by Debbie Behan
‘You’re excited, hey boy.’ She felt just as keyed up as he was. Giving him one last pat, she went below to join the others to be briefed.
They were standing overlooking an oval table in the centre of the room when she joined them. The middle of it was lit up with the portion of the sky they were going to. Kayden was just finishing off the measurements and even the floor was lit up under their feet with a red line, mainly through the zodiacs.
‘How do you come up with the exact coordinates?’ Cassie asked, curious.
Kayden glanced up, glad Cassie was interested in that side of it. ‘In astronomy, constellations are measured from a line called the ecliptic celestial equator, which is the path that the sun crosses the sky over the course of a year. The moon and the planets also lie within that ecliptic.’ She followed his hand along what she was sure was the ring he spoke of. He pointed it out for her. ‘This ecliptic ring is what is used to work out the exact location of the constellation or in this case where the rogue star has been detected. By using longitude and latitude measurements it gives us the exact point we need to intercept the target.’
Kayden lifted his head from the table that was his map system to the stars. As he spoke, his voice was articulate. He looked comfortable and confident as he began briefing them while projecting the info from his laptop onto the huge wall-to-floor screen. Cassie imagined he would have made an excellent speaker, maybe even a president, if this job hadn’t come about.
He ran his long, strong fingers though his silky strands of hair and she watched as he unconsciously pushed it back off his face: a trait of his that was so endearing.
‘Aldebaran, as you all know is renowned for his wild nights and joyful events,’ Kayden continued with a smirk, putting it as delicately as he could for Cassie’s benefit.
The men nodded in agreement.
He glanced over and spoke to Cassie, catching her up on what the others would already know. ‘Mulu, ruler of the Crux, better known as the Southern Cross constellation, has three sons and four daughters. The Cross family and Aldebaran’s new pal Conom are among the selected friends who have enjoyed many a social evening partying with Aldebaran on his home world.’ He turned back to the group, addressing them all again. ‘One of Mulu’s daughters fell in love with the womaniser Conom. He knew how she felt and even though he felt nothing, he bedded the virgin. Then before the night was through, he went back to the party and that very same night bedded sister number two.’
‘Do you lot know this Conom?’ Cassie asked, thinking about her first time and how devastated the poor woman must have felt. ‘I’d like the chance to zap the womaniser on behalf of that poor girl.’
Woody cut in, chuckling. ‘None of us have ever met Conom so his character is only on hearsay. We have intel that he’s a gambler and spends a lot of time on earth when not on his home world playing war games and causing trouble. Even sends his people to our meetings to do his dirty work, never showing up to anything he’s invited to. He’s very choosy whom he takes up with and we’re not on his pal list. Zoren’s the only one who knows his true identity.’
Kayden nodded. ‘Yes, Zoren believes Conom is guilty as charged. He has a terrible attitude towards females. Apparently, he laughed at both women when they confronted him flipping them off as being ridiculously childish and jealous. Zoren said when his team questioned Conom he denied it was his fault and said that neither was very satisfying. He joked, saying he gave them what they wanted and lived up to his side of the bargain. The three brothers are furious he treated their sisters so poorly and forced Mulu into a corner, insisting he make a choice. Mulu has since severed the friendship with Aldebaran, now standing by his sons. They are refusing to have anything further to do with Aldebaran until he sends his new friend Conom packing. Which will never happen.’
‘What did Aldebaran do? Did he try at all to mend the rift?’ Woody leaned against the bench, crossing his arms.
Kayden chewed his lip. ‘I’m hearing you, man. Those two have been mates since even before our time. Apparently, Aldebaran couldn’t believe his once loyal companion Mulu and his children could turn their backs on him so easily when it had nothing to do with him. So he has wiped them off his Christmas list so to speak and washed his hands of the lot of them.’
‘So, don’t tell me, the sons have linked up with his enemy Orion. And Orion is offering them hunting privileges on his land in return for loyalty,’ Woody cut in.
