Page 57 of Abalim
“Thank you, citizens.” Aollu’s voice came out raspy and harsh. “Saving the Lumarians will give me a divine purpose. I leave you now, to join the Omnipatron’s everlasting source.” The dim light in his emerald eyes faded as his final word quivered in the air. With a last rattled breath, his body disintegrated into a fine green powder.
Chapter Twelve
Lisa’seyesfilledwithtears she angrily wiped away. Look at her, feeling sorry for the creepy alien whose only agenda was to coerce the Xeltrians into conquering the galaxy with them. When Abalim put his arm around her shoulders, she leaned into his warmth.
Never be ashamed of having empathy for others,he admonished mentally.It is our greatest strength.
Yeah, but still. She pulled away and turned to face him. “Now, what?” She pointed to the emerald crystal in his hand. If she wasn’t mistaken, the darn thing pulsated in the rhythm of a heartbeat.
Abalim’s dark eyes lowered to look at the gem in his open hand. “Now we need to go back to Echovara and see if we can fix him.”
Without a glance at the silent Xeltrian, they left the room with the Krystalii green dust floating lazily to the ground and headed back to the cave holding the Lumarians.
JR15 whizzed to the right corner of the closed door and inserted a small beam of light from the middle of his forehead. The door slid silently open.
Abalim motioned for Lisa to stand behind him against the wall as he peered inside. “JR, what do you think?” he asked the small droid hovering beside him. “Can you see if there’s a place we can insert this into Echovara and save the Lumarians?”
The cute-as-a-button spybot nodded. Even in the low light, his metallic green-silver body shone with an attractive gleam. “Oh yes, Mister Abalim, sir. I most certainly can.” He pointed a spindly foreleg at himself. “I have already downloaded its schematics. It will be easy enough to pinpoint exactly where it goes.”
Lisa yanked on Abalim’s sleeve. “That may be all well and good, but how in the world can we get back there without letting that stupid fake god kill us?” The image of the psychotic hologram chasing after them and causing massive earthquakes made her heart race. Last thing she wanted was to get squished in a cave on an alien planet.
Abalim’s lips twisted in a grimace. “I doubt these suits generate the image of us being Lumarians anymore. Even if they did, the machine would probably see through it now.” He glanced at the small bot. “JR15, since you’ve already got a readout on that machine, do you think you can fly in there and shut it down? Or at least pause it to give us enough time to replace the dead Lumicor crystal with the one Aollu gave us?”
“I will do my best, Mister Abalim, sir.” With a hop and a flutter, he zoomed inside.
Lisa gave Abalim a sideways glance. “Poor thing. Always going off by himself.” The little guy was so small it’d be easy for even a hologram to swat him away.
He nodded. “We’ll keep an eye on him from this side of the doorway so Echovara won’t notice us.” He squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll teleport him away before anything bad happens to him.”
Lisa stepped around Abalim and peered into the room. “I sure hope so.” She pointed her finger at the hologram image of the elderly Lumarian stomping around, waving his arms and muttering under his breath. “That thing has totally lost his cookies.” She watched it stomp over to the stasis pod holding Maelani. “Soaring space dung! What’s he doing?”
The hologram placed both hands on the side of the clear tube and threw his head back. The dim lighting inside the case darkened.
Lisa didn’t think, just ran with her arms outstretched. “Stop it! You’re killing her!”
“Lisa, don’t!”
She ignored Abalim’s terror-filled voice.
“Come back here!”
She didn’t answer since she was allllmoooost there, close enough to push him away. Instead of shoving the jerk away from the pod, she ran right through him. Stumbling, she pinwheeled and turned around to regain her footing. “Asshole! What the hell?”
“ABOMINATION!” Echovara screamed, his voice booming throughout the chamber. “You are not allowed to defile these sacred halls.”
A bolt of lightning out of nowhere hit her square in her chest, flinging her onto her back and making her slide several feet. She blinked at the raggedy ceiling and sucked in a painful squeeze of oxygen. That freaking hurt.She rubbed the bruised area between her breasts.
“Lisa!” Abalim rushed to her side and kneeled next to her. Grabbing one of her hands, he placed it on his wide chest. With his other hand, he caressed the side of her face. “Are you all right?”
His welcome warmth calmed the nervous shivers racking her body. “What happened? Why aren’t I dead?” She glanced over his shoulder and watched the hologram of Echovara stalk toward them. Her eyes widened, and she struggled to sit up. “Oh my God, he’s coming!”
The hologram raised his arms. His screeching, booming voice caused the ground to shake, as rocks and debris crumbled and rained down.
“JR15! Pause the program now!” Abalim shouted and covered her body with his.
Abalim’s strong shoulders wrapped around her and he tugged her close, protecting her from whatever Echovara threw at them. When she peeked around his shoulder, she watched the dust and rocks tumble and slide down the protective bubble he put around them.
“Yes…”