Adam groaned, blinking himself awake. A stale sweaty smell filled his nostrils, and he sat up as the memories of the night before came flooding back. He knew where he was instantly, and he looked up out of the mouth of Kira’s shoe and chuckled to himself.

How long has it been since I’ve woken up at the bottom of Kira’s shoe? It took him back, that was for sure. His Zetan lover had a habit of ending their lovemaking sessions by depositing his shrunken form in her shoes, usually teasing him about how much he loved the smell and promising to get him out once she’d “freshened up.” She also had a habit of collapsing back into bed, falling asleep and leaving him trapped in her footwear for the night.

He heard a yawn overhead, and he peered up to see a giant green face peer sheepishly over the side of the mattress, “Good morning,” Kira said with a giggle, “sorry, I really meant to get you out of there-“

“I’ve heard it before,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve missed it, isn’t that weird?”

“I’ve missed my little human toy too,” she drawled, reaching down to draw him out. She grabbed him by his ankle, pinching it between her thumb and forefinger and lifting him up, upside down. She shifted on the bed, letting him dangle helplessly over her face. She smirked as she spotted his rock hard erection, “I can’t believe you haven’t let anyone shrink you since I left… it’s obvious you love this.”

“It’s doing it with you that I liked,” he insisted, letting his arms hang below him. He grinned, “speaking of, how powerful is your new ray?”

“It’s a personal model,” she said, “you’re at the minimum size it can manage.” She gave a knowing smile, “were you hoping to be… smaller?”

“It crossed my mind,” he admitted.

“What a depraved human,” she laughed, “sorry to disappoint you…” she wrinkled her nose as she took in his smell, “marinating in my shoe all night has left you filthy,” she said, sitting up.

Adam took a moment to take in her body, the endless pale green skin, bountiful breasts, all in a spidery set of Zetan undergarments, the fibers holding her chest up and seeming to draw the eye between her legs. From the way those yellow eyes glinted she’d caught his gaze, and he detected a saunter in her hips as she carried him towards her apartment’s bathroom.

“Unshrink me so I can clean up,” he demanded.

“I think not,” she replied, turning the warm water tap on. She hovered a finger underneath it, gauging the temperature, “I got you dirty, I’ll clean you!”

Adam was about to say something else, but he was plunged under the stream of water, sputtering as the powerful green fingers gripped him. Her next move was forcing him upright, showering him with the faucet.

“I got this soap on Zeta Prime,” she said, holding it up to him with a smirk, “I felt this scent would suit you perfectly!” He squinted at the Zetan lettering, a moment later his translation implant kicked in.

“Human musk?” he laughed. The picture was a rather athletic and demure looking human man, sweating and hefting a dumbbell. “What do Zetans think humans smell like?”

“Those of us with some experience with humans know better,” she mused, “but… there are plenty of human fetishists who have a sort of idealized idea of what you are like.” She squeezed some of the soap into her palm, rubbing it roughly over his tiny body.

“Human fetishists?” he managed, smiling as the suds were rubbed into him, “Like you?!” he gasped as her slick fingers went lower, tracing over his erection.

“I do not have a human fetish,” Kira insisted, “I happen to like a human!” She scrubbed him faster, causing him to arc backwards and groan in pleasure. The tip of her finger came down on his crotch in earnest, rubbing in slow forceful circles that made him groan wildly.

“P-please,” he managed, panting as he squirmed in her soaped palm.

She slowed, smirking at the disappointed look on his face, “Don’t worry, we’ll get all the dirty human genetic material out of you… but we’re going to take our time with it.”

She reached over and pumped more of the silky alien soap into her palm, rubbing it into him and making the suds rise again as her powerful fingers massaged his body. He looked up at Kira, her smug green face taking him in as he fought feebly against her hand.

“That’s right,” she cooed, “just surrender to me.”

He gritted his teeth, trying not to cum as she said it. When she got like this it was hard for him to think straight, part of him felt guilty, letting a Zetan shrink him and play with him like this, but at the same time there was no other experience quite like this.

Besides, he reasoned, it’s not just a Zetan, it’s Kira…

“I surrender!” he shouted, his body going tense as her finger kept teasing him.

