Lesson 3 Introducing Yourself to Your Abductee

As soon as my mate was unconscious, I picked her up and pressed her close against my chest. I'd been craving to touch her the moment I'd laid eyes on her, but I'd not want to scare her. Fumbling for my C-Band, I took a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching, then pressed the button. Bright light enveloped us. An'tia whinnied in annoyance, then her hooves hit the floor of my spaceship. She huffed, angry to be back in the confined space.

We'd been on Peritus for five of their sun rotations. The trip here had been long and uneventful, but the moment we'd broken through the planet's atmosphere, An'tia had begun to glitter. Her white coat had sparkled as if she'd been doused in pure starlight. I'd never seen anything more beautiful.

What irony that the only reason I'd come to Peritus was because of my father. I bet he'd regret persuading me to do this once he found out that An'tia had found my mate. Not just any mate. My soulmate.

While An'tia's glittering fur was a clear sign that my mate was somewhere on the planet, there'd been no way of knowing where until we'd set foot on what the natives called Earth. At first, we'd landed on the wrong continent, but An'tia had guided me all the way to a small country the natives called Scotland. It was a beautiful place that reminded me a little of Allopo, my home planet. Although it would take me some time to get used to only having one sun light up the sky.

On the way, I'd dutifully made notes of how the Peritans reacted to An'tia. Most smiled when they saw her or wanted to take something they called selfies. Others wanted to touch her horn and desired to find out what it was made of. An'tia didn't let any of them touch her, but she was surprisingly docile and didn't use her venom on anyone.

We finally found my mate in front of an old structure that didn't look fit to live in. Maybe it was her family's estate, but she lacked the funds to repair it. I'd expected my mate to be confused by An'tia, but she'd looked at us as if she'd expected me to arrive with a stabhorn. My father assumed that Peritans didn't believe in the existence of stabhorns, but there was a chance he was wrong. My mate certainly hadn't looked at An'tia as if she was a mythical beast.

A gong sounded, signalling that the beaming process had been completed and all our atoms had been reassembled in the correct order. I hurried over to the medpod and gently lay my mate inside. She was still unconscious, but her breathing was steady. Her golden hair spread around her head like a veil. It reminded me of something, a distant memory, but I couldn't remember why her beautiful hair looked so familiar.

I activated the medpod and started a full diagnostic sequence. I'd been told beaming was safe for Peritans, but I wanted to make sure. As much as the Intergalactic University had researched their species in the past decade or so, there was still a lot to learn about Peritans. I grinned when I realised I"d get an up-close introduction to their peculiar manners. My sire had told me stories of their habits, which seemed to involve a lot of shaking hands and speaking in riddles, but he"d only been to Peritus twice. Most of his research was based on going through their literature. He"d become fascinated by their fiction and written several papers on the surprising realism in a genre they called "monster romance". Now that I had a Peritan mate, I regretted that I didn"t pay more attention to my sire"s research. But I wouldn"t give him the satisfaction by asking him for advice. No way.

The medpod"s screen filled with data. She had no translation implant fitted, so I instructed the pod to inject her with a basic one. Mine was more advanced, letting me speak alien languages as well as understand them, but it was a more invasive procedure. I didn't want to subject her to that without her consent. For now, a simple synthetic ear slug implant that would translate whatever she heard would suffice.

My female"s iron levels were too low, but everything else seemed normal for her species. The medpod calculated that she was twenty-seven Peritus rotations young. That seemed barely old enough to be out of diapers. Had I abducted a youngling?!

Cold fear gripped my heart. I"d be in so much trouble. And I"d have to wait for decades for her to grow up until she could truly become my mate.I wouldn't survive that long.

I changed the medpod's unit setting to intergalactic standards. Ah, that made more sense. She was only two IG years younger than me. Thank the stars. I could mate with her. At the thought of being with her, becoming true soulmates by completing the sacred starlight ritual, my cocks hardened.

Wait. Both cocks. That was a strange new sensation. My mating cock had been dormant in its sleeve, but now that I'd found my mate, I supposed it was time for it to awaken. I reached for my crotch, then thought better of it. If Tara woke up now, I didn't want me touching myself to be the first thing she saw.

I distracted myself by scrolling through the data in front of me. Her left arm had been broken in the past and the bone had regrown at a slight angle. I instructed the medpod to heal it properly.Hopefully, my mate hadn"t been in pain because of her species" primitive medicine.

One other notification confused me. There was a foreign body inside her uterus. I zoomed in, dreading what I was about to see. Did she have a parasite? Or worse, had someone conducted experiments on her?

The object resembled a small stick with two arms and a string hanging from the other end. How very peculiar. It didn"t send out any signals and it looked simple enough to be of Peritan origin. Why would she have a stick in her uterus? Did she even know about it? I had the medpod remove it just in case. I didn"t want my mate to suffer. I"d have to ask her later if she was aware of the device.

Satisfied that she was in good health otherwise, I ended the medpod sequence. It asked me if I wanted her to regain consciousness. For a moment, I hesitated. I enjoyed looking at her, taking in her alien beauty. Once she woke, she"d have questions. I"d have to explain why she was no longer on her planet.She"d been surprisingly calm when confronted with An"tia, so maybe I was worrying over nothing. She might be glad to be away from her planet. Glad to be with her soulmate.

