Star Rider and the Golden Threads

by Heidi Skarie

  “Thought you were sleeping.”

  She held out her hand. “Give me the rest.”

  “So you can throw them away? I don’t think so. One of us has to stay awake to fly the ship. It’s been days since I’ve been able to snatch more than a few hours of sleep and we haven’t eaten since we left home, except for those jocollitos we picked.”

  “Give them to me,” she said in an unrelenting voice.

  He pulled a small bottle of Go-pills from his pocket and begrudgingly tossed them to her. “Satisfied?”

  “No.” She stuffed the bottle into her breast pocket. “But I’m too tired to give you a lecture. If I ever see you taking them again, I’m going to kick your butt across the galaxy and back.”

  He scowled. “You don’t have anything to say about what I do and don’t do.”

  She smiled smugly. “Then why did you give them to me?”

  “So you’d stop pestering me.”

  “You know I’m right.”

  “No, you know I’m right. Sometimes there just isn’t any other alternative.”

  “You don’t want to get hooked on uppers, Fenian.”

  “Samrat Condor has taken over my country and enslaved my family. His troops have nearly taken over all of Planet Alandra and now are preparing to attack Jaipar, forcing Koriann to marry that tyrant Zanton. And you have the nerve to lecture me about taking a few uppers so we can stay alive long enough to return with critical information that may make a difference in the war.”

  She wanted to remind him he’d gone without food and sleep before and not used uppers, but she didn’t want to get into an argument. Perhaps it was wrong to be critical. He was under unusual duress, especially when it came to Koriann.

  She closed her eyes again but the spinning sensation returned, so she kept them open. She placed her hand over her womb and smiled contentedly as she thought about the cause of her sickness. Soon she would be a mother. She felt the familiar, loving presence of the Soul that would enter the body she carried.

  How long would it be before she would feel the stirring of life within her? And how long before she’d see Michio again? Would he be changed from his training? Then it hit her that she might never see him again. I don’t want to die, she thought

  16

  Stranded in Space

  Toemeka woke up hours later when the ship jolted out of the space jump. She stretched her limbs, stiff from sitting for so long, then glanced at the fuel tank.

  Her stomach rolled. It was in the red refuel zone. They’d run out of energy before they reached planet Borko. If they hit the atmosphere at this speed, they’d burn up. Even if their shields survived the intense heat, they’d crash into the planet’s surface without fuel to slow them down.

  “You’re awake,” Erling said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not real good.”

  He frowned. “What’s wrong? Hunger pangs?”

  “Yuck, even the thought of food makes me nauseated.”

  “I suppose making a jump when you’re pregnant made you sick.” He glanced at the fuel gauge. “I hate breaking radio silence, but we can’t wait any longer to make radio contact with Jaipar. We need them to send a fuel ship..” He turned on the radio and tuned in the frequency used by Jaipar military. “Cruiser to base, come in.”

  There was a long static-filled pause, then Michio said, “Night Wanderer to Cruiser, is Wind Rider with you?”

  “Yes, I’m with him.” Joy flooded through Toemeka at the sound of Michio’s voice. He must have flown to Jaipar after she contacted him in the jungle.

  “What’s your status?” Michio asked.

  Erling looked at Toemeka. “Does he understand Coalition code?”

  “A little. Let me give it a try.” Into the mike she said, “The cat’s almost out of food.

  “We’ll see that he’s fed.” Michio said. “Over and out.”

  Toemeka switched frequencies and sent out radio signals. She waited for Michio to respond that they’d picked them up. When he didn’t, she said to Erling, “They must be having trouble locating our signal.”

  “They’ll find it. I’m sure they have every computer operator at the space station searching for it.”

  Finally there was a crackle on the radio followed by, “Night Wanderer to Cruiser. We’re on our way.”

  The next half-hour passed in silence with no sign of a Jaiparian ship.

  Erling said, “I think we’d better hook directly to base. We’re running out of time.” Toemeka nodded and he turned on the radio. “Cruiser to Night Wanderer, I’m hooking up with ground control computers so you can get a readout on our exact location.”

  After a few minutes Michio said, “This is Night Wanderer. We’ve got a fix on your location. We estimate it will take eighty minutes to reach you.”

  “We could hit planet Borko’s atmosphere by then.”

  “Use your remaining fuel to veer away from the planet.”

  “Night Wanderer, I love you,” Toemeka said. She turned off the radio, afraid she’d cry if she said anything more. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window.

  “I’m sorry I got you into this,” Erling said.

  “You didn’t get me into this. I went on the mission of my own free will.”

  “It’s been quite an adventure this time. In a few hours we’ll be back at the palace, cracking jokes about all this.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Sure, Mich won’t let anything happen to you. If we lose radio contact, he’ll connect to you inwardly.”

  Toemeka smiled, despite her despair. “Always the optimist.”

  They were silent for a while, then on the screen Toemeka spotted a dot moving toward them. “Incoming ship at six o’clock,” she gasped. “It’s coming in from the wrong direction and is too soon to be ours.”

