by Debbie Behan
‘Us too!’ Bree spoke for herself and Lisha, both excited about not going into the office in the morning.
‘Come on guys.’ Rory sounded frustrated with their concentration on the fun and not the duty.
It was a couple of hours or so before they all agreed they would give it a go. The way they looked at it was if they became Cloud Riders it would be dangerous and they could die protecting the planet. On the other hand, after learning about the conflicts going on up there, to do nothing meant the Earth was doomed. In that case, they would all die anyway. In the end, there was only one decision; to go with Axon and see where it took them.
The Best of the Best
At the shopping centre near the airport, it was a buzz of excitement as they ducked in and out of the specialty shops, buying a couple of changes of clothes. Axon gave them access to his credit card. The girls took advantage and indulged just a bit on big name designer clothes, shoes, luxurious silk lingerie and makeup, items they couldn’t normally afford to splurge on. Giggling like schoolgirls, Caitlin, Bree and Lisha ran up the steps ahead of the men and onto the private jet, still energised from their shopping splurge. The men shook their heads, wondering who were these women they thought they knew. Laughing at the mess they had already made as they buckled up, the girls pored over their items, already swapping, mixing and matching.
Caitlin was her usual bubbly chatty self and joked with everyone the whole trip. It made the time go a bit quicker and only towards the end of the journey did she plonk herself down and decide to watch a movie.
Rory smiled as she sat down. ‘At last we’ve worn her out. I thought she’d never give us any peace,’ he said, putting his arm around Bree and resting back against the seat.
Caitlin heard him and couldn’t resist one more annoying jab. Getting up, she jumped on his lap and gave him a last hug. His patience running out, he growled, sending her into a fit of laughter and back to her seat.
‘Little pest.’ He chuckled.
She knew he loved every minute of her antics. Getting comfortable and pressing in the earplugs, she turned up the sound, happy that even though Rory had a girlfriend, he was still her mate. Relaxing, she felt one of the guys sit beside her and she leaned into him. It was Jarvis and even though she adored him, she wished it was Axon. Caitlin closed her eyes and thought selfishly that if it were their boss, she would want to stay wrapped up in his arms forever.
Caitlin had never seen such vastness, straight roads or the red dust that blew up and around the car. It intrigued her. ‘How did everything get so red?’ She stuck her nose against the window, squinting to see outside the dirty glass. Tumbleweeds rumbled over red dirt before snagging on a black stump that sprouted soft green fern at the top. Tall mounds of dirt piled high in cone shapes had her curious, but it was the trees that sported gaping holes in them, the low lying branches giving refuge from the sun to a furry animal, that made her smile. With his big long tail that supported an upright body, the light brown furry bush dweller used his small paws to clean his face and ears. It looked adorable. Yes, I’m going to enjoy learning about this new country, these lands of mystery. Rory was about to enlighten her on what she saw when her hand went up.
‘No, no! Please, let me experience it like this. When we have time to stop and touch and feel, tell me then. I so love this experience.’ She squirmed in her seat, other animals catching her attention.
Rory shrugged. ‘Little miss independent that doesn’t need me anymore.’
She ignored him, knowing he understood. In her time with Rory she had to learn much and quickly. He knew if she was excited, it was privacy she needed most. She would nag him soon enough when she was ready.
****
The sounds of tyres sliding on gravel as they pulled up, stopped the chatter as they peered out the window. ‘We’re here!’ Axon turned off the engine and turned to them. ‘Time to meet some real live heroes.’ He pointed to them. ‘The ones arm in arm are Kayden and Cassie. To the left, the tall one with the red hair is Woody, Kayden’s right hand man. The two on the right with the blond hair are brothers; Jason is the tall one, and the other is Ethan. The one coming towards us with the shaved head and tattoos is Conor.’
‘He is so cute,’ Bree whispered, getting a harsh look from Rory.
‘Ethan is to die for,’ Lisha gushed and actually blushed. Caitlin slapped them playfully. ‘Shush! We have to act tough and mysterious. No gooing and aring like gushy girls or these boys are going to eat us up for breakfast.’
