Ruby Read online

  Chapter Ten

  “Release the map,” the pirate said it again. He was still using the voice com but didn’t want her to see him. This unnerved her.

  “Start looking for a map everyone.”

  Frantically Sammie, Charles, and Ruby searched through every cabinet and nook in the ship.

  After two frantic minutes, Sammie said, “I think I found it.”

  She handed Ruby a rolled up piece of paper she’d pulled from under the bed pad she’d been lying on. Ruby unrolled it and took pictures with the ship’s holopad.

  “Oh, no.” She whispered as she saw the pictures of the bright stones painted on it. They looked like they had galaxies swirling inside them.

  “What is it?” Charles asked, as the pirate they'd been talking to beamed on board. With him, he had a Hallaw with a chain around its neck and two guards wearing the same clothing as him. They had guns pointed at Ruby and she handed over the map.

  “Is this it? The pirate asked the Hallaw, who just nodded.

  “Finally,” the pirate said. “Don't follow us or I will kill you.”

  With that, all four teleported back to their ship. Ruby had never seen someone actually teleport before. She was too concerned with what they were after to stop and marvel at it.

  “Oh, no,” Ruby said again.

  “What is it? You looked like you recognized that map,” Sammie said.

  Ruby nodded sadly. “The map is to the same place we’re going. It’s going to lead them to a very special place on my planet people like that shouldn't know about.”

  “What are they after?” Charles asked.

  “When my parents first came to Adna, they were running. They’d been taken prisoner by another race who enjoyed imprisoning humans and humanoid species to work for them. They came across a group of natives on Adna, led by a man named Ation. Ation showed my father the secret Adna keeps beneath it.”

  “Is it a dragon?” Charles asked, catching her off guard.

  Sammie hit him in the arm. “He’s obsessed with dragons. Go on.”

  “No. It’s a very rare gem. It’s called Astro Fox and it gleams with the light of a thousand galaxies. My parents have had to fight people off the planet. Aliens of all sorts have tried to find it.”

  “We need to find a way to stop them,” Sammie said, nodding.

  Ruby was glad they understood the severity of the situation. The pirates would be no match for her fathers, but Ation and his people were not fighters. They wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “We’ve got to get closer to Adna so I can warn my family. If they know, they can anticipate the attack and fight. The pirates probably think the planet is still inhabited by the natives who created that map. It’s not obvious we are there.”

  Ruby had to set a course to go the long way around. They could no longer waste time waiting for a shuttle ship at Manta Ray. They needed to get to Adna as soon as possible. She wasn’t sure the old ship would make the trip, but they had to try.

  They were on edge the whole time. Sammie put Mawri in the back cot and found her a book to look at. It wasn’t a children’s book, but there were pictures. It mostly talked about the Hallaw’s planet and the things that were on it. Soon the child was sleeping again and the adults could go back to being nervous wrecks.

  Ruby wasn’t sure how close to Adna they had to be for her instruments to start working. They were taking a completely uncharted route she’d never seen and she could only rely on the navigator that she was going the right way.

  When they’d made it to a point she thought looked familiar she started paying attention to the radar. It would be good if they could spot the pirates before they were spotted. As fast as they had found the ship though, there was a good chance they had some type of tracking on them.

  “Dad, come in. It’s Ruby.” She started talking into the communicator every twenty minutes when they were less than a few hours away. So far she’d gotten nothing back.

  “Ruby?” A voice came through. It was crackling, but she recognized her mom.

  “Oh, thank God. Hi. I’m okay but I need to talk to Dad right away.”

  “Baston. It’s Ruby. She’s on the com. I can’t believe it.” She was crying and Ruby felt bad she hadn’t tried harder to communicate with her parents.

  “Honey, you okay?” It was good to hear Baston’s voice.

  “Yes, but there are pirates coming to the planet. They know where the Astro Fox is. There was a map. It’s too much for me to explain. You just have to trust me, Ation and his people are in trouble.”

  “Okay, we’ll go to them. Do you know how far out they are?”

  “Couple hours, maybe less. I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to get a signal to you for hours now.

  “We’ll take care of it baby. Just get here safe. Your mothers have been beside themselves.”

  Ruby felt at ease. If her dad told her he would take care of it, then he would take care of it. They just had to make it to Adna in case he needed help. She wasn’t sure how many pirates were actually making their way towards them. There would be another hour before they actually made it to them and by then the battle would probably be underway.

  They made it into Adna’s atmosphere and she aimed the ship towards Ation’s tribe. She wasn’t sure exactly where the Astro Fox was, but she knew it was close to the tribe. As they came down to the planet, she could see the pirates’ ship parked.

  She flew over the tribe and no one appeared to be there. She continued forward until they had made it up over the mountains. That’s when she saw the battle going on. Her fathers were out in front of a group of men. The evil tribe was fighting with them. There were about a dozen pirates she could see. A couple lay on the ground and a couple of the men lay on the ground. It seemed like the fight was pretty even. Ruby considered shooting at the pirates but they were fighting too closely with the others.

