"Your brother..." he began to explain, but a glider suddenly passed over us. "Damn!" he shouted. "Come here, quick."

Listening to the orders of a stranger went against my instincts, but I obliged, giving Kylu my trust in exchange for more information. "We can hide in the house," I suggested when I was next to him.

"There's no use. They would have already seen your glider parked out here. They'll turn around and land."

"Then what do we do?"

"We wait until they come. Then we'll act."

As Kylu predicted, the glider circled back and landed. Two soldiers marched out, their blasters drawn as they scanned the area. Soon they would see us standing on the porch.

When the moment came, Kylu took me in his arms and kissed me. I didn't resist, realizing at once it was part of a ruse to convince the soldiers we were lovers in hiding and not part of the resistance.

"Hands up," a soldier shouted.

Smiling, Kylu broke our kiss and raised his hands. I followed his lead. "Hey, gentlemen." He greeted them casually like they were friends. "My little kitten and I were just looking for some alone time, if you know what I mean."

The soldier wasn't impressed. "It's against the law to mate outside a light bond."

"We haven't mated. Not yet. But there are other things a Surtu man can do to drive a human woman wild." Kylu dropped his arms, but the soldier fired a warning shot at his feet.

"Don't move. We know who you are. Captain Fore is looking for you."

Part 3: Lust TERRA.

We had our hands pointed straight up in the air. Two Surtu soldiers had their blasters pointed at us, ready to shoot if we did anything suspicious. Kylu grinned broadly. Did he find being in danger amusing? It made me want to take one of the blasters from the soldiers and blow his little smile away. There was nothing funny about our situation.

Why did I leave my blaster in the glider, I thought, irritated with myself. I was more than irritated. I wouldn't let the soldiers see it, but I was scared.

Not long ago, I had been a slave to Captain Fore and forced to serve him. He would beat me regularly, or have one of his men do it. He lashed out his frustrations on me.

I had helped the women of the Fortuna escape him. It meant three hundred fewer reluctant brides for the Surtu men to use for bearing children. It had also been a personal humiliation for the Fleet Captain, chipping away at his prestige.

He couldn't kill me. The law of his people forbade it. He had sentenced me with what he considered an equal humiliation enslavement.

But I had gotten away, hiding in a cargo box bound for Earth. Since since then, he had put a price on my head. He was too busy with the war to hunt me himself, so he had the entire Surtu military doing his dirty work for him, like dogs digging for a bone.

And now I was caught. My only ally was a smiling buffoon. It did not matter that Kylu was a handsome buffoon, the golden streaks in his brown hair reflecting brightly against the harsh desert sun. His good looks would not save me from a future of enslavement, nor would it save him from the death he deserved for betraying his people.

I did not know Kylu well. He was Surtu, but he claimed to know my brother Daniel. I had given him my trust temporarily in exchange for information. I didn't regret yet - finding Daniel was important to me. I would probably have second thoughts as soon as the soldiers handed me back to Captain Fore.

"You know what happens next," one of the soldiers said. His black uniform was a contrast against the desert landscape. "You're coming with us."

I would rather die, I seethed inwardly. I opened my mouth to say it, but Kylu cut me off.

"Finders keepers," he said. He seemed almost cheerful, and he held his arms out, offering himself to the soldiers. "I won't argue against a free lift."

"Kylu, stop messing around," I hissed.

His nonchalance made me uneasy. Only fools persuaded the devil to dance, and I was no fool. I hadn't given up hope of escape. I parked my glider around the back of the house. If I could get us there before being shot, I might be able to pilot us away. There would be a chase afterwards; the soldiers had a glider themselves. Being pursued was preferable to surrender.

Taking Kylu up on his offer, the pair of soldiers stepped forward. One continued to point his blaster at us as the other snapped a set of Surtu handcuffs around Kylu's wrists. They looked like a weightless prism. It might have been a trick of the light, but I was sure it had twice the strength of any Earthly metal.

I was tempted to run while they were distracted with Kylu. My need to learn more about Daniel and the fate of the rest of my family outweighed my desire to escape.

If Kylu was being taken prisoner, so was I.

"Great job," I chastened, my arms still high in the air. "I never should have let you kiss me."

The grin didn't leave his face. "It was worth it."

The soldier closest to me turned my way. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, full of concern.

I was bewildered. It was against Surtu law to kill a woman. They needed us for the survival of their race. There was no rule about how a soldier could treat a woman.

Surtu soldiers weren't exactly known for their courtesy.

"What does it matter to you?"

He trained his blaster back on Kylu. "I want to know if this scum needs a beating when we take him back to headquarters."

Headquarters. As far as I knew, the headquarters of the Surtu military was the Fortuna. After our escape, they made it their command center. During the war, it made strategic sense because the Fortuna was the space station furthest from Earth.

Now that the Surtu had captured a significant amount of territory on Earth, I wasn't sure where their headquarters was located. I prayed it was on the ground. If I was going somewhere on foot, I had a better chance of escaping Captain Fore a second time.

"He didn't touch me. And neither will you."

The soldier looked disgusted. "Of course I won't." Seeing my confusion, he explained further. "We work for the network. We're Surtu soldiers who are helping humans avoid capture as the resistance continues to fight. We're the good guys."

"I know what the network is," I said coldly.

"Then why do you look like you're going to murder me?"

I lifted my head towards Kylu. "Because he claims to be part of the network too."

"Actually, I said I was fighting as part of the resistance," Kylu corrected.

The soldier laughed. "Whatever he says, it's better not to trust him."

I tried to make sense of what was happening. The actions of the soldiers spoke volumes. They made no attempt to restrain me like Kylu, but I wanted to believe Kylu. He had information that could lead me to my brother, and he wasn't the one holding the blaster.

