all grinned at each other again. Bev said, “We can have a seat now.” Bev bent down and picked up her beach blanket. Sue bent over and picked up the other as Bev unfurled hers. Zem helped Bev lay theirs out. The blankets were light blue with colorful, artistically styled pictures of tasers and clouds on them. Sue and I stepped over and laid ours next to theirs. As we did so, Sue said to Bev with a smile, “The pattern is adorable.” This made Bev grin. Which the rest of us did too as Bev said, “Thank you.” When we were through, we all sat on our blankets and put an arm around our partners. Panny and Lika went to sit next to each other on Zem and Bev’s blanket. Sue looked over at Zem and Bev and said with a smile, “How do these creatures stay aloft.” The rest of us were of course smiling as Bev said, “They have a number of hydrogen filled sacks inside them.”
Sue said with a slight look of concern on her face, “Isn’t that dangerous?” Bev said, “No.” Sue smiled again as Bev added, “They are pretty fire retardant. Even getting struck by lightening is unlikely to kill them.” Zem then said, “As Bev mentioned, the atmosphere is also pretty thick. Along with oxygen and nitrogen, there is also a good amount of xenon gas in it. Which helps keep them afloat.” I said, “What do these creatures eat.” Bev said, “At night, the tasers fly lower to scoop up insects that rise up above the forests. During the day, they receive a lot of their energy from photosynthesis.” I said, “That must account for some of the green color.” Zem said, “Yes. A green chlorophyll like substance is quite common throughout the universe.” We all looked at the incredible panorama in front of and around us. Sue pointed off to the right a bit and said, “Look over there. A U.F.O.!” We all laughed. It was pretty funny, seeing how we were sitting underneath what people on earth would consider to be a U.F.O. We looked over to where Sue pointed.
About three miles away, there was a craft roughly the same size as ours coming down out of the sky. Zem said, “Looks like someone else is out for a ride and a view.” We all grinned at each other as Sue said, “This is an amazing activity.” Sue and I then briefly grinned at each other. Then we turned our attention back to the other spacecraft. It came down to just above another large taser about three quarters of a mile away. Apparently not being all that interested if the sight, Zem and Bev went back to looking at the amazing surroundings. Sue and I did the same. Though we would occasionally glance over at the other spaceship. It wasn’t too long before I saw two beings lower down from what must have been an opening in the bottom. One of whom was carrying what must have been a blanket. I couldn’t make out a lot of their features at this distance. All I could really make out is that they were fair skinned, bipedal and wearing somewhat normal looking clothing. Sue saw what I was looking at. Then Sue said to Bev and Zem with a smile, “What kind of beings are those.” Zem and Bev smiled at Sue and I. Bev said, “Their kind are called Imlen.” Sue and I looked over at them. As did Zem and Bev. I could see them laying out a blanket. Sue said to Bev and Zem, “Are they nice beings.” Bev said, “Yes, they are quite nice. We would say hello. But I doubt if they came here to socialize.” Sue and I nodded understandingly at Bev. Then we went back to taking in the wonderful scenery. Zem and Bev leaned the sides of their heads together. Sue and I did the same. Panny and Lika were laying next to each other near the front end of Zem and Bev’s blanket. As they looked at the scenery too, they entwined and caressed each other’s prehensile tails. It was very adorable. Zem and Bev as well as Sue and I every now and then would give our partners a little extra caress or nuzzle with our heads. After about five minutes of this, the creature we were on pitched downward a little. This didn’t really alarm any of us at all. As we had seen other tasers occasionally do the same thing. Though we all parted our heads from our partners and took in the sight with interest. Panny and Lika sat up a little and took on a bit more of an excited look. The air rushed pass by us a little quicker as Zem chuckled and Bev said, “Wee!”
Sue and I laughed a little. Even though this maneuver gave us a slightly alarming view of the planet’s surface far below us. But Sue and I knew that we were in no danger. We also got a good view of the other tasers that were flying around here and there in front of and below us. After this slightly downward plunge, the creature rose up again giving us a good view of the sky and the other tasers that were flying around above us. We couldn’t see Snappy anymore. He had probably landed on the other slightly larger taser near us. Our taser then resumed its level flight. It gave out another low pitched, moaning, foghorn like call and vibrated a little. Sue said, “I wish the earth had creatures like this.” I looked at Sue with a bit more of a somber look and said, “If the earth had a habitat to support them, I doubt if they would like it. You know how our kind unfortunately like to exploit things.” Sue took on a somber look too.
Zem looked at us and said, “They would have probably even found a way at one point to use them in warfare.” Sue and I gave Zem and Bev somber nods in agreement. Bev smiled and said, “But having learned a better way, you will find humans on planet Bev to be different.” This made Sue and I grin. Then we all turned our attentions back to our happy surroundings. After a few minutes of this, Sue looked at Bev and Zem with a grin and said, “Let’s take a picture of us sitting closer together.” Bev said with a grin too, “That would be nice.” Sue got up and sat next to Bev. Zem and Bev released each other as Sue did so. I got up and sat next to Sue as Bev and Sue put an arm around each other’s backs. Pim and Mim hovered a little bit above us all. The Nal that was near the front of our taser came over and rested on the taser about eight feet in front of us. Zem and I took hold of our girls’ shoulders as we all leaned in next to each other and grinned at the Nal. Bev said, “Say cheese!” Zem, Sue and I chuckled a little. Then we all said, “Cheese!” Even Panny and Lika looked at the Nal with their sharp toothed grins.
The Nal emitted a flash of light. Probably to let us know that a picture had been taken more than anything else. No doubt with the tasers here and there in the sky behind us, along with the puffy clouds here and there, this would make for a very nice picture. Sue looked up at Pim and Mim. Sue said, “You didn’t grin!” We all chuckled a little. Mim said, “Sorry.” Then Sue said as we all grinned at them, “That’s ok. Let Erik and I hold you for the next one.” Sue and I held out the palms of our hands. Pim came down and sat in the palm of Sue’s hand. Mim settled in mine. Then Sue said to Pim and Mim, “You two ready?” Grinning mouths appeared on their surfaces facing Sue and I. Just like they had done when we were taking wedding photos. Sue said, “That’s better.” Zem and Bev grinned at each other briefly before returning their attention back to us. Pim and Mim rotated their grins around their surface to be facing in the direction of the picture taking Nal. Pim said verbally, “Everybody say cheese!” Panny and Lika looked at the Nal too and did their adorable grin imitation again. The rest of us leaned into each other again.
Then the picture taking Nal flashed again. We then straightened ourselves out. Then Sue looked at Bev with a grin and said, “That will be a keeper too.” Sue then grinned at Pim and held him up a little more. Sue said, “Thank you Pim.” I held Mim up a little too and said, “Thank you Mim.” Pim and Mim made their grins disappear as they started to rise up in the air. As they did so, Pim said verbally, “You’re welcome.” Mim said verbally, “Thank you too.” They started circling around each other’s surfaces at differing angles as they rose a little farther into the air. Zem, Bev, Sue and I grinned at each other. Zem said, “It’s a good thing that Pim and Mim don’t need to keep photo albums. It would be an exceeding thick photo album if they did.” We all chuckled a bit. I said, “I have no doubt.” Then I got up and helped Sue up. Sue and I stepped back onto our blanket as Zem and Bev again embraced each other. Sue and I sat down and did the same. We all returned our gaze back to the wonderful panorama in front of us. All of us had smiles on our faces of course. The picture taking Nal went back to where it had been for a panoramic view.