Page 3 of Abalim

Abalim stood and clasped his hands in front of him. Taking a chance, he opened his psychic senses just enough to get a feel for the couple in front of him. With a small bow of his head, he introduced himself. “I am Abalim from the planet Earth. And this is my AI companion, JR15.” He gestured to the bot sitting on his shoulder. “The current chancellor and Earth’s government have asked us to help search for women taken from the Exchange. From what I understand, this illegal trafficking only became known after they removed the old chancellor from office.”

As Abalim spoke, he reached out with his mind and tried to connect with theirs. How interesting. It was harder to do than usual. They both had very distinct personalities, making it difficult to get a good read on their minds. But with gentle probing, he uncovered she was the woman he looked for.

At the mention of the disgraced chancellor, a mental image flickered in the mind of the Zerin male of lighting the burial pyre of the dead leader.Hmm, this guy had to be the twin brother of that man. When Abalim reported back to Earth, he’d reassure the new chancellor that the old one was dead and gone.

“I know I don’t look like I used to—” She looped her arm through the male’s. “—but I’m Althea MacGregor.”

“You are TrueBonds?” That would explain the change in her appearance. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks! I couldn’t be happier.” She hugged her man and gave him a look of unconditional love.

Which made the male’s stern expression soften when he did the same back to her.

“I take it you don’t want to go back to Earth?” He didn’t have to be a psychic to know the answer to that, but still, best to ask. He had to take proof back to his brother, so he’d instructed JR15 to record everything that happened the minute he stepped foot into the Galaxy’s Pub.

“Oh, hell no!” Althea caressed Lok’s jaw, still gazing into his eyes. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

Abalim cleared his throat. He hated to break the spell between the couple, but there were other things he had to ask. “You wouldn’t happen to know where any of the other women are, would you?”

“Why don’t you sit with this male and see if you can help him? It’ll give me a chance to get ready for that surprise I promised you.” Lok gave Althea a quick kiss. The nervous excitement rolling off him was easy to sense.

She beamed. “You won’t be gone long, will you?” She was like a child excited for the Christmas holiday, something a lot of people on Earth celebrated at the end of the year.

“No, mybateia, my everlasting love.” The male’s voice lowered. “I will never be far from your side.”

Oh, by the God An.The last thing he wanted to see was this overt display of new love. It was bad enough he had to endure it whenever he was around his brother Adapa and Queen Inanna. Not to mention how all five of their sons were in the same situation. It was enough to make him want to tear his eyes out.

Abalim was about to close his psychic senses when an unusual probe tried to worm its way into him. He blocked it, but the impression made his skin crawl. He glanced around the room, but couldn’t sense where it came from.

“Oh good, Hayami has brought us some drinks.”

Althea’s voice jerked him out of his concentration.

“Well, I’ll tell you as much as I can about the women who were in the same slaver cell with me on FiPan.”

Abalim barely heard what the woman said next. She and Hayami gushed about something, but the only thing he focused on was a sudden thin thread of a disturbing malevolence hidden from sight. There, hovering behind Althea. In the dim light, a fractured glow tapered in and out of sight. Like tiny mirrors catching whatever light it could to claim its reality. But it was the blazing intensity of foul purpose coming off it in waves that gave him pause.

Abalim sent a quick glance in JR15’s direction to ensure the little bot recorded the dialogue between him and Althea. Satisfied the droid had everything under control, he allowed his primary consciousness to float free, but left a small part of himself behind to answer when necessary. He focused on the obscure shape and cast a psychic web around it.

Show yourself.Abalim demanded. The creature's intelligence was easy to read. No doubt the damn thing heard him.

You are an interesting creature.A definitely male voice answered.

Abalim frowned. He got the impression the alien wasn’t talking about him.

The thing wisped around Althea and ignored everything else.I wonder if there are more like you. Yes, yes, there must be.

Get away from her.Abalim made sure he growled the words.

Look how you were once a different species.The strange being continued to ignore Abalim.And now you’ve taken on the traits of your mate. Ah, mate. Is that how you turned from one species into another?

When Abalim felt the alien seeping into Althea’s consciousness, he blasted a psychic wave and shoved the creature away.No! I said stay away from her!

Now he had the asshole’s attention.You dare to interfere withme?The surprise in the male’s voice was easy to hear.How odd.

What? You’re not smart enough to recognize a threat when it hits you?A wave of blinding, arrogant anger saturated Abalim psychically. The only way to avoid being sucked into a whirling abyss around the creature was to dig deep inside and stop it from affecting him. He struggled to focus and maintain an open line of communication.

If you are as you say—the mental voice became sharper with each word—you will tell me where I can get more of these creatures. These… humans.

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