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The Nevada desert was scorching hot in the day, but shivering cold at night. The horse’s hooves threw up dust as they approached the large military installation in the distance, its grey concrete standing out against the yellow rocks and shrubs.
Once they were a few hundred yards away, the cowboy pulled the horse to a stop. He’d given Alex a ride, since his horse was quieter than a vehicle. But this was as far as he would go.
Alex climbed down off the back of the saddle and landed on the sand. “Thanks,” he said.
“Be careful in there, pardner,” the cowboy replied, in the exaggerated twang that a German teenager obsessed with American cowboys would imagine.
Now it was up to Alex.
He crouched low as he hurried up to the wall. His clothes were the same colour as the rocks, giving him some camouflage in the dark. A search light came around, and Alex flattened himself to the ground. The light passed over him without incident. No alarms were raised.
Once he reached the wall, Alex quickly climbed over it, using a loosely explained, very plot-convenient gadget from Smithers. Due to equally plot-convenient luck, no one saw him, and he dropped to the ground inside without incident.
Sneaking through the mostly sleeping base was child’s play. Fitting, since Alex was a child.
The badge he’d stolen from unlocked sleeping quarters granted him access to the elevators, which took him deep underground. Here were the most secret secrets of the secretive military base.
The bottom floor of the base was full of an eerie, pulsing sound. Like something out of a double feature B movie. There wasn’t a pulsing green light, but it would have fit right in. No one else was on the floor, and Alex was able to follow the sound to a large door.
The door had a sign that read: “WARNING: TOP SECRET ALIEN. DO NOT ENTER.”
Alex swiped the badge and opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, the pulsing sound grew louder. And, ah, there was the accompanying pulsing green light. It was coming from a large cylindrical tank full of pale green goo, with many tubes and wires coming off of it. There was a label on the tank, “ ‘CYM’ Specimen from the Cymphalia star system.”
Inside of the tank, there was a creature floating, suspended in the goo. It too had several tubes and wires coming from it. It was, well, an alien. With a giant head, grey skin, and massive eyes. Turns out those crazy people who described alien encounters were spot on. It looked just like the movies.
“Greetings.” The alien’s mouth didn't move, but it still spoke in a creaking, high pitched voice. Like it was asking to phone home.
Alex stared. He approached the tank and raised a hand in greeting.
“You are the one we have been waiting for,” it crooned. And then it did move, its hands coming together like it was praying or mimicking an anime protagonist.
The green light grew brighter, emanating from the long, bulbous fingers pressed together. Alex opened his mouth to scream, but the light engulfed him before he could let out a sound.
The light died, and the place where he had stood was empty.
“Well that was easy,” the alien said to itself, before returning to its blissful nap.
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The light died down, and Alex found himself surrounded by stars. He gaped, staring around at the abyss of space around him. He was floating, but he could breathe and didn’t feel like his blood was boiling or his eyes were about to pop out of his skull. So that was nice, at least.
Then suddenly a massive green shape was rising from the abyss. It came into Alex’s field of view like a shark from below, filling his entire vision. Green, cephalopdous tentacles dangled from its chin, wriggling independently from each other. Red, glowing eyes came to a stop at Alex’s eye level.
“So, this is what my exchange has given me? What sort of event is this? A spyfest-” the monster’s all consuming, madness inducing voice was cut off when it coughed, clearing is throat. “A spy, festooned in camouflage.”
“Uh,” Alex said, almost speechless. “Are you Cthulhu?”
“THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ANONYMOUS!! WHAT A HELLACIOUS MESS!!” Cthulhu roared. Then it opened its mouth, and a wave of green horror poured out.
It engulfed Alex, banishing him from the eldritch plane, and the exchange was ruined.