On the right side of the table, next to Meya, sat two men. They were both large and heavily muscled. The younger of the two men had sandy brown hair, streaked with blond. When he grinned at her, showing even white teeth, a dimple appeared in his cheek.
If Jade wanted to know whether or not she’d find an alien man attractive, she had her answer. He was more handsome than any man she’d ever seen in person. He looked like he should’ve been running shirtless on some beach in Australia, getting ready to surf.
Light golden designs ran over his arms, neck, and part of his face. They curled delicately around his strong features.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She pulled her attention away from surfer boy and caught the other man staring intently at her with dark eyes. She assumed light tattoos ran over this man’s body as well, but his long-sleeved shirt and shoulder-length mop of brown hair meant she could only see one curving marking winding up his cheek.
He scowled at her. His deep frown contrasted sharply with the dimpled grin of the younger man next to him. He almost appeared angry at her, and she wondered if he and surfer boy were an item.
She quickly glanced away. He’s all yours!
The last person in the room, an ancient woman, sat directly across from Jade. She was dressed in a high-collared lavender jacket that matched the pale purple of her eyes. She sat stiffly with her chin raised, her white hair curling over her shoulders. Everything, from her regal posture to intelligent eyes, told Jade she was in charge here.
Without fail, Meya focused on her and waited until the woman gave a slow nod before speaking.
“I believe we have all been made aware of the current situation.” She eyed each of them and waited for their nods of agreement. She then spoke to Jade. “Our translators have been updated now. Can you please say something so we can be sure?”
“Uh…hello. My name is Jade,” she recited, not knowing what else to say.
Meya smiled. “Hello, Jade. It’s nice to meet you.”
All Jade’s bravado from earlier faded. She’d imagined the bitch fit this group of people would get when she finally was able to speak to them. Now, sitting in front of a group of aliens who all stared at her, she could only manage a weak smile.
Turning, Meya addressed the group. “Jade was abducted from her home world and wound up on Clecania. We need to make sure that measures are taken to right this wrong, but the main focus of our meeting today is to decide where Jade should go now.” Meya paused for a moment then continued, “I’m going to let Jade explain what has happened to her and then we’ll discuss what we should do moving forward.”
Meya fell silent, and all eyes focused on Jade.
Jade had known she’d have to recount what had happened, but she’d thought it would be to someone like a police officer, one on one. Public speaking had always been something she’d dreaded. “Uh…well,” she began shakily. Meya gave her an encouraging nod. Taking a deep breath, she described everything that had happened.
They all stayed quiet and listened intently until she got to the part about being approached in the woods.
“Did you see this being?” one of the women asked, anger etched on her face.
“No. It was dark, and I sprayed behind me and ran. I couldn’t tell you if it was a man or a woman. I don’t even know if it was a Clecanian or some other species.”
The pretty woman leaned back and pondered this.
“Is that the wording I should use, by the way?” Jade interjected, realizing that even on Earth, gender was more complex than “man” and “woman.” “You all look very similar to humans and I keep thinking of you and referring to you as people or men or women but…you’re not.” Jade glanced around. “Is there some other vocabulary I should be using?”
The kind older man to her left leaned toward her. “Your translator uses context to translate as well as words. You may be saying a word that means a human specifically, but if your intention is to address a group, the word is translated to the word we’d use for that group.”
“Wow.” She peered around nervously. “You guys really are advanced here.” She recalled a question she’d thought of earlier about the translator. “I couldn’t understand them. The lizard people,” she clarified.
“The ones who took you?” Treanne, the blonde woman asked, concern showing on her face. “I don’t know who took you, but I do know your translator was only uploaded with the languages spoken on this planet. They probably didn’t upload their own in order to keep you from hearing any sensitive information.”
The dark-eyed man who still had a scowl on his face interrupted. “Intergalactic law says that she’s to remain on Clecania for a period of one year. Our law says that an off-worlder needs to be put under protection and monitored by a resident for that year. If my understanding of the law is correct,” he said snidely, as if he already knew it was, “we know what to do with her. All we need to decide today is which resident she’ll be placed with.”
Nope, she did not like that guy. Not at all. He was suggesting they throw her together with some stranger? “Why one year?” she interjected.
“A year will provide whichever species encounters a Class 4 species enough time to teach them about the known universe,” the pretty woman with pale-green hair answered in a melodic voice.
“Not everything, obviously.” The woman seated next to her chuckled. “Just enough so you can function outside of the only planet you’ve known. We’re
