Chapter 4

It was a stun gun or a ray gun that had done it, Casina was certain. She'd read about them in science fiction books.

  She had all but hit the engagement button of the small vessel she was in when a powerful blast from some invisible force outside it caused the entire craft to shut down. 

The engine quit, the lights went out, and she soon found herself sitting in semi-darkness until she realized what the problem was. 

"Great. Wouldn't you know it." 

She unstrapped her safety harness and removed herself from the piloting seat to peer out the port hole beside her. There came another loud explosion at the door of the small craft, and the impact of it literally knocked her off her feet. 

Thrust backward, she was unable to prevent herself from landing flat on her backside between the two seats, with her legs spread wide and her bare feet sticking up in the air. 

The destruction of the door had surprised and frightened her, but not as much as the sight of the stern-faced alien making his way toward her through the wreckage. Her heart literally bottomed out at sight of him. 

A dark-skinned behemoth in her eyes, he peered down at her, making no attempt to hide his initial amusement at sight of her bared appendages. Masking that, he scowled at her briefly then reached out a hand to yank her to her feet.

  He allowed her but a moment to pull her gown to a more modest level. 

"Are you hurt?" he demanded in English, in a gruff, thickly-accented voice. 

"I don't...think so," she admitted, still terrified, yet feeling a bit foolish as she rubbed her sore posterior. 

"Then come," he said, clamping a firm hand on her shoulder as he directed her from the craft and down the short ladder. 

Two more powerful-looking aliens awaited them, and each sided her as soon as her foot hit the floor of the shuttle area. They were quick to take her away, a strong hand on each arm. 

"You gotta admit. It was a nice try," she tossed back at the man trailing, daring him to deny her statement. 

She heard him snort as they led her away. 

"Were you trying to escape?" 

Casina blinked up at a bare-chested alien, his chest criss-crossed with shiny gold straps, with some odd insignia on them, then at the man in the green tunic, whom she recognized. They were standing on what appeared to be the bridge of the spaceship. 

"What do you care?" she said, not interested in what the aliens thought. She was feeling more angry than brave just then. 

He stiffened at her response, apparently surprised, then focused on the men beside her. 

"She tried stealing one of our canvas modules," one explained, also in English. "She actually had it set to launch when we stopped her." 

The ebony eyes widened with surprise. 

"Is this true?" he asked her, his expression one of amazement at her audacity. 

Casina shrugged. "So what if it is?" 

The man frowned then and turned to peer up at the man sitting on the command platform. 

All eyes turned in that direction as the man, unnoticed by Casina until now, rose up from his seat and moved to join them in the navigation area below. As he descended the curving metal steps, Casina lifted her gaze to study him.

  Her jaw dropped, her breath intaking sharply. Oh, my... He seemed like the other aliens she had met, yet there was something different about him. 

  The mere sight of him and his air of authority evoked a sudden terror into her. 

He was a large man, powerfully built, with broad shoulders and bulging muscles. 

  He towered an incredible height of at least seven feet or more and was, without a doubt, the most arrestingly handsome man she had ever seen. The fact that he was an alien was beside the point. 

At first glance, she thought her heart had stopped beating for she had never seen a man like this one. With his thick, raven-black hair reaching just below his shoulders, she wondered at the power of him for he exuded such an aura of magnetism that it made her tremble. 

  She didn't know if her fear related to her unexpected attraction to him or because he was, in fact, the alien apparently in charge. 

  If this man was to determine her fate, she wondered if disrespecting his men had been the right thing to do. Still gaping up at him, she felt her legs unconsciously buckling beneath her. 

Apparently used to the female reaction to this particular man, the men beside her immediately drew her upright again, much to her embarrassment. Still, almost without volition, her gaze remained riveted to the alien. 

  Curious, as any female would be, she daringly dropped her awed gaze along his lean torso, tightly clad in a black outfit. He wore tall black boots and a shining silver belt about his trim waist. 

She snapped her mouth shut then, aware of how she must appear to him. Yet it was all she could do not to reach out a curious hand to that great chest.

  Blushing at her unbidden thoughts as she observed him, she quickly shifted her gaze to the floor, figuratively quaking now in her boots.

  She cringed, swallowing nervously. Stepping back, she collided with another alien standing like a brick wall behind her, to prevent her from running. 

"Were you trying to escape, Miss Brandon?" came the deep, resonant voice of the man before her, traces of his alien origins evident. 

Still unable to look at him, she muttered a soft reply, sounding even to her own ears like an unruly child. 

"So what if I was?" she stated, with blatant disregard for his station, then wishing she hadn't. 

When no reply was forthcoming, she slowly raised curious eyes to his, not expecting the sudden jolt to her system upon meeting his gaze directly.

  Eyes as black and penetrating as any black hole snagged her attention. 

Her jaw dropped again as she stared at him. Faith, he was gorgeous. More than any words could possibly describe. 

"You wish to return home? To your own planet?" 

His words sank into her befuddled brain then, and she gave herself a mental shake, aware that he had just confirmed she was no longer on Earth. 

"Home? Um...y-yes. I want to go home," she managed, her tone low and uncertain. She noted the strange gleam in his eye as he considered her request. At his slight nod, the men holding her released her arms. 

  He exited the stairs, then stepped off the dais where she stood, so as to face her on more equal ground. 

Despite her five-foot-eight-inch frame, he dwarfed her easily by comparison. "I'm sorry," the man said. "But that is impossible." She blinked, not understanding. 

"Then...why did you ask me if I...wanted to go home?" 

His fine lips curled slightly, and a sudden, overwhelming desire to feel them pressed against hers shocked her into true alertness. 

Where on earth had that come from? she wondered with wideeyed shock. And then, it was as if she had been sucker-punched in the gut, so strong were the feelings that came flooding through her as she gaped at him. 

"I just wanted to know how strong the desire was," he admitted, his dark eyes gleaming as if he was aware of her thoughts toward him. 

  "Considering that you have nothing to return home to, Miss Brandon, I cannot understand your wanting to return there." Anger rose unbidden then as she eyed him. 

"What do you care what I want or why I want it?" she said, blinking back tears of outrage. "And how do you know my name? I never gave it to you." She took a step forward, glaring up at him. Trembling, her fists clenched in fury. 

  "Are you the one who brought me here? Huh? Are you?" Then, before anyone could stop her, she shot forward and brought her hand fully across the alien's face, the force of the unexpected attack jerking his shaggy head to the side, amid the startled gasps of all present. 

  At this, the two escorts grabbed her and secured her struggling form between them. "Let me go! Let me go!" 

But they ignored her cries as the commander righted himself to face her.

  Aghast at what she had done, Casina considered him with apprehension as he lifted a hand to rub his sore cheek. Perhaps this time, they would kill her as they had the orderlies. 

But he merely stared at her, his expression guarded. She had, however, heard the sharp gasp from his men at her action, as if striking this man was the last thing they had ever expected her to do. 

"Tythis," he said at last, a calmness in his demeanor that seemed to surprise everyone. "Take her to a suspension chamber. For the remainder of our voyage." 

"Ziros?" 

"Don't question me. Just do it." 

The warrior clamped his mouth shut on his forthcoming response, hesitating as if doubting the decision. 

  He motioned his comrade to release her. 

"This way, please." 

Casina stared at the alien commander, her heart sinking like a lead weight in her chest as she studied his somber expression. 

His reaction was not what she had expected, and the easy strength he had just demonstrated was unsettling.

  Suddenly ashamed at her outburst and attack, she dropped her gaze and followed the guard into the elevator, to face whatever punishment she had brought upon herself.

  Terror was far too mild a word to describe how she was feeling now.