Page 6 of Asmodel

When the chancellor claimed everything was in order, Asmodel blinked and tried to recall what was said that could have involved him.

He glanced at his brothers’ smug expressions as they all nodded to each other with satisfied smirks.Oh, for the love of a motherless goat. No telling what they’d volunteered him for.

The chancellor of the Federation Consortium, an alien Zerin named D’zia E’etu, was in holographic form. The fellow was actually at his palace on a space station orbiting his home planet.

Asmodel straightened and narrowed his eyes, taking in the expressions of everyone in the room. Good. At least it didn’t look like anyone noticed he’d tuned them out.

“It’s settled, then.” The chancellor’s hologram pounded his fist on the table where he was. “The four of you will go to FiPan and see what you can find out about those missing women. If you need any other assistance from us, don’t hesitate to ask.” The alien’s blond hair lifted and settled over his shoulders as if it was a separate limb moving out of the way when he sat back in his seat. With a slight wave, he and the other holograms from Zerin disappeared.

His older brother Adapa, the undisputed leader of their merry little band of runaway slaves from Akurn, was staring at his next-to-the-eldest brother, Abalim.

When nobody spoke, Asmodel brought up the one thing that bothered him since he heard about the missing human women. “Why weren’t the women in the exchange program safe? I thought the Zerins were an advanced civilization.”

Adapa and Inanna looked at each other before his brother shrugged. “They assured us they had everything under control in their exchange program when they first approached us.”

Asmodel shared a snort with Abalim.

And another thing…

“Doesn’t anyone else find it strange only four women are missing?” Asmodel smirked. “And there are four of us with nothing better to do?”

That last part galled him. Because of the alien attack by their creators, the Akurns, forced Azazel to pull him and his three brothers seven thousand years into the future, he’d been at loose ends. The monumental task of preventing eight billion humans from realizing they’d just survived an alien invasion left the four of them with little to contribute. Despite their powerful psionic abilities, the modern world confused them. Finding where they fit in turned into an insurmountable task.

Not that any of them would admit it to each other. Or even to themselves.

“Well—” Queen Inanna, his sister-in-law, touched her fingertips together and leaned back. “—we don’t know for sure that’s all who’s missing. We must wait for the Zerins to check their records and account for every human who boarded the ship for the exchange.”

Asmodel grunted.

“Damned careless, if you ask me,” Adapa muttered under his breath before clearing his throat and continuing in a louder voice. “I agree when they first came to us about asking human women to join the exchange, we shouldn’t have assumed they had everything under control.”

“I’m sure they had every reason to believe they weren’t putting human women in danger.” His brother Azazel spoke in a soft, firm tone. “But no matter how diligent one believes they are, those who seek to benefit themselves, even at the expense of others, are everywhere. No matter how carefully you strive to ensure those working with you are trustworthy, betrayal can still occur. I’m certain they were unaware of the deception.”

Asmodel nodded, putting his elbow on the armrest, and supporting his chin on his fist.

Inanna laced her fingers together and nodded. “So true. I believe Prince Qay did not know this was happening on his ship. Or he would have taken immediate action.”

“There’s no doubt the deceased Chancellor U’unk took advantage of the prince’s exile to install his covert operatives. It gave him an opportunity to not only steal these needed females, but the fallout, if discovered, would have disrupted Qay’s bid to get back into his father’s good graces. Which would have left Zerin ripe for a revolt.” Abalim interjected his analysis. “That’s how bad guys work. Even today, assholes like that are everywhere.” His tone was bitter.

Asmodel nodded, his jaw tightening. The Akurn scientists had violated their own protocols to create him and his brothers, to use as slaves for their own selfish purposes despite it being illegal. That was a perfect example of people committing harmful acts, regardless of the cost to those suffering under their thoughtless whims.

“While that’s true, that’s not what’s bothering you. What’s going on, Abalim?”

Adapa’s sharp tone made Asmodel catch his breath. He agreed with Adapa. It was subtle, but there was a psychic block from Abalim that wasn’t normally there. Their even-keeled brother had previously held nothing back from them. Now that he thought about it, Abalim’d been standoffish since his return from the desert planetoid Hiigar. There had to be something going on with him. Something he didn’t want to share.

“Yeah, Brother. Just make it easy for yourself and confess. No need to get your panties twisted in a knot,” Arakiba piped up.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Abalim groused in a rumbling voice. He glared at Adapa across from him.

I need to speak to you alone.

Asmodel snorted. He couldn’t believe the idiot didn’t know their supposed private path wasn’t so private.

Oh please.Like we’d let you get away with that stupid idea.

Asmodel swung his gaze to Asmodel when he spoke psychically on the same path.

You only thought we couldn’t hear you. Dumbass.Arakiba added.

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