  She set the plane down behind one of the mountains and raced out. Charles was right behind her, while Sammie stayed on the ship with Mawri.

  When they arrived at the battle Sca was fighting with one of the pirates in hand-to-hand combat. Ruby wondered where his gun was. Some of the natives were fighting using spears against the pirate’s large knives. There were a lot of people injured.

  Baston seemed to be the only one with a gun but she could see the charge was almost gone. The group of men were backing into the woods slowly and the pirates were following.

  Ruby knew of the dangers in the woods and assumed the plan was to lead the pirates to it and avoid it themselves.

  She shot a pirate who'd gained the upper hand on one of the men.

  She ran up to her dad, who'd just knocked the man he was fighting unconscious.

  “How did you get them to help?” Ruby gestured to the men led by their community's leader, Ham. She shot another pirate who was coming at them.

  “Common ground.” They backed further into the woods. “They don't want the planet destroyed any more than we do.”

  She heard the first worm before she saw it. If rumbled the ground beneath them. Sca and Ruby grinned at each other before climbing the trees. Charles who'd been fighting with the pirate Ruby had been speaking to earlier ran towards them.

  “Is he behind you?” Ruby yelled down.

  “Yes, he knocked my gun this way.”

  “Get in a tree now!”

  For a minute he hesitated, not sure what she meant when the ground moved again and he leapt up into the closest tree.

  The pirate ran in with his large knife raised. The worm broke the ground right when the pirate ran over him and opened its mouth. He screamed as he was devoured and a couple of his men turned and ran when they saw what happened.

  The worms had been an obstacle her parents had faced when they first arrived on the planet. Back then the worms stayed in their tunnels and only surfaced through holes they made. They'd evolved and could now give chase wherever you ran.

  One by one the men ran the pirates into the woods and jumped into the t
rees.

  Those lucky enough to avoid getting eaten returned to the ship. Their leader was gone and it seemed none of them wanted to die for his treasure quest.

  Chapter Eleven

  They all returned to the house tired but pleased with the outcome of the battle.

  Abigail and Cherie ran out of the house to greet them.

  “We were so worried,” Abigail said as she folded her daughter into her arms. Ruby let out a long breath. Then slowly, she inhaled the scent of her mother’s perfume. It always brought back memories of bedtime stories and warm hugs. Abigail was always ready to comfort and console Ruby when she was upset.

  “I know I’m sorry.” Ruby returned the hug and then moved away from her mother’s embrace.

  “Are you okay?” Cherie grabbed her hands and lifted them looking her over for injuries.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little bruised.” Cherie was the mother that worried a bit excessively. She always fed them herbs to keep them healthy and had a jar of salve within reach to soothe any ache.

  “Moms, this is Sammie, Charles, and Mawri. I met them when we were taken, prisoner.”

  “Hello, please come in. We’ll have some food,” Abigail said with a warm smile.

  Ruby wanted to tell her family they were together, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it up. She just followed them into the house. Her brothers were playing a game in the living room and jumped up to run over and hug her.

  She went to wash up after convincing Baston Jr. to play a game with Mawri. Charles followed her into the bathroom and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “You are really good with that gun.”

  She turned into his arms and smiled up at him. “You have no idea.”

  He bent his head, grazing his lips over her pouty mouth, kissing her deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes. A shiver of excitement surged up her spine. When combined with the adrenaline from the battle, her body was more than a little ready for release.

  Charles’ hands roamed over her back and cupped her backside, dragging her against his body. His erection pressed against her stomach, more than ready to take her, right then, right there.

  “Oh, sorry honey,” she turned to see Abigail standing in the doorway. Her mother’s cheeks flamed brightly. Ruby chuckled. One would think that with two husbands, seeing someone so intimate would be embarrassing. Then again, considering she was her daughter, things might be different. “You know, pregnant, have to pee every few minutes,” she offered as an explanation.

  They moved out of the bathroom and Ruby giggled. Well, that was one way to tell her parents what was going on. After the bathroom door closed behind them, Ruby lifted herself onto her toes and pressed her mouth against her lover. When she pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers.

  “Where did you come from?” he questioned.

  She smiled. “That woman on the other side of that door.”

  He chuckled and smacked her playfully on the butt.

  “We better get down to dinner before someone comes looking for you,” Charles said as he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss against the back of her knuckles.

  When they were all seated at the table, the kids at a smaller table that had been brought out for the occasion, everyone finally felt at ease.

  “That map must have been made by one of Ation’s people, but no one knows they would do that. No one knows why they would risk someone from the outside finding it. None of it really makes any sense.”

  “I have something to tell you all,” Ruby started. It wasn’t going to be easy to tell her parents she wanted to change her plans. They had such hope for her future.

  “What is it honey,” Abigail said.

  “I want to take a year off school and stay here with Charles and Sammie. I love them. I want a family. I thought I didn’t, but now I do.” She said everything so fast. Charles and Sammie were more surprised than anyone because she hadn’t discussed it with them before she spilled the beans.

