Beyond the Stars: INEO (34 page)

I was overcome with an incredible rush. Mind-expanding. “So do you,” I said, breathing hard. I let my hand wander across his firm body in the same carefree manner.

“Ah, do that some more,” he said in a whisper that made me burn with desire.

I was pulled in by his quickened breathing and rising excitement. I sat up, pushed him back, ripped off his shirt and tossed it across the room. It didn’t travel far. It landed on the pile of moving boxes taking up the room. Challenged, Gaelan took off my shirt and threw it even farther. It reached a box on the other side of our suite. He lowered me back against the desk, pressing me down as he touched me. I didn’t notice him removing the rest of my garments until I heard him absently hurl them into the boxes as well. We paused and looked at one another and laughed. Our room’s crowded, imperfect condition, felt, well, perfect.

Gaelan seemed to be in no hurry. He moved slowly, taking his time as he caressed my stomach and chest. Then in one swift yank he pulled me into him as he stood at the edge of the desk. I gasped. I reached up and pulled him down so I could run my hands across his back and down his arms. I mirrored his pace, taking in every muscle. It felt as though time had stopped and we were all that was left.

Who says thirty minutes isn’t long enough?

* * *

Spaceport Five was gigantic and housed over fifty thousand people. I could barely comprehend the fact that the Katarians had nine more just like it, spread out across the galaxy. Gaelan had explained to me about how his planet had experienced a split. Those who honored tradition lived on Kataria while those who embraced modernization, took up residence on the Spaceports or the starships. I never fully took it to heart until now. Gaelan told me one reason for the population’s division was the people’s strong desire to avoid the Katarian Council’s intrusion into their personal affairs. Although respectful of the Council, the Spaceports managed to keep their internal dynamics private, like an independent country.

We docked our ship and exited into the most amazing place I’d ever seen. We entered a wide open space as long and wide as several football stadiums put together. Unbelievable! It looked like a city and had multiple corridors that resembled streets. The domed ceiling towered seventy stories above our heads. It had an open-air design. There were numerous levels of housing or offices rising to the top. They shined liked mirrored glass. It was brightly lit with artificial daylight, just like the café and park was on our starship. It allowed the people to feel as if they were outside.

Gaelan and I escorted Loic to the transportation garage. It was the place where Spaceport warehoused their smaller starships. A glass elevator took us vertically before it shot us horizontally above the internal city. Our chamber reached the ceiling in no time. I leaned my forehead against the glass and looked down. From this view, I was able to take in the buildings’ various styles of architecture: tubular shapes, angled glass sides, protruding ledges, and saucer shaped lights rimming the exterior walls. The accommodations looked posh with private glass balconies filled with contemporary furniture and small trees. Their roofs were the most interesting. Some had full rooftop gardens, one was a rooftop restaurant, and another had a rooftop running track. I was feeling mesmerized when
ugh.
I suddenly lost my bearings. A wave of nausea struck me. I swallowed and pressed my hands against the walls, trying not to throw up. Who came up with this brilliant design? Blast the elevator’s occupants from the ground at a sickeningly high speed, shoot them across the city, and make the capsule clear so they could see it happening. Before I knew it, we came to a stop. I took a deep breath to try to hide my dizziness. My gait was wobbly when I stepped out of the compartment. I think I left my stomach on the ground floor.

“Was that a breeze I just felt?” I asked, after I thought I felt a light wind brush across my face. It was wonderful, lifesaving, and made me feel better.

“Yes. Nothing gets by you, does it?” Gaelan gave me a slight smile. “They have simulated wind. We’ve been trying to incorporate the technology on our ships, but the equipment is still too heavy—it would slow us down.”

I think he was impressed by my observational skills because I noticed things others around him frequently took for granted. I only spotted them because I was constantly looking for ways to replicate their designs on our Space resort. “How long did this take to build?”

“It’s not done. It’s been under construction for close to eighty years.”

“Wow.” Talk about job assurance.

