Alessa was lifted to her feet and brusquely led to a half-dozen women huddled around, incongruously enough, a battered steel cylinder less than a metre high and thirty centimetres in diameter, and filled with a mud-like mixture. The women then proceeded to scoop up handfuls of it, smearing it all over Alessa's face and body, over her limbs and belly and back and breasts, even over her pubic mound, matting down her hair. She fought to ignore the casual violations to her person, instead focusing on what she could see, what she had learned so far. Around her, bearded men carried crude-looking spears or talisman-like devices, but on closer inspection they were in fact fashioned from sophisticated materials. It made no sense.

And then it did. The Schmetterling! A 22nd Century colony vessel, pre-Federation, launched from Earth's European Hegemony and reported lost soon after. It had been chartered by members of the berlegenermann Bewegung, a cult that had preached male superiority, led by a German named Heinrich Zauber, who sought a new world where his followers could live its backward, misogynistic philosophy unimpeded.

And it appears they had. These were obviously their descendents, having crashed here on the Elchee homeworld, unable to call for help or see the Elchee as anything more than 'monsters', having descended into savagery-

She started as a rope was wound around her neck, becoming a leash.

Then she was returned to the leader, presumably a descendent of the original Zauber, who took the other end and glared at her. "You are salvage. You belong to me now."

Alessa had started to reply, then thought better of it.

The journey was long, laborious, monotonous, Alessa guessing that they were moving downslope, but all she could see around her were thick clusters of trees with foliage overhead blocking out much of the light and trapping much of the hot, still air around her. But at least her new mud coating kept her cool, and insect-free.

She thought of the Ambassador, so far away now, and wished with all her heart that she was with him again. Even if he did see her as inferior. Better to be an embarrassment with an alien than a captive of her fellow humans, particularly ones who saw women as inferior.

These people had been living here for centuries. The Elchee would have known about them when they came to settle here; presumably they had been content to leave them in peace. Why did the Elchee consider their presence a problem now?

*

Alessa got her answer after they had travelled downslope some more to reach a much larger clearing, where other naked humans lived. In the centre of the clearing rose a tall, battered hexagonal metal column, like some modern representation of an ancient Greek ionic pillar. There was a larger metal bulge at the base, with panels that blinked and scrolled data. She recognised it from her primary school educations, and her afternoons building models: a warp core, the heart of a starship, where antimatter was magnetically contained and released in careful measures to mix with matter and produce enough energy to impel a vessel to war speed. The design of this one was old, equivalent to the class of starship the Endeavour would have been, though it obviously still functioned, at least partially.

She watched as men strode up, bowed to it, and others with patterns painted on their chests gestured over the controls, like shamans performing arcane rites. Zauber half-dragged her along as well, and before she was forced down into the dirt before the technological totem, she saw that the antimatter containment field was still operating - but degrading. And once that went, there would be an explosion that would wipe out everything for thousands of kilometres. Main Power, indeed.

Gods. none of these idiots understood! They were worshipping a device that had miraculously survived planetfall centuries ago, that they had obviously pulled from the wreckage of the Schmetterling, but was now poised to kill them all! Obviously the Elchee had detected this, but had wanted the humans to be dealt with by one of their own before the Elchee took matters into their own, er, tentacles.

She forced her head back up. She had to alert the Elchee, someone, anyone! She guessed that they were monitoring what was happening from a distance, perhaps waiting for her to do something, before they took action. From beneath rebellious strands of mud-matted hair she watched the shamans, listened to snatches of incantations, part gibberish, bastardisations of engineering procedures that did nothing to thwart the imminent threat of destruction. There had to be something, something-

There! The Ejector! From the very early days of warp drive, warp cores were fitted with emergency ejection arrays, so that in the event of an impending and unstoppable containment breach, the magnetic bottle could be expelled from the ship, to explode a safe distance away. If she could get to it, launch the bottle into the stratosphere.

As surreptitiously as possible, she let her hands move up to the rope around her throat, working the knots, using all her biorhythm exercises to keep her heart from running away uncontrollably. She winced as one of her fingernails threatened to break, but then- yes!

