Zoren had another mission for the Cloud Riders. Even though none of them had received word from Woody yet, Kayden was hopeful he would have sorted it out by now and used his telepathy to let him know it was time to come home. The rest of the men were at the house, busy in the kitchen by the time Kayden and Cassie returned from the paddocks. They only needed to bring a couple of horses as Starburst and Zoltan were already in the stables. It had only been yesterday that Kayden and Cassie had gone together for a ride up in the hills and had a picnic.

While Jason helped Kayden unload, Cassie went in to help Ethan and Conor. They were making omelettes although once Cassie arrived they nagged her to make scones as well. They chatted while she mixed up the dough and cut it into shapes. Before Kayden and Jason returned, they were in the oven, baking away. It had only been a couple of days since she had seen them, yet she had missed their humour. Meals were always so much more fun with their kidding and jokes.

After breakfast, they went down to the satellite room under the stables. Kayden explained the mission to them while punching in coordinates and working out the best route to get there. He nodded at Cassie. 'Sorry, honey. It's your father again.'

She shrugged. 'Who's Pops gunning for this time?'

'Well, apparently Aldebaran and Conom made a direct strike on Orion, sending in a few hundred soldiers. Aldebaran lost most of the soldiers sent into the battle-nothing he wasn't expecting. He was merely trying to find out what defences Orion had in place. Orion's two faithful dogs that rule the Canis Major and Canis Minor constellations, concerned about their master, joined forces and sent out a Z-Andromedae. The weapon was aimed at destroying Aldebaran's home world.' Kayden paused, facing Cassie. 'A Z-Andromedae is composed of a red giant star and a hot blue star. It is enveloped in a cloud of gas and dust that give out nova-like outbursts. The mix of two stars with its poisonous gas and flares nearly destroyed your dad's home.'

'Nearly?' she asked. 'Jeez, how come we weren't called?'

'Zoren had tracked it, sending another team, as it all happened immediately after the attack. Zoren's team never made it in time so Aldebaran had to summon all his wizardry powers, destroying the threat himself and losing many more lives before he could clear the poisonous gasses from the atmosphere around his home world.'

'So he's not a happy-chappie with Zoren either?' Cassie questioned.

'That's putting it mildly. He's sworn to make Zoren pay for the lives lost and has taken out a contract on the dogs. There is a bounty hunter on his way to capture them, dead or alive.' He glanced at Jason. 'The bounty hunter is our old mate, SX Arietis.' Bringing his attention back to Cassie, he continued. 'We have warned Arietis before about his greed for a quick buck. His star rotates at high speeds and is quick-damned cunningly fast. Without Woody it will be tough going catching him; however, I have every confidence we can still take him. Just in case we have a problem, Cassie, we'll need you to be ready as back-up. We may need you to shove him out into the universe as you did last time as a delay tactic while I try and reason with him.'

She nodded and he went back to his navigational charts to show them the coordinates of Arietis and where they would intercept him.

He addressed them all. 'I'd prefer not to tell Zoren about Woody until we find out for sure if he's going to be leaving us permanently. On the other hand, if we get into any trouble up there without him then the decision will be out of his hands and Woody will be replaced immediately on our return.' Quickly switching off the screen, he leaned against the bench to talk. 'I want you to all understand: if he chooses to continue down this path with Ella, I'll not accept a half-hearted effort. I understand you're all great mates but it'd be no different if it were any one of you. I have no compassion for disloyalty and anyone who deliberately jeopardises the defence of our planet is not welcome on my team. We've all been down this path many times over the years. I have constantly reiterated that there is no reason why you men can't have girlfriends, even wives. However, they will never be included in our secrets or be allowed to interfere with you when I need you. The problem I see with Ella is that because none of you get on with her, it's going to make it impossible for her to live with you. On the other hand, I can't have Woody living so far away that he can't make it when I call. Nothing about this relationship is acceptable. If I have to make the call, I'll expect you all to cope with it and move on. Do I have your support on this issue?'

