"These burns," she said, turning her palms back to look at them. "Well, therewereburns here. They must have healed already."
"The way I heard it," the regent said, hands on hips, "was that yourcompanionshot first, then refused to back down. Thenyouattacked one of my scientists while he was attempting to disable your out-of-control automaton."
"I tried to reason with them!"
The regent glared down at her. "You were acting like a threat, so they treated you like one."
"Me? A threat? I'm almost half your size, and apparently a member of a 'primitive civilization,' remember?"
"Oh, I remember," he grumbled. "You're not letting me forget."
"This is ridiculous. My ship is at the bottom of your ocean, your loyal subjects are scrapping my companion as we speak, and I've got no weapons. How could I hurt you?"
Her stomach picked that second to growl.
"What was that?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "No weapons, huh? What have you got hidden on you?"
Sylvie inhaled in confusion. "What?"
His hands were on her all of a sudden, pulling at her flight suit before she could blink.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
The regent had discovered the zipper and was pulling it down, exposing her bra.
"Stop that!" she said, slapping at his hands. He managed to unzip the front of the suit and had begun thrusting his hands inside of it.
"What have you got?" His hands slid over her stomach and around her back, then went lower to cup her bottom. The sensation sent chills racing over her.
"Nothing!"
His hands raced up her back, sliding over her shoulders, then down to cup her breasts. "I heard it. You've got something in here."
"It was my stomach!" she shouted. "I'm hungry! Get your damn hands off me!"
"Your stomach?" His look was disbelief mixed with amusement.
Sylvie turned away from him, embarrassment suffocating her. "Yes! When we humans get hungry, our stomachs growl. I swear to you that I have no weapons on me. Besides, wouldn't your lackeys have detected them long before they allowed their Supreme Reject to get close to me?"
His color was building to a vibrant yellow. What did it signify? Sylvie had worked out that their skin changed in response to something, but not yet what stimulus set it off.
Emotion, perhaps?
"I've studied Earth. It's a particular hobby of mine. And I have learned to appreciate Earthling females. They have an exotic composition that pleases me." He stared down his nose at her. "I didn't, however, expect them to have such barbaric tongues, or growling stomachs."
His arrogant manner only made her angrier.
"Insults aren't going to get you anywhere, Mister." She poked a finger into his solid chest, jamming the joint painfully. "I'm not going to answer any questions unless you start answering some of mine."
The yellow of his skin was becoming darker, shades of purple beginning to dominate. The regent gave a short nod. "Deal."