Conor opened the door for them.
After the introductions, Axon, Rory and Kayden disappeared into the stables. The others remained out in the dusty, scorching midday sun, with a very serious looking Woody, Jason, Conor and Ethan looming over them. They didn’t look friendly, obviously not happy they had to share all their secrets. It was a welcoming gesture when Cassie threw her arms around Caitlin and Bree. ‘Let’s go chat to the girls inside and leave the boys to get to know each other. Too much testosterone going on here for my liking.’ She chuckled.
Caitlin looked back once they reached the porch. To break the tension the men were doing what all men do, testing each other. Conor led them to the horse enclosure. It looked as if Jarvis and Nate were going on a ride, bareback, and most likely to end up in a race. There had to be a winner, always. Men! Her lips parted in a smile as she watched them for a few seconds before she followed the girls inside.
Cassie saw her lag behind watching the men. ‘They’ll be just fine.’ She grabbed Caitlin’s hand, dragging her inside. ‘Come! Let me introduce you to Woody and Jason’s wives.’
Cassie took both ladies by the hand. ‘This is Sonia, Jason’s wife.’ She smiled at a honey-haired woman. ‘And, this is Ella, Woody’s wife.’ She nudged a tall, well-dressed stunner that reminded Cassie immediately of Lisha.
Caitlin was amazed to find that they were just human females, mortals with nothing to give but their love, entrusted with the Cloud Riders’ secrets, including their husbands’ immortality. This was a fact she had faced after their meeting with Axon. Up until then she was sure they were abnormal, born a freak of nature, but now she knew they were just immortal and here in this outback, far from where they once lived, they had found a group just like themselves. Caitlin felt she was floating; all the recent events were so surreal. Blinking, she pulled it together to tune in to the conversation, still unsure how being married to mortals would work. They grow old. She checked out both women. The age lines were already appearing, the grey becoming apparent with the regrowth of Sonia’s hair.
‘How are you finding the heat?’ Ella asked.
Caitlin lifted her hand, and fanned her face, her usual pale complexion flushed. ‘How do you survive in this heat? I can hardly breathe.’ She flopped down at the table where Cassie had poured out iced tea for them. ‘Thanks,’ she said, lifted the cup and gulped half of it down. ‘Man, it’s hot here.’
‘This is a cool day, sugar.’ Ella laughed, sitting beside her, laying a gentle hand on hers. ‘Okay I’m going to sound like, Little-Red-Riding-Hood here but, what soft skin you have.’ With that, Cassie and Sonia had to feel her too.
Lisha laughed. ‘I’m sure she uses something to keep it that way to get attention. I even searched her apartment, but found nothing, so maybe it’s real, girls.’
****
Sometime later, Woody interrupted the six women. He took up the entire doorway, his head just clearing the opening height. ‘Kayden wants us.’ He turned to leave and then reconsidered. ‘Oh! And for the newbies, get a wriggle on, trust me when I say he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’
A shuffle of chairs had four of the women on their feet. Ella and Sonia glanced at each other, a look of here-we-go-again.
‘Ladies!’ Cassie gestured for them to follow her.
Out in the barn Caitlin grabbed at Bree’s hand as the platform they stood on began to descend and she lost balance. ‘Shyte.’ She leaned against her friend, and the two of them laughed, not expecti
ng the movement. ‘Cassie!’ Caitlin cheekily slapped her for not telling them.
Lisha only now laughed when Cassie did. She hadn’t seen the funny side of it at all. Lisha had nerves of steel and the ground moving below her wouldn’t have worried her at all. Caitlin stopped laughing and eyed her. Lisha really liked Cassie and it was only now she realised how well she also mingled with the other two women inside. All this was as if she had been here before and loved it, and fitted in. Caitlin had never remembered a time when Lisha would just ‘fit in!’ when they first moved anywhere.
The platform stopped with a thud. The girls giggled again then turned to a room of very serious men and a very serious-looking setup. The fooling around stopped immediately, as the computers, wall to floor screens and overhead projected images snatched their attention. ‘What the …!’ Caitlin eyed everything; even the table the men sat around was lit up with some kind of charting of the skies on it.
