Alien Abduction
E’Lan’Rah woke up. First thing she noticed was a headache. A terrible, killing headache. Headache that makes you wish you were dead. She growled. Then, she tried to crawl off from his mat and get something to drink. Water, preferably. Lots of it. Luckily, she had some senses left, for she avoided falling off. Barely. She made a curious woomph and inspected. It wasn’t a mat. It was much higher- around 50 cm above ground, and come to think of it, it was soft. Really soft. Really engulfing her body. So different from her mat in the Commons.
She gazed above. Though the lights were dimmed, she was able to make out the ceiling, high above her, at least 2,5 meters. Then, the realization hit it. This was definitely not her own sleeping alcove back in Commons. She tried to remember. She was driving back home from work. Late. For she was doing some very interesting test and was in no hurry to go back to the communal home and her little sleeping alcove. Her lairmates were probably either arguing about the use of common kitchen or whose fur it is in the washing bin. So, it was way after dark, the lab was some distance from the city and this way, she could avoid the inevitable traffic jams and think freely.
She had done it several times, preferring the company of his machines to the company of others. Quite uncommon trait, for the rest of her people felt naked when there were no others around. Only this time, the car died in the middle of nowhere. It just went from working perfect to totally dead in a nanosecond. When she thought back to it, it also went from 100 km/h to 0 in a nanosecond as well. Then, she remembered panicking, trying to get her phone, only to discover that it has been turned into total brick too. And then, there was this strange light coming from the sky... And then, she woke up here.
Welcome aboard
She growled once more, and then noticed a box of painkillers and a glass of water on a table next to bed. Whoever it was who got her... Her thought wondered for a while... N’Ral’Sok, the second most powerful nation in the M’Rak’Vo? But why her? She was just assistant to lab leader. Then, the lure of painkillers was too much. She opened the package with her claws, put a pill on her mouth and then, washed it down with water. The good water. Fresh, no strange aftertaste, no... then, she stopped again, gasped and examined the table more closely.
Wood! It was wood! She touched the table, carefully, feeling the texture. Yes, it was real. No cheap (or even good) imitation, but it was real wood. The didn’t recognize what wood it was, but the knew well enough that the price of this table was enough that she could live freely with the money for a few years. And her lairmates with her. She carefully put the water cup she was holding on a floor, well away from the table. As an afterthought, she also picked up rest of the painkillers and put them next to the glass of water as well.
She touched the table once more. In desert climate of M’Rak’Vo, you don’t get that many trees- and not nearly enough water to waste on growing them. Only the wealthiest of them all could afford a luxury like this. As a side effect, the painkillers and the excitement of touching the wood had made her headache much more tolerable.
She sighed and talked to herself in low voice: “I wish that there was more light”... and lo and behold, as soon as she spoke the word “light”, the lights appeared. She startled and at the same time, was glad she had put the glass of water on the floor, for she would have spilt it on the table for sure. She looked around. Room was suddenly not brightly lit, but at least not as dark as before. She gazed around. It wasn’t such a big room. 3x5 meters, sparse furniture, metallic walls, one writing table with some screens and equipment on it... She again stopped, stood up, moved to the writing table and touched it. Wood. Again. And so was the chair. And so was the massive cabinet in one corner. And... so was the bed. She was sleeping in the wooden bed! Well, not sleeping, but being unconscious, she reminded herself, but still... Only the Emperors of old did that...
For us, humans, the best way to get what she was feeling to imagine suddenly waking up and discovering that everything in your room is made from pure gold. Your bed, your desk, your cabinet, the chamber pot under your bed. If you want to feel extra, you can imagine lights in the ceiling being diamonds- and walls being made of chocolate.
Then, she discovered the window. At least, she assumed that was what was behind the heavy curtains. It took her few quick steps to get there, pull the curtains aside and then, yelping, she took a leap back, bringing her halfway across the room and bumping with the precious table. But now, she had no eyes for the table. Fixated to the view from outside, she moved back in, carefully, until she reached the window again and pressed her nose against it.
