The creature held up his hands. It looked like he was trying to signal that he meant no harm so she paused her retreat.
Drogo stepped over the log then sat down on it. He looked calm and non threatening as he struck a casual pose.
"Perhaps he's here because of the meteor."
Hope stared at him for a moment before she gained enough courage to open her mouth. She cleared her throat several times before finally finding her voice.
"Are you here because of the meteor?" Hope stammered.
He nodded his head yes.
"Why?"
When he spoke his voice was a breathy bass tone, but she didn't understand what he said. The man stopped and shook his head since the language barrier was obviously a problem.
Curiously he could understand her but not the other way round. Well at least he seemed to get the gestures right.
"Maybe I could play the twenty questions game if Drogo is willing. Why not? It's not like my day could get any weirder." She mused.
"Do you come in peace?"
He nodded yes. Well of course. Wouldn't that be the answer even if he meant to flay her alive? You wouldn't want to spook your prey. Duh!
"Okay. Was the meteor your ship?"
No, was his reply. That would have to be a pretty rough way to land, but what did she know about space travel.
"Are you here to study us?"
The man seemed to consider the question before hesitantly nodding yes.
"Well great! So we're one giant petri dish." Her mind screamed.
It made sense. Hope believed life on other planets existed. But she never expected in her wildest dreams to meet the alien species that came to study them.
Hope crouched on the ground staring at him as she took it all in.
Something made a faint beep and Drogo spoke into a computer on his wrist. It must have been his communicator she'd heard earlier. As he spoke in his deep rumbling voice, Hope noticed the man had long canine teeth.
"Oh shit he has fangs!" Hope repressed a gasp.
She did her best to not freak the fuck out. Drogo was being incredibly calm and hadn't done anything to threaten or frighten her yet. Unless you count spying and looking like a predator.
Drogo finished speaking then looked back at her. He seemed a bit annoyed, at least that's the impression Hope got by the way the muscle in his jaw flexed as he sighed and stood up.
Apparently he had to go. It was probably for the best. This was enough crazy for one day. Shit it was enough crazy for a lifetime!
Viper
The female watched him closely. Her pungent scent of shock and fear had overwhelmed the sweeter musky smell that originally drew Viper in. He was glad that the acrid odor subsided as he sat, attempting to answer her questions. Her fear had made him unreasonably jittery, almost angry. The irrational angst wasn't directed at her, it made Viper want to do battle with some fictional foe.
Viper attempted to keep his cool since he didn't want her to fear him. For some reason Viper found himself glad little Lepus wasn't struck with terror. More often than not that was the first response they were greeted with on these missions.
Little Lepus was inquisitive instead. He wanted to smile at the expressions her face made as she considered him and her next question. Her blue eyes sparkled with intelligence, her face round and pale with slightly pink cheeks. Her nose was small and delicate as was the rest of her body.
Now that Viper was close to her, he found himself wanting to confirm his earlier impression, that she was soft rather than overly muscular and firm. Lepus' lips were the color of the cactus fruit native to his planet. He imagined they were just as sweet.
Viper's admiring thoughts were interrupted by his comm.
"Go ahead." He nearly growled into the comm then stopped himself lest he scare the female.
"Viper we need to load up and head to our next location. I fear the Morbo are emerging from the water faster than we expected. I don't want to loose the group of refugees we just rescued by potentially introducing an infected one."
Viper sighed at Ophidian's news.
"On my way with one more." He replied. "It looks like our meet and greet is going to be cut short." Viper mused.
Viper hesitated to tranq the female. Something inside him bristled at the thought of shooting anything at Lepus. He also didn't like the idea of leaving her unconscious in one of the hibernation berths with hundreds of others. It seemed wrong somehow.
"The question is how to get her to come with me?"
Their scientist had reported that the Anguis' venom could be used to subdue these people if used sparingly. Perhaps he could lightly nick her skin then carry her out of here without too much incident. Only one way to tell.
Hope
Drogo held out his hand. It seemed strange to shake his hand but Hope supposed they studied human gestures and greetings before coming here, so she extended hers. She didn't want to offend him and unwittingly start some sort of war.