Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2)

by Rebecca Lorino Pond

  “The Commander wished to see you on the bridge,” the guard said.

  She was a bit nervous to find out what the man wanted, but she wasn’t about to refuse to go. Trying to appear calm, she slid off the bench then walked out her cell. Another guard stood off to the side as she and the guard walked by only to fall into place behind her.

  The trio walked silently to corridor then waited patiently for the lift that would take them to the bridge. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she stood stock still in the lift as raced upwards. As soon as it stopped, the doors slid open to reveal another short passage. Twenty paces forward had them inside the bridge which was busy with activity. A large screen faced her as she neared the spot where Zol’tsa stood talking to the screen. Her knees nearly buckled out from under her when she realized who exactly her captor was talking to.

  “Kharis,” she screamed as she pushed past the guard.

  She was quickly restrained by both guards who held her tightly by her upper arms. Desperately, she struggled to gain her freedom only to be rewarded with a whack across the back of her knees. A loud, commanding voice echoed throughout the bridge after she cried out in pain.

  “Zol’tsa, you bastard! I will kill you for harming my mate!” Kharis appeared as if he was about to come through the screen.

  Kelly recovered enough to drag in a ragged breath to help ease the pain in her legs. She hung almost limply in the grasps of the guards, but she was slowly regaining her composure.

  “I had nothing to do with that and you know it! My guard will be discipline for his actions,” Zol’tsa spoke directly to the guard in question. “I did not give you an order to harm a human. You were ordered to bring her here, nothing more.”

  “Yes Commander,” the guard who hit her responded.

  Good, he’ll get his payback for hitting me, she thought to herself. For the time being, all she wanted to do was look at Kharis. It seemed like a lifetime ago she last saw him and she desperately missed him.

  Zol’tsa turned his attention back to the screen at hand. Kelly’s eyes were wide open and filled with unshed tears as she looked upon the man she so desperately loved.

  “Now, that that’s settled, want do you want? I have another business to attend to.”

  Kelly could see the anger growing in Kharis’ as his face turned redder and redder with each passing moment.

  “Don’t be a fool, you know exactly what I want and if I don’t get it, I will take it by force.” Kharis stepped closer to the screen.

  Zol’tsa chuckled before her responded to her mate’s threat. “I welcome the challenge. I purchased her fair and square, so she is my property. Even you should know that the Galactic council allows the selling of slaves.”

  “Yes, I know that, but they do not sanction the sale of individuals taken against their will.”

  “How would I know if your ex-mate was not a willing participate? Umm? She was up on the trader’s block and purchased for a very hefty sum. The trader had the obligation to make sure it was a legitimate sale. I have no intentions of giving up the merchandise I paid for,” Zol’tsa replied.

  “You will turn over my mate or pay the price. She is not your property! She is mine!”

  The screen she was staring at suddenly became filled with Kharis’ enraged face. She watched as his temple throbbed as he clenched and unclenched his teeth in an attempt to control the anger that was quickly taking him over.

  “Kharis?” she uttered as she choked back a sob. She waited for him to turn his eyes on her before she spoke again. “It’s…it’s going to be alright. He has not harmed me anyway so far, other than the guard. I am strong, I can get through this.” She was trying to tell Kharis goodbye in a gentle manner. What else was she supposed to do at this point? She didn’t want innocent people dying on her behalf because of the situation she, unfortunately, found herself in. She also wasn’t about to let Kharis sacrifice himself to save her when he had so much to live for. He had a city to rule and watch over as well as the rest of his family. He could move on and find someone else eventually.

  “What…what are you saying, my heart?”

  She could no longer contain the sob that had been threatening to escape she arrived on the bridge. “It’s no worth risking all those lives just to save me. Go back to Qetera and move on.” There she said it, it was out. Hopefully, he would take her advice and go.

  “Never!” his voice boomed across the bridge causing her guards to tremble in fear.

  “Kharis, please, for me. Let me go. No one needs to die because of...”

  “You are talking nonsense! You are my mate and I will have you back even if it takes the last breath from my body. I will not abandon you into the hands of this scum!” He nudged his chiseled chin in Zol’tsa’s direction.

  There was nothing left for her to except, “I love you, Kharis.” The tears rolled freely down her cheeks and dripped to the floor. It was tearing her apart to let him go, but she was not about to let him die for her.

  “Oh, my bleeding,” Zol’tsa said sarcastically. “Take her away!”

  The guards didn’t hesitate with the new order. Still in their grip, she gave the screen one last look before she turned from it. She walked straight-backed as the guards lead her out of the bridge and back to her cell. As the door to the bridge slid closed, she could hear Kharis calling out for her, but she refused to respond. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do. She’d never walked away from someone she loved before and she felt as if her heart was ripping in two. She loved Kharis far too much to let him sacrifice himself and possibly many others in order to gain her freedom.

