Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2)

by Rebecca Lorino Pond

  The back of Kelly’s head hit the headrest when the big oaf dumped her unceremoniously into the seat. Number two then proceeded to tie her, quite tightly, to the seat with enough rope to stretch from the Earth to the moon and back. The gag remained firmly tucked into her mouth with the extra binding holding it in so she couldn’t spit it out.

  Her two kidnappers slipped into the front seats of the ship she was now on and began to fire it up. The poor ship didn’t sound too good as it lifted off the landing pad and climbed in altitude. The ship vibrated and shook so hard, she was positive they would fall out of the sky or burn up as they exited the atmosphere of Nimbus 3. Her heart beat wildly in fear until the ship ceased its trembling and evened out into a smooth flight. She turned her head in time to see Nimbus 3 quickly fading away as the small vessel sped towards its unknown destination.

  Her thoughts quickly returned to Kharis. Where was he? Was he out looking for her? Would he ever be able to find her? She fought the urge to breakdown and cry. A lone tear was the only sign of the fear or sadness she showed in case her captors decided to check on her. She took a deep, calming breath to steady her racing her and raging fear. She was a cop, dammit! She couldn’t let her captors know she felt helpless or afraid. She would have to bid her time and figure out a plan that would take her back to Kharis, back to the man she loved.

  Chapter 15

  Kharis searched the crowd franticly. Kelly had gotten separated from him when the influx of bystanders surged forward out of nowhere. The force of the crowd had ripped Kelly from his side in no time flat and he had been powerless to prevent it even with his size.

  With an adrenaline filled push, he finally freed himself of the smothering crowd. He had to take a step back and get his bearings before he could begin his search for Kelly. Gods, if anything happened to her he would only have himself to blame.

  I should have never allowed her to accompany me down on this hell whole, he berated himself. He started to walk back down the street where they had initially encountered the group. To his amazement, his suddenly realized how far he had been carried with the force of the moving crowd. He had to be several blocks away from the last point he had seen Kelly.

  The street was relatively deserted now as the horde continued to follow the fight in progress. Only a few pedestrians lingered near the store front or bars that had emptied out in a flash.

  “Excuse me,” he said as he approached a lone female. “Have you seen a female about this high,” he used his hand to indicate Kelly’s height, “and with light colored hair?”

  “Sure did,” replied the female.

  “Which way did she go?”

  “Not sure.”

  “But you saw her,” he answered a tad impatiently.

  “Sure, I saw her. Right before, she went off with two other men.” The female stepped towards him. Her skinny body was clad in nothing more than a few scraps of material to hide the more delicate areas of her body.

  Rage and fear instantly filled him. He jerked the unsuspecting female to him. “What men?”

  The female started to shake in his grasp. “I….I don’t know who they were but I have seen them around before. I think they are traders or something. They show up here every few months, spend a lot of credits then take off again.”

  “Where is their ship docked?”

  “Hell if I know. Look, you are hurting me.” She tried to break free from his clutch but couldn’t. His fingers dug cruelly into her upper arms as he continued to interrogate her.

  “I don’t give a fuck if I hurt you.” He shook her hard. “Just tell me which way they went!”

  The female jerked her head in the direction over his shoulder. “Down the alley over there.”

  He glanced over his shoulder then back down at her. “Are you positive?”

  “Yes! Not release me!”

  He let her go so quickly that she stumbled backwards a few steps before she was able to regain her balance. He took off at a dead run a skidded to a halt when he reached the entrance of the alley. He stared in horror down the vacant narrow street. Nothing moved or made a sound. Kelly was nowhere in sight. He started to run down the alley at the same time he hit the comlink on his uniform.

  “Yes, Commander,” a calm voice said.

  “Kelly is missing. I need a search party dispatched immediately. I want all the landing pads searched for two goons in the company of my mate!”

  “Yes, sir! Dispatching troops now!”

  Kharis raced down the alleyway until he reached the end. He quickly glanced left then right to find that the passage ended in a sharp turn to the right but continued on to the left. He ran as fast as he could down the new stretch of alley. This part of the backstreet was a bit wider and would be able to accommodate a small service vehicle that could resupply the bars from behind without getting the way of the customers. Unfortunately, it ran the entire length of the buildings with no other exit.

  Kharis pumped his legs as hard as he could to reach the end of the lane that never seemed to draw nearer. He had to find Kelly! He couldn’t let anything happen to her after he promised to take care of her and love her! His mind raced with thoughts of finding her dead or gravely injured. He would never be able to forgive himself if he lost his one true mate.

  He reached the end of the alleyway and stopped to catch his breath. The end of the alley way opened up into a large area where freight ships could land and unload the supplies requested by the businesses of Nimbus 3. At the current moment, there were only two ships docked on the field, but the sound of thrusters had him lifting his head up to see a small trader ship speeding up into the atmosphere.