“Good human,” she said with a smirk, “now spill that filthy human seed, go on, get it all out!”

He shouted as orgasm rocked his body, her fingers stroking him to orgasm and causing him to spurt into the mix of soap and water covering him. With a grin his alien tormenter moved him under the warm stream of water again, washing his cum away with the suds.

“That’s good,” she giggled, “finish up now, wash it all away…”

He panted as the last spray of his semen was flooded away under the tap water, a moment later he collapsed into her palm, limp. She kept rinsing him for another moment, making sure she got everything as she watched his adorable chest heave up and down, exhausted.

“F-filthy human seed?” he managed with a weak smile.

She rolled her eyes, “I got lost in the moment, you know I find it quite palatable.”

“Right,” he laughed. “Seriously, can you grow me back? I’ve got to get ready; Alliance Day is the Cultural Office’s busiest day of the year.”

“Let me go get my ray,” she said, giving him a wink as she set him on the bathroom counter. She returned a moment later, that same smug smile on her face as she directed the small silver remote at him. There was a quick flash of light, then he was struggling to keep his balance as he found himself seated, naked, on the bathroom sink counter.

“T-Thanks,” he muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed as he slid off onto the floor. Somehow being naked at full size always felt more revealing than when he was small… “Where are you stationed for today?” he asked.

“Zetan liaison to Cultural Office deputy director Adam Langstrom,” she said with a grin.

He blinked, then returned the smile, “Well then, let’s get dressed and get going! We’re starting with a museum opening, then we’ve got some small VFW events, and we’ll cap the day off with cocktails at the white house.”

“The white house?” Kira said eagerly, “I’ve never gotten to go!”

“They say they built the galaxy’s best ballroom and bar after the post-war reconstruction,” he said with a laugh, “your people paid for it, you should get to enjoy it at least once.”

“Smug human bastard!” she teased, “I should shrink you again just for saying that!”

He rolled his eyes, “go get dressed Kira! I’ve got a red tie, a yellow tie, and a blue one, pick something that matches any of them.”

“As you wish,” Kira said, giving an exaggerated bow, “I wouldn’t want to embarrass my esteemed human lover.”

“I won’t be the only one bringing a green date,” he said reassuringly, “but if our outfits clash, that’s going to be the gossip on Monday morning.”

…

Kurt put in the drink order and glanced across the crowded bar to where Joey was, a girl on either side of him as he eagerly told some story or another.

How does he do that? Kurt wondered. Their jobs with the agricultural department weren’t interesting, but when Joey talked to women about it, they always found time to listen. Am I just ugly? Kurt wondered sardonically. He wasn’t, at least not hideously anyway. He glanced at a mirror behind the bar, tossing his head and causing his blond bangs to drift out of his eyes. He could use a haircut sure, and maybe he could bulk up a little at the gym, but he wasn’t totally unfortunate looking, right?

Their booth lit up with laughter, a third girl had joined in to listen to Joey tell them about checking the corn for problems. Kurt just smirked and rolled his eyes, taking the tray with their beers and cocktails.

“What do I owe you?” he asked the bartender.

“First drink for everyone is paid for by the Zetan consulate,” the bartender said, “of course I have trouble remembering who’s already had one…” he winked.

“Got it,” Kurt said with a smile, heading back to the booth. Maybe Alliance Day isn’t so bad after all. The parade would start later, maybe he could peel one of those girls off Joey to watch it with him? A man could dream.

…

The ship shuddered as it exited the hyperspace tunnel. Nea stood up eagerly, taking her first look at the blue planet that was Earth. She scowled as she saw the expansive oceans, what use could a species have with so much water?

“We’ve got system authorities hailing us,” Telma said, gesturing at the comms systems.

“Tell them we’re here on royal business!” Nea said, “that should be enough for any Zetan military craft-“

“Most of the ships around Earth answer to the humans,” Telma said, glancing at the beeping “incoming message” alert, “they’re not going to give a lot of weight to a royal order for an escort, if anything that would make them more suspicious.”

