Awakened from a disturbing dream, Susan sat up in bed and slowly realized there was a persistent noise coming from the window. Rubbing her eyes, she looked over and saw a large insect that appeared to be tapping to get her attention. Deciding she must still be dreaming she lay back down and closed her eyes, but the noise continued, and when she looked again, not only was the insect tapping, but also it somehow had an annoyed look about it.

Cautiously she got up and went to the window and peered at the intruder. She had never seen anything like it before. It had four feet and four arms, for lack of anything better to call them, and a flattened head with enormous eyes protruding from either side. As if an insect tapping on her bedroom window wasn't strange enough, it now seemed to trying to talk to her. That is, its mouth was moving in such a way that seemed to indicate speech. Backing up and dropping down on the bed, she pinched herself to see if she was, in fact, still dreaming. She wasn't.

Deciding it was time to get up anyway, Susan took a shower and got dressed, trying to put the strange incident out of her mind, but when she came out of the closet, there it was, still tapping and appearing to attempt communication. Hesitantly, she went back to the window and looked more closely. It was large, but didn't seem very threatening. It was just sitting there on a leaf cluster close to the window, tapping away. Not really knowing why she was doing it, she slowly opened the window. The creature immediately flew into the room, landing on her nightstand. Pulling itself up to its full height it bowed in her direction and began moving it's mandibles again. Susan jumped as she began hearing a voice in her head.

"Greetings. Thank you very much for inviting me into your home. I was beginning to despair of you understanding me."

Her mouth was working, but no sound came from it for a moment. She gulped and tried again. "You...you're talking to me. How...?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Urvenius. I am from a galaxy many light years from yours. You would be most frightened of my true form, so I've taken this one, as it seems something your kind would not be alarmed by. We are much smaller in stature than your species, so I could not take a form similar to your own."

Hyperventilating now, Susan sat down on the corner of the bed furthest from the creature. "This can't be happening. An alien in the form of an insect is in my bedroom. No, it's not possible." She was speaking to herself, but the alien being tilted it's head an regarded her thoughtfully.

"I can understand your disorientation, and I don't wish to alarm you, but there are many, many species in the universe. Did you really think you were alone?"

"Well...I guess I never really thought about it." She was coming to terms now, beginning to accept the bizarre situation. "What is it you want?"

The creature hopped onto the bed and took a few steps toward her. Cringing, Susan tried to damp down her fear.

"Please don't be alarmed. We are exploring new worlds. We wish to get to know species that haven't had full contact with others yet."

"We? How many are you?"

"It's not really important. You might say we're a team of scientists collecting data. I do wish I knew what I need to do to gain your trust."

Susan was aghast, but attempted to calm herself. "Well, I...This is just all so strange..."

The creature moved closer. "Please, don't be frightened. Perhaps if you would let me sit on your hand for a moment you would feel more at ease."

"And just why would I do that? Or more to the point, why do you want to sit on my hand?"

"I can learn about you through your skin, you see? It merely speeds up the process. We can communicate better that way." It looked at her expectantly.

Cautiously, Susan put her hand on the bed palm side up. I must be mad, she thought to herself.

The creature hopped on and again bowed to her. "I wish to thank you so very much for agreeing to this inquiry. I believe I shall enjoy you a lot."

As Susan tried to grasp the meaning of what the alien had just said it opened it's maw and revealed a pair of fangs of alarming proportions, which it quickly sank into her thumb. Before she could let out a scream she felt her blood run cold and all of her energy quickly drained as she slumped backward onto the bed. Within seconds she was paralysed and her heart rate had slowed to nearly nothing.

The creature moved up her body until it was sitting on her chest and looked into her eyes. "I suppose I didn't exactly tell you the truth. We're not really a team of scientists. The food supply in our world is dwindling, and we've actually been sent to, shall we say, harvest from your world and a few others. You will be a source of nourishment for many more than you can imagine. Unfortunately for you, we require you to be alive while you are being consumed. My apologies."

