Qe'eiress felt her head buzzing. Disbelief filled her thoughts. Her eyes took in every aspect of the ship she boarded behind her so-called husband. He was the opposite of everything she knew, understood, and had experienced in her life. There was an arrogance about him, giving condescending vibes, or she was fighting it - his claim, that is. These thoughts crossed her mind as she eyed the V.C. bot bodyguard. Again, top of the line unit that would destroy anything that made a threatening attempt against his star viking. Qe'eiress sighed, shaky within, if she were to be honest. At the moment, he seemed to be harmless, but one could never tell with a brief meeting. Besides that, she had a feeling he might be a bit of a showoff. This ship was extreme, top of the line.

     "Buckle in, entire torso." She knew that. He obviously took her for a simple layperson, uncouth and unrefined, not used to the nicer things. Because the Ra's budgeted their Terra shares for important spending, they chose the less-than-nice things. Care for their people first, defense spending second. Which made her think about her parents, Emperor Baron Den Ra, her father, and her mother, Queen-Mother Chai Rae Ra. Where were they? Why hadn't they told her of this... this arrangement?

     "Helmet on, press back until it clicks in place." His order cut into her thoughts. Once more, she knew how it all fit, and did it.

       "Make sure your mask is secure, and releases oxygen." He furthered. She sighed.

    "Like this." He showed her how it goes. She remained silent and did it with a droll, unimpressed expression on her face. "Can we get on with where you're taking us, please?" She thought that came out polite enough and then followed it up with a smile. As this was all new to her, she didn't want to test the star viking. She didn't know who she was messing with. No, the smile didn't meet her eyes, but it was the thought that counted.

     He quirked his brow, cleared his throat, "Press secure button, light it up green, or we don't move until I see 2 green lights," He finished, looking at her, and then at the panel where the green lights would glow. Not seeing hers, he gave her a look as if to say that he was waiting; while he had not done one thing to secure himself. He smirked at her then, as if he could read her mind.

     Growing impatient, she did as she was told, and pressed the secured button.

     Showing off, he pressed a button that did all the securements for him instantly. He was well and truly strapped in and secured. A beep alerted him to his unsecured head. He turned straight in his seat, pressed his head back, the last of him to be locked in. He flipped a few switches, pressed a few buttons, activating the start up panel, speaking into a microphone within his helmet. The entire dash came to life with its meters, gauges, speed read-outs and more. The V.C. bot sat in a chair that plugged him in and powered him in-sync with the ship. Secure in place, he too had access to controlling the powerful vessel.

     Two green lights. The Talon lifted into the air. She barely felt them ascending. Smooth, clean, with a low thrumming, or was it a pur? State-of-the-art, slicker than oil. The Emperor's Talon was the best in aerodynamic space travel. It was a sneaker ship. Force fields and an undetectable stealth mode equipped it. Cloaked as it was, the very reason she nor her guards saw it coming. Her 'husband' considered that she or they might shoot it out of the air.

     He was a star Viking; the man sitting before her. How was she to trust such a person? Who was he really? She simply could not be tied to this man. He was a stranger. So what exactly did this mean for her? Her life? Her role? Besides not knowing him, she didn't consider them trustworthy. There were ancient history books filled with their dealings. To be fair, they were not all that way. Just enough to bring ruin to many lives and their original earth. Especially within the clan of the Ra.

     Her mind immediately jumped to her brother. Where was Emeric? She needed him right now. His people needed him. They were in the hands of Koben's. She had little choice but to give in to their leader. Her nervous system was in a riot. What if he'd tricked her? What if all that he claimed was a lie? If all was true, why was it the first she'd heard of it? Her mind went back to her parents' again. Were they collected with the rest of their people?

     Like in the speed of light, they arrived and were descending. Alcor Star - within the capital city of Veridia Prime. The base was astounding in its vastness. Cold, glass, metal, concrete. No trees, grass, nature - none. Everything as far as the eye could see was straight lines, hard surfaces, artificial, all man-made. She could not help but wonder, what did they eat? Was their food also artificial, cooked up in a laboratory? Once they landed, he turned around, looking back at her. Pushing a button, all of her securements retracted, freeing her. He smirked at her, as if to impress her. His expensive fancy gadgets were the last things on her mind.

     They made eye contact. He flexed his brows, grinning. "Honey, you're ho-ome," he tried being humorous to break the ice. So far as he could tell, she didn't like him. This would not be as easy as he thought it would be. He didn't understand the problem, he was a good-looking guy. Most women couldn't wait for him to look their way.

     Qe'eiress wasn't in the mood to find the humor he was going for. The reason her people were brought there fueled her fear. She needed to contact Emeric; she needed to contact someone she trusted to make sense of this. Only her mother, her father or her brother would she trust.

Back to Episode Two - To be continued in Episode Four