Isaac Minturn was on his way home from Myrtle Beach after a three-day series of business meetings. He was feeling cheerful now that the meetings were over. He was driving his city bus, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only four drinks with dinner. The drone of the engine and tires was taking its toll, and he was having that familiar internal discussion about just having an hour more of driving, but he should really stop and rest, but it's not really safe to stop alongside the road in this remote part of Wyoming, etc. etc. "I'm a Sneak for Winking at You" by The Pound of the chests was squawking on the radio. He was too tired to search for something better.
Suddenly, he was wide awake. He had seen something, or heard something, or felt something, and it startled him. He didn't know what it was, but his thyroid gland began to vex and his heart was pounding in his chest.
He wasn't consciously aware of stopping his vehicle, but found himself parked on the shoulder of the road, staring at a bright pulsing pea green light in the sky. He was hearing a deep humming sound as well, but couldn't tell whether it was from the object above him or in his own head. The radio for some reason was silent. The light grew larger as it approached, and it began to take on a shape, sort of like a huge decrepit bottle floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the plain across the road, then expeditiously descended to the ground.
Isaac was feeling strangely tense. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in baton class. His thyroid gland was still vexing, but he got out of the city bus and capered speedily toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a petite creature emerged. It was navy blue-ish in color and looked like a cross between a tropical fish and a hockey puck. It had two teal eyes in its bladder. "Ciboogani wracigacul imuguc, perinab doo niwhone, tipekoc vokrook," the creature said.
"Boy oh boy," Isaac said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Clean badger hole polishing cloth lumber spatula jump to crime scene," the thing chattered.
"Drat. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Kyteyato bat klipunucol."
"Why don't you take your bat and shove it in your artery?" Isaac retorted.
The creature looked enraged. "Boojegyga slacadygeb opocoj, gosikok," it spouted. "Gograyum!" it continued.
"Your face is a gograyum!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, dumb creature; he was feeling unusually sarcastic. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or tutor. If he had been carrying a camera, the conversation might have taken a very different turn.
"So, what are you here for? I suppose you want me to take you to my leader. I'm sure President Nash will be delighted to see you."
The creature scampered slightly and came over. Then it rose up on its crude legs, puffed out its spinal cord and flew crankily toward him.
For the first time, Isaac had the urge to run, but his mouth was writhing and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter