THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

A wind was churning, sweeping fallen leaves from the trees

across the snow-spattered lawn, and the first flurries of snow were falling, floating from the sky like bright sparkling feathers.

Lasko was first out the door, his fur flying in the wind as he raced towards the three silver-suited men waiting on the lawn.

He belly-flopped in front of him, his head almost touching the ground. “MASTER WELCOME.”

He was happy to see them and for a moment Todd’s heart sank. They were tall compared to Todd’s father who was six foot, he guessed they were a good foot taller. For moments Todd was mesmerised as were Brian, Ellen, and Kevin who stood on the patio clinging to the railings. They seemed to glow in a warm shimmering light that emanated from their bodies. As he got nearer, he noticed they were dressed in plastic suits and could not be sure if this was what was causing the light around them. He looked up into their eyes, they were the clearest light blue he had ever seen, thick white eyebrows that were not bushy with straggly hairs sticking up but immaculate just as if they had been plucking them. But Todd doubted that he really could not see them standing in front of a mirror plucking them! So, they had to be natural. Their hair was almost white and hung over the collars of their suits; their skin was silver with soft handsome features, and small, pointed ears; their heads were slightly elongated at the back and the one Lasko had addressed as master wore a ring on the middle fingers of both hands; it looked like a symbol, with a circle surrounded by smaller circles and one long line horizontally down the middle. They did not seem to be wearing shoes, but a plastic covering with a single strip of black down the centre. It reminded Todd of the shoes he wore to go into the sea on a rocky beach. As they came towards them Todd noticed how elegant they were, they seemed to glide across the grass.

They stopped in front of them. “There is a crisis for humans. We need to step inside.”

Lasko was beside himself, he just could not stop wagging that tail of his! And that grin he had on his face had got so wide that Todd was afraid it would become a permanent fixture!

“Yes, master, please enter our home, we are revered to see you here.” Lasko trotted up the steps to the back porch as they followed. Todd’s heart was thudding in his chest. As they entered the kitchen, they stopped to look at the oven, hob, and all the kitchen cupboards. The master pulled open drawers to peer inside, then the top cupboards his eyes widening in amazement. “This is where you store food?”

“Yes,” Ellen answered. “And cook the food as well.” She suppressed a grin.

“Good idea.”

Ellen and Brian followed by Kevin, Lasko, and Todd went through to the living room.

“Please sit down,” Ellen said, feeling breathless and overwhelmed.

“Do what?” the master asked looking puzzled.

“Oh, please sit down here.” She patted the sofa.

“On this?”

“Yes, you will be more comfortable on there.”

They sat apprehensively feeling the soft material under their fingers. They looked at Ellen. “We are here because Earth is under a dangerous threat, we will help you to defeat them,”

“Do you know who they are?” Brian asked.

“Yes, we know them very well as I’m sure Lasko has told you what they are capable of?”

“He certainly did,” Brian told them.

“Then you need to inform your leaders, the people need to be protected.” His eyes fell on Kevin. “You,” he said pointing a finger at Kevin. “Have been planted with a tracking device.”

“Yes, and It contains a deadly poison, If I don’t turn up to the meeting point with a human subject; they will release the poison and I will die!”

The master nodded his head. “I need to examine it first before I remove the poison.”

“How can you do that? They will detect it has been tampered with?”

“No, they will detect it IF I remove the device from your neck…Not the poison.”

“How, how are you going to do that?”

“It will not cause pain, but I need to do this without upsetting the signal…I do not want to remove the device, or they will know we are here, and our efforts will be in vain. I promise you will be safe; we will not leave you on your own, and once we have stabilized the situation, then I or Lasko can remove it.”

Kevin stiffened, he knew this was a life-or-death situation he had got himself into, but to leave it there would cost him his life anyway, sooner rather than later and he wanted it gone, so he relaxed and smiled. “Ok, let’s do it.”

“I need you to lay down on the floor and keep perfectly still, you must not move, but most importantly keep your eyes closed.” He looked to Ellen. “Do you have something we can put over his eyes?”

“Yes.” She went to the hall and came back with a black woollen scarf. “Will this do?”

The master took it from Ellen and placed it over Kevin’s eyes. “It is very important that you keep your eyes closed through the procedure, or you will be blind.” Kevin swallowed a huge lump in his throat. “Ok.” He said.

Brian got up. ”Do you need water or bandages?”

