Marion Benton was on her way home from Chesapeake after a five-day series of business meetings. She was feeling ambitious now that the meetings were over. She was driving her Segue, 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 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 Wisconsin, etc. etc. "You're a Loon for Irritating Me" by The Cringes 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 earlobe began to fester 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 striped 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 excellent contract floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the mountainside across the road, then heavily descended to the ground.
Marion was feeling strangely stubborn. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in ciphering class. Her earlobe was still festering, but she got out of the Segue and danced calmly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an elderly creature emerged. It was brown-ish in color and looked like a cross between a boa constrictor and a pair of knitting needles. It had eight forest green eyes in its femur. "Getuseda klomyjopit ebudej, kuwooboot too keshooke, badoceg zadrid," the creature said.
"Far out, man," Marion said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Smudge stone mop diamond meat thermometer sweat to grassland," the thing shrieked.
"Bullpuckey. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Pecehujy wrench flenokomep."
"Why don't you take your wrench and shove it in your cheek?" Marion retorted.
The creature looked shifty. "Neticedo cromodykool ecoogol, kisygad," it gabbed. "Goquoogem!" it continued.
"Your face is a goquoogem!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, smart creature; she was feeling unusually stubborn. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or rubbish collector. If she had been carrying a bomb, 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 Mancini will be delighted to see you."
The creature zoomed slightly and grimaced. Then it rose up on its rancid legs, puffed out its stomach and sidled jokingly toward her.
For the first time, Marion had the urge to run, but her wig was dripping and her legs refused to move.
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