Descend- Seeing Stars, Sean Oswald [best e books to read .txt] 📗

a second, then gasped. “Oh, by the Source, this isn’t possible.”

      The Civet elder growled, “What isn’t possible? Tell us mystic.”

      Jad-bal-ja looked over at the smaller elder and said, “You will not speak to my wife in such a manner. If you wish something of her, you speak to me.”

      The Civet bowed his head briefly and turned his hands palm up in the air before saying, “Please ask your honored wife to explain what she has learned.”

      The Leon elder nodded and his wife said, “This crystal is not helite, but it holds PSI energy. Even more astounding is that his crystal is holding raw PSI rather than the typed energy that our helite crystals contain. There is more to it than that. The PSI volume of PSI in this crystal is staggering. I can’t say exactly how much it is but there are tens of thousands of PSI.”

      “What do you mean typed energy?” Ava asked telepathically.

      The seated male Tamoori looked at Jay to see how he would respond, but when he said nothing, they seemed surprised. Jay noticed and finally said, “My wives have my permission to speak at any time. I may not always agree with their actions like yesterday, but they always have my support.”

      That comment caused an even bigger stir amongst the Tamoori both male and female but finally the mystic wife answered, “Some of our people have a mystical skill passed down for thousands of years. Each of us usually have one type of power that we are the strongest with, but even then it is necessary to have a repository of helite crystal to perform any but small actions.”

      “The fact that you brought the helite crystals here says that you wanted to get them recharged and you realize that was happening in our presence,” Jay said.

      Ava jumped in and, “You don’t seem to place your mystics in a position of importance. You have found another way to use the PSI haven’t you. That is why you want all these crates charged up.”

      It was obvious again that Ava had hit the nail on the head as the Tamoori elders looked at one another and finally the Tygar elder answered, “I am Al-na-mar. The A’snkarnt were helping us develop ways to use them in our star fighters. Our people are widely known for being the best pilots in this galaxy.”

      “We are from a different galaxy, so I apologize that we don’t know about the fame of the Tamoori. Truthfully, prior to being taken for experimentation by the A’snkarnt a year ago, my people had never been further away than our own moon,” Jay revealed.

      “How can this be?” Asked the Civet elder.

      “We were changed by the A’snkarnt experiments, evolved. But that doesn’t really matter. What does matter now is that we may have a basis for exchange. I assume that you would like to have your helite charged?” Jay said.

      “Yes, that would be of value to my people, but you have created many widows and orphans,” Jad-bal-ja answered.

      “I am happy to help with ensuring that they are taken care of after we rescue my son, but doesn’t your society have some means of helping them out. I would assume that any race advanced enough to fly amongst the stars would have dealt with such things,” Jay said.

      “We are not prey to coddle the weak. Only the fit survive. If they cannot attract a new mate then they and their offspring will die,” Al-na-mar replied.

      As shocking as that was to hear, Jay was somehow not surprised. Then an idea struck him. “And how do they attract new mates?”

      “A few might simply because of their physical appeal but that is unlikely for any who have cubs. Mates are obtained as a result of alliances or because of a unique talent they have, but no man may take more mates than he can afford to care for. We, Leon are open to having as many mates as we can support, but some of the other clans are pickier,” Jad-bal-ja said.

      “So if the widows had some wealth, then it would make them more desirable?” Jay asked.

      “Yes, I suppose so,” the Leon answered.

Jay smiled. “How much would one of these crystals be worth?” He pointed at the PSI crystal still being held tightly by the mystic. Then he paid very close attention to their thoughts. It was obvious that they were trying to conceal their excitement. He felt a bit dirty peering into their thoughts as he was negotiating, but this wasn’t a game. Fair didn’t count, only results.

      He was almost distracted as he heard Amelia speaking to him and all his wives, “Look at the boy scout. He is all grown up now.”

      Jad-bal-ja finally answered and said, “A crystal like this would be a treasure.”

      “Then I will provide one such crystal to the family of each fallen warrior. I will only give them to those families and that should help provide for them,” Jay said.

      The sounds that followed sounded like a massive cat choking up a hairball, but he assumed that it was their sound for shock. Jad-bal-ja was the first to regain his composure as he said, “That is an acceptable restitution even if the crystals will lose some value for there being nearly a thousand of them. However, there is still the matter of negotiating an alliance between us.”

      “Well even those crystals will eventually run out of PSI. So, I will offer our services to recharge your crystals in exchange for an alliance,” Jay said.

      “And what would this alliance entail?” The Civet elder asked.

      “Hopefully, it will be a long-lasting alliance for the immediate, it will require you to allow my wives and concubines access to the