"Nice planet you've got here," Lieutenant Commander Akkan murmured sotto voce to the large reptile which had surfaced nearby. It simply gazed at her with huge solemn eyes as it bobbed about in the crystal clear water, clearly finding the comment so self-evident it needed no reply.
Smiling, she drank in the unspoiled tropical island paradise before reluctantly turning her gaze to less idyllic images: her own shiny scoutship, the two buses bringing the first lucky contingent of her space-weary ship-mates down for some shore-leave (quite literally, she thought with a grin), and beyond, to the bulk of the starship itself, floating a few miles up in the atmosphere. For an all-too-brief interval, she had been the only 'civilized' being within thousands of miles, while she conducted her survey to find the optimal spot for some rest and relaxation for the crew... "Well, it just doesn't get much more 'optimal' than this..." she thought appreciatively, as the warm sun beat down on her skin. These islands contained no indigenous predators large enough to cause concern - well, she amended, except for some large predatory fish-like creatures in the sea, but they weren't that common, and easily repelled. These islands afforded a perfect location to bring the starship itself down close to the surface, to replenish water and other life-support requirements needed for the long haul the rest of the way out to the Rim and back; not to mention, relaxation and recreation time for the crew. Non-interference was absolutely paramount to Akkan's people, so the discovery that there was a race of sapient beings on this world, not too dissimilar from Akkan's own people, was at first a cause for concern... even though they were still technologically primitive, they were rational enough to be 'impressionable' - which could have dire consequences on their cultural development, should they get even the least inkling of the existence of Akkan's folk... So the pleasure of cataloguing another sapient race was tempered by concerns that could preclude any landing on this resource-rich world. Fortunately, the demographic scans revealed fortuitous conditions - they had arrived in that relatively short period during which large scale global expansion was still in its early stages: While the indigenes had spread to most portions of the major continents, they were only now starting to expand across the great ocean, which covered most of this hemisphere. The great starship could descend to the surface thousands of miles from the nearest set of inquisitive eyes. And paradise truly awaited them! Only a few would come down at a time, but Akkan knew the great ship could stay until every member of its crew had had the opportunity to spend a few days relaxing in this idyllic, tropical setting. Then, of course, a final sweep would ensure that every last trace of their presence was removed, returning the island to its pristine state; at least until the indigenes arrived here, some centuries hence. Akkan envied them their eventual stewardship of this wonderful place... and they would never know that they were not the first to set foot here... She turned and trudged back to meet the arriving shuttles, leaving only footprints in the sand...
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