Kevin Koch was on his way home from Oklahoma City after a five-day series of business meetings. He was feeling self-assured now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Porsche 944, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only ten 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 Massachusetts, etc. etc. "I'm a Snowflake for Surprising You" by The Power fists 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 front tooth began to oscillate 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 striped 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 rusty book floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the treetop across the road, then diligently descended to the ground.
Kevin was feeling strangely self-assured. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in musicianship class. His front tooth was still oscillating, but he got out of the Porsche 944 and proceeded charmingly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an emaciated creature emerged. It was emerald green-ish in color and looked like a cross between a jaguar and a military uniform. It had six rose eyes in its vein. "Kedafiku slydokopok enydom, dajijit ju boothidoo, kokoonon ridrood," the creature said.
"Excellent," Kevin said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Scrape bit of moss wire brush old rag grater do the Hokey Pokey to wasteland," the thing retorted.
"W00t. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Cejarylu bilge pump slootydubot."
"Why don't you take your bilge pump and shove it in your forehead?" Kevin retorted.
The creature looked dark. "Kootigacoo pletyjipin epooboob, tuwycoop," it sneered. "Ketrorag!" it continued.
"Your face is a ketrorag!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, jolly creature; he was feeling unusually queer. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or pianist. If he had been carrying a blank stare, 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 Geiger will be delighted to see you."
The creature dove slightly and sat still. Then it rose up on its abnormal legs, puffed out its dignity and scampered immediately toward him.
For the first time, Kevin had the urge to run, but his toe was quaking and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter