need to hear us talk about her like a lab experiment when she first woke up.
We waited in silence, the tension rising with every minute that passed. Finally, her eyelids twitched and she let out another moan. That sound woke something in me, a feral instinct to protect this female. I clenched my fists to prevent me from storming to her side to hug her to my chest. She was mine.
She opened her eyes but didn't sit up yet. All she could see was the ceiling, which was probably the blandest ceiling in the entire ship. Our vessel was old but we made sure to keep it clean and homely. We spent most of the year on the ship and it therefore had to feel like a place we wanted to spend time in. Matar had decorated most of the walls with colourful, abstract paintings. He growled at anyone who commented on them, but I knew he was secretly proud of his art, even though it didn't fit into the image of the macho, growly, aggressive male he tried to be.
The med bay, however, hadn't been painted and was boring shades of grey and white. With a white sheet covering most of her body, her dark hair stood out even more. Kardarian females didn’t have manes like that. They had short, wiry tendrils sprouting from their scalp, but nothing as soft and lush as this. I couldn’t wait to have tiny Kardarians with long, soft manes on my arm, looking up at their papa with adoration.
"Hello?" she asked, her voice hoarse as if she'd screamed a lot. Maybe it was dehydration.
"Did you give her that oxygen-hydrogen fluid humans like?" I whispered to Havel.
His eyes widened. "I forgot. I made some but I only gave her standard fluids to rehydrate her, not what they call water."
I was tempted to rip off his head, but we needed our healer.
"Get her some right now."
"Shouldn't we wait-"
"What the fuck?" the female suddenly exclaimed and we turned back to her. She'd sat up and was staring at us. Time to follow Professor Katila's instructions and start the talk.
"Hello, female," I began, "you have been abducted and are now on the Jade, my ship. You will not return to Earth. You will become our mate and breeder and you will be happy with us. Do you have any questions?"
She blinked several times, then rubbed her eyes. Was there something wrong with her? I shot a panicked look at Havel, but he didn't seem too worried.
I realised I'd forgotten part of my speech and quickly continued. "I am Xil, Captain of this ship. This is Havel, our healer, and Matar, our engineer. We are Kardarians, one of the most powerful species in the galaxy. We are compatible with you, although you may need some practice to accept our cocks because you're so small. We don't know yet if we're compatible for breeding, but we will find out. Oh, and-"
I ripped open my uniform to expose my mottled chest. "I have large spots and scales. Havel has fangs. Matar has a tail. Besides that, we aren't all that different from you. Except that you're missing fingers."
"Very well done," Matar whispered. Havel looked pleased with my speech as well.
The female, however, didn't react as I'd planned. Not at all. She started laughing. She threw her head back and laughed, her entire body shaking from the giggles breaking from her chest.
"Is she reacting to the drugs you gave her?" I asked Havel.
"I doubt it. Maybe it's her way of communicating her happiness at the situation?"
I shrugged. Humans were strange, so this may as well be her showing us how pleased she was with us.
"Do you have any questions, female?" I asked, hoping she'd take the hint and stop laughing.
She gasped for breath in between giggles, causing concern to rise in my chest which turned my scales a darker shade of yellow.
"This is a joke, right?" she asked breathlessly. "Is this my punishment for breaking the scooter? Did Chadra put you up to this?"
Again, the three of us exchanged a look. Chadra? Punishment?
"If you'd like to be punished, we'd be happy to comply," Matar said smoothly. "I've heard some aliens expect punishment when they're abducted. I'd be happy to spank you if you wish."
The female immediately stopped laughing and stared at Matar. "Spank me?"
He held up a hand. "Slap you on your bum."
"I know what spanking is. What the hell? Why are you doing this?"
"It's part of our culture," I explained.