Sonya jutted her chin out, suddenly infuriated—more with herself than the creature. Here she was—first, well, almost contact with new, undiscovered, intelligent alien life, and she had stiff nipples and an ache between her legs. Her face went red again; and this was all because he had spanked her.
And the alien thought she was having a temperature regulation problem.
“It’s not the temperature,” she said hastily.
More analytical peering from Rychor. He blinked very slowly as he did so, and then seemed to have arrived at a thought which satisfied him.
He shifted his enormous bulk around and tugged gently on her arm, leading her toward the water.
His touch moved her. It seemed, shockingly, almost human. Not the touch of a harsh aggressor, kidnapper, or killer. Instead, it was the tender grasp of one being leading another to water, a source of life for them both. A primal, intimate act, devoid of any violence.
She couldn’t stop staring at him. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked, surprising herself with her own question. In her mind, she was busy proposing explanations for the aliens’ strange behavior, and wasn’t thinking of her own safety. The words left her mouth as if they had generated somewhere else besides her own mind. But as soon as she spoke them, she recognized that she wanted, desperately, to knowthatmore than anything else. The word “specimen” was still ricocheting in her mind.
He stopped at the water’s edge and turned to look at her. “You are Ryvokia property now,” he stated. The way he looked at her, too, seemed more intimate than a jailer staring at his prisoner.
She shook her head in disbelief, reminding herself that the alien was using her language, and so the intended meaning of his words might not have been the same as the message she received.
“What… who are you?” she whispered. Her field anthropology skills were disintegrating.
The being, who had just moments before seemed to be connecting with her, had a sudden change in temperament. He was cool and detached when he said, “Enter the pool.”
She turned and looked at the babbling stream of water. It was calming, almost familiar and reassuring, and the sight of it transfixed her. Her thoughts were led along by it to pleasant memories… childhood, Earth, cutting class to explore, the one visit she’d taken to a spa with Kat…
Thinking about the spa, though, yanked her out of her reverie. She was still naked, still exposed to this harsh brute that had hunted her down and made her miss her ride back home.
A wave of panic washed over her. Home. She might not ever see it again.
Pull it together, Sonya. You made your choice back at the ship, and now you have to live with it. Be a scientist.
“How do you know my language?” she asked.
Good. This was good. Investigating would take her mind off her predicament.
The creature pressed a finger to the back of his neck. “We possess a silicone-based artificial learning mechanism. Our language acquisition has been accelerated by the others.”
Her eyes widened as her jaw fell slack. The others. That was therealreason she had come here, and she was horrified that she had all but forgotten them entirely until now.
“The others,” she echoed, but she sounded surprised. Did she dare ask about them? What if the answer was something awful?
Be brave.
She sucked in her breath and looked at a point above the creature’s head, a time-honored trick she used for keeping her voice steady and her features calm when she had to confront someone. “Where are they?”
She was pleased by the confident sound of her voice.
The creature seemed momentarily confused by her question. Then he fixed her with a stern gaze. “They are safe. Enter the pool.”
Sonya shook her head. “They are safe” didn’t quite cut it for her, since she was presumably going to be in their condition soon. Safe from what?
“What are you going to do to me?” she repeated.
This question caused the alien to look ponderous. His eyes seemed to grow distant, and for a brief moment she thought he looked like he was going to go into a trance.
But his gaze re-focused, his attention returning from wherever it had been to her. “I decline to answer this question at this time. Get in the pool.” He didn’t bark the orders, but rather, said them in a detached, calm monotone.
“Youdecline?” Sonya scoffed, frustration filling her blood and heating up the back of her neck. “It’s not an invitation to a birthday party.”
“I do not understand this statement. Get in the pool.”
