Page 11 of BaOBy

What his mate called the hidden spaceport warehouse turned out to be larger than most cities. They walked past the Andaran’s compound until the street ended and there were no more buildings. They walked in what was essentially a desert for several more miles. Then climbed a small hill and looked down. At a huge, shiny… retractable roof.

There were no guards and only a few cameras on the outside of the building. There was no alarm system. It made little sense to Bao. Cat’s notes said Jacanas believed no one but his mechanics knew the building existed. And he trusted they wouldn’t try anything. Because they knew the Andaran would kill them.

Lan got the brothers through the door without detection. They waited in the dark while he verified there were no cameras on the inside.

When the lights went on—every single one of his brothers gasped—and ran for the center of the building.

“I call spoils of war,” Lan whispered.

Bao ginned. His brother wasn’t afraid of calling attention to them. The awed whisper was a sign of respect. “We aren’t fighting a war.”

Yet, he knew if they ever needed to, this was the ship that would keep them all alive. This ship had several layers. The outer layer was not only extremely resistant to damage, but it was also self-repairing. It could take a massive blast or run through a meteor shower and within hours, all the damage would be fixed.

Lan scoffed. “We will be. Even if there is just one casualty, it’s a war. I want that ship.”

“We all want that ship,” Bao agreed. “But is it the best choice for the job?”

All four brothers turned away from the ship of their dreams and looked out at the enormous building filled with all sorts of spacecraft. After only two seconds of comparison, they all said, “Yes!” Then giggled.

It was amazing what the sight of the top-of-the-line Astro Stealth Cruiser could do to all of them. Jay wasn’t here. He watched over Bao’s mate while the rest of them checked out the private spaceport full of… well, pretty much everything any pilot or space explorer needed. Even though Jay wasn’t with them, he was hollering Yes in their minds.

Bao already knew this big, matte black, beautiful ship was exactly the right one for this job. The med bay was state-of-the-art, there was no communication system harder to track, and… the 3000 was big enough to hall a city full of slaves to safety. He didn’t want it just because it was beautiful. It had a transportation bay, a large storage hold, and several floors of crew bedrooms that could be configured into single or family units. The kitchen was modern and had every convenience, including high-end replicators designed to mimic the food from any planet.

The navigation deck had every feature available. The security system not only provided cloaking for this ship, but it could also track any other ship out there… regardless of whether or not the ship was supposed to be invisible. The only spacecraft it couldn’t track was another ASC 3000. There weren’t enough of them to worry about. This ship was the newest model, and the most expensive. While he may have dreamed about this ship, he would never spend the amount of money it would take to buy one. But he sure as hell planned to take this one from the Andaran.

Bao didn’t just want the Astro Cruiser. There were several additional items in the building that were on his list as well. Pointing to the far corner, he told Bol, “There are two six-man hovers over there. I don’t see any larger ones. If the ASC doesn’t already have something that big, load those in the transportation bay.”

He turned to Lan. “See that big airjack? Jacanas has a hidden safe in the side bathroom. We have the password, but I think we should just load the entire thing, including the airjack. Stick both of them in the hold.”

Bard pointed with his chin. “Look at that wall. There are jet suits, spacesuits, and more tools than any mechanic would ever use. Our brothers would never forgive us if we didn’t take those, too.”

Bao nodded. “We have six hours before dark. Decide what we are leaving behind and make sure it won’t fly or work. Then load everything else inside the ASC. I’m going to go through the larger ships that won’t fit in the ASC’s transportation bay and check out the Andaran’s cabins. Cat’s notes indicate that each of his private cabins has a safe with cash and information discs. We want everything of value and any records he decided were worth secreting away.”

Bard threw him a big black duffle. “Here, use this. If you fill it up, just set in on the floor and I’ll load them on the Cruiser. I’ll scatter empty duffels throughout the warehouse so we can all just shove smaller items inside them if we see something we want.”

For the next several hours, there were no words spoken. The brothers did what came naturally—they used their inherent mental connection. If they didn’t KNOW if they needed an object, the brother would look at the item and sketch a question mark. The others would nod or shake their head for group consensus.

Starting at the walls, they quickly worked toward the middle.

Which was right where the Astro Stealth Cruiser 3000 was parked under the retractable portion of the roof. After they finished going through the building, finished taking parts and pieces off the other spaceships to ensure they wouldn’t fly without a great deal of work, and finished loading all the spoils of their particular war onto their new spaceship—they headed for the navigation deck.

Captain BaOBy sat in the extremely plush captain’s chair on the incredibly luxurious ASC and took control for the first time. His heartbeat raced when he put the ship into stealth mode. Once they cleared the hidden spaceport, he headed right for the Violeta forest.

Lan reached out to Reb and his woman to see where the hover was, while Bao contacted the DoMicile. He wanted a video call with all his brothers and their new mates within thirty minutes.

Chapter Eight

Catalina

Twisting and turning for hours in her bed, Catalina finally gave up. She opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling. Her life… was hell.

She didn’t know how much more she could take. Part of her was so desperate to live. To have her green alien hold her and care for her. She’d never been treated so gently. As if she were important to Baby.

Cat grinned. He struggled to keep the grimace off his face when she called him that. She couldn’t help it.

His arms were so strong, she loved it when he held her tight. It made her feel safe. Just thinking about Baby made her heart hurt. She wanted more time with him. Cat could feel happy-ever-after just out of her grasp. And yet, she knew it was impossible.

It was hard for her to promise to give Bao time to figure something out. To resist taking her revenge on the Andaran if she had the chance. She wasn’t sure she could keep that promise. Taking a deep breath, she sighed. Since she couldn’t sleep, she might as well get up.

---