Free Tablet of Destinies by Traci Harding Page B

Maelgwn at all, although her squawks remained constant throughout the whole procedure. Once she was contained inside the incubator, she sat huddled and trembling, her eyes firmly fixed on the one who had imprisoned her.
    The look in the creature’s eyes was one of betrayal, but the thought of being sympathetic to the being that had just consumed his child angered Maelgwn and his heart closed off to her. He turned to find Noah still chasing the shrieking male all around the room. ‘Stop mucking about.’ Maelgwn netted the creature in the first attempt and then bundled it into the second incubator. As the little being squawked in protest, its face appeared all the uglier.
    â€˜This is cruel.’ Thais stated his opinion for the record and took his leave, unable to watch any more.
    Maelgwn looked to Candace and Cadfan to see whatthey had to say about it, and it was clear neither of them knew how they felt.
    â€˜Would you like for me to give them a physical examination?’ Cadfan offered, in an attempt to be constructive. ‘I’ll see what I can find out from a medical perspective.’
    Maelgwn calmed and nodded, thinking the suggestion a good one, until, glancing back to the creatures, he discovered that the male had joined the female in her incubator. The aliens were now huddled together and still making a frightful noise. ‘Shit, they can teleport at will. It might be best not to get near them for the moment.’ Maelgwn reneged on the physical checkup.
    â€˜So why do you think they are staying in the incubator when it obviously disturbs them?’ Noah wondered aloud and struck a nerve in Maelgwn.
    â€˜Because in order to teleport yourself anywhere one needs a clear picture of the person or destination one is seeking.’ He stated the obvious. ‘They have not been out of this room since —’ he was going to say birth, which brought the memory of birthing his children to mind and a deep empty feeling of loss consumed him. He turned to leave the room and was startled when Tory appeared in his path.
    â€˜The twins are frightened.’ She struggled against Maelgwn, who was blocking her path to the crib.
    â€˜She shouldn’t be awake.’ Cadfan came over to assist in escorting her from the room. ‘That sedative I gave her should have knocked her out for hours.’
    â€˜What is that noise?’ Tory demanded to know, bursting into tears. ‘Let me see!’
    â€˜No, Tory,’ Maelgwn pleaded, as his wife employed her martial arts skills to give both he and Cadfan the slip.
    She gasped upon sighting the creatures huddled in the incubator and then noting the vacated crib, Tory put two and two together. ‘Dear Goddess, no!’ Her knees gave way and she sank to the floor, weeping uncontrollably.
    As the creatures observed Tory their squawks subsided to whimpers and, reaching out towards her, their claw-like hands penetrated through the reinforced glass siding on the incubator.
    â€˜Come away.’ Maelgwn raised his wife and aided her to walk out of the room. As the distraught parents exited the nursery, the horrid shrieking began again.
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    Dazed and emotionally numbed, Tory felt somewhat distanced from her reality.
    Her husband had left her to go to the Governor’s offices and record an address for the Great Pantheon, which Brian would take with him to Nibiru. With his children in peril, Maelgwn was not about to leave Kila.
    Tory sat wide-eyed and motionless, wondering why she had created such a devastating event in her otherwise idyllic life. Where is the good in this situation?
    It was only as it began to vibrate that Tory realised that she was clutching the divining pendant that she’d worn around her neck for some fifty years.
    Up until now she’d been under the impression that she was required to hold the base of the Tablet against her forehead in order to utilise its divining function. Due to the advent of the PKA