Qal was feeling overworked. The spots on his hands, usually a healthy aquamarine hue against the cobalt blue of his skin, had turned a sickly purple from lack of sleep. With the countdown clock for the invasion of earth ticking down, the examination of abducted specimens had been accelerated. Command wanted as much up-to-the-minute data as possible before the first waves landed. When Qal had joined the military instead of seeking a university post upon completion of his advanced degree in xenopsychology, he had understood that he would be a support member of the invasion fleet. But he had never expected that the army would treat someone of his education as such a work horse. This was the thirty-seventh probe he had undertaken in less than two earth-days. Back home on Zygreb he would have had cause to bring a complaint for worker abuse.

 

Qal looked down at the specimen that was next on his docket, stretched out on the examination table in the center of his lab. She was an earth female, abducted the day before in a region known as “California.” Apart from being a strange pinkish hue instead of the normal spotted blue, the specimen was quite attractive by the standards of a Zygrebian female.  Her breasts were ample and magnificently shaped; the curves of her legs were exquisitely enticing. She must have been abducted in the middle of an intimate encounter with another earthling, because she was dressed very seductively in a gossamer silk negligee over black lingerie. Qal allowed his fingers to drift over the supple flesh of her thigh before waking her. Sexual pleasure of any kind was highly regulated on Zygreb, and everything that transpired in the lab was recorded. But Qal knew that if he was ever questioned about groping the earthling he could claim it was a scientific procedure. It was one of the few perks of an otherwise grueling job.

 

“A Xenopsychologist’s work is never done,” he mumbled, tearing his hand away from her thigh reluctantly and injecting the specimen with the re-animation serum. She opened her eyes immediately, and Qal braced himself for what might follow. Many probes and investigations could be done while specimens were unconscious, but Qal’s work required that they be awake and communicative. Unfortunately, this made his task very difficult. It usually took a few moments for the specimen’s vision to clear, and once it did the earthling’s first impulse was to panic. Qal kept various sedatives and restraints ready, but he was forced to wait and use only what was absolutely necessary in each case. He was charged with probing the mindset and consciousness of the earthlings, a job best done when they were not doped or hog-tied. Consequently Qal had to endure much screaming, thrashing, and incoherent pleading in the course of his working day.

 

This time was atypical, however. As the specimen’s eyes focused, she took in her surroundings with surprising calm. “Where am I?” she asked in a clear, steady voice.

 

“You are safe,” Qal said, following the script he employed with specimens taken from the territory known as “America”. “My people are from another planet. We have come here in peace, to learn more about your earth.”

 

“How fascinating!” the specimen said, sitting up on the laboratory table and swinging around so that her shapely legs draped over its side. “Is this a space ship?”

 

The lab was set up to look like a typical doctor’s office from the perspective of an earthling, to put the specimen at ease. Still, since she had intuited the truth, Qal saw no harm in admitting it. “Yes,” he replied. “You have been here for about twenty-four of your earth hours. When our investigation is done you will be returned home, unharmed.”

 

“All right,” the specimen said, her face lit by a bewitching smile. Qal was taken aback by how calmly she responded to the situation.

 

“I would like to ask you a few questions,” Qal said.

 

“Certainly.”

 

Qal sat down in a chair facing the specimen, to make the atmosphere even more relaxed. Perhaps this would be an easy day after all.

 

“What name are you known by?” he asked.

 

“I am called Goddess Marquesa,” the woman replied.

 

Qal knew enough about earth culture to recognize that this was an unusual sobriquet, probably a “stage name” or title of some sort. “What sort of work do you do?” he pressed, intrigued.

 

“I am an erotic hypnotist.”

 

“Hypnotism,” Qal noted. “On Zygreb we have mastered this art for many eons. I doubt anyone on your earth has developed it to the level of sophistication we have attained.”

 

Goddess Marquesa laughed musically. “Why don’t we find out? I might try hypnotizing you now.”

 

Qal smiled, amused by this creature’s simple audacity. “You couldn’t possibly overcome my superior training in mind control technique.”

 

“Wanna bet?” the Goddess rejoined, her voice mellow yet possessed of a bracing energy. “I can see that our two species are anatomically similar. I am very beautiful by the standards of your people, am I not?”

 

“Why do you suppose so?”

 

“I can see it in the way you look at me. In the way your eyes caress my legs, linger over my breasts. The way you focus on my lips when I talk. Your training hasn’t prepared you for the way I make you feel.”

