Earthly Odds

Perc, like his best friends Bayle and Squint, is smart, privileged, has three digits, three toes, and thankfully, is not human.

Perc’s homeworld of Ilara is one of three sister planets near the binary solar system of Zeta Reticuli. Each planet is rich in a mineral or commodity crucial to life in all three worlds. The planets are run by one of three Planetary Bosses: Juart, Flux, and Perc’s Uncle Martin, the Alien Mafia of the galaxy. When Perc was only a few years old, his parents mysteriously vanished during a space storm. Since then, Martin has raised Perc as his own son.

The inhabitants of these worlds are divided by skin tone which denotes their societal stature: The Plats, the 12 richest aliens; the Golds (which includes the Bosses), are the top 1% who ensure the plans of the Plats are carried out; The Blues, the space fleet crews and officers; the Reds, the enforcers for the Bosses; the Silvers, the scientist, doctors and intellectuals; the Greys, the explorers and the most commonly seen on other worlds; the Greens, the agriculturalists; the Browns, the middle class and the bulk of the population, and finally, the Stripes; any alien accused of a crime, a yellow stripe is genetically burned onto their backs. All aliens begin life as a Brown, and at puberty, your social standing is determined by the Plats.

Your DNA is then altered so your skin tone matches your new class.

For decades, Earth’s military has maintained a clandestine agreement with the Aliens; Earth allows the Aliens to conduct scientific studies on its unsuspecting populous, and in return, the Aliens provide advanced tech to further develop Earth’s economy and standing in the universe. The only stipulation is that none of the tech be used to manufacture weapons of any kind. To ensure that never happens, the Aliens sporadically send scientific inspectors to confirm the military is upholding the bargain.

Spoiled, rich, and oblivious to responsibility, Perc’s stature as a GOLD and not one of the “lesser” colors in the system, has led to a gambling debt so huge, that not even his Uncle Martin can save him. With the other two planetary bosses demanding full repayment of Perc’s debt “or else”, Uncle Martin secretly sends Perc to hide out on the one place no self-respecting alien ever wants to go: Planet Earth.

Posing as a weapons inspector and with only a small communication wristband bonded to his arm (a CommuniSkin), Perc reluctantly rockets away toward Earth. His destination, is a secret bunker in rural West Virginia. But when his Intergalactic Virtual Autonomous Navigator (IVAN), malfunctions, Perc’s spaceship crash lands near Coyote Springs, Nevada just outside Area 51.

Alerted to the crash, General Haut at the USAF base near Groom Lake dispatches an intercept team of Sikorsky Helos. Groggy and with only minor injuries to his arm and CommuniSkin device, Perc awakens to find his skin color has shifted from GOLD to GREY, a reaction of his own body to camouflage his identity should he encounter Earthlings.
Living so close to Area 51 for over sixty years, Earl Plunkett has seen his share of odd things. A retired rancher and almost blind, while out riding on his horse, Tanner, Earl watches a spaceship hurtle past overhead and crash nearby. What is odd is that the occupant of the downed ship has survived. With the drum of the approaching military helicopters closing in fast, Earl rescues Perc on horseback and takes him to the only place he is sure he will blend in; the Oddity Zoo Earl runs just off highway 93.

While hiding out at the Oddity Zoo, even the other animals consider this new guest to be a bit strange. To hide his “alien-ness”, Perc must wear makeup, clothes, gloves, sunglasses, and a hat to disguise his true nature. With only the occasional tourist stopping by the zoo, his day is made up of repair jobs and feeding the animals while he bides time until he figures out how to return home. Perc goes from being the top dog to just another mutt in the bunch. Safe for the moment amongst the other oddities, Perc meets Earl’s daughter, Amanda, a USAF Major who works at Area 51 for General Haut, the same man who is actively searching for Perc. Although suspicious of her father’s latest hired hand, Amanda is also strangely drawn to Perc’s aloof and unique personality. The two of them talk on occasion, but Perc is careful to not reveal himself. Earl is torn between telling Amanda about Perc, but he knows her loyalty to the service can cloud her sense of right and wrong. For now, Earl keeps Perc at a distance.

