Page 1 of Abalim

Chapter One

OutsideGalaxy’sPubatdusk

Abalim glanced at his handheld to make sure he was in the right place. Yep, Galaxy’s Pub in the village of Kijiji on the planetoid Hiigar. He looked up and down the deserted, dusty street, hoping to see someone, anyone, that could verify if this was the right place. He chuckled. Yeah, like anyone on this goddess-forsaken planetoid would know where he was supposed to be.

He eyed the disreputable building next to the two-story structure that was as run-down looking as this one. The only encouraging sign was the symbol of “AoA” prominently displayed in red and yellow across the archway.

“JR15, are you sure this is the place someone claimed they saw one of the missing human women?”

He glanced at the small droid resembling an Earth spider resting on his shoulder. That is, if the spider had a green-and-silver metallic body and four legs instead of eight. The little bot quivered as if afraid to voice an opinion.

“JR15?” Abalim gentled his voice as he addressed the fledging robot. He was careful not to startle the little guy since it’d only started operating a month ago. “It’s okay. Just access the programming your father installed within you before we left.”

It amazed him how two other bots created his companion. JR10 and his “mate,” JR11, made a small batch of these machines to help Abalim and his brothers as they scoured the galaxy to search for the missing women kidnapped from the Zerin spaceship,StarChance.

JR10 insisted these little bots call him “Father” and JR11 “Mother”.

How strange the universe had gotten when droids wanted to be parents.

Another shocking thing he discovered was that Earth was now “recognized” by the Federation Consortium, the ruling body of the galaxy.

While the planet was still in a protected status, the government admitted they’d offered human women in secret to hundreds of species in the galaxy that faced a severe shortage of females.

Why women were in such short supply was something Abalim wasn’t privy to, but then he doubted anyone else had any idea why that happened, either. His sister-in-law—Inanna, the Queen of Akurn, a brilliant geneticist and a biologist in her own right—offered to look into the problem facing so many humanoid species.

She and her consort, Abalim’s brother Adapa, agreed to become part of the groundbreaking research team with the galactic body, but before they did, they insisted the human women missing from the Exchange had to be found first. Only then would the queen put her considerable talents into finding out what caused the dwindling female problem.

To help her work on it with a clear conscience, Abalim and his brothers volunteered to search the known galaxy for the missing women.

It’s not like he had anything better to do. Having time traveled over seven thousand years left him and his three other brothers at loose ends. Since Akurn and Earth had become allies, the threat of a battle between them, and of destroying Earth, was long gone. Which left the siblings with nothing to do.

The four of them were new to the modern world and totally useless for the worldwide cleanup efforts after the close brush with an alien invasion. With their newfound freedom, they needed a goal to help focus on who they were deep inside. And the best way to do that was to give them a purpose. Something they’d never experienced before.

It was strange to have control over his own future. Even so, Abalim was more than happy they’d agreed to split up to look for those missing women. He might love his brothers, but they’d grown up together, never alone except at night since they were small children. The freedom to choose his next step without having to consult their small group would be liberating. He’d finally discover who he truly was without worrying about being judged and teased if anything he did was considered lacking. Not that he didn’t retaliate. Usually when they least expected it.

“Yes, Mister Abalim, sir. The last known whereabouts of the human known as Althea MacGregor was here at the Galaxy’s Pub.”

Abalim tilted his head, straining to hear what the bot said in his soft tones. Damn, he wished for the umpteenth time he could psychically read the bot. But JR15 wasn’t organic, so he couldn’t. Skipping the whole talking process would make working together easier.

He grunted and didn’t correct the bot when he called him “mister”. No matter how many times he encouraged the robot to call him by his given name, the little guy just shuddered, agreed, and then reverted to formal address in the next sentence.

“Thank you, JR15. Appreciate it.” Abalim put his handheld computer tablet into his jacket pocket. “Why don’t you hide before I go in?”

JR15 squeaked and scrambled to his favorite place under Abalim’s dreadlocks at the nape of his neck. It was a perfect place for the droid to settle so no one could see him.

His pointy little legs were light enough when he moved, it was like a whisper across Abalim’s skin.

Abalim passed through the entrance's light force field, and he was greeted by a humongous humanoid male with wide flat feet that tapered up to thick thighs. His gaze traveled up the giant’s body that thinned at the shoulders and held a head with a triangle shape.

A single large yellow eye surrounded by downy feathers for lashes dominated the being’s features. A row of bright canary-yellow feathers formed a mohawk down his skull.

“Are you Flygir?” Goddess, he hoped so. Princess Aimee of Zerin was quite insistent he ask this giant for help once he reached Hiigar.

“Who’s yous?”

“My name is Abalim. Princess Aimee said you’d be able to help me.”

“Pretty!Is where my Pretty?”

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