Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders)

by Rebecca Lorino Pond

  Vulmar and the lieutenant looked at each other. “What happened?”

  “One ran into an unexpected asteroid field and hasn’t been heard from since. Poor bastards. What a way to go, never to wake up again.” The guard sounded semi remorseful as he continued with his story.

  “That is a shame. How many were lost?” Vulmar asked. He wanted to get as much information out of the younger guard as he could before the guard was called away.

  “I heard it was fifty, though some say it was more like seventy. Just depends on how many sleeping tubes the transport can hold. Hey, where are you guys from anyway?” The guard looked up curiously at the two Qeterans.

  “Qetera, ever hear of it?”

  “Nope, but these transports go to so many different planets that I can’t remember all the names.”

  “Hey, Bradley, the boss wants you!” Another guard called out.

  “Got to go, nice talking to you guys. I hope you have a safe journey home.” The guard waved them off as he went in the direction of the other guard. They waited until the pair disappeared behind a solid steel door before they turned to leave.

  “I just don’t get it, Commander. The Earth doesn’t seem to have that big of a problem according to the preliminary scans we did before landing.”

  “I don’t know. There’s something more to this than just bad soil.”

  They walked along the big building that housed the transports and travelers. “Let’s go relieve Jaro and Edmun.”

  It was while they were on watch for the captain that their man finally showed up. Vulmar recognized the man as he exited the dilapidated building that was known for prostitution. It had taken a drunken night out to find out where the whore houses were and once they had them, he assigned four guards to each building, two in the front and two in the back. Their patience finally paid off when the guilty captain stepped out into the darkness of the night after a round with a whore.

  Once he had sight of the man, Vulmar used his comlink to inform his other men. He instructed them to circle around the building so the man didn’t have a chance of escaping. The man was oblivious to his surrounds as he stumbled drunkenly down the street. Vulmar went up to the man from behind.

  “Excuse me, captain?”

  When the captain turned around, Vulmar punched the man in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Everything went quickly after that. They got the drunken fool back to their ship and secured him in the holding cell. They would have to wait until he sobered up before they could question him, but it wasn’t a problem. They had a long ride back to Qetera.

  Chapter 14

  “How long until you arrive?” Etor asked Vulmar?

  The transmission was a bit fuzzy but the brothers were still able to communicate.

  ‘I would say another three to four days. Earth is quite a distance away but if we would have used the wormhole it would have put us past it.” Vulmar’s face was fading in and out.

  “Good, I can’t wait to get my hands on that bastard. Any word on who is hunting Maggie,” Etor said. He was getting better at control his Rage when he felt it surfacing.

  “Me too, brother, me too. I’ll contact you when we are in Yahiri. And no, whoever has the word out for her, is keeping a very low profile.”

  He nodded. “Sure thing. Stay safe.” With that the transmission ended. He breathed a sigh of relief. The man responsible for the deaths of forty-six women was in their hands.

  Maggie stood behind him as he turned around to look at the group that had followed him inside. He hugged Maggie to him and kissed the top of her head. “Are you okay, my love?”

  Maggie wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. “I am just happy Vulmar was able to find him.” She clung to him as if her life depended upon it.

  “Ahh…put me down, you big goon!”

  Behind them Kharis was swinging Kelly around in his arms and laughing.

  “I am going to take you to my home!” Kharis shouted.

  “The hell you are, fella.” Kelly said back when he finally stopped swinging her. “Mags, tell this big goon to leave me alone! I mean, really!”

  The room burst out laughing as Kelly stormed out of the room to go back to hers. They all knew she was trying really hard to avoid Kharis but it wasn’t working.

  Kharis followed close behind her yet again. “Do you think she will ever give in?” Etor asked.

  “She has a strong will and can resist a lot but I don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to avoid your brother.”

  “Good, because I can’t take his moping around much longer. Let’s go to bed, it’s been a long day.” He scooped her up into his arms making her giggle as she clung to his neck.

  ******

  Zol’tsa waited for the clearance he needed to land on Qetera once again. He stepped into his role as soon as he departed Lephus with the group of men Ruehar assigned to go with him. The ride to Qetera was cramped with the extra bodies but he needed them to get into the palace.

  “You are clear to land on area one,” the voice coming from the surface informed him.

  “Thanks,” he replied with a smile. “Alright troops. We just got clearance. Remember the plan. Stay in the ship until I give the all clear. Got it?”

  “Sir!” All the men said in unison.

  He landed the ship as directed then shut it down. First he would head to the building to check on his ordered part then make his way into the city. He needed to find the best way into the palace without being seen and that was going to be the hardest part. He didn’t want to rush things, so if it took several days to find the safest way in then so be it.

  In the meantime, Ruehar was in the process of forming his armada. His best chances of taking Qetera were to take them by complete surprise. It would not be any easy task but their numbers were up so they had a winning chance. As soon as Zol’tsa found a way into the palace, he would notify Ruehar so he could begin his invasion.

  He made his way into the supply building to pick up his part. It was quiet in the smelly place and it turned his stomach. The smell of oil and fumes always made him sick.