  Erling turned on the transmitter on the radio. “Cruiser to Night Wanderer.”

  “Night Wanderer here.”

  “We’ve got company. We’re going on radio silence and turning off our linkup with base.” Erling glanced at Toemeka. “Check the computer for a place to hide. We can’t fight them with so little fuel.”

  “If we turn off the tracking system, Michio won’t be able to find us. Our squad is still over an hour away and the Raptor ship will be here in a few minutes.”

  “I know, but it’s tracking us by the signals we’re sending out,” Erling said. “We have to lose it.”

  Toemeka did a search on the computer, then said, “Erling, I think we have enough fuel to reach Delga. It’s one of Borko’s moons”

  “You sure you want to risk it? If we run out of fuel, we won’t be able to slow down and we’ll crash into it.”

  “We can divert all the remaining energy from our weapon systems.”

  Erling winced. “If the enemy ship catches up to us, we’ll have nothing to defend ourselves with.”

  Toemeka’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “We’ll just have to reach Delga before they do and hide.” She ran a few calculations. “There now we should have enough to land safely.”

  Erling flew directly to Delga without further objection. On screen, Toemeka could see the Talon ship following them on a straight course. Erling peeled around Delga using its atmosphere to slow their ship. He put up the airfoils to further slow down as they entered the moon’s atmosphere.

  Toemeka knew Michio couldn’t track their ship anymore so she silently chanted shonu to connect to him. Soon she felt his energy inwardly.

  Erling prepared to land.

  Toemeka was thrown against the shoulder harness as they tore toward the moon’s surface, coming in too fast. “Slow down!” she screamed, afraid they were going to crash into the mountain looming ahead of them.

  Erling adjusted the controls and they soared over the mountain top. Then he slowed the ship enough to land safely in a narrow valley between two high peaks.

  “We did it!” Toemeka said.

  “That was a little too close for com
fort,” Erling said.

  Toemeka gazed out the canopy top. “Do you think the Raptor ship will find us?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “We don’t have enough power to use the shield.”

  “I know,” he said in a soft voice.

  Toemeka continued to watch the sky. Death was something she and Erling faced many times, but this time she had more at stake. She longed to be reunited with Michio and have their future child. “Maybe we should leave the ship and find a place to hide in the craters.”

  “We can’t. Delga doesn’t have enough gravity or oxygen and the temperature is too extreme. We’d need full space gear.” His expression clouded. “I shouldn’t have let you come on this mission. I knew it was too dangerous.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. We did what we had to. Besides we’re not defeated yet.”

  Overhead they heard the roar of engines. “It’s the Raptor ship!” Erling exclaimed. “He’s going by—no, he spotted us. He’s coming back.”

  Toemeka turned on the radio. “Wind Rider to Night Wanderer, we’re on Delga hidden in a vast mountain range.” A missile hit the side of the mountain, sending debris tumbling down on them. The Raptor ship disappeared from view.

  “He’ll be back for another pass,” Erling said.

  Instead, a squad of Jaiparian ships soared overhead. The radio crackled to life. “Night Wanderer to Wind Rider and Cruiser. You’re in the clear. That ship tore out when he spotted us. We’re coming down. Any damages? Over.”

  “They found us!” Toemeka exclaimed, relief flooding through her.

  Erling checked out the system, then said into the microphone, “Negative, no damages. By the stars, we’re glad to see you!”

  Michio landed his fighter craft a short distance away in the valley. Toemeka noticed Koriann co-piloting beside him. A fuel aircraft set down near Erling’s ship. The door opened and a man in full space gear stepped out and walked over to their ship, carrying an electromagnetic plasma fuel block.

  Once their ship had a new block, the person delivering it returned to their ship. Erling started the engine and lifted the ship into the air.

  “Did you notice Koriann was with Michio?” Toemeka said, grinning at Erling. “She must have been worried about you. That’s a good sign.”

  “Sign of what?”

  “That she’s in love with you.”

  “She’s not in love with me.”

  “You wanna bet?” Toemeka smiled smugly.

  “No, but if I did, that’s one bet I wouldn’t mind losing.”

  Hours later Erling landed their ship on the palace airfield, then raised the canopy top and climbed out. Toemeka was about to do the same when she saw Michio striding toward the ship. He was as handsome as she’d remembered, but he looked different. He’d let his hair grow and had a dark tan.

  She knew he’d be upset with her for going on the mission. He wouldn’t buy any of her excuses and she didn’t feel like having to deal with him when she was so drained. But as he drew closer, she could see the love in his emerald green eyes and forgot everything but her elation at seeing him again. When she got out of the ship, he swept her into his arms and gave her a heated kiss. She was surprised by his open display of affection—he was usually a private person.

  As she returned the kiss, she thought guiltily of the Talon guard. She felt unclean, having kissed another man, even if she only done it to escape from Flo Shah. She pushed aside her guilt so she could enjoy the moment of reunion with her beloved husband.

  When he finally released her, he said, “Toemeka, my heart, thank Bakka, you’re safe!” She clung to him, joyful tears blurring her vision, filled with happiness that they were together again.