But the recent crash also attracts the attention of Dr. Walter Bennet, a once-renowned Astrobiologist whose previously published theories on the existence of extraterrestrial lifeforms here on Earth destroyed his reputation. Laughed out of the scientific community, he now travels the country in search of the final proof that the aliens are real. When he happens to stop at the Oddity Zoo, he quickly realizes who Perc is. Knowing that Perc is the very solution to regaining his credibility, Walter agrees to help Perc find a way back home.

With Perc’s ship damaged and without Amanda’s knowledge, Walter, Earl, and a few of the zoo animals help Perc break into the Area 51 Air Force base, hoping to find parts they can use to repair the spaceship and return Perc home.
Inside the base, the trio stumbles upon a complex underground city where hundreds of ETs are enslaved. In an attempt to free his fellow aliens, while Walter and Earl evade capture, Perc is cornered and thrown into the alien encampment group.

Here, he discovers Krease, his own father who vanished so long ago. Krease reveals that Planetary Boss Juart has an illegal agreement with General Haut to provide alien scientists and engineers to help build weapons of mass destruction and an army of super-soldiers for a project called Operation Mannequin. Back at the oddity zoo, Walter was able to find enough parts to power up IVAN and send a distress signal back to Perc’s home planet.

Back home on Vebos, Squint secretly witnesses his stepfather, Juart, in a heated discussion with Martin about Perc’s debt repayment. Although hidden from view, Squint cannot hear what the two are saying, but he can read their lips. When he does so, he squeezes his eyes into focus, hence his nickname. As Martin argues with Juart, a holo-message pops up on his CommuniSkin. It is the message from Walter about Perc’s capture and the secret pact between Juart and General Haut. Furious, Martin calls in his Reds to detain Juart, but Juart tells him it’s already too late. He’s already given the order to have Perc and the others killed.

Back on Earth, Amanda learns the truth of the General’s treachery. Abandoning her service loyalty for her feelings for Perc, she attempts to free Perc from inside the encampment. She is caught and, along with Perc and Krease, they are all thrown into a dungeon cell. Unable to risk discovery of the entire operation and ruin decades of covert work, the General follows Juart’s orders and sends a squad of his super soldiers to kill the three hostages. Inside their cell, Perc, Krease, and Amanda hear the approaching footsteps of the soldier assassins. With only moments left, the CommuniSkin on Perc’s wrist begins to pulse bright blue; a beacon tracker responding to an outside signal.

Outside the cell, new sounds begin to echo from the dungeon hallway; not the steps of soldiers, but something larger and growing louder. The sounds of fighting, grunting, and sporadic gunfire are followed by heavy thuds then silence. The door splinters and crashes inward. In the hallway, Walter, Earl, and Tanner from the oddity zoo stare back. Walter beams, “Cavalry’s here!” Racing through the underground complex, the escapees free all the encamped aliens.
Humans, Aliens, and animals race up out of the complex to the surface and burst out of an open hanger door. There to greet them, General Haut and dozens of robotic soldiers with weapons drawn. The General raises his hand, weapons pop up, take aim… Perc’s wristband pulses bright blue again. In the empty sky behind the General, an alien warship materializes, gun cannons rotate and lock on the General’s horde. At the helm, Uncle Martin, Bayle, and Squint smile back.

Days later, Earl, sporting a pair of high-tech glasses, sits on the porch of the Oddity Zoo farmhouse, while a new neon sign beckons a long line of cars to the entrance. Earl reads the headlines in the local paper showing Dr. Walter Bennet receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for proving aliens do exist, and the President announcing a new treaty where Earth and the Alien planets share resources for the greater good.

Hand in hand, Amanda and Perc step out onto the porch with Earl then walk toward a gleaming new spaceship. As they approach, the ship’s door slides open and Walter steps out. IVAN’s familiar voice says, “We must depart in 90 seconds in order to make our jump point.” Walter thanks Perc and steps back inside the ship, the door hisses closed as the ship lifts and shoots skyward.

Perc kisses Amanda and says, “shall we check on the new hired hand and see how he’s doing?”
Inside the zoo barn, General Haut, now in dirty overalls with a shovel, scoops animal dung from the stall.