As O’Connor watched, something emerged from the ship–walking as though it hadn’t before, in short steps before standing straight, then taking the next step. It was an alien, he was certain: you tended to see a lot of different species on backwater worlds like Friroth. Yet this alien was different, and though O’connor couldn't quite see it yet, there was a certain presence around, an air of danger and madness, like someone was watching you. No, not watching, stalking. The creature turned– –And O’connor knew why he had felt what he had. There, walking slowly towards the renting space for the spaceport, was perhaps the most disturbing thing O’connor had ever seen. It was vaguely humanoid, with the same number of limbs as a human, but it looked out of proportion. Its head was too low on its neck and it seemed to have none, at least until it looked around and O’connor saw it. Its neck itself was not nonexistent, nor even short as he had assumed. Instead it was long, at least the creature's own wingspan, and it inflated from below the head, pushing its head outward as it combed the area. O’connor ducked under the boxes he was using as cover, holding his breath, until he finally could not and breathed, then snatched another peek. And flinched, as the hands and feet of the creature, which had before been tucked in like the head, had since expanded in the maybe fifteen seconds he had ducked behind the boxes. Each limb was also now shown in full light, revealing an almost metallically shining pale gray skin. It continued to walk towards the renting box, though now instead of walking as though it hadn’t before, It glided across the damp spaceport floor with an almost-grace I had not thought it could portray. It was over to the renting office in two shakes of a Frirothian cow’s tail, and I quickly pulled out my high distance hearing aid. “Err..” came the voice of what O'connor assumed to be the renting clerk. “That’ll be ten blue C’s, please.” Then the creature made the most terrible sound ever to enter O’Connor’s ears. It screamed so loudly that O’connor was pretty sure people on Frioth’s moon could hear. The noise sent uncontrollable shivers down his spine, and he ducked behind the boxes once more. A moment after the sound had passed, another one came, that of a ship door opening. O’connor peeked over the edge, and saw another thing emerge from the aliens ship. At first he feared it was another one of those creatures, but as the figure walked up to the rental station O’connor. saw, with relief, it was another human. Turning back on his hearing aid, O’connor caught a new voice, presumably the human’s, saying, “Here, ten Blue C’s.” “Thank you, sir.” The rental employee said, his voice shaking noticeably. Then the human and alien walked down the hall out of view. After a moment. I walked up to the rental station, quietly so that the employee wouldn’t notice. When he arrived, O’connor found his back turned to the window, furiously searching through a data card. “Hello.” O’connor said. “Where did they go.” The employee jumped visibly, pointed down the hall, then gestured to the left. O’connor nodded, then walked in that direction, summoning what courage he had left. He had a bounty to catch.