1985 Las Vegas, Nevada

United States of America

Ricardo sat in a seat at the Roulette table working the wheel. There were three women standing around him, all chatting amongst themselves and with people nearby. He was a wanted man, but there weren’t many people who know of him that actually know how to deal with him. He was sure he was on the wall of some secret government agency as the most wanted. They have been trying to arrest him since the first day of his full realization.

These days, he kept a much lower profile. He had run from across the United States and most of Canada stealing directly out of the pockets of whoever he chose. Wealthy men were his favorite target. He fleeced two million in a year and honestly, after that, he really didn’t need to steal again. Money works and makes more money. This isn’t a fable, it’s a fact. Having a stockbroker under psychic command was really the key. Harold never plays with Ricardo’s money. Harold only bets safe with Ricardo’s funds because Ricardo made sure of that.

Now Ricardo uses his time indulging in human nature and people watching. He was on an exploratory mission after all. He ate the finer things, as research. He embraced his body's natural lust as well as the greedy demands of the senses. There was little that excited him anymore. Not here. Not within the cities of the humans. They might be complex creatures, but they didn’t exactly do as many interesting things as you would hope or expect.

Here is the jungle. The sweat of the humans was thick in the air. The perfumes and colognes all mix in the air with pungent cigarette smoke. The croupier has been dealing with Ricardo for the last hour. The G’lomin-sitiri has been playing without cheating with two thousand in checks and it was down to eight hundred. They didn’t even bother with a cooler, they just had the same boy collecting his chips and smiling that soul dead smile of a man that has given up on life ages ago.

Ricardo sighs as the women around him start off to the bathroom in a small crowd. The insincere words of affection are followed by the mumble of complaints about being on their feet and wanting to go to a show once they were a couple yards away.

The table crowds with people seeing the open seats and the room now provided by the absence of his company. Shuffling his checks he spaces off for a few moments taking notes. He looked across the table at the rainbow of chip colors covering the main board and sides. He saw a single five dollar chip on the zero, but nothing on the double zero. He smiled and placed all eight hundred in checks on the double zero.

There was an eruption of mumbling at the time, a couple people laughed. The croupier looked at him and asked, “Are you sure sir?” Pointing to the stack. Richardo kicked back his drink and nodded as reply.

The wheel spun and the ball went bouncing. It started to dance as it hit each number and kicked back up again and again. Then the ball came to rest on the double zero and the table gasped. His company returned from the restroom as he was collecting the twenty eight thousand in checks he just caught on a lucky hit.

The pit boss walked up with a congratulations and good will:

“A complimentary room for the night? Oh, of course.”

“A massage would be nice.”

“Tickets to a show?”

“Dinner sent up to my room? You are too kind.”

It was all boilerplate and in hopes to get that twenty eight thousand back. The girls were locked onto him until he wanted them to leave him be, even without psychic commands.

He was walking toward the elevator when he caught the sense of someone probing his psychic defences. He was so surprised that he couldn’t stop from making a face. He dropped his sunglasses down, large lensed aviators with a mirror finish, and looked around. No one stood out.

An older man in a tweed suit stood by the elevator that he was headed toward. There was a young lady walking up beside him as well. He looked around and saw no one that appeared to be a threat. As the doors opened, he shuffled into the elevator as soon as it was clear and crowded in with the other passengers.

As the car rose he watched for the floor call keys to light up. He attempted to contact one of the girl’s minds and found there was already someone in there. They were blocking his connection. He could feel his blood growing cold.

He looked around the car, sweat beading on his brow and running down his cheek. He steadied his breathing as the car reached his floor.

The doors opened and the girls stepped out in dead silence. They all left the car robotically and lined up against the wall looking back at the other passengers as the door closed. The old man graciously pointed toward the doors with his umbrella.

“After you.” He said in a thick English accent.

Ricardo nervously smiled and looked at the young lady, absently chewing some gum and gazing nowhere in particular. Ricardo walked from the car with the other two following just after. As they emptied the lift the women walked back in and pressed the button, closing the doors.

Ricardo walked to his room unlocking the door with the key provided by the pitboss. As soon as the door opened he caught sight of three large men within. One made half a motion to lunge at him and froze. The other two just stopped and looked terrified, standing within the room.

Ricardo had been distracted by his two mystery guests and didn’t realize there was a trap in his room as he walked up.

He turned around and looked the older man in the eye.

“Just who are you?” He asked with confusion written plainly on his face.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The two walked into the room. The old man closed the door and then stretched out his hand.

“My name is Deagol, and this…” he said, turning to the young lady beside him, “...is Anastasia.” The lady smiled and nodded to her host.

The three men walked up mechanically, stopping at the small table beside the door and set down their pistols and knives. They then walked from the room and back out into the hall.

Ricardo smiled. “G’lomin-sitiri?” He asked the two.

Deagol smiled in return. “Jyi’ntol,” He replied and pointed to himself and Anastasia.

Ricardo visibly relaxed and let out a little laugh. “Well that’s a relief!” he said and entered the main room. This was his first time seeing the place and he was frankly rather let down at what they believed he merited.

