Garrick Judd was on his way home from Monterrey after a three-day series of business meetings. He was feeling humble now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Barracuda, 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 Ohio, etc. etc. "I'm a Whippersnapper for Scratching You" by The Backward glances 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 neck began to turn yellow 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 electric magnet floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the badlands area across the road, then ploddingly descended to the ground.
Garrick was feeling strangely tipsy. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in geography class. His neck was still turning yellow, but he got out of the Barracuda and sashayed valiantly toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a cute creature emerged. It was khaki-ish in color and looked like a cross between a penguin and a spider. It had seven blue eyes in its skull. "Ligoreta glujakytoon umoolib, lufoopyn gi bitrada, jenoodyl ruchoob," the creature said.
"What in tarnation," Garrick said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Dispose of wolf track meat grinder asphalt dull knife look smart to peninsula," the thing comforted.
"Oh my word. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Donurydu ticket drulegocag."
"Why don't you take your ticket and shove it in your nostril?" Garrick retorted.
The creature looked quiet. "Jylyhomoo quootikobot obojab, mawinyp," it fumed. "Peprocyb!" it continued.
"Your face is a peprocyb!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, emotional creature; he was feeling unusually tense. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or veterinarian. If he had been carrying a political action committee, 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 Escobar will be delighted to see you."
The creature pranced slightly and crouched. Then it rose up on its rigid legs, puffed out its funny bone and tore fiercely toward him.
For the first time, Garrick had the urge to run, but his chest was getting fuzzy and his legs refused to move.
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