Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders)

by Rebecca Lorino Pond

  The sound of running footsteps drew his attention. One of the soldiers carrying a female ran into the shuttle and began to strap the females down. He worked reverently as he pulled this wire and that wire out from under the control panel. He struggled to find the third wire he needed. His patience was wearing thin, so he got down on the floor to search for the blasted wire.

  “Where’s the damn wire?” He pushed his hand into the tight opening to push the other wires to the side. Tucked up high underneath the panel was the thick wire he was looking for. “Got it!” He pulled the wire out to connect to the other two then twisted the three together. Standing back up, he looked to the back of the shuttle for a quick count. “Is everyone on board?”

  “That’s it, Sir.”

  He took his place in the pilot seat and prayed to Ruehar that the thing started. The switch that needed to be flipped instantly lit up when he turned it on. His thumb hovered over the start button for a second before he pressed it down. He closed his eyes and smiled as the engine fired up.

  “Here we go. Better say a pray to whatever god you pray to if you want to make it out of here alive.” He pulled back on the throttle slowly. He could hear the females in the back crying or trying to talk and it annoyed the hell out of him.

  “Shut them up!”

  He concentrated to moving the shuttle out of the hanger. As soon as it was clear of the building he looked up into the sky to find a clear path. Just as he was about to takeoff, a dragon with a rider on its back swooped down and blocked their path. He feared the rider would recognize him as a Lephusan but quickly realized the rider would not be able to see into the ship. The windows were protected from the glare of the two suns if the shuttle was used to fly into space.

  He held his breath along with the soldier sitting next to him. The Sky Rider and dragon stared at the shuttle too long for him to feel comfortable. If need be he would take his chances and rush the dragon. Seconds ticked by before the Sky Rider turned away from the shuttle. The blue dragon used its massive talon feet to push off the landing pad and fly up into the sky, disappearing behind a black cloud of smoke.

  He and the soldier looked at each other and let out the breath they were holding. “That was close.” He checked again for a clear path and found it. Two Qeteran fighters were currently engaged in a dog fight with three Lephusan fighters. If he moved the shuttle forward then make a ninety degree turn straight up he would be able to get the shuttle through. “I hope everyone is buckled in!”

  The shuttle shot forward to the desired mark then took a sharp turn up. Screams of fear came from the back of the shuttle as he was pinned to the seat. He pushed the shuttle as hard as it would go. It bucked and shuttered as it increased in altitude but kept going. The course wasn’t altered until they were free of the atmosphere and shooting past the fight going on outside the planet.

  As they passed the moons of Qetera he started laughing. He did it and his reward was sitting in the back! Oh, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her luscious little body, he thought to himself as the shuttle sped towards the awaiting warship.

  Chapter 17

  Hours earlier

  “Commander, I’ve picked up something big moving in from behind Pleuebos.”

  Etor rushed to the viewing screen. “Put it up on screen.”

  The screen came to life with a beautiful view of Yahiri and her planets. They were nearing the second largest planet, Pleuebos, when the alarm was sounded. As they sped closer to whatever it was and it sped closer to them, he was clearly able to see what stood before his ship.

  “Is that what I think it is, Sir?”

  Etor sounded the alarm for all personnel to report to their duty stations immediately. The Arabis was a war ship and she was about to go to war.

  “How the fuck did they get this close without detection?” He shouted at no one in particular.

  As they grew closer to the Lephusan fleet, flying pieces of debris hit the ship. The fighters he had sent out to patrol the outskirts of Yahiri were nothing more than space junk. The loss of the men hit him hard as he thought about the families they would have left behind.

  “Are shields on full?” he asked.

  “They are at maximum capacity, Commander.”

  “Prepare the guns to fire and keep firing until I tell you to stop!” His heart raced as he prepared to make a strike on the enemy. Maggie, his true life mate, flashed before his eyes. He closed them to keep her image forever engrained in his mind. He would come out of this alive, but if not, he hoped the love he felt for her would be enough to keep them together in the afterlife.

