Virellia

Drifting beyond the rim of Saturn’s rings, the alien cruiser shimmered like liquid starlight. Inside, Commander Virellia watched Earth’s surface through a pulsing holoscreen, her opalescent eyes unblinking. A scan locked onto him—young, healthy, alone under a steel bridge at night. A perfect specimen. She moved silently through her ship, skin gleaming beneath the dim biolights. Abduction was not for science this time. It was personal. Virellia was centuries old, commander of a fleet, conqueror of moons. But solitude gnawed at her. Her people kept exotic creatures as companions. She wanted something rare. Something warm. Human. The transport beam ignited. He had been dozing, earbuds in, unaware of the shadow rippling through the air around him. Then—cold light, the sound of his breath being pulled from his chest, and silence. He awoke sprawled on a floor of smooth metal, the ceiling arching like a cathedral of stars. Before he could scream, she stepped into view. She was tall, inhumanly poised, her skin like ocean dusk and her gaze both curious and commanding. He backed away, panic clawing at him.