Cloud Riders (Lord of the Planets)

by Debbie Behan

  Business came first with Kayden so the men and their issues would have to wait. Jason and Woody left the girls to chat and have a drink while they followed Kayden and the rest of the team down to the satellite room. Kayden was in no mood after Aldebaran had upset Cassie. He felt sure in Aldebaran’s state of mind, that he would be planning something to coincide with the mission they were now being sent on and wanted to be ready for anything he might throw at them while they were up there.

  While Kayden worked on coordinates, Cassie filled her team mates in on their trip away. Even now Kayden felt blown away at the work she did up there and yet knew she really had no idea what she had accomplished.

  Conom was a real threat to the universe and when they had first come out of the trance, he was almost the same man they had all met in Sydney. His features were hard, eyes black as coal, deep-set and, angry-looking, his body rigid and pumped, ready to battle with Kayden at any moment. How Cassie was able to see through that and not be frightened of him was beyond him. In fact it was so disturbing that he nearly brought her home, but she refused to leave because she couldn’t see the way he saw the situation. She had laughed at the way he perceived the warlord and accused him of just being a little over-possessive.

  Well, hell yes I was! He punched harder on the keyboard and the guys stopped talking and looked over. He took a deep breath and smiled to show them he was cool. He watched as they went back to their conversation.

  In the end he’d caved in and given her a couple more days to see what she was capable of doing. Hour by hour he had watched as the most ferocious-looking character mellowed and in the end practically bowed at her feet, swearing his allegiance to her, to be in her life in whatever way she would have him, never taking up arms against her again.

  The boys will go ape shit when I tell them later, privately.

  He tuned in on Cassie talking about her dad and even though he liked the guy when he was around Cassie, there was a side he saw before they left that he just did not want to cross. His adoration for Cassie could not be denied. Yet maybe it was because they were father and daughter that her power didn’t work on him. She was wearing him down but had not won.

  The fight in his eyes when we left showed me he is the strongest son of a bitch I have ever met and it is just going to take a bit more time for my stealer of hearts as Conom calls her to get her dad to lay down his sword against her as well.

  Kayden switched on all the monitors and called for quiet. Woody as always stood with his arm around Cassie and Kayden was glad he now had Ella and would leave Cassie the hell alone. Not that I’m jealous of course. Much! He grinned. She might be a stealer of hearts but her body and soul belong to me. And here with my men I’m not going to share her ever again. Well, not unless the bastards steal her. Then I’ll just kill ’em. He almost chuckled at his thoughts. He smiled at her, loving his little lady with all he had to give. He just wanted to get this out of the way so he could snatch her away from them and hold her possessively until it was time to leave.

  She grinned up at him as she took a step away from the boys and giggled, making him laugh more. The little bitch knows she’s stirring me up and knows exactly what I’m thinking. His men wanted to know what was so funny and he told them with an amused expression to mind their own Goddamned business.

  ‘Well, its official,’ Woody chuckled. ‘The turncoat has dumped us for married life.’

  Kayden laughed louder. ‘You bet I have, so keep the hell away from my woman or I’ll replace you all with robots.’

  They all couldn’t stop laughing. They had their boss back and loved it. Pulling himself together, he turned back to the screens. ‘Okay, enough fooling around. Let’s get this out the way.’ He became serious and so did they.

  ‘The long feuding between the constellations Corvus, Crater and Hydra has come to a head.’ Cassie looked unsure of that particular feud. Kayden smiled at her, knowing she needed to know the full story to understand. ‘This is for you, gorgeous one. The story goes that Apollo sent his raven called Corvus to get water in the god’s cup called Crater but on the way the raven saw a fig tree and stayed on it until the fruit ripened. He then ate all the figs before returning with the water. When he did return, in one hand, the crow had water in the cup and in the other, a water snake called Hydra. He blamed the snake he carried for being so late. Apollo was furious and knew the raven was lying. As punishment he banished the raven into the sky with the snake, the cup of water and until this day the snake keeps water from the eternally thirsty raven. They now make up the constellation Hydra, Corvis and Crater.’

