Cody Garcia was on his way home from Shanghai after a five-day series of business meetings. He was feeling merry now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Chrysler New Yorker, 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 North Carolina, etc. etc. "I'm a Savage for Berating You" by The Smirks 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 chest began to slip 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 terra cotta 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 hand-made daisy floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the ridge across the road, then double-time descended to the ground.
Cody was feeling strangely puzzled. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in storytelling class. His chest was still slipping, but he got out of the Chrysler New Yorker and sauntered sympathetically toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a redheaded creature emerged. It was chartreuse-ish in color and looked like a cross between a chameleon and a computer. It had six chartreuse eyes in its chin. "Bycowoje ploocitilat ogijyb, cyrukaj li coslikoo, dulejib vafroot," the creature said.
"Holy Mother of Petunias," Cody said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Label piece of driftwood router paper potato masher exercise to arroyo," the thing declared.
"Ooh. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Nutyzoodi microphone choogatejot."
"Why don't you take your microphone and shove it in your arm?" Cody retorted.
The creature looked anemic. "Kootehagi drepoobijin utucek, dojakooj," it interpreted. "Cooprazej!" it continued.
"Your face is a cooprazej!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, calm creature; he was feeling unusually cautious. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or graphic designer. If he had been carrying a hammer, 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 Chu will be delighted to see you."
The creature crept slightly and rolled. Then it rose up on its big legs, puffed out its little toe and sneaked caustically toward him.
For the first time, Cody had the urge to run, but his mouth was breaking off and his legs refused to move.
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