THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

Kevin ran and kept on running until he was clear of the park. He headed towards the boy’s house, It was only five-thirty a.m., but he didn’t care, he needed help. His journey was taking him longer than he thought, but the house was almost a mile away, and exhaustion accompanied by panic was taking a big toll on him. He stumbled, almost landing in someone’s drive, steadied himself and staggered on. He was not far now; another street and he would come to the other edge of the field.

Lasko was still awake, he had no contact with his superiors in days, and maybe that is why he felt so unsettled. He slid silently off the bed and wandered downstairs again trotting towards the back door. He looked through the door at the sky, it had cleared now, and stars had started to appear, it was a clear unshaded sky. Lasko’s fur prickled his hackles rose on his back, and he sensed a terrible distress, and that distress was heading down the driveway. He barked loudly, ran to the bottom of the stairs raised his head and let out a blood-curdling howl. The whole house lit up! Todd appeared followed by Brian and Ellen who was holding Pixie in her arms. Todd raced to the kitchen.

“LASKO! LASKO MAN what’s wrong are you in pain? Todd’s frightened face was almost white as he knelt and threw his arms around Lasko’s neck.

“Oh my god, what’s wrong with him…Are you sick?” Ellen looked equally frightened.

“Is he in pain?” an equally alarmed Brian asked already holding his car keys ready to flee to the animal hospital.

“NO, NO, I’m fine. Someone is coming to the house, he is very distressed, something has happened go wait at the door.”

Before anyone had a chance to move, the bell rang, and a fist thudded, and thudded against the door.

“What the hell?” Brian said walking towards the front door…Stay here.” He told them, “Let me see who it is.”

As Brian unlocked and opened the door, Kevin fell in, gasping and covered in blood.

“JESUS!” Brian shouted as he tried to lift the man to his feet. “Ellen come here, this man’s hurt pretty bad, go get the first aid box.”

Kevin looked up at Brian hardly able to focus properly. There was so much blood on his face Brian did not recognise him.

“OK fella, take it easy, you are safe now…What the hell happened to you?” Brian led him to the armchair, and he sat down heavily, almost collapsing.

Ellen came back with the first aid box and told Todd to get some warm water and towels. She looked at his wounds. “You’ve been cut with a knife! Who did this to you?” she turned to Brian, “Call the police.”

“NO! NO! Whatever you do don’t involve the police, it will cost me my life!”

Ellen looked confused. “Why? This is a vicious assault; they can’t get away with this!”

Ellen had cleaned most of the blood as Todd gingerly came into the room followed by Lasko.

“It’s you again?” Todd said crossing the room, “Why are you always near my house?” he complained. “I suppose someone beat you up for taking pictures where you shouldn’t have been…Someone’s driveway I suppose.”

“TODD!” Ellen shouted, “Stop that now, the man is badly hurt he’s been attacked with a knife.”

“I’ll go get him a mug of hot sugary tea.” Brian went to the kitchen to boil the kettle.

Lasko sat in front of Kevin looking up at him, his deep brown eyes watched in sympathy as Ellen cleaned up his wounds.

“Please…Please…I need you to know something for the safety of the human race.” Everybody’s eyebrows raised.

“Listen, please, just hear what I have to say.” Tears welled in Kevin’s eyes. “Tonight, when you caught me in your drive, I was trying to get photos of the dog here.” He gestured to Lasko who’s ears shot up to the top of his head. “I saw the ship arrive the night he appeared, well not exactly ‘saw’ it, but I knew he was unusual, so I followed your son and the dog getting snaps of them both. I saw the hold-up in the bank and the dog who caught the guy and held him down, I also saw the colour change in his fur, so, I thought I was onto a really good thing by catching a unique footage of the dog in action; and I’m ashamed to say I was going to sell the footage to a local newspaper.” Ellen stopped cleaning his wounds as he looked down to the floor.

Brian took a deep steadying breath. “Go on.” He told him.

