[ WP ] `` Or , here and there , peppered across space , maybe , there are worlds something like our own . On which other beings gaze up , and wonder as we do , about who else lives in the dark . ''

The beings speak a language you would not understand. It's not words or even, truly, a language, not an audible one. Their body language says everything they need to. In time, they will develop a sense of telepathy that is, in reality, a minuscule manipulation of space time that will allow them to see milliseconds into the future. 
 
 But, they, like us, look up into the sky, a sky with no moon to illuminate their night, and ponder about who or what else lives in the dark. On this night, two younglings with black skin and spots of liquid dotting their epidermis look at the stars. Tonight is a special night though. They wait, the younglings with no gender that would be discernible to us, for a ship. It starts to appear with flashes of light being emitted behind it. This planet is 8.4 light years from our own, and these younglings will be the key to our converging paths. 
 
 Both of them will spawn the future of their kind who will meet with our kind in a tragic beginning. The argument continues to this day as to who fired first. For me, the argument is mute. A 200 year war almost destroyed us, but we found peace and survived. We found that two vastly different intelligent races could live in peace and eventually crossbreed. It was a stroke of luck or the doing of Blarankdoll that we did crossbreed. Why? 
 
 Our crossbreeding was important because there are darker things out there among the stars. Beings that attack planets for sport and without provocation. We had never heard of Earth or the United Solar System from which they had come. We were nothing more than a prize to them, so easy we were to kill. However, our crossbreeding did have a benefit above peace. It would prove to be the only effective tool that we had to keep away the menace from that pale blue dot known as Earth. 
 
 I thought we were ugly, and our crossbreeding resulted in ugly beings. We were nothing compared to the Earthlings. They hid an ugliness that was not visible immediately. It was proof that some things were better left in the dark. 
 
 *** 
 
 If you enjoyed this, I have more stories at my subreddit: r/nickkuvaas
