The top secret space plane fired jets to adjust its altitude. It would begin its descent in five minutes. No one could see the yellowish smear under the wing. The technicians watching images from the cameras trained on the heat-resistant tiles didn’t see anything abnormal.

The landing was routine and the spacecraft coasted to a stop. Suited workers hopped out of vehicles and approached the ship. The yellow smear coalesced into a thread like tube. It dropped to the surface of the runway. It made a tiny rustling sound as it moved.

The maintenance crew surrounded the aircraft. The tiny yellow worm creature crawled between the legs of a burly worker. It hopped onto the muddy boot and it began to climb. When it reached the top of the sock it dove into the space between the sock and skin. After it had wriggled down and settled on the foot it opened its buccal cavity and grabbed a fold of pink skin. The yellow worm began to gnaw its way in.

“Hungry,” it thought to itself.