They all stood up straight, as you would imagine soldiers to act and saluted him. 'Yes sir,' they said in unison. They had all been together a long time and to see them daily, you could forget the military background they had all had in order to be in the elite group they now belonged to. Cassie felt so out of her depth when they did things like this.

Kayden saluted. 'At ease, men,' he said and he turned to her. 'Cassie, do I have your support? You may talk freely.'

'I have faith in Woody and believe he'll work through this. If he is so spellbound that all this,' she gestured around the room, 'and what we do here is not powerful enough to break him out of her clutches, I will understand your decision.'

He nodded. 'We have a bit more time before we go and believe Woody may still turn up. Let us go and unwind a bit. It could be a long night. Dismissed,' he said formally, as he always did.

It was very quiet as they sat around waiting. None of them felt much like discussing their thoughts because they were on a subject Kayden was not prepared to hear or discuss with his men. Maybe with her later, yes, but she knew it wouldn't be in front of them. He was chosen because Zoren would know he was capable of making the hard calls and his tone was letting them all know he was going to do just that.

Kayden sat back on the couch with his arm around Cassie's shoulders, his eyes closed. Using his gift, he made them all rest and assisted them to escape from their thoughts for a while. Kayden put them into a sleepy trance: it was similar to an abyss: not dreaming, just a nothingness from which they woke feeling refreshed and alert.

She woke with a start when Kayden stirred. 'Sorry, sweetheart.' His voice was calm and Cassie was glad he had woken in a better mood. Jason shook Conor and Ethan awake and they all had a coffee before Kayden summoned the horses. Woody's horse didn't come out, making them feel a little lost without their friend.

Cassie rubbed Starburst on the nose and hugged him. 'We have to work hard tonight, boy. We're one short, okay?' Cassie instructed her horse before placing the golden bridle over his head, watching him transform. It still fascinated her.

Sitting on Starburst, Cassie followed Kayden as he paced before he finally came up to her. She lovingly touched his face. He wasn't happy Woody had let him down.

'He wouldn't have deliberately not turned up, something must have happened. Give him the benefit of the doubt and maybe leave him a note so he can follow.'

She watched as he walked inside and scribbled on some paper, leaving it on his bridle. He seemed happier now and jumped up on his horse, leading them out into the paddock.

Cassie for one, was pleased to get into the clouds. The mysterious and enchanting colours swirled and mingled before her, taking her mind off the Woody saga. They jumped from cloud to cloud until they moved through the final portal. Flying out of the fourth dimension they arrived at the stars that were being targeted.

As the horses landed the team on the constellation Canis Major, Cassie had to hold back a smile that threatened to expose her thoughts. The two dogs, Major and Minor said that they had smelt them coming and she put her head down and coughed to hide a giggle. They had the body and head of a dog but stood up on their hind legs and talked like humans. When they walked, they dropped down on four legs although they stood up again to speak. Talk about being in a Scooby Doo movie. This was fantastic.

Kayden went over by a bunch of trees that had no leaves to discuss what was going to happen. Major seemed concerned and let out a gruff bark at one stage. Kayden was probably telling them he was one Cloud Rider short.

Jason slid Cassie off the horse to have a stretch and stood with his arm around her shoulders. He was taking Woody's place within the group. She was comforted they also included her, considering there were many dogs around them, none of which looked very friendly towards her.

Jason was still very quiet and when Ethan and Conor came to stand with him she asked if they were all okay.

'We just don't like how Woody has just up and deserted us.' Conor spoke freely now without Kayden around.

'He's always been the sensible one, guiding us in our love lives and now he's doing what he's always frowned on us for doing,' Ethan grumbled.

'Ethan, some people in that position can be quite ruthless. I've studied up on this characteristic trying to work out my very own mother. They don't just pull you in with sex; it is so much more. Like the way they wrap themselves around you, smile sweetly and smell. They apparently wear a different perfume every night until they find the one that drives you crazy. They watch what clothes you prefer them in. Anything that repels you they delete from their wardrobe until all that is around you are the yummy things you can't resist.'

