The Alien Smile.
One evening long ago near the Orion Spur, a fleet of over four hundred space-faring vessels prepared to leave the orbit of the 4,870th inhabited planet of the Agri Empire. The armada filled the evening sky with artificial stars that drew larger crowds than usual from the populace below, all eager to enjoy the spectacle of massed plasma engines igniting in low orbit.
The Agris, with their head-globes pulsating to achieve and maintain height floated gently in the low atmosphere just above the planet-city. The chemical process that allowed them to drift in the dense atmosphere also produced a faint incandescence that shone from the gelatinous mass of their bodies, illuminating their long sinuous tentacles trailing behind.
Finally the powerful vessels burst into light above
