Star Rider and Bonds of Love: A Sci-Fi Space Opera with a Touch of Fantasy

by Heidi Skarie

  Jake looked at her with a soft, intimate expression. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to attack your beliefs. I know you sense things others don’t.” She realized with a jolt that he still cared deeply about her.

  Toemeka stared back at him feeling the old attraction. He was a handsome man with lush dark hair, beautiful deep-blue eyes, and an easy roguish grin. She felt her face heat up and glanced at Michio. He never missed anything and he clearly hadn’t missed this. His body was tense beside hers and his arm became rigid around her waist. His eyes were always penetrating and now they seemed to look right to her Soul.

  “I’m tired, Michio.” Toemeka rose.

  Breezy hugged Toemeka, then slipped into her place beside Jake.

  Toemeka and Michio started walking toward the tent. “Why were you involved with a man whose beliefs are so different from your own?” Michio asked.

  “He knows there are things he can’t explain or understand. He was just being difficult. He likes to get me riled up.”

  “How serious was your relationship?”

  Toemeka shoved her hands into her pockets, wondering why Michio was asking. “Fairly serious.”

  “He’s still in love with you.”

  “I don’t think he ever really loved me. Anyway, he’s crazy about Breezy now.”

  Michio frowned. “He doesn’t look at Breezy the way he looks at you.”

  “He’s upset that I almost got sacrificed and that Cadmus is still tracking me by some mysterious means he can’t explain. We’re good friends, but there’s nothing between us besides friendship.”

  “I never said there was.”

  “You implied it. I’m going to check on Najetta.” She left him and crawled into Najetta and Richwood’s small tent. Sharma sat beside her sleeping mother.

  “How is she?” Toemeka asked.

  “She’s got a bad cold and cough. I’m afraid it’s developing into pneumonia. She needs a warm bed and medical attention.”

  “We’ve lost Commander Rochambeau. Maybe we can leave the wilderness now,” Toemeka said. She pressed her hand against her forehead, feeling a bad headache coming on. She didn’t really think they’d be able to lose Rochambeau. He was obsessed with recapturing her.

  “Do you have another headache?” Sharma asked.

  “I’m getting a migraine. Do you have a pain pill?”

  “I only have a few left.” Sharma handed her a pill and a water flask. “Do you want me to get Michio?”

  “No, we had an argument.”

  “About?”

  “Jake. Michio thinks there’s something between us.”

  “There’s always been something between you and Jake, but you’re married and obviously in love with your husband. Besides, Jake and Breezy are together now.”

  “That’s what I told him. Well, not the first part about there being something between Jake and I. Whatever that was, it’s over.”

  “When you love someone, those feelings don’t go away just because life changes.”

  “You’re thinking about Connor. I’m deeply sorry for your loss. He was a wonderful man.”

  Tears glistened in Sharma’s eyes. “Sometimes I think maybe he isn’t really dead and that he’ll come back to me after the war. He died in a dogfight and there wasn’t a body to bury. I dream about him. It always feels so real, but then I wake up and he’s still gone.”

  “Losing a loved one isn’t ever easy, even when you know we never die as Soul.”

  “It’s hard to see Breezy so happy with Jake and your loving relationship with Michio. Even Erling fell in love and got married. Why did I have to be the one to lose the one I loved? I want children; I want a home in Tismus. Now Connor’s dead, Tismus is conquered by Samrat Condor and we have to leave planet Alandra.”

  “You’ll enjoy living in Jaipar on planet Borko. It’s a beautiful country located right on the ocean and it borders a vast mountain range.”

  “Jaipar is free right now. You and Erling helped free it, but it’s far from safe from Samrat Condor’s clutches. He could attack at any time, like he did here on Alandra.”

  “Erling united the entire planet’s military defense. I don’t think Samrat Condor can gain control of it.”

  Toemeka’s headache grew worse. She pressed her hands against her forehead. “I’d better lay down. Good night, Sharma. You’ll find love again.” The two women embraced.