'He's always attracted women like that and usually tires of them and moves on. But evil Ella is such a strong personality she has started to control him,' Conor put in.

Jason agreed. 'What I don't get is he adores you, Cassie, yet his choice is the total opposite.'

'Don't give up on your friend. This is hard for him too. Can you imagine the hell he is putting himself through, bending backwards and doing what he can to please her but also missing you all like crazy? He would have received Kayden's call and is probably frantic about now because he can't get to us in time. That's the biggest lesson he has to learn. As Kayden said, she will always make it hard for him to respond and he knows now he has to choose.'

'I wish we were as confident as you are, Cassie,' Ethan said, a bit glum.

'It could be anyone of you in that situation. It would make no difference I would hold the same hopes for you. It would be a sad day for any of us if our chain gets broken.' She gave them an evil little look. 'And if this doesn't work by playing nice, I'll just have to go scratch the witch's eyes out and zap her so hard she never even tries to look back,' she giggled.

They all started to laugh and Jason squeezed her, feeling in a better mood already. 'You're good for us, Cass.'

Kayden came back, his face expressionless and his eyes more focused and darker than she had ever seen them. 'They're not happy Woody's not with us and that we have replaced him with a woman. Sorry, honey but the bitches in their packs are the weakest sex. They only use their females for breeding, not fighting. They're going to call on Orion to step in if we can't stop Arietis. This could blow up into a full-scale attack. What worries me more is that Aldebaran can at any time blanket Cassie and take her out of the picture so she can't help us fight. We men will have to be alert so we can warn her to get out of the way. Cassie, this time if I say move, don't even look behind you, spin in a downwards spiral and get out of there,' he said, putting her back on the horse. From his hands she could feel tiny sparks of concern that gave her body small anxious shocks where he touched. She knew he wanted to rip her off Starburst right then and there and take her with him on Zoltan but she also knew he needed to be hands-free to help his men.

SX Arietis was in sight as Kayden pulled them up and positioned the horses where they waited patiently for instructions. Starburst and Cassie were to remain where they were until needed. She was the back-up to shoot him out into orbit if he passed by the others. The four of them shot off after Arietis to intercept him and to Cassie it looked as if he put a burst of power on and took off like the speed of lightning. If it were Kayden's plan to talk to him, it seemed unlikely he was going to hang around long enough to listen. The Cloud Riders were travelling so fast now they seemed to blur into the spinning star. She heard Kayden talking to Arietis, trying desperately to make him stop and discuss it. Kayden had called to Cassie to get ready on his command in order to push him out of harm's way. He moved in closer and just as her hands went up to push him out into the atmosphere where he could cause no danger, the star pulled up suddenly. It slowly moved towards her, stopping so close she could see a figure watching her from a control tower.

Kayden instructed them to land on Arietis's star. However, they were ordered to stay on the horses and to ready themselves for an assault in case it was a trick. Arietis was waiting for them outside with his many guards when the horses landed on the surface.

'Ahearn, lord of the horses,' he smiled at Kayden. 'You have recruited a new soldier and what a perfect vision. I couldn't help but stop to admire her just for a minute. Has she a name?'

His eyes were fixed on Cassie, so Kayden glanced over, nodding for her to answer him.

'My name is Cassandra Wyatt.'

He walked over to her in a trance-like state, took her hand and kissed it. 'Your beauty dazzles me, Miss Wyatt.'

'Funny. You shouldn't be so kind and flattering considering I was just about to send you to the never land.'

He laughed heartily and made her smile. She liked his laugh, even if he was a bad boy. Then his face became serious again. 'Perfection has always got an evil side. I wouldn't have expected less and yet even so, you have stopped me in my tracks. I am a man, after all and to meet such beauty is humbling. Thus I will allow your sarcasm towards me.'

Kayden wasn't giving her any instructions, therefore she figured he wanted to play this out and see what happened. Cassie pulled an innocent girlie look and grinned. 'I meant no harm by my comment. All is fair in love and war though, is it not?'

He laughed again while intensely watching her face, his eyes alert and strangely interesting. 'Ahern my man, can I walk with Miss Wyatt for a bit?' he asked without even looking away from her.

