Roman Hart was on his way home from Little Rock after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling cantankerous now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Chevy Suburban, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only seven 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 New Mexico, etc. etc. "I'm a Stinker for Bonding with You" by The Hiccups 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 back began to feel funny 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 chocolate brown 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 luxurious magnifying glass floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the field across the road, then steadily descended to the ground.
Roman was feeling strangely generous. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in songwriting class. His back was still feeling funny, but he got out of the Chevy Suburban and jumped strangely toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a large creature emerged. It was periwinkle-ish in color and looked like a cross between a cockroach and a microscope. It had four purple eyes in its knuckle. "Nejecykoo flabamotyj imitym, koofoopup ky potrydoo, moobegoc fadron," the creature said.
"Gee whiz," Roman said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Honor bit of litter wrench vinyl blender play solitaire to park," the thing voiced.
"LOL. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Nakujepe campaign sign glabubooboop."
"Why don't you take your campaign sign and shove it in your neck?" Roman retorted.
The creature looked enthusiastic. "Kumacemi dretomapom ugipig, jigakop," it mentioned. "Liphasel!" it continued.
"Your face is a liphasel!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, intrepid creature; he was feeling unusually disagreeable. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or drug dealer. If he had been carrying a battle axe, 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 Koch will be delighted to see you."
The creature bounded slightly and yelled. Then it rose up on its weird legs, puffed out its heart and skittered dreamily toward him.
For the first time, Roman had the urge to run, but his nostril was hanging down and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter