Stolen and Seduced - Christine Pope Page 0,43

breasts of all sizes. Some are almost udders. Wow. Imagine burying your head between them, like soft pillows."

Havel laughed. "I'd bury something else between them."

"They only have one truly sentient species on their planet called humans. They've discovered spaceflight and are slowly spreading across the galaxy."

I dimly remembered coming across their kind before. It had to have been on some space station, but all I could recall was the name of their species, nothing more.

"Do they have tails?" I asked carefully.

Xil shot me a knowing look. "No, not that I can see. No fangs, either, but they do have beautiful manes." His eyes widened. "And fur in other places. I like it."

I couldn't resist any longer. I opened my own comms and searched for the IGU's database entry on humans. Several images appeared before my eyes. I was the only one of us who had the implant that connected my comms to my optic nerve. It was handy for looking at information that I didn't want anyone else to see. And porn.

I ignored the image of a male and scrolled to one of a female. She had a long, black mane full of curls, dark skin that reminded me of the pap tree beans we had at home, and yes, there was hair under her arms, between her legs and on her lower legs. Beautiful. My mouth watered. I could get used to having one like her around.

I quickly skimmed the section on human biology. They were compatible with us physically, although there was no information on successful breeding between our species. That worried me a little. Had nobody abducted a human before? Unlikely. The planet was part of the university's database, which meant it had been studied by scientists.

Still, I liked the look of these humans. So much so that I didn't even feel the need to explore the fourth blinking planet on the map.

"How long until we get there?" Havel asked. He seemed just as eager as me to get there quickly."

I frowned. "Two galactic weeks, faster if I get the booster engine sorted. We should have enough fuel for a round trip; no need to stop at a space station on the way."

Xil switched off the holomap and sat back in his captain's chair, a smile curving his ochre lips. "That gives us enough time to complete all the other lectures before we reach the planet. Matar, get that engine fixed as soon as possible. Havel and I can complete the next module without you."

"No way," I protested. "I don't want to miss anything. I'll work on the engine later."

The captain sighed but didn't argue. All of a sudden, the IGU course had become less of a pain in the arse. We needed all the help we could get if we wanted to abduct one of those precious humans.

Human. I let my tongue taste the word. Human. It didn't sound too bad. Not quite as pretty as Kardarian, but that didn't matter. Our female would have her own name. Something beautiful, I was sure of it. If not, we'd give her a new name. Maybe we couldn't even pronounce hers.

"We need to get a translator," I said into the silent room. "Or do we have one on board? I'm not sure she'll speak anything but...whatever humans speak."

"They have hundreds of languages on their planet," Havel said without looking up from the text he was reading. "But it seems all of them have been catalogued, so a standard interstellar translating device will work. I think we have a couple of them in the med bay, they came with the Jade. I'll check later."

I nodded and got back to reading the chapter about Earth's geography that I'd just started before I got distracted once again. I didn't think I needed to know any of this. We weren't planning to settle on our abductee's planet. We'd land, find a suitable female, abduct her, and leave. I couldn't care less how many continents they had, but Professor Katila said there would be a test, so it was better to be prepared. Failing wasn't an option.

Four continents. There had been another, but it had disappeared when ocean levels rose. Humans seemed to be a very destructive species. They'd almost torn their planet to pieces before just about managing to turn it around, becoming more aware of the environment they depended on. Still, I understood why they'd started exploring the stars. It didn't look like a planet I'd like to live on. Pollution