'Keep your guards from her, Ari, or else. And no bloody tricks.'

He helped her from the horse, introduced himself and asked her to just call him Ari. He put out his arm and she took it politely, not even a little scared of him. It seemed the only vibes she was getting from him were curious ones. If he attempted anything silly, she knew she could protect herself as he had not taken her powers, and yet she felt it would not be necessary as there was a feeling of peace for just these few moments, while he satisfied his need to know her better.

'You are almost angelic. Are you sure you are human?' he asked.

'I'm sure my persona is not why you've stopped in your attack. Granted my magical form may be a big part of that but there is something more pressing on your mind.'

'You're very perceptive. Ahearn has chosen his new member well. I've heard you are Aldebaran's daughter and yet you fight against him. Is that wise? I'd hate to see someone as mesmerising as you have a short-lived life. Your father is very powerful.'

'The old wizard may think he's my father but that is yet to be proven. If I'm a chip off the old block he may just need to rethink what I may actually be capable of.' She tempered up a little, thinking about Pops and what he did to her on the last trip.

He stopped walking. 'You're a tough little thing. Maybe I need not have bothered to stop and warn you after all.' He sounded amused.

She giggled to lighten the moment. 'However, it was very thoughtful of you so, now answer my question. Why would someone as caring as you want to hurt the Scooby Doo brothers?'

He roared laughing. 'I have seen that cartoon. Very funny. And now to answer you: it is all about the money, angel girl. Nothing personal.' He turned and walked back with her. 'Well, it is time we got back to me running and you trying to stop me.'

'Or you could call it off and end this peacefully.'

He stopped again. 'Are you trying to use your beauty as a bargaining tool?' he said, raising his eyebrows.

'No, not at all but if you don't ask, you don't get. I thought it was worth a try,' she gave him an amused expression that lit her eyes up further.

When they reached the team, Kayden was standing calm and unrattled.

'Your soldier is proposing I end this peacefully. I stand to lose a lot of money, Ahearn, so I propose an offer. I get to spend a few hours with your new soldier and I'll leave the dogs to someone else. This is a one-off offer and non-negotiable. I also promise she will be treated with the utmost respect and delivered back to you unharmed.'

'Good try, Arietis but she is taken and I doubt if I could trust you for a second, never mind a few hours. If you call this attack off, Aldebaran will just send another in your place so why should we waste our time with you?'

Arietis eyed Cassie. 'If you don't ask, you don't get,' he said with a smirk.

She giggled. 'Nice throwback,' she said as he helped her back on Starburst.

'To spend a bit of time with such beauty would have been worth the bounty but so be it.'

Cassie reached out to steady him as he suddenly staggered and clutched at his stomach. Then for some unknown reason he buckled over in pain.

'Ahern, get her the hell out of here,' he growled. 'Aldebaran has felt me weaken and is trying to work through me. I'll hold him back. Go!' he said louder.

Kayden had them off the star in seconds. Looking down, Cassie saw Arietis double over again and groan in pain. She wondered what Pops was doing to him and what his next move would be now that Art had helped them get away. Kayden was giving Cassie instructions so she had to ignore Arietis and concentrate on what he was telling her.

You'll be safe in our circle, so stay in the middle of us. Men, it's coming, so concentrate and link with me now. He sent the urgent response to them.

An electric blue light wrapped around each of them and as Kayden yelled, it was as if it stretched out, joining them all as one. The black, cloud-like blanket came for Cassie. She practically ducked, it came so close but as it hit the blue glow from the Cloud Riders it just seemed to dissolve against the barrier they projected around her.

We've foiled Aldebaran's attempt to grab Cassie from us and it'll take him some time to work out how we did it. She should be fine while we go get our boy. He's powering up, getting ready to run, so watch him, men, he's using massive amounts of flame to take off full speed. Cool your body temperatures so the heat doesn't penetrate your skin.