“No.” the master replied, “Just silence.”

Everyone sat down silently, no one spoke. Lasko on the rug with his paws stretched out in front of him, Todd on the arm of the chair beside him.

***

The master got down on his knees. He took a deep breath his eyes lit up to a brilliant blue, they were so vivid and brighter and piercing than Lasko’s were when he removed the tumour. The light started to shimmer turning the room blue. Kevin was cloaked in a bright blue haze as if he had been plugged into an electric light socket. He placed his hand on Kevin’s neck an inch from his carotid artery and a small hole appeared.

Ellen sucked in a breath that almost felt like it had pierced her lungs; she reached for Brian’s hand “My God.” She gasped.

Todd had never believed in God until now, these people from another planet were true Gods, and now he knew.

Lasko suddenly got up and trotted to Kevin’s side.

“Master, you have located the poison?”

“Yes, a much larger dose than originally thought, for safety reasons you have to help me extract it, then dispose of it safely.”

Lasko’s eyes turned blue, Brian, Ellen, and Todd watched as a sticky black substance appeared from Kevin’s neck. At first, it was a tiny stream, then faster and thicker, rising higher into the air above Kevin’s head and was absorbed into the master’s eyes, as soon as it had appeared it vanished. Lasko turned to the master and ingested the poison into his own eyes.

“Now quickly dispose of it.”

Lasko raced for the downstairs toilet, followed by a frightened Todd galloping behind him. Lasko bent his head over the bowl and the sticky black stuff flooded from his eyes.

“Lasko! Are you ok?”

“Fine Todd, it’s gone now, when it is mixed with water it is harmless, it does not affect at all on anything.”

“Oh,” Todd replied slinking down the wall. “I thought you were going to die!”

Lasko laughed, “We are a lot tougher than you think Todd.” He gave Todd his widest doggiest grin ever!

As they came back to the living room, the three Aliens were kneeling before Kevin who was now back in the armchair looking more relaxed than he had been since his ordeal began earlier in the evening. He smiled, “Thanks, Guys.”

“Our pleasure, now you need to rest, you are completely safe.”

Brian got up and closed the curtains as the first shades of evening approached, outside the snow was tipping down in thick flurries, the grass was a white fluffy blanket.

Whom they knew as ‘the master’ got up, he was as tall as the chandelier in the centre of the ceiling.

“I must first introduce us to you. My name is Valadon, I am the ruler of our planet; to my right is ‘Shirak’ and to my left is Zyrian. They are my senior Lieutenants.”

“You know all our names already; I am so grateful you are here,” Ellen said, clasping her hands together in gratitude.

None of them spoke, just a slight nod of their heads.

Todd noticed they all looked alike, same features, same hair, same everything, he would certainly have difficulties telling them apart. There was also no age difference between them, he couldn’t differentiate their age there were no lines on their faces that could have detected who was older and who was younger. Todd wanted to ask Valadon if he would be taking Lasko back with them when this was over, but he was too afraid of the answer.

Valadon turned to Kevin. “We need to see where the ship landed so we can track them, I need you to come with us.”

Kevin looked as pale as an unripened peach. “Ohh, no, please, don’t make me go back there, I’m scared. If they catch me again, they will kill me!”

“No, they will not! We will protect you. I give you, my word. We need to track them to be sure they are who I think they are.”

Todd looked towards Kevin, and he came and sat down beside him. “Kev, you have to do this; for the greater good, I trust Lasko’s people and so must you, you’ve got this Kev!”

Kevin nodded his head apprehensively. “I’ll do it.”

***

“I know Lasko has told you most things about the Lizard people, but we know more, they are extremely dangerous, they have stolen from us on many occasions, but we managed to retrieve back most of the produce they took. They come to trade for vegetarian products that are cultured by our botanists, in return to live in peace. We do not sell them live creatures, or pets as you call them, they must hunt their own. They are indeed a cruel race and originate from creatures dating back millions of years. They are what you call ‘opportunists’ They take whatever they want when they want, and we think they tracked us here when we brought Lasko for his mission, and I think they have seen a fantastic opportunity on this planet…Food in the shape of humans.”

Brian got up and combed his hands through his hair, he paced the room. “How the hell do we defeat them? We need to inform our government, that you are real, there is no mistaking that you guys are from another world! They would have to believe us; besides, they have the weapons to deal with them.”

