Page 13 of Star Mates

CHAPTER FOUR

The Sunray was designed like a bullet. The front held the cockpit and controls, the spine being the overhead walking path, and all around the sides were storage compartments, sleeping quarters, the mess hall, and a tiny area for the bathroom facilities.

Raiden sat at in his pilot’s seat, staring moodily into the inky blackness of space. His mind lingered on his two guests. On one hand he was consumed with anger. There weren’t supposed to be new human slaves anymore. Thirty years ago, a group had sacrificed their lives to make sure the Merloni couldn’t access Earth again by blowing up the Slip Gate Hub. Obviously, those people had died in vain, and it burned like acid in his stomach.

Didn’t matter that Emmarie Tice was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Pikon said behind him.

Raiden turned to see his friend leaning against the bulkhead, arms crossed. A frown twisted his lips.

“I can assure you that you don’t,” Raiden said wryly.

“The Slip Gate mission.”

“Right,” Raiden replied in an off manner. “But…”

His voice trailed off.

“But?” Pikon asked. “Maybe the swing of long blond hair in the frozen space air?”

“I sometimes wonder about your mental state,” Raiden murmured, looking back out into space. He thought that would be the end of the conversation.

“And I wonder about yours, my friend.”

Raiden swung around to stare at him incredulously. “What?”

But Pikon only shook his head. “You know what I mean. You’ve got to let the past go.”

“Fuck off,” Raiden said and swung back around to his console. “We’re almost there. Get to your station.”

Pikon gave him a half-mocking salute. “Aye, Captain.”

****

Emmarie awoke from her light stupor when Raiden had announced over the intercom that they would be arriving at Arden’s docking station. She groggily opened her eyes and realized she was lying down. With a small whimper, she realized that the previous few hours were real, and being abducted by aliens hadn’t been a joke. Her head pounded, no doubt from the alcohol, but she forced herself to sit up. Once the world stopped spinning, she rose and made her way back to her previous seat.

Logan stared at her as she sat, one eyebrow raised.

“How do you feel?” he asked her.

“Like I got hit with a few asteroids,” she replied with a grimace.

He gave her a sympathetic smile.

“How can we get home?” she asked him quietly. “Even if we find a Merloni ship, how do we fly it?”

“I’ll fly the damn ship myself. Don’t worry, shouldn’t be too hard once I learn their language,” he replied. “Linguist, remember?”

Tears welled up in her eyes and there wasn’t anything she could do to prevent the sobs from braking forth. She was dimly aware of Logan reaching over and gathering her up in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she hiccupped. “I don’t normally break down.”

“Hey,” he whispered to her, running a soothing hand over her hair in a comforting way. “I think you’re allowed to cry in this situation, but it’s going to be okay. We’ll get home, Emmarie.”

“But it’s going to be pretty impossible, huh?” She sniffled.

“I’m not going to lie to you and say it’ll be easy,” he told her. “But I will protect you, that I promise.”

---