  She nodded, liking these little stories from the sky.

  ‘Anyway, the raven made friends with the ruler named Leon from the zodiac Leo constellation. Leon and the raven have since joined forces, deploying a white dwarf Supernova to destroy Hydra. Corvis’s strategy is for the nova to partly explode, just before it reaches Hydra, causing the outer casing to shoot away injuring the snake, leaving only the core. This will then hit the snake at full speed and with Hydra already weak from the smaller blasts, the snake will be disintegrated.’

  Kayden opened up a wider image of the area and showed them a simulation. ‘In theory, what they’ve planned sounds feasible. However, Zoren’s team are pretty sure the explosion will be big enough to reach and destroy the constellation Pyxis as well.’ They all watched as the simulation and recreation of the explosion did damage much more than Leo or Corvus had predicted. ‘As you can see, we could have more than just one constellation in trouble out there.’ The last position he charted was the location where they would need to be to prevent it from happening. ‘By information received from Alpha base we must intercept here.’ He showed the team. ‘This is where we have to destroy the Supernova before the outer case explodes. Are there any questions?’

  ‘We leave earlier than usual?’ Woody leaned toward the last screen, reading the distance on the monitor.

  Kayden nodded. ‘Sorry. It won’t leave you much time to say goodbye to your women and this being the first time, I would have liked them to feel a bit more comfortable about all this. Regardless, it is what it is. At least they have each other once you and Jase have gone.’

  After further discussion on the line of attack and everyone was satisfied, he switched the equipment off and taking Cassie’s hand in his, they headed back to the house to get organised.

  Jason couldn’t wait to show them Sonia’s ring and said why they couldn’t wait for them to get back before proposing. He described how Sonia’s folks were not going to let her leave home and just go live with someone she hardly knew. He’d up and asked for her hand in marriage right then and there without another thought. He looked so happy holding her that Kayden couldn’t help but feel pleased for the over-impulsive fool.Shit, who am I to talk? Cassie did the same to me. He smiled as he looked down at the remarkable lady in his arms with her angelic smile. Yes, love sometimes finds us in the most unusual places. He snapped out of his soppy, love-struck mood. He really needed to talk to someone and pulled Woody and Jase aside.

  He told them how Cassie had befriended Conom to a point where he practically bowed down at her feet. Filling them in on all the details, he gave them the picture to see if he was being rational in his thinking. Could he have dealt with anything differently? More than anything he was looking for support, maybe even a little advice on how to proceed from this point onwards.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Woody scoffed. ‘He already had his tongue hanging out when they first met, I could tell. Now you say the man has laid down his arms for her?’

  Kayden frowned. ‘He’s really taken to our girl. I nearly thought I would have to run with her. As we had all felt his rage, one could also feel his passion for her. I’m no fool and have to be mindful what this very powerful warlord would do if I was to take her away from him permanently at this stage.’

  ‘What has Cassie said?’ Woody inquired.

  Kayden ran his hand through his hair. ‘She only sees him as a friend
, someone kind and gentle. She has no fear of him at all and doesn’t see him at all the way we all do.’ He sighed and leant back against the wall. ‘I trust Cassie that she’ll sort Conom out and break the spell or whatever it is she has over him when she’s ready. I honestly believe the universe is using her as a key player in a game to tame these ruthless individuals. I can think of no other explanation.’

  Woody swore and hoisted himself up onto the bench, thinking.

  Jase seemed to be the only one of them who was not disturbed by any of it. ‘Jeez, you two. The ones who should know her the most, you sure don’t know shit!’ Jase said, flooring both of them. ‘Cassie has managed all of us with diplomacy and decorum. Each one of us has played a very special part in her life, after which she’s rewarded us with such happiness that words can’t describe. Kayden, you saved her and she gave you her body and soul. Woody, you cared for her like your own and she manipulated us all so that you could have your love, Ella. I was her friend whenever you two couldn’t be and she gave me Sonia. This Conom is in her life now for a reason maybe yet to show itself. But when it does he will be loved and rewarded as she sees fit. We are her knights and the universe is her round table. Whatever it is that is drawing her to him we have to trust that just like us, she will sort him out and then leave him as happy as we are.’

