Max did say "You're crazy, Betsy. Aliens dont exi-AAAHHHHHH!". As you might have guessed, the screams started after he looked up. Seriously, it was a spaceship! It was about as long as a school bus. The front end was a pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby wing-like things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end. The little ship looked sort of cute. You know, almost harmless, until you saw that it had a sort of mean-looking tail that curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a sword.
While we were watching I noticed we were both bathed in the blue glow from the ship, and our hair was standing straight up.
"It's about to land!" I yelled as it descended. When it landed, instantly the blue lights went off, and our hair turned back to normal. I noticed there were black burn marks along the top of the pod section. Some of the skin of the pod had been melted.
"That thing's tail- it's definitely a weapon," I whispered to Betsy. "We should leave. We don't want to get hurt."
"We should totally get a camera, we could get sooo much money for film of a real, live UFO."
"Really? There's an alien spacecraft that could, I don't know, blast us with its phase cannons or disintegrate us or whatever if we run, and you are just thinking about money?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"We should try and communicate. Everyone speaks English in Star Trek. Maybe it can tell us what it needs from us."
[I do not need or want anything from you.]
I had no idea what it was. I heard the voice, but it was in my head. Someone had definitely said "I do not need or want anything from you" but there hadn't been a single sound. It was like I heard it in my head.
[I will come out now. Do not be frightened by my appearance.]
Then, suddenly, a crescent-shaped hole appeared in the pod. I realized it was the door. As it opened, it became a full circle. A pathway extended down to the ground. And he stepped out. You think you've seen weird aliens, in movies or on TV? Compared to the creature that stepped out, any fictional alien is downright normal.
Well, the first thing you think when you see him is a blue and tan centaur. That's true, sort of. His lower body looks like a blue and tan horse, or more like a deer, maybe. And his chest is humanoid. He had a pair of weak arms with too many fingers. And he had shoulders and a head. But then you look at the actual head. He had no mouth, which might explain the telepathy thing. And his nose was just three vertical slits. His ears were pointed. And don't even get me started on the eyes! His main eyes were big, and a shocking glittery-green. But his second pair of eyes was mounted on stalks, which could go in any direction: up, down, left right, forward, back, and at any angle. But as amazing as these things were, it was the tail that really grabbed your eye. It was thick, and powerful-looking. It seemed to be completely controllable, and there was a huge blade at the end. It looked like an anaconda with a stinger. The alien reminded me of the ship, you think "harmless" until you see the tail, at which time you think, "Whoa, this guy could do damage."
I suddenly felt happy, like the alien was a long-lost friend I had known forever. And I realized there were tears in my eyes. I looked around and saw similar feelings in Betsy and Max.
[Hello.] I heard in that telepathy voice.
"Hi," we said back.
Then, suddenly he staggered. He stumbled off the walkway and onto the ground. I tried to catch him, to hold him up, but he tumbled out of my grip. That was when I noticed the burn. It covered half of his right side.
"You're hurt!"I yelled, feeling despair.
[Yes. I am dying.]
"Can't we do something? Like call an ambulance, or bandage it, or, I don't know, something? Anything."
[No. I will die. The wound is fatal.]
"NOOO! You can't die. You're the first alien to come to Earth. You… can't die." I don't know what it was, but in my heart, I knew something would hurt if he died.
[No, I am not the first. There are many, many others. There are thousands, maybe more.]
Suddenly a blast of pain shot at me through thought-speak. I felt... like each atom in my body was being stabbed by a needle at the same time. He cried out in pain. I realized that I could feel him dying. And then Max asked, "Like you?"
[No. Not like me. They are different.]
"Different? How?"
[They have come to destroy you.]