  She held her head high as she was escorted back to her cell then left alone to her emotions. Her only comfort was to curl up on her hard bed and pull the single meager blanket up over her head. The tears and sobs she struggled to contain broke through the damn. She cried for everything and everyone she had ever lost. Her grandparents, parents, her life on Earth, her friends, and now, Kharis. Life sure had dealt her a sucky hand, but at least she was still alive. Maybe someday, she might be able to find a way to escape from the life she was about to begin.

  Chapter 20

  “I will tell you only once to leave my sector. Otherwise, I am prepared to use force, as you called it, to defend what is mine,” Zol’tsa told Kharis.

  “I will hunt you down and get my mate back, if it’s the last thing I do,” Kharis shouted at him seconds before the transmission was cut.

  The new lord and commander stood still thinking about what has just occurred. Nothing he said had been a lie and he was prepared to use force to protect everything he had been building up since the loss of his previous leader. This was his home, his rule, his people, and he would be damned if he would let his enemy take it all away again. Maybe he should let the human female go just to save the trouble that was bound to come from her mate. But, then again, did purchase her for a fair price which was not against any known laws in the Epsilon Galaxy.

  He was keeping tabs on his enemy’s ship that he knew was following them. The last time he checked, their pursuers were only about an hour or so behind them, nowhere near enough time to get everyone off his ship and down to the surface of Napra. As soon as they were in short range of home, he would start the disembarking. At the same time. He needed to ready his men for the fight that was sure to occur very early. It sickened him to know he was probably going to lose some of his people in the fight for one stupid bitch.

  “How soon until we reach Napra,” he questioned his pilot.

  “E.T.A. is ten minutes.”

  “Put it up on the screen.”

  The viewing screen flashed to life with an excellent view of Napra. It was a small moon, but perfect for starting out a new colony. He was determined to make this work and bring his people back to the strength they once were. Their former leader had run their race into the ground and destroyed almost everything past generations had built and died for. Now, it was up to him to bring them all back.


  The sight of Napra on the screen had him puffing his chest out with pride. This was all his!

  “Sir, do you want to start with the disembarking?”

  Without taking his eyes off the screen, he said, “Proceed. I want as many people off this ship before the Qeterans show up.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  ******

  Kelly woke up when she felt the big ship give a shudder. They must have arrived at their destination. She didn’t bother to roll over or move to inquire if this was true, so she just stayed as she was. Outside her cell, she could hear voices talking back and forth in excitement. A guard walked passed her cell several times with one or two prisons in tow and in handcuffs. She wondered where they were headed and how long would it be before someone came to get her.

  She laid her head back down and drifted in and out of sleep until a loud clang startled her awake.

  “What the hell?” she muttered as she struggled to untangle herself for the blanket thrown over her body. Easing her stiff body off the bench, she shuffled over to the door of her cell to peer out. The big guy who had been across from her was now gone. A few of the other cells she could see were also empty of its occupants.

  “We must be here,” she mumbled as she yawned. Soon she would find out what her life was going to be like on Napra. No matter what it might be, she was determined to course through it and survive. All she needed to do was wipe Kharis from her mind and she would be okay. Or would she? Also, what of her dragon? How would she ever break the mind link between them in order for Parath to find another to pair with?

  “Your turn female!”

  The deep voice drug her out of her thoughts as she stood looking out her cell. The laser beams had already been turned off which she hadn’t noticed until now. Nothing stood between her and the angry looking guard who was there to escort her to God knows where.

  Kelly stepped out the cell, took a deep, shaky breath then headed in the direction her guard pointed. As they walked, she glanced into each and every cell to see how many others might be left and was shocked to find that all the other cells were empty.

  “Am I the last,” she asked the guard.

  “Yep, that’s the way the commander wanted it. Keep walking.” He gave her a shove to the shoulder which sent her stumbling along the walkway.

  “Damn it! There’s no need to push me! I’m walking already!” Her instincts yelled at her to turn around and kick the guard in his balls, but her mind told her she had better behave. It was an internal struggle she wasn’t used to fighting but lately, she found she was put more and more into that type of situation. Now, she knew and understood how the people she had arrested felt when she was leading them to her police car. The mind searched frantically for any type of escape route.

  Once they were in the lift, the guard hit the button that would take them down to the docking bay. The ride in the lift was so smooth, she hadn’t even realized they had moved until the doors slid open to the reveal the bay. The area was almost completely deserted with the exception of a few fighter ships and one lone shuttle.