‘Welcome ladies.’ Kayden’s hand moved in a circle, and his tone of voice commanded quiet. ‘This is our headquarters – come, join us.’
In awe, Caitlin floated after, more than followed, Cassie as she headed to the table the men sat at, her wobbly legs collapsing into a chair Axon had pulled out for her. Kayden waited for them to sit before he continued. ‘As you are all aware, I am the leader of this elite group and have been given the task, along with my men, to firstly evaluate each of your powers and secondly to decide if you are obedient and loyal enough to become Axon’s new team. I command respect at all times, as Axon will when he takes you from here. There will be no more girlie behaviour, and nor will I tolerate insubordinate behaviour in the Satellite room. Cassie, I will rely on you to keep your new friends in line and poor behaviour such as that display is to cease. Understood?’
‘Bully!’ Caitlin coughed the words out.
Axon looked up from what he was doing, his urge to discipline her obvious. Immediately Rory responded, jumping to her defence, looking after his team member. ‘Excuse Caitlin, she has been sick and has a terrible cough.’
Rory eyed Caitlin, giving her that look that only he could give, that would keep her quiet. A wink from her made him smile. They never did talk much with words as they both knew each other so well. It was her way of telling him she would behave, for him.
Kayden had a poker face on, and Caitlin was unsure if she liked him. If Rory acted like him, she would be sorting out his grumpy attitude. Man did he have some major commando issues. Rory disrupted the eye contact between the two by getting Kayden to help him with some coordinates. Caitlin suddenly felt suitably impressed with his teaching skills. Rory already seemed to be getting a good handle on how to work out the technical side of the job. Maybe Kayden wasn’t so bad after all.
Once the images of the star systems they needed to view were up on the screens, Kayden focused back on the group.
‘Before I start I must clear something up. For the new team that has just arrived, I have linked you to me. This means I can hear all. I have linked you also to the members of my team by whom you will be monitored after exchanging powers.’ He glared at Caitlin and watched her colour redden as she realised he had heard all her insults.
‘Caitlin, I am glad you have decided to tone down your view of me. I don’t need you to like me, but if I am to train you I do need your undivided attention and loyalty to the mission.’
‘Kayden, um I mean Commander, aw hell! You got me good and proper. I had no idea you could hear! Hope you can accept my apology, no more mucking up.’ She held her hand up in a submissive gesture. ‘Promise!’
‘I doubt you can keep that promise Caitlin, but thank you for giving me your word to try.’
How does he know me so well? She looked down at her hands, before looking back up, this time to a different Kayden, his smile amused. The rest of his team cracked up laughing.
‘There’s always one in every group boss. Damn if it isn’t the redhead. And I put my money on the blonde.’ Woody pointed to Lisha.
The meeting now underway, Kayden toned down the tough guy act and Caitlin became his most astute student. They were going on a mission with the Cloud Riders and she flipped out with joy. ‘You mean we’re going up tonight, visiting the Teapot?’ She slapped hands with Bree and Lisha. ‘Man you got to be kidding us! Wahoo!’ She didn’t care if she was disciplined. ‘This is one party I’m not missing.’
‘Cait!’ Rory’s tone was firm enough to settle her down. ‘We’re all excited, but let Kayden finish or we’re never going to ever get there.’
Caitlin gave him the happiest grin as she sat down quietly again. Kayden saw how well Rory handled Cait and eyed Axon, nodding. ‘Now while I have quiet I’ll enlighten you on why we have been sent to this particular part of the sky.’ He pointed at two flanking constellations each side of the Teapot. ‘Altair is where Prince Riatla lives and on the other side, Lyra is the home of his bride, the Princess Aryl. They became lovers even though forbidden to do so and without permission, eloped. The bride’s father was furious and banished them to their home worlds, separated by the Milky Way and only permitted to meet on the seventh day of the seventh moon. Up until now their saviours are birds, flocks of magpies have faithfully flown to their rescue and on that day, link together to form a bridge for the pair to walk across so they can unite, but over centuries, the feathers have worn off the birds’ heads. They have rebelled, refusing to help the lovers in their quest to be together. With a heavy heart, Prince Riatla has persuaded the ruler of Altair and the ruler of Lyra to help them be together by making a gap in the Milky Way. The opening will cause an electromagnetic force that will pull them close so they can be together forever.’