“My name is Kevin Davis, I live on the other side of the field, I’m a freelance journalist, well, I am not qualified, I’m a failure, left Uni before my course was up, couldn’t be bothered. I hardly ever make money nobody wants to employ a failure with no law degree. Because I am STUPID! But tonight, about a couple of hours ago I witnessed first-hand a UFO landing in the field near where I live; and here is what I mean about STUPID! I took pictures of them with the flash fully exposed…And guess what? They caught me, and the next thing I remember is waking up in a metal-boxed room and they were going to experiment on me.” His voice broke as tears flooded his eyes. Ellen handed him the washcloth.

Brian bought a tray with tea and put it on the table.

“It’s ok Brian said. “Take your time.”

“I came here because I knew you would believe me, because of the dog, I know he is special, I know he comes from another planet, so I knew you were the only people who would help me.”

Kevin’s hands shook badly as he lifted the much-needed beverage to his lips. Ellen reached forward and took the cup from his hand. “Steady, you’re going to burn yourself.”

Placing the cup on the coffee table she smiled to make him relax. “It’s ok, you’re safe now, nothing will harm you here.”

Kevin glanced at her. “I don’t think I will ever feel safe again!”

Brian was sitting on the sofa twisting his hands together, he had been a criminal barrister long enough to know this man wasn’t lying, he could see the devastation in his eyes, and it didn’t take an expert to know he was completely traumatised!

“So, this spaceship was like the one you saw or thought you saw earlier?”

“No…No, this was much, much bigger like two or three double-decker buses, or the size of a small football pitch, and it wasn’t round, it was cigar-shaped; it was a silver colour, and it had a strange kind of dull shadowy lights, it landed on tripods it was huge!

They came out of the ship…They were lizards or reptiles, but they walked on two legs like a human. They were about seven feet tall; their skin was scaly yet smooth, their heads were large and tapered towards the back of their skulls, you know; like the helmets people wear cycling?”

Brian nodded.

The eyes…The eyes were huge! a piercing green, exactly like a lizard one black line in the centre of the eye where the iris is? And a third eyelid”

“Ok, can you remember any other detail?”

“They have wings, they can fly, that’s how they caught me. And they have a tail, a thick strong tail that would crush you with one blow. They had large hands with three fingers on each, and nails which I can only describe as talons, that’s how they did this.” He pointed to his face. “They also told me they are going to rape the planet and take everything and kill millions of people!”

Kevin started crying silently. Ellen got up and put a reassuring hand on his arm and passed him the tea. “Here, drink your tea, steady your nerves, you will be ok.”

Kevin smiled his gratitude; it was the first time this evening he had smiled.

“What happened next?” Brian asked gently. “I promise you it will not go any further.”

Lasko was in the corner of the room playing with Pixie, but his ears were taking in everything that Kevin was saying, and he began to get a sinking feeling as Kevin went on to describe what happened to him.

“The next thing I was aware of was waking up on a metal trolly, it was rock hard and hurt my back. I tried to move but I was strapped down! They came into the room and when they spoke it sounded like someone with a sore throat, and their tongue was blue…Not forked like a lizard, but a normal tongue only it was blue. In some ways, they had similar features to us only a small nose, puckered lips, and teeth like razor blades! Pointed yet sharp I will never forget the look in their eyes, it was cold, and there was no soul in there.”

Lasko trotted over to Kevin’s chair and sat right in front of him. “And they can fly? They have green-slitted eyes; they are around seven feet tall. Three-fingered with talons? And they are nasty people?” Kevin could only stare at the dog…He could not believe he was talking verbally to a dog. “That’s about right.” He replied in a strangled voice.

“Plus, the fact they sounded like someone or something that had a very sore throat?”

This time Kevin could about manage a nod of his head.

Todd looked from Kevin to Lasko. “You know who they are Lasko?”

“Yes I do, Todd, you remember me telling you about the lizards that live on our planet, well, basically they live very near to us.”

“I remember.”

