He walked along the long dusty corridor. Outside a storm raged on. Sulphuric acid rained from the sickly purplish sky of a planet that had long been dead.

His mission to a planet of his long forgotten ancestors was nearing completion. He studied the ancient glyphs along the walls, barely understanding the forgotten old language. His journey had been long. He was old, soon about to die.

The vault was designed just for this purpose, but he doubted its creators would have believed a creature from another planet would arrive to claim its contents. He reached for a clear rod and gently placed it into a pocket of his environmental suit. He had no idea of what it contained but surely the black beads inside were priceless, being stored here for millenia.

He walked slowly back to his ship and placed the rods inside. He couldn’t go back with the ship but he didn’t mind. His mission was done. A streak of lightning lit the ship and he read the glyphs on the rod. Helianthus annuus.

He sat down and smiled.