Beamed Up

*Hello friends! I wasn't sure whether to put this in Sci Fi or Nonhuman, but I decided on the latter because this isn't going to be a genre story. Please note that there isn't sex in this first bit, but it should be clear by the end that it's on its way. Enjoy!*

The flash in the sky came a split second after the mushroom cloud. Those were the last things I saw before everything around me dissolved in a shower of blinding light. All sensation left my body, replaced with a terrifying numbness. I couldn't begin to guess how long it lasted. I've learned since then just how relative time can be. Suffering stretches it, and joy cuts it all too short. In this case, it felt like hours.

Then, with a sudden *thud* it ended, and I felt every inch of my body as it made impact with a hard, metal grate of a floor. I had the presence of mind to roll on my side as a wave of nausea rose through me and my mouth filled with bile. My stomach emptied itself and the contents dripped through the grate. As I lay there, gasping for breath and trying not to cry, I heard the unmistakable sounds of other people retching. But I've never found the sound of vomiting contagious, so I was able to wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and look around.

I was in a room the size of a high school gymnasium. The only light came from glowing panels on the high ceiling. Everything was black and chrome, dark and bitter with the acrid stench of sick in the air. I pushed myself up to a seated position. I was right to think that I wasn't alone. The space was littered with people, each approximately three feet apart from one another. I recognized some of them from the neighborhood- Friendlier neighbors, landscapers, and fellow dog walkers.

Everyone was either vomiting, crying, or shaking. It took a moment of reflection to figure out which I was doing. I was both crying and shaking, but the shaking could have been from the cold. The room was chilled, and I was drenched in icy sweat. As for the crying, I didn't actually feel upset. I didn't feel much of anything at all, apart from my physical discomfort.

Shock. Gotta be shock. What do they do for shock?

Getting warm seemed like an obvious next step, but the room was bare of anything useful. I couldn't even make out a door. But I should have been careful what I wished for.

Suddenly, I was bombarded with blistering wind from all sides. It was like opening a 500 degree oven if that oven had decided to expel all of its heat at you at 20 miles per hour. My skin rippled with the force of the blasts and I watched the droplets of sweat fly off me until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I heard thuds and bangs as people around me fell to the ground, then cries of pain and despair as the wind just kept coming. I had only kept my balance by not standing in the first place.

Again, it felt like hours passed before the wind just stopped. Without the force of the blast holding us in place, everyone collapsed, including me. At least I didn't have far to go, and I was dry, if in pain.

At that point, I had started to suspect what was going on. Earth had been well on its way to self-annihilation for centuries. That mushroom cloud told me all I needed to know about that part of the story. A flash in the sky followed by teleportation? That took a bit of a leap, but it was an obvious one. Abduction, probably of the alien variety.

Okay. I took a very deep breath and let it out nice and slow. Okay. I can work with this. Clearly they're not about to kill us. So... I looked around for any sign of what was to come, and I came up empty. I guess we wait.

We didn't have to wait long.

After only a few more deep breaths, a wall panel slid open with loud *pssshhh*, and the silhouettes of a dozen massive humanoids filled the opening. And I mean they were huge. I was fifteen or so yards away from the door, and even from that distance I felt the immensity of their presence. They moved into the space as one unstoppable unit, people scrambling out of their way for fear of being trampled underfoot. They spread out as they entered the room, forming a long line blocking the door.

Now that they had come further into the chamber, there was enough light to get an idea of what they looked like. I frantically scanned the entire line and my heart felt like it had jumped into my throat. They were terrifying. None was shorter than 6'6", and each was armed to the teeth with blasters and blades. The only one with hair was the one in the center. He had some kind of mohawk and, based on his position and size, seemed to be in charge. There wasn't an ounce of sympathy in their gazes. It made me want to shrink inside myself and hide. But I knew better than that.

You don't run from a predator. Or a bully. You hold your ground, and you stick up for yourself. So put on your big-girl pants, Lizzie, and get your head out of your ass!

With that thought, I forced myself to take some deep breaths, straighten my spine, raise my chin, and lock eyes with the leader, the one in the center, the one with the coldest eyes of them all.

Thuul sneered at the puny beings before him. This was a waste, they were a waste, of time, of resources, of the kingdom's might and mercy. These humans were not worth the oxygen they breathed. Of the thousands he had assessed in the last solar rotation, a mere handful could possibly serve the kingdom in such a way as to warrant their salvation. The rest... he fought the urge to spit.

True, they had aesthetic appeal. But their wave patterns were an assault on his senses. Their fear in particular disgusted them. Fear and ego, both of which were particularly plentiful in this latest batch from the region called "Southern California". Each out for themself, no thought for their tribe, only of the skin on their own back. No wonder their world had gone into the dark.

But this was his given task, his punishment for rejecting Ni'Drossa. Instead of conquering the stars, he was here, on this life raft, appraising a people who didn't deserve to exist in the first place. Except, perhaps, to serve their betters as he saw fit. Not that it was his decision.

Once his division was in position, Thuul gave the room one final scan. It was worth suffering the discomfort and revulsion of their waves in order to identify any potential troublemakers. Just two holding chambers ago a group of males had rushed his division. The side of his mouth twitched. It had been most... satisfying, quelling their attempt at escape.

This group seemed docile enough, until his senses fell on a form in the mid distance. It was a female, and her waves sent a rush of heat through his entire body. There was fear, yes, but it was layered with a delicious fierceness and determination that made him hungry for more. Then her eyes met his, and his blood surged, hardening him, making him ready to take what was wanted and to give what was needed. This one was worthy. This one was his. This one, the one with the dark hair, the one with cool fire in her eyes.