  She’s on that ship! His hopes of finding Kelly crushed down upon him like the collapse of a mountain. “NO!” he cried as he watched the ship grow smaller and smaller until it finally was no more than a speck of dust in the sky. He hit his comlink and screamed, “Scan all ships leaving Nimbus now! There’s a small merchant ship departing from the central city. I want it tracked.”

  “Yes, sir Commander!”

  He stood still for several for seconds watching the ship as it disappeared into outer space. His instincts took over then as he ran back in the direction of his ship that was parked on the opposite side of the city. It would take him several minutes to reach it and by that time, the ship with Kelly on could be long gone. Luckily, he didn’t have any resistance as he stormed through the city in a cloud of fury. The fight they had run across must have finally broken up since people were slowly trickling back into the main business area. Those who did get in his way were violently shoved to the side as he raced to his destination.

  His ship came into view at the same time another ship with his men landed. There was no point in searching the city for Kelly. He knew she was on that trader that had just departed minutes ago.

  “She’s not here! Get back to the ship!” he roared as he skidded to a halt in front of the awaiting group of soldiers.

  “But...,” the officer in charge began but was cutoff.

  “My mate has left the planet. Get back on that fucking ship!”

  Without another word, the garrison of men filed back onto the shuttle. Kharis, in the meantime, already had his ship up and running. Seconds later he was airborne and speeding away from the surface of Nimbus 3. He scanned the surrounding sky for any sign of the trader ship but found it empty. Where the hell could a tiny ship like that go so quickly?

  “Commander?” A voice came over his comlink.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “We weren’t able to track the ship. We lost it as soon as it left Nimbus’s atmosphere.”

  “Son of a bitch!” He punched the console in front of him. Sparks flew out of the electronic gauge that controlled the air inside the cabin.

  “Sir, we did manage to secure a partial trajectory of the ship’s planned route.”

  “Where?” he replied as he steered his ship to his large ship that orbited Nimbus 3.

  “It appears the ship is headed to an
unknown location in the galaxy.”

  “What galaxy?” There were hundreds of galaxies in the surrounding area.

  “The partial route we secured showed the ship on a course set for the opposite side of Epsilon. But, where in particular, I don’t know. There are several known planets in that direction.”

  Kharis breathed deeply in through his nose. It was a start, a good start. The trader wasn’t planning on leaving his galaxy, which was good news. The bad news was that there are several known trading posts on that side of Epsilon that Kelly could be taken to and sold, sold at a very high price.

  “Prepare the ship for immediate departure.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  The rest of the ride to his ship seemed to take forever. Everything felt as if it were moving in slow motion. He landed his shuttle in the docking bay and as the shuttle carrying his soldiers entered the enclosed area.

  He departed the shuttle and raced up to the bridge. His brothers needed to be informed of Kelly’s kidnapping just in case this was Zol’tsa doing. He had feared for a while now that the former captain and new leader of the Lephusans people would make a move against Kelly and her friends. The only problem was, he didn’t think the man would be brave enough to make sure an attempt so soon after escaping Qetera.

  “Get my brothers up on the viewing screen,” he announce when he entered the bridge.

  No one spoke for fear of feeling Kharis’ wrath. The crew were at their positions and ready for any orders he would bark out at them as soon as he showed himself on the bridge. By this time, everyone on board would know of Kelly’s disappearance, especially Parath. It was only a matter of time before the dragon showed her face on the bridge and he needed to be prepared to calm the protective animal.

  “Sir, your brothers are on the screen as requested.”

  Kharis turned back to the viewing screen to find the enlarged faces of his brothers staring back at him.

  “Kharis, is there a problem? Your crew member said it was an emergency,” Etor asked.

  Kharis step towards the screen then said, “Kelly has disappeared.”

  “What? By the gods, how?” Vulmar asked.

  “We got separated while down on the surface of Nimbus 3. By the time I could search for her, she had been kidnapped and taken off-world. We were able to gain knowledge of a partial route her captors are taking, but their final destination is still unknown.”

  “Gods! How in the hell did this happen and what the fuck was she doing down on the hell hole?” Etor shrieked at his younger brother.

  “We were returning to the ship when we came across a large crowd that was engaged in watching and following a fight in the street. Before we knew what was happening more people moved in to catch a glimpse of the fighters. That was when we got separated. I found a witness who saw Kelly being escorted off by two men, but that’s all the witness could tell me. I followed the alley to a landing field and spotted a trader ship leaving the planet. I instructed my crew to intercept any ships leaving Nimbus 3 at the time, but the ship in question must have used warp speed or something. We were able to get a partial course trajectory on them.”

