"Commander Yadoni! He's waking up."
Jamie blinked several times, wincing at the strength of the light that was searing his eyeballs. "Damn! Get that light out of my eyes, will ya?"
"Welcome to our ship, member of Earth."
The light faded substantially and it took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the strange violet light that now surrounded him. Jamie sat up on the table, his mouth hanging open as he took in the two beings that stood before him. "What the hell ... "
"I am Commander Yadoni. This is my subordinate, Soloni. We are from the planet Arcturus Prime and we have been studying you for several timons."
The shorter of the two cleared his throat and whispered, "Weeks, sir."
"Ah, yes. Thank you, Soloni. We have been studying you for several weeks."
"Studying me? What for and why me?"
"We have been studying several humans like yourself but you are a special case."
"And why is that?"
"Your sadness."
The red-skinned man moved closer, lifting one hand and touching a tentacle to Jamie's chest.
"You ache here."
He knew that the being was above-average intelligence since they were speaking mind-to-mind with him but for them to understand emotion blew him away. "Yes," He stammered. "I do."
"But your sadness went away with Carina."
"Is that her name?"
"Her name is whatever you want it to be, member of Earth. Soloni searched your Earth internet and we chose her name from among the ones we found."