  Woody shook his head. ‘I think the J man may just have something there, K. It’s been staring us in the face all this time. How could we have missed it?’ Woody slapped his forehead. ‘Damn, if that does not beat all.’

  ‘That it does, my man, that it does.’ Kayden rubbed his chin, finally letting Jason’s theory allow him the relief he needed to slot the weirdness of the situation into perspective.

  Jase put his arm around Kayden. ‘Anytime, K! Cassie and you are tight, man, never lose sight of that. All the rest of us are pawns in the game our princess plays. When she gave me Sonia she gave me a dream come true and that was when I worked it out. I knew then that she was not just a princess we saved but had to be a goddess to do what she does.’

  ‘That, Jase, is exactly where my train of thought had gone and I was thinking I might be going crazy with such an idea. I so needed someone else to say it. Conom called her a stealer of hearts. I’m starting to think that maybe that is exactly what she is.’

  Woody grinned. ‘Yes that sounds like our Cassie girl. Suits her to the core.’

  Jase rolled his eyes. ‘God, no. Please, no disclosing what we’ve just discussed or we’ll never hear the end of her jokes about us thinking it. I can imagine the aftermath of problems it would create and can just hear her now. “Excuse me, goddesses do not cook or clean” or “The goddess would like her coffee now”. Kayden, this is between us forever. Cloud Riders code of secrecy! You have to promise.’

  They all laughed again and attracted the girls who came over to them. ‘What’s all the laughing going on over here? We want in on the joke,’ Sonia purred, leaning into Jase.

  ‘Never going to happen, sweetie, boys’ stuff. But you can come with me and show me how much you’ll miss me while I’m gone,’ he chuckled, dragging her to Cassie’s old room. ‘Later, men,’ he said over his shoulder, smirking.

  Ella was grinning up at Woody. ‘Well, K, I have other pressing business with my woman. Wake us when it’s time to leave,’ he said, throwing an arm around Ella and taking her to the main bedroom.

  Cassie was still chatting to Conor and Ethan, who where lying down on the sofas, so Kayden made himself comfortable next to his honey and smiled. The boys will be just about ready to enjoy themselves about now. What a bugger I can’t. No bedrooms left. Oh well. A grin widened across his face as he closed his eyes. Night boys, he thought, and chuckled as he put them all to sleep. Ah, to be the boss, revenge is so sweet.

  Sweet Betrothed

  When Kayden woke them up, the many harsh comments coming from the bedrooms were directed at Kayden. Cassie could feel his body trying to hold back fits of laughter.

  ‘I can only guess what that was about.’ Cassie nudged him. She turned around to face him and he had the biggest grin. ‘Just having a bit of fun with the boys. Payback can be so pleasurable.’

  ‘Coffee, cheeky one?’ She was enjoying his lightened mood.

  ‘Love one, sweetheart,’ he smiled as she jumped up, quickly moving from him as he made a grab for her. She saw in his expression what he was about to do and ran off on him, giggling. ‘Not so fast.’ He chuckled as he reclaimed her, growling as her father had—as if he were a big old bear too. He made her laugh more.

  In between his foolery, Cassie finally made everyone’s drinks and they went out on the veranda to drink them and catch up with each other while waiting for Zoltan to lead the horses out.

  Cassie turned to Ella, sensing she was a little hurt that Sonia was engaged before her. She had caught the look on Ella’s face when Sonia showed Cassie her ring for the second time. Woody saw the look too and pulled her next to him. ‘Come here, woman.’ He smiled and winked at Cassie. ‘I wanted to wait until you guys were here so you could be a part of my surprise,’ he said as the horses trotted out of the barn at Kayden’s command.

