By Morgan Hannah, Life & Style Editor
āUuuuahhh, uuuahhā¦ā I spin on my knees to a crouched position, facing the moaning noise and swallowing my scream as I come face to face with what looks like a giant pickle! Its skin is dark green and covered in bumps and wrinkles. Arms and legs protrude from the oblong body and end in sharp, clawed extremities. The arms are double the length of the legs; they drag in the sand behind the creature as it bumbles around curiously.
āWhat the fuāā
āUuuuahh, uuuahh!ā The creature moans again, taking a few steps closer. I lift the phaser and aim for the creature. It raises its hands to block its face in a very instinctive, human way.
āTake another step and Iāll fire!ā It doesnāt cross my mind until a moment later that the creature likely wonāt understand me, but I canāt let it get close to me, I donāt know what it could do! But it seems to understand more than I thought; I watch the creature drop its arms back into the sand with a soft thud and walk backwards and out of the ship. I release the breath I was holding in and drop onto my ass.
āWow. What the hell was that?ā I whisper; the answer is quite obviousāIāve made initial contact with an alien species. We are not alone in this quadrant of space, or galaxy.
Continuation of this exciting adventure next week!
