“I’m going to go check the bridge to see where the fuck the crew went.” He stormed off without another word.
The bridge was directly across from the last room his men were checking. He was determined to find out what happened to the ship and why these females had been left alone only to die in their sleep.
“Commander!”
One of the men shouted for him. By the sound of the man’s voice it sounded important. He moved from the computer station he was sitting at to walk back to the room. As he entered the room, all his men’s gun lights were focused on the sleeping tube.
“Sir, this one is alive!”
The words hit him like a ton of rocks. He shoved past the men to pry the lid off the tube. Several of the men joined in to pull the lid off in record time. He took a step back after the lid was tossed to the side.
“Check her,” he demanded.
They all held their breath as the one directed to do the duty did so. His fingers touched the side of her neck then he turned to face them with a wide grin on his face. “She’s alive!”
They all cheered. “Check the others ones.” Three more tubes in the room needed to be checked. He kept his fingers crossed as he walked to the nearest tube and looked in. A feeling so strong shot through him as he looked down at the female lying in the tube.
She looked so peaceful lying there with her auburn hair spilled out around her on the pillow. Her pink lips were slightly parted and seemed to beckon to him. It was a feeling he had never experienced before and was dumbfounded by it until he heard his dragon call out to him in his mind.
“It’s her!” his dragon shouted.
“What do you mean, Rhaegos?” he asked of his companion.
“Your one true mate! It’s her!”
“It’s not possible! How can you be sure?” He knew his dragon was right but he needed to hear it.
“I know you felt it the moment you saw her because I felt it too. She is your one true mate.” Rhaegos replied with a sigh.
“Help me get this one open!” He pulled at the lid to get it to push back. Two men helped him get it open enough for him to stick his hand in and feel for a pulse. There it was! A thump against his fingers.
“She’s alive, Rhaegos!”
It didn’t take them much longer to get the tube the rest of the way open. The smell of the sweet air inside the tube filled his nostrils, making his stomach turn.
“Get the other two tubes open! Now!” He reached into the tube to touch the female’s face. Her skin was so soft but she was so cold and pale. He put his hand on her chest and waited for it to rise. The time between breathes was too long. If he didn’t get her to the medical unit she would perish in his arms. He scooped up her small form and headed out the door at the same time he barked out orders.
“Bring those women that are alive to the medical until immediately! Make sure all the tubes are checked then get all the records from the computer.” He left the room in a whirlwind. His long legs quickly took him back to the airlock. He pressed his comlink to inform the medic he had a survivor who was barely hanging on.
“I have one survivor and am on my way to the medical unit. Be waiting for me. The survivor is a female of unknown origin.” He raced to the medical unit as fast as he could.
The doors to the unit slid open and he was met by his friend, Medic Jonik.
“Bring her over here,” Jonik said as he ushered Etor to the nearest bed.
He carefully laid her down and watched as Jonik went to work. An oxygen mask was immediately placed over her nose and mouth. Jonik leaned over the small female and pulled up each of her eyelids to shine a light into them. He got a quick glimpse at the blue eyes with the black pupils that contracted with the bright light. His heart lurched because he knew that was a good sign.
Jonik used a handheld heart monitor to check her heart rate at the same time another medic walked over to help. “I want to get a blood sample, Petra.”
“Yes, Medic Jonik.” Petra gathered the necessary supplies to take the sample Jonik requested. “Would you like me to run it?”
“Yes, please.” Jonik worked without looking up at his assistant.
Etor was nervous as all hell. If this female lying before him was truly his one true mate, she needed to survive. How cruel would that be if the gods had finally allowed him to find his mate only to have her taken away permanently? As he stood there watching he felt his dragon move into his mind again.
“How is your mate?”
“Jonik is working on her now. He hasn’t said anything yet.” His dragon was just as anxious to find out about the female as he was. He wondered what her name was.
“Her heart rate is improving as is her breathing. The effects of the stasis tube are beginning to wear off. It will take some time for her to come totally out of it,” Jonik said as he looked at his longtime friend. “Is something wrong, Etor?”
He was staring so hard at the female that he didn’t hear Jonik address him at first. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” He shook his head to clear away the fog in his mind.
“I asked you if you are alright. You are staring at her as if…” Jonik stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at his patient then back to the commander. “Do you really think so?”
Etor knew what Jonik was asking of him. He nodded his head slowly and smiled. “Yes, she is my one true mate.” He took hold of her small hand and rubbed the fragile fingers. “Do you know where she is from?”
“I’m not positive, but from what I have studied I think she is an Earth female."
He had suspected she and the other women were from Earth. But what was their ship doing way out here and without a crew? As soon as he could, he needed to go over the transport’s logs.
Jonik continued to examine the Earth female. The medic sent to run the blood sample came back and handed Jonik the results.
“It is as I thought, she is from Earth. I will have to research her blood results to find out if they are normal. It might take me a couple of hours.”
