Tan-Lin was almost at the end of her long journey. She looked at her destination through the round window. It was a planet. In many ways the planet was like her own. It had two big oceans, rivers, continents and high mountains. But in other ways, it was very different. This planet had only one moon. Her planet had two. And the people were different, too. She knew a lot about them and spoke three of their languages. They were dangerous people. They had wars. They killed.
'Are you ready, Tan-Lin?' Mecco asked. 'Yes, I'm ready,' she answered. Tan-Lin sat down in the big seat next to him. She put two big straps around her. One strap was around her legs. The other strap was around the top part of her body. Mecco pushed a button in front of him with one hand. With another hand he turned a small wheel. He pressed more buttons above him with his other two hands. They went down to the dark side of the planet.
When Thomas Farley first saw the light, he thought it was a star. He looked at the light through his binoculars. 'No, it can't be a star. It's moving,' he thought. The light came closer. Then he heard a strange noise. It was a low hum. The light stopped in the sky above him. Then it came down and landed in the field next to him. His mouth fell open. The low hum stopped. The strange object was dark in the light from the moon. Thomas heard another strange noise. A door opened.
Tan-Lin smelt the air of the planet for the first time. She walked through the door and stood on the ground. She looked up at the moon. She turned. Mecco was in the door. 'Goodbye, Mecco,' she said. The robot's one big eye was bright. He did not answer. He went back into the ship and the door closed. Tan-Lin walked to the road. The round object went up into the air. Then it was gone. Thomas watched with an open mouth. 'Nobody is going to believe me,' he thought.
Episode
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