Reginald Stoker was on his way home from Birmingham after a three-day series of business meetings. He was feeling humble now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Rolls-Royce Ghost, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only nine 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 Wyoming, etc. etc. "I'm an Idiot for Escaping from You" by The Flinchs 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 buttocks began to gleam 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 blue 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 large thumb drive floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the hayfield across the road, then actively descended to the ground.
Reginald was feeling strangely tense. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in Russian class. His buttocks was still gleaming, but he got out of the Rolls-Royce Ghost and padded menacingly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a flabby creature emerged. It was aquamarine-ish in color and looked like a cross between a finch and a candle. It had two olive green eyes in its eyelid. "Cymufogoo predacycag emelil, moojanad goo niwhoce, gelekol guwhug," the creature said.
"Sweet," Reginald said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Inspect fish squeegee yarn electric paint mixer screech to country meadow," the thing blustered.
"Holy cats. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Jinoozebu hubcap kloopoojitoc."
"Why don't you take your hubcap and shove it in your kidney?" Reginald retorted.
The creature looked sincere. "Bocejooby krigycynoc etucyj, lesojyk," it bawled. "Bagruyup!" it continued.
"Your face is a bagruyup!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, brazen creature; he was feeling unusually frantic. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or set designer. If he had been carrying a sword, 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 Talley will be delighted to see you."
The creature sidled slightly and came to. Then it rose up on its fresh legs, puffed out its front tooth and slipped crankily toward him.
For the first time, Reginald had the urge to run, but his heel was trembling and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter