Excerpt From Alien Legacy: The Mage by Keri Kruspe

 

In the Ancient Alien Descendants series, the five main heroines were identical quintuplets separated at a very young age. In fact, in the first three stories, these ladies had no idea they were anything but human. It was a shock when they discovered they were alien/human hybrids, test-tube babies. An alien race called the Akurn's created them as a weapon against their enemies.

Unknown to the aliens, a resistance group known as the WOTA (Warriors of the Abandoned) kidnapped all five girls when they were toddlers and separated them to be raised apart on Earth, far out of reach of the Akurns.

In the final story of this series, I gave a glimpse of how that happened as seen by the female protagonist, Jazmi, the heroine in Alien Legacy: The Mage. Here is an excerpt (with minor editing) from that novel due to be release on Valentine's Day!

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Eighteen-month-old Test Subject One sucked her thumb and watched the strange grown-ups running around the room like dodo heads. She glanced at her sister, Test Subject Five, curled next to her, whimpering in her sleep. Popping her thumb out of her mouth, she placed a comforting hand on her sister’s forehead and sent her a wave of calm. Her sister’s thick dark hair was soft, but slick with sweat. Lines of tears creased her chubby cheeks as she sniffled before her face smoothed in sleep.

Test Subject One glanced at her other three sisters in the enclosed pen across from her. Test Subject Two was awake. Her dual-colored eyes of orange and brown were wide as she watched the group of scurrying adults.

Test Subject One tilted her head, trying to hear what the big ones whispered as they hobbled around her sisters’ cage. She squinted, trying to read their minds. But all she got was stupid static.

“Are you sure these are the ones Thoth made to attract Princess Inanna's sons?” This came from a really big man. His booming voice didn’t whisper very well.

She wrinkled her nose. His hair was weird. Instead of the bright white of the mean scientists, his hair was dark like her sisters’.

“Keep your voice down, Damuzi!” A woman's harsh response was low and made Test Subject One giggle. “Your whisper makes more noise than the rest of us put together.” The pretty lady grabbed the giant’s arm and shook it as she glanced around. “Of course, they are. You brought the blasium, didn't you?” She let go of his tight sleeve and held out her hand with the glare.

“Ah, Edinni, you know I did.” His full cheeks reddened above his close-cropped beard as he plopped a thin silver wand in her outstretched hand.

Test Subject One wanted to run her hands over the soft-looking hair around the strange man’s face. She clapped with a silent giggle. Maybe if he got close enough, she could grab the prickly-looking hair and squeeze.

“Oh, those poor babies!” A high-pitched squeal came from another white-haired lady. Her gown was so pretty. The sparkly dress was a rainbow of colors. Test Subject One stuck her tongue out at the ugly one-piece suit she wore. She hated the icky tan color. She wanted something nice and bright. When she got big, she'd wear nothing but pretty dresses every day.

“Amata, stand back!” Another man grabbed Amata's elbow and pulled her away. This one had white hair and pale skin like the pretty ladies, but there was something about his unfriendly face that made Test Subject One frown. “Let Damuzi open the cage. Then you can grab one.” The man's head tilted to the side. His icy-blue eyes glanced back and forth.

“Get out of the way, Amata! I get first pick.” Another white-haired lady pushed her way in front of Amata.

The pretty Amata in her cute dress frowned and backed away. “Eulli, you're going to scare these girls by rushing to them like that.”

“Look at that one!” Eulli, with wild eyes, turned to Test Subject One's cage and gripped the bars with a shake. She stared.

When the cage rattled, it woke Test Subject Five, making her cry.

Test Subject One sent a wave of calm to her sister and held her hand. It's okay. I won't let the bad people hurt you. Her sister's dark eyes filled with tears as her lower lip quivered. But she stayed quiet.

“She looks like us.” The woman gushed.

Test Subject One's stomach dropped. Why was the crazy lady pointing at her?

“I want that one.”

Test Subject One stuck her thumb back in her mouth to stop from blurting out a loud no. She didn’t want to go anywhere with that freaky lady. She had to stay here and take care of her sisters. Who else would protect them from the nasty things the scientists had in mind for them?