 

“And how is that?” Qal asked, his heart rate accelerating despite his attempts to remain calm.

 

“Aroused. Desirous. If I tell you to watch my breasts as I massage them, you won’t be able to look away.”

 

“No, wait…” Qal protested weakly, but his voice gave way as Goddess Marquesa grasped her magnificent breasts in both elegantly shaped hands and began to knead them gently, taking obvious pleasure in the enticing lushness of her own body.

 

“Mmmm…that feels good,” Goddess Marquesa intoned, her voice laden with sensual delight, “as I do this I am going to count, and you will count along with me in your mind. With each count you will feel your self becoming more and more relaxed…One…,” the Goddess breathed the number more than spoke it, as if the pleasure she was giving herself made it difficult to speak.

 

“Two….,” this second number came out as a moan, causing Qal’s mouth to drop open with yearning.  “Three….four…..five…”

 

Qal could feel himself relaxing, he knew he was in peril. But he could not look away from those breasts…those hands…those eyes…those lips.  He had never felt the force of such powerful sexual charisma before. His muscles slackened and his mind surrendered even as he told himself to look away.

 

“Now,” Goddess Marquesa said, taking her hands from her breasts and leaning back so that her legs were extended, “I want you to look at my legs.” Qal obeyed, the memory of fondling her thigh too fresh in his mind to allow him to resist. “When I flex my leg, the curves of my calf and thigh are delicious to look at, no?”

 

It was true. As she flexed her right leg, the subtle changes in the shadows cast by her musculature accentuated her limb’s irresistibly perfect shape. Qal was by now so relaxed that he could not prevent a trickle of drool from escaping the corner of his mouth at the sight.

 

“I am going to flex my leg and count, and with each count you with feel yourself falling deeper and deeper into relaxation. Five….Your eyelids are becoming heavy…..”

 

Qal’s eyelids drooped. He fought to keep them open, but he could not tell whether he was resisting her control or struggling to keep staring at her legs.

 

“Four….three….two…..one. You are deeply asleep now, totally relaxed,” the Goddess continued. “You are focused only on my voice and the way I make you feel. Tell me you understand.”

 

“I understand, Goddess.” Qal’s voice was slurred, his vocal muscles barely able to form coherent words. His eyes were closed, his body had gone completely limp into his chair. His mouth hung open, drool trailed down to the collar of his uniform.

 

“I am going to snap my fingers,” Goddess Marquesa said, her tone commanding, “and you will open your eyes. You will feel refreshed and alert, but you will still be under my control. All of your inhibitions will be gone, leaving only a warm sense of well being and your intense desire for me. Is that clear?”

 

“Yes, Goddess.”

 

Goddess Marquesa snapped her fingers. Qal opened his eyes. She filled his vision, and he felt a desperate hunger like he had never experienced. An uncontrollable moan of yearning escaped his lips.

 

“I want to learn more about you,” Goddess Marquesa said, rising from the exam table and walking slowly around Qal’s inert form, his eyes following her greedily. “To do so I would like to make you even more pliable. Masturbate for me.”

 

“What?” asked Qal, uncomprehending.

 

“Your people do masturbate? Do you have a penis? A sex organ?”

 

“Yes, male Zygrebian’s have a xrglec.”

 

“Show it to me.”

 

Qal hesitated, professional paranoia cutting through the hypnotic fog that clouded his mind. “We are being recorded,” he said, “my superiors will see….”

 

Goddess Marquesa walked over to the chair in which Qal sat and placed her right foot on its left armrest. She lean forward so that her thigh brushed against his arm and her breasts dangled just before his eyes. Her scent assaulted him, a delicious floral aroma that reminded him of the kleblak blossoms of Zygreb.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that,” she breathed, her words caressing his cheek moistly. “What were you concerned about?”

 

“I don’t remember,” Qal answered, all thought driven from his mind by pangs of desire.

 

Qal unfastened the front of his trousers and removed his xrglec for her to see. “Is this what human men look like?” he asked.

 

Goddess Marquesa retreated to better view Qal’s crotch. “Well,” she noted, “A human man’s organ has only one prong, not two, and not so many fleshy tendrils. And it is generally the same color as the rest of him.”

 

“A Zygrebian’s xrglec is usually blue,” Qal explained. “It becomes pale yellow when he is aroused.”

 

“Well, you should see a doctor,” declared the Goddess, “because yours is bright red.”

