Cousin Stars — A Universe from the Mind of monki86

In a region of space of which the Solar System is a part, for some reason all of the few life-supporting planets do, and for some reason the various life forms on them are very similar. All have mostly DNA-based life, for example, and all have plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. What they also all have is a more or less sentient, in most cases bipedal species, and a handful of those are already space-faring. It is the present decade, and, as we know, humanity isn't among the space-faring species yet, barring the couple of people sent to the moon and into orbit. But sometimes a human meets a visiting member of one of those other species.