@VisualInspiration

Lieutenant Commander LeGall was not amused.
“This is ridiculous, captain!“
On the stage, a group of fifteen creatures slightly looking like high school kids from another century, danced to something like pop music equally belonging to a long forgotten era. They rhythmically lifted up their left or right arm and, every now and then, shouted an “Ooh!“ and “Ah!“ to the audience. Captain Dollins, Commander LeGall and three other crew members were sitting in the front row of a fake theatre, around them some fifty creatures, like the ones on the stage, hardly more than slightly resembling human beings, but clapping their hands ecstatically, cheering, shouting...
“Come on, Number One, the Morph are just trying to be polite,“ said the captain. “At least, they are not threatening us or try to eat us. I’m just asking myself, how do they know this stuff? They must have read our entertainment files.“
“Most likely, theses files have been transmitted by ShipMind, according to the encounter procedure. But why this? It’s unbearable.“
“Ship has its own way of thinking sometimes. Anyway, they want us to have a good time here. While we are trying to find out if there’s a ‘they‘ at all, or if we better see the Morph as a single entity.“
“I couldn’t care less“, ranted LeGall.
“Ooh! Ah!“ shouted the kids and made movements like running towards the audience, but not stepping forward. The music stopped and the creatures collapsed, turning into an ugly hump of green gelatine spread all over the stage – which then slowly transformed into another single human-like creature, wearing a dinner suit, a stovepipe hat and a chaplinesque walking-stick.
It smiled brightly to the terrans and announced with an enthusiastic voice, „And now, ladys and gentlemeeeen, it’s Karaoke time!“
The crew members sat there, rmarkably shocked.
“I summon to the staaaaage…“ It made a dramatic pause. “Mister! Captain! Dollins!“
“Commander, this is a good opportunity to save humanity. Would you stand in for me?“
“No, sir, I don’t think anybody else could be more suited to this task than you.“
LeGall grinned when the beginning from ‘Never Gonna Give You Up‘ sounded through the theatre. The other crew members joined the applauding crowd. The captain sighed and reluctantly got up from his chair – which collapsed at once and was absorbed by the surroundings.
“Just promise me, never let me go on a ground mission myself again, will you?“

#microfiction
#scifi