She steeled herself, counted to three - then jumped up to her feet and raced to the column, to the Ejector panel, pushing aside the nearest shaman and rapidly hitting the sequencer buttons. The appropriate lights blinked, a few more, a few more, the ejection sequence almost-

Oh Gods, a malfunction! The Ejector pack malfunctioned, and set off a high-pitched Red Alert klaxon that made the assembly cry out in confusion and horror.

And anger, to judge from the faces of the shamans - and Zauber, who grabbed Alessa and flung her to the ground again, snarling and shaking a fist at her. "Off Limits! Females do not touch Main Power! It is for men alone to touch its great shaft!"

There were more than a few Freudian entanglements there, she'd thought, as she turned and scrambled away from them, trying to work her way through the chaotic masses. But her way was blocked, by other women, who held her limbs and made her face Zauber once more. With the klaxon still sounding behind him, he drew up to her once more, removing from an ancient, tattered utility belt around his waist a sharpened shard of hull metal. He gripped it tightly. "Your interior will feed the ground for what you've done!"

Alessa swallowed. She didn't expect to die like this. But then, who would? Truth be known, she didn't expect to die anytime soon anyway. Her only real regret was in not having one more day with the Ambassador, not having one more chance to learn a little bit more about it- about him. Not learn if he really did see her as 'a lesser life form'.

Suddenly the warp core's klaxon vanished - as did the warp core.

The silence was as deafening as a thunderclap, made the assembly turn as one to see what had happened. Alessa had recognised the workings of a transporter beam, a device created after these people's ancestors had left Earth. She smiled.

And her smile became a grin as something materialised in its place, something large and mobile, and from the way it flung the many long, thin limbs quickly extending from it, angry. It struck down humans around it as it rolled its bulbous, rose-red body towards Alessa and her captors, who were now screaming about monsters and running back into the jungle - even the brave and mighty Zauber. But she stood her ground, never so glad to see a fellow civilised being in her life.

Until the thought occurred to her that it might not recognise her as anything other than one of these naked savages.

It was rolling very quickly towards her, growing thick stumpy elephant-like limbs beneath it, until it began stampeding in her direction.

No, she couldn't run away. She calmed her spirit, sent her thoughts, her intentions, to it.

It skidded to halt metres away, sending waves of dirt and mud at her. She shook in place, feeling a trickle of urine escape before stopping a full flow. Then she dropped to her knees, arms extended, presenting no threatening indication. Damn, she wished the Ambassador was here, he'd understand her more quickly.

Before her, the Elchee grew appendages with sensory organs, optic clusters like clumps of blackberries, looking her over, slit-like cilia smelling her, rough pads tasting her mud-caked skin. It reminded her of her first encounter with this frightening alien species, how it treated her like a lab animal.

Another, thicker extension rose from its centre, the swollen tip of it moving above her head and squeezing itself, producing from it a familiar thin, clear fluid that washed over her face and breasts in rivulets. She wiped her face clean, smiling as other limbs appeared around her, gently wrapping about her and lifting her up, drawing her closer into its body. ".Alessa colleague friend covered swathed painted strangely bizarrely oddly. Custom tradition fashion?"

She laughed, felt the filaments holding her merging as one, becoming a niche within the Ambassador's body. "None of the above. And thanks for coming to my rescue, big guy."

*

He had transported her back with him to his starship, using his fluids to clean her thoroughly. She was immensely grateful, thought nothing of using his own essence to wash away the mud and aches of her adventure - even to swallowing some of him.

Then she was reclining in his now fur-clad body, feeling feathery filaments stroking her breasts and thighs, as she relaxed and opened her mind fully to him, learning more. He had felt her mental cry for help, even across the interstellar distances, and diverted his starship to reach her. As far as she could grasp, he was also apologetic for letting her go into danger, none of the Elchee expecting that. And once in orbit, they had detected the emergency beacon that was also set off when she had tried to activate the Ejector, and they overrode their earlier reluctance to interfere with the humans in order to take action.

