by Zara Zenia
I reach out my hand and pick up something that is round and red. It feels slightly hard to the touch, but once I grip it, the skin breaks and the fleshy inside is revealed. I take a bite, the juice inside reviving me.
“Don’t do that,” Draygus knocks it from my hand. “You have to trade for the food here. You can’t just take it.”
“Trade?”
“Yes. With money.”
“Money? Is that like the currency of the Rigel Credits back home?”
“It is, Benzen.”
“But we don’t have any human money!”
I’m desperate now. After being tempted by the food I feel I need it more than ever, even if I don’t know what any of it is.
“Hey guys,” Voland steps in. “Let’s not get irate. We're all in shock, tired, and hungry but there must be a way we can bargain with the humans.”
“I agree,” Draygus looks to us all. “I assume, if they weren’t reasonable, they would have attacked us by now, but it seems as though we are blending in, and they don’t see us as a threat. Maybe they'll just accept our money. Let’s put together what we all have.”
“I have nothing,” I shrug.
“Me neither.”
“I also have nothing,” Jarick shakes his head. “We have, after all, just survived a crash.”
“Hmmm….” Draygus pinches the bridge of his nose in thought. “I don’t have anything either.”
“I do,” a little voice at the back comes forward.
Victorinth is clinging onto her brother’s arm with one hand and showing us some Rigel Credits with the other.
“How did you manage that?” I look down at her.
“A girl has her secrets,” she smiles. “I only have seven credits, though,” she frowns. “Will that be enough?”
“I suppose we'll find out.” Voland takes them from her hand. “Let us see what we can do.”
It’s very strange and terrifying as we walk around the shop, picking things up and feeling at them with our fingers. Some things look more like weapons than food, while others look rather appetizing. There is one type of food that I enjoy the smell of more than the others. It comes in a bunch of fingers and is yellow. Looking somewhat like an oversized hand, I wonder for a while if it has been taken from a large, yellow animal that resides on this planet. Yet as I inspect it closely, I find it has no circulatory system or nerve endings.
“Do you suppose these hands can hold things?” I show a couple bunches to Draygus.
“I am just as unsure as you are,” he frowns. “Perhaps they are not even hands.”
“Hmmm…”
Regardless of whether they are real fingers or not, I do greatly enjoy the smell. It is naturally fragrant, with undertones of health, vitality, and strength. I have the feeling that if I eat enough of these, I will be very strong.
In the distance, I see the others picking out foods they think they’ll like. Victorinth seems to have picked up vast amounts of small things in colorful boxes, while Voland, being as sensible as ever, has looked at what the humans have been wandering around with and is copying them.
“This,” he shows me a giant object under his arm. “I think this will sustain us somewhat. Many of the humans are buying these, and look,” he points to the layer of fat around it. “It’s a form of animal, and therefore, will give us protein.”
I nod, fascinated by everyone’s different choices.
“I think it’s time we try to buy these,” Draygus ushers us to a long line of humans who are putting all their items onto a rubber conveyor belt.
“This seems very inefficient, standing around all day waiting to buy things. There are so many people in front of us, we’ll be here for some time,” I complain.
“I hear ya, kid,” a voice comes from behind me.
I spin around and see a rotund female. At least, I think she is a female, because she has sculpted those strange spindles from the top of her upper lid, and also has bright red lips that shimmer and catch the light. She gives me a slight smile.
“I hate shopping,” she agrees, rolling her eyes.
I’m dumbfounded, and so is the crew. It would seem we have blended in so well, the humans have begun to communicate with us.
“Well done,” Victorinth mouths silently to me.
Despite the amount of people ahead of us, their items are scanned through a laser device with tremendous speed, then placed into bags. The human then carries them away to consume them with vigor, I can only assume.
It isn’t long until our items have reached the human who is doing the scanning. I can’t help but worry that she will interrogate us as we approach, but to my surprise, she does no such thing.
“Good evening,” she says as she slides our items over the laser.
It isn’t long until she is finished and she stares at all six of us in turn.
“And how will you be paying today? Cash or card?” she focuses her eyes on Draygus, as he is obviously the oldest.
“Er… Rigel Credits,” he says.
“Uh?” the woman screws up her face. “What did you say?”
“We’ll be paying today with Rigel Credits.”
I can tell Draygus is nervous, but he’s trying his best. I can’t imagine how scared he is. Looking at him, I try to give him a look of encouragement, and he stares back at me with a worried expression on his face.
“It’ll be fine,” Victorinth whispers.
Meanwhile, the female, the gatekeeper of the food, is still looking at us strangely. She glances at the Credits in Draygus’ hand and then looks up at him.
“Sir… can you wait a moment please?” she stands up from her seat. “I need to speak to my manager.” And with that, she disappears behind a door at the end of the shop.
“Are we in trouble?” I ask.
“I think so,” Draygus sighs.
Click HERE to continue reading Benzen: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
About Zara Zenia
Zara Zenia writes steamy, sexy, and suspenseful sci-fi romances! You will find her writing alien romances from intergalactic planets, bionic romances, superheroes and time travel romances too.
Please see her Author Central Account on Amazon for a full list of her titles.
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Also by Zara Zenia
Aliens of Dragselis Series:
Zaruv: A Sci-Fi Alien Dragon Romance (Book 1)
Karun: A Sci-Fi Alien Dragon Romance (Book 2)
Ragal: A Sci-Fi Alien Dragon Romance (Book 3)
Pavar: A Sci-Fi Alien Dragon Romance (Book 4)
Rizor: A Sci-Fi Alien Dragon Romance (Book 5)
Royally Blue - Celestial Mates:
Blue Alien Prince’s Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Celestial Mates)
Alien Gladiator’s Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Celestial Mates)
The Blue Alien’s Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Celestial Mates)
Blue Alien Prince’s Captive Bride: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Celestial Mates)
Alien Abduction Series:
Alien Zookeeper’s Abduction (Book 1)
Alien Mate’s Abduction (Book 2)
Alien Captive’s Abduction (Book 3)
Alien Auction House Series:
Sold To The Alien King (Book 1)
Bought By The Alien Prince (Book 2)
Warriors of Orba Series:
Benzen: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Book 1)
Jarick: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Book 2)
Voland: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Book 3)
Draygus: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Book 4)
Ethazol: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Book 5)
Standalones:
Bionic Outlaw’s Baby: A Secret Baby Sci-Fi Romance
About Juno Wells
Juno writes steamy love stories featuring hot alien
men and saucy human women. You can find out more about her on her About Me page. Wanna be the first to be notified of her new releases or be a super awesome ultra elite member of my ARC list? Sign up here!
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junowells.wordpress.com
[email protected]