“Were they here to kill me or rough me up?” Ricardo asked of his guests.

He saw Deagol look inquisitively toward Anastasia.

“Threaten. Not even to rough up. They thought they could intimidate you into giving them the money,” she answered.

“Will they be okay?” Ricardo followed.

“Very much so. I just told them to study the hall in detail for the next hour then go back and say they couldn’t find you,” the woman answered.

“How did you know I was one of those on the journey?” Ricardo asked.

“Honestly I didn’t. I was attempting to connect with you and realized that you could block me. We haven’t encountered too many humans with any psychic defenses at all,” Deagol said as he walked into the room and poured himself a bourbon from the gift basket.

“Who are you?” Anastasia asked flatly.

“Ye’randid,” Ricardo answered.

The two guests looked to one another for a moment, then back to him.

“The way you are reacting to us makes us think that you have found no one else from the journey,” Deagol said, sipping his drink and handing a glass to Ricardo.

”Sadly. None that I have been able to keep track of. I had found another of my fractures in Cuba in the 1920s, but I haven’t found anyone else this go round,” he replied as he joined the man in a drink.

“We have figured out a way to help track our people when we transition.” Anastasia said abruptly.

“With this technology?” Ricardo said in disbelief.

“Yes,” Deagol replied.

“But the computers here are so primitive.”

“They are, but we have expanded them with our own knowledge. Remember, Jyi’ntol was a highly skilled programmer and had high marks in alien computer sciences. Human technology is not far off from that of the Amalec. It wasn’t all that hard to work with the materials at our disposal and come up with a detection method for G’lomin-sitiri essence. We then created a software that would read intrinsic field auras throughout this field pool and begin a catalog. Human IFAs have markers that are vastly different from our own.” Deagol began.

Ricardo laid back on the bed and looked shocked. His knowledge of intrinsic field science was vague. He wasn’t much use in the areas that the other man had just described, in fact, Ricardo felt completely outgunned between these two.

He chuckled and got up to get another drink.

“I have to say guys. I don’t know exactly how much help I can be. I went through full realization during this incarnation. I have to tell you, my botanical knowledge and my experience with xenobiology will not be all that much help here,” Ricardo said as he poured and offered a pour to Deagol another drink.

“We have found several more of those from the journey throughout the world in the last couple of years. Most seem to want to keep a low profile but periodically we find one that has decided to take up residence on center stage,” Deagol said while accepting the drink with a smile and a nod.

“Galt?” Ricardo asked while adding a splash to his own glass and putting the bottle back on the stand.

Anastasia laughed and nodded.

“It’s not funny,” Deagol chastised and glared at her and then and back to Ricardo.

“He really doesn’t get keeping a low profile does he?” Ricardo followed up chuckling.

Anastasia recovered herself and nodded an apology to Deagol.

“Galt isn’t really a concern. We have spoken to him in recent years and he has said he will try and go into the background more,” Deagol said, while Anastasia chuckled silently behind him, shaking her head just slightly for Ricardo alone.

“Okay. So what is it you all want from me then?” Ricardo asked of his guests.

“I mean, I suppose you want to scan my IFA into your system or…” He continued and was suddenly torn from thought as Anastasia suddenly threw a small ball full force at him. From the moment it flew from her hand to the moment it fired across the room Ricardo had only a second to think. His reflex was to protect himself from harm. That protection came, not in the normal human reaction to block the strike with his hands, but in the form of a telekinetic shield that caught the object inches from his face and held it in the air.

The woman calmly walked across the room and plucked the ball from the air.

Ricardo’s face went from shock to a calm smirk as he looked down at the woman.

“...or you might have some questions about that,” Ricardo finished his sentence.

Anastasia smiled wide and her eyes glistened as she looked up into Ricardo’s face.

“I do have some questions,” Deagol interrupted from behind the two.

“I can only tell you how long I have had it and what I have learned about it,” Ricardo said, realizing that he had broken protocol, but only in omission.

“Ye’randid… I am sorry. Your human name?” Deagol asked, walking between the two.

“Ricardo,” He replied.

“Ricardo, we would like to talk to you about your abilities as well as add your IFA to our records. We are going to start building up the teams,” Deagol began.

“We have been without proper direction for far too long. Our people have gone about their time experiencing and exploring. Considering how many of us are estimated to be out there, considering our IFA ratings, we are likely doubling up in a lot of areas of research.” He continued.

Having connected with Ricardo by tradition, Deagol now had authority over him. But, he couldn’t keep his eyes from drifting to Anastasia, just as her eyes continually met his.

“We are headed to Southern California, Anastasia and I. We have a base there and a solid network to those that we have been able to locate. I would like you to come along with us,” Deagol invited.

Ricardo could see in Anastasia’s eyes the knowledge of his people. He could see a being that has seen the cosmos to a degree that is equal to his own or more. Her dark brown eyes, so dark they were almost black. They spoke to him. There was something within those eyes that shouted out that she was his equal. She was more than her black hair and soft olive skin. She was something akin to him and he to her, and the soft glow coming to her cheeks let him know that she felt the same.

That was it. From that moment on, Ricardo was her’s, and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.