THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

Kevin froze, his limbs turning to jelly as the eight figures emerged. They were about seven or eight feet tall, he could not see them clearly in the dark; they were just huge bulky shapes.

“This I must get!” he said in a trembling voice, this was going to be the icing on the cake! He lifted his camera and took picture after picture as they stepped off the ramp. To his horror, they looked towards the tree where he was standing, and it did not take him long to realise through his stupidity they had seen the bright flash that announced his presence. Gasping, he put his hand on the bark and pushed himself forward as if the tree had given him leverage; he turned and ran the camera swinging around his neck, almost stumbling in his panic. He could see the edge of the park now straight ahead of him, he was running so fast he was almost to the main road when something thudded on the ground behind him, he tripped and fell face down onto the grass, his heart raced as he felt hands grabbing him with sharp claws ripping into his skin and lifting him. He just had time to see why these things had caught up with him so fast…They had wings.

He found himself looking into the eyes of his captors. they were reptilians standing upright on two legs, with feet that had four long toes and strong legs that resembled an Olympic runner, but thicker and more like an alligator; their skin was darkish green with smooth scales, Kevin’s eyes widened in fright as he looked into their eyes they were large bright green orbs, and when they blinked, they had a third eyelid and narrow black irises and those eyes were the most terrifying eyes he had ever seen, on any living thing; human or animal, they would haunt him for the rest of his life. Their heads were not elongated like the normal lizards but slightly pointed at the back of their skulls with a large thick neck supported by an athletic body of muscle. Their lips were slightly puckered appearing to look like an old relic of a person without teeth, but when it opened its mouth Kevin saw razor-sharp teeth above a dark blue tongue.

He wished he had stayed in bed! Kevin dangled in front of the creature as if he had become a rag doll with no consistency, its talons gripping him so tight he could hardly breathe.

Everything faded in front of him as if the lights were going out in the world, his head flopped forward, and he lost consciousness.

***

Kevin opened his eyes, for a moment he thought he had gone blind, all he could see was a purple darkness. He was lying on a gurney with no support underneath him; his back hurt and as he tried to move, he realised he was strapped to the gurney and those straps around his wrists were cutting into his flesh. The left side of his neck was stinging and hurt like hell. He closed his eyes again and when he opened them; he hoped this was all a bad dream and he would wake up in his bed.

He opened them slowly, and pain flashed across his eyes to the back of his skull, he winced, clenching his teeth together, and he was not in his room, but still on the gurney. Kevin could smell strange odours like bleach and something else he could not determine; it was unfamiliar to him. It made his eyes water and gave him a bitter taste in his mouth. He licked his lips and could taste blood; he guessed he had cut himself when he fell. He tried once more to sit up, but the restraints held him firmly in place, he tried kicking his legs twisting his body back and forward trying to free himself. Panic was rising at high speed. Kevin gasped, his heart racing, chest muscles so tight he could not draw a breath. Then he heard the heavy tread of feet coming towards him, and he almost collapsed with fright.

The lights came on in the ceiling bright, yet mellow now he could see clearly that he seemed to be contained in a metal box, over to his right was a collection of strange instruments, vials, swabs, and cotton wool bandages, he turned his head praying for natural light, where he might be able to escape. There were no windows.

The door to his metal prison slid open, there were no knobs or handles or switches, so he guessed they opened it from the outside.

Two of them came in, their feet loud and heavy as they walked into the room. One stood over him, there was no emotion on its face, just a bland cold look in its eyes.

Kevin lay there anxiously waiting for someone to speak and it was almost five minutes before a strange gravelly voice spoke.

“You earth creature! Are you to become our first test subject, you are male?”

Kevin found his voice. “What do you mean test subject?”

He felt himself pale as if all his life were draining out of him.

“You human creatures are Male?” Its voice reverberated around the room.

“Yes, I am Male…Why?”

“We need to know for experiment.”

“Experiment! Hey just hold on a moment…You can understand me obviously, what are you going to do to me?” Kevin shook, he was now in serious trouble.

“We take samples from you to see how reaction, we plant a seed in the laboratory to grow, then from your brain we take matter.”

“NO…NO. Please, please, look I can help you.”

It stood beside him looking impassively into Kevin’s eyes.

“How could you help me?” his head swayed back and forth.

“I can get you all the humans you need! I swear, I can bring them here, or to a place you can pick them up…I have things that can make them sleep! Please…Give me a chance…I swear I will help you?”

The other Alien walked around to the other side of the gurney. He leaned forward until his scaly face touched Kevin’s, he smelt a foul smell on its breath like rotted fish. Kevin’s heart was thudding hard against his ribs, and he felt drops of perspiration pop out on his forehead.

“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN HELP US? A scrap of humanity, like a mere insect crawling about on a land full of riches. Riches which we plan to take, we take everything” its voice thundered through Kevin’s head. It raked its talon slowly across Kevin’s forehead and down the right side of his cheek he screamed and felt blood seeping into his eyes and down the side of his face. “I…I can! PLEASE! My life for theirs.

”So, you are a traitor to your species?” It laughed loudly, with a guttural sound. “If we let you go…When would we expect the first test subject?”

“By tomorrow at the latest, I can get them from the hospital for you…I have access to the hospital, and drugs I can give them. Pretend I am their relative, and just walk them out to the entrance, I can put them into my car and drive them here to you, Can we make a deal?” Tears had gathered in the corners of his eyes now and were about to spill down his face.

The two Alien lizards looked at each other, then walked heavy-footed to the corner of the room.

Then they walked back. “If we let you go…You will honour our deal?”

Kevin nodded fiercely, “I swear.”

He unlocked the straps and Kevin sat up, shaking, he gripped the side of the gurney as a sudden wave of dizziness came over him.

“Do not think you can escape; we have placed a strobe in your neck so we can trace you anywhere.”

Kevin realised now why his neck was sore, he gingerly lifted his hand and felt the broken skin about an inch long, the skin felt bumpy and rough.

“You cannot remove it; we will know immediately; it also contains a poison that will kill you instantly should you fail us.”

“I won’t! I gave you my word, and now you can be certain I will not betray you, after all, you will kill me anyway so I cannot escape.”

“Go!” they ordered. Kevin was trembling, he slid himself off the gurney.

“Follow me.” Said the Alien. Kevin followed on shaky legs, he wondered if this was a trap, but it took him to the ramp he’d seen them exit from. The door opened, and Kevin ran out into the night.