An"tia whinnied from behind me. I sometimes worried that she could read my thoughts. She was too intelligent and intuitive for a stabhorn, even a venom-tipped one. At least she"d decided I was a friend. The first few days of our journey had been rough. She"d almost stabbed me a second time. It took all my experience and patience to get her to trust me. Stabhorns bonded for life, so now that she"d decided I was worth her company, she"d stay with me for as long as she lived. Or until she found her own mate. She was still young and it would be a few more IG years until she started to develop the urge to search for her mate.

I looked back at my own female. She was so perfect. Smaller than the females of my own kind, but there was an inner strength to her, even while she was sleeping.

An"tia stepped closer, her hooves echoing on the hard metal floor.She was going to wake Tara with the same stabhorn magic that had made her unconscious.

"Wait," I told her quickly. "Let"s get her into more comfortable surroundings first."

I gently lifted Tara into my arms. She was so light, so small. I was strangely scared of holding her too tightly, of squeezing her to death. Her scent was spicy and alluring, reminding me of the laotus flower which only bloomed when both suns were at their strongest. I breathed in deep. Tara smelled familiar. Like home. We"d only just met, but I could already imagine us growing old together. We"d have a family. Many younglings, born naturally, not grown in a lab like myself. We"d have our own stabhorn park., far away from overeager fans. And-

I bumped my head at the door leading to the relaxation quarter. Every. Single. Time. The ship belonged to the IGU and clearly wasn"t made for a male of my size.I bet my sire had hired this one on purpose to make me uncomfortable. My forehead would have permanent dents by the time we got back home.

Just like the rest of the ship, the relaxation room was small, well-used yet clean. As soon as we entered, a narrow bench descended from the walls and a table rose from the floor.

"Andromeda, adjust the settings to two passengers," I told the ship's AI. A second bench was lowered from the wall. It would be comfortable for Tara, but for me, it was only wide enough for half my buttocks. Until now, I'd spent most of the time on the bridge, where the captain's chair was more suitable for my stature, and in the cargo bay with An'tia. But since the relaxation quarter was the least intimidating-looking part of the ship, it seemed like a good idea to wake Tara in here.

I carefully laid her on one of the benches before brushing her hair out of her face. Again, the golden hair reminded me of something. I'd figure it out eventually.

She looked so peaceful. I shouldn't wake her yet. But that was cowardice speaking. I'd have to face her questions eventually. I remembered the manual my sire had given me and which sat unread in my inbox. I activated the holo display on my C-Band and pulled up the book. The Intergalactic University's Guide to Humans by Professor Katila. My sire had mentioned her. She'd been a catalyst in introducing Peritus to the IGU's alien species department, but had eventually gone mad. During a breakdown, she'd threatened the lives of a Peritan female and her Kardarian mates. Three of them. I was glad I didn't have to share my own mate. I just hoped I'd be enough to satisfy her. I'd heard Peritan females were voracious when it came to mating. I had a lot of experience, but only with my pleasure cock. With her, it would be the first time I released my mating cock from its sleeve. It wasn't something I could practise. It would happen during the starlight ritual, when we formed our everlasting bond.

Until today, I'd never thought much about my mating cock, but now that it had awoken, the sleeve around it felt tight and uncomfortable. I wanted relief, but I knew only my mate could release it from the sleeve. If I tried, it would hurt and might damage it forever. Not a risk I'd take. I'd just have to convince her to mate with me soon.

To distract myself from the discomfort, I navigated to chapter 3, Introducing Yourself to Your Abductee.

"Keep in mind that your Abductee has just been ripped from their native habitat. They will be scared and confused. At the time of writing, Peritus is not a member of the Galactic Council and most of its inhabitants are unaware of the presence of life beyond their planet. For them, you will be the alien, not them. Be patient and gentle. Avoid loud noises that might startle them.

"If your physical form is very different from Peritans (they are a bipedal species but start their life as tetrapods), consider wearing a disguise during your First Contact Experience (FCE). Don't overwhelm them with too much information at once, it might be more than their fragile minds can handle.

"Start by introducing yourself. Don't go into too much detail. Reassure them that you have no intentions to eat/kill/hurt/probe/… them. The recommended IGU strategy is to conduct the FCE in your space vehicle while still in orbit around Peritus. We have found it helps to show Abductees their planet in order to speed up their acceptance of their circumstances.

"Once they feel comfortable in your presence, remove your disguise. Remember to take it slow. Overwhelmed Peritans have been known to scream hysterically, rock back and forth, whimper and even leak from their eyes. Try and avoid this at any cost. You may be tempted to sedate your Abductee to make it easier for yourself. Don't. It will lengthen the FCE and could risk your future Abductor-Abductee-relationship."

I swallowed hard. This sounded more difficult that I'd imagined. I should have read the book before now.

"Andromeda, create a virtual viewscreen and display our external view of Peritus."

A digital window appeared on the wall opposite the benches. The blue-and-green planet filled it almost entirely. I'd seen prettier planets, but it wasn't one of the ugliest. In fact, the little moon was adorable. One sun, one moon. I liked the symmetry of it.

But I was stalling.

It was time to wake my mate.