Page 4 of My Alien Pirate

4

First Contact

Ijolted awake, my heart racing as I took in the alien surroundings. Sterile white walls, strange beeping machines, and the acrid smell of antiseptic assaulted my senses. But nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greeted me when I turned my head.

A creature—an alien—loomed over me, its crystalline, multifaceted eyes studying me with unnerving intensity, the multitude of colors shifting as I watched. I couldn't help but stare, my mind reeling as it tried to process what I was seeing.

The being was bipedal, with a muscular, humanoid chest that might have been almost familiar if not for the iridescent scales covering its shoulders. Ridges of bioluminescent lines ran down its body and along the sides of its head, pulsing with an eerie, otherworldly glow. A heavy ridge ran along the back of its head, giving it a distinctly reptilian appearance.

This can't be real, I thought, blinking hard.I must be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or dead.

But what truly sent a jolt of terror through me were the slits on the sides of its torso. As I watched, horrified, the slits opened and dark green tentacles emerged from these openings, one of them reaching towards me and encircling my wrist.

I screamed.

The alien jerked back, its skin shifting from a deep purple to a mottled green. It made a series of clicks and whistles that I couldn't begin to understand. Was it trying to communicate? Or was this some kind of threat display?

Panic exploded in my chest, my heart hammering against my ribs like a frantic bird trying to escape its cage. The room seemed to spin, and nausea rose in my throat. I tried to push myself up, to get away, but my limbs felt like lead, weak and uncooperative. The realization that I was strapped down hit me like a physical blow, and terror clawed at my insides.

"Where am I?" I demanded, my voice shrill and cracking with fear. The words came out in a breathless rush, barely audible over the roaring of blood in my ears. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

My eyes darted wildly around the strange, sterile room, taking in the unfamiliar equipment and the eerie, pulsating lights. The air felt thick and alien, carrying unfamiliar scents that made my head swim. Sweat beaded on my forehead and trickled down my temples, but I felt cold, so terribly cold.

The creature's bioluminescent ridges flashed in a dizzying pattern, and it made more of those incomprehensible sounds. Each click and whistle sent a fresh wave of terror through me. It reached for me again with its elongated fingers and those totally foreign tentacles, and I flinched violently, a strangled cry escaping my lips.

"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" I yelled at the thing hulking over me, trying to recall all of my studies of predators and hownot to be prey. Of course, the prey wasn't usually strapped down to a table.

I pressed myself against the cold, unyielding surface beneath me, my muscles straining futilely against the metallic straps that held me down. The restraints bit into my skin, but I barely felt the pain through the haze of panic and dread. My breath came in short, ragged gasps, and spots danced at the edges of my vision.You have to breathe, Nova. Get it together!

As I filled my lungs with the strangely heavy air, and my vision cleared again, a surge of hot, defiant anger welled up inside me, pushing back against the tide of fear. Trapped, restrained, at the mercy of creatures I couldn't even comprehend – this nightmare was all too real, but I refused to be a passive victim in it. That was not who I was.

"You have no right!" I snarled, baring my teeth at the alien looming over me. My voice grew stronger, fueled by indignation and rage. "I don't care where we are or what you think you're doing. Let. Me. Go. Now!"

I thrashed against the restraints with renewed vigor, no longer caring about the pain as the metal bit into my skin. The fear was still there, a cold knot in my stomach, but it was overshadowed by a burning determination. I glared at the creature, meeting its inhuman gaze with as much fierce intensity as I could muster.

"If you think I'm going to just lie here and take whatever you're planning, you've made a big mistake," I spat. Even if it didn't understand my words, it was going to understand my meaning. "I will fight you every step of the way. And when I get free – and I will get free – you'll regret ever bringing me here."

The thing's pupils suddenly elongated into thin black slits like a snake and its bioluminescent ridges flashed rapidly from yellow, to red, to blue. It cocked its head, and a long, deep, menacing sound came from its incongruously human-shaped lips.

This is it, I thought wildly.This is how I die. Abducted by aliens. Mom always said my temper would be my downfall but I'm pretty sure she never pictured a scene like this.

I refused to give up, though. With a burst of adrenaline, I twisted my body, trying to slip my wrists free from the restraints. The alien's tentacles whipped through the air, reaching for me again. I jerked my head away, my teeth bared in a feral snarl.

"Back off!" I shouted, my voice raw with desperation and defiance. "I swear, if you touch me again, I'll—"

What? What could I possibly do, strapped down like this? The futility of my situation crashed over me, but I pushed it away, clinging to my anger like a lifeline.

The creature made a series of rapid clicks, its ridges pulsing with an intensity that made my eyes water. It leaned in closer, its alien features filling my field of vision. The smell of it – something like ozone and seawater – flooded my nostrils, somehow giving me a feeling of recognition, of peace. Like lying on warm sand and watching the waves come into shore back home.

I didn't understand this rapid reversal of my panicked feelings and I squeezed my eyes shut, turning my face away. "Please," I whispered, hating the tremor in my voice. "Please, just let me go."

Suddenly, another alien entered the room. This one was similar in appearance to the first, but smaller, with more delicate features. Its skin was a softer shade of purple, and its movements seemed gentler somehow.

The newcomer approached the first alien, making a series of rapid clicks and whistles. The larger alien responded, its tentacles writhing agitatedly. I watched, fascinated despite my fear, as they seemed to argue. Their bioluminescent ridges flashed in patterns that seemed meaningful, though I couldn't begin to decipher them.

Finally, the smaller alien curled a tentacle around the larger one's arm. Their ridges pulsed in sync for a moment, and I saw the tension visibly drain from the larger alien's posture. Its color slowly shifted back to a deep purple.

The smaller alien then turned to me, its strange, multi-colored crystalline eyes somehow conveying a sense of calm. It walked toward me and laid a four-fingered hand on the metal restraint on my right wrist. The manacle popped open, and I gasped at the sudden freedom. The smaller alien met my eyes and raised its brow line in a silent question. If it let me go, would I behave?