Max stopped abruptly. Jennifer ran into him. Silently the two couples began curiously look at each other. Humanoids were a man and a woman. Rather, a young man and a young girl, about the same age.
‘Max, people.’ Jennifer whispered in the back of Max. She was caught by the odd excitement.
‘I see.’ Max took another step forward.
Near the humanoids did not loose their surprising similarity to human beings. But at the same time there were significant differences for which it was simply impossible not to draw attention. The saved by them humanoids had dark, thick, shiny – as if covered with the several layers of lacquer - beautiful hair, of a common size brown eyes. But pupils.... The pupils of the humanoids were defended by the hardly noticeable translucent pellicle. The picture, getting on it didn’t remain long, falling inside, focusing on the second eye, which flared up from time to time with the barely noticeable yellow glow. The faces of the humanoids too were different from the human’s faces. It was of an oval shape, with the handsome features. But the skin of the humanoids rather dark than white, was shining as if like a hair also was covered with a transparent protective layer of an unknown substance. That’s why the humanoid’s faces looked smooth and even, without the wrinkles and hair.
The skin had the slightly translucent inner layers, which in turn become transparent, glowing with a soft yellow-pink glow. But all changes started so slowly and naturally, that Max had no time to get used to it, even before they begun or ended.
The humanoids wore the odd clothes. The color and the appearance of it resembled their skin. Max even thought that it was their second skin, but after seeing a kind of pockets, dismissed this assumption. It is unlikely that in the galaxy there are humanoid creatures with pockets on their skin, although say it for sure he couldn’t.
The silence was too long. Max decided first to break it:
‘You shouldn’t hide any more. It's over.’
Nothing has changed in the beautiful faces of the humanoids.
“Probably they don’t understand me.” Max thought in disappointment. ‘Well, but how they can understand us? As if we understand them when they speak to us in their own language. We'll have to use the language of the gestures.”
But...
‘Thank you. We are very grateful. You have helped us greatly.’
Max, his face slightly got longer of surprise listening to speech of a humanoid. The Humanoid spoke in good English. Coped with his surprise, Max answered:
‘That’s all right. If not their ship, we would have dealt with them more quickly. Who are they? We thought the owners of the planet. And who are you?’ - And he thought: “I wonder why all the aliens know one or more of the earthly languages? Do they have all been on Earth? Did they study at our colleges?” Max had not thought how close he was to the truth.
‘Arlits. So we call them.’ Girl humanoid explained. She used her mouth without telepathy and mysticism.
Max gave her a curious look. He examined her from head to toe. The girl humanoid looked like a pretty mulatto. Max somehow was embarrassed. Maybe it was because for the first time in recent days he has seen the other girl except Jennifer. He did not know, but under the close and appraising look of the alien’s girl he felt himself a bit uncomfortable. Coughed, Max took off his eye from her. He looked at her companion. It was a young guy.
‘Do you have a war with them?’ Max asked, thinking that correctly assessed the situation.
‘War?’ A guy slightly turned his head to Max. ‘Arlits attack without any reason. We usually get rid of them without any problem.’
‘Just do not this time.’ Max put in not without a pleasure wanting seems to show off in front of a strange girl his own fearless.
‘Arlits are not the humanoids.’ Girl explained. ‘We do not understand them at all. They are completely stranger to us. Where are you come from?’ She asked. ‘And what's your name?’
‘We're from Earth. It is far from here. I’m Max. This is Jennifer.’
‘Earth?’ In the girl's voice sounded the surprise mixed with pleasure. ‘We’re from the Earth too!’
‘What? How? How from Earth? What kind of Earth?’ Max and Jennifer exclaimed at the dame time. Whatever else, but such an answer they did not expect to hear. Is Tondor someone else took from the Earth, and on board one of his ships sent to travel through the Universe?
‘I understand your surprise. Now I try to explain all. I'm from the Earth, but Noah.’ The girl pointed to her companion. ‘He’s originally from this solar system.’
‘Noah?’
The sounded name put Max and Jennifer once again in a shock. ‘In the Earth's history there is a legendary character named Noah. We did not think that this name so far widespread in the Galaxy!’ Max said, trying to understand joking with them the humanoids or talking quite seriously.
‘Yes. He’s right. You can also call us Lomma and Arrel.’
The humanoids were not kidding. It seems that they didn’t even know what it is.
‘I’m Noah.’ A guy introduced himself. ‘Next to me is Noahya. She really was born and raised on your planet. Some time ago, to be exact, twelve thousand years ago by your reckoning, I landed on your planet. There just begun planetary disasters. Floods. Part of the population along with the animals moved to a safe place. One earth’s girl stayed with me on the ship. According to the tradition of my people she got mine a little changed name. Now her name is Noahya.
Noah paused. There were not in the world the words that can describe the amazement which caught Max and Jennifer when they heard it. Meet a living, a real, not mythical Noah! And not on a wooden, but the spaceship! About this none of them could even dream. Still Max and Jennifer struggled to digest the information which they heard. But they could not. To meet a real nod mythical Noah. No, to make sense of all this they need time. They were captured by the feeling of something fabulous, magical, pleasant and unreal.
Jennifer is a practical, sober-minded woman, shook her head as if to get rid of the obsession, she thought that their new acquaintances just play trick on them.
‘But you have to be at least as many thousands of years or more. You must long ago; you could not live... so long.’ She said feeling that her ability to surprise reached the maximum limit. The feeling of unreality of what was happening did not leave her.
