It was way past midnight when Cassie finally dried off her hair and flopped into bed. Kayden eased her over to his warm body and cuddled her. ‘Thanks for tonight. We really needed you, sweetheart. You came through for all of us.’ He rubbed her head gently, soothing her into a deep sleep as he worried silently what he would do if Woody really didn’t return.
Missing in Action
Zoren had another mission for the Cloud Riders. Even though none of them had received word from Woody yet, Kayden was hopeful he would have sorted it out by now and used his telepathy to let him know it was time to come home. The rest of the men were at the house, busy in the kitchen by the time Kayden and Cassie returned from the paddocks. They only needed to bring a couple of horses as Starburst and Zoltan were already in the stables. It had only been yesterday that Kayden and Cassie had gone together for a ride up in the hills and had a picnic.
While Jason helped Kayden unload, Cassie went in to help Ethan and Conor. They were making omelettes although once Cassie arrived they nagged her to make scones as well. They chatted while she mixed up the dough and cut it into shapes. Before Kayden and Jason returned, they were in the oven, baking away. It had only been a couple of days since she had seen them, yet she had missed their humour. Meals were always so much more fun with their kidding and jokes.
After breakfast, they went down to the satellite room under the stables. Kayden explained the mission to them while punching in coordinates and working out the best route to get there. He nodded at Cassie. ‘Sorry, honey. It’s your father again.’
She shrugged. ‘Who’s Pops gunning for this time?’
‘Well, apparently Aldebaran and Conom made a direct strike on Orion, sending in a few hundred soldiers. Aldebaran lost most of the soldiers sent into the battle—nothing he wasn’t expecting. He was merely trying to find out what defences Orion had in place. Orion’s two faithful dogs that rule the Canis Major and Canis Minor constellations, concerned about their master, joined forces and sent out a Z-Andromedae. The weapon was aimed at destroying Aldebaran’s home world.’ Kayden paused, facing Cassie. ‘A Z-Andromedae is composed of a red giant star and a hot blue star. It is enveloped in a cloud of gas and dust that give out nova-like outbursts. The mix of two stars with its poisonous gas and flares nearly destroyed your dad’s home.’
‘Nearly?’ she asked. ‘Jeez, how come we weren’t called?’
‘Zoren had tracked it, sending another team, as it all happened immediately after the attack. Zoren’s team never made it in time so Aldebaran had to summon all his wizardry powers, destroying the threat himself and losing many more lives before he could clear the poisonous gasses from the atmosphere around his home world.’
‘So he’s not a happy-chappie with Zoren either?’ Cassie questioned.
‘That’s putting it mildly. He’s sworn to make Zoren pay for the lives lost and has taken out a contract on the dogs. There is a bounty hunter on his way to capture them, dead or alive.’ He glanced at Jason. ‘The bounty hunter is our old mate, SX Arietis.’ Bringing his attention back to Cassie, he continued. ‘We have warned Arietis before about his greed for a quick buck. His star rotates at high speeds and is quick—damned cunningly fast. Without Woody it will be tough going catching him; however, I have every confidence we can still take him. Just in case we have a problem, Cassie, we’ll need you to be ready as back-up. We may need you to shove him out into the universe as you did last time as a delay tactic while I try and reason with him.’
She nodded and he went back to his navigational charts to show them the coordinates of Arietis and where they would intercept him.
He addressed them all. ‘I’d prefer not to tell Zoren about Woody until we find out for sure if he’s going to be leaving us permanently. On the other hand, if we get into any trouble up there without him then the decision will be out of his hands and Woody will be replaced immediately on our return.’ Quickly switching off the screen, he leaned against the bench to talk. ‘I want you to all understand: if he chooses to continue down this path with Ella, I’ll not accept a half-hearted effort. I understand you’re all great mates but it’d be no different if it were any one of you. I have no compassion for disloyalty and anyone who deliberately jeopardises the defence of our planet is not welcome on my team. We’ve all been down this path many times over the years. I have constantly reiterated that there is no reason why you men can’t have girlfriends, even wives. However, they will never be included in our secrets or be allowed to interfere with you when I need you. The problem I see with Ella is that because none of you get on with her, it’s going to make it impossible for her to live with you. On the other hand, I can’t have Woody living so far away that he can’t make it when I call. Nothing about this relationship is acceptable. If I have to make the call, I’ll expect you all to cope with it and move on. Do I have your support on this issue?’