My eyes snap open and I’m disoriented for a minute until I realize that I’m back on Lunis Station in the medical bay. I lift my head slightly and look down. My side isn’t bandaged anymore and the skin is almost completely healed. I’m not sure how long I’ve been out, though, and I immediately think of Marilyn.

Gaians mate for life — only one mate. It isn’t that we can’t have sexual experiences with other women, but once our hearts choose a mate, it is forever. The intense emotions that accompanied our sexual endeavors on Zephyrus made it clear to me that she is who my heart has chosen. Our hearts will beat as one and she will be all that I crave forever more.

I need to get out of this place and see her. It’s possible that right now she is being prepped to return to Earth. Who knows how far they got while we were away.

“Doctor,” I say. I wait a moment to see if he’s close by. Feeling impatient, I sit up in bed and when everything on my body feels okay, I stand up. I’ve only gone a few steps when Doctor Trevvula walks around the corner.

“Ah, you’re already up. That’s great to see. Everything feels like normal?”

“Yes, I feel much better, thank you.” Physically I’m feeling better but mentally I’m a bit of a mess. “Have you seen Marilyn at all since I’ve been in here?”

“Your female? No. She was never brought to the medical bay.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” I’m relieved to know that she didn’t need medical attention. That she arrived back here without any harm. I leave the medical bay and begin walking toward the command center. First things first, I need to find Marilyn and see her again to make sure she is alright.

I’ve only gone a few strides when Raydn comes around the corner, looking overly excited about something.

“General, I’m glad to see you back on your feet,” he says by way of greeting. Then he quickly gets to the point. “You have to come with me, I have something very exciting to show you.”

“Raydn,” I say, pulling his attention back to me before he takes off back toward the docking bay. “Where is Marilyn? Is she okay?”

“Yes, General. She’s fine. She is all set up in her guest quarters for the time being. When I left her she was going to clean herself up and have something to eat.”

“Thank you, Raydn.”

“Now you have to come with me, Koba. I have something to show you and you’re going to like it.” Raydn takes off this time, unable to slow down or hide his excitement. And his mood is contagious. It must be something good and I can’t wait to see what they’ve found.

Within minutes we’re back in the docking bay and standing in front of the Atronox ship. Kayne comes down the ramp to greet us.

“General Koba, glad to see you’re doing better. It was a hell of a week for you, wasn’t it?” Kayne says.

“Yes, Kayne, it was stressful. But the physical toll was worth it. Marilyn discovered that they have more women on board and I found out the hard way that they have acquired new weapons.” I cross my arms over my chest while we stand together and debrief.

“Shit,” Kayne says. “Who do you think their supplier is?”

“I don’t know, but it was a weapon capable of damage that we have never seen before. If Marilyn hadn’t found me help, I would be dead.”

“Stosk was willing to kill a Force officer and start another war? Why would he do that?” Raydn says.

“Apparently he’s confident that they have the means to go up against the Force. Obviously, this isn’t good news.”

“Well, some of it is good news,” Kayne says, “You’re going to like this. Come one.” He walks back up the ramp into the ship with Raydn and I following close behind.

“How many Atronox guards did you recover from the ship?”

“Six. They were taken easily and placed in prison cells.”

“Excellent,” I say.

We walk until we’re standing in the center of the ship. Here, Raydn presses a button in a panel on the wall and the floor in front of us begins to descend. It’s a secret ramp in the floor that leads to the bowels of the ship. Most likely one of their secret compartments where they store their goods. How lucky that we decided to steal their ship with all of it still on board. The ground trembles and there’s a resounding thud when the ramp finally hits the metal floor. The three of us stand above, staring down into the darkness and feeling the strange energy coming from below.

Kayne leads the way and Raydn and I follow him. We reach the bottom and I can see what has them so excited. The whole cargo area is full of boxes, stacked high to the ceiling above.

“What’s in the boxes?” I ask.

“Weapons,” he says, directing us to a box that he has already been opened. He pulls the lid of the box off and shows us the contents. The boxes are full of weapons, different from their usual kind. Most likely the new weapon that they’re collecting.

“Well, shit, nice find,” I say. “It looks like we took the ship after they completed their exchange. It isn’t every day we get this damn lucky.” The boxes are stacked tall and there are a lot of them. There’s only one reason anyone would need this many weapons. They have definitely been busy.

I am just about to make my way back to Raydn and Kayne when I hear a sound coming from even further back in the cargo hold. I freeze where I am and listen, barely allowing myself to even breathe. For the next few moments I don’t hear a thing. I guess it could have been Raydn or Kayne, or maybe my ears are just playing tricks on me. I’ve just turned to walk away when I hear it again. It’s a cough. Definitely a cough. I’m positive this time. It’s coming from behind the huge stack of boxes so there must be something else down here.

“Raydn,” I say. And then a second later, “Kayne.” I wait with my hands against the boxes, quiet and listening. Soon they’ve joined me and they’re giving me questioning looks. “I heard something,” I whisper, pointing to behind the wall of boxes. They both become very still, doing their best to listen so they can hear the sounds I heard. We’re all standing there as still as statues when the sounds come again. It’s a quiet cough. There’s no force behind it. It sounds like someone that’s sick and weak.

My heart starts pounding and I look at Raydn and Kayne. I have an overwhelming urge to get behind these boxes and see what the Atronox have back there. Raydn and Kayne each grab a stack of boxes and push them to the side at the same time that I push a stack out of the way. Behind the wall of boxes, huddled in small cages, are more stolen women.

“Shit,” I say. I’m frozen in place with shock. Yes, there are women down here, but my eyes immediately go to the empty cages. It looks like our theory has been confirmed. The Atronox are trading the women for their weapons. The empty cages taunt me, emphasizing my failure. Marilyn was right all along, and now more women have slipped through our fingers.

Raydn and Kayne move toward the cages, but they must move too quickly because the women shrink back from the bars. All three of us are Gaians and, although we don’t look anything like the Atronox, we’re still alien to these women. And up until this point, that hasn’t meant anything good.

“Stop,” I say to them. They both freeze where they are and turn to look at me. “We need to get Marilyn.”

Raydn nods and says, “She’s in the guest quarters. Let’s go quickly.”

We turn to go when Kayne says, “Am I going with you or staying here?”

“Stay here,” I decide quickly. “But don’t go near the cages.”

“Got it. Be quick.”

We turn and run back up the ramp.