Space! She was in space! There was no doubt of it. And below her, was a planet. An alien planet, for this definitely wasn’t M’Rak’Vo. Way too blue for that. Water... water everywhere. Cloudy, blue, shining, visible signs of civilization on planet. Plus, the magical aura that was playing around in what appeared to be a continent, covered in ice. It was breathtaking. She gazed at if for minutes, enchanted.
View from space station, straight down on aurora borealis
Then, the situation finally hit her. Not only had she found alien life, she had been captured by the alien life. Abducted, she corrected herself. And she was god knows how many lightyears from home. And god knows what they wanted from her....
It was then she noticed the door. It was of a same material and make as the wall, only barely visible if you didn’t know from where to look. There was no handle though. She moved towards it, tried pushing the door, but it didn’t even budge. She tried knocking, but also to no avail. Then, the thought back a bit, said the word “Open” and well, with a hiss, the door slid into the wall, letting her to the next room.
There was an alien, sitting in a comfortable chair, some kind of magazine on its lap. It was gazing at the light show, from much bigger windows that was on her cabin, on the alien planet before it and without even looking up, said mildly and much to her surprise, in perfect Immutharan: “I never get tired of the view, you know. Especially when we have the aurora borealis.” The last two words were uttered in its own language, for the Immutharans don’t have anything like that- and therefore no words for it.
“It is more beautiful from the surface of Earth,” the creature continued, again, Earth being said in its local language. The creature sighed. “It is a shame i rarely get the chance to see it from the ground”
She was perplexed. The creature was ugly, hairless, apart from some on his head and some on his chin. Most of his body was covered by something that resembled military uniform, but with much less decorations. The creature appeared weak and frail. No big teeth, no claws. She was certain she could crack its skull with just a few fingers, but the creature seemed to be totally unafraid.
“You know, i could kill you,” she growled, just to be certain...
The creature finally looked up bared its teeth. In totally non-threatening manner though. Somehow, it brightened up his ugly-looking face. It moved the magazine on his lap, revealing something looking like a weapon, but instead of grabbing that, it put the gun to the table next to him (wooden, of course), stood up and beckoned on a chair opposite of him: “Would you rather sit?”
The flow of its movement, the special grace, the little details, it all revealed a seasoned warrior. For a second there, it reminded her of home, and a small desert creature, fast and elusive. Quite impossible to catch, if you didn’t outsmart it. And that was always a challenge. Somehow, she was not willing to bet who would come as a winner.
So, she sat and the creature turned his eyes back to the light show below. For several minutes, they gazed in silence, the creature making no attempt to speak and seemed to be totally captivated by the show. Until she couldn’t take it no more and blurted out: “What do you want from me???”
The creature bared its teeth again. “M’lday, what we are doing here is a job interview.”
She was expecting anything but this. But, before she could open her mouth, the creature continued: “We have reviewed your research, your ideas, your plans and you are a top candidate for leading the physics research of the Hauteville Empire”
“...the what?”
Without bothering to answer the question, the creature continued: “We can offer you nearly unlimited funding, equipment you haven’t even dreamed about, team of brilliant people.
He took a small pause and continued: “...and research in the fields you didn’t even think were possible...” He left the last part of the sentence hanging
“What if I refuse?” she asked. Though... well, as scientists go, they are alike everywhere. Unlimited funding, extra toys and possibility to discover something that wasn’t even thought possible before- that really gets everyone’s attention.
The man shrugged: “Then, the choice is yours. You could land on Earth, apply for citizenship and live as you want. Or, we could take you back, if you like.” His teeth-baring had a bit devious side now. “Though we have to kindly ask to leave your memories behind....”
It took a few more hours. But in the end, E’Lan’Rah accepted the job offer delivered in such unique way. Earth now has a new head scientist of physics. And... she was well worth the effort.
The only thing she was sorry about was that her peers back home couldn’t see her success. But when Immutharans eventually join the galactic community, the biggest surprise they will encounter is E’Lan’Rah, celebrated throughout Hauteville Empire as one of the most brilliant minds mankind had ever met. She referred to herself as Sobak though, a callsign from her long-forgotten childhood. She never explained why.
Well, hello there... 