Detective Tom Daniels fixed his partner with a weary look. "Ok, so he was at the scene. That's all we've got. He has no indentification, he's not talking, and his fingerprints aren't in the system. We've got nothing. We can only hold him for twenty-four hours. If we can't get something on him, he walks." He crushed his paper coffee cup and tossed it with disgust. "What the hell are we gonna do, Bill?"

Detective Williams chewed his lip and swiveled his chair to look out the window. He spoke with his back turned. "The only thing we can do. We interrogate the hell out of him. We've got nothing else to go on. He was there. He either did it, or he knows something. If he was set up, then we find that out." He turned back around. "They want this thing put away fast. Let's get him in the room now."

The two men were weary. It had been a rough month. Crime was up. Way up. Now they had a brutal murder to solve, and the only thing they had was a man with no name who was found unconcious at the scene of the crime with the vitims blood on him. Worse, he wasn't talking. It was going to be a long day. And possibly a long night. They headed for the holding cell.

He seemed non-plussed as they marched him to the interrogation room. They put him in a chair and Bill moved to a corner, letting Tom take the first round.

"What's your name, sport?" He affected a casual manner.

The prisoner stared straight ahead and said nothing. The thousand yard stare wasn't going down well with Tom. He leaned across the table, planting his palms. "I'm gonna ask you just one more time, what's your name?"

The man looked up as if he had just noticed his interrogator for the first time. "I aren't know" he said.

"You aren't know. Do you speak english? do you mean, I don't know?"

The prisoner looked thoughtful. "I don't know."

Tom took a deep breath. "You don't know if you speak English, or you don't know your name?"

More thoughtfulness. "I don't know my name to you."

Tom gave Bill a look. Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Look, you're gonna tell us what happened in that warehouse one way or another. Would you like to do this the hard way?"

The prisoner looked confused, closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke. "I not meant to be. I must soon back go."

Tom walked around behind and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Bill moved to the table and got in his face. "Listen, asshole, we're not playing with you! Tell us why you killed that guy!"

The prisoner seemed confused by the goings on and said nothing. Tom brought his elbow down hard between the prisoner's shoulder blades, but he did not react. Bill slapped him hard and screamed "Tell us what happened or this is gonna get really ugly really fast!"

The prisoner stared into space. "There is having an error. This can not to continue."

Bill made to punch the prisoner in the face, but Tom grabbed his arm. "Listen, tough guy, we've got all night. You're not going anywhere, you got that? We'll pin this murder on you one way or another if you don't come clean."

The prisoner blinked at him and said nothing. His blank look was getting on their nerves, they'd never had an interrogation go this way. Bill grabbed a chair and was about to swing it, but Tom pulled him aside. He whispered in Bill's ear and they went outside.

Tom tried to calm his partner down. "He's messing with us. We can break him, you know we can."

Back in the room, Theronix took his hidden communication device out and placed it in his ear. He contacted his ship. "Do you have my coordinates?"

"Yes, we are locked on. Shall we bring you back?"

"Yes. There has been a problem. I arrived at the scene of a crime, there was a body. I was rendered unconcious and the authorities took me into custody. Their language is difficult to mimic properly. My outer form is correct, and the clothing passed inspection, but they seem to know something is not right. We will have to make another attempt at a later time. Bring me in now."

"If we abort the mission now we may have to wait several units to return, the planet positions are not..."

Theronix cut in. "I repeat, I am being held in custody, this form is compromised. We can try again with a different body. Return me to the ship now."

A bright flash of green light and the interrogation room was empty.

"Look, let's go back in and i'll take another shot at him. I've got an idea, just stand back and let me give it a try."

Bill looked dubious, took out the key and unlocked the door, and they went back in. They stood there blinking in incomprehension. It was impossible. The door was locked. There were no windows. They looked at each other.

"What the..." Tom was at a loss for words.

Bill was not. "This can't be happening. Was there anyone else in the hall? Somebody had to have opened the door."

"You had the key, Bill." Tom didn't know what else to say. His mind was reeling.

They slumped into the chairs and stared at each other.

"How in the hell are we gonna explain this?"

Tom shook his head slowly, then covered his face with his hands and propped his elbows on the table. "I think i'm gonna retire."