There were those strange ripples again. Steve poked his head above water to investigate.

Tiny creatures in a tiny wooden vessel greeted him with shouts of “KRAKEN!” (Their word for hello, Steve surmised.) He returned their hospitality by giving the vessel a hug.

Whoops, thought Steve. Hope they can swim.

David Dezell Turner is an astrodynamics PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder. When he isn’t giving directions to real spaceships, he’s probably writing about fictional ones. Check out more of his work at daviddezellturner.com/