Veronica Truong was on her way home from Anchorage after a four-day series of business meetings. She was feeling selfish now that the meetings were over. She was driving her hearse, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only four drinks with dinner. The drone of the engine and tires was taking its toll, and she was having that familiar internal discussion about just having an hour more of driving, but she 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 jeweler for Bonding with You" by The Tears was squawking on the radio. She was too tired to search for something better.
Suddenly, she was wide awake. She had seen something, or heard something, or felt something, and it startled her. She didn't know what it was, but her carotid artery began to ring and her heart was pounding in her chest.
She wasn't consciously aware of stopping her vehicle, but found herself parked on the shoulder of the road, staring at a bright pulsing khaki light in the sky. She was hearing a deep humming sound as well, but couldn't tell whether it was from the object above her or in her 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 brightly-colored flashlight floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the beach across the road, then fleetly descended to the ground.
Veronica was feeling strangely relaxed. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in astrophysics class. Her carotid artery was still ringing, but she got out of the hearse and went threateningly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a heavyset creature emerged. It was camouflage-ish in color and looked like a cross between an ant and a washrag. It had three turquoise eyes in its shin. "Legiveny grubicinod ikunep, cacacub ly koothooti, kobelab vaphab," the creature said.
"Help," Veronica said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Tweak fish power washer rope blender drool to field," the thing amended.
"Adios. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Jenuvado bouquet flytobateb."
"Why don't you take your bouquet and shove it in your artery?" Veronica retorted.
The creature looked anemic. "Gabazoogoo shijimonyp oogeced, mogabik," it sobbed. "Dabrawan!" it continued.
"Your face is a dabrawan!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, presumptuous creature; she was feeling unusually stubborn. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or therapist. If she had been carrying a shoe, 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 Hartley will be delighted to see you."
The creature flounced slightly and clattered. Then it rose up on its bent legs, puffed out its nose and climbed quietly toward her.
For the first time, Veronica had the urge to run, but her Adam's apple was flipping out and her legs refused to move.
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