  “And where were they headed?” Etor asked.

  His eldest brother stood facing him on the screen with his arms folded across his chest which was his standard Commander mode. Vulmar, on the other hand, sat behind his desk with an expressionless face.

  “The course they are headed on as we speak will lead them to the opposite side of Epsilon.” Kharis began to pace back and forth in front of the screen. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and anger. “We have got to find her!”

  “Gods, Kharis, Epsilon is a big galaxy with numerous planets and moons. You have to get a better link on where they might be taking her.”

  “But, how gods dammit!” Kharis yelled at the screen.

  “You said you the female you spoke to said the men had a trader ship, correct?” Etor asked Kharis.

  “Yes, if I take her word for it.”

  “Let’s say she right, there are several locations where they could take her in order to sell her. We can send out ships to those areas to scout out all the markets. Now, unless they do a private sale, we should be able to find her before she can be sold,” Etor said.

  Kharis had thought for a moment before he said, “Do it. I want every market on every planet in our galaxy watched. Pay the market owners for information, anything that will help me find her!”

  “Consider it done, brother,” Vulmar responded.

  “Thank-you.”

  “I will contact you as soon as we have soldiers in place. We have to act quickly or we will lose any trail that Kelly’s captors might leave behind.”

  “My ship is on the same course as the trader for now until we hear back from you. Kharis out.” The viewing screen went black. He stood staring at the darkened screen thinking about his brothers’ words. Suddenly, an ear piercing sound reverberated around the bridge. He swung around to find a very anger dragon glaring at him and blowing smoke out of her nose.

  Where is my Kelly? Parath roared in his head.

  “Calm down, Parath...,” he tried to interject but failed.

  Don’t tell me to calm down. If you had taken me along, this would have never happened. My Kelly is missing and it is your fault! Parath puffed a huge bout of smoke in his face causing him to choke.

  Parath was a young dragon but still very strong. She could very easily rip him to shreds if she chose to do so. Thankfully, the dragons knew and understood the relationship that developed between a dragon and an individual. Once the dragon was gifted or established a bond with its counterpart, he, or she now, would never harm a member of its extended family. In the case of Parath, that included not harming him even though he would blame the female dragon on bit if she did. Kelly was his mate, the center of his entire life, and he had allowed something bad to happen to her. Parath had every right to be angry with him, considering he was infuriated with himself. He was sick to his stomach knowing Kelly was out there, somewhere, in danger and for the time being, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

  “I know this is my fault. I take full responsibility, but I am going to need your help, Parath.” He stepped forward in an attempt to make peace with Kelly’s partner.

  Parath had studied him for a long time before she responded. When she did, Kharis could hear the fear and anger emitting from her. I will help you in any way that I can.

  “Thank-you. Have you tried a mind link with her yet?”

  I did, but we are too far apart and I can’t hear her.

  “Keep trying. Maybe by some chance, we might get close enough to her to sniff her out before the trail goes cold.”

  I will do as you ask. For now, I will go back to our quarters and wait to find out where we are headed.

  “Excellent. I will have Serelath stay with you until I return there. I don’t want you to be alone.” He reached out his hand to tentatively touch the female dragon’s snout. He waited for Parath to make the next move and when she did, he felt an instant weight lifted off his shoulders. Parath was an important key in finding Kelly and he needed to keep the said dragon on his side. If he lost Parath, he might possibly lose Kelly forever.

  Chapter 16

  Kelly was plastered to her seat when the ship she was a prisoner aboard shot forward with such speed, she nearly blacked out. The pressure she felt on her chest only eased when the ship slowed down somewhat after several long minutes of flight. She was just about ready to toss her cookies when her stomach subsided enough for her to regain her composure.

  She struggled to get the gag out of her mouth, but it was of no use. One of the goons driving the ship would have to remove it for her! She turned her attention back to the front window of the ship and watched as the tiny dots of light sped by at an incredible rate of speed. It reminded her of the movie Star Wars when Han Solo pushed the Millennium Falcon into hyper sped in order to out run the Imperial Starfighters.

  She cou
ld hear her captors talking quietly, but she couldn’t understand much of what they said. They were smart enough to keep their voices low. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back again and thought about how things should have turned out. Maybe, if she had kept her mouth shut like Kharis told her to, she might not be in the position she was in now. For once in her life, she wished she would have listened. It was the cop in her that sometimes out her into trouble, and right now, she was in a lot of trouble.

  Movement from the front of the ship had her opening her eyes back up. The oaf that had carried her like a sack of potatoes was walking towards her.

  “Did you enjoy that takeoff?” he sneered at her.

  She wasn’t about to try to say anything, so she just rolled her eyes at him.