Starport: Zeta Prime (Alt) Read Online Free PDF

had seen him. He was just so
powerful and self-assured–it gave him some kind of
magnetism.
    As she looked on, her stomach gave a slight twist. It was
less of a physical feeling however and more…emotional. She had
unconsciously drifted into daydreaming, wondering if he too, found her pleasant to
observe, wondering if the two races had similarities. She worried
that maybe her smooth skin and small eyes repulsed him–after
viewing her nose-to-nose, he had moved away to shut his eyes. Had
he been disgusted by her difference?
    Was it wrong of her to be thinking
like this? She was annoyed with herself for being so easily
sidetracked, and started to organize her little knowledge to try
and form some theories, and perhaps a plan, whilst she still had
the time. She concentrated on what she had learnt about the aliens,
hoping to remember something that may give her a bit of insight to
her current plight.
    This race obviously had a modicum of civilization, she thought, owing to the fact
they at least ate food from bowls and provided warmth and shelter
to their prisoners. She felt ignorant at the little she knew about
the natives on the planet she now had to call home–seeing as going
back to Earth was no longer an option after the destruction of the
gateway. The language lessons were intensive–they needed to be on
account of its complexity, but actual cultural knowledge was
limited. It seemed that the humans colonizing new worlds had very
little interest in the inhabitants, as long as they weren’t given
too much trouble.
    Most of the real life accounts of meeting with the
aliens had come about mainly
from the few battles that had ensued between the two groups in the
early days of the colonization. There hadn’t been too much
resistance however, and the fights were short-lived and resolved
quickly. Most of the colonists had merely spoken about their
primitive lifestyles and lack of technology–deeming them to be
rather stupid and inferior because of this. Ashamed of it now,
Jillian had never questioned this.
    She had, of course, encountered the
cat-people before. As head of security, an agent had radioed her
once with the report of two of them hovering by the perimeter of
her site.
    “ We need you to move away from this area, please.” She had
called to them, testing out her language skills from the other side
of the fence. They had turned to each other, appearing stunned that
she could speak to them. Saying nothing, they had crept forward
stealthily and slowly. She noted that they were both males–bare
from the waist up their stomach muscles protruded from their
torso.
    “ Move away from this area,
please.” She had insisted again, unsure if they had understood the
first time, but placing a hand over her stun gun just in
case.
    “ We want to know what you
are building.” One of them asked.
    “ It’s a…” Jillian faltered, knowing they would not have a
word for ‘gateway’ in their language–since no such thing existed to
them.
    “ It’s a tunnel. For travel.” She had explained, figuring
their question had been harmless and that they were bound to be
curious. She had also drawn the judgmental conclusion that they
wouldn’t truly get what she meant.
    The two
aliens had simply slunk back to the tree line and vanished, having
apparently gotten what they had come for. Whether they’d understood
or not, she never found out as they never returned.
    Other than
that, she had had no other experience. Well, she was finding out
first-hand now, now it was too late to ask questions about how they
handled their prisoners, about what fate lay before her. Nothing
she had gleaned from her memories was going to help her in this
circumstance.
    Soft breathing came from the sleeping feline-like creature
a short distance from her and for a brief second, Jillian considered plotting an
escape–just in case her future was not bright, but sighed at the
notion. She simply did not have the energy left to even attempt it,
she doubted