Page 23 of Stripped By the Alien

I gesture toward the doorway. Her eyes follow the movement and return to me. When I repeat it, her suspicion deepens. Apparently she believes I am trying to lure her into a trap.

"Come," I say, pointing toward the corridor. The word means nothing to her.

Before I can try again, Sris emerges from behind a storage shelf. "Still unable to converse?"

"Your insight continues to amaze me."

Sris ignores the remark. "Perhaps she understood the star map after all."

The thought has crossed my mind. If the female understood my question and chose not to answer, then gaining her trust may prove harder than learning her language. "I don't think so."

I gesture toward the corridor again.

This time she hesitates. Her gaze moves from me to the doorway and back again while she considers her options. Eventually she steps away from the wall and approaches.

With an extraordinary gait that makes her most remarkable parts jiggle luxuriously, she walks over to the discarded roll of packing sheet that I tried to have her put on earlier.

“Yes,” I encourage. “Wrap it around you. I can’t have you distract my crew too much. Sris, help her!”

Sris assists the alien with putting on the stiff wrap. It covers her like a barrel from shoulders to ankles, and it looks wide enough to allow her to bend her knees and walk.

“Good,” I praise her. “Now come along.”

She moves carefully at first. The healing process repaired most of the damage, but her body is still recovering. I stay close enough to catch her if she stumbles inside that absurd covering, though she reaches the doorway without trouble.

The living corridor immediately captures her attention. Her gaze moves across the walls, the membranes, and the passage stretching into the distance. Curiosity again.

Behind me, Sris clicks her claws together. "Excellent. You're taking the valuable discovery on a sightseeing tour."

“She may come from a valuable target that we can Harvest,” I point out. “Or she may be a trap sent from a rival. Either way, I want her to see my power.”

“If she’s come from a ripe world, then she may be overwhelmed and speak more easily,” Sris sums up my argument. “If she’s a trap, she may see that you’re a better bet than whoever sent her.”

I allow myself a tight smile. “Precisely.”

The female studies the corridor for another moment before stepping through the opening. As I follow, I find myself unexpectedly pleased that she chose to come willingly.

The female follows me into the corridor, and the Beast immediately captures her attention.

I notice it in the way her head keeps turning. Every opening membrane earns a glance. Every pulse beneath the walls draws her eyes. Twice she slows when the corridor moves around us, as though she expects the living passage itself to do something unexpected.

In fairness, that expectation is often correct.

The corridor widens ahead, and several crew members emerge from a side passage carrying supplies. The moment they notice me, they straighten and perform the proper gestures of respect. Then they notice the female.

Conversations stop. One underling nearly walks into another before recovering. Several antennae lift. More than one crew member turns to look again after passing us. The female notices the attention immediately. Her gaze moves between the crew and me, clearly searching for an explanation.

"Remarkable," Sris observes from my shoulder while we continue walking. "The distraction effect remains consistent."

"She's unusual," I reply.

"That is one word for it."

“A suitable word.”

The female is already studying something else. A transparent section of the corridor reveals part of the Beast's outer surface. Beyond it, several maintenance creatures move across the hull. Their long bodies cling to the living tissue while they repair damaged areas with secretions produced from their own bodies.

The female stops walking. I stop as well.