Page 42 of Star Mates

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Damn him!” Willoughbee shouted just as Pike and Emmarie walked into the control room.

“What happened?” Pike demanded.

Willoughbee turned on him. “Raiden, Parker and Elliot took the Sunray.”

“But I thought he was going on a raid,” Emmarie said.

Pike threw her a dark look. “I’m his navigator, his partner.”

Realization dawned on her. “He went unauthorized?”

“He went to blow up the hub,” Willoughbee announced. She shook her head. “Damn it. Hot headed, just like his parents.”

Ice coursed through her, and her head began to pound. Emmarie stumbled back. “What do you mean, just like his parents?”

“They stole a ship too,” Willoughbee told her in a tightly, controlled voice. “And they never came back.”

Nausea rose up, and Emmarie thought she was going to be sick. “I…Excuse me.”

She stumbled out of the control room and thought back to all the conversations she’d had with him. From the moment he’d rescued her and Logan from the doomed Merloni ship, he’d felt betrayed. His parents had perished trying to save more humans from being abducted.

She made her way outside and hitched a ride back to Sparta, grief blanketing her thoughts. It was hard to keep from thinking the worst. To compare what his parents did and their sad ending to what he had just done. She’d lost so many in her life that staying positive was difficult.

That night her singing held a note of melancholy. She deliberately sung sad songs to feed the fear within her own soul. Pike had come back, and he worked side by side with Leona. Emmarie was glad they didn’t try to console her. Pike looked betrayed and Emmarie figured he was equally as pissed.

The next couple of days she lived for hope that she’d hear from him, either that or he’d just show up one night during her performance. And each night she prayed he’d be all right. She worked hard to sing inspirational songs, songs of rebellion and righteousness. More and more people stopped her throughout the day to listen to stories of revolution and Emmarie began to rely on Hollywood to give her imagination a boost.

She took to inviting people to Leona’s saloon to tell her stories, and every day the numbers grew. Leona didn’t mind and most of all, it kept her mind on something besides Raiden.

One day, a week after he’d been gone, Emmarie sat in the saloon telling a story of Paul Revere, when loud noises overhead drowned out everything. People jumped up and ran outside. Screams soon echoed and Emmarie quickly realized that something really bad was happening. Suddenly, part of the saloon exploded, and the world exploded in chaos. Leona grabbed her hand, yanking her along as they escaped. The sky was littered with small zipping ships, going back and forth, firing weapons. A few ships fired nets, capturing people. In the next instant, Leona tugged at her hand, and they were off, running toward the hangar. Heavy smoke lingered everywhere, obscuring the path and Emmarie wasn’t sure if they were heading in the right direction.

Panic was everywhere. People cried. Buildings burned. Fear blanketed everyone. She didn’t know where to go or where to look. She let go of Leona’s hand when a heavy net fell on top of her. Emmarie screamed as her feet were yanked out from under her, whooshing her upward so quickly that her stomach dropped. Nausea slammed into her, and tears burst forth.

She knew, without a doubt, the aliens who had bought her would be getting her soon.

****

Logan walked through the surprisingly elegant corridor, led on each side by a Kexian Sentinel. Unlike the Sunray, this ship didn’t have exposed pipes or wires and every surface was clean and polished. He felt dirty just walking past the white walls.

They approached a door that swished open, revealing a moderate size conference room complete with a table and several chairs. A Merloni and a tall, dark-skinned, black-haired man sat, waiting. His nose was dissected down the center, with two nostrils on either side. Both aliens looked up as Logan was brought forward.

Logan paused, still unused to seeing such alien looking creatures. He felt like he’d stepped into some Hollywood movie. The black-haired man stood and regarded him with disdainful eyes.

“You are the one that provided the Merloni with the shield code?” he asked, his accent very formal as he over enunciated some of the words.

“Yes. On the condition that one of the Merloni fly me and my companion, a woman named Emmarie Tice, back to Earth.”

“Is this human woman Emmarie Tice?” the man asked, holding out a computer that looked like a small iPad.

Logan glanced at it. “Yes. That’s her.”

The alien’s black lips compressed. “Then I’m afraid we’ll have to decline your offer,”

Logan blinked. “What? You can’t do that. I’ve already given you the code! You’ve already raided this place!”

“This woman is my property,” the alien man reported coldly.

“What do you mean…your property?”

“As I believe you are, too. Both of you came from the ship I commissioned to bring you from Earth.” The man laid the computer pad down on the table and nodded to the Kexians.

Logan’s arms were grabbed. He struggled but his strength was nothing compared to the two huge masses holding onto him.

“You can’t do this!” he yelled.

The alien regarded him without emotion. “Of course, I can. I own you.”

And Logan was dragged back through the ship, kicking and yelling the entire way.

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