  It was the first time the girls would be seeing the horses or their transformation. Cassie knew how dazzling a show it was going to be for them. They all placed their golden bridles on the horses and mounted them. The girls gasped at the transformation and when Kayden put Cassie onto Starburst, Sonia squealed and ran over to hold Cassie’s hand.

  ‘Sorry, I have to touch you. My God! You look like an angel,’ she squealed again excitedly.

  She turned to Jason who jumped down to give her a hug. ‘You okay with this, sweetie?’

  Sonia was crying and laughing, trying to take it all in. ‘More than okay, babe.’ She jumped up on him, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him heaps of kisses. Jase loved it, more than pleased with her enthusiasm.

  Ella stood unmoving, watching Woody with undeniable love and pride. Woody dismounted and bent down in front of her on one knee. ‘Honey, I have loved you from the first moment and I will never love another as I do you. Will you marry me, beautiful and be my wife, even if I do have to run off on you all the time like this?’

  Tears rolled down Ella’s face, never loving anyone the way she did the man who knelt before her. While they were apart, Ella had missed him terribly and knew for sure he was the one she wanted. Her heart was already his. She bent down eye-to-eye and kissed his lips. ‘Yes, my love. I would want nothing more than to marry you and be your wife. As for you running off and looking like the biggest hunk in the universe? Not so happy I don’t get to enjoy it like the tarts up there but I’m sure I’ll get over it while going on a shopping spree with your money while you’re gone.’ Showing no emotion, making him laugh.

  ‘What about kids? Can I keep you barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen? If I’m away, I want to know no man will look at you. A fat belly should do the trick,’ he chuckled.

  ‘Kids are fine, sweetie but the men are still going to think I’m the hottest thing on two legs because I am,’ she stirred him.

  ‘That’s it! For a wedding gift I’m coming back with a chastity belt and locking you up until I get back.’

  ‘Jealous bastard,’ she slapped him playfully.

  ‘Get fat before I get back or I’m not marring you. I’ll find a way to keep them rich sods away from my sexy woman yet,’ the fun-loving kidder said jokingly as he give her a big smooch before getting back on his horse. He looked down at Sonia, now holding Ella’s hand. ‘Go help your friend get fat or I’ll never talk to you again.’

  Both women laughed uncontrollably, as the team rode off. Woody was a funny bastard and Cassie was glad he felt it important to have them there to witnesses the proposal. She couldn’t have been happier with both women.

  The clouds were different today. The colours were soft and swirled together like soft ice cream. It was relaxing and there was something different about it as they slipped out and into the fourth dimension, lan
ding on the Cirrus cloud which looked wispy and feathery. While they were in it, the cloud felt soft against Cassie’s skin, almost as if tiny feathers were running gently along her arms and face.

  The colours were white and silver with touches of gold. It was very pretty to be in but whipped you with incredible speed high into the portal of the next dimension where they came out into the solar system. The colourful planets and stars in the clear atmosphere sparkled and glittered as if she was in fairyland—if that even existed. Yet, this is real so who knows?

  From the height they were at, she could now make out Pyxis the mariner’s compass. They landed on Velorum, the controlling star that was ruled by Captain Rogers.

  The captain came out to greet Kayden. He was an elderly man with a very long grey beard. He was wearing a typical captain’s hat and lived in an old battle ship that was wedged in some sand and on an angle. The ship was quite a few meters from the shoreline, obvious that he had been ship wrecked for many years. He seemed a bright old chap, even though his face was badly lined with wrinkles from years of harsh weather on the seas, although his eyes seemed young, alert and friendly.

  He had a couple of men with him who must have been under his command because he growled orders at them before he flicked his hand as if he was swatting a fly, dismissing his men and dragging smoke from the pipe that hung from his mouth. The men quickly disappeared back into the ship bringing out something and passing it to the captain. Turning it to show Kayden, Cassie could see it was a compass and she realised he was showing Kayden new coordinates and pointed above him to Argo Navis, the ship constellation. He seemed concerned about the damage to the sail if the attacking star reached them.