by KD Jones
Traveling through deep space was a surreal experience. The large transport ship had many viewing screens throughout which were similar to windows. You can stop at any of these viewing screens to watch a comet passing by or look at new and strange planets. Cassie found a small little nook with a viewing screen that soon became her favorite spot on the ship.
She would go to that spot often to reflect over everything that had happened to her. Her relationship with Scott. Was he always so hateful? She thought of the time that he had told her she should dye her hair blonde so that she could look prettier. Then, there was the time he had told her that she was gaining too much weight and needed to join a gym. Maybe he was always like that but she wore blinders because she loved him.
Her thoughts would turn to the present and to the future. She wondered about what her life would be like on Katiera. Would the people of Katiera accept her and her child? Would she meet someone special who would be a good husband for her and a good father for her baby?
Every time she thought of finding someone special, her thoughts would turn to Ren. She hadn’t run into him, literally or figuratively, since the cupcake incident. But, she had seen him around the ship from a distance. On several occasions she noticed him spending time with that stuck up Senator’s daughter, Erica Rowe.
Erica was as fake as they come. She would wave and say hello, but the moment Cassie passed her by, she would snicker and make a comment to one of her friends. She sets herself above everyone else. She looks down on people who are not in her circle of friends.
Cassie didn’t know what he saw in that woman. Scratch that, she knew. He saw Erica’s bright blue eyes, perfectly managed shoulder length blond hair, petite size 2, 115 pounds, and a perfect size C cup. She couldn’t compete with that. No matter how much chemistry she thought they shared, she was simply out of his league. Just like Scott.
Scott had never planned on marrying Cassie. He was just using her until he made it big in the Senate. She didn’t realize his true colors until after she told him about the baby. That’s when he told her that she was only his “stand-in” until he married a politically acceptable wife. Why would she think Prime Leader RendEL would be any different?
Cassie spent her last few days on board the ship with Jaxon and a few of her new friends watching the viewing screens. The Katiera’s Solar System was amazing. The ship had slowed down quite a bit which allowed the viewing of the solar system much easier.
The Katieran Solar System was a Binary Solar System. This means it has 2 suns instead of just one like Earth. There was one large, yellow sun and then one slightly smaller, red sun. The suns moved simultaneously in a circular rotation. There are 6 habitable planets that orbit the two suns. There was Ratran the red planet, Kappan the blue planet, Liskan the yellow planet, Traquana the orange planet, Satrine the white planet, and Katiera which is the green planet. The smallest of the planets was 3 times the size of Earth. Each planet had a moon.
It was like looking at a beautiful painting. Jaxon pointed out which planet was Katiera. It was the 4th planet from the yellow sun. Katiera was primarily green but also had a mixture of reds, oranges, and blues. Fitting since it would be the first planet to mix the two species. Four long weeks of space travel, now they would finally see their new home.
Chapter 4
Transitioning from the transport ship to the Katieran Home World was much easier than it had been from Earth to the transport ship. As soon as they were in range, Katiera started sending up extra shuttles to help with moving the females down to the planet below.
Cassie wondered if she would get to ride a shuttle with Ren again. Probably not. This was confirmed when she boarded her shuttle and found Dr. Morris and 5 other human women already loaded up and ready to go. It finally sunk in that nothing was going to happen with her and Ren.
Ren watched Cassie as she loaded onto the small shuttle. It took all his willpower to not grab her and keep her with him. He had spent the last few weeks of the trip doing almost everything he could to get rid of his feelings for Cassie. He even spent time with other women like the Senator’s daughter, Erica Rowe.
Erica was beautiful and shapely. She was a great political match. He scented her arousal on many occasions and knew she found him attractive. But, when she had spontaneously kissed him one evening after the Evening Meal, he was disappointed that he found no instant spark like he had with Cassie. Erica was the better, wiser choice for his people. But was she the better choice for him?
“Ready to go?” Kyd asked.
