Six Blind Men & an Alien by Mike Resnick

sure there were no life forms within half a mile, then donned his goggles and stepped out onto the snow and ice. He took a deep breath and was pleased to find the air was thinner and the oxygen count lower than at the north polar cap. He looked down the mountain and couldn’t see any villages, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to see him or the ship either. He could hear the trumpeting of an elephant and the roar of a lion, but they were far down the mountain.
        He spent a few more moments walking around what he thought of as his new homesite, then re-entered the ship.
        "You’ll like it," he announced to his mate. "The air is delicious."
        "Air has no taste," replied Marbovi.
        " This air does," he said enthusiastically. "And it’s not as cold. I doubt that we’ll need any protective coverings at all."
        "You can stop promoting it," she said. "We’re here, for better or worse."
        "For better," he said. "You’ll see."
        "I’ll tell you what I won’t see," said Marbovi. "I won’t see any other Pharachi except for you and the children." She frowned. "Now or ever."
        "You’re looking at this all wrong," said Nibolante. "We lived. We survived. We will become the parents of a new race on a new world."
        "We are four Pharachi on a world where the inhabitants spend their time killing each other. Why do you think they’ll accept us-and if they don’t, how long do you think we can stay hidden on this mountain?"
        "Look," he said. "I wish the mother ship hadn’t been destroyed. I wish all our friends were here with us. I wish the inhabitants welcomed us with open arms. But we’re here, we’re alive, and we have to make the best of it."
        "This is not what I wanted for my children."
        "You can’t always have everything you want," he said irritably.
        They exchanged hostile glares, then went to opposite ends of the ship to sleep.
        Nibolante was up early in the morning, and took Sallassine and Cheenapo outside to see their new surroundings. Marbovi remained in the ship.
        "I have been studying the fauna on the computer," said Sallassine. "I can identify any that we see."
        "Try that ," said Nibolante, pointing to an avian that was riding the warm thermals a few hundred yards out from the mountain.
        "That is a fish eagle," said the youngster proudly.
        Suddenly Nibolante smiled.
        "What is so funny?" asked Sallassine.
        "I have to believe you," he replied. "I haven’t studied them."
        Sallassine identified two more avians, then stared down the mountain. "How far down may we go?"
        "Until we explore it further and see exactly where the villages are, I don’t want you going more than two hundred feet below the tree line," answered Nibolante. The youngster looked his disappointment, and Nibolante laid a hand on his shoulder. "When you are a little bigger, and we know the mountain a little better, you can accompany me some nights when I am hunting for food."
        "Really?" asked Sallassine, his face glowing with excitement.
        "Really."
        "Can we go down to the tree line now?"
        "Yes, as long as you both stay very near me."
        They made their way down the glacier to the tree line, then stopped and observed their surroundings. Suddenly Cheenapo pounced on something, and held it up a moment later.
        "What is it?" she asked.
        "It is called a lizard," said Sallassine. "It eats insects, whatever they are." He stared at it. "They can’t be very big, these insects." He stared at it more closely, then frowned. "It is a gecko lizard or a ugama lizard, but I cannot remember which."
        Cheenapo turned to her father. "Can I keep it?"
        Nibolante frowned. "Conditionally."
        "What does that mean?"
        "We must find out what insects are, and if they live on the glacier. If they don’t, the lizard will starve if