‘In the Universe everything is different. I mean time.’ Noah explained simply. ‘In the Universe is a different concept of time. In your world, all living beings die because they have not reached the limit of perfection in its development. In other worlds, more developed you can see quite different picture of life.’
‘Do you never get old?’ Jennifer felt her heart pounding.
Easy nod of Noahya’s head confirmed her words.
‘Do you never have wrinkles? The skin does not sag? Do not make the lift? Liposuction? You are not sick?’ Jennifer literally shot with questions, hoping in her heart that such a beautiful, with an unearthly beauty; the ideal girl might share some secrets with her. With the Earth poor girl who, alas, gets wrinkles, getting older and sick.
Well she even didn’t want talk and think about the future which would wait for her…for all people. As well known the future of all people was the same. Sadly and inevitably, but it was the same for the rich and for the poor for the clever and for the stupid. And now before Jennifer was a very real example of the other end. It was the eternal youth. It was the eternal Beauty. It was perhaps even the eternal life.
In all her questions Noahya only slightly negatively nodded with her beautiful head. For a moment, just for a moment, Jennifer thought that in the eyes of a strange girl appeared sad expression. But what could she be sad about? Perhaps about the fate which will wait for Jennifer.
‘Are you immortal?’ Jennifer breathlessly gasped her last question.
Noahya again nodded but this time positively.
‘High levels being in the Universe are immortal. They live forever. The planets get rid of beings with a low level of the intellect, clearing in such way the living space for the next more intellectually developed generation. Otherwise there wouldn’t be any progress. The progress stops. It’s some kind of an intellectual selection. And those last, the most advanced representatives of a kind, acquire the qualities inaccessible for the permanents individuals. In the other words the qualities which don’t belong to the mortal creatures. That is, they gain the eternal youth, the eternal health the eternal life. If we talk about your world, people who have died – is a kind of waste in the process of creating perfect beings in the future. Only through millions of genetic combinations, is born in the end, the perfect, invulnerable by the time or disease being. There are few of them, but they exist. They are also on the Earth even now. Immortal has always existed.’
Max and Jennifer were silent. All heard was beyond their comprehension. But one thing they knew for sure they had met with something really unusual and beautiful.
‘Your ship is destroyed. What are you going to do next? Will somebody come to pick you up? Did you send an alarm signal?’ Max decided to ask the real, practical questions in which he at least understood something. What if Noah and Noahya ask Jennifer and him to give them a lift to their native planet? He wouldn’t refuse them in such request.
‘When the civilization gets to a certain level of development, they build the ships-system.’ Noah spoke. ‘The main ship places stationary at a particular sector in the outer space, and if necessary, generates the copies of itself in different star’s systems. Today, we have already lost the second supplementary ship. Usually at the crash place always left some fragments, broken appliances. Every detail of our ship has its autonomous memory, the power source and the system recovery. The ship as usual after some time recovers from the wreckage and we can continue to travel through the Universe. But today Arlits very much tried, that we did not have such an opportunity.’
‘So that's why they chased and burned wreckage of your ship!’ Max said. ‘Now everything is clear. And what are you going to do?’
‘We have not decided yet. It’s our planet. We’ll think. Does it your ship?’ Noah pointed with hid head to the Tondor’s ship.
‘Now it’s ours.’ Max said without giving an explanation.
Noah, too, did not ask the clarifying questions. It seems Max’s answer quite satisfied him.
‘In principle, we ourselves are able to move in space without a ship. But this way of moving consumes the huge amounts of energy. Do not rational. It is better to wait for the ship to recover. If was destroyed all the wreckages we’ll be waiting till the mother ship will find us using the special signal. But this in no way detracts the value of your help. We appreciate it and very grateful to you. You might just fly away. Or stay and watch.’
Memo Noah about the ship reminded Max that their own ship could easily fly away, leaving them in the company of a lovely couple. Tondor told them that the ship in certain situations automatically returns to its base. They could spend with Jennifer out of the ship not more than an hour.
‘Do not mind if we continue our conversation on board of our ship? It is possible the attack of another Arlits. I'm sure they got the alarm signal. If you do not mind, we can give you a lift to your main ship. Just tell me how to find it.’ Max suggested, quickly turning to their own with Jennifer ship.
Thankfully the ship was on the same spot. But before its departure time was short. Max felt it intuitively. He could look at the clock of the phone, but he did not want to get in front of the eye of humanoids so primitive from their point of view device. They are probably long since forgotten about the mobile phones and the Internet. They probably have something different for a very long time, much more complex and more convenient. Although, Max personally had no idea what could be more convenient then mobile phone or Internet.
Noahya’s left cheek brightened, filled with the pale glitter who like the motes in a sunbeam, circled, dropping short rays of light inside her skin.
Max naturally stared at her.
Jennifer gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. At first she was scared. But then she admired. The unusual sight was so beautiful. That Jennifer even was jealous that she does not have such amazing skin. “Maybe they have such cosmetics. Probably their plastic sugary got so high level that people cannot even dream about it. Why I’m fool! What for they need a plastic surgery if they immortal.” Jennifer thought, continuing to admire the unusual decoration of amazing girls.
Noah’s face did not change. It seems that they are not a single organism, divided into two parts. Each retains its individuality.
‘We agree.’ Noah said after a pause.
The four of them went to the ship of Tondor.
 

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