River's Run(15)

River hissed at him, “Stay back. I’ll kill you if you come any closer. I swear I will.”



Sweat beaded on her forehead at the thought of killing him. She was too close to the edge of reason. She needed to find a place she could rest without fear of being captured. She had to know if Jo and Star were safe like he said or if she needed to save them. Shaking, she could feel herself beginning to lose control over her emotions.



The sudden opening of the door distracted River. Torak took advantage of her distraction to kick out his foot connecting with the knife in River’s hand. Lunging forward, he grabbed River yanking her down and under him where he could cover her body with his own and prevent her from reaching for another knife. A scream behind him was his only warning before small hands began pummeling his back.



“Let her go!” Star screamed as she attacked Torak hitting him as hard as she could. “Let her go!” She cried.



Jazin pulled Star back into his arms holding her tightly as she continued to scream and kick. Jo, who had been following closely behind them, ran to grab the knife Torak had kicked out of River’s hand. As she swung around a large pair of arms gripped her, pulling her against a hard body. Throwing her head back, she yelled furiously as she tried to break free.



“Jo, Star?” River called from beneath Torak’s hard body. She tried looking around frantically but all she could see was Torak.



“River!” Star cried out. She was crying so hard she was having trouble breathing.



River suddenly went still under Torak. She looked up into his dark eyes for a moment before asking him softly to let her up. Torak hesitated a moment before releasing her. Pulling himself up, he kept his grip on River pulling her to a standing position in front of him.



“You can let me go.” River said quietly not even looking at Torak. She kept her eyes focused on Star who was now sobbing into Jazin’s chest. Looking over at Jo she watched as the man holding her reluctantly released her.



“Oh River, we thought we had lost you.” Jo struggled to say on a sob.



Jo started to pull away but was stopped by the hand still wrapped around her wrist. She let the knife she was holding drop to the floor. Only then did the hand release her but not before the man rubbed his thumb over her pulse. Startled, Jo looked up into the eyes of Manota. Blushing, she pulled away moving toward River.





River gave a sigh of utter pleasure as she sipped the hot tea. She had had a shower, changed into some clean clothes, and had eaten. She was still tired but she felt better than she had in over three weeks. After the little incident in the medical unit, River, Jo, and Star had been escorted to a small room where River had taken the opportunity to wash the smell of smoke from her body. Jo and Star had filled her in on what had happened after they had separated to carry out their plan of attack on the Tearnat’s warship. They told her how frantic they had been when River hadn’t shown up like planned and how Torak had literally freaked out when River hadn’t returned.



Torak had ordered an extensive search for River after Manota and Gril Tal Mod had arrived with re-enforcements. After almost two and a half hours, Jazin had insisted Jo and Star return with him to the other ship to get cleaned up, eat, and get some rest. They had only gone after Torak had promised to do whatever he could to find River. Star kept blushing every time Jazin’s name was mentioned.



“So, what’s with you and Jazin?” River asked not even bothering to hide the small, mischievous grin curving her lips.



“Nothing.” Star said with another blush. “The arrogant jerk thinks he can boss me around.”



Jo laughed, “He wanted her checked out from head to foot by the healer when we first came aboard the ship. When she refused, he started giving her hell for not listening to him in the ventilation system. You should have seen his face when she gave him the hand!”



“You didn’t?” River said in mock shock. “You give him the hand?”



Star sniffed delicately, “Yeah, a lot of good it did me. He didn’t know what it meant.”



“Yeah, you should have seen his face when Star explained it to him in explicit detail then turned her back on him like he didn’t exist any longer. I thought he was going to blow a gasket.” Jo said.



Laughter pealed through the room as the girls let the stress of their capture and subsequent escape finally wash through them. For the first time in over three weeks they felt safe and were hopeful of finding a way back home. River lay back on the bed and listened as Jo and Star reminisced about what had happened as if it were now some great adventure and how they were going to see about incorporating some of the things they had done into their act when they got home. Sleep soon overcame her as she felt the warmth of their love surround her. They would watch over her so she could sleep, she thought.