The Aliens Are Among Us

The Aliens Are Among Us

     Jandus stomped around the floating stage. Every step he took created another hoof hole in that soft floor. All Kashoms look the same. Their legs are twice as thick as their hands and arms. And their three fingers per hand and arms were huge. Jandus had a very thick neck. But his head wasn’t. It barely fit on top of it.

     “Would you stop doing that. You’re destroying the stage again.” Polla was a Yeanon. Like Jandus her head looked pretty human. But instead of layered skin on top and sliding down the side Polla was bald. Her skin was also light green – at the moment. It changed color depending on how she was feeling.

     “I’m worried about her too. She should have gotten here by now.” Daivon also looked human – in his body. His head was huge. Almost twice as large as the rest of his body. The real difference between Nooths and humans was that Nooths didn’t have any necks. Their heads hovered a few inches above the rest of their bodies.

     “Why didn’t she come with us?” Jandus asked with an accent that was hard to understand. “I told you not to hire here as our new singer.”

     “You heard her sing. She’s the best I have ever heard.” Polla continued
Adjusting the five strings on her hanic. A hanic looked like a two-by-four about three feet long with nine small hole running down it. On the other side of those holes where hollow squared tubes about six inches long. Those tube moved as the instrument is played. But they didn’t move in any particular pattern.

     “I don’t know why she isn’t here to help us get reading for our performance in a few hours. All she said is that she had a few things she had to do before she got here.” Daivon also had a string instrument. His was about the same length as Polla’s. but it was round. And instead of five strings it had ten all around it. Each on played a different tune when plucked.

     Jandus had stopped rambling. He now sat in a circle with six barrel looking, that really looked like barrels, containers surrounding him. They floated about a foot above the stage. Each one also had a slightly furry fabric covering it. “I agree she’s a great singer. The best I’ve heard too. But she has already admitted she’s afraid of singing in public. Are you sure she’s coming? Maybe she’s back out without telling us.”

     “She’s coming.” Quinne, a human, stepped out of the shadows. “I’m your manager. And I talked to her about her little problem. Bonni is still very nervous and scared. But she will be here. And she will do great.”

     “Are you sure about that?” Graiv, another human, stood next to Quinne. “We have twelve human worlds coming here to hear you play. There’s going to be about three million people here tonight. Some of them have already arrived.”

     Graiv gestured out to the Space in front of them. They all looked. What they saw was about a thousand humans standing in Space. None of them appeared to be wearing any kind of a breathing apparatus.

     Each barrel made a different sound. Jandus was testing them all out. He spun around on a swivel chair testing them. Then he started signing. And he did great. His accent was gone. In its place was a beautiful voice.

     “I hope you’re right about. I’m not going to give back twenty-five million Credits because one of the best bands in the universe couldn’t perform.”

     “What do you mean by that?” Polla asked. “We are the best.”

     Graiv smiled. “I agree. My mistake. I’m not very good at thinking before I speak when I’m nervous.”

     “You don’t have to be scared anymore. Look!” Quinne pointed at a spaceship that suddenly appeared near them. “I told you she would appear. That’s one of my spaceships.”

     A few seconds later an adult size white light box appeared on stage. When it disappeared Bonni stood there. “Sorry I’m late everyone.” Bonni glanced over her shoulders at Quinne. “We haven’t been paid yet. So I had to borrow some Units to get my instrument out of Private Storage.”

     Bonni was an Avion. Her face looked human. But the rest of her looked like a bird. Instead of hair she had feathers covering her body. She picked up her instrument that leaned against her. And headed for the others at center stage. The instrument looked like a keyboard. But instead of keys it had different colored buttons.

     “How are you feeling?” Jandus asked. “Are you sure you are ready to perform in front of a group. Especially this many people. Maybe your first time should be with a much smaller turn-out.”

     “I’m still frightened to death. No, scratch that. Death would be too easy of a way out. I’m scared. But I can do this.”

     “What makes you so sure you can do this?” Daivon asked.

     “It’s an old trick Quinne reminded me about. If you don’t want to do something like this, but you have to do it, just close your eyes and imagine them in funny costumes or clothing. Most say to see them in the under clothing or naked. But I don’t want to see them like that.”

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     Quinne stood center stage. Her band in the shadows behind her. She spoke loud and clear. It didn’t look like she had any amplifying device on her. But she could be heard by everyone there. “You wanted them. Now you got them. One of the best, if not the best, bands in the universe – The Aliens.

     The Aliens stepped out of the shadows. Bonni stood behind her music board that hovered in front of her. She might have been a little squeaky with the first couple of songs. And they blamed that on the acoustics. But after that the performance was a big success.