Lillie Ramos was on her way home from Sapporo after a three-day series of business meetings. She was feeling funny now that the meetings were over. She was driving her hoverboard, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only four 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 Arkansas, etc. etc. "You're a Shrimp for Pecking at Me" by The Belly laughs 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 head began to sweat 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 olive drab 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 disgusting Rubik's cube floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the backyard across the road, then speedily descended to the ground.
Lillie was feeling strangely sassy. She briefly wished she had paid better attention in carpentry class. Her head was still sweating, but she got out of the hoverboard and galumphed caustically toward the object.
As she watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon an elegant creature emerged. It was sea green-ish in color and looked like a cross between a pig and a flowerpot. It had eight terra cotta eyes in its neck. "Mebohony ghanakujyk ejagot, cufaceg bo moploogi, catijac cowruj," the creature said.
"So sure," Lillie said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Understand tree blow torch paper clip dish cloth mutter to steppe," the thing spouted.
"Yowsers. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Joonojooba pair of knitting needles drupotapood."
"Why don't you take your pair of knitting needles and shove it in your forehead?" Lillie retorted.
The creature looked awkward. "Pybufiga froojoodepen abanaj, jerepoj," it scoffed. "Leclygyc!" it continued.
"Your face is a leclygyc!"
She didn't know why she was being so mouthy to the strange, repulsive creature; she was feeling unusually furious. She tended to deal with the unknown the way she would deal with an annoying salesman or flight mechanic. If she had been carrying a shoulder fired rocket, 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 Withers will be delighted to see you."
The creature zipped slightly and backed up. Then it rose up on its bent legs, puffed out its shoulder and galloped gently toward her.
For the first time, Lillie had the urge to run, but her scalp was shaking and her legs refused to move.
Next Chapter