Cassie, stay put. When Arietis slingshots back towards the dogs, shove him as hard as you can up and out into the galaxy. Then I want you to stay and protect the two stars, Canis Major and Canis Minor. I wouldn't put it past Aldebaran to deploy another bounty hunter, knowing Arietis has just lost his heart to his daughter . He winked and shook his head. You're really shaking things up a bit, my beauty.

'But this isn't real,' she motioned at her angelic glow and attire. 'Maybe I should invite him home for coffee to see the real me who trudges around in T-shirts and gumboots.'

You underestimate yourself, sweetheart. To me, you look like you do right now all the time.

She couldn't help grinning at his sweetness. Gee, it feels good to be loved even if his love is obviously blind. She chuckled to herself as she turned to see what their renegade star was up to.

As soon as she swung around, Arietis took off at lightning speed. She closed her eyes, imagining him high up in the universe somewhere. Throwing out her hands towards him with a power that just kept getting stronger, she watched as her magic shot Arietis out into space, the Cloud Riders hot on his tail, moving so fast their silhouettes shimmered out of focus. Now that they were out of sight, she kept watch. She knew Pops would have something else up his sleeve and she wanted to be ready.

Just as expected, Cassie felt a roar and the sky seemed to shake. The team had spent many hours explaining all the different stars to her. That's why she could now easily identify that this was an unpredictable Dwarf nova, ready to explode any minute. Pops must have been furious and driven to the extreme to have risked exposing himself to Zoren like this. He would surely pay for such an attack on so many of the constellations at once.

A closer inspection, confirmed her thought, that it was a Su Ursae Majoris star. It was already sending out bursts of flames from the explosions on the surface. If it exploded now, the outer layer could blow away at many thousands of kilometres an hour, destroying the targeted dog constellations as well as damaging many others. What is he thinking, being so dramatic? He sure had one hell of a temper.

As it neared, Cassie closed her eyes and imagined sending it in the opposite direction that she had thrown the Arietis star. The team had enough to deal with as it was. She felt Starburst sending a shot of energy to help her and throwing her arms up, she shoved it hard and fast towards a safe location where it could cause no damage. However, before it was far enough away, it started to explode. Pieces broke away, scattering in all directions as it shot up into outer space heading for many of the constellations that surrounded her.

All Cassie could do was to keep the dangerous missiles that they had become, from causing any damage, quickly and precisely blasting them into harmless puffs of dust. She nearly missed a piece that got awfully close to the Gemini star but managed to destroy it just before it hit. The core went out of control, spun and turned as it exploded again, heading straight for Canis Major. Snatching it up with her mind, Cassie threw it back out into black space of nothingness where it should have gone in the first place. The impact had so much force in it that this time it was dead in the water, no harm to anyone.

With the stars now safe, she sat on guard again when a shocking pain shot through her. She buckled for a second before the pain released her. Checking herself out, she found no wounds. What in the hell was that? she thought, still stretching out her arm, checking out the area the pain was coming from.

She could hear Kayden. He was yelling an order to save Conor. He and his horse were hit and he'd been thrown from his horse on impact. He's falling towards you.

She swung her eyes above her head, seeing him coming towards her at a hell of a speed. She closed her eyes and put him on a cloud, slowing his fall and gently lowering him onto Starburst with her. He was hurt badly, blood oozing out of a wound. Something else was not right either. As she slid him gently in front of her, he groaned as his body leant back against hers.

'Sorry,' she said, holding him firmly so he didn't fall off.

His horse was still flying but in a bad state as well. Kayden had the reins, bringing it back to him. In between groans, Conor was telling her they had tried to extinguish the star without Woody but not having the dynamics of five, the star unexpectedly spun out of control and sideswiped him.

Kayden commanded the horses to land on the Canis Major star so he could do a patch-up job on Conor and Conor's horse. Even though damaged, Arietis had not been disabled and still posed as a threat. This left Kayden no choice but to put Cassie in harm's way for her to keep watch for him when they landed, while he attended to the injured team members.

