Page 50 of Stranded with the Alien

They knelt opposite each other. Kara twisted her fingers nervously, wondering how this was going to go. Vahn sensed her trepidation.

“If it makes it easier, human, you may go first.” He took off his T-shirt and threw it into the corner. “Examine any anatomical features that interest you. Ask whatever questions you like.”

Her eyes drifted over his sculpted form.Damn. He’s like an alien Michelangelo. With tentacles.

She cleared her throat nervously and decided to start on safer ground. Hesitantly she reached towards his forehead, touching the ridges which made Vraxians seem bestial and fearsome.

“Why do you have these?” she asked.

“Our ancestors had horns. They are what remains.”

“What kind of horns?”

“Large bony spirals on each temple for the males. Smaller more decorative ones for the females.”

She tried to picture it. Horns would have made Vraxians look demonic, she decided. Even more intimidating than they looked now.

“What about the scales?” She touched his chest, marveling at the warm, almost metallic texture of his snake-like skin. The scars from the hound-beast attack had faded to silvery lines which were barely visible.

“Our anthropologists believe they were once a form of organic body armor against predators. However, they becamevestigial when Vraxians moved to the top of the food chain. Now they protect us from heat and cold. They can even shield us against minor radiation.”

“Useful to have in a battlefield.”

“Unlike humans. Your skin is weak and unprotected.”

“Thank goodness for Kevlar then.”

She moved behind him to examine his back. As before, she saw a row of flattened barbs running the length of his spine. They ended just before his waistband.

“What are these?” She brushed her hand down the spikes, jumping as they stirred fractionally beneath her fingers.

“Again, a leftover from more primitive times. But useful as protection.”

“Horns, scales, dorsal spines… did you evolve from dragons?” she teased.

“Dragon sounds better than snake.”

“Sorry. It’s a stupid nick-name.”

“It is understandable. A widespread pejorative acts to bind your people together against a common foe. We have a similar one for Terrans. We call you vermin.”

“Because we’re small and hairy?”

“Because you swarm into places where you have no business.”

She smiled ruefully. She’d asked for that.

“We mostly call you snakes because of these.” She lifted a serpetrus. It was heavier than it looked, as thick as a bicep where it emerged from just below the curve of his shoulder. “We thought they were just weapons. We didn’t realize they were also for protecting your fetuses – I mean, your hatchlings.”

He shifted a little. The touch of her hands on his back, his dorsal spines, and now his serpetrus was becoming harder to ignore.

“That is only one of their functions. We use them for anything which requires dexterity. Hunting. Defense. Pleasure.”

She was glad she was behind him so he couldn’t see her face.

“And the…dendrayou called them?” She examined the bumps on the end of each serpetrus. “They have multiple functions?”

“Yes.Dendracan be used for rudimentary tasting, or to administerarakas you know.Depending on the concentration,arakcan be a mere sedative or it can be lethal.”

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