  Toemeka left the tent and went to her own. She took off her slippers and robe, then tore off the ceremonial gown, hating what it represented. She crawled into her sleeping bag, head throbbing, and surrounded herself with a wall of Light to protect her from Cadmus’ psychic attack. She felt Michio’s energy as he entered the tent and moved beside her. He placed his hand on her forehead. “Rest, my love.”

  “Michio, it’s over between Jake and me.”

  “I know. Feel your body relax. Start with your feet, relax one at a time and work your way up until your whole body is relaxed.”

  “You know I love you, body and soul. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you.” She looked up at him through a fog of pain.

  “I’m sorry we quarreled. I know you’re upset, but I don’t think that it’s the reason for your headache.” He gently massaged the pressure points on her face and forehead. Her headache began to recede. He kept massaging until it had dulled to bearable level. “Commander Rochambeau is causing these headaches by psychically attacking you. I’ve put up a shield to block him, so you can get some rest.”

  Toemeka began to relax as the headache eased. Reassured by Michio’s inner protection, she drifted off. She was awakened in the middle of the night when she heard Michio moaning her name in his sleep. He thrashed restlessly, then put an arm around her and lay quiet again. Through his unconscious actions, she realized the extent of his concern for her, more deeply than his words could ever convey. Her heart ached at having caused him such pain.

  Najetta began coughing in the nearby tent. It was a harsh cough that lasted several minutes. Toemeka felt torn between wanting to help the Fenians and her desire to stop causing Michio so much anguish. She drifted back to sleep.

  It seemed only moments later when Michio shook her awake. “We’re breaking camp. Hurry.”

  “It’s still dark,” Toemeka grumbled not fully awake. Rain fell heavily on the tent.

  Michio turned on the flashlight that hung from the ceiling of the tent.

  “A scout spotted Commander Rochambeau’s camp two miles away.”

  “Oh, God no! I thought we’d lost him.” Toemeka sat up and looked around for the ceremonial gowns and robe. They lay in a crumpled heap on the tent floor where a puddle of water had gathered. She slid the damp garments on.

  After putting on her rain poncho, she and Michio dismantled the tent and packed up their supplies in the pounding rain. As they worked, water soaked through the fabric of Toemeka’s slippers and her hands became icy cold

  “Move out,” Jake said, tramping into the woods. Breezy hurried after him.

  Toemeka slid on her backpack. “Come on,” Michio said, holding out his hand. Toemeka grasped it and they started walking. A wet branch brushed against her face and she shoved it away.

  Najetta started coughing and Toemeka glanced back at her and Richwood who walked behind them. As Najetta continued to cough, Toemeka saw concern etched in Richwood’s face. She wished there was something she could do for the older woman, who treated her like a daughter. Toemeka released Michio’s hand and pensively shoved her chilled hands into the poncho pockets to warm them. The plastic pockets did little but keep her hands out of the rain.

  After hiking for over two hours, Najetta said she needed to rest. Toemeka found a boulder and wearily sank onto it. The rain was still coming down, but not as hard. She pulled an energy bar from her pocket and took a bite. It was good, but she doubted it would fill her. After taking a drink of water from her bottle, she ate the rest of the bar.

  “I’ll go check on Najetta,” Michio said, gazing down at her
from where he stood.

  “Good idea.” As she watched him walk over to the older woman, an animal howled off in the distance.

  “What was that?” Toemeka glanced around uneasily.

  “A bashe,” Jake said walking over. “It’s a long way off. Don’t worry about it.” He wore a wide-brimmed leather hat that kept the rain from splashing on his face.

  “What’s a bashe?” Onolyn asked, joining Toemeka on the boulder.

  “They’re like mountain lions, only larger,” Toemeka said. “They mainly eat marrets, though sometimes they kill and eat children and small women.”

  Onolyn looked around uneasily. “How close do you think it is?”

  “Commander Rochambeau and his men are more of a threat than bashes,” Jake said. “I don’t know how they found us.”

  “I told you last night,” Toemeka said. “He feels my presence. It’s like the way you sense when a Talon spacecraft is coming before anyone else.”

  His eyes were troubled. “Maybe you’re right. We don’t seem to be able to lose him. But keep quiet about this. It’s starting to cause problems. Some of the men are talking about making you and Michio separate from the group.”

