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Sensor Technician Jeroth "Jer" Andres stood on the edge of the landing pad, his grey eyes watching the ships come and go around their holding area. He brushed his dark-brown hair away from his long face. He'd have to go by the ship's barber soon. He stretched his lanky frame, feeling a little sore from the workouts that were now mandatory for a ship in full gravity, but it was returning a little muscle to his chest and arms. He was no Adonis, but you didn't make it into the Space Corps by being a couch potato.
The red sun shone down and the trees were a little odd, but there was something that just made you think it should be more 'alien'. Several species that hopped, walked, flew, or undulated around the yards. Most ignored the humans, except for the few that stopped by to trade. Sometimes he'd talk to one of the fellow crew, Kathy Denov, who he'd hoped to have a 'shipboard romance' with. He'd made a few overtures, but while she seemed interested, she seemed a bit shy, and eventually he dropped it. It seemed to make her uneasy, so rather than spoil his chances, he'd watch her, and figure out what or where he stood.
That night they got ready for a party the aliens were having. Language was still a problem; they'd picked up a lot, but some idioms and phrases were still beyond them. It turned out the humans weren't in all that much trouble; they had ignorance on their side. Here, ignorance of the law was an excuse. Since they had to maintain a skeleton crew, a lucky few crew members were going to go to a party being held by the aliens. Those not so fortunate watched from the ports of the view-screens as they left.
Soon they arrived at the party. It seemed to be a regular party, almost like Earth. Tables, chairs, drink dispensers, lots of chatter and gesturing. Except for the assortment of alien species around, it could have been on any of the System planets. Jer saw an alien in a corner, observing him. She was dressed in some light, loose clothing, almost normal by human standards. Her skin seemed a little more flesh-toned than the others and her head was tilted in an interested way. For someone that obviously wasn't human, she seemed to be very much a woman. He went over to speak with her. The light coming from torches outside showed a spiky hairdo, 9 fingers and who knew how many toes, a few extra joints in her arms, and a velvet-like skin. The fact that it was an iridescent green didn't take away from a certain femininity and exoticness.
"Hi," he said, "I'm Jer. What do I call you?" He asked.
She smiled and replied, "I'm T'ress, and I've been interested in interviewing you".
"I'm pleased to meet you, T'ress" he responded, "I've never talked with an alien before".
"There's so much about you to learn." she said
"We want to learn how to interact with your species. I look up information and impressions on new arrivals."
"What is your function aboard your ship? "she queried, and her olive-green eyes seemed to sparkle slightly. Jer found himself captivated by her gaze. Seeing that she wanted an answer, he came back to reality.
"Sorry, I just never realized how much in common we seem to have. I'm a Sensor operator, and data archivist. I keep track of the facts we learn on our Voyage."
This seemed to please her. She looked up at him and chuckled. "A well-ordered mind. I knew there was something of you that appealed to me."
Sensing an opportunity, he asked her "And what do you do?"
She looked him up and down, almost grinning.
"I'm not sure that your people have a description of what I 'do'," she said. "I'm like you, a gatherer of information. I study other cultures, but I also collect experiences and sensations."
She regarded him, and he noticed a slight change. He wasn't sure what it was…
"There are things that transcend species; common knowledge, common hopes, common longings," she said.
As she spoke, he was intrigued the fullness of her lips. He didn't remember her having them before. There was another imperceptible change. She was regarding him with a slight sense of amusement.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked. Her gaze traveled up and down his figure with a bemused but interested expression.
He looked her up and down in the same way. How could he have missed the curves of her breasts? Breasts? She didn't have them before. Her grin grew wider as his gaze traveled her body from delightfully curved legs to her captivating eyes.
"There must be something in the drink. I think I'm seeing things" he muttered.
"I could swear you're becoming human. Is there a drug in this drink?" he whispered.
She moved closer to him, almost touching.
"Let me take you somewhere interesting. No harm will come to you, and I will explain everything".