Ren looked at his older brother and nodded that he was. They both boarded the shuttle that they were sharing to head down to the planet. The silence dragged on for what seemed like forever until Kyd couldn’t take it anymore.
“Want to talk about what’s bothering you?” Kyd finally asked. He was piloting the ship while Ren acted as co-pilot.
“No.” Ren didn’t elaborate.
“Is it the females?” Kyd asked. When Ren didn’t respond right away, he took a gamble and asked, “Is it a specific female that has you in deep thought?” The look on Ren’s face was answer enough.
Ren made a lame attempt to cover up his feelings, “NO!” Damn, his brother could tell that was a lie.
Kyd smirked. “Is Erica not falling at your feet or in your bed? I find that hard to believe. She practically jumped you when you were introduced to her.” Frankly, Kyd didn’t see what it was about Erica that Ren would find appealing. Sure she was beautiful with a totally hot body that any male would mate. But after the sex was over, Kyd would be ready to move on with no problem. The female had an irritating voice. She talked about herself most of the time. Maybe Ren saw something else that he didn’t see.
“It’s not Erica.” Ren said. He turned to look at his brother before he asked, “If you had to choose between what looks right or what feels right, which would you chose?
Kyd took a few minutes to think before he answered. “I would choose what felt right. It’s like what our priestess says, ‘Feeling is part of living and if you aren’t feeling it, then you aren’t living it’. Well, she says something like that anyway.”
Ren gave a short nod and turned back around to face the viewing screen in front of him. The short conversation was over for now, but the words replayed over and over in his head, “if you’re not feeling it, you’re not living it”. Ren realized that he needed to ask himself, was he feeling it?
Descending through the clouds and seeing the planet Katiera up close for the first time was truly awe inspiring. All the shuttles landed on a huge circular landing field overlooking the great expanse of bright green water that covered about 65% of the planet. To one side of the landing dock were huge rocks and tall green vegetation that gave the area protection. On the other side was a city of white buildings all different shapes and sizes. The two suns made everything glow with a golden hue. It looked similar to pictures Cassie had seen of Greece before it had been ruined by pollution and overpopulation.
Cassie had gotten used to the looks from people on board the transport ship since she had been the only pregnant woman on board. And the people she traveled with had gotten used to her. Some of the men on board approached her at the start of the trip. After the first week, they left her alone. So, Cassie was unprepared for the reaction that she was met with when the Katieran male helped her down from the shuttle and she moved forward along with the other women.
There were shocked gasps from the Katieran people crowded around the landing field. There was definite finger pointing. And if she wasn’t mistaken, a number of men were rubbing their male parts and looking at her with lust clearly shining in their eyes. Lust? Get real. She was 7 months pregnant and showed every bit of it.
Nervously, she reached up to pull her hair loose from her bun. She shook her hair out letting it fall down her back. She decided not to put it back up. Cassie heard more gasps from the crowd as they were now staring at her long red hair. Way to go on keeping a low profile.
The women
were left to stand there in one large group as they waited for direction on where they should go. Cassie looked around to see if she could find Jaxon. That’s when she spotted Ren and his brother Prime Commander KydEL walking towards a platform. When they got there, Ren signaled somebody she couldn’t see and then she heard his voice coming over a speaker System. He addressed the human women.
“Welcome human females to your new home on planet Katiera. We will be dividing you up in groups of 15. Each group will have a Katieran security liaison. Your liaison will take you directly to your new living quarters to allow you to settle in. Tomorrow you will meet with your liaison to take a tour of the surrounding area. The Katieran Nation looks forward to the mating of our two cultures. May the Goddess bless you with fruitfulness.” Ren bowed formally to the human women and then to the Katieran crowd. He turned and stepped down from the platform.
Fruitfulness? Mating of cultures? Yeah, it was really obvious to Cassie why the only refugees were all females in child bearing years. Smooth Ren, real smooth. That was probably why she was allowed to come here. She, clearly, is fruitful.