‘You’ve got it in one. Orion heard of the squabble and befriended the brothers immediately as a tactical advantage. He gave them his sympathy with an offer that was obviously too good to refuse. Now, as you can guess, the boys accepted, blinded by whatever was on the table as an offer. Now to rub salt into the wound they have deliberately become allies, prepared to take up arms against Aldebaran to protect their new friend Orion.’ Kayden switched on another screen, showing them the location where they would be going. ‘Anyway, the sons have put Aldebaran’s back to the wall. He and Conom have reacted unfavourably and have now put in place a plan to wipe the Cross family from existence.’
‘Can’t you threaten to put out their stars if they refuse to stop?’ Cassie asked.
Kayden shook his head. ‘The wizard is pulling his power from the dark side and our efforts to get even near his home world have been useless. He has a protection up that is impenetrable by good. All we can do until Zoren finds a way around it is to stop his assault.’
Woody let out a huff. ‘Why they thought they could go up against Aldebaran has me beat. Orion needs a kick in the pants for involving them.’
Kayden agreed, turning back to the laptop and punching in new coordinates.
Woody played with his jaw in thought. ‘Yes, and I for one would definitely be willing to hand out such a punishment.’
There were a few snickers and whispered comments from Conor, Jase and Ethan who were already laying bets down in Woody’s favour.
Kayden put up his hand for quiet. ‘Okay, settle down, men. The last thing I need is a price on any of your heads after Orion regains consciousness.’
Woody still had a gleam of amusement but kept quiet as Kayden moved everyone’s attention onto the screen on the opposite wall. The rolling images focused on the far side of the galaxy. Kayden pointed out the rogue star that was on its way to the Southern Cross.
‘This is the star that Aldebaran and Conom have now deployed to seek out and destroy the whole of the Southern Cross constellation. They aim to wipe out the entire Cross family. The star is at the end of its existence and its ruler is on a suicide mission, wanting to go down with his ship so to speak.’ Being Cassie’s first real mission riding solo, Kayden wanted her to understand the dangers. ‘This particular star will not be easy to control or even destroy. It’s an eruptive binary explosive star. Abbreviated name is RSCVN. When ready to expire it sends out flares and shrapnel at massive speeds until it blows up. Due to the problems in the past, Zoren has requested you personally be on guard for anything we might miss.’
Cassie got how unpredictable the situation could become yet with her and Starburst’s magic combined she felt confident they would handle their part in the mission. Kayden ended the session by closing down the computers.
Back inside the house, they all lay around resting although it wasn’t easy. There was a lot of anticipation and speculation because they were coming to grips with a new rider. Cassie would have her own horse so it was becoming a drawn-out topic of concern. When Kayden felt the topic was done to death, Cassie could feel him calming them and knew it wouldn’t be long before they would all be put into a restful sleep so they could recharge, giving them all an extra boost in power for the mission ahead.
When he woke them, the sun was setting in the sky. Refreshed and feeling like she could take on whatever was thrown at her, Cassie walked outside with the guys to drink her coffee and watch Zoltan lead out the horses. They trotted in formation and
then stood in a perfectly spaced row before them. They almost kneeled on one knee as they bowed their heads to show their loyalty. Even Starburst did it and she thought he looked particularly cute doing so.
The men bridled their horses and jumped up. Kayden gave Cassie a magical golden bridle for her ride and waited to help her.
Once she put the bridle on Starburst he transformed into the most glorious of all. As with the other horses, the pearl-beaded armour covered him entirely. His white wings, although massive, looked so much softer, maybe due to his young age. The outstanding feature was the saddle. She would be sitting on a golden saddle while the others sat on black ones. Also while the other horses had coloured beads identifying them as individuals, Starburst had blended-gold beading that swirled around his body. His normally dark tail and mane changed to pure white and he had golden beads marking a crown across his head. He looked magnificent.
‘My prince,’ Cassie curtsied, and it made him snort and nod his head at her as if he agreed.