“Blast,” Nea muttered, “and we don’t have a military beacon either…” She thought a moment, “why do Zetans usually come to Earth, when it’s not for the military?”

“Not a lot do,” Telma said with a shrug, “humans aren’t exactly eager to have a lot of us on their planet… business, I guess? Someone imports the soda.”

“Some foul traitor,” Nea said angrily, “that poison has ruined the tastebuds of a generation of-“

Telma hit the communications button, holding up a hand and silencing the princess, “Greetings humans,” she said, “we’re here on business, we’re looking to import sodas to Zetan Prime.”

“This is Earth Orbital Command,” a bored sounding human voice answered in English, “I don’t see any commercial vessels scheduled for arrival, most people are just enjoying the holiday.”

“That’s why we’re in such a hurry,” Telma said, glancing at a large battlecruiser that was approaching them, “we need to pick up some sodas and other Earth luxury foods for the celebration back on Zeta Prime! We’re very behind, but I think we can still get them back by the time the parties really start-“

“Your ship is awfully small for a commercial vessel,” the human captain said, “I’m sending you a docking code for the George Washington, it’s the big ship heading to you now. We’ll inspect your ship real quick then get your papers straightened out.”

“Docking?” Nea whispered nervously.

Telma sighed, “hold on,” she hit the communications button again, “We don’t have time for that! We’re here… at the behest of the empress! I’m sending you a royal authentication signal now.”

“What are you doing!?” Nea whispered. Telma just held up a hand.

“We’ve got a Zetan advisor on board, let me get her up here to check this,” the human said on the other end. A moment later the comms crackled to life again, “Looks like your royal signature checks out, so you’re on a snack run for the Empress huh?”

“That’s right,” Telma said with a forced chuckle, “she loves human food.”

“You’re clear for landing, see you on the way out,” the human said, ending the communication. Telma sighed and leaned back in her chair, guiding the ship towards the atmosphere.

“The humans have their own space cruisers now?” Nea asked angrily.

“They have for years,” Telma said with a shrug, “I don’t know why you’re so shocked, humans have been serving on our ships for decades, it only makes sense that they’d eventually want to build their own.” Telma grinned, “they say a fully human crewed ship is one of the best terror weapons we’ve got, like if a ship has a few dozen humans on it the squids will stay and fight it, but as soon as they know a ship is fully human crewed? They leave the system immediately.”

“A fully human crewed ship is a great terror weapon,” Nea said sarcastically, “stars above I’m terrified, they’ll probably try to vent their core to make it go faster.”

“If you want, we can call this whole thing off,” Telma said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Of course not,” Nea muttered, “a reminder of our positions in the universe is more important now than ever…” there was a hint of doubt in her voice, but she leaned over Telma and began pulling up local maps. “We’ll simply need to avoid the more populated areas, other Zetans too probably…” She pointed at a sparsely populated interior area on one of the major landmasses. “Here, there’s only one nearby spaceport, and the records say it’s commercial, no military craft or Zetan presence.”

“Looks like it’s mostly farming communities,” Telma agreed. She zoomed in on the map, glancing at the marked human settlements. “We could land in an open area, shrink your human, and get out before anyone noticed.”

“I don’t want to get caught right away,” the princess mused, “but I don’t want to skulk in and out like a thief either.” She grinned, “I also want a bit of choice, find an Alliance Day celebration, a small one, but with enough humans that I could have my pick of them.”

“How about this place here?” Telma said, pointing to the map, “Clearwater, Iowa? It’s holding a parade right now.”

“It’s as good as any,” Nea said, “bring us down.”

…

Kurt sighed as he watched the first of the parade floats go by. As soon as he’d tried talking to one of those girls about his job like Joey did she’d “gone to the bathroom” and never returned. Still, he had a good buzz going, and it was on the Zetan dime, so the day wasn’t a total loss.

Joey sidled up to him, “Hey man, where’d you go?” his friend asked, glancing at the marching band, now playing a mix of the American National anthem and that of the United Earth government.

“I struck out,” Kurt said with a shrug, “didn’t want to cramp your style.”

“Fuck man,” Joey laughed, punching him on the shoulder lightly, “girls come and go, if you wanted to watch the marching band you should’ve just said something and I’d have come with you.”

