Tempered: Laim Novellas - 2

by Aybiline I. Dahlson, Elaisa Duke (Illustrator)

Now bound to an AI and claimed as the rightful commander of an alien warship, Alisia must choose who to trust—and how far she’s willing to go to survive.
This is Novella Two of Season One in The Laim Story. A standalone sci-fi romance novella of power awakening, dangerous alliances, and slow-burn desire.
Alisia is no longer just a captive.
Bound to a powerful symbiont AI and hidden from the truth by her captors, she discovers that the alien warship holding her may rightfully belong to her. With access to forbidden systems, loyal artificial intelligences, and abilities that continue to evolve, Alisia stands on the edge of a dangerous shift—from prisoner to player.
But power attracts attention.
As the Vudari tighten their grip and hidden enemies move in the shadows, Alisia must learn whom she can trust. The arrival of Adonis, a disgraced alien captain with secrets of his own, complicates everything. His loyalty is uncertain. His presence unsettling. And the pull between them impossible to ignore.
While military training intensifies and the AI bond within her mind deepens, Alisia faces choices that will define her future. Obedience or defiance. Control or compassion. Survival—or something more.
Tempered is a complete standalone sci-fi romance novella and the second entry in the Laim Saga—a story of awakening authority, dangerous trust, and slow-burn desire inside a fractured empire where power always comes at a price.
The story continues in Novella Three of Season One.

105 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2025

About the author

Aybiline I. Dahlson has a PhD in Physics. She is also a businesswoman and bestselling author. Her unconventional protagonists tend to be young women who become heroines by happenstance. Dahlson lets them make stormy journeys, where they experience thrilling adventures on foreign worlds—sometimes in the distant future, sometimes in the recent past, and other times in the modern day. On their wanderings through space and time, these heroines encounter aliens as well as familiar beings, always in search of happiness. They strive for justice and are ready to protect the weak.

Dahlson’s unusual science fiction books are simultaneously fascinating space operas, strategic military novels and epic heroic sagas. Readers can live through episodes full of poignant emotions and moments of tingling suspense, while the technical details round off the stories with elements of surprise.

Aybiline Dahlson now lives in France. She loves cats with character, her wild garden, good wine and good food. And she writes with all of her heart.

You can reach her at aybi.dahlson@orange.fr or read more about her on www.aybidahlson.com.