Major and Minor were there waiting as they landed and were jumping around, excited. They barked out to Kayden what she had done with the Dwarf nova star. They had watched it all and were so impressed with Cassie's power that they hadn't noticed Kayden had a soldier in trouble. Up until then, Kayden was unaware another was sent. The look of gratitude made Cassie's effort worthwhile and overwhelmed her. Major and Minor jumped around Starburst until she was lifted from the horse and then both slobbered all over her face, licking her and rolling on the ground playing. They were gentle but she was not expecting they would be goofy like real dogs when they got excited. One minute she was being growled, licked and woofed at; the next, she was in Kayden's arms.

'Enough ... sit!' he commanded and they both stopped, grinning, all goofy and happy-like with their tongues hanging out. They made her giggle but the happiness they shared with her was short-lived when Conor moaned again. Kayden put Cassie down, told the dogs to behave and went back to his patient.

Jason and Ethan had laid Conor down on the ground so Kayden could get a good look at him, inspecting him for broken bones and internal damage. His shoulder and arm had taken the brunt of the hit, leaving a nasty gash on his shoulder and a broken arm. He had three broken ribs and already the bruise on his chest was swollen, black and nasty-looking. Kayden then checked Conor's horse. The armour had prevented lacerations; however, it didn't stop the horse from receiving massive internal injuries.

Kayden took off his belt, giving it to Conor. 'Bite down on the leather, man, this is going to hurt. That arm will start to heal before we get home if I don't reset it.'

Jason and Ethan held Conor down as Kayden readjusted his bone so it joined again. Conor screamed and cursed Woody before passing out. Cassie must have looked white as a ghost because the doggies called for Kayden and he grabbed her as she started to fall.

'His pain went right through me,' she shuddered in shock.

'We're all linked now, sweetheart,' he said soothingly. 'We all felt it. The thing is, the Cloud Riders' power enables us to heal very quickly. If I leave it until we get home, it will set crooked and I will only have to break it all over again. It is far better to do it now. You okay for me to go back to him? Do you still have your wits about you?'

Now it was clear in her mind how it all worked, she could deal with the pain and weirdness a bit better. 'Yep, I have this, trust me.' She glanced down as he started to stitch up Conor shoulder. Even though she had her eyes scanning the heavens and not watching, she felt every thread he pulled through him. She shuddered at how this connection with the team had a good side but also the worst side possible.

Jeez! Toughen up, princess. It's not as if it's actually happening to you!

The two dogs came and stood each side as if comforting her. A sound above made them all look up. The dogs barked. Quickly picking Cassie up and putting her back on Starburst before she had even thought of it, Kayden was yelling at them to hurry. It was nearly on them. The dogs were barking frantically. She closed her eyes and was summoning up a visual and opening her eyes to slam her power at the target when all of a sudden it stopped dead. She had all the power and needed to release it, so instead she threw the energy force up into space where it wouldn't hurt anyone.

Kayden was surprised at Cassie's reaction not to blast the mongrel out of the sky for what he'd done to one of his team members. Still, it was her call, as he hadn't had time to think straight either while attending to his wounded soldier. The star was so close now they could see Arietis wipe his forehead and grin cheekily as he realised how close he'd come to being blasted. Art saluted Cassie and then left, travelling at a massive speed in the other direction. 'He's given up and just came to let us know.' She sighed and slid back off Starburst. 'Christ, what a night. I just about killed him.' She flopped down next to Kayden who put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly before going back to stitching up Conor.

Cassie sat quietly beside him, exhausted, chewing over their situation. That last effort had not only frightened the bejesus out of her but had also drained the last of her energy. Conor groaned and she instinctively ran her hand through his hair, trying to ease his pain while putting into perspective, what they had just all gone through. This is so serious! The true effects of the situation now weighed heavily on her mind. Not having a fifth member was a real issue and for the first time she finally understood Kayden's anger with Woody.

As she continued to contemplate what she could do to give Conor, Kayden and Woody more time, a crazy idea came to her. They had to get Conor home and she'd run out of power, meaning they were vulnerable against a further attack. If Aldebaran sent out another weapon, it could mean all their lives.