She kept her eyes on Ren as he approached two beautiful Katieran women. They were the first Katieran women Cassie had seen. Both women were tall like 5’8”, had athletic bodies, sun bronzed skin, and dark hair. One woman appeared to be a little older than the other, but both women were equally beautiful. Cassie felt a little jealous as each woman took a turn to throw her arms around Ren and give him a kiss. She wondered which one was his wife or girlfriend. The thought of Ren married to another woman made her feel sick inside.
Cassie’s unpleasant thoughts were interrupted by a tall, muscular, good looking Katieran man. “Greetings Earth female. My name is TarAK. I am the liaison for you … I mean … not for you only … for you and your group.” Cassie smiled as the large man turned a bright shade of red from embarrassment.
“It’s okay. I know exactly what you mean. My name is Cassie. It’s nice to meet you TarAK.” She reached out her hand out of habit to shake his, forgetting that this was not a custom on Katiera.
TarAK stared at the offered hand of the breeding female. He grabbed it and lifted it to his lips. He pressed a warm and gentle kiss on the outside of her hand. He kept eye contact with her as he said, “I am pleasured by meeting you Cassie.”
Cassie shivered a little when he said “pleasured by” instead of “pleased to” meet you. The man had the most adorable dimples. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to kiss TarAK. Would she feel the same desire she felt when she had almost kissed Ren? She felt herself blush.
TarAK emitted a low growl indicating his sexual interest. He reluctantly released Cassie’s hand as he turned to greet the other 14 Earth females he was in charge of. They were all lovely, but he kept returning his gaze to the breeding female, Cassie.
By the fires of Kitana! Couldn’t they have found someone else … older, less attractive, and already mated to be the liaison for Cassie? Ren jumped in response to Kyd’s answer. Evidently he had asked this question out loud instead of to himself in silence.
“Brother Prime, the point of retrieving the human females is so that they meet and mate with a Katieran male. That can’t happen if we only introduce them to already mated Katierans”. Kyd smiled broadly when Ren pointed to his noise and then back at Kyd, which was the Katieran’s equivalent of “flipping him the bird”.
“Come on Ren. We have a family dinner waiting for us and I am starving for a home cooked meal.” Kyd wrapped his arm around Ren’s shoulder propelling him forward.
Cassie found the living quarters were very spacious suites. Each suite had its own entry way. There were 5 bedrooms off of the main entryway, 2 on one side and 3 on the other. Each bedroom had 3 full size beds. The bedrooms had their own large bathroom with walk in showers. The entry way led to a large sized living/dining area with a kitchenette open to the whole space. Off of the dining area was a walk out balcony that ran the entire length of the suite.
Cassie’s group was told that only about 1500 human women would be living within the Prime City walls. The suites were built within the existing buildings all throughout the city. The rest of the human refugees would be living in different cities throughout Katiera. Some would be taken to the other habitable planets.
Cassie carried her large bag into the last room on the right. She started to unpack when two other women came in. They would have been her room mates, except that they took one look at her, turned up their noses and then left. The next thing Cassie knew, a large Katieran male came into the room without saying a word and moved the other two beds out. Evidently, the women were refusing to room with her and chose somewhere else to stay. Cassie sighed, she had hoped to make more friends, but it was not meant to be.
For the next few days while the liaison TarAK was giving tours of the city of Katiera, the 15 women living in Cassie’s suite got along okay. When the initial tours were over, the other women kept to themselves. She felt just as alone staying in the same living space with the other women as she had been by herself on board the transport ship.
Cassie had seen Ren several more times since arriving on Katiera. The Prime family held residence in the same building that she was in but on a different floor. Ren would acknowledge her with a nod or a smile, but he always seemed preoccupied with that Erica woman. And Cassie had no doubts that the woman was into Ren. She was constantly whispering something in his ear or leaning close enough to press her heavy breasts into Ren’s side. It was sickening to watch.
