Page 57 of Star Mates

But she wasn’t the only one his mind went to. Half of him worried about Pike, about Leona and Willoughbee. About all the others living in Sparta. With effort he pushed their fate to the back of his mind as he contacted the nearest Durian attack cruiser and offered his services. As luck would have it, as soon as the Sunray docked inside the larger ship, it came under fire.

There wasn’t any time to think or to plan. Raiden dove into the fight that lasted long and ended with a decisive victory. But as he rejoiced with the others that some of the Kexians had given up completely. A volley of blasts were launched and hit the cruiser. It was their last hurrah that caught Raiden in the crossfire standing too close to a console. It exploded and he knew no more.

****

Raiden opened his eyes slowly and blinked against the low overhead lighting. His tongue felt like he’d eaten sand, it was so dry. His head pounded and he realized he couldn’t move. His eyes popped open, all thoughts of his discomfort vanishing as he struggled against the ties that bound him.

“Stop moving, Captain Raiden,” a cold voice commanded. “Or you’ll undo all the healing your body’s worked hard at these past couple of weeks.”

Raiden turned his head and saw General Nairan Val’un standing next to the bed he lay upon. “Where am I? What happened?”

“I’ve been searching for you,” the General reported. “I thought I’d either find you dead or wounded and so I’ve discovered you here, on a Durian soldier’s medical barge. Seems like you fought with my comrades.”

“I did. I was…shit, I was on a mission and-”

“You were on an unauthorized mission to blow up the Merloni hub, which I might add, did nothing to stop the influx of humans from Earth,” he said gravely. “The Merloni have several more hubs just like it.”

“No, we uploaded a virus to their network,” Raiden said. “My friend Parker is a computer genus and encoded this algorithm to mess up their safety protocols. Whenever a ship returns it’ll take them into the Rings. It’ll force them to stop operations to figure out what’s going on.”

The General looked impressed.

“You should know that once we win this conflict the Merloni will not be allowed to transport humans any longer,” General Nairan stated. “But I must say, your bravery is most compelling. I have been wrong about humans for a long time. Miss Tice has certainly opened my eyes.”

Raiden’s attention narrowed at the mention of Emmarie. “Is she okay? Where is-”

The General held up his hand. “You had some major wounds, Captain Raiden, including head trauma. Once you are fully healed you can go to her. She is healthy and safe on Sparta.”

A medic he hadn’t seen earlier suddenly came forward and gave him a shot. Immediately, drowsiness settled over him.

The General leaned down to whisper into his ear. “Tell Miss Tice that Palazio will never hurt her again. I vow this.”

What? He didn’t understand. He wanted to stay awake, damn it! He wanted to know…how was…Emmarie…

She was the last thing on his mind as he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

****

It was almost two months before he managed to return to Sparta. As he made his way from the hangar to the center of town, he got his first glimpse of what had happened to his home. Hundreds of people scurried around, and Raiden spotted a lot of Durians helping with construction. It seemed like Sparta was being rebuilt, but as a stronger, sturdier city. Gone were the fostered bits of lumber. Instead, many buildings were being crafted with hide glass, which wasn’t glass at all but a heavy duty nearly indestructible polymer that had the look and feel of glass.

Leona stood in the framed-out structure of what had once been her establishment. She wore gloves and a hardhat, helping to nail boards into place.

“Leona!” he called out.

She looked up. Streaks of dirt and sweat covered her face. A smile of relief crossed over her features, and she ran over to hug him.

“Thank god you’re alive! Where have you been?” she asked gruffly. “We’ve been thinking the worst.”

“The whole system lit up in a war,” he told her. “I couldn’t get across the Rings, so we hooked up with a Durian fleet and kicked some Unarian ass. Unfortunately, I got caught in an explosion that knocked me out of commission for a while.”

“Pike’s been trolling the computer boards in the compound, searching for any data that might filter in on you. Thank the universe your name never appeared on the casualty lists!”

A small sense of relief washed through him to hear Pikon was safe. But something far deeper gripped his stomach, and it took all his strength to ask his next question. “What about Emmarie?”

“She was taken,” Leona told him gently. “Seems like Logan decided to try to bargain for a way back to Earth so he traded us for his and her skin. She had nothing to do with his plan, of course.”

Raiden blinked, not sure if he heard her correctly. “Logan…”

“Gave the Merloni the code to our shield grid,” she finished for him. “Yes. He betrayed all of Sparta. But he also betrayed Emmarie. He was double crossed.”

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