  “That might be for the best.”

  “No, if there’s a fight, we’re stronger together. I’m not letting you fall into Commander Rochambeau’s hands again.”

  White Owl appeared noiselessly out of the woods. “They’ve picked up our trail.”

  Jake turned to the scout. “How far behind are they?”

  “They’d found last night’s camp when I spotted them. Erling and Zac are still out there, monitoring their moves. They’re covering ground quickly.”

  He glanced meaningfully at Najetta, “Whereas, your group isn’t.”

  “We’ll have to slow them down.” Jake turned to the Fenians and raised his voice, “Break’s over. Let’s get moving. Toemeka, you’re in charge of seeing that Erling’s family keeps up.” Jake disappeared into the woods with White Owl.

  It troubled Toemeka that she was a liability to the others. She could split off from the group, but Jake and Michio would never agree to it.

  “Where’s Richwood?” Toemeka asked, her teeth chattering with cold as she sloshed through puddles to join Michio and Najetta

  “He’s scouting with Erling.”

  Michio put an arm around Najetta and helped her along.

  They traveled all morning, not stopping at noon. It rained off and on and despite Toemeka’s rain poncho, she was wet and chilled. Her poncho didn’t fully cover her long robe and it was soaked from the ground to the middle of her thighs. Her feet were numb with cold in nothing but soaked slippers, which had holes worn completely through them in places.

  She’d heard nothing more about Cadmus and his men, nor had she see Jake again. Najetta’s cough had worsened; she was running a fever. Toemeka knew they couldn’t keep going like this, with little rest and hurried, often uncooked, meals. Moreover, their food would run out before they got to Kossel if they had to keep hiding from Cadmus.

  In the drizzly afternoon, Toemeka was walking beside Michio and Najetta when shots rang out in the woods. A chill stabbed through her. “What’s going on?” Toemeka asked.

  “A few of our soldiers are shooting at Rochambeau’s men from hidden places in the woods in an attempt to scare them off, or at least lower their numbers,” Michio said.

  “It’s my fault,” Toemeka said. “Cadmus wants me.”

  Michio shook his head. “Don’t take all the blame. He also wants to capture me. Samrat Condor has a price on my head and he wants Erling dead and the Resistance destroyed.”

  “Erling’s family doesn’t have the strength to keep running.” More shots blasted the air.

  “Richwood does,” Najetta said with a hint of pride. “He and Erling are taking a few shots at Rochambeau and his men as we speak.”

  “Richwood doesn’t know anything about warfare,” Toemeka gasped. “He’ll be killed!”

  “He fought in a war on Alandra when he was a young man,” Najetta said. “Didn’t he ever tell you?”

  “No, he never did.”

  “I suppose not. He wouldn’t have wanted to frighten you with talk of war after all you’d been through. All three of my children are in the Coalition and are familiar with war. It’s not your responsibility to protect us all, child.”

  The sharp crack of gunfire was heard, off and on the rest of the afternoon, as they continued their journey. Toward evening, it started raining heavily and Toemeka took a shift helping Najetta walk.

  Eventually, Jake appeared out of the gloom and ordered the group to look for a place to stop for the night.

  “Is it safe to stop with Cadmus’ men so close?” Michio asked.

  “He and his men already set up camp. This downpour stopped them temporarily. I just hope it doesn’t turn into snow. We’ll risk lighting fires tonight to dry everything out. I’ll post double-guards in camp and send out several scouts. You have the first shift in camp, Michio. I didn’t think you’d want to scout and leave Toemeka unprotected with Rochambeau so close.”

  “You’re right; I don’t want to leave her.”

  “I’ll take a shift,” Toemeka said.

  Michio and Jake both spoke at the same time. Michio with a simple “No!” while Jake elaborated by saying, “It’s too dangerous, if Commander Rochambeau can trace you as you say he can. You’re responsible for Najetta. Put up a tent and get her out of this rain. I don’t want her slowing us down even more by getting worse.”