I knew from past experience that the Surtu were not above playing mind games. I just didn't know whose mind game this was.

I dropped my hands, my guard up, giving no indication of believing any of them. "And why should I trust you?"

"You can," Kylu answered for them. "They are who they say they are."

I breathed in, my rage instantly swelling as my fear of being taken to Captain Fore disappeared. "Which means you are not. You lied to me."

Kylu didn't lose a bit of his confidence. "Not quite, cupcake, but you'll see." With his hands still tightly bound, he took a step towards the glider. "We heading to the rodeo or not?"

The soldier beside Kylu grabbed his arm but looked at me. "What about her?" he asked his partner.

"What about me?" I demanded.

"The desert isn't a place for a woman to be roaming on her own. We can provide you with a ride."

Imitating Gallia's strength, I picked up my fighting stick and stood tall, hoping to look defiant. My dark auburn hair blazed like a shadow against the sun, and I wore the leather leggings and a black sleeveless tunic of warriors past. "Do I look like I need rescuing?"

Kylu whistled, but the soldier with the blaster wasn't impressed. "There's no point playing heroine when"

"For Nelti's sake, she's Terra Lynch, Commander of the Fortuna," Kylu revealed. "This is her house. She's looking for her family."

I hadn't told Kylu why I was here, but it was easy to deduce. There was no other reason I would have returned to my family home.

The soldier eyed me. He couldn't believe it. "You're Terra Lynch?"

"Yes."

"You're light bonded to Lead Officer Jidden?"

"That's correct."

He let his blaster fall. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Likewise," I returned, relaxing. "Now, can you help me find my brother Daniel, or is our time here finished?"

"We can take you to him. It's a little off course, but we'll make it worth the trip. It'll give us a chance to dump this bastard off with the resistance. Saves us going to headquarters."

"Thank you," I said, realizing I'd soon see my brother again. "What can I do for you in return?"

"Don't get caught. And next time you see Jidden, tell him he's no traitor. We stand beside him."

"He will be happy to hear that," I said solemnly, trying not to think about how I had betrayed the man I loved.

"You make a good prisoner," I said to Kylu. I was in the back of the glider, sitting across from him, feeling much more comfortable around him now that I had a blaster in my hand.

"You make a good jailer," Kylu responded from his seat on the hard metal floor. "A sexy jailer, may I add."

"No, you may not add," I told him, angry. "Why did you lie to me?"

Though his hands were still bound, he managed to bounce a ball of twine against the wall. "I never lied to you."

I briefly closed my eyes, trying to be patient. "You may not have lied, but you're hiding something. You didn't just wander into my house. There's more to the story here, and I want to know what it is. Tell me who you are."

"Is that why you let the other soldier take your glider?" he asked, avoiding the question. "So you could interrogate me?"

"Yes. And to protect my interests. If we were followed by the Surtu military and had to separate, I wouldn't know where to find my brother."

"He'll be happy to see you."

Aggravated, I grabbed the ball of twine from the air as he bounced it. "Who are you?"

"I'll give you two choices," he replied, as if it were a riddle. "Either I tell you who I am, or I tell you about your family."

I considered it. "Is Kylu your real name?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess the rest isn't necessary. Tell me about my family." I threw him back his twine.

"Ouch," he said. "That hurts."

"Not as much as it's going to if you don't start talking."

He laughed. "Daniel didn't tell me you were feisty. In fact, he always spoke of you as a mousy pacifist. I guess war changes people."

I leaned against the wall of the glider, unashamed of who I'd become. "I guess it does."

"I'm glad we agree on that. The last time I saw your family, I was still a Surtu soldier, and I was standing outside your house demanding your parents surrender."

"Go on," I encouraged Kylu bitterly, my thoughts turning dark. "What did you do to my family?"

"It was only your parents. Daniel had already left to fight in the resistance with your other brothers. I called out for their surrender, and your father showed himself. He insisted he was the only one in the house, but I knew better. Men don't sacrifice themselves so willingly unless they're protecting someone they love. I ordered my men to invade the house and we found your mother. She fought us off like a real warrior, but there were many of us and only one of her."

My hand squeezed in fury on the blaster. If I didn't need answers, Kylu would be dead. "Did you touch her?"

"Of course not," Kylu said. All the humor had vanished. He spoke as a man who knew his strength and found it a burden. "I'm no barbarian, and neither were my soldiers. We took your parents prisoner and transported them with the others for processing in our northern base. I don't know what happened to them after that."

"How do you know my brother Daniel?"

"He found me and cornered me while I was on a mission. He'd done his research and knew I was the soldier who oversaw the capture of your parents. Naturally, he wanted to know what happened to them. I couldn't tell him. I honestly didn't know. By then I was sickened by the atrocities committed by my people. I knew we had come to dominate Earth. Leaving home, the speeches the High Command gave energized me. They said we were the superior race, and human women were necessary for our survival. But seeing innocent men killed and women locked away like toy tore at my soul. I didn't want anything to do it. Our forefathers would disown us if they knew what we were doing. When I informed your brother of my views, he could have killed me. Daniel introduced me to the network instead."

I believed Kylu, his sincerity was real, but he was still holding back something. "My brother is a decent man, and he's trusting, but he isn't naive. He wouldn't risk exposing the network, no matter how remorseful you appeared."

"You know your brother well. He didn't introduce me immediately. I had to prove myself."

"How?"

He didn't answer.

"Tell me," I insisted.

"I don't know how," he whispered back, his voice thick with emotion. "It's going to hurt, cupcake."

I looked down, knowing it would be bad. "Go ahead."

"We learned a Surtu killed your oldest brother in the war," he whispered, "so I was instructed to avenge his death personally."