  He kissed her eyes and teary cheeks. “You gave me quite a scare.”

  “I missed you so much it hurt. Six weeks is too long to be apart. I love you.”

  He drew her tightly against him and said softly, “I didn’t know it was possible to love anyone as passionately as I love you. I had trouble concentrating on my training at the monastery when I found out you were hurt and in danger. I wanted to leave and come to you immediately.”

  “You stayed and finished, didn’t you? I don’t want to be the cause of your not completing your training.”

  “I stayed but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” He turned and greeted Erling who was talking to Captain Flint. “It’s good to see you again, Erling. That’s quite a shiner!”

  “What happened to you, Erling?” Koriann asked, coming over to them. She and Erling embraced, then she stepped back, her eyes full of concern.

  “I was interrogated.” Erling handed the matrix crystal over to Captain Flint. “Here is the information we downloaded.”

  Koriann hugged Toemeka. “I’m so glad you and Erling are safely back. Michio told me you’re expecting a baby. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t want to share the news until I was further along.”

  Michio tensed at the mention of baby and clasped her hand. “Come on, let’s go to our room. We need to talk.”

  She didn’t like the ominous way he said, “We need to talk.” He obviously was upset, though he had the integrity to conceal his feelings in front of others.

  On the way to the palace she said, “Tell me about your training. What was it like?”

  He stopped walking, pulled a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to her. The sound current roared in her ears as she held it. It had an eagle on it and a chill went through her as she realized what it meant. She shifted into a higher state of consciousness and saw a golden-white light glowing around Michio in an intensity she’d never seen before.

  “You’re a Master of the Order of the Eagles!” she gasped.

  He nodded and she hurled herself into his arms. They kissed again. It was a few moments before she could say, “That’s wonderful. You’re wonderful.” She searched his eyes looking for the change in him. “The training must have been difficult.”

  “It honed my skills through a lot of training and testing.” They started walking again.

  She held his hand, cherishing the physical link between them. “I suppose you have new responsibilities now.”

  “Some, but I’d already given my life over to serving God.”

  “As an Ahimsa warrior?”

  “Yes. Once Samrat Condor is defeated, I hope you and I can live a more peaceful life.”

  When they entered their room, she went over to her dresser and pulled out a knit top and slacks. “I need to change out of this flight suit.” She sat on the bed and tugged off her boots.

  “Why didn’t you stay on Kanai?”

  She explained about the letter from Koriann requesting Michio’s help. “Since you weren’t there I came in your stead.”

  “Coming to Jaipar was dangerous with the new threat from Samrat Condor.”

  She squared her shoulders. “I have a right to be involved in the war.”

  “Including the right to go on a mission when you’re pregnant?”

  “If that’s what I feel is the best decision.”

  “How long do you intend to ignore the fact that you’re carrying our child?”

  “I’m not ignoring it. I’m just not letting it interfere with what I have to do.” She sighed. She might as well get it all out in the open. “Michio, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  “I . . . um . . . seduced a guard to escape from the Raptor base on Flo Shah.”

  Michio looked incredulous as he stared at her. “Was this part of your regular duties when you were an undercover operative?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “What exactly do you mean by seduced?”

  A flush rose up her neck and heated her cheeks. “Well . . . I let him kiss me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Anything else?”

  “Before I kicked him in the balls and knocked him out with my blaster?”

  “Yeah, before that.”

 
She wished she hadn’t said anything, but with her luck Erling would have said something incriminating. It would be worse if Michio found out that way.

  “He groped me.”

  “I didn’t think infidelity was something I’d have to worry about with you.”

  “It wasn’t infidelity.”

  “What do you call it?”

  “Desperation.”

  “So it’s okay if you’re desperate?”

  “No, it’s not okay,” she said, upset that he wasn’t being more understanding. “It’s just the way the mission went down and it seemed better than being tortured and executed. You’ll have to excuse me for not being perfect. If you want a perfect wife, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I’ve got to change and go eat.”

  She unzipped her flight suit and pulled it off. She felt Michio’s heated gaze and looked up. His annoyed scowl was replaced by desire, which sent an answering response through her. He closed the distance between them and his mouth descended on hers. He unfastened her bra, tugged it away and pulled her flush against his chest. She slid out of his embrace, snatched up her knit top and pulled it over her head.

  “Making love is going to have to wait; I’ve barely eaten in days. Or maybe we can do both at once.” She slipped on her slacks and headed, barefoot, toward the door.

  “You’re supposed to be taking care of yourself.”

  She swung back around and faced him. “It’s a little difficult when you’re dog-fighting, being interrogated and chased by moncrons through the jungle.”

  “How can you put your life and our child’s in such peril?”

  “I didn’t know I was putting the baby in such peril. I thought it was a desk job.”

  “You’ve been an undercover operative long enough to know any mission carries risk.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “And you knew what my job involved when you married me, so don’t complain about it now.” She yanked open the door and glanced back. “Do you mind if we continue this discussion after I’ve eaten and slept for at least ten hours?” She left, not bothering to wait for his reply.