  “I can guard camp with Michio.” Toemeka’s teeth chattered with cold as she crossed her arms in front of her for warmth.

  “You’ll take orders, just like everyone else.”

  “What about Breezy and Sharma?” Najetta asked.

  “They’ll take shifts guarding the camp,” Jake replied.

  “What happened in scrimmage today? Were you able to kill any of Rochambeau’s men?” Michio asked.

  Jake’s expression became grim. “We killed a few, but at a high cost. Three of our soldiers were killed, Lizet, Felix and Ace.” Jake walked away to supervise the camp defense.

  Toemeka stared into the woods, thinking of the soldiers who’d died.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Michio said, picking up on her thoughts. “It’s easy to follow the trail of twenty-five people. You’ve been successfully blocking Cadmus’ mind probes.”

  “He wouldn’t go to all this effort if it was just for a few guerilla soldiers, hiding in the wilderness, and a family of escaped prisoners who did nothing.”

  “He’s under pressure from Samrat Condor to destroy the Resistance.”

  “No, it’s personal for Cadmus. He’s obsessed with me.”

  “He won’t recapture you. I’ll protect you.”

  They went over to where camp was being set up. Toemeka led Najetta to a place that was fairly dry under a large pine tree while Michio gathered wood, twigs and birch bark. It proved difficult to get a fire started with everything wet, but finally Michio was able to get a small blaze going. The rain continued pouring down, but the fire was sheltered by the large pine branches. Najetta began coughing again, her cheeks bright red with fever.

  Michio left the fire to help set up the tents and get their sleeping bags organized. Too exhausted to help him, Toemeka huddled close to the fire to get warm. The temperature had dropped significantly as they climbed higher into the mountains.

  “How are you doing?” Toemeka asked Najetta.

  “I’m too old for this.” She started coughing again. When the coughing spell passed, there was blood on her handkerchief.

  Toemeka couldn’t stand watching her suffer. “You need medical attention.”

  “I’ll be all right. Erling’s come all this way from Borko for us. He’ll get us safely off this planet and I’ll get the help I need.” Motherly pride tinged Najetta’s voice. “Even as a child he could accomplish whatever he set out to do.” Najetta embraced Toemeka. “You’ve been through so
much, dear one. You should be at home with your baby, instead of in the wilderness being hunted by that manic.”

  Toemeka hugged her back, her heart hurting at the mention of her child. “Missing Baymond is the hardest part of all this. If everything had gone as planned we’d be home by now. I didn’t think I’d be separated from him for so long.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I didn’t want Michio to come because I didn’t want both of us risking our lives. If we both die, Baymond will be an orphan.”

  “Neither of you are going to die. That husband of yours is no ordinary man and can protect you from Cadmus’ powers. You’re fortunate to have a husband that loves you as much as he does.”

  Najetta pulled away and coughed again. “I’m looking forward to holding Baymond. He’ll be a grandson to me. Who is taking care of him while you and Michio are on Alandra?”

  “Koriann. She loves him as if he were her own child.” Toemeka put another branch on the fire.

  “I’m surprised she has time with a kingdom to rule. I’d like to meet this queen someday. Erling would only marry someone truly special,” Najetta said.

  “She is special. I hope Baymond’s not too much of a burden for her. Especially since she’s pregnant and hasn’t been feeling well.”

  “I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sure Baymond must have a nursemaid who takes care of him most of the time.”

  “He does and she’s very good with him.” Toemeka’s heart wrenched. “Better than I am.”

  “No nursemaid is better than a baby’s own mother.” A dreamy look entered Najetta’s eyes. “Imagine, Erling a prince and his future child royalty. God grant that my family makes it to Alandra.”

  Toemeka’s chest tightened. “You’ll make it there,” she said with conviction as an idea began to form.

  Once Najetta was settled for the night, Toemeka entered her tent and began checking the gear in her backpack. She had a compass, map, full water bottle and four food packets. It would have to do. She zipped the side pocket shut as Michio reentered the tent, carrying two bowls of soup. He handed her a bowl, then began eating. Toemeka ate slowly. The freeze-dried soup wasn’t good, but warmed her empty stomach.