Chapter 7
Xivthar watched her study her surroundings. She took in everything, her shrewd eyes seemingly cataloguing every detail. The Earthling female kept surprising him. Although he'd made a study of her home planet, especially the females of her species, who had always intrigued him, he'd never had a conversation with an Earthling. It was proving to be more difficult, and more revealing, than he'd expected.
When he touched her skin, tingles ignited in his fingertips. His species were able to sync their electrical impulses together during mating, and it generally started with a tingling in the fingertips. To experience something similar with a human female was astonishing. Exciting.
As the most powerful official on the planet, Xivthar could have had the female drugged and her knowledge extracted. He could even have resorted to torture. Instead, he was going to feed her dinner.
He'd brought her to his quarters and instructed her to seat herself at the table in his sitting room. It was smaller than his ornate receiving room, more intimate.
Xivthar stepped up to his food console and dialed up a meal comprised of several Zantharian delicacies. Soured urchin, sea cucumber salad, savory whelks in seagrass, and a sweet pearl inside a clamshell. He carried the plate to the table and set it before her.
"Eat," he instructed, pulling up a chair and sitting beside her.
Her green eyes narrowed. "How do I know you won't try to drug me? Or poison me?"
Xivthar sighed. "Why would I bother bringing you here if I wanted to harm you? I could have left you in your cell and instructed myloyal subjectsto abuse you."
"Perhaps you're trying to butter me up."
"Butter you up?" The translation matrix was efficient, but it didn't always work on colloquial language.
"Trick me into liking you so you can take advantage of me."
"Take advantage?" The thought of what was under the flight suit made that a particularly enticing thought.
Something must have shown in his expression because the female frowned. "Take advantage of myknowledge."
She shook her head, tossing around the golden curls that had come undone from the contraption at the back of her head. Poking at the food on her plate, he caught her mumbling to herself. "I traveled 10,000 light years away to be molested by an alien pervert."
Xivthar reached over and picked up an urchin. He popped it into his mouth and chewed, enjoying the fresh, salty flavor.
"Not drugged," he said. "Not poisoned. Now eat. I have many questions."
"So do I." She picked up one of the urchins and took a tiny bite. She must not have found it repulsive because she continued eating.
"Me first, female." Her features tightened. Perhaps human females didn't like that designation. What should he call her then? "What's your name?"
She swallowed and picked up a cucumber. "Dr. Sylvia Cohen, professor of astrobiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My turn."
"That wasn't a question," he argued.
"It wasn't?" She smirked. "It sounded like one to me, and I answered it. My turn."
Xivthar shrugged. To say Dr. Cohen was challenging was an understatement.
"How do you speak my language?"
"Translation matrix on a planet-wide frequency. It instantly translates any language that has been inputted into it and beams it into your mind. We've input the languages of any off-world species we're keeping tabs on."
"Including Earth?"
"Including Earth," he replied. "Now you owe me two answers."
"I do not--Damn!" He could be as challenging as she could.
Xivthar watched as she proceeded to clear her plate. She made dainty little movements, as if she sought to understand each bite before she put it in her mouth. It was almost a shame to interrupt her. "How did your ship disable our shielding?"
She swallowed, using her napkin to pat at either side of her mouth. "I don't know."
