In this moment, I truly felt exhausted. I had always assumed that they felt like I was their property. But the thought of them putting whatever they wanted into my body, it left me feeling desperate, and out of control. I took a few deep breaths, trying to tamp down my emotions that were threatening to spiral. That’s all I needed was to have a panic attack right before I met an entire alien race that hated me on principle.
Derrial returned to the room at that moment. "I have to go meet with the Council and prepare them for you," he said.
I couldn’t find the words to respond, so I just stared at the floor.
Derrial sighed. "What's wrong with you now?” he muttered in an annoyed tone.
"She's not very happy with some of the devices that have been using on her," Corran said calmly.
Derrial barked out a laugh. "Unbelievable." He stalked back out of the room without another word.
"You’re going to need to pull yourself together for this," Thane spoke sternly. "The Council would love to see you lose control and confirm all their thoughts about humans.”
I wanted to respond that they were the reason I was feeling out of control in the first place, but it didn't even seem worth it.
As we waited,Thane began to explain further what would happen when we walked off the ship. "As Corran said, you’re going to be marched through a line of Vepar. They’re going to say things, things to make you angry. You need to ignore them. Once we get through the line, you'll be taken to a new building where prisoners are kept. Derrial will have arranged for you to be in your own cell thanks to your status as part of Corran’s fertility experiments. The prisoners that will be in the cells next to you are very dangerous. Don't engage them, don't look at them, don't even acknowledge their presence." Thane pulled up my chin, forcing me to look at him. "You understand me?" he said in a serious voice.
I nodded, fear churning in my gut at what I was about to face.
"Hopefully Derrial will succeed in having you in different quarters quickly under the guise that Corran needs to start performing tests. It should only be a few hours that you have to stay there, but if you do have to spend the night, the same rules apply. One of us will try to be stationed in the jail if that happens." He tapped his ear, seeming to be listening to something, almost as if he had a phone hidden in there.
"Derrial is ready for us." He looked at me, his penetrating green eyes seeming to see right through me. "You can't mess up with this," he said seriously. "If there ever was a time for you to listen to us, it’s now.”
I just nodded, unable to utter actual words as I tried to pump myself up for what I was about to experience.
"We need to change first," Thane suggested.
I watched as he walked to a plastic tube that stretched from floor to ceiling on the side of the room. He stepped inside and pressed a button. I watched in amazement as his clothes changed right before my eyes without him even moving a muscle, fabric vacuumed off him, and new ones wrapped around him, seeming to sew shut right before my eyes. Thane’s usual outfit of jeans and a V-neck were gone. He now stood in what looked like a cross between an outfit you would see in a Star Wars film, and an outfit from a Victorian byopic. The entire outfit was made up of different shades of brown. He wore a tan silk blouse I’d seen on the cover of a Harlequin novel. The front was cut low, showing a great deal of his ridiculously perfect chest. On top of that was a darker brown fitted jacket and matching pants, so tight it had me gawking. Every muscle on his legs showed. I had never thought that breeches could look good on anyone, but like with a baseball uniform on a major leaguer, the pants managed to make his lower half look very tantalizing. Tall brown boots that resembled riding boots completed the look.
Thane came to stand by me as Corran took his turn in the device. He pressed the button and his usual all-black outfit that looked similar to nursing scrubs, changed into a grey version of what Thane was wearing.
I looked down at what I was dressed in. The guys had continued with their habit of wanting me in dresses. My current skater style dress was sure to stand out.
"Am I going out in this?" I asked, finally finding my voice again. They scrutinized my outfit, Corran rubbing his chin. My body heated up as their eyes lazily made their way down my body. Thane looked over at Corran.
“Do you think it's better for her to stand out or look like she's trying to assimilate into the culture?" he asked.
Corran thought for a moment. "Maybe she should change," he said. “It might help to make the differences less obvious."
I wondered about his use of the word differences. From what I could tell, the Vepar looked just like humans, albeit perfectly formed godlike humans. What would make me stand out so much? The fact that I looked as plain as could be next to them? I didn't know that clothes were going to fix that.
Thane walked me over to the cylinder. I experienced a brief moment of panic when I stepped in, my newly developed claustrophobia surfacing. Thane pressed a button and without me feeling anything, my clothes were replaced by a completely different outfit, down to my underthings. I was going to have to get Corran to explain how this device worked.
I looked down at myself. My dress definitely looked old-fashioned. The gown fell down to the floor and was made of a beautiful cerulean blue fabric. A torture-like corset constricted my breathing, threatening to make me pass out from lack of oxygen. The front of the dress was cut low, displaying my ample cleavage. I didn't have a bra on anymore, but the top of the dress fit so tightly that my breasts couldn’t move even if they wanted to. The sleeves were long and form fitting. I lifted up the dress to examine my footwear. They looked like simple ballet slippers, slightly lighter blue than my dress.
Although it felt like there was a lot of fabric to the dress, it was dreamily lightweight. All in all, I didn't hate the look.
I lifted my head up and caught Corran and Thane gaping at me. It set my cheeks on fire the way they were studying me. My other dress had been much shorter than this one, but it had covered a lot more of my chest. Evidently they liked that about this one.
"We should've kept her in the other outfit," Thane moaned.
Corran nodded in agreement.
Whatever communication device Thane had in his ear must have alerted him, because he put his hand to it, seeming to be listening to something.
"We're coming," Thane said in an annoyed voice. He listened to whoever was on the other line, saying nothing in response. Thane then grabbed my arm, and we started walking out of the bridge, and through the never ending hallways.