Spaceport’s garage was huge with fleets of spacecraft parked in rows. They appeared to be arranged by size. I wondered if they would consider selling us one. They had so many. Surely giving up one to the people on Earth wouldn’t be a big deal.

We were greeted by a pretty woman wearing a short navy blue dress, heels, and silver dangly earrings that I coveted. She looked dressed for a party, had a thin build, and had her brunette hair pulled up in a loose bun, which complimented her high cheek bones. I guessed her to be in her mid-thirties, but knew she was probably decades older than she looked. She gave us a friendly smile as she approached. “Well, what do I owe this privilege, Commander Liitanen?” the woman said in a friendly manner.

“Hello, Commander Baykova, it’s been a long time,” Gaelan said with a cheerful rise in his voice. “Samantha, Vita Baykova is one of Spaceport’s commanding officers. She graduated from the academy three years after me.”

“Hello.” I nodded.

I was surprised to learn of her position. She seemed so relaxed and at ease. Surely being a commander of a place this large would be demanding. She must have thrived on it.

“Pleasure,” she replied, giving me a nod. “And Loic, what a surprise. I heard you were dead,” her voice rapidly changed to one of contempt.

“No, I had some business with G,” he said snidely.

“My goodness, you don’t say? Did the world turn upside down?” Vita gave Gaelan a dumbfounded look.

Wow, Loic’s list of enemies was far reached.

“Our arrangement has concluded.” Gaelan cleared his throat. “I promised to equip Loic with an Outquest series starship in exchange for his recent service. I want to make sure he can reach Pinnaquin. He’s searching for a new job. I’m certain he will find plenty of opportunities for work there. Do you have one we could purchase from you? I’m sure your station doesn’t want him taking up a permanent residence here.”

Loic scoffed. “He thinks I might start a mutiny and try to corrupt the young minds onboard,” Loic said with a wink.

Vita didn’t laugh or smile. “Leave if you must, but Pinnaquin isn’t exactly a paradise anymore. The place is rumored to have become host for a slew of unscrupulous business dealings. It’s attracting all sorts of delinquents.”

“Well, then he’ll fit right in,” Gaelan said.

“Don’t worry about me,” Loic said with a smirk. “I can take care of myself. I can survive in even the harshest of environments.”

Vita took a deep breath. “Everything on the left wall is available. Take your pick,” she said reluctantly, pointing her hand in her suggested direction.

“How about that Kasari over there instead,” Loic exclaimed, eyeing up a bigger vessel to our right.

Gaelan smacked his lips. “You could have had it, except you quit, remember? Partial payment for partial work. Take it or leave it.”

“If I had my pick of payment, it wouldn’t be a ship,” Loic said under his breath. He gave me a weird look before wasting no time in going to check out the personal aircraft carrier.

Vita’s brows rose as though she was stunned. She stepped closer to Gaelan. “Gaelan,” she said, lowering her voice. “What kind of trouble did you get yourself into? First, I got your message that you were tracking a Dreon vessel, and now I learn that you’ve affiliated yourself with Loic Veenhoven. How could you
even
consider working with him? Has he changed into an upstanding citizen?”

“No. He’s a ripened version of his former, devious self, but we were desperate,” Gaelan admitted.

“The Dreons broke your treaty,” I explained. “They took one of your scientists when we were on Kataria. We had to find their ship in order to rescue her.”

Gaelan’s eyes narrowed and mouth opened as though he was ready to scold me for telling her everything.
Oops!
I wished I would have kept my mouth shut.

A look of panic crossed Vita’s face. “Oh my goodness, the Dreons are taking our people … and from the planet. How did they get past Spaceport security? Did you find her?” Vita asked, sounding rattled.

“Yes, please calm down. We got her back, and she is safe. It was a misunderstanding,” Gaelan reassured her. “I trust that you will hold this information in confidence. We wanted to resolve the situation quietly and not involve the Council unless it was absolutely necessary.”