Kayden lifted her on to Starburst and Cassie transformed differently this time. She wore white leather pants tucked into knee-high boots with gold markings and a very high heel. The soft golden top to the outfit looked more like a seductively cut corset the way it laced at the front, showing a little more cleavage than she was used to. Golden bracelets wrapped around her upper arm and the clip that held her hair up felt to her like the shape of a horse. It had star shapes that dropped from delicate chains and Kayden could barely contain his amusement at her show of discomfort as she eyed herself.
‘You have nothing to be shy about, my love. It is how the women dress up there. Although now I’ve seen it on you I believe it was designed with you in mind.’ He grinned. ‘You’re both going to give the stars quite a surprise when you turn up today. If you don’t stop that renegade star in his tracks, I’ll be amazed.’
As they reached the portal in the paddock, Cassie felt totally at ease as she leaned down to give her horse some encouragement. ‘You are going to so love this,’ she whispered to Starburst as they entered the clouds. Her mind felt at peace as she let the flow of colourful patterns mesmerise her and as soon as she calmed, she felt Starburst settle down too. Woody was right—he was so in tune with her she would have to take control and keep him unruffled on his first trip.
While inside the cloud, the green, yellow and blue lights that formed the shape of a star blended together until the portal appeared, gradually increasing in size. This time however, the colours seemed to melt into each other, getting brighter as if they were iridescent paints swirling together until the portal was big enough for them to glide through.
Kayden’s thoughts entered her tranquil state. We’ll come out in a minute and the horses will fly us up to another cloud called a noctilucent cloud which is around thirty-five miles long and fifty-six kilometres high. The cloud acts as a slingshot and will give us the height and speed we need to reach the Southern Cross.
As they came out of the fourth dimension, they flew along until they reached a very thin, almost transparent cloud that shimmered gold, pink and purple. The coloured lighting jutted across their path in fine bursts, lengthways this time. They veered upwards so high that Cassie closed her eyes, only peeking as they neared the top. Once there, she opened her eyes to a blue lightning bolt. It shot across ahead of them, opening in the middle like a stretched rubber band that became another portal that slung-shot them straight through. The boosted speed that the cloud gave them was so intense everything was almost a blur. Then presto, they were up in the stars where the atmosphere was clean and clear and the view as always, spectacular.
Cassie patted Starburst as he stretched his wings out for the first time and flew on Zoltan’s command. ‘That was fun, hey, boy?’
He made a little snorting sound and shot her a little magic burst, showing her how much he had loved it. Like her, this was where he belonged, in the heavens with his dad.
From up here, the stars closest to her looked like glowing bubbles in all shapes and sizes. It amazed Cassie how silent it was. There were no sounds except the gentle flapping of the horses’ wings and the slight disturbance they made that moved so gently around her that it felt like soft silk against her skin.
The Crux constellation Cassie knew as the Southern Cross was now remarkably right in front of her. As they came closer preparing to land, you could see the surface of the largest star, Alpha-Crucis. The superior design of their home was unusual to say the least. The huge estate below spread across kilometres of ground and the massive home was built in the shape of a cross, the extraordinary creation symbolising the constellation. They slid off their horses and chatted while Kayden went to speak with the Cross brothers.
Beneath Cassie’s feet, she noticed the surface was flat and smooth—actually, she was sure it was metres and metres of slate flooring. Now, looking up at the home from this angle, it towered high above her. Large, smooth slate blocks shaped the walls which were covered by a black roof with what looked like pure-gold guttering that matched the window frames, balconies and doors. Beautiful lighting surrounding the luxurious-looking home and in one area in particular, it gave you the impression there was a well-designed waterfall and river surrounding the castle—this finished it off perfectly. Without the gold and special lighting effects surrounding the home, it may have been all doom and gloom. The critters on this planet looked like dark green, soft mops that cleaned and added a shine to the surface as they moved, seeing the path ahead with eyes that stuck out on long feelers.