  “Hey, you’re back!” The man behind the counter said as he walked in. “I got that part for you. Came in yesterday. Give me a second and I’ll go get it.”

  He leaned on the counter and peered around the empty room. It was a very nice setup for a parts store. To buy him some extra time he was going to have the clerk order him another part.

  “Ah, here we are. One small fuel pump without the threads.” He sat the heavy piece of metal on the counter.

  Picking it up to examine it, he asked about more parts. “This is perfect. Do you think you can get me a quarter inch air hose, an ignition switch, and a pummel coil? I might as well fix everything while I got it all apart.” He feigned like he examining the part with a fine tooth comb.

  “Oh sure. Not a problem with the hose and switch but that coil will have to be ordered. I don’t keep those in stock.”

  “Take your time. I’m in no rush. Thought about spending some down time here. Ya know, a little vacation.” He chuckled.

  “Got’cha. I’ll get this order in. Check back with me in a couple of days.”

  “Thanks,” he said as he left. Outside the sky was bright and sunny. It was the perfect time to check out the city and map out possible escape routes. He’d wait until it grew dark to bring the rest of his men out of the ship. They would all have to find somewhere to stay relatively close to each other with causing suspicion.

  The streets were crowded at this time of the day with people going to and from work or shopping. He walked up and down the streets until he had a good idea of how the city was laid out. The Commander’s residence was on the extreme outskirts of the city but easily accessible within a few minutes.

  The grounds didn’t have any form of a fence around it, just some patrolling guards that walked the grounds in groups of three. Most of the ground surrounding the main house was open area which was a problem. He would have to time the g
uards’ routine perfectly in order to gain access to the house. What worked to his advantage was that the house was a single story structure with many entrances to choose from.

  He was just about to turn back and head to the ship when he caught sight of something flying over the palace out the corner of one eye. By the time he looked whatever it was had disappeared behind the house. He wasn’t even positive he saw something so he waited a few minutes to see if it would re-emerge.

  As he waited he pulled a smoking stick out of his shirt pocket. He enjoyed chewing on the ends of the flavored sticks rather than smoking them. It was a bad habit he picked up years ago when he had left home.

  A loud sound jerked his head to the sky and then he saw it. A dragon! He had never seen one and believed them to be nothing more then fantasy. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes he would have called the individual a liar. The giant beast flew circles over the house several times before he shot up into the air and was lost in the clouds. This was a problem he wasn’t counting on and he needed to inform Ruehar as soon as possible.

  ******

  Ruehar shattered the glass door as he slammed it shut. “It’s not possible!”

  He was beyond furious. Zol’tsa’s report changed his plans on attacking just the main city of Qetera. He thought the dragons had gone extinct a long time ago after the last big war. The dragons were claimed to be very territorial and could cause massive damage to a fighter or bring it down with one swipe of its massive talons.

  “I want every ship that is in working order on stand-by within the next twelve hours. Is that clear?” he shouted at the captains gathered in his office.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Has the ship I sent to Earth returned?” His normally pale face was beet red.

  “Not that we know of, Sir.”

  A buzzer sound loudly in his office signaling him he had an incoming transmission. He circled around his desk to put the transmission up on the viewing screen. Static and fuzz came through first before the picture of the captain he sent to Earth cleared enough for him to see the man.

  “What do you have to report?” he demanded. He was losing his patience quickly, if he had any at all.

  “Sir, we have a problem.”

  “WHAT?” he screamed at the screen.

  “While we were searching for the one you need, we came across a group of Qeterans. One of my men overheard two of them talking with one of the security personal at the place where the transports are launched.”

  “So, get to the point!”

  “They were also looking for your good captain and succeeded in tracking him to a whore house where they were able to subdue him.” The Lephusan captain looked visibly scared as he delivered his report.

  “Why didn’t you over take them?” Things were going from bad to worse.

  “There were too many of them, Sir. The fool was drunk and he was easily taken prisoner by the Qeterans. We followed them back to their ship and watched it take off. We are in the process of following them, but they have a head start on us.”

  “Find that damn ship and destroy it!” He ended the transmission then turned to the men in the room. “I would advise all of you to get every single one of your men ready. I am going to win this battle this time and the Qeterans will pay for stealing my females. I want them all dead once and for all!”

  Chapter 15

  Maggie relaxed in the garden as the sun warmed her skin. The weather had been so nice the last couple of days that she and the other women had taken to sitting in the garden for hours at a time. She sat in the wooden lawn chair and rubbed her upset stomach as she waited for her friends. Her stomach was upset a lot lately and she didn’t know why. She blamed the different foods she had been eating and didn’t bother to let Etor know. He had enough on his mind without worrying about her upset stomach.

  “Hey, Mags!” Kelly called out as she, Hunter, and Lexie came into the garden.

  She waved at the group as they walked to where she sat out in the sun near the fountain. “Hey, guys!”

  Each woman pulled up an empty chair and joined her in relaxing. A cool breeze blew through the trees and bushes making them sway while cooling her warmed skin.