Taking his hand in hers, he noticed at least that hadn't changed much except to become softer and warmer to the touch. He followed her and left the party.
They walked through the city, the alien streets gleaming softly from some internal light source. There was a certain aversion to right angles, but it seemed that shops, businesses, and other buildings were much the same from planet to planet. It almost felt like all you would need would be a guidebook to get around with.
There didn't seem to be many people about, and not much sense of police or other observations going on. Every step begged another question, about the neighborhood, the people, the businesses. T'ress answered as best she could, laughing over the mutual misconceptions each had of what a 'normal' society looked like. Jer felt like they could be good friends, in an alien-human sort of way. He had a nagging itch to ask her just what sort of friend she'd like to be, but for now he'd play it by ear.
At last they came to what looked like a well-kept collection of overturned flowerpots. The individuality of each just seemed to whisper 'houses', so he figured they must be going to her place. That was a relief, he was worried they might be heading to a laboratory or something. Shades of 20th-Century bad sci-fi movies.
They walked hand in hand down a narrow alleyway, through corridors and finally came to a doorway, which opened as she waved her hand in front of it. The place was decorated in some sort of theme, but he couldn't figure out what. It was obviously designed for luxury living; there were pillows everywhere, and finely detailed artwork in the translucent windows. The lighting was reddish, but a little bright, and seemed to change color slightly as she entered the room. There was a long, low bench or bed, which appeared to be almost infinitely adjustable. There was a control panel of sorts next to it, and some cables leading to the bed. Two large ceramic jars sat next to the bed, fairly large, and intricately detailed. There was a pattern on them of aliens and her species, almost like ancient representations. He couldn't figure out what they represented, but they seemed be a central part of the room. She closed the door then asked him to sit down. She sat down next to him.
"I'm a Morphant," she said.
"Is that the name of your people?" he said.
"My people are from a different evolutionary model than you. Our species are not predatory, we're adaptive. Over time we became able to change into different shades and shapes in order to mimic our attackers, and to hide among them. Our abilities to change made us invaluable as ambassadors. It's something we have become quite good at."
She ran her fingers in slow, languid circles over his temples. It felt so soothing. He listened to her tell of various races, and how they stimulated themselves. It seemed that the drive for sex was nearly universal. Soon her body changes were complete.
Long dark hair flowed like a waterfall past the smooth skin of her neck, gathering speed as is flowed down her back. Her cleavage was expanding in front of his eyes, her breasts increasing to much more than a handful. The flare of her hips was seductive, captivating him with an increasingly hourglass figure. He could see her skin change color, from its former green, to a tanned bronze.
"You like what you see?" she murmured. "I need you to close your eyes again."
"Think about what most pleases you about your females."
Jer began to think of all the girls and the women he'd ever slept with, every exciting moment under the sheets from his start in school, up through his adult life. His mind lingered over each former girlfriend or date, all the best moments he'd had with them. He could almost feel her watching him in some sort of strange way. It wasn't like telepathy, but he could feel he wasn't alone. Behind it was her feather touch, bringing out every hidden desire and fantasy. Finally she drew her hands away from his scalp.
"I never realized. You are one of the more fortunate races I've encountered. So much variety and ways to pleasure each other. It's amazing you had time for a civilization with all these options. You have much to trade. Now open your eyes."
He opened his eyes, with a look of lust he hadn't felt since he was a teenager. The smoldering gaze in her eyes told him she felt the same way.
She reached down, and took his hands in hers. With aching slowness she stood back, and teased him down to the bed. She then reached down to one of the jars and began to drink. He watched in amazement as gallons slid past her full and sensuous lips. When she set the first one down, he wiped his brow.
"You must have a hollow leg," he groaned as she winked at him.
"Two, actually. I'm only halfway done."
With a quick motion she set down the first, then continued until the second jar was drained. He could see some slight swelling in her legs, but if he hadn't been watching he'd be hard pressed to see the difference. She set down the second jar.