Centaurs—half man, half horse—guarded the outer perimeter of the castle and as the team dismounted, more Centaurs came from a bunker underground, surrounding them but keeping a reasonable distance. The Crux constellation was at the foot of the centaurs’ constellation so even though the centaurs were wild and unpredictable in nature, they did protect their own and this included their close neighbours, the Cross family.
Kayden came back with two of the Cross brothers. As they shook hand with Jason and Woody, she could tell the four of them were old friends by the way they joked with each other. Both men had very dark complexions with jet-black hair that was cut short. They were both big boys but still looked small against the team. Their only freakish attribute was the colour of their eyes. They were a bright purple, hidden behind long purple lashes. The taller one stood with his arms crossed most of the time and Cassie felt his eyes on her. He seemed to absorb her as if he could read her every thought.
Before they left they insisted that Kayden bring his team back for drinks later on, saying their father and other brother would be very disappointed to have missed them. Kayden accepted the offer graciously. Apparently the father and son were off somewhere taking the sisters to safety. Kayden never said where; he covered it by telling Cassie that the least she knew the better, in case the enemy captured her. Cassie knew the rest of the team would already have understood that, so appreciated knowing why he was being so secretive.
Waiting for the renegade star gave Cassie too much time to think. She was getting a little nervous. They had all been moved into position. Starburst and Cassie were a distance away ready to obliterate any outer crust that might fly off the star. Waiting, Cassie looked around her. ‘Jeez, this is one big-arse sky up here,’ she said quietly to Starburst.
As the ball of light came into view, Kayden had his team of men moved around it, getting into position. However, from where she sat there seemed to be something wrong. Kayden spun quickly to clear out the way of a lightning bolt and then Woody only just ducked in time to miss a burst of flame that darted out at him.
It’s unstable men; the star’s ready to blow. How like Aldebaran, the sneaky bastard to target us again for standing in his way. If it blows here it’ll do a lot of damage to nearby constellations. Cassie, you’re on. I need you to give the star a good shove. Thirty degrees north from where it is now and however far you can push it.
Cassie glanced up a
t the location he just gave her and could see it was clear of anything that shone. It was just black space. She calmed herself the way Woody had taught her and imagined the star and the empty space far above them. She popped her eyes open and with her mind, not even using hands, she shoved the star with all her might. She watched as it moved but she also felt heat and panicked that it was about to blow. Needing more power, she threw up both of her hands, putting a driving force behind it. The strike was so hard the star shot out of the atmosphere they were in, the boys hot on its trail. Even with her superior eyesight up here, they were soon out of her sight. She patted Starburst and told him he was a clever boy for helping her with that extra bit of power she needed. Cassie was told to stay put so that’s exactly what she was going to do. And yet sitting so quietly, nerves got the better of her and she worried if they were alright as she couldn’t even hear Kayden anymore.
Should I stay or should I go see if they’re okay? The thought ran around in her head. What if they’re hurt or worse? ‘Damn, Starburst, this waiting sucks,’ she bitched. ‘If we go and they’re fine, we’ll be in trouble. Then they’ll most likely never trust us again.’ She kept patting Starburst, trying to make a decision. ‘We’ll show them we can be trusted, won’t we, boy? Let’s just sit tight a bit longer,’ Cassie said as they sat and waited. And waited. And waited.
Chapter Sixteen
Aldebaran's Shock Surprise
Conom yelled at him angrily through the headset. ‘Aldebaran, don’t you dare. You’ll hurt her. She’s just a young lass,’ Aldebaran had been watching from his home world via satellite and Conom had only just tuned in. He hadn’t seen what the little witch had done. He hadn’t seen the female of the group use her powers to shove their weapon out into the harmless realm of deep space. Aldebaran was so enraged he couldn’t even get out what she was capable of. He was just about to knock the bitch off her horse for foiling his plan to destroy the Cross family when Conom forced him to stop. The fire in him to hurt something was raw and he had to battle to control it.