  “This way,” the guard stated before he led her to the awaiting shuttle.

  The guard had pulled her to a stop before she had a chance to step foot onto the ramp that lead to the inside.

  “What are we waiting for?” she asked impatiently.

  “You talk too much for a female,” the guard replied. “We are waiting for the commander to board the shuttle first.

  The sound of approaching footsteps had them both turning to see who was coming. Zol’tsa and an unknown female walked towards them. The woman appeared to be scared out of her mind and was trying to break free of Zol’tsa’s grasp. He, on the other hand, looked annoyed and aggravated.

  “Would you just walk,” he hissed at the frightened woman.

  “I…I don’t want…want to go on that thing,” the woman stuttered in fright.

  “For the love of the gods, it’s just a fucking shuttle! You came up here on one!” He gave her arm a hard jerk in order to make her move faster.

  “I was out for that,” the woman cried.

  The couple stopped almost in front of her and guard before they headed into the shuttle.

  “Just get on the fucking shuttle. You don’t want to make me angry right now. Now, move!”

  Kelly felt sorry for the woman who was obviously human. She could see the terror written on the woman’s face as Zol’tsa gave her backside a shove to get her moving up the ramp. Once she was inside, the commander turned around and spoke to the guard.

  “Bring her,” he stated simply.

  This time the guard gave her shoulder a simple nudge to indicate she should go into the ship. She trudged up the gangplank and into the dimly light interior of the shuttle. The other woman was seated in one of the rear seats and was securely strapped in. The guard pointed to the seat across from the woman which she gladly took. It might give her the opportunity to talk with the other woman and find out her situation.

  The guard secured her into the seat them left her to take his own seat next to Zol’tsa, who was at the controls. The light from outside the shuttle slowly faded as the ramp lifted then locked into place, sealing them inside the metal hull. A small vibration shook the ship when the engines were fired up and tested.

  This was probably going to be her only chance to talk to the woman before she was told to shut up.

  “What’s your name,” she asked the frightened woman.

  The woman’s big, round eyes rested on her face before she swallowed and answered, “Cherry.”

  “Hi, Cherry. I’m Kelly.”

  Cherry nodded her head.

  “How did you come to be here?” Kelly wanted to be direct instead of beating around the bush. She might not have a lot of time to chat so beating around the bush was pointless.

  “He brought me here.” Cherry nodded in the commander’s direction.

  “How?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. One minute I was headed to my dressing room and the next thing I know I wake up in that dude’s bed.”

  The shuttle made a little drop as if lifted off the docking bay floor. Kelly glanced outside the front window of the shuttle to find that they were inching forward towards the mouth of the bay.

  “You mean he kidnapped you?” she looked back at Cherry.

  “Yeah, I would say that. I just want to go home, but he told me I was his wife now. What the fuck does that mean?” Cherry paused. “I know what ‘wife’ means, but how can I be his wife without my consent?”

  “The rules out here in space aren’t the same as on Earth. Some still live be values and ethics while some don’t. You happen to be with one of the ones that don’t value anything but himself.”

  Any color Cherry had left in her face drained away. “What do you mean? Is he going to kill me?”

  “No, I don’t think he’ll do that. Did he hurt you in any way?”

  A bit of pink tinged the woman’s cheeks. “Only the first couple of times he forced himself on me. After that, I gave in so he wouldn’t hurt me anymore. In fact, he became quite gentle the more he fucked me.”

  “He…he raped you?” Kelly was appalled at first then remembered who she was dealing with.

  “It’s okay. It wasn’t so bad after a while. He said I would have a good life with him if I have his kids.” Cherry shrugged her thin shoulders.

  “Are you kidding me? You’re going to have this guy’s kids? And you’re alright with that?”

  “What other choice to I have? He’s not going to take me back home. I always wanted to have kids. Guess I never expected it would be with someone from another planet.” Cherry chuckled. The woman was slowly becoming at ease while talking to her.

  “It’s not okay! You were kidnapped for crying out loud!”

  “And you were bought! At least I might live in comfort, whereas you might be living in a shithole. The commander has told me about you and what you did to him. Can you really blame him for wanting revenge?”
>
  Kelly was stunned. The woman went from totally petrified to taking up for the bastard who stole her new life away from her. She was the innocent one in all of this! She was the one who had boarded that transport all those months ago with Maggie to start a new life. She had finally found someone she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with, only to have it ripped away in a moment’s time.

  She had enough of talking to Cherry. It was a pointless conversation now that she knew how the woman felt. There would be no help coming from the other human. She would have to rely on only herself to get through this.