  His violet eyes darkened to a deep purple. He was going to put an end to this plague of the universe here and now. He was tired of being at war with a race that only sought out things for their own greed.

  Thallan joined him on the bridge as he was supposed to do when summed. He and Thallan would control the Arabis’s guns remotely. This way they could direct them where they were needed the most. After so many years together, they worked together like a finely tuned instrument. Each and every move was coordinated and called out as Kharis steered the ship.

  “On my mark,” he said. “Ready….FIRE!”

  The ship rocked as the first wave of pulsars left the ship. Orange balls of light sped toward the incoming fleet at an incredibly fast rate. The first of the pulsars landed on their intended targets. Ten Lephusan fighters vaporized. The ones surrounding the now vacant area returned fire.

  The Arabis groaned and shook violently as the ship took direct hits from the small fighters. “Don’t stop firing!” he screamed above the noise. He and Thallan moved quickly at the controls, taking out several more of fighters. Pluses of green and orange swapped places in space as each team fired relentlessly at each other.

  “Launch the fighters!” Thallan yelled. All communication lines in the ship were open so that any order given could be heard by all.

  Out of the bowels of the ship, fighters took off and quickly joined the fight at hand. The task now became hard for Thallan and himself. As they directed the guns, they also had to make sure they did not shoot down one of their own. The battle on the viewing screen looked more like utter chaos. Explosions here and there would rock the ship as an enemy fighter was taken out. Several more pulsars hit the ship in rapid succession causing the lights to flicker on and off. Smoke billowed up out of one of the computer stations. A young soldier rushed to put out the flame that could be seen underneath the station coming out of the wall.

  Smoke in the air choked him as he focused his attention on the screen. For each hit the ship took they took out six of theirs. The battle seemed to have gone on forever until finally the remaining Lephusan fighters peeled out and left the scene. He quickly gave the order to stop firing but the fighters were to remain in flight. Those with damage were to dock immediately.

  “Kharis, turn this ship around!” There was no way Ruehar would give up that easily. There was more to this attack then what they just went through. “I want a damage report!’

  “Commander, shield are holding. There’s some damage to the living quarters and to the cargo hold. No casualties have been reported on board ship but there are injured personal. We sustained a loss of fourteen fighters and another twenty have considerable damage.”

  “How many fighters do we have left that are capable of fighting?” He was desperate to know because he feared the worst when they arrived back at Qetera.

  “Eighty-three fighters are still functional with another two hundred on the surface.”

  They still had hope of coming out of this alive. With the fighters on the surface of Qetera he should be able to hold back Ruehar. He pressed his comlink on his shirt to connect with the landing pad on the surface. “I need all fighters to report to the outer atmosphere now!”

  “Sir, the fighters are already in the air,” came the reply from far below.

  “What are you talking about?” Chills ran down his spine as he looked over at Kharis who was looking
at him.

  “We are under attack, Sir! Have been for the last hour. All available fighters are in the sky along with the Sky Riders.”

  He didn’t know what to say. His planet was under attack and his mate was down on the surface. Sweet gods and goddesses! Ruehar had succeeded in getting past his defenses and now all of his people were in danger.

  “Make this thing move faster!” he shouted at his brother.

  Time crawled by as he stared out the viewing screen. The ship approached Qetera and they could see Ruehar’s warship hovering on top. More enemy fighters were surrounding the planet as his fighters gave chase.

  “I want that son of a bitch!”

  Kharis aimed the nose of the Arabis directly at Ruehar’s ship. Apparently, the self-absorbed king hadn’t noticed their approach yet or he would have moved by now.

  “Aim every gun at that warship!” Etor shouted. “Prepare to fire on my mark!” The tension in the air was hot and tight. The Arabis moved in closer to the enemy ship and prepared to take it out. “Fire!”

