“I bet you didn’t expect to see me,” the minister says as he stands in the hallway, blocking our way. Several royal guards stand behind him, crowding the narrow passage. They carry heavy weapons and wear serious expressions. “Not your smartest move, brother,” the minister says as he shakes his finger in our faces in a reproachful manner. “Trying to escape the very day I warn you against trying to escape.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “I really didn’t think you had it in you. I guess you are more in love with the earth woman then you’re willing to admit.”

“You have no right to keep us here,” Ramyx says. “Neither of us.” He’s gritting his jaw and the cords of muscle in his neck are sticking out.

“I disagree,” replies the minister, “especially when you have something that belongs to me. Right in that little bag on your back.” He reaches forward for the shoulder strap but Ramyx jerks out of the way. The minister motions for one of the guards to step in and Ramyx quickly gives up and hands him the pack.

“Why don’t you open it and show us what’s inside.” The guard quickly complies with the minister’s order. He tugs the zipper open and pulls out a sphere the size of a basketball covered in metallic swirls. I immediately recognize it and I’m filled with anger and panic in equal measures.

“How the hell do you have the navigation unit from our starship?” I’m beginning to sense that I’ve been outmaneuvered and betrayed. I cross my arms defensively over my chest. The navigation unit is the one item we absolutely need in order to fly the starship. Without it, the Sparrow is a worthless hunk of junk, at least considering the distance we need to travel to get back to Earth. Seeing it in Ramyx’s possession raises so many questions for me. Have they been lying to me all along? Was Ramyx in on it? What have they really done with my friends? And how did they know how to find the navigation unit on the ship? Where the hell is the ship right now?

I’m mad as hell and I can’t believe Ramyx betrayed me like this. Acting like he’s my soul mate and the entire time he was working with his brother to steal our technology and strand us here, with no concern over what that means to Earth.

“The unit belongs with her ship,” he says to his brother. “We had no right to remove it. You know it was the wrong thing to do. Just try to make it right by returning it to them.” He raises his hands in frustration and keeps trying to catch my eye. I wish I knew which side he was really on. Either way, he has a lot of explaining to do.

“Everything on this godforsaken planet is mine, brother, you know that.” The minister is starting to raise his voice. My guess is that he isn’t challenged very often and I don’t want to see what happens if he loses his temper. “And that includes our visitors: the Earth women. And their ship. And all the technology on it. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can move forward with a united front.”

“It’s not right, Vermyx, and you know it.” Ramyx lowers his voice as he addresses his brother by his given name. I secretly hope it will lead to some sort of family drama breakthrough but it has no impact on the minister. He remains as hard as ever.

“It’s so disappointing to have to explain this to you.” He raises his hand to his temple. “They’re here at my invitation exploring my planet and mining my Eclaydian. You have no say in the matter. And now that I know that I can’t trust you, I would keep an even closer eye on you than I had been. You disappoint me, just as you disappointed father.”

The minister nods to his royal guards and two of them step forward and stand on either side of me.

“What are you doing with Natalie?” Ramyx asks.

The minister steps forward into my personal space and looks me over from head to toes. “This one has proven a more formidable opponent than I expected. She’s managed to turn you against me, after all. So I’m going to have to move her to accommodations that are a little less…comfortable.”

“Brother, you know it was all my idea,” Ramyx says. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t dream of hurting her. What kind of man would hurt his future bride?”

“Not a chance in hell,” I say. “I’d rather die.”

He reaches forward and strokes my cheek. “Choose your words carefully, my dear; that can be arranged.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you even want to marry me?”

“Because I need to keep you and your Earthwoman friends here on our planet. I can’t let you go home. “You need to understand. We need the Eclaydian here just as badly as you do back on Earth. But we’ve experienced a thinning of the ranks of our great minds and scientists over the past decades. We just don’t have the technology to harvest it ourselves, or transform it into a useable form.”

“Is that really the only reason you agreed to let us come here in the first place?” Hatred and disbelief strangle my words.

“Of course.” He looks at me like he can’t believe I’d think otherwise.

“You can’t do this,” I say. “I’ll never marry you. I’ll find some way to get off this planet, or my crewmates will. We’ll figure it out, one way or another.”

“It’s pointless to keep fighting, my dear. There’s no hope for you or your friends. I think the kindest thing I could do at this point is to make that clear to you.” The minister takes the navigational unit and tosses it to one of the royal guards. The giant man sets it on the floor and, for a moment, I’m convinced he’s going to try to stomp it with his giant foot and heavy boot. Instead, he uses a heavy metal tool that resembles a sledgehammer. With one effortless swing, he crushes my only chance of returning home as the fragile globe shatters into thousands of pieces.

I’m utterly defeated. So much so that I don’t have any fight left when the guards grab me by the upper arms and drag me down the hallway towards the transportation pod at the end of the row. Instead of moving sideways, as was the case when I was transported to dinner, this time we’re going straight down.

I’m all alone now. Really and truly alone. I don’t know where they’ve taken Ramyx. I don’t know where my friends are. I have no way to communicate with Earth. I’m completely at the mercy of the minister.

It’s a disheartening thought. But things get even worse when the doors of the transportation pod open and the guards drag me into a dank, dim stone room that resembles a dungeon. They toss me into a cage with metal bars and a rock-hard floor.

“The minister says you are to remain here until you decide to be more companionable,” the taller guard tells me.

“He’s going to have one hell of a wait, you dirty bastards.” It’s the best insult I could summon at the time, but it rings hollow when they laugh and slam the door shut in my face.