Page 25 of Abalim

She peeked over the tips of her fingers and smiled. “So, let’s get the pleasantries out of the way and introduce ourselves.” She nodded to Gilipthor, who sat in the chair to her right. “You met Gilipthor. He’s one of the most notorious intergalactic underworld figures around. Now retired, of course.”

The small alien snickered.

Abalim didn’t have to read his mind to know the guy was only retired when he felt like it.

Saphira went right on with the introductions. “Next to him are brothers Rodrock and Aesel, in charge of security.”

A dual set of matching penny-colored eyes focused on him. The darker coral of their well-built physiques had plenty of bulging muscles. It was a testament to their dedication to rigorous training. Broad shoulders were set back, their postures upright and alert. No doubt ready to spring into action if needed.

“On your right is Aera, our navigator.”

The elder female gave him a steady glare. Her narrowed fire-orange eyes studied him as she looked him over. Her brick-red hair pulled back into a tight tail emphasized her no-nonsense expression.

“Next to her is our engineer, Kodyn.”

The male studied him with chartreuse-colored eyes. His bald head of soft coral reflected in the light in the room. He remained expressionless, but his calm demeanor didn’t fool Abalim. The male was more than aware of everything going on around him.

“And last, next to you is our communications expert, Yve.” Saphira waved to the female.

Yve’s canary-yellow eyes widened as she examined him. She licked her lips with a lingering gaze and hooded eyes.

“Okay, people, listen up.” Saphira slammed her palms on the sturdy table. “As I said, we’ve finally gotten lucky now that the Xeltrians gave us an open ticket to bring this human to Qorath.” She dropped her hands and leaned back with a wide smile. “And best of all, he has that little guy with him who can record everything for us.” She pointed to JR15 on Abalim’s shoulder. “Which I’m sure he’s doing now, isn’t he?”

Abalim leaned back as well. Since he didn’t sense any maliciousness in the room, he didn’t have a reason not to cooperate. “That’s right. My little friend here can record everything I ask him to. But we can make things easier if you tell me what you’re looking for.” He caught her attention and held it. “And why.”

“We’ll see.” Saphira snapped her fingers. “Hey, Yve! That should solve our communication problems, shouldn’t it?”

Yve tilted her head and focused on JR15. “Maybe. I don’t suppose you’ll let me tinker with it, would you?”

JR15 quivered so hard, Abalim was afraid the little guy would fall off.

He opened his mouth but was cut short by Saphira. “We don’t have time for that.” She sliced her hand through the air. “We’ve got to grab this chance to go to Qorath. Let’s not give them time to change their mind.”

Abalim rested his chin on his closed fist. He opened his senses to search for whatever Saphira wasn’t telling him. Before he had a chance to connect, he was blocked. And none too gently.

“Keep out, boy, if you know what’s good for you.”

That stern admonishment came from one of the twins. Rodrock, if he wasn’t mistaken.

Abalim raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Saphira’s smirk matched that of the twin. “You’re not the only psychic heavyweight around here, Earth man. While we’re not mind readers like you are, we’re highly developed empaths. Unfortunately, even that hasn’t saved us from what we suspect the Xeltrians are up to. We find ourselves at an impasse with them because they don’t allow anyone to set foot on their planet. So when Rerqel contacted us to bring you to them, we jumped at the chance.”

Ah, now things were starting to make sense. “I gather you work for the galactic government, don’t you?”

“Give the boy a gold star.” Kodyn tapped a finger on the table. “Even if we didn’t have the government's backing, we’d still be doing the same thing.”

“Who cares what the government wants!” Aera’s coral face flushed. She leaned forward and clenched her hands into fists and snarled. “Those disgustingpuntnejiare covertly kidnapping various species, ours included!” Tears swam in her pumpkin-colored eyes. “And no one ever hears from them again.” She blinked and swiped away the blue-green tears rolling down her face.

“We will find them, don’t you worry, Aera.” The other twin, Aesel’s, stern tone, left no doubt he meant what he said. “And they’ll pay for taking your daughter and son-by-union.”

“You see—” Saphira rested her chin on her closed fist. “—it’s only been recently discovered that this isolated planet has been scouring the galaxy and covertly kidnapping several species. As far as we can tell, they’ve taken “mating pairs” from various humanoid populations. Mostly a male and female, never just one or the other. We—” She twirled a finger to indicate her crew. “—were the first to discover what the Xeltrians were doing, when they stole Aera’s family. Her daughter, Eeveas, sent her mother a quick description of who took her and her spouse as well as the name of the planet they ended up on.”

“But the message was cut off, and I haven’t heard from her since.” Aera’s lips hardened. “Of course I gave the communication to our planetary leaders. They, in turn, informed the Chancellor’s office, who gave us complete authority to make first contact with Qorath to open diplomatic relations.”

Diplomatic relations? Abalim glanced around the room. Diplomacy seemed the furthest thing from their minds. “And how’s that going?”

“Apparently, those of us from Crichi are not that interesting to the Xeltrians. They can’t read our thoughts, only our emotions. Which is completely foreign to them. Hah! They have no idea what an emotion is, even if it bit them on the ass. So they don’t trust us, and it goes without saying, we sure don’t trust them.” Saphira sat back. “That’s where you come in.”

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