Page 61 of Abalim

“ByIchor’s Holdings, boy! Did you do that to us?” the female snapped, her brilliant emerald-green eyes narrowed. “Put us in stasis?”

Talk about imposing! Lisa had no idea who this…. this female person thought she was. And she definitely wasn’t human. Her skin tone was a rich coral color that looked amazing with her one-piece leather battle suit in butterscotch yellow. Talk about intimidating. Lisa’s eyes narrowed. Taking in the female’s otherworldly beauty made her mouth dry. No one should look that good, pissed off as she was.

“Now, why would I do that?”

At Abalim’s calm answer, Lisa’s hands gripped into fists. Damn man seemed awfully chummy with the pretty alien with the silky metallic-gold hair.

“You humans are known for reneging on your allies if it suits you.” The woman’s blaster hadn’t moved. The muzzle was a mere centimeter from the middle of Abalim’s forehead. “Why were we held hostage on our ship?”

“The Xeltrians did that, not me.” Abalim widened his arms. “I’d much rather you monitored the situation than be paralyzed where you couldn’t help me if I needed it.” He cocked his head. “If the Xeltrians didn’t let you go, how did you get free?”

She lowered the blaster and pursed her lips.

Her perfect, full upper and lower lips. The type of mouth that would tear Angelina Jolie’s title of the Queen of Hollywood Lips away. Lisa suspected the rich, darkened color of those stupid lips was natural.

Now the blaster pointed at her.

“Is this the human female you were looking for?”

She crossed her arms. “My name is Lisa.” She raised an eyebrow and her mouth tightened. “And you are?”

After a quick up-and-down perusal, the condescending smirk on the female's face made the back of Lisa’s neck heat. Okay, the bitch and she were going to have words.

“I am Captain Saphira of theGalactic Serpent.” The woman’s smile widened as she put the blaster into a holster at her hip. “And this is my crew.” She nodded to the people behind her.

Lisa tore her gaze away from Saphira and checked out the others. While the small group looked a lot like Saphira with their coral-colored skin, there was one little guy who had to be a completely different species.

He was a wiry scamp of a thing that couldn’t be more than three feet tall. It was impossible to see most of his body since he was in a cape made of different colored patches, and kept a hood over his head. The only thing visible was his scaly face, mottled with shades of green-yellow. What stood out were his orange-red bulbous eyes.

For some reason, he gave her the impression that not much got by him. She attempted to open her psychic eye to check him out, just to see if he was dangerous or not. What she got back was confusing. She didn’t get the impression of menace, but what came through was a sense of subterfuge. As she studied him, his eyes widened, as if claiming his innocence. Like she was dumb enough to believe that crap.

He clicked and whistled with a smirk.

Freakin’ alien better not be laughing at her.

“Saphira, I’m glad to see you are all okay. But how did you get free?” Abalim asked in a firm tone.

“I’m not without my own resources.” With her hand on one hip, she pulled out a necklace from her cleavage.

A teardrop gem dangled at the end of the thin metal necklace. It twirled in the dim light of the hallway, and at first, it was hard to tell what it was made of. Its sheen changed from light to dark and back again in the low deceiving light. It winked with an inner silver glow and looked like the Lumicor crystal the Lumarians used to power Echovara.

Darn thing was really pretty. She wanted one.

“This is my Soile crystal.” Saphira twirled the gem, creating a swirling, soft inner light. “This is a rare jewel that circumvents any type of mental control that is put on me.” She shrugged. “Once I was freed from the mental paralysis, it was easy enough to do the same for my crew.” She narrowed her green eyes at Abalim. “I told you we came here to find our missing people.” She waved a hand to encompass the long corridor and its endless doors. “Since we’ve been on this planet, Aera has emotionally connected with her daughter Eeveas.” She pointed to the door next to Abalim. “And we believe she’s in there.”

“We’ve got to get in there now!” One of the females behind Saphira grabbed her, her pulsating orange eyes swimming with tears. “I sense she’s in pain.” She warbled a cry when she sucked in her lower lip after the last word.

“Are you sure she’s in there, Aera?” Saphira patted the older woman’s hand.

“Yes! Yes! I know she’s in there. I can feel she has begun her birth pains!” Aera’s brick-red ponytail bounced with each emphatic nod. “I have to be there with her!”

Lisa crossed her arms and studied the door. “How are we supposed to get in?” As far as she could tell, there weren’t any knobs or buttons to make it open.

“Allow me.”

Lisa jumped at the melodious male voice behind her. She turned and stepped back.

It was Rerqel. Of course it was Rerqel. Who else would it be?

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