Upset with the whole thing, Kahm rubbed his face unsure of what to do, He had to admit Selena was right feeling distraught with Moyana’s attitude and she had the right to ask the other woman to leave. He wouldn’t have accepted the presence of an ex-lover of his wife underneath his roof, so he shouldn’t have submitted Selena to an impossible situation like that.
Getting up, he went to his office, allowing Selena some time to calm down before he went looking for her to apologize and let her know she was his priority.
A couple of hours later, he finished the work he had been doing, and he went looking for her. But she was nowhere to be seen.
With a deep frown, he called Ysha. “Have you seen my wife?”
“Not for some time, Sínn Kahm. She left the house and headed to the orchard. I haven’t seen her ever since.”
“She’s not there, I’ve checked.”
“Perhaps, she went for a walk,” the android suggested.
“Does she go for walks often?”
The android shook her head. “No, Sínn Kahm. She never goes beyond the orchard.”
“Thank you, Ysha. Let me know if you see her.”
“Yes, Sínn Kahm.”
Worried, Kahm pulled his communication device and established a conference call with all his men. He had to find her.
“Have you seen Selena?” he asked, in a stern tone.
“No, I haven’t.” Was his men’s answers. No one had seen her.
“But I saw a vehicle heading towards the beach,” one of them said.
“One of ours?” Kahm asked, thinking she might have gone to the beach. She had loved the day they had spent together there.
“No, this was a flying vehicle, unlike any of the ones we have here.”
Kahm frowned. That described Moyana’s vehicle, but why would she be going to the beach? He hadn't taken her there. “What time was that?” he asked his man.
“About two hours ago.”
So Moyana had returned, but what for? And why would she be going to the beach? “Please, see that the androids take care of today’s chores and form two men search parties. Selena is missing,” he asked his men. “Exion, Stenn, join me. We’ll go to the beach. Bring your weapons, you might need them.”
If Moyana had taken Selena, she was up to no good. He wanted to be prepared for any circumstance. He headed to where he kept his vehicles and choose one of the flying ones. Something told him he might need it.
There was no sign of Moyana or her vehicle by the time they reached the beach. Kahm scanned the whole area and found absolutely nothing. Getting more and more worried, Kahm decided to contact Moyana, but she didn’t take the call. He could tell she was still in Sumirion, but not much more.
Frustrated, he paced the beach, trying to think clearly. Going after Moyana would be a waste of time, she wouldn’t admit to anything, and he was sure she didn’t have Selena with her, she was smarter than that. That meant she had to leave Selena somewhere.
“Do you think she took Selena to Sumitera?” Exion asked, looking at the dense forest on the other continent.
“She wouldn’t dare…” he muttered, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He remembered talking to Moyana about the other continent and mentioning the dangers that entailed crossing the sea to get there.
“I think she would dare todo anything if it suited her plans. And getting rid of Selena seemed her main plan,” his man pointed out, revealing just how clearly he had read Moyana and her intentions.
“We should go there…” Stenn suggested.
“We can’t… not without asking permission first,” Exion pointed out. “If Moyana truly crossed the sea and penetrated their territory, we’re in deep trouble as it is. Following her steps would only bring us more problems.”
Kahm cursed, but Exion was right. The people in Sumitera were very strict, and Moyana’s violation of their rules would endanger everybody’s existence at Terrion. They had to get in touch with them and apologize for her actions before it was too late. Only then would they be able to ask for their permission to look for Selena.
Cursing all the stars in the universe, Kahm picked up his communication device and called Goln. He was the representative of the people leaving on Terrion and the only one allowed to contact Sumitera.
Kahm rapidly explained the whole situation to the other man, and Goln promised to get in touch with the people in Sumitera.
“Please, find your friend and make sure she leaves Sumirion. We don’t need people threatening our lives in Terrion,” the man demanded, and Kahm had to agree.
“I’ll take care of that immediately. Please, let me know when I’m allowed to go find my wife.”
“You’re aware she doesn’t have many chances of surviving her time on Sumitera,” Goln said, in a stern tone.
“I’m aware of the danger she’s in, believe me. Either way, I want to go find her, as soon as possible,” he insisted. The iron band around his heart squeezed harder, and he had to struggle to hold on to the thread of self-control he had left. He wanted to jump on his vehicle and go looking for his wife, caring less about the consequences.
