Page 20 - Extraterrestrials, Foreign and Domestic

The Hermits

single canine attribute. His night-vision gave little contrast and less
color to the scene. Nevertheless, he could make out a segmented
torso, covered with shell like a tortoise, surmounted by a multi-
pronged bulbous appendage like an inflated rubber glove. Other
prehensile limbs, some twitching convulsively, protruded from
holes in the torso.
“What the hell!” Al gurgled, and turned to run.
He tripped and fell immediately—whether over the terrain or
one of the creature’s tentacles, he never knew. Before he could
regain his wits or his balance, it spoke to him.
“Mister, please wait. Please wait. I won’t hurt you. Truly, I
honestly won’t.”
It had a pleasant enough voice, despite the ugliness of its
mouth. It lisped like a baby and rasped like a rummy old bum. Al
drew back his legs and rubbed at his knees and ankles: nothing
broken; he could still escape.
“Yes, please, mister. Just sit and listen to me. Please.”
Al fought nausea, tried to scoot backward, couldn’t. The voice
went on, soothingly.
“You’re my last hope, mister. If you don’t help me, well...I guess
I’ll just have to die right here. But if you help me, I will be very,
very grateful. I’ll help you, in return. You know, it’s so easy to do a
small favor for someone else; you feel good about it, don’t you,
and sometimes there’s a nice reward for you, too, isn’t there? Well,
this could be your lucky day, mister: I can help you in a lot of
different ways. My needs are very simple. And I’m very good to
my friends. May I introduce myself? My name is Ricky. What’s
yours?”
“No!” gasped the old man. “You’re not human! Get away from
me! I can’t stand it! My heart!”
Ricky gently curled a pseudopod around Al’s left arm.
“Yes, mister, you do have a problem in your circulatory system.
I can help you with that, too. Of course, if you could calm down a
little, you would be helping yourself a good deal. Now, please tell
me your name; we shouldn’t be addressing each other on a formal
basis.”
Al rubbed his skin where the creature had touched him. It was
cool to the touch, cooler than the rest of his arm.

19