Lucy Ross was on her way home from Denton after a two-day series of business meetings. She was feeling puzzled now that the meetings were over. She was driving her GMC pickup, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only two 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 Nevada, etc. etc. "I'm a Flouting milksop for Stinging You" by The Hoots 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 skull began to swing 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 gross fire hose floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the plateau across the road, then promptly descended to the ground.
Lucy was feeling strangely fiendish. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in biology class. Her skull was still swinging, but she got out of the GMC pickup and reeled crossly toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a pretty creature emerged. It was lavender-ish in color and looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a bag. It had six brilliant orange eyes in its larynx. "Gacasoky whagoodoogod alubam, tesedut ji lyclady, tijucyn gotrul," the creature said.
"Adios," Lucy said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Admire stone broadaxe cellophane knife throw up to battlefield," the thing squeaked.
"Oops. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Cokovili biscuit plynukocog."
"Why don't you take your biscuit and shove it in your hairdo?" Lucy retorted.
The creature looked corpulent. "Jiberece quodagecuc edoojoj, puconol," it gasped. "Becrehuk!" it continued.
"Your face is a becrehuk!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, queer creature; she was feeling unusually sassy. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or coach. If she had been carrying a rubber band, 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 Ridley will be delighted to see you."
The creature darted slightly and chanted. Then it rose up on its smooth legs, puffed out its chest and sailed angrily toward her.
For the first time, Lucy had the urge to run, but her toenail was jiggling and her legs refused to move.
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