Sabin, A Seven Novel by A.M. Hargrove

huh? Yes, there is! You’re from another planet. Which, by the way, I don’t even know the name of or where it is!”
    “Does that matter?”
    Well, the question stumps me. It didn’t matter to Lois Lane. Oh, shut up, Serena. Lois and Clark were comic strip characters, for heaven’s sake. This is just my luck. I find a necklace, one that’s kick ass cool I might add, and it turns out to be part of some weapon of mass destruction. Oh wait. Let me rephrase that. It can blow away the entire universe. This is a cata-fucking-clysm. My mother was right. I should never have learned to dive. Look where it’s gotten me. Surrounded by a bunch of aliens— or non-humanoids— and one very fuckable one at that. Crikes!
    In that low super sexy voice of his, he says, “Serena, look at me.”
    Why can’t I disobey him? I look up. He knows I’m wary. Why shouldn’t I be? He’s fucking ET on steroids! I pinch my arm to make sure I’m not dreaming. Does he truly look like this or is he using one of his super duper techie devices that make him look overly attractive to me? He rests his hands, his very large hands, on my shoulders. Please don’t crush me.
    “Serena, you’re awake, not dreaming, and I look like this all the time. I’m not using anything to alter my appearance. This is the real me. And I promise I won’t crush you. Or hurt you. My men, along with myself, are protectors. We only hurt and destroy when the times call for it, such as what you saw on the screen a little bit ago. The Shaurok, the beings who tried to kill you, are also after Judgment Day. They will stop at nothing to get it. You saw their eyes. They are conscienceless beings. They have one thing on their minds, and that is following orders. They will do it to the death. I swear to you that no harm will come to you while you are under our guard.”
    What he says is supposed to offer me comfort, but it doesn’t. The fact remains that I’m not sure if I can trust the man.
    “I will have to earn your trust then, won’t I?”
    “You’re a mind reader. Can you just quit with that? It’s rude and it makes me even more uncomfortable than I already am.” It’s bad enough that I have to deal with the alien thing, but the fact he knows everything going on in my head is beyond awful.
    “My apologies. I’ll stay out of your head. Sometimes your thoughts are quite loud so they’re difficult to ignore.”
    “Do you have a space ship?”
    He laughs at me. “No. We haven’t had them in years. I’m not exactly sure for how many. Hundreds most likely.”
    “Oh. That’s disappointing. Do you use a transporter like on Star Trek? Beam me up, Scotty, and all.”
    He laughs again. “I’ve seen that Star Trek show. And no, we use what we call a Transcender. It’s similar I suppose, but it’s much more convenient than a ship.”
    “So, not human.”
    His lids drop shut, closing me out, but only for a few seconds. Then he opens his eyes and says, “We are much the same, you and I. There are a few differences.”
    “You won’t tell me, will you?” I ask.
    “Is it important? And what purpose will it serve?”
    The reason I want to know is to satisfy my curiosity. Nothing more. And it will serve no purpose at all.
    “May I?” I ask.
    He doesn’t know what I want, so he nods. I take his hand in mine, feeling the bones in it, then I move to his wrist.
    “You will find you and I are anatomically the same, as I said before.”
    “Everywhere?”
    He grins. “Everywhere. Minor differences here and there.”
    “But yet, you came back here with such serious injuries and survived. It baffles me.”
    “I am strong.”
    “Your skin doesn’t feel different, more dense, perhaps?”
    “Would it matter?” he asks.
    “It may explain some things.”
    “Yes. It is denser. The molecules are more tightly woven, for lack of a better explanation.”
    “You breathe oxygen?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then what was that wire I attached to you?”
    “My lungs were both