She glanced at the others in the cage across from her. The only reason they let Test Subject Five stay with her was to keep her from constantly crying and wailing. Her other two sisters were awake now.

Test Subject Two narrowed her dual-colored orange-brown eyes at the man in front of her.

The other two stared with their single-colored brown eyes at the group of strangers around them.

“It’s about time you used the blasium to open it up, Damuzi.” The crazy lady’s ice-blue eyes gleamed at Test Subject One.

When the big guy pointed the slender device at the cage door, it dissolved open.

At the cage opening, Test Subject One stood on wobbly legs. She grabbed a cage bar for support and put herself in front of her sister to protect her any way she could.

The woman grabbed Test Subject One under the arms and lifted her out of the cage.

Test Subject Five screamed when the bony woman whisked her away.

“I'm going to call you Jazmi-Tiamat.” The woman pulled Jazmi’s face to hers and kissed her enthusiastically on both cheeks. The lady sighed. “You are so pretty, just like a little princess.” The woman swung her around and shoved her at the creepy man next to her.

He raised his hands in protest and stepped back. “Hey, get that away from me. I’m not touching one of those... things.” He crossed his arms over his thin chest. “I still don't see why we’re doing this.” His bleached-blue eyes darted from side-to-side. “Don't we have enough problems since you made us leave Eengurra, Eulli?”

“Oh, stop your whining, Lepit-Enlil.” She pulled Test Subject One close and leaned in to whisper to the guy. “Think of the thousands of credits we’ll have when we go to Earth. We can leave this goddess-forsaken place and live in the lap of luxury like we’re entitled to.”

Her sour breath made Test Subject One sneeze. She pinched her lips together and puffed her cheeks holding her breath. It didn’t take long to blow the air out with a huff. Squeezing her nose, she breathed through her mouth.

“If you hadn't made that unscrupulous deal with Warlord Mattaki-Bunu, we’d still be on Akurn,” the bad lady hissed.

Her flying spit hit Test Subject One in the eye. Lips quivering, she rubbed it out with a fist.

“Now keep quiet.” The woman snarled at Lepit-Enlil. “And look like you're excited about taking this on.”

Test Subject One blinked and turned in the man's direction.

He stood with a frown and his thin arms crossed.

“Besides,” Eulli continued. “With her coloring, she's got to be like us, and won't have any of the special talents they reputed the Adamou to have.”

Screams and shouts in the background made baby Jazmi push on the woman's shoulders to watch her sisters.

Both cage doors were gone.

People grabbed her sisters who fought and cried.

Test Subject Two struggled with the older woman holding her while Test Subject Three gripped the lady named Amata as if her life depended on it.

Two men grabbed Test Subject Five out of the cage.

Her piercing wails were so loud they drowned out the words the big people yelled at each other.

Jazmi struggled in the woman's bony hold, trying to get loose so she could go to her sister and calm her down. She stretched out her arms to her sisters. Don't cry! Don't cry! She sent a mental picture of them hugging. But the terror her sisters suffered were too great. The image didn't get through. The more her sisters struggled, the harder Test Subject One fought to get loose.

Eulli grabbed her tighter and headed for the door. “Let's get out of here, Lepit-Enlil, before we get caught.”

Test Subject One screamed and pulled the woman’s tightly woven hair, desperately trying to get her to turn back.

No... no! She couldn’t leave her sisters. Who would protect them? Who would take care of them, so the bad men didn't hurt them?

“You're right, Eulli. We gotta go while the Transkip is running.” The man grabbed the woman’s sleeve and pulled her out of the room.

Baby Jazmi didn’t watch where they were going. All she saw were her sisters crying, reaching out and screaming for her not to leave them. “No! Stop! Take me back! Take me back now!” For the first time in her life, Test Subject One spoke to the big people.

The woman stumbled but didn't stop.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't squirm out of the woman's unyielding hold as they raced down a deserted hallway. The last thing Jazmi heard were the heartbreaking wails of her terrified sisters.