Penny Leighton blinked her eyes as she tried to adjust her vision to the dim light in the strange room. She listened hard, only hearing a faint humming. She assumed that there must have been some sort of accident, and she was in some sort of nurse's office.
"Hello?" She was still in her coveralls with its small smatterings of cement and mud. Her work boots were still on. There was a soft blanket covering her, which she threw off. She sat up, realizing she was on a soft bed.
Penny got to her feet, then felt like she was going to pass out. She sat down again and put her head around her knees. Something felt wrong about where she was.
The lights came on, and Penny looked up to scan the room. She was shocked to see that the room looked like something out of a sci-fi movie--metallic panelling, screens in the corners, and devices on the desk that Penny did not recognize. She got up again, feeling more alert this time. She made her way over to a shiny white orb on the desk, maybe six inches in diameter. She was about to reach out and touch it when a high-pitch tweet came out from somewhere.
Penny froze. "Who's that? Where am I?"
The doors slid open, and there stood a statuesque woman. She had a white veil over her face, as well as a white dress that showed off her large bosom. She was holding an electronic device with a long pair of rounded antennas extending out.
Penny backed up to the opposite wall, placing her hands flat on the metal panelling. "Please don't hurt me!"
The woman stepped into the room, holding up a hand. "We wish you no harm," she stated in a warm voice. "May I examine you for injuries?"
Penny felt no need to not trust the woman. She was unnaturally tanned, and had an extremely athletic build. Penny stepped forward slowly as the woman adjusted her device. She pointed the scanner at Penny as a blue light moved over her body.
The woman looked at the screen on the device. "Our knowledge of your species is limited, but from our scans it would appear that you suffered no serious injuries."
"What happened to me?" asked Penny.
The woman put the device in a pocket on her smock. "You slipped from a pile of boxes and hit your head while you fell. Our trade representative was worried that you had been gravely injured, so he took you along. She still wants to discuss a fair exchange for your merchandise."
Penny was confused. "My merchandise? I don't have anything to sell."
"On the contrary, you had some of the most valuable cargo we could imagine," the woman replied. "There were six bags of some of the purest silica we had ever seen. We brought it along in our shuttle."
Penny's brain tried to process this. "Wait--the filter sand? Oh, we buy that for maybe thirty dollars a bag!"
"I have no knowledge of your customs of exchange," the woman commented. "Is this a favourable trade?"
"I mean--yeah!" Penny shrugged. "Sand is pretty easy to find. There's beaches of the stuff."
The woman's eyes went wide, and her mouth gaped, even obvious behind the veil. "I find this intriguing." She turned off the scanner. When she turned to go, Penny noticed that her smock was cut down the sides, and the shape of her waist and hips was clearly visible, as well as some side boobage. "I will send for the trader."
Penny waited in the room for what she assumed was fifteen minutes. The only thing that looked remotely like a clock in the room had several green dots that looked as if they counted off in a spiral.
The doors opened again. There stood a buxom woman, probably 5'10". She had lovely brown hair a little past her shoulders. She was wearing a tank top and short black skirt with netted stockings. Penny noticed the nice roundness to the woman's shoulders. Her thighs looked thick and muscular. Penny also noticed she had some sweet mules on.
The woman also had a sidearm on her belt. Penny backed up a bit. The woman touched the gun, then raised her hand. "Do not be afraid," she said. Penny instantly loved her smooth, melodic voice. "We mean you no harm." She took the weapon out of the holster, then set it on the desk. "All firearms are deactivated on board unless the security alarm is active."
"On board?" Penny could barely tear her eyes from the dreamy woman. She looked magnificent, like some kind of roguish swashbuckler. "Where am I?"
The woman went over to the wall behind Penny, then pressed a button. The panels lifted, showing a window to the outside. Penny walked over slowly as she stared out.
Faint streaks of light were sailing past them. The blackness of space was unmistakable. Penny felt like her stomach had a lead weight dropped into it. "Wh...wh..."
"I am sorry that we had to take you with us, but I could not risk that you had become injured from your fall," the woman explained. She placed her fingers tenderly on her upper chest and gave a flirty half-smile. "I am Vitala, by the way."
Penny stared out the window as she extended her hand in a general direction. "Penny Leighton," she murmured. Vitala took Penny's hand. Her fingers felt strong yet soft.
Vital took Penny over to the bed and sat down with her guest. "We have already initiated slipstream drive. Once it is initiated, we cannot stop our trajectory. To do so would be cataclysmic."
"Oh my GOD!" Penny blanched. "You mean I'm on a spaceship? I'm going away from Earth? How long are we stuck like this?"
"We will be at the planet of Shaskala in seven of your planet's rotations," Vitala responded.
"A week?!" Penny jumped up, then sat down just as quickly. "I have a job! I have a boyfriend!"
"You have a mate?" Vitala looked down.
"I mean...okay, we had four dates. But what do I tell him? And I can't just disappear from my job." Penny placed her fingers on her forehead. "Why didn't you just take the sand and go?"
"You must understand," Vitala began. "We have a strict code of honouring decent trade agreements. We need to have you there personally to show that these goods were not acquired through false pretenses."
