Page 58 of Abalim

The high-pitched voice of the bot was hard to hear at first, but his ending words came through loud and clear. Abalim must have popped the protected bubble.

“Mister Abalim, sir. I have paused the machine.” JR15’s hovering body was at the side of Abalim’s head. “I cannot confirm how long the hold will last, so you must hurry to replace the Lumicor crystal and reboot the machine.”

Abalim tensed before pulling away from her.

She took in a deep breath. While she appreciated his protection, his weight had made it hard to breathe. “Is he gone?” When she had a chance to look around, she didn’t see anything but the empty cave and the dimly lit glass pods against the craggy wall. The resounding silence was a welcome relief.

“For now.” Abalim grimly said with a hand stretched toward her. “Let’s go and see if the Krystalii’s sacrifice works or not.”

She nodded and took his hand to help her up. “Yeah, I’m with you. Let’s get this done.” She released his hand and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“Follow me.” JR15 buzzed and led them to the huge circular machine.

When JR15 reached the massive machine, he zoomed around the front to a small part on one of its sides. “This is where you need to place the crystal. See?” He used one of his pointy front legs to indicate an area close to the ground.

Lisa dropped to her knees to inspect the small indent holding a black crystal covered in dust and grime. Around the oval shape were faded engravings barely legible. “What does that say?” she asked JR15, pointing to the indistinct writing.

“Insert crystal here.”

The damn bot snickered.

“Huh.” She smirked. “Simple instructions. Who knew?”

Abalim opened his palm where the pulsating emerald lay. Where in the hell did he keep that? Damn, later she’d ask him where he had it in his sinfully tight one-piece suit. She eyed his splendid physique lovingly displayed in the snug outfit that didn’t leave much to the imagination. She clenched her hand into a fist to avoid reaching out to explore those tempting hills and valleys of his muscular form.

Later, my inkheart. Then you can explore me to your heart’s content.

Abalim’s amused retort caressed in her mind. She smiled and shivered in response.I’ll hold you to it.

“All right, let’s do this,” Abalim stated. He held the pulsating green gem above the indent. The dimensions of the crystal and the pad weren’t aligned, and his face contorted as if he was trying to decide how to place it so it didn’t fall off.

He jerked and hissed as the crystal yanked out of his hold and floated in the air just above the indent.

“What happened?” Lisa gripped his forearm. “Did you do that?”

Abalim shook his head. “No. I think the machine grabbed it. Look.”

The emerald twirled round and round. Faster, then faster until it became a swirling rainbow of various greens before zipping over and slamming into the indent. There it stayed snugly, as if it had been created for it.

“By the God An! I’ve never seen anything like that,” Abalim whispered.

“Did it work?” Lisa asked. “What’s supposed to happen now?”

“Ah, my friends!” An unfamiliar male voice spoke behind them. “You have done it!”

Lisa turned and faced the strange speaker. She gasped and took a step back.

It was Aollu, the green crystal Krystalii standing there hale and hearty with a wide smile and his fists on his trim hips.

Abalim lowered his head and studied the Krystalii. He tried to psychically read the fellow's intent, but all he got was a blank slate. As if he wasn’t there.

“Is he a good guy or a bad guy?” Lisa whispered through pinched lips.

“Come now, my friends!” The green crystals covering the alien reflected in the low light as he approached them. “I am utterly grateful to you for freeing me.” He gestured to the massive round machine behind them. “As we speak, I am repairing that which has been neglected and restoring life to the Lumarians on the surface.”

“But what about the Lumarians held there?” Abalim nodded to the stasis pods behind the alien. “That machine has been draining their life force and killing them.”

The Krystalii’s bark of laughter came as a surprise. Who knew the male had a such a strange sense of humor?