“That is who these creatures are, and they are merciless, they are cruel and take what they want, but not from us because they know they will be severely punished, we try to stay clear of them.” Lasko looked worried, his furry brow had dropped, and his eyes looked misty as if a cloud were passing over them. He licked his lips before he spoke. “I know help will arrive soon.”

Kevin turned to Brian and Ellen seated on the sofa.

“The reason I told you not to inform the police as my life is in danger; is because they inserted some kind of tracking device in my neck, but not only does it track my whereabouts, but if I try to remove it or betray them it will release a deadly poison into my bloodstream, and it will kill me instantly.”

“WELL! That’s simply great.” Lasko replied, but this time without humour, for the first time his face was a sullen mass of worry, his brows could not get any lower or they would swoop down over his eyes.

Brian asked him. “How did you escape?”

“I didn’t, I made a deal with them, I told them I could help them to get test subjects, I made out I was able to get into hospitals for the sick and dying people and bring them to the ship, I managed to persuade them to give me a chance. In a trade-off…My life for theirs…Of course, I had no intention of doing such a thing, I was desperate for help. I would not betray my species! I am not a monster! And now I am trapped, but I still won’t do what they asked.”

Lasko hung his head, then looked towards the family, Brian was gripping Ellen’s hand tightly.

He said. “I’m afraid this is grave! I need help, they are merciless killers, and I cannot combat them alone. Did they tell you where are you supposed to take them?”

“They gave me a map, somewhere near a quarry it’s an isolated.

Spot right in the middle of nowhere, on the outer side of Truro, no one ever goes there it is too dangerous. There are cliffs overhanging the sea, you put a foot wrong, and you will plunge to your deaths. The ship will pick them up from there.”

Brian gave a slight shake of his head. “But surely, our military radars will pick them up? That is if they haven’t already?”

“They can block the radars, all that has been worked out before they arrived.”

“But Lasko.” Todd said, “How can they hide a ship that big in a park?”

“They can’t, they will have gone by now, as I said, they can block Earth’s radar system, and just hover about high up above the clouds.”

“Oh my God.”

“Todd, I’m hoping my people will arrive soon and take over.”

“What do you know about them, Lasko?”

Lasko was silent, he bowed his head low to the floor, this was something he always did when figuring out a problem “Lask?” Todd repeated.

“Todd, you remember me telling you about them when you asked about other species on my planet?” Todd nodded his head.

“Well, they are what we call the ‘Lizard people’ They are extremely aggressive and extremely hostile, they are cruel predators, who survive on animals, small birds, big ones too if they can get them, Mice are a delicacy on their planet. They are a reliable source for keeping pests under control, although we do not have that many pests to worry about. And I’m sorry to worry you further, but humans are in their food chain, we think that many humans that have gone missing on your planet for centuries have been taken by them…That is what is going to happen! That’s why you need to inform your government. They originated many millions of years ago and evolved to what they are now, we think they were brought to our planet by ancient aliens after the ‘Big Bang’ when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.”

“So, they are of the era of the dinosaurs?”

“Yes, that’s right, but they became intelligent, and were able to speak so were classed as ‘harmless.’ They come to our planet to trade, they take the vegetation our botanists grow which keeps them happy, and us safe. We do not supply them with any livestock, we do not kill our animals for food, and DON’T underestimate them by their clumsy form, they are strong, they can fly, and they can move amazingly fast.”

Ellen was panicking, she got up and headed for the phone. I’m going to call the Ministry of Defence, tell them what’s happening and get them to meet us in the park.”

“OH,” Lasko said trotting towards her. “And you think they will say ’Of course, there’s nothing more we would like than to see a huge alien spaceship and meet some very hostile Aliens! more likely they will bring an ambulance with them and get you committed.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We wait, but first I need to remove this poison from Kevin’s neck.”

“But you’ll kill him!”

“That is something I will have to figure out before I interfere, but for now we must think very carefully about what we are going to do because a lot of people are going to die! I will see if I can contact my people.”

Brian looked out of the back door. “Don’t bother…I think they have arrived.”