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“Do you want to see the human for yourselves? Make your own determination as to how dangerous she is? Suli! Come here!”
Suli looks suitably overawed as she steps into the room. She is wearing a simple white shift dress which comes down to mid-thigh, exposing the soft curve of her legs. She is quite a sturdy little thing in her own right, the roundness of her thighs, rear, belly, and chest giving her a sweet and appealing appearance. She looks like many things, but not one of them could be considered dangerous.
I see the council exchanging looks. They saw her last night, but last night she had a mad, reckless energy and a suit full of tricks, and in the strobing lights of a car chase she may very well have appeared larger than life.
Seeing her now, creeping barefoot into a room full of apex predators, her eyes hold that softer, haunted, hunted look that makes her seem like natural prey.
“Come here, Suli,” I say, crooking a finger at her. She gives me a brief glance before her eyes go back to roaming the room again, staring at each of my council with an increasingly concerned expression. We do make for an imposing collection of saurians, representing all the main phenotypes. Avel is here, back in the corner with his wings wrapped around him. Cirrus is also an aerial saurian with black wings and dark hair, his sky-blue gaze locked firmly on Suli.
Many of them are seeing her properly for the first time. Their gazes are a mixture of stern interest and reluctant appreciation. She is rather cute, especially with her hair curling into her eyes and somewhat covering her face. There’s nothing threatening about her whatsoever.
“This is what you are all so concerned about,” I say, pulling her close once she gets in arm’s reach. The motion makes her hem ride up over her haunches, exposing her hot red rear and the various little marks left from my punishment. “This sore bottomed, sorry, chastised, scared little human female. This is what has you baying for justice and imagining that we are at great risk.”
“She’s just a baby,” Fang murmurs.
“She’s a sweet little baby,” Karn agrees.
Fang and Karn are of a similar type to me, great predatory hunters with a dominant and disciplinary streak. The two of them function as bounty hunters from time to time, and occasionally work as jailers if they consider the prisoner important enough. I note the way their gazes settle on her with much more interest than I expected.
“Do we need to continue this conversation in which you all fear this creature terribly? Or are we of an understanding that yes, she made an initial impression of chaos and damage, but there’s nothing to fear here now she is under control, deprived of her technology. Humans are dependent on tools, and she has absolutely nothing left.”
I feel her move against me, squirming in some kind of discomfort.
“I am dangerous,” she insists softly, so quietly I do not think any of the others hear her at first.
“What was that, Suli?”
“I am dangerous,” she says, pulling her head away from me. “I am Captain Sullivan. I have hauls and hoards you would not believe. I have engaged in pitched battle with the forces of Interstellar Justice more times than I can count. I am not weak. I’m not a little baby. I am an enemy you would do well to reckon with.”
“Awww!” A small sound ripples around the room. She has no idea how cute she is when she’s trying to sound scary and impressive.
“Just because I feel fear now sometimes doesn’t change who I am,” she says, looking around.
Sullivan
There’s another round of laughter. I hate being laughed at.
They’re mocking me. They think I’m nothing. They think I’m a chubby, harmless little human. Some of them even seem to think I’m a baby, though I don’t think they’re confusing me for an actual infant. They are considering me diminutive and small, and I know I should let them think those things and take advantage of them. But I’ve been through a lot lately. I’ve been paralyzed with fear. I’ve been shamed. I’ve been punished. Now I’m being displayed.
“You’re going to regret this,” I mutter.
“Behave yourself,” Thorn rumbles down at me. “I don’t need to remind you of your place, do I?”
“No,” I grumble, turning my face toward his chest to avoid looking at any of the others.
I feel his arms wrapping around me, snugging me close, giving me unexpected comfort.
“Good girl,” he murmurs.
I am not a good girl. I am a captured pirate, and I don’t care how cute and helpless I seem to all of these massive carnivorous predators, I am going to be free. I owe that to myself.
The fact that I am in the city is a good thing. Once I get the lay of the land here, I will find a ship. I know this planet is involved in interplanetary trade. I know they have ships capable of leaving the atmosphere and traveling to others. And I know that I am absolutely not going to remain a captive.
I need to get my suit and stuff back, and then I need to get the hell out of here before I get too used to being snuggled close to a powerful beast who thinks of me as a cute little creature to be trained and tamed. He carries me away from the group of saurian officials, over toward a window. He’s trying to distract me, and it works.
“Can I ask you a question?” I form the words in order to change the subject and hopefully change the feeling I have stuck in my body.
“Of course.”
