Page 17 of Alien Abduction for Experts
He sounded a little scared. I would be, too, knowing that Professor Katila wasn't far. To be fair, I was afraid of what she might do. Had she been told yet that we'd complained about her? I assumed she knew. She'd known almost immediately when we'd tried this before. I rubbed my right ear. As disgusting as the thought of a brain slug was, it had been more comfortable than our current translator solution. Havel was going to procure us some more slugs while we were here, but first, we had to see the Headmaster. I was looking forward to seeing the rest of his body and finding out if he really did look like a giant mantis shrimp.
The six of us - five if you only counted the pairs of legs - followed the green female out of the busy space port and into a lift. Again, just like at Kitt-Y-6. She pressed her hand against a sensor and the elevator moved. Not up. To our right. I quickly reached out to the handrail and held on to steady myself. Did you still call this a lift if it didn't go upwards?
"I should say, it's unprecedented for Professor X to clear his calendar like this," the alien chirped. "You must be very important guests."
She was clearly fishing for information. Xil must have come to the same conclusion, for he simply said, "We are."
She stayed quiet after that. I wished the lift - or whatever it was - had windows so I could see where we were going. The holo display above the doors showed strange symbols I didn't recognise. I supposed that if this didn't go up and down, floor numbers wouldn't make sense.
Finally, the lift came to a stop with a slight shudder. I waited a moment before letting go of the handrail, just in case it decided to move again.
The female beckoned us to follow her. "He's meeting you in his private office. Again, very out of the ordinary."
The corridor we stepped into was brightly lit, almost too much so. I squinted to take in the curved walls and colourful art covering them. It was a welcoming space, if a little bright. There were no doors that I could see, so I gasped when our guide suddenly veered to the right and walked right through the painting of an alien landscape.
"What the fuck!"
Xil chuckled. "Intelligent walls. They change on an atomic level whenever needed, like when someone wants to go through them."
"We're going to walk through walls," I muttered. "Like ghosts."
"No, like IGU employees." Matar laughed. "I regret not coming here to our induction ceremony now. This place is cool."
He drawled out thecool, showing me just how proud he was of having learned that use of the word. He hadn't quite understood why it was hip to be cold, but he loved to impress me with his Earthisms.
Before stepping through the wall myself, I lay my hands against the surface. It wasn't as cold as metal should be, but I also didn't sink in like I'd expected.
A head - the green alien's head - poked through the wall. Without the rest of her body, she looked like one of those stag trophies hunters had mounted to their walls. Except that she was very much alive, with a slightly annoyed expression that made me step back.
"Are you coming?"
I nodded and took a deep breath before stepping through the wall. For a moment, it felt like walking through warm water, but then cool air hit me, dispelling the feeling. We found ourselves in a large meeting room that didn't look like the rest of the IGU station at all. Plants were everywhere. They hung from the ceiling, they covered the walls, they were in large pots in the corners. Very few of them were green, with most displaying yellow and orange shades. Only a single one was a flower, the one on the table in the centre of the room. Its sunflower-yellow petals were as large as my palm and curled inwards at the tips.
A strange mixture of scents assaulted my senses, and I couldn't help but sneeze.
"Our mate is allergic," Havel snarled at the green alien. "Remove these plants immediately."
I held up my hand. "I'm not allergic. At least, I don't think I am. It's just a sneeze."
He gave me a sceptical look, but at least he didn't pull out his medical scanner like he usually did when he thought something was wrong with me. Which happened a lot. He'd read way too much about human diseases and constantly imagined me suffering from at least two or three of them. What did you call it when not you, but your mate was a hypochondriac on your behalf?
"Please, be seated," our guide said pleasantly, ignoring our little mini medical drama. "Can I get you some refreshments?"
"That would be lovely," I replied before the guys could say no. I was thirsty. Hopefully, they add human appropriate food on the station.
She disappeared through the wall again. Again, I was tempted to touch it, see if it would react, but I just about managed to restrain myself.
Around the table were four chairs, one for each of us. Well, with Hix and Hex sharing one, obviously, because they only had one bum. Was Professor Z going to stand? Or was he too large for a chair?
"I don't trust this," Hix said after they'd sat down. "It's going too smoothly. We didn't think we'd get to talk to the Headmaster right away. What if this is a trap? What if Kat manipulated him?"
"I've thought the same, but we don't have a choice," Xil admitted. "The alternative is leaving without a resolution. I don't want to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life, worrying that she might try to kill us after all. Do you?"
"Obviously not." Hex sighed and exchanged a look with his torso-brother.
While the guys sat at the table, waiting in silence, I explored the exotic plants littering the room. Some of them were downright ugly, especially the phallus-shaped orange bulb at the end of a long trunk. A girl could come up with all sorts of ways to use that plant... and not as decoration.
I stopped by a three-pronged cactus with spikes that were secreting some kind of purple liquid. Poison? Perfume? I wasn't quite brave enough to find out.