A shadow fell over the cheering crowd and the parade, slowly the music fell silent, the crowd joining them as everyone looked up in shock. A ship was hovering over downtown, obviously Zetan, obnoxiously even, sleek and bullet shaped, glowing green lines tracing along it and illuminating their Empire’s sigil. It hovered ominously, the only sound the hum of the interstellar engine.

Kurt felt a pit in his stomach, “We’ve got to get out of here,” he whispered, grabbing Joey’s arm. Others had the same idea, and someone screamed setting off the panic as people grabbed their children, spouses, and pets, fleeing in all directions at once.

People buffeted around the two of them, and it was all Kurt could do to keep himself on his feet as he saw a pair of portals opening in the bottom of the ship. Two glistening green armored figures dropped to the pavement, colliding with it with a thud and leaving a pair of crumbled craters.

Clearwater Iowa had four police officers, and there was a buzz that echoed as the power armored figures activated their shields. The crisp “CLEARWATER PD” across their chests caught the sun as they waded through the panicking crowd towards the Zetans.

…

“Humans,” Nea said, activating her armor’s loudspeakers, “I am princess Nea Brightstar, seventh daughter of Empress Tetra Brightstar, I have come to exercise my rights to harvest humans of my choice!”

She frowned, the uniformed human law enforcement officers weren’t heeding her announcement at all. There was a crackle as one ignited an electric baton…

“T-This is the law, set forth by both the treaty both of our people agreed to!” She snarled. One of the human police officers lifted a black gun, aiming it at her head.

“You’re under arrest!” one of them, with a bright yellow star painted on his chest, declared.

There was a pop of human gunfire, the slugs bouncing harmlessly off her energy shield with a few sparks. Nea snarled and hefted her own weapon, the shrink rifle powered up with a hum and she fired it at the first officer. There was a shimmer as his own armor’s shields activated, and Nea’s eyes went wide as her bolt was harmlessly absorbed.

“Telma!” she shouted in panic as the first human reached her, lifting the electric baton high.

Her bodyguard was suddenly between her and the human, catching the weapon with a grunt. She was larger than the human attacker, but the power armor these human guards wore was evidently good enough to let the man grapple with Telma on a near even footing. Nea swallowed nervously, seeing the other three rushing to join their leader.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go! She thought in panic.

…

Joey and Kurt were ducked behind a parked boxy-transport, watching the aliens battle the police. The Clearwater PD didn’t carry plasma weapons, simply using old style earth firearms while carrying out their duties. It had become clear to the two parties that their weapons were useless against each other, and the situation had devolved into a power armor brawl. So far one of the Zetans seemed to be holding her own, using an impressive mix of martial arts, the other one with the shrink gun was holding back.

“Hey!” Kurt whispered, “you got that gun?”

“F-Fuck yeah,” Joey replied, his hand shaking as it traced down to his ankle. He drew the plasma pistol, peering over the transport.

…

Nea swore in surprise as a pair of plasma bolts arced by her. The shots were wide, but her armor’s alarms were blaring angrily. She followed the directional arrows on her helmet display to the source of the fire, and her armor quickly picked up two humans crouched in cover behind a ground transport. They weren’t in military or police uniforms, and her armor quickly scanned their vital signs. Both were panicked, and her eyes lit up as she saw they were both young males, the first had a darker complexion, handsome, but with a terrified look on his face as he leveled the gun again.

Nea grunted with exertion as she leapt to the side, dodging the incoming green bolts of plasma, behind her there was a hiss as a brick shop façade was instantly reduced to molten rock.

…

“Give me that thing,” Kurt ordered, grabbing the gun from Joey’s shaking hand. He shoved his friend down into cover, then with a steely gaze and a steady hand he leveled the pistol at the approaching Zetan.

…

Nea’s eyes met the blond human’s, and she almost stopped in her tracks at that gaze, The sheer defiance, she thought in awe. Zetan media had been filled with images of handsome and brave humans, something that Nea had always dismissed as propaganda. Now though? Seeing the wind pushing his straw-colored hair dramatically around his face as he stared her down, that’s a human straight out of a Cultural Department film, she thought excitedly.