Jonik was about to move away from the bed just as the door to the medical unit slid open. In came three of the men who had gone with Etor onto the transport and each was carrying an Earth female. He rushed over to direct the men where to put the females. “Are they all alive?”
“Yes, these were the only other ones found alive.”
“There were more females than these?” Jonik asked.
Thallan walked in at the same time the question was asked. “There was a total of fifty females. We only found four of them alive.” He walked up to Etor and looked down at the unconscious female. “How is she?”
“She should be fine.” Jonik walked with the other men.
Thallan turned to Etor. “Do you know where she is from?”
“Earth,” Etor replied simply.
“Earth? How in the gods did they get way out here?”
“I don’t know but I am going to find out. I want you to come with me. I want those logs. I want to find out how they got here and why.”
Chapter 4
Maggie slowly became aware of her surroundings. The sounds in the room didn’t sound familiar to her and she was having a hard time opening her eyes. Her entire body felt heavy. She tried to raise a hand to her face but it refused to move at her command. The sound of a door opening had her trying to turn her head in the direction of the sound.
“Easy, easy,” the deep male voice spoke to her. “It’s going to take some time for the stasis gas to wear completely off.”
A warm hand lifted her dead weight one. She struggled to move her lips to make a sound. “Wh…wh…”
“Don’t try to speak yet, little one. Can you open your eyes?”
She could only reply with a slight shake of her head. It was frustrating not having control over her body. The one thing that was working were her tear ducts. She felt the water buildup in her eyes then escape as the moisture rolled down her cheek.
The hand still holding hers gave it a reassuring sque
eze. “Don’t cry. I promise it will wear off. I am going to open your lids for you to check your eyes. I want to make sure there aren’t any lingering effects from the gas.”
She felt a finger touch her eye lid then gently raise it. Her vision was a bit blurry but clear enough to see the man looking down at her. He repeated the process with the opposite eye and she found her eye was much clearer in that socket.
“Your pupils appear to be reacting normal.”
Something wasn’t making sense to her. Her memories were coming back to her quickly, so she knew she didn’t recognize the man standing next to her. He definitely wasn’t on the transport when she and the rest of the women had been put into the sleeping tubes.
“I’m going to give you something to help the gas wear off quicker, but it will make you sleep. The good thing is you will feel a lot better once you wake up again.”
She felt something cold pressed to her upper arm then the sound of a click. Within seconds the medicine was coursing through her veins and doing its job. It wasn’t long before she slipped back into unconsciousness.
It was completely silent when she next awoke. She tested her arms and found she was able to move them again but it took a lot of effort. A far off voice had her cracking her eyes open to find she was alone in the room. The door to the room was closed but there was a large window she could clearly see through. The voice spoke again but still no face to put it too.
God, she was so thirsty! I wish someone would come in the room so I could ask for a drink of water. She licked her dry lips and tried to build up some moisture in her mouth. Cotton mouth was not a pleasant thing to have when you first wake up.
The sound of footsteps drew her attention to the window. The man approaching was biggest man she had ever seen in her life. He had to be over six and half feet tall and almost as wide as the door frame. His sandy brown hair was neatly trimmed around his neck and ears. He spoke to someone out of her view and she realized it was the same deep voice she had heard the first time she woke up.
Where in the hell was she? She definitely wasn’t in the transport ship since she didn’t see any kind of room that resembled a hospital. She swallowed nervously as she waited for the man to finish what he was saying and to walk into her room.
The smile he gave her as he entered made her stomach flutter with butterflies. He was freaking gorgeous!
“I am glad to see you are awake, Maggie. I’m Head medical Officer Jonik.”
He knew her name, but how? “How do you know my name?” Her eyes followed his movements as he walked over to a small cabinet.
“From the records on the transport you were on.” He turned to walk back over to her. “How do you feel?”
“Better than I did earlier, but everything still feels heavy.”
“That’s to be expected from being in the sleeping gas for so long.” As he talked he started to examine her.
She was confused by what he said. “I don’t understand. How long was I asleep?”
Jonik stopped he movements to look her straight in the face. “The records on the transport show you were in stasis for nine months and sixteen days.”
She felt the color drain from her face. “Nine months? It…it was only supposed to take three months.”
“I don’t know much else. I’ll inform the Commander that you are awake. He will be able to tell you more.” He touched a button on his uniform shirt. “Commander? Jonik here. The female you brought to me is awake.”
Maggie listened to the voice that replied back. “I’ll be there shorty. Is she able to be questioned?” His voice was even deeper than the medic’s and sent chills down her spine. There was something about that voice that made her body react.
“We’ll be waiting for you. Jonik out.”
She looked up at Jonik as he finished speaking. “Who is the Commander?”
“Commander Etor of the warship Arabis. Let me check your vitals before he gets here.”
