Sky People by Ardy Sixkiller Clarke

were not there.” He paused momentarily, got up, and returned with two bottles of Coca-Cola. Just as he started to sit down, two men leaned against the large hotel window in front of where we were sitting. He walked to the window and pounded on the glass. The unsuspecting men jumped as though they had been shot out of a cannon. They turned and looked at Alexandro, and let out a volley of curse words in English and Kriol before they moved on. “Sorry, Doctor. That isthe reason I must work all night. I must protect the hotel from drunks. I sleep in the mornings and begin again at noon.”
    “So tell me, what did you do when the strange men disappeared inside the stairs?” I asked.
    “We decided to go to our secret entrance and sneak into the cave. We wanted to see what they were doing. We had never told anyone about the cave and for some reason it felt like they were invading our private property. Javier was particularly upset. There were artifacts in the cave and he was afraid they would steal them. So we crept toward the entrance, staying hidden by the foliage until we could conceal ourselves behind some scattered remains of other buildings. That’s when they reappeared. We heard them talking but their language was unfamiliar. It was not English. We speak English like the Americans.”
    “Did they have any of the artifacts?” I asked.
    “No, but it seemed to us that they were looking for something.”
    “How many men entered the temple walls?”
    “There were four.”
    “Were you closer to them at this point?”
    “Yes. We could see their faces. They looked normal except they had unusually high foreheads. I think it was because they were going bald because their hair was set back on their head and was thin. We knew these men were not from the USA. They were foreigners. I think it was Alberto who suggested they came from the stars. These were no ordinary humans. As we were coming to that conclusion, they moved to the west. We decided to follow. Behind the main plaza temple, there is a small mountain. It was actually another temple but it was totally overgrown with trees and grass. We watched as they walked through the mountain. We were totally shocked. At this point, Javier decided he was going aboard the craft that was setting in the plaza. He ran toward the craft. We followed. But just as we entered the edge of the plaza, the strange men reappeared out of nowhere. Like a puff of smoke.”
    “Do you mean they had the ability to appear and disappear?”
    “They must have. They just appeared.”
    “Did they see you?”
    “At this point, yes.”
    “Did they attempt to communicate with you?”
    “No. They disappeared again and it was less than a minute when the craft moved upward and within seconds it was gone. We watched it climb above the trees. It stopped briefly overhead as though examining us, and then they were gone. Zip, zip, zip. Gone.” He made a zigzag motion with his hand illustrating the craft’s movement.
    “You said you felt as though they were examining you? Were there windows or anything distinctive about the craft?”
    “No windows. We saw no lights, but it was the late afternoon. The sun was still bright. It was just a feeling. They hovered above us. I assumed they were watching us.”
    “Did you stay at the site for your drinking party?”
    “Jean said it was a sign. We should give up drinking.”
    “What kind of a sign?”
    “A sign from God. He said they could be angels.”
    “Did you agree?”
    “No. They came from the stars and they returned to the stars. I think we scared them as much as they scared us.”
    “Have you had any other experiences with Star Men?” I asked.
    “I have seen UFOs several times. I saw the one last night. Did you see it?” I nodded. “But I have never seen anything like we saw that day.”
    “Can you tell me anything else about the experience?”
    “It was so powerful that we never went back there again. We never found a different drinking place,