That’s the one, she realized, suddenly feeling giddy. With a smile she lifted the rifle, but there was a burst of green light, then a flash of pain across her chest as alarms in her helmet screamed warnings.

…

“You got her!” Joey shouted excitedly, his voice cracking, “you fucking got-“

The alien was sitting back up, peeling a chunk of her ruined armor off. The suit was coming off like glowing hot paper mache, and a moment later the entire torso was gone, reduced to molten slag on the pavement. The Zetan’s helmet tumbled free too, her dark green hair blowing in the wind as she blinked a pair of surprisingly human eyes in light of Earth’s sun.

Kurt hesitated, he’d never seen a Zetan in real life before. She was a statuesque beauty, standing half a foot taller than him at least, with a feminine face and hair to her shoulders.

“SHOOT HER AGAIN!” Joey screamed in a shrill voice.

Kurt grimaced, aiming the pistol a second time. The Zetan rolled across the pavement as he fired, scooping up her weapon and leveling it in a crisp and skillful maneuver. Kurt’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed Joey again as he dove behind the car.

There was a flash of light, and Kurt’s head spun. He blinked stars out of his eyes, had she hit the car? The building maybe? As his vision returned, he saw a massive concrete wall in front of him, at least twice as tall as he was. A pit formed in his stomach as he realized it was the street curb.

We’re shrunk, he thought, fighting the urge to panic, we’re tiny, we’re-

“Oh fuck,” Joey moaned, “We’re dead, we’re so dead!”

A shadow fell over them for the second time that day, and Kurt’s heart sank as he looked up at the monumental form of the grinning green skinned alien. Anger burned within him as he saw the smug smirk on her face, and he grabbed Joey again, pulling his panicking friend backwards as a massive boot lifted over them. There was a crunch of steel and glass as she crushed the vehicle they’d been hiding behind a moment before, and Kurt watched in awe as she casually ground her foot back and forth, reducing the vehicle to flattened wreckage.

Kurt closed his eyes and braced himself for the end, this was how his grandfather went out, along with too many other humans… instead something snaked around his chest, he opened his eyes as the gloved fingers wrapped around him, lifting him up to the alien’s face. Her weapon was slung across her back now, and he glanced to her other hand to see Joey’s sobbing form cradled the same as his.

“NEA!” the other Zetan shouted, “LET’S GO!” the power armor clad alien was still holding off the four police officers, though only barely. With one final shout she threw another one off her, his power armor shields sparking as he skittered across the pavement.

Nea nodded, sprinting back underneath the ship. There was an electric tingling feeling over her skin, and a moment later the tractor beam began lifting her and Telma upwards. She clenched her squirming prizes in her hands, fighting the urge to laugh with glee. A moment later they were inside the ship’s drop bay, and the portals hissed shut behind them.

“We did it,” Nea said excitedly, holding her humans up to show Telma.

Her bodyguard just sighed, “I’m going to try to get us out of the system before this escalates…”

“What are you talking about?” Nea asked, watching her go to the cockpit, “everything we did was perfectly legal under the treaty!”

Telma just stared at her a moment, “how did the humans down there react when you explained it to them?” she said finally.

“Well, maybe we just took them by surprise. They are ignorant savages, maybe these ones can’t read-“ Nea started.

“Do you think the ones with the battlecruiser will react better?” Telma hissed. “Let me do my job.”

“Of course,” Nea muttered, the weight of what Telma was saying was starting to set in… she felt a small hint of panic, but fought it down as she looked over her prizes. The two humans looked at her, the brown haired one fearfully, and the blond one, the one she’d been after, was giving her that same defiant gaze from before. She smiled, “while Telma flies the ship, why don’t we all get to know one another?”

…

“I told you that you wouldn’t be the only Zetan here,” Adam said with a smile, leaning against the White House bar as Kira sat next to him. It was true, the crowd mingling at the President’s Alliance Day party was mostly human, but a few green skinned amazons dotted the crowd, chatting and laughing with the humans casually.

“These people all seem very important,” Kira said with an embarrassed smile, “you’ve really come up in the world since I was away.”

