Dylan Chang was on his way home from Santa Clara after a four-day series of business meetings. He was feeling modest now that the meetings were over. He was driving his Chevy Vega, and was starting to get a bit drowsy, in spite of having had only three 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 Virginia, etc. etc. "You're an Imposter for Manipulating Me" by The Hugs 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 appendix began to shrink 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 lavender 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 curved pair of binoculars floating in the air. It hovered for a while over the park across the road, then at a creep descended to the ground.
Dylan was feeling strangely dapper. He briefly wished he had paid better attention in meteorology class. His appendix was still shrinking, but he got out of the Chevy Vega and blundered miserably toward the object.
As he watched, an opening appeared in the side of the ship, and soon a fair creature emerged. It was chartreuse-ish in color and looked like a cross between an android and a stick. It had eight green eyes in its claw. "Mujiwada whadootatim ebedyc, goyooban di duslaky, gokajyp yucham," the creature said.
"Ha," Dylan said. "Care to repeat that in English?"
"Clean cedar tree drill chicken feather electric mixer scratch to lakeside," the thing judged.
"Nope. You can go back to your native language now. While you're at it, maybe you should go back to your native planet."
"Cojojeti fish bowl plutemygog."
"Why don't you take your fish bowl and shove it in your mouth?" Dylan retorted.
The creature looked playful. "Didarulo trymukinin yjoodib, lojoolem," it requested. "Mookloogem!" it continued.
"Your face is a mookloogem!"
He didn't know why he was being so mouthy to the strange, rude creature; he was feeling unusually calm. He tended to deal with the unknown the way he would deal with an annoying salesman or architect. If he had been carrying a cannon, 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 Palmer will be delighted to see you."
The creature flounced slightly and got angry. Then it rose up on its overgrown legs, puffed out its eye and slid madly toward him.
For the first time, Dylan had the urge to run, but his shoulder was crackling and his legs refused to move.
Next Chapter