But he had a lot of friends on this land, innocent people that didn’t deserve to pay the consequences of Moyana’s actions.
“Certainly. I’ll let you know.”
Kahm left Exion at the beach with Stenn, just in case Selena showed up, while he headed straight to the docking bay. He was sure he was going to find Moyana still there, waiting for the results of her actions.
He wasn’t wrong. He found her on the vessel she had used to travel to Sumirion.
“Kahm, what a surprise. What are you doing here?” she asked, with a fake innocent smile.
“You know exactly what I’m doing here, Moyana. What have you done to Selena?” he asked in an ice-cold tone.
“To your wife? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You can’t fool me, Moyana.”
She sighed dramatically. “I wasn’t hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you this, but you’re as stubborn as always,” she said, in a fake, condescending tone. “I made your ‘wife’ the proposal of her life, and she didn’t hesitate to accept it.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, frowning, not believing a word she was saying. Selena hated Moyana, she wouldn’t have accepted any proposal coming from her.
“I offered her enough credits for her to settle and a new life wherever she wanted. I even offered her to pay her ticket out of here, to the planet of her choice and she accepted my offer,” she informed, with a scornful smile on her face. “She left about an hour ago,” she concluded.
Kahm was amazed at how far Moyana would go to get what she wanted. Did she really expect him to believe such nonsense? Even if he didn’t know what he knew, he would never think Selena would trust the other woman. “Do you really think I would believe a word of that story?” he asked her, furious. “Your vehicle was seen heading towards the beach, on my property, a few hours ago,” he added. “I know exactly what you did. And your little prank might cause all of us on this continent a lot of trouble, but more importantly, it might cause Selena’s death,” he continued, towering the woman and letting her know just how furious he was. “I told you Sumitera was forbidden territory, but you ignored my warnings and crossed the sea, didn’t you? All you wanted was to harm Selena.”
“You can’t prove any of that,” she grumbled, taking a step back, as she realized he hadn’t believed her.
“I don’t have to, Moyana. You’re no longer welcome on this planet, so, please leave as soon as possible, or Terrion’s patrol will make sure you do,” he warned her. “And know this, Moyana, if Selena is harmed in any way, you better find the best hideout in the universe, because I’ll personally hunt you down and make you pay for it.”
“Why do you even care? She’s just a sex doll you bought to keep you warm during the cold nights to this forsaken planet,” she ranted.
Furious, Kahm closed the distance between them and wrapped his powerful hand around Moyana’s throat, squeezing it hard enough for her to know he meant every word he was saying. “She’s the woman of my life and your opinion of her matters nothing to me. With your actions, you erased any caring feelings I still had for you, so consider yourself warned.” He released her. “Now, get out of here and don’t you dare ever coming back.”
With those words, Kahm stormed out of her ship, straight to the post of Terrion’s patrollers. He wanted to make sure they contacted her and ordered them to leave Sumirion.
He was on his way back to his farm when he received the call from Goln. “I’ve talked with the leader of the people in Sumitera. They aren’t happy with your friend breaking the rules, but they won’t allow you to go looking for your wife,” he said the minute he answered the call.
Kahm almost dropped the phone. “What? You can’t be serious. How can they…”
Goln interrupted him. “Let me finish Kahm. You know very well just how delicate this is,” the man said, trying to calm Kahm down. “They will send a search party looking for her. When they find her, they will bring her to the beach on your property.”
“Am I supposed to just stay still and wait for them to find her?” he ranted, feeling how the band around his heart painfully squeezed it.
“Yes, you are. I want your word you won’t cross over to Sumitera, Kahm. Otherwise, I’ll have you arrested until we have news from them,” Goln warned him.
“You’re asking me too much.”
“I know, I’m well aware of it, but it’s my job to make sure we all have a peaceful coexistence with these people. You know this doesn’t make me happy, but there isn’t much we can do.”
“Damn it, Goln, if they don’t find her tonight, she’ll perish in those woods,” he yelled at the other man.
“I’m well aware of that. They told me they would go looking for her immediately. We have to trust they will.”
“Tell them I’ll provide them with meat for a solar cycle if they find her safe and sound,” he offered, desperate.
Goln sighed. “I will, but you know very well how little they care about those things.”
“Just do your best and let me know. I’ll be at the beach.”
“Give me your word of honor you won’t go to Sumitera, Kahm,” the man insisted,
“You have it. Just help me get my wife back.”
“I’ll do my best.”