Adam shrugged, “the Cultural Office has dealings with almost everyone, military, business, Zetan, Human, I meet a lot of interesting people.” The truth was he rarely attended the white house Alliance Day party, but he did want to impress Kira a little. It’s so good to have her back he thought happily.

His small wrist mounted computer buzzed slightly, alerting him to a message. He sighed and reached over to silence it, it was a holiday weekend after all, but he froze as he started reading it. Soon more alerts were coming in, subordinates, superiors, journalists, the screen was filling up. His mouth went dry.

“What’s wrong?” Kira asked, seeing his face go pale.

“We need to get over to the office right away,” he said, pushing his drink away, “I’m calling everyone in.”

“Adam, what’s happened?” she said, standing to join him as he began walking. The crowd had gone silent as other people began to receive their own alerts from friends, family members, assistants. News was spreading fast. Kira saw the humans begin to look at her, and the other Zetans, oddly, and she unconsciously hugged herself closer to Adam even as he picked up speed.

“Some fool Zetan showed up at an Alliance Day parade in Iowa and started shrinking people,” he muttered.

“Oh no,” Kira said, a sense of dread coming over her, “it’s okay though, we’ll catch her and get the humans back and-“

“It was a princess,” he said, giving the valet his ticket.

Kira froze, “w-what?”

“One of the Zetan princesses, the news says she introduced herself as Nea.”

“Stars no,” Kira whispered, “t-this is bad Adam…”

“It is,” he sighed, “Kira, I want you to stay with me until this is over, it’s not going to be safe for a lone Zetan to be out right now, and the police are going to have their hands full once this hits the morning news.” He swore under his breath as the valet brought his vehicle around, it was going to be such a nice weekend…

…

In the years following the war with the Cephalos, the US Secret Service had rapidly expanded and offered services to important Zetan officials. With the mind controlling aliens proving to be unstoppable to even the most determined Zetans, at least one human bodyguard was desirable, even to Zetans who didn’t care for the people of Earth.

Agent Craig Smith had seen action with the military on the Empire’s frontier, and had even protected several Zetan comrades in arms against a squid incursion, making him an ideal candidate for higher level duty. Thus, it was that he found himself in the security detail of the Zetan royal family. Having spent plenty of time with the aliens, he thought he’d be prepared for it, but he was quickly finding that the kind of Zetans that populated the ranks of their space fleets and those that walked their palace halls were an entirely different breed.

“Smith,” Princess Tayla pouted, “come dance with me!”

“I’m on duty Ma’am,” he insisted, suddenly very glad for his dark sunglasses.

The alien princess gave him a sad face, her pointed ears drooping slightly. She stood a head taller than him, amplified by a pair of high heels, an earth fashion that had spread to the palace of Zeta Prime. His face went red as her finger traced along his collar, he’d been trained to deal with a number of threats, human terrorists, Zetan insurrectionists, the squids… a flirty princess though? That wasn’t in the manual.

“You palace humans are so stiff,” Tayla giggled, “I loved how you handled Nea the other day, she’s such a brute…” She leaned in close, “not like me though, I know how to talk to a human… among other things.”

Smith gulped, glancing at the party. He’d taken a position at the far wall, opting to survey the scene and allow the guests some space from him. It was how human businessmen and politicians usually wanted things, unfortunately it left him isolated away from everyone else as the princess had cornered him. Fraternization with the locals wasn’t strictly prohibited per se, but most locals weren’t a princess…

“I understand,” Tayla said with a sigh, “you’re committed to your job.”

He gave a small smile, “yes ma’am.”

“I’m going hiking in the mountains near the equator in a few days,” Tayla said with a smirk, “I’ll be going with minimal security, just my usual bodyguard,” she glanced over to a Zetan woman a dozen feet away from them, who nodded politely, “but we’ll want a human to go with us too, just in case…” She shrugged, “can’t be too careful, being a princess and all…” She grinned, “I know just which human to request!” She leaned forward, whispering in his ear, “Agent Smith, have you ever been… tiny before?”