 

Qal gasped. “It is said that the xrglec becomes bright red when a male experiences overwhelming desire…but I always thought that was an old wive’s tale.”

 

Goddess Marquesa laughed. “You obviously need some relief,” she said. “Jerk yourself off for me.”

 

Qal looked at the Goddess quizzically. “Jerk off? I don’t understand…”

 

“Play with your xrglec for me. Bring yourself to orgasm.”

 

Qal gasped a second time. “I don’t know how. Sexual pleasure is strictly regulated on Zygreb. We may only experience orgasm when coupling with an authorized mate, and are conditioned from an early age not to stimulate ourselves.”

 

“Any conditioning that can be done can be undone. I, Goddess Marquesa, authorize you to orgasm for me, and will teach you how. You will need to use some lubricant on that equipment. Where do you keep it in here?”

 

“In the cabinet to your left,” Qal answered compliantly, unable to refuse the Goddess’s request. “The orange bottle.”

 

The Goddess retrieved the bottle and bent over Qal with it, allowing her long blonde hair to caress his face as she showed him the gel spilling into her palm. “I will warm it for you,” she cooed, setting the bottle down and taking up Qal’s right hand with her free one. Tipping her gel-filled palm into his right hand, she rubbed gently to create friction, making Qal shudder with yearning and delight as her fingers tickled the sensitive nerve endings of his palm and the warmth mounted. After a minute of delicious torment she moved his slick hand to the engorged prongs of his xrglec. Wrapping his fingers around one shaft, she guided his hand in a gliding motion up one prong and down the other in a smooth, rhythmic motion.

 

“Ooooh…” moaned Qal in desperate surprise and delectation.

 

“That’s it….that’s my good boy,” the Goddess whispered. The sensation that filled Qal was the most intensely pleasurable he had ever experienced. He surrendered completely to it…and to her. Seeing him losing himself in ecstasy, Goddess Marquesa stepped back. This made Qal’s eyes widen in distress. “No…please…don’t go…” he pleaded.

 

“I’m right here,” the Goddess reassured him. “Keep looking at me. Let your eyes play over my face and body. Think about how much you want me…how I make you feel.”

 

Qal obeyed. He let his eyes devour the gorgeous contours of her breasts, the luscious curves of her legs, the sensuous allure of her mouth, the magnetic beauty of her eyes. As the intense waves of delight from his xrglec increased, he felt a mounting sense of bliss, a joy that was all about and for Goddess Marquesa. He felt he would do anything for her, that he must find some way to make her happy.

 

“Oh, Goddess,” he gasped, his tone worshipful, “I will not let anyone harm you in the invasion….”

 

“Invasion!” exclaimed Goddess Marquesa. “You lied to me!”

 

As soon as he said it, Qal knew it was a terrible mistake. He had told her a dire secret, given her immense power. But she already had that power…at least over him. He knew that he should get up, sound the alarm, strike her down. But the pleasure of what she was making him do was too great, his feelings of adoration for her too strong. He was helpless to do anything but lie prostrate in worship of her and stroke himself to oblivion.

 

Qal opened his mouth to assuage her anger, trying to form words. But the ecstasy had grown too intense, he could no longer speak coherently. His breath came in gasps, saliva foamed from his mouth uncontrollably. Only his eyes remained wide and focused on the Goddess, drinking in her image as if his life depended on it. Finally his mind and body gave way all at once and completely. His eyes rolled back into his head, bright green fluid exploded in copious fountains from both prongs of his xrglec. His body contorted, bucking and shuddering in the throes of a kind of seizure.

 

Violent spasms wracked Qal’s body for several minutes as Goddess Marquesa watched, caught between anger and curiosity. After a while the seizure calmed, and Qal curled into the fetal position, still trembling from head to toe and spurting the occasional burst of green fluid from his member.

 

“What is happening to you?” asked Goddess Marquesa, as much out of curiosity as concern.

 

 

“I am still orgasming, Goddess,” answered Qal. “It will continue for a while…”

 

“How long?” she inquired.

 

“Two or three of your earth days.”

 

“Hmmph,” interjected the Goddess incredulously. “I can see why you are prohibited from doing that. Nothing would get done in your world if everyone was allowed to put themselves out of commission for three days running. It would also crimp fertility, no doubt.”

 

“You are right, Goddess,” Qal agreed, his voice still drunk with adoration.

 

“Like the men on my planet you seem very pliable during an orgasm,” observed the Goddess. “You are obviously feeling very warmly toward me. What could you refuse me?”