Kayden stopped, changed the settings to show the supernova heading towards the constellations. ‘Their weapon of choice, a deployed white dwarf supernova, will explode right in the middle of the Milky Way. The blast will not only clear a path through the Milky Way, but will hit the constellation Sagittarius. In particular the home world of the Teapot that resides within this constellation is in line to take a battering as well. The damage is unpredictable; with the worst case scenario being total annihilation of the constellation.’
Woody squinted as he studied the schematic. ‘The fool could take out the prince and his bride’s home-worlds. Check this out K.’ Woody touched a couple of keys on the board and shook his head. ‘That white dwarf looks unpredictable; the flares are shooting from it way too erratically. If the thing goes ballistic and detonates at this angle, K, they’re all goners.
‘That scenario has been given to the feuding parties, but the prince and princess are determined to proceed, saying if they can’t be together they don’t want to live. The prince has since convinced Lyra and Altair that the damage report Zoren’s team has given them is incorrect, a scare tactic. That the supernova won’t come anywhere near them, and the heads of state are standing by the Royals and their order.’
Flicking off the satellite feed, Kayden leaned up against the table, arms folded, eyes darting, assessing each of them before he spoke. ‘My team knows what needs to be done from here. For the trainees, our job is not only to intercept and destroy the supernova before it explodes, but to mediate between the Milky Way and the two lovers to come up with a solution.’ He sounded calm.
His team also showed nothing. No excitement or anything really. It was as if they had done this hundreds of times before, and it was just another day on the job. Caitlin eyed her team who were almost busting with the buzz of something so new and dangerous. She could feel how eager her mates were to head out on a mission and could feel the adrenalin running through them.
Almost unable to contain their excitement, Rory’s team was ready to go now... Caitlin glared at Rory to give permission to leave, to get moving now and let them loose on that sucker supernova. The others could stay on the ranch, she thought with a gloat. Give us the horses and we’re there!
Her mouth had only just opened when she was silenced by the next set of instructions. ‘Dismis
sed, men; get some sleep as it will be a long night. Rest! What! Someone feel his head, the guy’s sick, that or a nutcase. Caitlin chuckled silently. Our gang are so frigging excited we’re hardly going to rest. What a dill!
With that, Kayden’s team walked out the room towards the exit, not even talking.
Caitlin couldn’t believe it when Rory and the rest of her team followed suit. So like little sheep we all went Ba Ba and followed Mr Lamb dumbo outside. Rory elbowed her to behave. ‘What!’ Caitlin put on a straight face, doing as she was told, when a burst of laughter coming from a few of the Cloud Riders, and a snigger from others reminded her that they were linked now so she better keep her thoughts to herself. Na, surely they couldn’t hear just a quiet thought.
She grumbled internally but followed the lead as everyone lay around on beds, floors and couches chatting excitedly. The sound snapped off as Kayden put the lot of them to sleep.
On waking, Caitlin shook her head. The rotten sod put us to sleep. What a dirty trick. I’m going to slap Rory good and proper if he does that to me before he takes me up on a mission. There was laughter all round and it was only now she realised Kayden was relaying her thoughts. There was no other explanation. She knew Kayden could talk to his team from a great distance, but didn’t know he could read thoughts; she figured you had to talk for him to hear. She decided to test her theory while the guys made the coffee.
So Mr Big Shot isn’t only sharing his power of telepathy and magical secrets with my Rory but teaching him how to torture us with it as well. Rat fink!
The room erupted with laughter again. Axon pulled her aside. ‘Cait, they are having fun with you and Kayden needs to stop. He has taken a liking to you and is relaying your thoughts about him but I need you to learn all you can while we train you. This is your first warning to conduct yourself in a more professional manner, so do try not to think.’
‘Sod! I thought he was doing something like that.’
