He was expecting that answer. Without knowing her better, he was unable to determine if she was lying. It was time to start asking questions he knew the answers to as well, to gauge her truthfulness.
"When did your species develop faster-than-light travel?"
"2099. The first FTL flight circled Jupiter and returned to Earth in three minutes." There was no hesitation. Her answer fit the information from his own sources perfectly.
"My turn." The professor finished the last bite of pearl, a smile spreading across her face. The expression caused warmth to spread from his chest to his stomach and tugged at his sex, bringing it to life, as if it had some glorious chance of being used.
"How did you know what was wrong with me earlier? None of your subjects had any clue but you diagnosed it immediately." She tilted her head to the side, a long strand of golden hair dancing just beside her pretty face.
"You were hysterical, your pupils were dilated, and your pulse was racing. Not all of my scientists are as familiar with your planet as I am. I know that the Earth's atmosphere is similar to ours on Zanthar, but parts of our planet have higher concentrations of nitrous oxide due to our seaweed cultivation. This colony is surrounded by seaweed farms, making the amount of nitrous oxide in the area much greater than you're used to on Earth. I determined the cause of your behavior and treated you."
"Seaweed farms," she murmured, reaching over to finger one of the braids of his sarong. "The same seaweed you use to make your clothing."
His pulse picked up as he watched her delicate hand on his sarong. It was so close to touching his skin. He wanted to see if she could make him tingle in other places besides his fingertips, but the chances of mating with the pretty Earthling were slim. "Yes, and that's two questions."
Her eyes shot up and she dropped the braid. "No, it’s just one. I made a statement about the seaweed and you agreed. It technically wasn't a question."
Xivthar laughed. The female was clever, and far more beautiful than he imagined them to be.
His brother had worried that he might be distracted by this creature. How right he was to worry. She could have stepped out of his fantasies. An exotic female, small but shapely, with pale skin and fair hair, and eyes the color of the giant jellies his people revered. Her hips were curved and breasts heavy and beautiful shaped.
He'd always been attracted to the idea of mating with a human female, but had always considered it a dream that had little chance of coming true. Their planet's policy was never to interfere with less advanced races, and that rule applied to even the Supreme Regent. They could watch from afar, but never touch.
Oh, but to touch this female again, to feel her smooth skin. To see if those tingles traveled from his fingertips to his cock. Something told him that they very much would.
"Well?" she asked, her cheeks blushing red, and he realized he'd been staring at her. It seemed her species' skin was also sensitive to mood changes.Interesting.
"Why did your people send a ship to Zanthar?" It was a leading question, and one he hoped would help him determine her level of honesty.
"We'd sent out probes to this system years ago, hoping to find signs of life. Inhabited planets. One of the probes entered your atmosphere and took samples. It returned with evidence of certain microorganisms. Evidence of the life we'd been waiting for." She fixed her green gaze on him. "Looks like we got much more than we bargained for."
Indeed. She appeared genuine, and her answer was plausible. He had received reports of an Earthling probe entering the upper atmosphere a couple years ago, but he'd instructed his forces to keep the probe above their defense shield in the thermosphere where nothing lived. Someone must have made a mistake and never come forth with the information, or the pretty woman was lying.
"My turn. What have you done with my ship?"
Xivthar leaned back in his seat. His proximity to the Earthling was unsettling. He could smell her. It was warm and musky, and like nothing he'd ever experienced. She smelled of sky and sun, of the soil. He reined himself in as his skin color darkened to deep purple.
"Your ship has been pulled up from the depths and is currently locked away in one of our laboratories. The staff at the Ministry of Science are attempting to determine what could have caused the shield malfunction."
Her small ship should have been deflected by the shield. It should have been spotted long before it ever made it to the shield. Instead, it had crashed through the shield, disabling it, but how?
"And I suppose that means they're tearing it apart?"
"Not yet. Right now they're attempting to restore power so they can question the main computer."
"Poor Magnis. You won't be able to woo him with a warm meal. He doesn't eat."
Magnis? He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but snapped it shut before speaking. There were more important questions that needed asking, and he couldn't afford to waste one. Time to shake things up and watch her reaction. "Are you working with the Hareema?"
The professor looked momentarily disappointed. Was she upset that he hadn't taken the Magnis bait? "I don't know who, or what, the Hareema is."
Could he believe her? She didn't seem to be lying.
"So you expect me to believe that you just happened to sneak up without my advanced defense net picking you up, then you blasted through the shields, managing to completely disable them by accident?"
"You can believe whatever you want, but the events happened exactly as you just described them." Her expression was placid, her eyes bright. Her words seemed genuine. Could he trust her?
He wanted to, wanted to believe that she was the plucky young scientist out on her first adventure, who had fumbled her way into a situation outside her skillset. Not only would it mean that there was no Hareema invasion force parked behind one of Zanthar's thirteen moons, but it would also leave him free to explore his connection to this female.