She smiled as she felt his senses, his touch, all over her, gently spreading her thighs as a warm, wet tongue moved upwards over her labia, offering her an unbelievably gentle and caring touch. The descendents of the Schmetterling still had to be dealt with, despite the end to the immediate threat of the old warp core. It would be tricky; they were a society in their own right, no matter how barbaric, and the Federation, bound by the Prime Directive, would not destroy that society in order to 'civilise' them. Transplanting them to another world without their knowledge seemed the only option.

But when she suggested this, the Ambassador, rather magnanimously, proposed transplanting them to an uninhabited, isolated continent in the southern hemisphere, where they could live in peace. She was certain her superiors would agree to that as well.

Before she almost realised it, he had filled her up, surging into her pussy as other tentacles descended, morphing into strong lip-like tips that fixed upon her hot, sweaty, tender breasts and began sucking, sending charges into her. She gasped aloud - as another tendril entered her mouth. She sucked greedily on this as well, never as happy as to be here with him again. There was so much more to learn about him, his people, the things he can do. She knew she had feelings for him.

Did he have feelings for her? Could he?

If only this wasn't the last time they'd be together-

The phallus in her mouth withdrew. ".reason cause motive thought declaration supposition separation departure farewell?"

She licked her lips and caught her breath, confused. "What? Didn't you know I was- Ladao! He said I was reassigned, at your request!"

".Lie Deception Falsehood. Alessa colleague friend wanted needed desired."

She tried sitting up, but was still held in place, until the Ambassador withdrew his extensions from her. She pressed her hands against her face, felt as if she was burning up with anger. Ladao, the conniving little shit! What was worse, she had fallen for it! But he should still be onboard. "Where is he?"

Around her, the Ambassador's massive form shifted, and she felt more than heard what in a solid creature might have been a growl. ".Liar Pretender Usurper. deceived misled hurt Alessa colleague friend."

A sharp twist in her stomach made her gasp. Maybe she was adding emotion to his projected words, but she remembered how savage the Ambassador had appeared on the planet when coming to her rescue, and suddenly feared for Ladao's safety. No matter how much of a lying prick he was, she didn't genuinely wish him any harm. "Ambassador, where is he?"

His body shifted around and away from her. ".Communicating conversing speaking craft vessel starship captain master commander."

"I want to see him, please."

*

She didn't have to go far, just to another of the Elchee vessel's many living chambers, which seemed more like wombs. And within one of them, she found another Elchee - and Doctor Peter Ladao, late of the First Contact Office. His clothes lay in shreds in the corner of the chamber, and he hung naked and face down a metre or two from the floor, suspended by limbs that easily supported him, as if he had fallen into a pit of vines and became entangled. His back was cambered, and his head hung low, mouth agape, fear and exhaustion paling his features. His skin glistened from thick, dried coatings of Elchee fluids spurted upon him, and his voice was a hoarse whisper, as if he had been calling out for help for hours before her arrival. "Ales- Alessa- stop- stop them- please-"

She tried not to smile, but the satisfaction swelling up within her made that impossible. "Peter, I'm aware that a sense of competitiveness among First Contact Specialists can be healthy at times, but it seems you're carrying it a little too far now." She drew closer. She was naked too, but at the moment felt no embarrassment. Especially not when compared with his predicament. The Elchee Captain held him securely, sensory tendrils still looking him over, while another, thinner appendage arced down between Ladao's hairy thighs, disappearing between his cheeks. A larger limb was sheathed around his cock, gently pulsing as it milked him, perhaps for the first time, perhaps the tenth.

His pride, his arrogance, seemed to have been milked from him along the way. "Alessa- please help me- they're savage- they don't understand-"

"Of course they understand. They know a conceited bastard when they see one." She reached up and touched his cheek. "But I'll have a talk with the Ambassador and see what I can do on your behalf." Then she turned to depart, stopping and commandeering his longcoat.

"Wait- wait- where are you going?"

She stopped and turned around, slipping her arms into the sleeves. "As you told me, we must go where duty calls." Then she paused and watched as the Elchee Captain brought down a phallus to try and force it into Ladao's mouth. But when he pushed his head away in refusal, a flat, wide, familiar looking extension appeared above his rear, and began swiftly smacking him with it, making him shriek and bawl - and making her wet.

'Wanted needed desired', the Ambassador had thought to her.

She quickly returned to him, to find out more.