  Pulsars shot out and struck the unaware ship in the side. As each shot hit the massive ship, he could see the ship’s shield flash as it held steady. It was going to take an enormous amount of fire power to break through the shield alone, but he wasn’t going to stop until either the enemy was destroyed or his ship was.

  “Fire!”

  The warship trained its guns on them quickly as the first round of shots left his ship. The return fire came just as quickly and pummeled the Arabis. The fighters that had remain in flight now struck at the enemy with carefully choreographed dives that made it hard for the large ship to maneuver its guns fast enough to take them out. Back and forth the two ships fired upon each other.

  “Shields?” Etor asked.

  “Falling to fifty percent!”

  “Son of a…,” Etor was cut off as a barrage of pulsars hit his ship in the same spot. It was the best and most efficient way to take a strong shield on a warship and Ruehar was doing an excellent job of taking theirs out.

  “Commander, the shields aren’t going to hold much longer!”

  ******

  Maggie wasn’t about to just sit still and let these assholes take her and her friends away from their new home without a fight. She worked relentlessly on the ropes binding her hands together all the while keeping an eye on the men sitting close to her. The rope finally slipped away as the shuttle sped toward the huge ship circling Qetera.

  She needed to get Kelly’s attention, but how? Think, think, she argued within her mind. Got it!

  She made a loud gagging noise pretending she was about to throw up. She even put the movements into it for added effect.

  “She’s going to throw up,” Kelly tried to shout with the gag in her mouth.

  When Kelly looked her way she gave her a wink to let her know she was really okay. She kept of the façade until one of the soldiers shouted to pilot.

  “Hey, Captain. One of the females is gagging.”

  “What the fuck you want me to do about it?” Zol’tsa responded.

  Thankfully for her, the pilot didn’t bother to look back at them as she continued on with her fake sickness.

  The soldier sighed then got up out of his seat. He unstrapped her from her seat then roughly pulled her up. The soldier wasn’t nearly as tall as Etor which she was thankful for because if the soldier had been any taller she wouldn’t have been able to reach his eyes. She timed it perfectly as she moved her hands up to the man’s face to use her finger nails to gouge his eyes. Her aim was perfect! Blood immediately started to run down his face as he screamed in pain.

  Kelly was up out of her seat and lunging for the gun hanging on the soldier’s hip before any of the other soldiers realized what was happening. She watched as Kelly effortlessly fired one shot into each of the strapped in soldiers. It amazed her how fast her friend could move.

  The shuttle lurched to side as Kelly fired another shot to take out the last soldier. The shot missed the man she had intended it for but succeeded in hitting the co-pilot.

  “What the fuck!” the captain yelled and chanced a glance to the back. “Son of a bitch!” He struggled to unhook himself but Kelly moved quicker than he did.

  “I would advise you to sit your ass back down and fly this damn ship.” She jammed the gun into the side of the captain’s head.

  Maggie untied Hunter and Lexie as Kelly took control of the situation.

  “Dang girl, I about had a heart attack when I saw you do that!” Lexie said as she reached for one of the dead soldiers guns. “Never thought my life would ever get this exciting!”

  Maggie couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. “You call this exciting?” She waved at the chaos in the shuttle.

  “Damn right! This is a hell of a lot more fun than working in a boring doctor’s office,” Lexie said as she examined the gun in her hands. “Hey, how does this thing work?”

  “Shit! Don’t point that thing at me!” Hunter ducked.

  “Sorry!”

  “What are we going to do?” Maggie asked. “We can’t go anywhere near the planet or someone is going to shoot us down.”

  “I got an idea. Hey you,” Kelly hit the pilot on the top of the head with her gun. “How do you open up communications on this thing?” She started to push random buttons.

  “Figure it out for yourself,” the captain said.

  Maggie watched and cringed as Kelly hit the man in the head once again but harder this time!

  “Show me!” Kelly yelled at him.

  The captain reluctantly showed her how to open up communications to whoever might be listening.

