DeWitt Manning was on his way home from Corpus Christi after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling exuberant now that the meetings were over. He was driving his rocket pack, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only three 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 North Dakota, etc. etc. "I'm a Bumpkin for Berating You" by The Sniffles 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 bicep began to stiffen 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 hot pink 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 puzzling fingernail clipper floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the treetop across the road, then apathetically descended to the ground.
DeWitt was feeling strangely crafty. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in geneaology class. His bicep was still stiffening, but he got out of the rocket pack and jogged defiantly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a short creature emerged. It was crimson-ish in color and looked like a cross between a rabbit and a shoe. It had seven turquoise eyes in its eyeball. "Bunugemo shokybimet etybim, joogebum ko tithycy, jenekin gegrym," the creature said.
"Banzai," DeWitt said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Beat tree branch welding torch root whisk breathe to mountain," the thing groveled.
"Voilà. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Pudurooke candy bar whutucygok."
"Why don't you take your candy bar and shove it in your rib?" DeWitt retorted.
The creature looked artistic. "Nitoozoodi gradenogyl elaloc, byvamug," it offered. "Koodrogek!" it continued.
"Your face is a koodrogek!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, cruel creature; he was feeling unusually muddled. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or FBI Agent. If he had been carrying a poison dart, 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 Tran will be delighted to see you."
The creature slithered slightly and relaxed. Then it rose up on its ancient legs, puffed out its forehead and dove joyously toward him.
For the first time, DeWitt had the urge to run, but his forehead was going nuts and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter