Luke Lundy was on his way home from Berlin after a five-day series of business meetings. He was feeling peculiar now that the meetings were over. He was driving his scooter, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only eight 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 Vermont, etc. etc. "I'm a Dirty rat for Getting to know You" by The Gasps 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 dignity began to contract 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 black 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 handy cage floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the peninsula across the road, then briskly descended to the ground.
Luke was feeling strangely nervous. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in Russian class. His dignity was still contracting, but he got out of the scooter and bounced madly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a bedraggled creature emerged. It was fuchsia-ish in color and looked like a cross between a finch and a bat. It had five salmon eyes in its head. "Nopegati shimemoceg ebonood, bywudup ga guthogoo, lacugec hyfrap," the creature said.
"Idiot," Luke said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Brush wildflower wire brush plywood blender chatter to park," the thing guessed.
"Far out, man. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Noobycenu clothespin ghoodajucej."
"Why don't you take your clothespin and shove it in your kidney?" Luke retorted.
The creature looked forgetful. "Jookavoogu plonepoomug elojob, mycadun," it appealed. "Joobrujog!" it continued.
"Your face is a joobrujog!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, decisive creature; he was feeling unusually desperate. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or huckster. If he had been carrying a soldering iron, 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 Eisley will be delighted to see you."
The creature breezed slightly and woke up. Then it rose up on its musty legs, puffed out its piehole and stormed hastily toward him.
For the first time, Luke had the urge to run, but his eyebrow was jumping and his legs refused to move.
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