 

“Nothing, Goddess,” gasped Qal, straining to overcome his trembling so that he could keep her in view.

 

“I thought so. You say everything we have done has been recorded? There seems to be a computer console over here,” she noted, walking toward a kind of raised desk set into one wall of the lab. “I want you to walk me through how to use it….”

 

 

 

 

The High Chancellor of Zygreb stormed into the war room of his palace, summoned by an emergency alert. “What is it!” he shouted.

 

“It is the battle cruiser Gretfyor, Highness, the ship set to invade Earth,” his deputy reported. “It has drifted dangerously close to that planet’s moon. We are trying to establish contact, to see what has gone wrong.”

 

A large screen mounted on the wall of the war room buzzed to life, showing a scene of the command deck of the Gretfyor. All was chaos. Crewmen lay strewn about the deck, naked from the waist down. Some were convulsing violently, others twitching gently or curled into inert balls. Great splashes of green fluid stained bodies, chairs, and consoles. Occasional great arching verdant sprays flew threw the frame.

 

“Gretfyor! Gretfyor!” screamed the High Chancellor. “Where is your captain?!”

 

“Here, sir!” gasped a frantic voice from below the sightline of the camera. Rising from the floor, a wildly staring face filled the screen, eyes wide with panic. “She broadcast the video through the entire ship!” the captain screamed, eyes darting back and forth to glance at something projected on a screen next to the camera into which he was speaking. “We’ve all seen it…I’m sorry…I tried to resist…” He stumbled back from the camera, and on screen the High Chancellor and his deputy could see that the captain was not wearing pants. His xrglec was bright red, each prong clasped tightly in one hand, which was pumping frantically. “I tried to resist,” the captain continued, “but that woman…that magnificent woman! Those breasts…those legs…that voice! Aaargh!” Bright green fluid exploded from the twin shafts of the captain’s xrglec and splattered on the camera lens, obscuring the image.

 

The High Chancellor reached out and pressed a button on the main communication console, closing the transmission. “Disgusting!” he spat.

 

“The Gretfyor is careening toward impact, Highness!” the deputy cried, his eyes glued to a readout of the ship’s course. “In minutes it will strike earth’s moon, and everyone aboard will be killed!”

 

“Perhaps it is for the best,” grumbled the High Chancellor. “If that disgusting practice were to come here it could set off massive social unrest…undermine the basis of our whole society. The loss of the invasion force is a small price to pay to prevent the spread of such contagion.”

 

As the High Chancellor finished speaking, a test pattern appeared on the transmission screen.

“What is that?” asked the Chancellor.

 

“A transmission from the Gretfyor, Highness,” replied the deputy, scrambling to interpret his instrument panel. “It is being broadcast on all frequencies throughout Zygreb.”

 

“Unacceptable! Shut it down!”

 

“I can’t, Highness. Whoever sent it used the special military override code. It can not be blocked.”

 

The image of a gorgeous woman appeared on screen, perfect in all dimensions but for her strange complexion.

 

“An earthling!” the High Chancellor cried in disbelief.

 

“People of Zygreb,” the woman on screen said, “I am Goddess Marquesa. There is something I’d like you to see. Relax and enjoy…I think you will find this very stimulating…”

 

Neither the High Chancellor nor his deputy could understand the strange earth words the woman spoke, but the tone and rhythm of her voice, combined with the seductive contours of her body and the enticing beauty of her face, had a mesmerizing effect. They sensed danger, but stood transfixed as the woman slowly tempted a young lab officer into baring his xrglec and rubbing it with his hands. Gazing at the woman and listening to her voice relaxed the two males and excited them all at once. Before long both felt a warmth in their groins, and clutched at their belts…

 

 

 

 

Goddess Marquesa looked up at the moon from the hatchway of the escape pod, which had landed just outside of Los Angeles. If it hadn’t happened yet, Qal and his comrades would soon be blown to smithereens across the moon’s surface. It never failed to amaze the Goddess what a man could be convinced to do while in the grips of an orgasm. The young lab officer had told Goddess Marquesa how to operate the escape pod, sobbing his love for her as she abandoned him to his fate. She felt a twinge of pity for him, but since the choice was between his dying and the Zygrebian conquest of earth, she was confident she would sleep soundly tonight.

 

She had saved one civilization and destroyed another, and no one here on earth was ever likely to know. “Oh well,” she thought, “a Goddess’s work is never done.”

 

 

 

The End