Maggie sat quietly in her bed as Jonik poked and prodded at her. He shined a light in each eye, looked down her throat, skimmed her entire body with an unknown medical instrument then made her drink some water. The cool liquid felt wonderful as it travelled past her lips and down her throat. He told her as she drank from the cup that she needed to slow down but it was hard to stop. It was so refreshing and satisfying.
The sound of her door opening again had them both looking in the direction of the visitor. The man that stepped through the door took her breath away and made her heart skip several beats. It had to be the Commander.
He was even taller than the medic. He had to be close to seven feet tall because the top of his head barely slipped under the top of the door frame. He wore a tight fitting, short sleeve, black shirt that showed off every muscle of his chest and arms. Matching black pants stretched across his thick thighs down to a pair of shiny black knee-high boots. His hair was cut in the same manner as the medic’s but was a rich dark brown instead of blond. On his face he wore a five o’clock shade that perfectly matched his hair. It was his eyes that left her speechless as he approached the side of her bed. Violet eyes with flecks of white surrounded a black pupil while long, black lashes lined each eye on top and bottom. His slightly pinkish lips were set in a firm grimace as he stared at her sitting there in nothing more than a hospital gown.
“Commander Etor, this is Maggie,” Jonik did the introductions.
What was she supposed to say? Hello? Nice to meet you? She was at a loss. What does someone say when they wake up from an extended sleep only to find they didn’t end up in the place they were supposed to be?
“Your name is Maggie?” His deep voice vibrated through her, making her toes tingle.
“Yes. I’m Maggie. Maggie Wentworth.” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. The man was absolutely beautiful. She could tell by his actions that she wasn’t the only one being affected with his presence. His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I am Commander Etor of the Arabis. My ship came across you damaged transport a few days ago.”
“Damaged? How was the ship damaged?” she asked.
He stood to the side of her with his legs spread about a foot apart and his arms folded over his massively developed chest. “Your ship apparently went through an asteroid field several months ago according to the transport’s records. The tail end of the ship had been struck by a sizeable asteroid. The ship lost most of its power expect for the first quarter of the ship, which is where you were found.”
The news he was telling her caused a foreboding feeling to wash over her. She sensed just by his tenseness that the rest of the news he had to tell her was not going to be good. Nervously she chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for him to finish.
“What…what does that mean?”
“It means that most of the women on board that transport died in their sleep.” His jawed clenched as he forced the words out.
Her ears started to ring. There was no way all those women were dead! What about Kelly? Oh God, was Kelly dead too? Little pinpoints of bright light flashed before her eyes as his words sunk in.
“My friend…my friend Kelly was on that ship. Is she….is she dead?” Tears spilled out over the lower lids of her eyes. She didn’t even bother to wipe them away as they left a trail as they slid down her cheeks.
Jonik spoke up first. “There are three other women that the Commander and his team were able to rescue, but sadly, everyone else on board passed away a longtime ago.”
“Do you know the names of the other women?” She had to find out if Kelly was gone.
“Let’s see,” Jonik said as he tapped on a tablet he picked up off the cabinet. “There is Lexie Stark, Kelly Porter, and Hunter Bentley. Is that your friend?”
A sob escaped her lips before she could stop it. Kelly was still alive! “Yes! That’s her. Is she okay?”
“She is in another room but doing fine. She woke up yesterday and is progressing nicely. Lexie and Hunter have alre
ady been moved to private quarters.” Jonik put the tablet on the cabinet.
Etor grunted when Jonik spoke about the other two women. “Do you remember where your ship was headed before you were put into stasis?”
She had to think back. What was the name of that damn planet the captain said they were going to? “Umm…Lepher…Lepus…”
“Lephus?” Etor said abruptly.
“That’s it!” She smiled up at him when he pronounced the planet’s name.
“By the gods and goddesses, Etor!” Jonik interjected.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Etor’s face turned red with anger and his voice rose. “Did they bother to inform you of what you faced once the transport arrived on Lephus?”
She shook her head. “No, not really. It’s just a relocation plan. Earth’s air was badly damaged over the last hundred years or so. The government was giving residents the opportunity to relocate to a less populated planet, but we weren’t told the name of the planet until we were on board. Why?”
Etor ran a hand through his wavy hair. “The Lephusans are nothing more than breeding machines! They are a plague of the universe!” He paced the room as he shouted. “You would have faced a life of being a breeder as one after the other Lephusans started mounting you in order to breed you.”
She instantly felt nauseous. He had to be lying. There was no way her government would send women to a planet where they would be mistreated. “That can’t be possible.”
He rounded on her so quickly it scared her. “It is possible and you would have been nothing more than a whore to them! Did you really want to leave so badly that you agreed to be a whore for them?”
His bitter words were like a slap in the face. Why was he getting so mad at her? She had no idea what was supposed to occur. “I had no idea and don’t call me a whore! Got it? Now get out!” Her defense against his comment left her exhausted. “Get out!” She slumped back into the bed and closed her eyes.
Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) Page 3