“Yes, we are aware of that, this is why we need to meet with your leader, for the protection of your people, they will take humans from their homes, and innocents from their beds there will be thousands dying, and when they are finished with live tests, they will pass them through their food chain; We cannot let that happen.”

“You mean ‘Eat them’ “ Ellen asked, she shuddered to think of all the people who could succumb to this “Oh My God!”

“Exactly! They will be used for food. Lizards’ main diet is insects, large bugs, and vegetation, but human meat is a luxury for them, they gain essential vitamins, minerals fibre and improve their sight not to mention a few other things…We also suspect that people vanishing from your planet in past years may have been taken by them. Though there is nothing to prove that.” Valdon turned to Kevin. “You are safe now, the poison has gone, so even if they activate the device, you won’t be harmed.”

Kevin smiled weakly. “Yes, and I thank you for that sincerely, but what about the tracker? They can still find me.”

“Yes, that is true, but we will be with you all the time, at least one of us will. We cannot remove it yet because they will be alert and know we are here. I need you to do exactly what they asked you to do.”

“What! Take a sick person to them? I would be taking them to their death, I could never do that!”

Valdon smiled, his teeth so white it almost dazzled them, it was the first time they had seen him smile. “No, Kevin you don’t need to do that. You take one of us.”

Kevin’s haunted face stared at him his brows almost lifted towards his hairline.

“But they will know…No disrespect to your race, but seriously! You don’t look like the average human.”

“I should have told you; we are shapeshifters, we can change our appearance to anything we want, I can look like Ellen, or Brian, even Todd if I want.” That smile appeared again. Ellen looked at him with a mixture of elation and apprehension. “But aren’t you afraid? They could kill you!”

“No, we can disable them in seconds, they fear us more than we fear them.”

“So, what happens next?” Ellen asked.

“We go to the meeting place, and when they take one of us, we can attack them, make them harmless, then if things go right, we will take them back and punish them.”

Ellen sat still, her heart thudding away as time threaded away at an agonizing pace, she gripped the mug of tea so tightly in her hand she felt as if it was glued to her skin.

“This, this is so dangerous!”

“I realise that, but you must be strong…I promise no harm will come to any of you. You must trust us; we are your only hope.”

Ellen relaxed and finally released her grip on the mug and placed it down on the table. “I do trust you, I trust you with my life, after what Lasko has done for my son, I have no doubts at all of what you are capable of.” She forced a smile that underlined her growing terror of what was about to happen.

Valdon turned to Brian. “You must inform your government, as soon as possible or millions will die.”

“How? They will think I’m nuts! How can I prove it to them?”

“I will go with you Brian, they are good leaders, I know they will help us, we need as much help as we can get.”

Brian rubbed his damp hands together staring at this seven-foot-tall man thoughtfully, he trusted them wholeheartedly, they had the resources and determination to deal with such an elaborate plot. It was an incredible masquerade to conduct. Brian finally smiled. “Ok, let’s do it.”

Todd felt a huge lump in his throat, no matter how hard he swallowed it would not go down, it just threatened to choke him. He had never been so scared in all his life, even the brain tumour had its scary moment, but this...This was WAY past scary! Lasko nudged him with his nose. Calm yourself and the lump will go down.” Todd rubbed Lasko’s head surprised how he knew he had a lump in his throat.

“My people will deal with them, trust me.”

“I know Lask, and I do trust them, I trust them with my life.”

Valadon got up, smiled, and asked. “I am the only hope you have of saving mankind, are you all agreed?”

Everyone nodded in unison. “You saved my life, sir, I will do anything to help, I will take you to the ship,” Kevin added.

“Thank you, but the ship will not be there, it will have docked somewhere in outer space where it won’t be detected. Did they tell you where to bring the test humans?”

“Yes, yes, they did, It’s in an old disused quarry mine on the outskirts of town, no one ever goes there, and they have a place high up in the rocks, I have never seen it, but it is equipped with all kinds of equipment all for their experiments and covered by their guards so no one could ever get inside.”

Valdon frowned. “So here is what is going to happen. Tomorrow evening when your sun goes down, Kevin will take Shirak, or Zyrian to the meeting place.”

“Will we inform our government first? They could meet us there.” Brian asked.

“No, not yet, let me manage this first, if I can get them to leave that would be the best outcome. But. They have several fleets and weapons at their disposal, and are extremely dangerous, if all goes wrong, then we have to inform your government.”