Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (8 page)

              “Me too. Report back as soon as you know something.”

              “Sure thing, brother. Commander out,” Kharis said to his brother as he ended the transmission.

              He leaned back in his chair and out his hands behind his head. The danger his mate had been in since she left Earth could have been prevented. First, a male for Earth had wanted to hurt her and Maggie then the male, Zol’tsa, wanted to take his mate for his own pleasure. He would kill the male if he got his hands on him. It was bad enough to know that he had escaped from Qetera and was running around free. No one knew of his whereabouts and that scared the crap out of him. The best he could hope for was to find the bastard hiding on Lephus. If not, he would have to sit and wait until the male made an appearance.

              For the next few hours, he caught up on the paper work he had neglected while on Qetera. It was boring but needed to be done even as thoughts of his little mate waiting for him to return ran freely through his head.

Chapter 9

              “Sir? We are in Earth’s orbit. Would you like for me to contact the planet?”

              Zol’tsa looked up from the file he had been studying on his tablet. “Open up communications with the center where the transport came from.”

              “Yes, sir.”

              Several minutes later an image appeared on the viewing screen in front of him. A male late in age was sitting in a chair waiting for him to speak first.

              “Greetings. I am Commander Zol’tsa.”

              “Commander. I am Captain O’Hara. What can I do for you?”

              Zol’tsa studied the older man for a moment to get a feel for the Earthling. “I come in peace and have been informed that many people from your planet want to relocate to new worlds. I have come to offer your people a chance to come to my world.” He stood with his hands behind his back as he stared at the screen.

              “That is excellent news, Commander. We do have a protocol that we follow.” O’Hara leaned his elbows on the desk he was sitting behind then entwined his fingers together.

              “I understand Captain. If it would benefit your world any. I would be willing to take some of those who are in your penal institutions. I needed workers and they would be paid quite handsomely,” he lied.

              Captain was taken by surprise with his offer. “I see. That is an unusual offer I must say but not undoable. I would have to confer with my superiors before I can give you a definite answer.”

              He nodded at the screen. “That is expected, Captain. In the meantime, may I have clearance to send down men to buy supplies? We’ve been travelling for quite some time now and are running low,” he lied yet again.

              “As soon as I can do a full scan done of your ship and you pose no threat to Earth then you will have the clearance to land. It only takes about an hour to complete the scan. If you would send us your ship identification information, I can get that started immediately.”

              He had not planned on his ship being scanned or searched. There wasn’t really anything on board that would pose a threat so to speak other than himself, but the good captain didn’t need to know that. “Affirmative Captain. Sending the information...,” he typed his code into the ships’ computer, “now.”

              A few seconds ticked by before the Captain acknowledge receipt of the information. “Received Commander. I will contact you with the response shortly.”

              The viewing screen went black. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Prepare the shuttle for disembark. We will be taking on passengers shortly. Some may be considered violent so I want them quarantined.”

              His patience was growing short while he waited for Captain O’Hara to give him a response to his request. He paced back and forth on the bridge and was becoming increasingly agitated when at last a transmission from Earth appeared on the viewing screen. Captain O’Hara’s face was all smiles as he greeted the new comer to Earth.

              “Commander Zol’tsa, I have received that approval that you have requested. You may send down your people as soon as you need to. Supplies can be bought and picked up at several locations. I will send you the coordinates of them in a moment. As for the people you have requested, my government will graciously accept your offer of taking some of the people who reside in the penal institutions. You are also free to recruit others if you would like. Those who freely chose to go with you must have the understanding of what your intentions are.”

              Zol’tsa smiled back at the stupid Earthling. “Of course, Captain. It is my pleasure to help out your world. I will begin to send down shuttles within the hour,” he said to the image on the screen. At least this time he was lying. He undoubtedly would be sending out his shuttles and it was most definitely his pleasure to gain bodies to help in his soon to be war against the Qeterans.

              “If you have the time Commander, myself and a few of my men would like to meet with in person.”

              “Of course. Just send me the location and I will arrive shortly on one of the shuttles. Until then Captain.” He nodded at the screen and waited for it to go black. When it did, he started to give out the orders to prepare for launch. “Docking bay, Go ahead and start launching the shuttles to the locations that have been sent to your computers. Leave one shuttle behind. I am going down to Earth to meet with these foolish males and to scout out any personnel.”

              Excitement coursed through him as he left the bridge and headed to the docking bay. Things with Earth had surprisingly gone very easy. He just hoped that the remainder of his plans went just as simple.

              The shuttle was waiting for him as he boarded. The pilot took off within moments of him securing himself in the co-pilot’s seat. This pilot was one of the best that he had left among those who had survived the battle against Qetera. The soldier was loyal to the end and was willing to do anything to please his new commander.

              “Commander, we will arrive in approximately twenty minutes. The meeting place is in a place called the United States in a city called New…New Orleans. That is where most of the transports from this country come from. They have a big complex at a convention center where the people flock everyday seeking a way off the planet.”

