******
Etor felt his blood run cold as he listened to his mate reveal her story to her friends. At first he didn’t have any intentions of eavesdropping on the group of females, but when he overheard one of them asking why Maggie chose to leave Earth, he figured this was the only way, for the time being, to find out what his little female was hiding.
He knew from the nightmares she suffered from that it had to be something serious. Never in all his life would he have dreamed it would be like she said. Another man wanted to put an end to her life all because she witnessed his crime. If he had known this when Vulmar left for Earth he would have gotten his brother to pick up the worthless man too.
There was no way he could question her about the experience because then she would know he had overheard her private conversation. No, he would let her tell him in her own good time and until that happened he would keep his mouth shut.
As he looked around the pillar he was standing behind he saw that Rhaegos that landed near the group but in his smaller form. It was safe for him to show himself now that they were on a different topic.
“Etor!” Maggie exclaimed when she saw him walking over to her.
As soon as he got to her he picked her up and wrapped her in tight hug. “I missed you.” He inhaled her scent and could smell her arousal immediately.
“Where have you been all day?” she asked.
“I had some matters I needed to take of which is the reason why I came to see you,” he said and he placed her back on the ground. “Hello, ladies.” He didn’t want to seem rude not to address their onlookers.
“Hi Commander,” Kelly said while Hunter and Lexie waved their hello. “Your brother isn’t anywhere around is he?”
“Not at the present moment. Why? Do you need me to send for him?” He smiled innocently at the female he knew had captured his brother’s heart.
“Etor, really?” Maggie playfully slapped his chest.
“What? I thought maybe she missed him or something!”
Kelly folded her arms in annoyance as she glared at Etor. “Yeah, something alright!” Everyone in the group laughed but Kelly. “Not funny.”
“Awe come on, Kelly. You know the guy has the hots for you, just admit it!” Lexie said as she tried to stop laughing.
“Whatever,” Kelly replied as she gave them the single finger salute.
Now it was Etor’s turn to not laugh. “What does that gesture mean?” He looked down at Maggie.
Maggie and her friends all burst out laughing at Etor’s confusion. “Oh baby, let’s just say it’s something not very nice!”
Etor growled at Kelly. “Well, I came to tell you I need to leave the planet in a few hours.”
“Whatever for?” Maggie asked.
“There have been some reports coming in that the Lephusans are gathering their strength together. I want to make sure all our ship and fighters are prepared for anything. I don’t trust Ruehar one little bit and wouldn’t be surprised if he tried something sometime soon.”
“Ok, when do you expect to be back?”
“I would expect in a day or two. I’ve got to make sure Qetera is safe. I’ve got to make sure that you are safe.” He kissed her forehead. “I thought maybe we could spend a few quality hours together before I left.”
She blushed at his words and knew exactly what he meant. “Sounds like a wonderful idea. I’ll see you guys later!” She waved good-bye to her friends as she took Etor by the hand and pulled him in the direction of their rooms.
Etor departed several hours later, leaving his mate sleeping soundly in their bed. He hated to leave her but he was still the ruling leader of Qetera and he had a job to see too. The shuttle he was to take up to the Arabis was waiting for him to arrive. He stepped into the awaiting shuttle and found Kharis piloting it.
“Do you think you took long enough?” Kharis said as he lifted the shuttle off the landing pad.
Etor sat in the co-pilot chair and strapped himself in. “I didn’t expect you to be going up with me.”
“Yeah, well, it was sudden decision.”
He looked at his brother suspiciously. “And why is that?”
“Let’s say a certain Earth female is going to be the death of me yet!” As soon as the shuttle cleared the city, Kharis took off. At the rate of speed they were travelling it wouldn’t take long for the shuttle to dock with the Arabis.
The shuttle flew through the brewing storm clouds over the city then shot up to leave Qetera’s atmosphere. The darkness of space filled the front window until the lights of the Arabis came into view. It was right where he had left her several weeks ago. Every time he saw her from the outside, he took huge pride in knowing that she was all his. His brothers also had warships of their own but his was the biggest in the fleet. Over one thousand crew could live and work on her for months at a time before ever needing to be restocked.
Kharis docked the shuttle with ease within the extensive docking bay. As they stepped out they saw that the area was a bustle of activity. Mechanics were checking and rechecking the fighters as the pilots looked on to make sure nothing went unchecked.
The brothers made their way to the bridge to find it equally as busy. The large viewing screen was currently split into several different views of the surrounding space. All eyes were glued to the screen looking for any unusual movement farther out from Qetera.
“I’d like to take the ship out a bit farther and scout around,” Etor said as he stepped up to look at the screen.
“I agree, Commander,” Troop Commander Thallan said as he walked up beside him.
“Good to see you, Thallan.” He slapped the man on the back in greeting.
“You too, Sir. Where are we headed?”
“I’d like to take a run around the closest planets. Just to make sure there isn’t anyone hiding behind them.”
“Good idea,” Kharis said.
“Alright! Let’s move her out!” Etor was now back in full commander role. This is what he had lived for. Now he lived for Maggie and Qetera, but would damn well die protecting either of them.
