Nothing can prepare me for the impressive sight of Lunis Station from the window of my room. It looms before us, massive in size. This is what I would imagine a planet would look like from outer space, only instead of being made of organic material, this is made from something else entirely. It is lit up like a fireball with smaller ships flying in and out like a busy highway.

“Wow, you work there?” I ask, looking over at Raydn.

He’s standing next to me, watching as we approach Lunis Station. It makes me wonder if the sight of it is something you ever get used to.

“I do. Though, as you saw, we spend a lot of time traveling, too.”

He’s right and I should have thought of that before. I’ve been so happy with him these last few days that I never thought about what would happen when we return.

“So, what’s going to happen to me now that we’re back?” I hate that the fear I have about being rejected is rearing its ugly head again. Raydn proved to me that he isn’t going to abandon me. Somehow I have to trust that everything is going to work out.

I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly worried about where I’ll end up. “I plan on taking you to Gaia, my home planet. The other Earth women have all been set up there, it is their home now.”

“That sounds nice,” I say. And it will be nice to see other women from Earth. But it doesn’t really tell me what that means for Raydn and I once I’m there. I don’t see how he could travel on the Force and still be with me.

“Do you remember when we were in the bath on Yoria and I asked you to tell me one of your best memories from home?” he asks me, out of the blue.

“Yes,” I say, hesitantly.

“You did, but then you got really quiet, lost in your head, before you took off and I didn’t know what was going on.”

“I remember…”

“You’re doing it again. I don’t have enough experience with females to know what is going on in your head when you are so quiet.”

“Sorry. Sometimes I have to process things in my head.” He looks at me and nods but he’s still waiting for more of an explanation. It’s safe to say I don’t have the most experience with men but I read so many articles throughout my teenage years about what men want in a woman. They don’t want her to be clingy and needy. So, I’m trying not to be those things. “I was thinking about what would happen when you have to return to the Force and I would stay on Gaia.”

He pulls me close and caresses my chin, tugging it up so I’m looking in his eyes. “I told you, I never want to be apart from you again. Even if that means I serve in a different capacity for the Force.”

“Oh,” I say, surprised. My heart does a little flip in my chest and I can’t stop smiling. “That’s good. I don’t want to be apart from you either.”

“Good. Then we will be together.”

The Stormspike lands in the docking bay of Lunis Station and I watch as everyone disembarks and spreads out, looking like ants on an anthill. For some reason, I’m nervous. Usually I can’t wait to get out of the ship but this place is intimidating. Bear is awake and by my side, moving so well it’s as if she was never injured in the crash. I’m convinced they have advanced medical capabilities on the Force. We are both back to our uninjured selves.

“Time to go,” Raydn says.

“This place is impressive,” I say, following him through the door, Bear trotting along behind us. We wind through the corridors of the ship until we reach the ramp. The only other men that are still here are carrying the recovered weapons into the station. Before we all left, the crew from the Stormspike went inside of the Nightfall to retrieve as many of the weapons as they could. The last thing the Force needed was for the Dydrak to search through the rubble of the ship and get all of the weapons back that were successfully taken.

“It’s the largest space station in the galaxy. I’ll show you around inside once I introduce you to the Admiral. He’s in charge of the station. Then I’ll see when we can make the trip to Gaia.”

“Okay. Well, you’re in charge. Just tell me what to do.”

“I like the sound of that,” he says as I follow him down the ramp. I smile but my attention is focused on the nearly empty, plain room that we find ourselves in. Raydn places his hand on a sensor, there are a series of beeps and then the wall slides open. Bear growls at first and hesitates to walk through. With a little coaxing, she follows us inside. We walk into a huge central room with consoles, screens and a plethora of technology. There’s a busy hum as Force members work; clicking through screens and recording information. Screens that are projected on the walls scan through images at a quick pace. It is sensory overload.

“Wow,” I say, looking around in awe. “I know I keep saying it, but this place is impressive.”

“It is. We have very sophisticated technology. We use satellites to monitor illegal smuggling activities in the galaxy. It’s how we became aware that human women were being sold and weapon material was being smuggled. It feels like an impossible task to stop all of the illegal activity going on out there, but every win counts for something.”

“It does. You did find the weapon you were looking for, even if it didn’t exactly turn out the way you hoped. What will happen to the weapons now?”

“We have a team of scientists that will study the components and figure out where it’s coming from. If we can find the source, we can stop its distribution.”

“That definitely sounds like a win. And how many more women do you need to find?”

“We’re not sure. We interview the women we rescue to find out how many women were with them until they were given away. Marilyn, Koba’s mate, was able to give us a number and we’ll consider how many women were with you at Yhm’s until they were sold off. We’ll keep searching until we can find all of them and free them from their masters.”

“And try to prevent war along the way?”

“Exactly.”

A moment later Kayne walks into the room with more members of our team. “We made it,” he says, walking over to us. He looks relieved to be back and even more happy that we’re all in one piece.

“We made it,” Raydn says. “Have you heard from the Admiral, yet?”

“Not yet but he knows we landed.”

“I’m not looking forward to it. He’s not going to be happy that we lost the Nightfall. He’ll probably demote me.”

“You did a good job. We lost the ship but you got everyone home … the human and a stray baslor included. Hey you two,” he says, turning to me with a smile.

Then just as quickly, he turns back to Raydn and says, “Oh, but a word of caution … I’ve heard the Admiral isn’t thrilled that Koba is on leave with Marilyn on Gaia planet. Tread carefully if you’re going to ask to do the same.”

“I will. I’ll feel it out before I say anything.”

Kayne smacks Radyn’s shoulder and turns to leave. “We’re going to take the weapons into the back. I’ll see you in a few.”

“Okay. I’ll be back for the debrief.”

He takes my hand and leads me through the room. There are numerous hallways going off in all different directions. This must be the center of the station and all of the other areas break off from here.

“There’s a medical bay if you need anything. We have a tech room where new technology is developed. We have a prison below us where we keep prisoners. There is an area with rooms where we all stay while we’re here. I’ll take you to my room. You can rest and relax while I finish all of my reports from our trip.”

“Sounds good. How long do you think we’ll be here before we leave for Gaia planet?”

“It depends. But it won’t be too long. You’ll be making friends with the other human women before you know it.”

“I am excited about that, but I’m perfectly happy and content being right here with you.”

“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” he says.

“Well, it’s true. I had to be abducted by aliens and taken to another galaxy, but in the end, it was all worth it because it led me to you.”

“I don’t deserve you, Willow, but I’m going to be selfish and keep you anyway, because there’s no way I want to live without you now that I’ve found you. You and that silly Baslor.” He looks behind me where Bear is sitting patiently. She doesn’t growl anymore when Raydn takes me in his arms. I’m convinced she’s starting to like him just as much as she likes me. And who can blame her, he’s a little rough around the edges but he saved me and now my life will never be the same.