“Well, if we’redecliningthings, Ideclineto get in the pool.”
Although, if she were being honest, she found the pool very appealing. It was actuallybeckoningher, which was difficult to resist and made her fear it even more.
In an instant, he whipped out a pen-like device and extended it. He swung it behind her back then brought it slicing down on her rear. The impact brought a deep sting that ignited the already-burning skin on her rear. She lurched forward, nearly falling into the water.
“Alright. Okay,” she said, gasping. She may have wanted to stand on principle, but there was such a thing as a useless display of valor. Too much was going on with these spankings for her to stand firm. “I’m getting in.”
She stepped toward the water and dipped a toe in it. It was warm and welcoming. Nothing like the hostile environment up top where the wind whipped the sands through an atmosphere she wasn’t sure she could breathe. She stepped in, then carefully placed one foot on the ledge about a foot lower than the rock she was standing on, then the other. Once she’d found her footing, she looked at him again.
“I’m not going in any further with my hands bound,” she advised him. “I don’t want to have an accident and drown.”
No response for several beats. “Drowning is suffocation?”
“Technically, yes—”
“You will not drown. If you are unable to breathe, I will assist you.”
There was another long silence. Sonya didn’t move any further into the pool, however. This alien’s understanding of her language seemed to have a few holes in it, and she didn’t feel like probing where his understanding left off by seeing if he would actually assist her in case of drowning.
Who knew if they even understood humans couldn’t extract oxygen from liquids?
“Well,” she ventured, her fear dissipating as quickly as sore muscles might have in a mineral bath, to her surprise. “I’ve done what you asked. How about a quid pro—an exchange—of information, as a sign of good faith?”
The alien was instantly intrigued. His eyes focused on her and narrowed. “You want to exchange your compliance for information?” he asked, and the idea seemed to please him as much as ideas pleased Sonya.
She vaguely wondered if she had found a kindred spirit of sorts in this creature. Maybe he was as inquisitive as she was, but held back by the bureaucratic forces—whatever they might be—of his own kind.
“Uh… yes. Yes, that’s what I would like to do. Exchange compliance for information.”
She suddenly realized how on her own she was in this situation. She had no road map. The aliens were behaving in inexplicable but familiar ways, more like a hostile human tribe in some ways than a distinct species. The spanking was inexplicable, but perhaps it was just a misguided way of ensuring compliance.
Gods, she thought. What if these creatures had educated themselves on human behavior exclusively from porn videos or something?
He was staring at her, his eyes retreating to the vacant, trance-like state he had demonstrated earlier. Then he refocused on her.
His stare was stern but not threatening. “Your species has been identified as compatible,” he said.
The word “compatible” sent a frisson of fear through her, which she dutifully pushed aside. She needed to stay focused. She had secured his apparent willingness to exchange information, so she needed to use it.
“Compatible with what?” she dared to ask. Her voice betrayed the fear she felt about the possible answers. Organ donors? Food supply? Conversation partner?
“Us,” he replied, almost instantly.
Sonya blinked back at him incomprehensibly. “You. Okay. But, uh… as what?”
This made his face go stony again. He either didn’t want to answer the question, didn’t understand it, or was forbidden to elaborate.
Okay,Sonya thought.How to tease that apart?She was carefully structuring her next question—because she didn’t know how many more she would be able to get in before she had to engage in her end of the bargain—compliance. She was just opening her mouth when the alien’s demeanor changed again, abruptly.
“Ryvokia females of breeding age are scarce. We harvest life forms probing our system in order to replicate. You will be used, seeded, and left to gestate. Once you bear our fruit, you will be returned safely.”
Her lips parted, a look of disbelief forming on her face. Her focus, oddly, went immediately to the part of his answer about her eventual “return.” Returned? To where? Did they have the technology and know-how to return her to the orbital? Would they initiate contact with the admiral? Would they take more of its crew, more females, for a similar purpose?
But the remainder of his sentence sunk in slowly. When the true meaning of that purpose dawned on her, all color left her face. “You’re… you’re going tobreedme?” she asked.
“The process will not be painful,” he said. This answer came to him immediately. “You have no reason for fear.” He stepped into the water next to her, cupped his hands, and dipped them in before standing up and pouring the collected water out over her shoulders.
It was the kind of non-answer that ordinarily would have sent her flying off the handle. At the very least, she felt, it should have terrified her. Instead, she shuddered at the unexpectedly pleasant feeling of being bathed in the unusual water, which seemed to work like an actual drug, pouring a sense of calm over her entire body as it moved deliciously over her skin.
