Page 15 of Star Mates

CHAPTER FIVE

Emmarie waited in her seat as the ship come to a bumping halt upon the docking hanger. Her first glimpse as she stepped off the Sunray took her breath away. Several ships, all sleek and big and futuristic looking, were parked on circular landing pads throughout the huge chamber. Men ran around servicing each one in some capacity or other. There were carts filled with everything from tools to sheets of metal, computer equipment stashed in every available space held data streaming by. Metal drums stacked neatly here and there. Her mind was simply in shock at seeing something from a sci-fi movie in front of her.

“Is this real?” Logan asked from behind her, sounding dubious.

Emmarie turned to look at him. He had his hands on his hips, gazing in confusion to the chaos around them. She smiled tentatively at him, but he ignored her.

“I find it unlikely that humans could advance so much as to build all this,” he continued, waving a hand around. “I mean, the greatest minds in NASA can’t even build all this!”

“That’s because you Earthlings are still using hydrogen as a form of fuel,” Raiden replied as he came down the Sunray’s docking ramp. “We have a different power source, more powerful and efficient, and it won’t blow us up if there’s an accident.”

“Still,” Logan shrugged, “this seems too high tech. Something out of television.”

Raiden shrugged. “We’ve had help. The Durians have supplied a lot of this technology.”

“The Durians?” Logan asked as he turned slowly, eyeing everything.

“Come on,” Pikon told him, waving. “I’ll show you around. You gotta see the cruisers.”

Logan didn’t spare her a second glance as he followed after Pikon.

Emmarie looked up to see Raiden staring at her. Standing next to him made her acutely aware of how big he was. He wore a black flight suit that fit his large frame rather tightly. His defined muscles moved fluidly under the material.

“Are you going to run away and cry some more in his arms?”

She straightened her shoulders. “You spied on me?”

He snorted. “Don’t be silly.”

“You could have a little sympathy,” she shot back. “Understanding.”

He ran a hand through his shaggy hair, separating the strands with long tapered fingers. “I do have sympathy,” he muttered. “It’s just…frustrating knowing that the Slip Gate is back in operation. But I’m glad we found you on the way back from the mission.”

“What mission were you on?”

He walked over to a stack of metal containers and opened one to show her the contents. “Medical supplies,” he said. “Pikon and I were away two weeks obtaining them from sympathetic traders on one of Kex’s moons, hence our run in with their sentinels. Anyway, it’s frustrating discovering the Slip Gate is back in operation.”

He stood there, shoulders slumped, a grim line slashing his mouth. Instead of the haughty captain, Raiden now seemed like a man with too much on his shoulders.

“I may be new to this situation, but Earth still has suffering,” she said softly. “It still has parts of the world with slavery, injustice, dictators and warlords. I can grasp the gravity of the situation.”

He took a step closer to her. She had to look up at him. Something rippled between them. An awareness she’d never felt before. The sensation, for lack of a better word, made her feel vulnerable, open and exposed, and she wasn’t sure if she actually liked the feeling or not.

“Pell!” Pikon’s shout came from somewhere behind them, causing them to jump as the connection was broken.

He took a step back, and the gossamer thread between them disappeared.

“Come on,” he murmured. “I’ve got to get debriefed before Pikon and I can take you into Sparta.”

“You have a city named Sparta?” she asked in surprise as she followed him off the landing pad, walking next to him as they wound their way through the busy hanger.

“When the first humans escaped past the Outlaw Rings, they found a sanctuary here on Arden,” Raiden explained. “They wanted to inspire others to rise up and fight. Sparta, from what I was taught, was known to have dominant warriors recognized all over Earth.”

“I guess you never saw 300, huh?”

“Three hundred what?”

She shook her head. “Never mind. So, this rebellion is fully underway?”

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