I stand, my muscles warning me about the long time spent at her side. I stretch, shifting the various parts which I can shift and stretch. Then I span my hand over the pod.
“I will return, my spark,” I rumble. “And we will be together.”
It takes everything I have to walk away from her, to leave the med bay, to not look back.
“Warriors,” I growl as I enter the dining hall where my senior Sarkarnii snap to attention. “We have a celebration to attend.”
“Lord Dalox.” They stand, bowing to me, keeping their eyes fixed on where I stand.
All my warriors know never to let me gain an advantage, or they might lose their tails. My second in command approaches with my cloak, hanging it on my shoulders as I shake it out.
We exit my ship into the neutral sector. It is filled with the sounds of the celebration. Dante, as usual, is taking advantage, and explosions resonate through the structure. I hear the occasional noise which tells me he is testing new munitions.
As I have requested him to do. Dante has always been reliable for any weaponry we might need.
Driok’s warriors bristle at my approach, but they let us pass because they know what will happen should they attempt to stop Lord Dalox.
My warriors might lose a tail. Any other Sarkarnii would lose their head.
“Where is Lord Driok?” I growl. “I want this ceremony over in the next ten nova-minutes.”
I am shown to the main atrium, which is filled with both his warriors and those of the other warlords. The scent in the air is of males and ale wine.
All I want is to scent her. The female in the pod is mine.
GILLIAN
Igasp, sucking in the air, pure and without dust, as if I’ve been deep underwater and finally breached the surface.
My lungs ache. My bones ache. All of me aches as I slide from side to side, attempting to work out what I can move and what I cannot.
Which is when I discover…I am naked.
Again.
What is it with aliens and a lack of clothing for those they abduct? Admittedly I am covered by something warm and soft, but even so. No actual clothing.
I’m in some sort of weird egg-shaped container. There’s the bed I’m lying on, a silvery blanket which almost seems to have a life of its own, and…nothing else. The container sides are opaque.
There’s a low farting sound and a flap opens in the side as something slides out with a noise which could be speech but I don’t recognize it as any language I’ve heard.
A waft of savory scent hits me. I inspect the container carefully and it springs open as my hand hovers over it. Inside is a selection of cubes and rolls which look suspiciously like sushi but are very much unlikely to be sushi.
Given the last aliens served a sort of beige slop which had no flavor and made me ill, this is a slight improvement, but only just.
I pick up the first piece, a roll which looks like nigiri. I sniff it, although that doesn’t help much because it’s hardly going to smell like sushi. I stick out my tongue and give it an exploratory lick. It tastes a little like miso with an underlying vegetable freshness. I decide to take a risk and pop it into my mouth.
The savory sweet nature of the food item explodes over my tongue, rich and pleasant. I drop my head back and take a moment. Even the act of chewing something is incredible.
Which is when I’m jabbed in the back of my head by the pincer.
“Ow!” I barrel away from the thing, swinging my leg around in order to kick out at it if it tries a similar maneuver. “What was that for?”
“Please,”a metallic voice says.“Take sustenance.”
“What?” I’m still rubbing at the back of my neck, just behind my ear.
“Please take sustenance.”
