I actually don’t have a reason to doubt it. He seems to own this huge spaceship. He has a commanding presence and an easy way about him, a confidence that it must have cost him years of authority to acquire. His movements are measured and sure, his presence almost overpowering. I just can’t look away. But he’s an alien, too. Maybe they’re all like that.
Damn, that’s a big bulge he has in his pants. And I think it just twitched. He can’t have tentacles there, too, can he?
“But my plans can wait,” he says. “This is an awkward meeting, I know. Don’t worry, Ambassador. We will get you refreshments and such. It’s just that we’re a little short-handed at the moment. There’s only me and Caret’ax aboard this ship. Anyway, I liked the way you flew your ship and greeted us with a salutary laser beam. It was much appreciated and made us feel welcome. Do you bring a message from your king, perhaps?”
His eyes glow red, but for some reason it doesn’t make him look sick or tired. It’s not that kind of redeye. He’s just intense and incredibly present.
Damn, those tentacles of his are both scary and kind of cool. The gold that threads through his indigo skin seems to pulse faintly within the tentacles as well, catching the light in mesmerizing flashes. They move slowly with a life of their own, the way my own fingers are almost always in motion, even when just sitting down.
It means he doesn’t have hair, but his face is downright beautiful, rugged and symmetrical, with a strong chin and hollow cheeks. That blue with gold veins is actually really fetching.
Well, I’m not going to remain standing like a schoolgirl in the principal’s office.
I sit down on the bed next to him. Might as well gather some more intel, and I’ll be bold about it.
“You can stop that’ambassador’ bullshit,” I tell him. “Nobody’s buying it. You abducted me and manhandled me like a prisoner. That’s not how ambassadors are received. Let me just ask: are you going to kill me?”
He raises his perfect golden eyebrows. “Of course I’m not going to kill you. No, you’re safe with me. I’m sure I can show you some interesting sights, if you’ve never been outside your solar system.” He turns his torso towards me. “But perhaps you’re well travelled.”
Something gives in me. He’s putting me at ease with small talk, and I’m sure he’s not going to kill me. He could have thrown me into a cell or chained me up somewhere. But he’s actually reallynice. And I like the way he smells. Those tentacles are really cool, too. He looks the way a space alien is supposed to.
“Mmm,” I tell him as one of my hands slides across the soft mattress towards him. “I went to Canada once.”
He casually stretches his arm out right behind me, resting it on the mattress. “Ah. Kadana in the Adruput system, I believe. I was never there myself.”
I focus on my hand as it slowly slides towards him on the smooth, cool alien fabric until the tip of the long finger touches his thigh. “No, the other Canada. The one with the bacon.”
His hand curls around my hip, just lightly, barely noticeable. “Oh. That one. I never came across it. Excuse me, I’ll just remove my sword. I’m sure I won’t need it.”
He stands up, unsnaps his belt, and tosses the whole rig, sword and all, onto a chair. The sword’s AI gives off an annoyed squeal as it lands.
“What do you use that for?” I ask. A part of my mind is wondering what the hell is going on. Why am I suddenly being so chummy with my abductor? But that part is easily shouted down by other parts of me. “It’s so big.”
“I use it to fight the enemies of the Empire,” he says as his hand squeezes my hip through nine layers of hi-tech materials. “But now that my sword is gone, won’t you make yourself comfortable, too? That suit looks heavy.”
“Don’t get me started,” I tell him as I jump down from the bed and start taking the spacesuit off. It’s actually not that heavy, but itiscumbersome to wear, especially with the helmet dangling down my back. “Can you help?”
The little voice in my mind yells at me to pull myself together. I decide to call that voice ‘Jezebel’ and to just let her yell until she tires of it.
Mareliux bounces to his feet, and together we’re able to get the spacesuit off me. The whole time Jezebel is screaming at me to stop and to remember who I am, not to mentionwhereI am, but I don’t care. I’m the first human to be in this situation, sitting next to an alien prince, and I’m going to get as much out of it as I possibly can. Viewed as a reconnaissance mission, this is already insanely successful. The Space Force mission statement does say that we should find out as much as possible about aliens.
And at least I’m not being vivisected. Or not yet.
The suit drops to the ground and I jump back up on the bed, wearing only a jumpsuit. It’s thin, but also hi-tech in the right places. Underwear is not a thing in space, because doing laundry for dozens of people on a station in orbit is a very major problem that even Space Force hasn’t solved yet. There’s very little plumbing.
Mareliux sits down next to me, so close his thighs touch mine. “Ah. That’s better. What a remarkably attractive woman you are.”
I gasp when I hear the translation. He thinks I’m attractive?
“You are too,” I coo. “Except not female. You’re male.” I stare at his bulge and swallow hard. “I think you are, anyway.”
‘What the hell am Idoing?!’ the stupid, meddlesome Jezebel in my mind screams. I block her out.
“Thank you,” he rumbles and puts his hand on my thigh. Now that the suit is off, his touch feels much better and closer. “May Itouch your head? As you can see, my tendrils are different from yours.”
I straighten and run both hands through my hair in preparation. I must have the worst case of helmet hair in history, but I don’t care about that. “You may.”
He puts his dark blue hand on my head and strokes my hair. I usually keep it in a sleek bob, which is practical in space. But it has grown long. Getting a haircut is challenging in space, but one of the few things we can do is dye it. Mine has a red tinge because I’m always on the Red Team in the Cube.
