Exile

A lone Terran astronaut, the only survivor of a crash‑landed probe, has spent ten years living among the highly cultured Tepoktans, a species of scaled, trunk‑bearing scholars hidden beneath a towering Dome of Eyes. Each day he offers the curious crowd glimpses of human space‑flight, while they return his questions with meticulous, almost reverent scrutiny. The atmosphere of the stone‑walled lecture hall is a mix of awe and gentle impatience, as the Tepoktans cling to every fragment of his knowledge, hoping to fill gaps that their own astronomers cannot reach.

When news arrives that another ship has touched down on Tepokt, Kinton must decide whether to abandon his lecture and confront the newcomers or stay for the eager scholars who have made his exile a strange sort of purpose. His aide, Klaft, urges him to conserve his dwindling strength, while the audience awaits the next revelation. The story explores the delicate balance between sharing hard‑won experience and protecting a fragile self that has grown to love this alien sanctuary.