He started, and judging by the slow giggle of the princess as she parted, she’d noticed. Zetan women were… aggressive, he knew that much from his military service. They were strong too, even a full sized man could have trouble grappling with them, and one of the sayings among humans in the service was that if one got on top of you, she’d stay there until she wanted to get down. While plenty of Zetans were willing, eager even, to try a human at their normal size, they did love their shrink rays…

“I was shrunk once,” he said neutrally, “during training.”

“How small?” the princess asked with a smirk.

He debated answering, but a clatter from the center of the room saved him from it.

“She did WHAT!?” The Empress shrieked. All eyes were on the Zetan monarch, who had dropped her drink in shock when an assistant had brought her some news. Many Zetans had green skin that was pale enough that they could be seen to blush, and now Empress Tetra’s face was red with fury, her teeth in a snarl and her eyes wide. With a shout of anger she turned, stalking out of the gala, leaving shocked Zetans and humans to watch her go. A moment later the royal guards started filing out after her.

“I’d better go see what’s going on,” Smith said with a weak smile. Whatever had gotten the Empress so angry was no doubt a crisis, but for now? He was happy it had saved him from this conversation. The princess shot him a wink as he left, and he grimaced. That’s not over, he thought miserably.

…

“I am princess Nea,” she said, setting her humans on a table in the ship’s lounge, “you may call me Princess, or Mistress if you prefer.”

“We’ll never talk,” Kurt spat.

Nea frowned, “talk?”

“I’ll die before I break,” Kurt said darkly.

“What could you possibly know-“ Nea began, but she was cut off by the sobbing second human.

“We grow corn!” Joey whined, “I can tell you watering schedules, pesticides, what strains we’re-“

“Joey!” the other human snapped, “shut the hell up!”

“I don’t wish to hear any more about this ‘corn,’ and I think I’m done with you.” She sighed, turning towards the cockpit, “Telma, come in here a moment.”

Her bodyguard returned, “Autopilot is on, I’m trying to get us in comms range of one of the Zetan ships in system, what do you want?”

“Take this extra human, I won’t need him.” She handed the panicking Joey off to Telma, who grasped him awkwardly.

“Uh, thanks?” Telma said, regarding the shrunken human curiously.

“I need some time alone with my human now,” Nea said, “if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Telma said, carrying Joey to the cockpit as he started sobbing again.

Nea leaned over the table, looming over Kurt, “what’s your name?” she asked in a low voice.

“Kurt Miller,” he said, venom in his voice.

“I don’t care for that tone,” she said ominously, “do you speak Zetan, or do you have an implanted translator chip?”

“Chip,” he said, “why would I learn to speak Zetan?”

“It’s the language of your betters,” she said imperiously, “the chips are wonderful, I use one myself, but we’ll have a few language lessons so you can perfect your pronunciation.”

Language lessons? He thought incredulously, “If you’re going to kill us, just do it,” he said angrily.

“Kill you?” She asked with a chuckle, “oh my little Kurt… I’m not going to kill you.”

“So, what is this all about?” he asked, “is the war starting back up? Are you breaking the alliance?”

“Of course not,” Nea said dismissively, “We’re simply moving this relationship in it’s proper direction, that starts with you accepting your place as my new pet.”

“You’re nuts!” Kurt said, eyes wide, “do you think Earth is going to stand for this? Even the other Zetans are going to be pissed at you!”

“Once the other Zetans see what I, their princess, have done they’ll realize they can do it too!” she said eagerly, “this is a course correction that’s long overdue!”

“Whatever,” Kurt muttered darkly, “why me anyway? Why not just grab one of the humans on your planet?”

“It needed to be a wild one,” she growled, leaning close, “and you’re so perfect.” Her hand curled around him and her thumb forced its way under his chin, lifting his head against his struggles so he had to look at her. “The way you fought me, the way you’re talking so defiantly to me, even now… I want that, but it want to be mine, do you understand? You’re going to serve me.” She grinned, a single finger tracing up and running over his silky blond hair, “you’re a very aesthetically pleasing human as well, I cannot wait to see what’s under those clothes.”

He looked up at her, stunned. He growled angrily and squirmed in her grip, but she just tightened her fingers around him and laughed.