******
“Is everything ready?” Ruehar asked his captain.
“Yes, Sir. They are waiting for your order to take off.”
“Give the order, captain.” Ruehar watched out the massive window of his warship. This was the moment he had been waiting for and he wanted to watch every moment of it.
“Fighters ready! At my order you will take off and form the three fleets you have been instructed to form. As soon as we enter into the Yahiri galaxy the three fleets are to break off as directed. If you come across any patrolling ships, take them out!”
One by one hundreds of Lephus fighters took off out of the huge warship. It had taken a lot of time and money to rebuild his force since the last war. As each fighter flew out to fly alongside his warship he smiled. This armada would be the largest he ever had. Every available man was trained as a pilot and assigned to a fighter. Only those too old to fly remained on Lephus with the few females and children he had.
An hour later all fighters were deployed. It was a glorious sight to see all of his work come full circle finally. The trek to Qetera would pass-by quickly with the new engines his engineers had designed. Good old Etor wouldn’t see him coming.
Chapter 16
Maggie woke up the next morning feeling sick to her stomach. She had to have picked up a bug or something. The last week she had more upset stomachs than she ever had in her life. It was really becoming annoying to wake up and have to run straight for the bathroom.
A knock on her came just as she was walking out of the bedroom. She opened the door to find Kelly standing there with two mugs of steaming tea.
“Good morning sleepyhead!” Kelly slipped into the room and handed her the hot mug. “Just the way you like it.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled as she followed behind her.
Kelly plopped down on the extra-large sofa and looked at her. “What’s wrong? You look a lit
tle pale.”
She sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and tucked her feet underneath her. She blew on the hot tea then took a tiny sip of the delicious liquid. “Girl, my stomach has been so upset lately. It’s got to be the food here.” She rubbed her belly as an indication of it being upset.
“I’m okay and as far as I know, so are Hunter and Lexie. We stayed up late last night and no one said anything about feeling ill. Maybe you should give Jonik call. Maybe you picked up some strange Qeteran bug.” Kelly sat her mug on the side table then reclined on the puffy cushions. “Damn, I love this sofa! Feels like I am sitting on a cloud.”
“I guess I should call Jonik. Funny thing is, it goes away during the day most of the time. It’s just when I wake up it hits me.”
Kelly shot up straight on the sofa. “Whoa! Did you say it’s mostly in the morning?”
“Yea, why?”
Kelly rolled back on the cushions hooting and laughing hysterically. “Oh. My. God.” She had tears trailing down her cheeks she was laughing so hard.
“Come on, Kelly. Be serious. Why are you laughing?”
Kelly calmed enough to sit back up and look her in the face. “Girl, you’re pregnant!”
The world fell out from underneath her. Her breath started coming in little gasps and her face felt flushed. Pregnant?
“Mags, you’re knocked up!” She leaned forward and hugged her friend. “This is incredible!” She planted a kiss on Maggie’s cheek.
Maggie was stunned. Was she really pregnant with Etor’s child? Come to think of it, she hadn’t had her cycle since before leaving Earth.
“Say something, Maggie!”
“I…I don’t know what to say,” she said.
“Say that you’re happy about it. I know I am!” Kelly jumped off the sofa. “I got to go get Hunter and Lexie! Be right back.”
Kelly ran out the door before she could even stop her. She needed some time for this to sink and to tell Etor before the entire house knew. But, how long would Etor be away? He had told her only a day or two but things could always change. She would make her friends promise not to say anything until she had time to tell Etor. A baby!
The door to her room swung open with a loud bang on the wall. Kelly tugged a sleepy Hunter and Lexie into the room then shoved them down on the sofa. “Go ahead. Tell them, Mags!”
She watched the two women who didn’t look pleased to have been dragged out of their beds by an overactive Kelly. Hunter yawned while Lexie leaned on the nearest pillow with her eyes closed.
“Maggie, tell them!” Kelly bounced up and down like a child on Christmas morning.
“I think I’m pregnant.”
Silence filled the room for about a half second before all hell broke loose. All three of her friends screamed and shouted. Hunter and Lexie came instantly fully alert and joined Kelly in her bouncing up and down. Then they pulled her off the sofa and wrapped her in group hug. At that point she couldn’t help but join in and laughed right along with them.
“I knew something was wrong yesterday in the garden. I noticed you kept rubbing your stomach,” Lexie said. “It’s the nurse in me.” She smiled at her.
“Does Etor know?” Hunter asked.
She shook her head. “No, he left early this morning before I got up. Kelly is the one who told me what it was.”
“You still need to confirm it with Jonik, but there’s no doubt about it. You’re prego, my friend.” Kelly flopped back down on the sofa. “We should get dressed and go over to medical clinic right now.”
The sound of glass shattering filled the room. The women screamed and covered their heads as glass flew everywhere. The sound of running footsteps next filled the air as they crunched over the broken glass on the floor. Maggie screamed again when someone grabbed her hair from behind and jerked her head back until she looked up at the face of a man she didn’t know. She heard Kelly shout as the wave of soldiers stormed the room.
“What the hell! Let me go!” Kelly screamed and kicked out at her assailant.
