Gavin Knight was on his way home from Reno after a three-day series of business meetings. He was feeling irate now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Dodge Dart, 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 Massachusetts, etc. etc. "You're a Chowderhead for Snuggling with Me" by The Dope slaps 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 eyebrow began to bend 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 teal 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 broken dart floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the island across the road, then apathetically descended to the ground.
Gavin was feeling strangely suave. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in entomology class. His eyebrow was still bending, but he got out of the Dodge Dart and zipped ignobly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a frumpy creature emerged. It was indigo-ish in color and looked like a cross between an anteater and a nail. It had eight golden eyes in its thumb. "Mocyhabo wribykutig odoojaj, beritad bu decruta, koomupad gywrum," the creature said.
"Begad," Gavin said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Stab dead fish roll of duct tape sweat and toil egg cutter wait to garden," the thing cackled.
"Ugh. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Pymyzido playing card crenadegac."
"Why don't you take your playing card and shove it in your pride?" Gavin retorted.
The creature looked passionate. "Doobirepo shymymookyt ydoojek, gooculyk," it moaned. "Ciquooyyn!" it continued.
"Your face is a ciquooyyn!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, self-confident creature; he was feeling unusually selfish. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or cartoonist. If he had been carrying a spear, 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 Lippman will be delighted to see you."
The creature capered slightly and whistled. Then it rose up on its shiny legs, puffed out its tail and strode irritably toward him.
For the first time, Gavin had the urge to run, but his palm was leaning and his legs refused to move.
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