****
“She’s waking up,” Lenth heard Bronn say from the other side of the room. Their subject had come with them willingly to what Bronn told her was his home; in fact, it was laboratory space that Bronn had set up at the beginning of the mission. Bronn had chosen a different tactic from many of their colleagues in his attempts to make potential human subjects comfortable with agreeing to be experimented on: his laboratory was a mock-up of a human dwelling, with the specialized equipment recommended by their research overseers tucked away in what would be considered a human’s bedroom.
When they had arrived at Bronn’s space, Lenth had quietly prepared a concoction that the Khateen knew would assist humans in metabolizing alcohol more quickly, without the lingering harmful effects that humans called a hangover. The substances in the concoction neutralized the alcohol in the stomach, so that there was less for the human liver to process, converting the alcohol into simple glucose and water. Before Giselle had fallen asleep on Bronn’s couch, Lenth had convinced her to drink it—though he had not told her what it was.
It was nearly dawn when their potential subject awakened, blinking blearily. Lenth could sense her confusion and the brief flicker of alarm in her body language as she started to remember what had happened. “I’m fully dressed,” Giselle said quietly.
“We told you,” Bronn said, smiling slightly. “Our culture considers taking advantage of females to be absolutely anathema. We would never harm you.”
“What did you give me?” Giselle asked with a frown.
“It was a substance that neutralizes alcohol. Are you feeling ill?” Giselle shook her head.
“I feel great… it’s just weird to not have a hangover after drinking so much. How much did I drink?” she shook her head, sitting up.
“You had several alcohol drinks,” Bronn said with a grin. Giselle chuckled, stretching and twisting, and Lenth couldn’t help but stare. The sight of their subject sleeping on Bronn’s couch had been tempting—alluring. The movements of her stretching revealed more of her pale skin, a slice of her stomach and the curve of her hip showing.
“So,” Giselle said, glancing from Lenth to Bronn, and Lenth saw that the alarm—muted, just a flicker of the emotion as she had awakened—had come back, slightly stronger. “What’s the plan now?” Bronn glanced at Lenth and Lenth considered. They had not decided just how they were going to proposition this potential subject.
“You are curious about our culture,” Lenth said. “There are some things that we wanted to share with you in private about our culture.”
“Oh—oh, yes, that’s right,” Giselle said, her dark eyes widening. Lenth felt the stirrings of lust in his body once more, the flicker of heat. It was a sensation not unlike the dance between potential mates. She scrubbed at her face. “Do you happen to have coffee? It’s—really, really early.” Bronn chuckled and Lenth shrugged, not knowing the answer to the question.
“I do have coffee,” Bronn said. “But I am uncertain about how to make it. It is not a common drink where we come from.” Giselle chuckled and Lenth smiled at the understatement.
“If you have coffee and a coffee brewer, I can make it myself.” Lenth watched as the woman stood quickly, looking around before she went into the kitchen area. He turned to his colleague.
“We need to explain things to her,” Lenth whispered to Bronn. “We got her here, we need to explain and persuade her to participate.” Lenth watched his colleague closely as Bronn considered the situation.
“We could propose that we exchange information,” Bronn suggested. “We’ll tell her about our culture if she lets us perform the experiments.” Bronn smiled.
“How much will we tell her, though?” Lenth asked. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen, where Giselle was singing softly as she made coffee. Lenth could smell the sharp scent of the roasted beans.
“As much as she wants, once she agrees to participate,” Bronn suggested.
“And then she’ll go to the press, or the government.”
“With what?” Bronn shrugged. “She can’t tell them that she’s being subjected to alien experiments—have you seen the way that people are treated who make those accusations?”
Lenth laughed, “That’s an excellent point.”
Giselle came back into the living room, looking from Lenth to Bronn. “What have you two been discussing?” They had lapsed into their native language out of necessity.
“We want to make a… proposition to you,” Bronn said, glancing at Lenth. “We understand your interest in our culture. You know that we are scientists.”
“I know that you told me you’re scientists,” Giselle pointed out. “That doesn’t mean that you are.” Lenth laughed.
“What proof would you need?” Lenth asked.
“A lab? Examples of previous research…” Giselle shrugged. “I’ve never heard of the place you told me you come from. It seems…strange to me that people from a remote country I’ve never heard of are doing genetic research.” Lenth glanced at Bronn.
“Well, there’s something we must tell you,” Bronn said. “But first we need your consent to the experiments we’re interested in recruiting you for.”
“Okay, well, what is it?” Giselle asked after a moment. “What’s the study?”
Lenth leaned forward slightly, holding her gaze. “We’re interested in human sexuality. Specifically, sexuality in human women.”
Giselle gave him a level look, holding his gaze for a long moment. “You keep saying ‘human,’” she said slowly. “Why the emphasis on humans?”
Bronn looked at him, and Lenth smiled slowly, meeting his colleague’s gaze. “Because,” Lenth said, taking a deep breath and exhaling; the atmosphere of the planet was not as rich in hydrogen as his own planet, but it helped. “We are not humans.”
For a long time, Giselle just stared at him. She looked from Lenth to Bronn, and Lenth read the emotions flickering across her face: disbelief, curiosity, interest, apprehension—each one making a fleeting mark on her features.
“You’re not...human,” she said slowly.
“We are not,” Bronn said.
“You are scientists, looking at human sexuality…” Giselle frowned. “What the hell kind of prank is this?”
“No prank,” Lenth told her. “We’re looking at genetics and sexuality in human women, because our people—called the Khateen—are interested in potentially cross-breeding with your species.”
“But in order to do that,” Bronn said, “we must understand human sexuality and reproduction much more than we do.”
“You…” Giselle stood. “I really need that coffee.” She went into the kitchen and Lenth looked at his colleague.
“You should’ve shown her the lab first to prove that we’re researchers!” Bronn snapped.
“It’s your lab!” Lenth countered.