              Zol’tsa smiled. “I see you have done some homework. I am most pleased.”

              “It is my duty to inform you of anything I feel is important to the safety and well-being of my commander. I didn’t want you to go in there blind.”

              The rest of the way down was spent in silence as he took in the sights of the world he had never been to. He had to admit it was a decent sized planet, but the air quality was poor. He had discovered through Ruehar’s files that the air quality was the main reason why residents of Earth were choosing to leave.

              The shuttle neared the area where the large transports were docked. The said convention center was located along a wide river that appeared to be very muddy. It automatically disgusted him to see the source of water in the state it was in. Water was a precious resource and needed to be taken off at all costs. Without water, he and all of his people would be dead. A voice came over the control panel directing them to a landing area for smaller ships. Out the front window of the shuttle, he saw a group of males waiting for them to exit. He stepped out of the shuttle into the hot, humid air of this planet.

              “Commander Zol’tsa?” an older man that looked like Captain O’Hara stepped forward.

              “Yes,” he said.

              “I am Captain O’Hara. It is a pleasure to welcome you to Earth.” O’Hara stretched out a hand to shake the alien’s.

              Zol’tsa wasn’t sure what the move meant. His people did not touch one another in greetings unless they were mated, but here on Earth he didn’t want to ruin his chance so he offered his hand in return. The Captain’s hand clasped around his in a warm, hard grip. The odd gesture told Zol’tsa that this elderly male standing before had once been a very active soldier. 

              “Thank you for allowing us to visit your world.” It disgusted him to have to be so nice. It went against all he was ever taught.

              “If you will come this way the other are eager to meet you. As you can tell, it gets hot here.”

              “Yes, I noticed as soon as I stepped off the shuttle.” He followed alongside the captain as the group moved towards a pair of double glass doors set into the side of a multi-storied, leaden colored building.

              “Ahhh, it’s just a typical Louisiana summer. But it has gotten hotter here over the last century because of the pollution that had filled the air. Our atmosphere is slowly recovering from the damage done it for almost two hundred years.”

              “Pity your government would allow that to happen,” he replied as his eyes took in everything around him. Once inside the building, he was lead to a set of stairs that moved upwards. He followed the captain’s lead and stepped on to the grill looking step. “What is this place,” he asked.

              “This building is our convention center. At one time it was used for large meeting, conferences, and other such large meetings. When the first aliens came to Earth, we weren’t sure what to expect. For years our people feared an invasion of sorts from outer space, we even made movies about it. Now that we can look back and see our mistake, most of the movies seem so childish. Anyhow, since New Orleans is one of the largest ports for the United Sates and we had the facilities already in place, it was decided to allow the transports to dock here.  It is such a sight to see when there are four or five transports all docked at one time. There was one so large one time that it stretched out over the river. All traffic on the river had to be halted until the transport departed.”

              He listened carefully as O’Hara talked. It just might be possible to return to Earth at a later date for more recruits if the need arose. The group stepped off the moving stairs to walk across a balcony that stretched the length of a very large room. Down below he, saw Earth people moving slowly through lines. The noise level in the building was at a decent level which surprised him.

              “Are those the ones choosing to leave?” He stopped walking to gaze out over the crowd gathered below him.

              “Yes, this is the main processing room. From here each individual goes into an interview room where they give us their information and we find out what they looking for. As of now, we have six different planets that our people are welcome on. Every now and then some return with news of their new homes.”

              “Why would they return if they chose to leave?”

              “Some have returned in order to gather their families and bring them back. Others are willingly sent to check out the planets and report back in person. We haven’t had many problems. We’ve only had one major problem with a transport, but that was beyond our control.”

              Zol’tsa tensed. He knew exactly what that problem had been and why. He was curious though to find out what the people of Earth thought happened.

              “May I ask what happened?” He looked to the captain.

              “The transport entered an unexpected asteroid field and was lost.”

              “Where was the it headed?” He held his breath.

              “It was going to Vega 9,” O’Hara volunteered.

              “Ah, yes. Vega 9 is a well known planet. Very nice indeed. I am sorry for your loss though. I can guarantee that will not happen with my transport. We use a worm hole that is hidden behind the planet Jupiter. It takes us to within a decent distance from my planet.” He had to volunteer some information or he might alert the male to his plans.

              “A worm hole?”

              “Yes. Don’t the others use the worm hole?”

              O’Hara had a perplexed look on his face. “I don’t think so.” He paused. “You know, I will have to find out. The transports we have sent out so far have taken the long way, I guess you would say. The people are put in sleeping tubes for the journey since our bodies are not able to handle the speed at which the ships travel.”

              He turned to face the captain. “After I have those on board would want to relocate, it would take about three days to reach my world. Not too long I would say.”

              Captain O’Hara laughed and slapped him on the back. “No, not long at all! Come this way and I will introduce you to the others.”

              He turned away from the sight below and followed the captain once again. He was led into a small office that contained a round table in which several male were sitting around, but rose when he entered the room.