Page 32 of Asmodel

At the far end, a group sat around a huge U-shaped table made of rock, their attention fixed on a large, crystal-clear HD screen. An image of a striking blond male flickered.

Her eyes widened. He had to be a Zerin, one of the aliens who invited her to join their exchange to find true love. Next to him was a pretty Zerin female, with dark-blonde hair and gray eyes. Wait, gray eyes? Every Zerin she’d ever seen or met had dual color eyes in some shade of green. Not a single color like this one had. Then she noticed the woman’s ears. They had a rounded top, like a human’s, not pointed like a Zerin’s. How odd.

“Ah, here she is, Chancellor E’etu.”

An imposing male scikvak stood, his silky long fur whirling around his exposed muscular arms that matched the glorious puff of hair covering his thick tail that lazily swished behind him.

The bright orange stripes on his face framed his eyes like eyeliner, giving him an almost feminine, exotic demeanor in a contrast to the low, deep masculine tone of his voice.

Talira waved Izzy to a chair next to her.

With a whoosh of gratitude, Izzy sat, thankful to be off her feet. She swallowed as a wave of exhaustion threatened to take over. She barely glanced at the other scikvak around the table. Her only impression was a mixture of male and female, young as well as old.

“Zolune, rush to the meal area and bring Izzy something to eat and drink.” Talira told the young female. “Straight there and back, you understand?”

“Oh yes, Talira! You can count on me.” Zolune rushed off, her thick thigh muscles undulating under her suit with each leap.

“Thank you, Praetor Vorlok.”

The Zerin on the vid responded, his resplendent dual-color turquoise eyes zeroing in on Izzy. “I am the chancellor of the Federation Consortium, D’zia E’etu. Are you Isabella Pilar Ramierz Torres from New York City of Earth?”

Izzy nodded and interlaced her fingers on the top of the granite tabletop. “Yes, but please call me Izzy. I was on theStarChance,headed to the exchange, when I was forced to leave the ship before it reached orbit around the Zerin space station.”

“Holy shamoka, sister. I know how you feel, since the same thing happened to me!” The woman next to the chancellor slapped her hand on the surface in front of her. Because she was transmitted in hologram form, the only sound was a muted thump when her hand hit the table. “How are you doing, doll?”

At first, Izzy had a hard time responding. The woman’s declaration was so outlandish, it was hard to focus. Biting her bottom lip, she studied the vid image of the woman closer. Now the glaring differences she noticed at first were more prominent, but after the woman pounded the table, it was clear she had four fingers instead of three in equal lengths like a Zerin. Also, her Caucasian-colored skin had a slight iridescent sheen, even though the shine wasn’t as deep as the male’s next to her.

“I’m okay. Thanks for asking.” Izzy tilted her head. “But, I hope you don’t mind asking, were you were once a human?”

The woman laughed. “Yep, I was born Lora Callahan from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Now I’m this one’s Truebond.” She lovingly glanced at her mate next to her, who placed his large hand over hers, as his return gaze softened his handsome face. Lora continued. “When that happened, I took on a lot of Zerin characteristics. Let me tell you, I couldn’t be happier.”

“Wow.” Izzy sat back. “That’s, ah, something.”

“Which leads me to what we were first discussing.” The chancellor returned his gaze to Praetor Vorlok, who’d retaken his seat. “Have you been able to verify the Krystalii is at Panterion Prime?”

Talira sat in a seat next to Izzy. She nodded. “Yes, my zaltrixan contact has confirmed a Krystalii is negotiating with Supreme Alpha Regent Korves.”

An angry murmur sounded around the table.

Her midnight-blue eyes narrowed. “I’m afraid it’s worse than we feared.”

Immediate silence as all eyes focused on her.

“From what I was told, the Alpha Regent has agreed to turn over this female.” She gestured to Izzy with a pointed claw. “And in exchange, the Krystalii will eliminate our people and our way of life.”

Now the angry murmur turned into a riotous roar from the throats of the cat people.

Izzy sat there, stunned, as tears gathered. No… no. There’s no way she wanted to be part of an entire race becoming extinct!

“We must get this human off CeluriaVO as soon as possible!” The cry came from an elderly female who pounded her fist on the table.

The voices lowered, but the anger hung heavy in the air.

“Yes, yes, Madam Fexa.” Praetor Vorlok gestured to the Zerins on the vid. “We have requested assistance from the Federation, and they realize the severity of our situation. That’s why we are speaking to the chancellor himself!”

“Quite right, Praetor Vorlok.” Chancellor E’etu confirmed. “The Krystalii are not only threatening CeluriaVO, but all the organic life in the Milky Way. To aid in their domination, their leader is obsessed with obtaining a human female. He’s sent out scouts to infiltrate our galaxy to grab human females and somehow combine their DNA with theirs. He’s convinced once he does this, it’ll give him the ability to speed up their birth cycle.”

Izzy frowned as the chancellor gave a worried glance at Lora next to him. The woman’s return gaze wasn’t any more reassuring. It looked like they didn’t have any idea how this strange Krystalii could use human women to intermingle with their non-organic species either.

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