Several soldiers rushed to help subdue Kelly. Hunter and Lexie were sprawled on the glass covered floor each with a knee in their back as another soldier secured their hands behind their backs.
The one holding her sneered down at her as she tried to get him to let go of her hair. “So, you are the whore to the commander. Not bad looking I must say.” He pulled her off the sofa until she stood up in front of him with her back to him. “Where are the others?” he asked.
In the mist of the pain he was causing, she heard him ask that strange question. “What others?” she hissed out as he squeezed tighter.
He let go of her hair only to jerk her around to face him. “Don’t play games with me! Where are the other Earth females being held?”
His breath smelled like rotten meat as he shouted in her face. Her stomach flipped in protest to the disgusting smell. “There aren’t any other women.”
He slapped her with the back of his hand nearly knocking her to the ground. Kelly continued to fight with her captors as she screamed at the man. “Get away from her! Don’t touch her.” She succeeded in landing a knee in the crotch of one of her captors.
“I will ask you one last time. Where are the other females?” He shook her until she managed to answer him.
“There aren’t any other Earth women! We’re all there is. The rest died on the transport!” He had to stop shaking her or she was going to throw up all over him.
“She’s not lying!” Lexie called from the floor.
The man looked between her and Lexie. She guessed he was debating whether or not they were telling the truth. “How is that possible? And I warn you, do not lie to me or I will shoot you right here.”
“You asshole! Our transport was hit by an asteroid. If it weren’t for the Qeterans we would have died too.” Kelly was now pinned to the sofa and was being restrained the same way Hunter and Lexie were.
Zol’tsa drew in the deepest breath he could. He would be able to smell the lies if the females were truly indeed telling them, but what hit his nostrils was the pure truth. “They tell the truth.”
“What do we do then?” one of the soldiers asked.
“We take these four and get out of here,” he said.
The women were quickly bound and gagged by the soldiers then thrown over the shoulder of one. Zol’tsa personally held onto Maggie. This one was to be his prize as promised by his king.
The group exited the same way they had entered. With the females’ silenced and unable to move, their escape was unheeded. He thought for sure the Commander’s guards would have come running at the first sound of the break in and it confused the hell out of him until they were almost across the open field behind the house.
A fireball flew closely overhead and crashed with a horrendous explosion into the ground. The explosion knocked all the running soldiers to the ground stunned. The women had tumbled a few feet away and were crying and struggling to get free. The one called Kelly tried to say something but the gag in her mouth prevented him from understanding until she jerked her head up. His eyes followed hers.
There in the sky was the reason why their escape had gone unnoticed. Qeteran fighters were doing battle with Lephusan fighters! Ruehar had moved in without letting him know. Blasted fool! How was he going to get off the planet with a full fledge battle going on in the sky?
The scene away from the house was chaos. People ran in every direction to get out of the way of falling debris. Several building had caught fire because of the burning fighters that fell to the ground after being shot. The Lephusan fighters not engaged in a fight were systematically destroying buildings with the green pulsars shooting out of the bottom of their ships.
“Let’s move!” Zol’tsa shouted above the noise that now filled the air.
Regaining their footing, they restarted their run across the field. They needed to find a way to their ship or they all would surely die! They decided to take a chance and run along the stream. It was less cr
owded with buildings and homes so they should have a relatively easy time getting through.
Just as they were about to round the corner of the supply building a loud growl vibrated the air. “Halt!” he called out and motioned for his men to move against the wall. He peered around the corner to see what was near them. He nearly passed out when he saw the dragons flying alongside the Qeteran fighters, taking out enemy fighters with one blow of fire.
“Shit! We got problems!” he yelled back behind him.
The soldier standing right behind him chanced a look then moved back into hiding. “Sir, there’s no way we are going to be able to get to the ship. Those dragons will take us out the instant we lift off.”
“”Don’t you think I know this?” He needed to think quickly.
“Sir,” the same soldier called, “What if we steal that shuttle over there?” He pointed to the Qeteran shuttle sitting inside of a hanger with the doors open.
He thought for a moment before he nodded. “Not a bad idea, soldier. We need to move to that hanger without being seen!” he shouted to all. “One by one, I want you to run to that hanger as fast as you can. “I’ll go first to get the shuttle started. As soon as I reach the hanger the next one goes. You three with the women are the first to move after me, got it?”
All heads nodded in agreement. “Oh, and make sure you don’t get shot because no one is stopping to pick your unlucky ass up!” He took off with Maggie on his shoulder.
He ran as fast as he could. A piece of metal whipped by his head barely missing him. The air around him and the hanger was heated due to the amount of dragon fire being blown into the normally chilly air. Another loud roar caused his ears to rings. This time it was the sound of a dragon falling to its death. The ground shook as the giant beast hit the landing pad and remained motionless.
Breathlessly, he slipped into the hanger. He signaled the next man to move then headed for the shuttle whose door was already open. Rushing inside, he tossed the female onto a seat and ran for the pilot’s chair. It would take some doing but he was positive he would be able to hot wire the ship and bypass the security system.
Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) Page 12