Vita gazed at us solemnly. “You didn’t report it? I’m sorry. I think you should at least notify the Guardian Fleet because you aren’t alone in wanting to keep your problem hushed up. We received an abduction report where two missing crew members vanished mysteriously from a Katarian starship visiting Pinnaquin last month. That’s why I didn’t want to endorse travel there. Their crew wanted us to hold off on reporting it as well. But now, I really should issue a warning before people start to disappear at alarming rates. I have an obligation.” She held a torn expression on her face.

“I understand your concern, but I would ask you to wait until you have more information,” Gaelan said, as if he was trying to sway her. “You know the Guardian Fleet. They will notify the Council. Before you know it, they will issue investigation permits and start intruding on innocent people’s privacy.”

“Who’s the Guardian Fleet?” I asked.

Gaelan hesitated before he answered. “They’re a special division of the Katarian military. Their primary job is to explore the farthest regions of the galaxy and provide travel advisories to the starships, highlighting the quadrants risks, but they also police the common routes. They keep their starships stripped down to nothing but the bare minimum in order to have room for their weapons. I find them to be arrogant pricks.”

Vita let out a gasp that could have been interpreted as a laugh. Maybe she thought the same of Guardian Fleet.

Gaelan looked at her and paused. “We try to stay out of their way.” His professional tone returned. “You never know who they recently pissed off. They patrol the galaxy and are more than happy to use force when they believe it’s justified.”

“It may be,” Vita concluded. “And I have no problem with them notifying the Council. They should be made aware. It may be a necessary evil. I want my sector of the cosmos to remain safe. I like it here. This needs to be stopped before it gets out of control.”

“So, do you think the Dreons took them?” I offered as a suggestion. I fought telling her that if she believed it was the same Dreons who took Nia, she no longer had to worry.

Vita pressed her lips together as she thought. “No. We do not believe so. We strongly suspect someone else is behind it. This part of the galaxy is not frequented by Dreons. Their ships have never been spotted on Pinnaquin,” Vita dismissed.

Gaelan nodded. “I would agree. The Dreons probably aren’t involved. Who’s unaccounted for?” he asked.

I jumped when I realized Loic was back at my side. It was creepy how silent he was. He must have snuck up when I wasn’t looking. It seemed as though he had been standing there for some time. I noticed Loic didn’t say one word regarding the missing people. And Loic being Loic, made his obvious silence disturbing.

“Engineer Catalina Romandero and Navigation Technologist Spladamir Polesky,” Vita answered.

Loic rolled his eyes. “Spladamir, when isn’t he lost? And Catalina, that’s his girlfriend.”

Gaelan gave him a curious glare. “Is he a friend of yours, Loic?”

“Ha,
no.
I don’t have any friends.” Loic scoffed. “He’s more like a rival. First of all, he thinks he’s a great scout, though he sucks. He swindles his clients by purposely going the long way to every destination in order to tack on time, and he routinely stole jobs from me by offering my prospective clients a lower bid for service. Even I have to admit, the man has no ethics.”

“That sounds familiar,” Gaelan muttered, looking at Loic as he thought for a moment. “Maybe Spladamir doesn’t want to be found. There might be no reason for alarm. Our kidnapping event seems completely unrelated.”

“Perhaps,” Vita agreed reluctantly. “Still, a warning notification for starships only seems warranted. I’m willing to wait and see if the two of them surface before I contact the Guardian Fleet. However, I don’t want to make any assumptions. The ship reporting their disappearance claimed there was no foul play. They were quite disturbed over the matter. I am planning to forward a formal report to the Council if we don’t resolve the matter soon,” Vita offered.

“Sounds reasonable. I know you will use your best judgment. Thank you,” Gaelan said, as he leaned over and squeezed Vita’s hand in gratitude.

I admired Gaelan’s diplomacy in the matter, but if I didn’t know better, it seemed as though he was trying to manipulate her. I knew he would have rather begged her not to involve the Guardian Fleet or the Council if he could. Surely, the Council would put us all on trial if they ever got wind about our recent endeavors. Having to defend my intergalactic relationship with Gaelan to them was hard enough. I looked at Vita and wished she would forget about the whole thing.