  “Hello, hello! Is there anyone out there who can hear me? I’m an Earth female and I’m stuck on a Qeteran shuttle with a bunch of Lephusans. There’s also three other Earth females on board. Whatever you do, don’t shoot us down, please!”

  Maggie held her breath as she waited for a response to come over the speakers. It was dead silent in the shuttle expect for their breathing. “Maybe no one heard you, Kelly.”

  “I’ll try again,” Kelly said. “Hello? Can anyone hear this?”

  Far off in the distance they could see small explosions. They couldn’t tell who it was but prayed it was none of the Qeterans.

  A voice very distant sounding crackled over the speaker. “Who is this?”

  All four women cheered when they heard the reply. It was hard to hear but nevertheless it was answering the call for help.

  “This is Kelly and I have Maggie, Hunter, and Lexie on board with me. There’s also one Lephusan still alive too.” Kelly eyed the captain.

  “Are you the Earth females my brother rescued?” the voice asked.

  Maggie shouted in reply, “Yes! Yes! Do you know where Etor is?”

  “For the time being, yes, but we have a lock on your shuttle and will bring you aboard.”

  “Thank-you!” Maggie shouted.

  The four women gathered at the front window to search for the incoming ship. Kelly steadily kept her gun trained on the captain as they waited patiently to see the first movement of their rescuers.

  “There!” Hunter pointed out the window. “Do you see it? That bright light is getting bigger.”

  Sure enough the light moved closer to them at fast rate. Soon the outline of the massive ship could be distinguished among the blackness of space. They were all awestruck as their rescuer pulled their tiny shuttle into a large opening on the front of the ship. The shuttle seemed to be cradled on a pillow of air as whatever drew them inside, carefully sat the shuttle on a landing pad.

  Moments after landing the shuttle door was opened and in rushed a squad of soldiers with guns drawn. They all froze and waited for one of the soldiers to give some kind of direction for them to follow. No one moved or barely uttered a sound until a huge man walked into the shuttle.

  “Holy shit!” Kelly said. “He looks just like Etor but only shorter!”

  “May I introduce myself, I am Vulmar, brother to Etor and
Kharis.” He bowed to them then smiled. His eyes skimmed over each of them but stopped when he reached Hunter. The smile on his face faded quickly.

  “Ummm… excuse me. Can we get out of here?” Kelly chimed in.

  Vulmar tore his attention away Hunter. “Yes, yes! I’m sorry. Come! Guards, secure the prisoner.”

  The women rushed out of the shuttle. “It feels wonderful to get out of that tiny box!” Maggie said. “Vulmar, have you heard from Etor?” She rubbed her hands together nervously.

  “I’m afraid Etor’s ship has been badly damaged. There hasn’t been any communications from him in over an hour.”

  Maggie’s ears rang and her vision blurred. “Is he…is he..,” she couldn’t get the words out.

  “Is he dead?” Vulmar filled in. “I don’t know, but are going to find out.”

  Chapter 18

  The Arabis shook like nothing he had ever felt her do before. Her shields were about to fail and it wouldn’t take long after that for the rest of her to be blown apart. Part of the ceiling had fallen in on the bridge, but the viewing screen still held. He and Thallan were able to continue their own onslaught of blows as Ruehar fired on them continuously.

  “Commander! The shields have failed!”

  The next shot the ship took caused everything inside to go pitch black. They were blind now. Another hit made the ship tilt at an awkward angle sending Etor and the rest of the men on the bridge sliding across the collapsing room. Etor desperately tried to grab onto anything he could. Suddenly he was flung in the opposite direction as the ship took another direct hit. It would only be a matter of time before they blew up, he thought as he landed hard on his side hitting his head on something he couldn’t see.

  Images of Maggie flashed before his eyes as he felt darkness trying to consume him. He didn’t want to leave her without saying goodbye. He wanted to hear her voice one last time before he went to his death.