  “What?” Sca said. “I thought you wanted to go to school. I thought you wanted to get off this planet?”

  “I did daddy, but being kidnapped and almost killed more than once really put my life in perspective. I saved a little girl and reunited her with her family. I’ve done more in the past few days than I have in my entire life. I can’t wait to start a family. I need to be a mother. No, I want to be a mother. It’s part of who I am. I know that now.”

  It was Sammie who spoke first, “We’ll still be here Ruby when you get done. Are you sure that’s what you want? You’re so young. You don’t have to be a mother right now. We don’t want you making any rash decisions because of us.”

  “I know what I want.” Ruby had never been surer of something in her life. She was panicking that she wasn’t being taken seriously. She studied the faces of her parents and her siblings. None of them looked disappointed or disgusted. It gave her a little hope.

  She turned and looked at Charles and Sammie. “I know I should have talked to you about this before opening my big mouth, but…I don’t know. I saw you guys before I met you. You were on the pier at Manta Ray. There was something about you that drew me in. I don’t know what it was or how because we hadn’t even talked.

  “Then on the ship, you were there before we were attacked. Before we even met, we were thrown into each other’s paths. I feel like this is something that is supposed to be.”

  Everyone was silent as she stared from Charles to Sammie and then back at her family. Her heart raced through her chest as she waited for them to say something. She sent up a silent prayer that everything that had happened between them hadn’t just been the result of some fling. She hoped that by stepping out on a limb she wasn’t going to fall.

  However, the longer the pair stayed silent, the more she began to worry. Had she read the signs wrong? Was she just a casual fling to them? Did they mean more to her than she did to them?

  Doubts swam in her head until she felt a dull ache begin behind her eyes. Finally, Charles took one of her hands and Sammie took the other. Each one placed a kiss on the back of her knuckles.

  “The minute I saw you on the ship, I told Charles there was something different about you. I didn’t know what it was and I couldn’t explain it. Mawri noticed it, too, because she kept looking at you.”

  Charles cleared his throat. “On the way back from the hospital our first night together, Sammie and I talked about you. You could have taken off on your own and left Rori behind, but you didn’t. You could have left us when you stole that ship. You could have let Sammie die, but you didn’t. We were drawn to you like you were to us.”

  Tears filled Ruby’s eyes and cascaded down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and splashing onto the table. She sniffled.

  “So, what does this mean exactly?”

  Sammie scooted her chair closer and brushed Ruby’s hair over her shoulder. “It means, my love, that whatever you decide, you will have our full support. If you want to wait a year before you go to school, then that is fine. If you want to go to school, we will be right here waiting for you.”

  “Or we could just go with her,” Charles offered.

  Ruby’s eyes widened. “You’d do that? You’d live somewhere strange just to be near me in college?”

  Both of them nodded. In that moment, Ruby knew without a doubt that Sammie and Charles were the only people she’d ever love in her life. They were the only ones she would need. College no longer mattered to her. The only thing that mattered to her was the love she felt expanding in her chest.

  “I want to be with you,” she said with confidence.

  From across the table, Abigail sniffled, dabbing her nose with a napkin. Ruby looked up at her and giggled.

  “Oh, these silly pregnancy hormones. I cry at the drop of a hat.” She sniffled.

  The three-year-old David hadn’t said much since they’d been home. He sat in his high chair thoughtfully eating his dinner.
/>   “I’d be uncle,” he said. All eyes turned to the toddler who suddenly spoke up.

  “What is that sweetheart?” Cherie asked leaning into him.

  His chubby cheeks pulled back into a smile and his bright blue eyes twinkled. “If Ruby has baby, I’d be uncle. I want to be an uncle.”

  Everyone started to laugh. It was true, but it was the cutest thing he could have said and the fact that this was what he got from the whole conversation made everyone burst into hysterics.

  Baston wiped a tear from his eye and stood from the table. Ruby feared he was about to tell her the many reasons why she shouldn’t settle down or why she should go to college, but he just smiled.

  “If you want to have a baby and take a year off, that’s fine. Whatever makes you happy, Ruby.”

  Ruby let out a sigh of relief. While Charles and Sammie had been a big hurdle, her father’s opinions mattered the most. She didn’t know what she would have done if they hadn’t given her their blessings.

  Leaning over, she kissed Sammie and then Charles. Next, she jumped to her feet and raced around the table to embrace her fathers.

  “Thank you, daddy,” she said as Baston folded her into his arms.

  “I love you baby girl,” he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.

  When she moved away from his embrace, she noticed her other father’s face damp with tears. She gave him a cheeky grin.

  “Are you crying, pop?” she teased as she moved closer.

  He frowned playfully. “Must have gotten some dirt in my eyes.

  She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart. We just want you happy.”

  “I am happy. I am so very happy.”

  After hugs were given out, she returned to Sammie and Charles’ side. Who would have thought that a terrifying time in her life would have given her something so wonderful? She looked around as her parents all embraced one another. She finally had what they had. Love. Happiness. And forever.

  ***

  THE END