Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) (3 page)

Chapter 3

“Commander Etor, there is a ship approaching at a high rate of speed.” The young Qeteran officer put the approaching ship up on the viewing screen.

“Try to hail the ship,” Etor said. He turned his full attention to the viewing screen.

“I already tried, sir. There was no reply.”

“Open up a line for me,” Etor asked of the man.

Etor waited patiently as young officer worked his magic with the computer system. “The line is open, sir.”

“This is Commander Etor of the
warship Arabis. Please identify yourself.” He stood in front of the screen with his legs spread and arms folded. No response came back after several minutes went by. “Identify yourself.” He was growing tense. “Scan the ship for life forms.”

Again the warrior clicked away on his computer. All was quiet on the bridge as the Commander waited for identification of the foreign ship.

“Sir, the report shows five life forms aboard but barely alive. What do you make of it, Sir?”

“I don’t know, but we are going to find out. See if you can latch onto the ship and slow her down. I want to bring her in and see what’s on that ship.” He continued to watch the screen. Something was definitely wrong with the ship. Not getting a response only meant one of two things: either it was a trap of some sort or those on board were dead or dying. He needed to be cautious and keep all eyes open. He wouldn’t put it past the Lephusans to try and pull off an unsuspecting attack.

Etor watched as the green tractor beam shot out from the under belly of his ship. Within seconds it had hold of the ship in question and was in the process of slowing it down. All eyes in the room were glued to the screen as the ship drew closer. It became clear that the ship was a transport but of unknown origin. The closer it approached they could all see that it was heavily damaged and spinning out of control.

“Send out a second beam to stop the spinning. I don’t want it to slam into our ship.” He gave the order then waited.

The second beam shot out to latch onto the transport in a different position. The tractor beams on his ship were the best available but not always helpful. If need be he would have to swing the Arabis out of the way if the smaller transport didn’t slow down and stop spinning.

“She’s
slowing down, Sir,” the officer announced. “We should be able to bring her in then board her.”

“Good job. Sta
y here and monitor the ship. I’m going to see what is on the transport.” He left the bridge in a hurry. With only five life forms on board, the transport might just be a cargo ship bringing in supplies. The only way to find out though was to board her and look with his own eyes.

He pressed the comlink on his shoulder. “Thallan, meet me in the airlock. Bring a team of about seven men with you.”

Thallan, the head of his troops, immediately responded. “Yes, Sir.”

Etor raced to the airlock that would attach to the damaged ship. Before boarding the ship, he would have to make sure there was viable air to breathe. By the looks of the damage to the transport, it had suffered a direct hit of some sort. As far as he had been able to tell there weren’t any charred mar
ks on the spinning ship, so that meant it hadn’t been attacked by another ship. It could have been hit by any number of things floating out in the vast open space.

He waited for Thallan and his men to meet up with him. As he waited he watched a
s the transport slowly inched its way to the airlock. He felt the shudder when the two ships bumped together then the sound of the airlock locking the two ships together. The necessary tests needed to be run before he even attempted to open the door to the airlock. He didn’t want to suffer the same mistake as other ships had when they failed to run the safety tests before entering a distressed ship.

Thallan and his men arrived at the airlock at the precise time the air monitor gave the all clear. His men were armed with stun guns just in case the ship posed a threat. The airlock opened with a loud hiss and swung open.

Etor was the first to enter the transport ship and found it in almost complete darkness. The lights in the corridor were barely glowing so that meant the ship was almost out of power. Cautiously, the team moved farther into the ship checking every room they came across.

“Let’s make our way forward. Keep your eyes peeled for hiding crew members.” Etor moved forward shining the light on his gun as he went. The blaring sound of an alarm went off startling the group. “By the gods!”

The group came to a junction in the corridor. Etor had half the men go to the right and the rest went with him to the left. Each team preceded with caution after the alarm stopped its incessant blaring and silence took over again making the ship have an eerie feeling to it.

He was about to enter a room when his comlink went off. “Commander, we need you to come see something.”

“On my way,” he responded and headed in the direction the other team had gone.

He found the men in a room off the corridor all standing stock still. He stepped into the room and shined his light through the room and what he found stunned him beyond belief. He couldn’
t believe what he was seeing as more light filtered into the room.

“What the fuck?” he said to no one but everyone.

The room contained sleeping tubes and each was occupied with a female. He had no idea where the women were from but he was going to find out.

“I want the ship’s logs checked to
see where these females came from. Thallan, can you tell if they are still alive?”

Thallan sent a two man team in search of the bridge to search the computer logs. Etor stood close to the nearest sleeping tube and knew he was about to hear news he didn’t want to hear. Thallan worked feverishly at the tiny computer panel on the front of the tube that controlled the air in the tube. Nothing.

“Sir, the tubes are off. I believe the female inside is dead.” He stood up to speak to his commander. “The only way to make sure is to open the tube.”

“Do it,” he said.

He and Thallan pried open the lid of the tube. Thallan checked the woman’s neck for a pulse then shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Sir. She’s been dead for quite some time now. The seal on the tube kept her body from spoiling.”

What the hell happened to these poor females and where did they come from? It was such a waste to see such beautiful creatures lying in their tombs as if they were simply sleeping. He knew the females had been in stasis but for how long? His gut twisted painfully as he thought about the females going to sleep with expectations and never waking up.

