River's Run(24)

“We arrive on Kassis tomorrow. How are you going to explain to the council men the disappearance of not only your mate, but the other two women?” Jazin asked leaning back against the glass window, the vast darkness of space behind him.



“I don’t know. There is no way they can get off the ship. It is only a matter of time before they are caught.” Torak said tiredly.



“Yes, but time is the one thing we do not have.” Manota added glaring at the schematic in frustration. There were miles and miles of ventilation system running through the ship. Even with the larger tubes cut off the females could by-pass them using the smaller ones. It was a strategy they had never encountered before and would have to take into consideration. They were lucky it had been these females and not some other species bent on their destruction.



“I have no idea where they could be!” Manota said in frustration as he sat down at the table. “They could be anywhere. There are miles and miles of ventilation systems they could access that we can’t. If they had been bent on our destruction we would be dead now.”



“I have never seen a warrior clan as elusive as these females. I would not like to have to face their males if they are as good as these females.” Manota continued.



River couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across her face. They thought her, Jo, and Star were warriors? She couldn’t wait to tell Jo and Star that. She wondered what the men would think if they knew her and the other girls were just circus performers. They had never had to battle anything worst than a strong cold or a bad boyfriend. Sliding back away from the vent opening, River moved silently away from the conference room and back to where Jo and Star were waiting for her.



“They think we are warriors?” Jo asked in disbelief.



Jo looked at River and Star and burst out laughing. They didn’t even like to argue much less fight. They had only done what they had had to do over the last month and a half because they didn’t have a choice.



“So, what are we going to do?” Jo asked looking back and forth between Star and River.



“I don’t know. What do you two think?” River asked.



She already knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to get out of the vents. She was tired of living in them. She also wanted to be near Torak again. She didn’t admit to the other girls but she had spied on him over the last three days. She flushed when she remembered watching him shower. She hadn’t meant to spy on him while he was bathing but she had been so mesmerized as he had removed his clothes she hadn’t been able to look away. Later, she had watched him sleep. On the second night, he had talked softly to himself. She had listened unabashedly as he pulled up a picture of her on the computer console in his room. He had re-enforced his claim on her. Only this time it didn’t make her mad as she listened to him. She heard something in his voice she didn’t understand but it sent a shiver of need down her spine. She had hidden her face in her hands biting her lip to keep from calling out to him. Unable to leave him, she had lay above him in the vent and watched him sleep for hours before she had quietly crawled away.



“I want to get out of these vents.” Star said softly. “I miss Jazin.”



Star looked defiantly back and forth daring either one of the other girls to deny their own feelings.



River let out a relieved sigh, “I guess that answers your question. We go back.”



The girls decided they would make an appearance tomorrow morning in the shuttle bay. River would go out first with Jo and Star covering her back. They would meet with the council members and greet them as representatives from the planet Earth. River had recovered her black duffle bag during one of their excursions and planned on being decked out. Jo and Star would carry their signature weapons of choice. They didn’t know what to expect but they hoped a little bravo went a long way because all three of them were scared shitless. None of them had talked about the difficult choices they knew they were going to have to make soon, stay or return home. Right now, none of them felt like they could make that final, important decision without knowing more about the men who were causing them to have doubts about returning to their home world.





Chapter 7




Torak, Jazin, and Manota stood in the shuttle bay waiting for the council men to disembark from the shuttle. Torak shifted impatiently from one foot to the other. He had not expected the council men to board the Galaxy Quest. He had worked on all types of excuses as to why the females couldn’t be presented to the council assembly right away. Now, all those excuses were worthless as the council had decided to bring the assembly aboard his warship.