Cassie did receive visits from the liaison TarAK. She felt flattered that he took an interest in her. But, when he asked for her to mate with him, Cassie had turned him down. What was wrong with her? A gorgeous, sexy, kind man wants her and she just throws him away. But, whenever she thought of being with another man, it was Ren’s face she pictured. His body on top of hers. His hands touching her. His warm lips on hers. Anyone else just seemed wrong. TarAK was disappointed and stopped coming by altogether.
At the beginning of the second week on Katiera, some of the women in her suite had started warming up to her. No one moved into the bedroom with her, but, they began doing thoughtful things. When Cassie started to feel extremely tired and achy all over, she would stay in the suite. Some of the women who were being kind to her would bring back food from the morning or Evening Meals. Still, Cassie found herself more on her own.
It was on one morning, right after the other women left to go to Morning Meal; Cassie started to feel pain in her lower abdomen. The pain grew so strong that it brought tears to Cassie’s eyes. She struggled to get to the comm link she had left by her bedroom door. Cassie gave directions to the communicator in between spurts of pain. “Call …. Dr. Morris … call Medic JadEN … call ... medics!”
The communicator responded, “Calling now, stand by ….”
Stand by? Cassie was now on her knees from the pain. She couldn’t stand if she wanted to. It hurt too much. She prayed silently to God to please let her baby be okay.
Beep … Beep … Beep. The communicator beeped to indicate a response to her call. “Help me please …” That was all Cassie got out before she collapsed on the floor of her bedroom.
Ren was thinking about Cassie again as he headed off to Morning Meal. He was always thinking about Cassie. During the day, in the evening, in his dreams. Even the few times he shared a meal with Erica. Cassie was always there in his mind. He had gone by her suite several times to pick up her scent. Her scent tantalized him, but, it also comforted him at the same time.
As he was reaching the meal room, the gates of Kitana broke loose. Medics were rushing out of the meal room and heading towards the lifts. Ren almost knocked Dr. Morris over. She was hurrying to get to a lift too. He grabbed one of the younger medics and demanded to know what was going on.
“We are not yet sure Prime Leader. We got a distressed communication from the breeding female from Earth. Her communications went down so we are on our way to …” Ren took off before the
medic finished speaking.
Ren was on the second lift with several other medics heading to the 5th floor where most of the human females’ suites were located. Images of Cassie being hurt filled his head, making his aggressive side show. Couldn’t the lift go any faster? He was about to climb the walls before the doors finally opened.
Ren and the other medics ran down the long hallway to get to the suite Cassie was staying in. The main door to the suite was left open and Ren could hear many voices inside the suite speaking at once. At first his attempt to push through the crowd of medics in the hallway was met with resistance. But, he kept on pushing until he got to the door that belonged to a bedroom.
“What in Kitana is happening here?” He demanded. He was frustrated that he couldn’t see anything. There was a group of medics including Dr. Morris, and his younger brother SydEL, who were leaning over someone that was on the floor. His heart stopped as he saw long red hair spread out over the floor surrounding the still form of Cassie. His Cassie!
He doesn’t remember what he did, though much later, his actions had been recounted to him by the medics present in the room. Ren’s brain went into protection mode. He started shoving medics out of his way. He lifted several of them and just tossed them across the room. The only stream of thought going through his mind was “get to mate …. Protect mate now!”
Medic JadEN ordered the medics to subdue him until security arrived. It took 4 medics and 3 security personnel, which included Commander KydEL, and a tranquilizer to finally remove Ren from the suite.
Cassie woke feeling groggy. She couldn’t lift her head at all but just turned side to side to check out her surroundings. It was almost like Déjà-Vu. “What the hell happened?” She asked out loud.
A tired female voice spoke. “Thank God you’re awake!” It was Jaxon. What was she doing here; she’s supposed to be training. Jaxon used her communicator to call for a medic.