Pounding footsteps came running into the room. The two men returned breathless with a chart in hand.

“Did you find out anything?” he asked.

“Sir, the ship’s log shows there are more of these sleeping tubes.”

He paled at the news. “How many more?”

“The ship shows it can carry up to fifty and they all appear to be filled.”

“By the gods and goddesses!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Every tube needs to be checked and we need to find the crew.”

“Yes, Sir,” the room full of men replied.

One by one the tubes were opened only to find that the female inside was dead. Etor took his group and headed back to where he was when he had been called and found it was more of the sleeping tubes. He worked right alongside the men as each lid was pried open. Each time he had to shake his head no because he was too choked up to speak. Room after room they went with sad hearts to find all the females dead.

“I’m going to go check the bridge to see where the fuck the crew went.” He stormed off without another word.

The bridge was directly across from the last room his men were checking. He was determined to find out what happened to the ship and why these females had been left alone only to die in their sleep.

“Commander!”

One of the men shouted for him. By the sound of the man’s voice it sounded important. He moved from the computer station he was sitting at to walk back to the room. As he entered the room, all his men’s gun lights were focused on the sleeping tube.

“Sir, this one is alive!”

The words hit him like a ton of rocks. He shoved past the men to pry the lid off the tube. Several of the men joined in to pull the lid off in record time. He took a step back after the lid was tossed to the side.

“Check her,” he demanded.

They all held their breath as the one directed to do the duty did so. His fingers touched the side of her neck then he turned to face them with a wide grin on his face. “She’s alive!”

They all cheered. “C
heck the others ones.” Three more tubes in the room needed to be checked. He kept his fingers crossed as he walked to the nearest tube and looked in. A feeling so strong shot through him as he looked down at the female lying in the tube.

She looked so peaceful lying there with her auburn hair spilled out around her on the pillow. Her pink lips were slightly parted and seemed to beckon to him. It was a feeling he had never experienced before and was dumbfounded by it until he heard his dragon call out to him in his mind.

“It’s her!” his dragon shouted.

“What do you mean, Rhaegos?”
he asked of his companion
.

“Your one true mate! It’s her!”

“It’s not possible! How can you be sure?”
He knew his dragon was right but he needed to hear it.

“I know you felt it the moment you saw her because I felt it too. She is your one true mate.”
Rhaegos replied with a sigh.

“Help me get this one open!” He pulled at the lid to get it to push b
ack. Two men helped him get it open enough for him to stick his hand in and feel for a pulse. There it was! A thump against his fingers.

“She’s alive, Rhaegos!”

It didn’t take them much longer to get the tube the rest of the way open. The smell of the sweet air inside the tube filled his nostrils, making his stomach turn.

“Get the other two tubes open! Now!” He reached
into the tube to touch the female’s face. Her skin was so soft but she was so cold and pale. He put his hand on her chest and waited for it to rise. The time between breathes was too long. If he didn’t get her to the medical unit she would perish in his arms. He scooped up her small form and headed out the door at the same time he barked out orders.

“Bring those women that are alive to the medical until immediately! Make sure all the tubes are checked then get all the records from the computer.” He left the room in a whirlwind. His long legs quickly took him back to the airlock. He pressed his comlink to inform the medic he had a survivor who was barely hanging on.

“I have one survivor and am on my way to the medical unit. Be waiting for me. The survivor is a female of unknown origin.” He raced to the medical unit as fast as he could.

The doors to the unit slid open and he was met by his friend, Medic Jonik.

“Bring her over here,” Jonik said as he ushered Etor to the nearest bed.

He carefully laid her down and watched as Jonik went to work. An oxygen mask was immediately placed over her nose and mouth. Jonik leaned over the small female and pulled up
each of her eyelids to shine a light into them. He got a quick glimpse at the blue eyes with the black pupils that contracted with the bright light. His heart lurched because he knew that was a good sign.

Jonik used a handheld heart monitor to check her heart rate at the same time another medic walked over to help. “I want to get a blood sample, Petra.”

“Yes, Medic Jonik.” Petra gathered the necessary supplies to take the sample Jonik requested. “Would you like me to run it?”

“Yes, please.” Jonik worked without l
ooking up at his assistant.

Etor was nervous as all hell
. If this female lying before him was truly his one true mate, she needed to survive. How cruel would that be if the gods had finally allowed him to find his mate only to have her taken away permanently? As he stood there watching he felt his dragon move into his mind again.

“How is your mate?”

“Jonik is working on her now. He hasn’t said anything yet.”
His dragon was just as anxious to find out about the female as he was. He wondered what her name was.

“Her heart rate is improving as is her breathing. The effects of the stasis tube are beginning to wear off. It will take some time for her to come totally out of it,” Jonik said as he looked at his longtime friend. “Is something wrong, Etor?”

He was staring so hard at the female that he didn’t hear Jonik address him at first. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” He shook his head to clear away the fog in his mind.

“I asked you if you are alright. You are staring at her as if…” Jonik stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at his patient then back to the commander. “Do you really think so?”

Etor knew what Jonik was asking of him. He nodded his head slowly and smiled. “Yes, she is my one true mate.” He took hold of her small hand and rubbed the fragile fingers. “Do you know where she is from?”

“I’m not positive, but from what I have studied I think she is an Earth female."