Free Birthright: Book I of the Temujin Saga by Adam J. Whitlatch

stomach was doing somersaults. Inside his body?
    A moment later, Mrs. Walker reappeared with four tall glasses of ice water on a tray. The Replodians took their glasses and thanked her in turn; Samrai expressed his gratitude with a mere grunt.
    “It’s the least I can do for the men who rescued my baby boy,” she said.
    “Mom!” Alex whined. He was tired of being fussed over like an infant. “I’m thirteen . Just because some sweaty mouth breather and his trolls ganged up on me doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.”
    “Alex Walker!” exclaimed Janice. “Show a little appreciation.”
    “No, no, Mrs. Walker,” said Lomaant. “It’s fine. He’s right. The odds were simply stacked against him, that’s all. Mo only helped out a little.”
    Mo grinned. “You should have seen him. He knocked out the punk’s front tooth.”
    “Well…” Janice turned toward the door. “We’ll just see how tough Baxter Franklin is when the police come to his house and charge him with assault.”
    “Yeah,” Alex muttered. “ That’ll help.”
    “I’ll be downstairs if you boys need anything else,” said Janice.
    The men listened for her footsteps to fade and — satisfied that she would not return — simultaneously plucked the ice cubes from their glasses and tossed them into the wastebasket. This simple unified act unnerved Alex enough that he jumped out of bed and started pacing.
    “So let me get this straight,” he said. “You guys are aliens?”
    “ Sí ,” said Samrai, returning to his game. “Yea-ah! Suck it, Red!”
    “And you’ve been sent here to help me fulfill some great purpose?”
    “Well…” Mo took a moment to down his drink in one long gulp and set down the glass. “We think so, at least.”
    “Our services don’t come cheap,” said Lomaant. “So it must be important.”
    “Why can I hear you in my head?”
    “We’ve been gestating inside your body since before you were born,” explained Lomaant. “We are all linked to you telepathically.”
    “So you can also hear me?”
    “Sure.”
    “Okay,” said Alex. “Prove it. What number am I thinking of?”
    Alex stretched out with his mind. ::Sixty-nine.::
    Samrai smirked. “Pervert.”
    Alex jumped and stared wide-eyed at the blond Replodian.
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” Samrai turned to fully face him and met his gaze. ::Pervert.::
    Alex took a step back and stumbled onto his bed.
    “Proof enough for you, kid?” asked Samrai.
    Alex nodded slowly. “You’re really telling the truth.”
    Mo and Lomaant nodded. Alex opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by his mother calling from the bottom of the stairs, “Alex, honey? Crystal’s here.”
    “Oh, no,” Alex hissed. “What am I going to do? What am I going to tell her?”
    Mo shrugged. “The truth?”
    Alex threw up his hands. “Oh, yeah, right! That’ll go over real well. ‘Hi, Crystal, these are my new friends from the planet Replodia. I only freaked out on you when you kissed me because they were talking to me from inside my head.’ You expect me to tell her that ?”
    “Okay…” Samrai turned and pointed at Alex. “When you say it, it just sounds weird.”
    Mo shrugged again. “Hey, I never said exactly how much of the truth to tell her.”
    Lomaant slapped Alex on the back on his way to the door. “You’ll be fine. We’ll see you in the morning. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, so get some rest.”
    Alex sat on the bed. “Right.”
    Mo grabbed Samrai by the collar and jerked him out of the beanbag chair. “Come on, dipstick. We’re leaving.”
    Samrai’s arms flailed as Mo dragged him from the room. “All right! All right! I’m coming!”
    Alex found himself alone with the ominous sound of Crystal’s soft footsteps ascending. He quickly wadded up his comforter so she wouldn’t see the design. Three raps on the doorframe signaled her arrival.
    “Knock knock.”
    “Hey! Come on in.”
    Crystal walked around the bed and winced as her