  “Girl, you are getting a bit red.” Kelly leaned over and pressed on her exposed skin.

  “Not all of us can have your olive complexion,” she replied.

  “Better not mess up that pretty skin of yours. Etor will have a fit!” Kelly chimed back.

  “Wish I had someone to worry about me like the way he does with you, Maggie. For crying out loud, the man is paranoid with you. He thinks we Earth females are delicate flowers and need to be handled with care,” Hunter put her own two cents in.

  “He does not!” she snapped.

  The other three women looked at each other then burst out laughing. “Oh yeah, right! I see the way he looks at you sometimes. Like he’s going to gobble you up!” Lexie said.

  “Maybe I like being gobbled up!” Maggie covered her mouth after the words slipped out.

  “Oh no way. Too much info, please,” Kelly pretended she was disgusted with her friends words.

  “Yeah, okay Kelly. Tell us, Kelly, how is Kharis?” She knew perfectly well she hit a nerve when she mentioned Etor’s middle brother.

  “Let’s leave him out of this,” Kelly replied.

  “What’s the matter, Kel? Can’t take the heat?” It was her turn to laugh as her best friend’s face turned red.

  “What’s going on with you and Kharis?” Hunter asked.

  “Nothing! That’s just it. The man won’t leave me alone. He pops up in the oddest places wanting to talk to me. I’ve even caught him staring at me from far away.”

  “Sounds like someone has a case of the love bug!” Lexie laughed.

  “Not funny. I didn’t leave Earth to find a man and I don’t need one.”

  “Speak for yourself, girlfriend. I left Earth because all of the men I was dating were dirt bags. They either wanted money or sex. It got so tiring after a while. I mean, I’m not advertising for a nice guy, but just hoping it happens one day. How about you, Maggie, why did you leave Earth?” Lexie asked.

  Maggie and Kelly looked at each other unsure what to say. The other women knew they had been friends before leaving Earth. Kelly shrugged her shoulders at her.

  “It can’t hurt to tell. He can’t hurt you here,” Kelly said softly.

  “Who’s trying to hurt you? Spill it!” Hunter scooted forward in her chair to hear her better.

  Maggie took a deep then let it out slowly. “Before I left Earth I was living with a man named Mark. I tried breaking things off with him once and he attacked me and told me he would never let me go. I was scared and had nowhere to go that he wouldn’t be able to find me at, so I stayed. I worked at a painting gallery restoring old paintings. I left work early one day because I had dropped my phone in some water and needed to replace it before he found out. I didn’t want to take any chances on finding out how he would react, so I go a new one from one of those new drop and go booths.” She looked around the tight circle of friends and found they were all listening intently. “Anyhow, I decided on my way home I would stop by Mark’s bar and surprise him. That was a mistake.” She had to stop for a moment. Her voice was starting to shake as she thought back to the horrible day. “I had to go in through the back because it was before hours and I knew the back door would be unlocked. Sooo…I went in and was walking to his office when I heard voices shouting. I didn’t want to bust in and interrupt, so I waited outside his office. I got curious to who he was shouting at and decided to peak through the door that was cracked open.” Kelly squeezed her hand in support.

  “It’s okay, girl, he can’t hurt you anymore,” Kelly said.

  “I know,” she said as she sniffled. “Just as I peeked in I saw Mark, his back was to me and the man he was yelling at was backing away. Mark….Mark pulled the trigger and shot the man.”

  “Oh my God!” Hunter and Lexie said at the same time.


  “What did you do?” Lexie asked.

  “I got out of there before he saw me. I raced home and pretended like I didn’t see anything. God, I was so scared. It was really hard to act normal because he knew how I was and had cameras all over the house. He said it was for security purposes but I knew better than that. But the best way I knew of to keep myself safe was to play the part. I called him when I got home like I normally did and asked for permission to go shopping with Kelly the next day. After he left for what he was going to do, Kelly and I made a run for it. I couldn’t take much in the way of my possessions because he would know something was wrong if he came home early and found me gone. We hid in this nasty motel near the convention center and waited. We got on the transport just as he was trying to break through the line. That’s the last I’ve seen of him.”

  The four of them sat there in silence. Hunter and Lexie were obviously stunned by her revelation and didn’t know what to say. She had to lighten the mood back up! She didn’t come out here to make everyone unhappy.

  “So, Kelly, you think Mister drop-dead gorgeous will drop by today?” She winked at her friend.

  Kelly, in return, playfully slapped her knee. “God, I hope not! I don’t know how much longer I can hold him off!” She laughed causing everyone else to join in.

  “I give it another couple of days then you’ll be begging for his attention!” Hunter said.

  “I don’t think so!”

  The rest of their time in the garden was spent telling stories of things they did on Earth as kids or about the families they once all had. Each of them had a different story and different lives, but here they were sitting around telling stories on another planet they weren’t meant to be on. She was happy that things turned out the way they had, except for the forty-six women that were lost. Nothing would ever bring them back, but the four of them could move forward and live happy lives there on Qetera.