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“On the Xylope, my ship. Well, the IGU’s ship, but it’s mine for this mission. You are an alien and I have abducted you.”
His smile didn’t waver. He seemed pleased with himself, until his eyebrows shot up and he fumbled with the strange wristwatch he wore. “Klat, that was the wrong way round. From your perspective, I’m the alien. Apologies. This is my first abduction.”
“Abduction?” I echoed, my voice shrill. “You’ve abducted me?”
“It is permitted for scientific purposes as well as for star-bound mates. I have not done anything illegal.”
I gaped at him. “You can’t be serious. This is a joke, a prank. Did Sharon put you up to this? Or Tim?”
“I know neither a Sharon nor a Tim,” he said calmly. “Technically, my sire instructed me to come to your planet, but it was I who chose to abduct you rather than one of the other natives. You are my – no, let’s leave that for later. The manual said not to overwhelm you. Are you feeling overwhelmed?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I had no words. Was I overwhelmed? Most definitely. Incredulous, angry, frustrated. I felt like I was at the butt end of a joke, yet nobody bothered to tell me the punch line.
“I forgot to inform you that I don’t plan to eat you. Does that make it better?” Bruin looked mighty pleased with himself. I was starting to think he was crazy. I should have known. He’d been too perfect. Good-looking guys always turned out to be either in a relationship, crazy, arrogant dicks or idiots.
I glared at him, gathering all my anger and turning it into confidence. “Let me go or I will call the police.”
“Police? Is that another one of your strange Peritan acronyms?”
He had to be pretending, yet I didn’t spot a lie and I was good at reading people.
“Law enforcement. Clearer now?”
“Ah, yes, I understand. There’s no need for that. You’re safe with me.”
He smiled again, as if that would make everything better.
“You must be fucking kidding me,” I hissed. The time for politeness was over. This guy had kidnapped me. Probably. “You say you’ve abducted me, but I’m safe? Do you see that that’s a big fat oxymoron?”
“I can see why it might seem that way, but trust me-“
“Trust you?! Do the people you abduct usually trust you? No, don’t answer that. I’m leaving.”
I stumbled to my feet, fighting a bout of dizziness. He didn’t stop me. In fact, he stepped aside to open the way to the door. I somehow made it to the other end of the room, swaying as if drunk. The door slid open without a sound. A windowless corridor led to another door, but this one didn’t open.
“Andromeda, give bridge access to Tara,” I heard Bruin say from behind me.
As soon as he’d spoken, the door slid upwards into the ceiling, revealing a circular room with a glass dome roof. No, not glass, screens again, showing Earth and the darkness of space all around. In the centre sat a large chair that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the set of Star Trek. Several smaller workstations were arranged in a circle around the central chair, but none were occupied.
“Do you believe me now?” Bruin asked softly, following me into the room.
“I had to admit, it’s a very elaborate and expensive hoax, but no way are we really in space.”
He looked a little disappointed, but then grinned. “I know how to prove it. Andromeda, disengage artificial gravity on the bridge.”
The strangest ever feeling took hold of my body, like floating in water without getting wet. And I was floating, actually floating! My feet hovered above the ground and even my arms were no longer pulled towards the floor. I’d never realised just how much I relied on gravity to stay upright. With it gone, I was a ship with neither anchor nor rudder.
“And now?” Bruin asked, grinning triumphantly. He looked a lot more at home in zero gravity, elegantly manoeuvring himself until he hovered above the centre chair.
I looked up at the dome – except that up was no longer up, it could have been any direction. The lack of gravity was making me more scared than Bruin’s revelation of having abducted me had.
“Could you turn it back on?” I asked, hating to sound weak.
“Of course. Be ready, you’ll feel very heavy in a click. Andromeda, engage artificial gravity.”
He hadn’t been lying. I was sucked towards the floor and almost fell to my knees. Bruin, on the other hand, landed elegantly in his chair. Bastard.
“It’s time to say goodbye to Peritus,” he said and waved cheerfully at the planet above us. My planet. Earth.
