Thanks for the review CittyGirl. It is also very good to be back. This is actually a real book that I have been working on for the last couple of years and I am right now letting people see what they think about it.
Chapter 2
As Thane awoke from another dream about an unknown flame haired woman, he wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead. He had been having dreams about her for the last two weeks and each time they left him with a feeling of longing. Every morning that he awoke, Thane would pull out his sketchpad and colored pencils and begin to draw the red headed woman with the vivacious emerald green eyes.
Thane could recall every minute detail about her: her pale ivory skin, the heart-shape of her face, her almond-shaped eyes that were fringed with long thick lashes, and her lips. Her mouth was a delicate shade of a pink rose, full and pouty. In all of his dreams, her mouth would open to say something to him and yet no words came out.
He remembered the feel of her small hands in his as they ran through long metal corridors. Those corridors that he had seen repeatedly aboard the Dacronians' war ship, the Dacronis. However, this last dream he had seen her dressed in white with a mischievous grin on her face and a man standing in front of her who looked as though he had been shoved in the mud.
Just then, Thane heard a knock on his metal door.
"Who's there?" Thane asked as he reached beneath his pillow and grabbed his laser pistol. It became a ritual for him to sleep with a loaded gun under his head. He hated to be caught off guard.
"Vladimir" he said.
"Come in" Thane said as he placed his gun back under his pillow and then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He shivered slightly when his bare feet hit the cold metal floor.
"Dreaming again?" Vladimir asked as he entered his brother's room.
"How could ye tell?" Thane asked as he ran a hand through his golden blonde hair before looking up at his brother.
Vladimir Aries Santalaceto was Thane's oldest brother. He was only older than Thane was by three years, making Vladimir twenty-eight. He stood about six-foot-five with very short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and cocoa colored skin. Vladimir's all muscle body weight topped the scales at around two hundred thirty-five pounds.
Thane always got a laugh out of his older brother whenever they went anywhere. Vladimir was always polite to every woman whom they ran across, especially when it came to helping little old women across the street. He had a charm that made females on their home planet of Mars fall in love with him.
In addition, his kindness made him turn down the Captain's position. Vladimir knew that he would not make it as a Captain. It would require him to make a decision that could jeopardize the lives of his crew. He did not want to live with that sort of disgrace on his record or in his heart. He knew he was better at taking orders than giving them.
"I heard your infamous scream when I walked by your room. Let's just hope that Peron didn't hear anything or else ye'll never hear the end of it," Vladimir coolly stated as he watched his brother try to collect himself.
"Aye, I can totally agree with you on that," Thane grunted out the last portion in agreement with his brother.
"Did you see her again?" Vladimir asked as he closed the door behind him and then leaned his shoulder against the metal wall.
He had also been dreaming about a young lady, except that she had dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes. But, her overall appearance was very similar to that of the mysterious woman that Thane dreamed about. He had seen her onboard a plane and then walking down the isle with him.
But, the mood changed from time to time, from being very romantic to being very intense. He had also seen her battling against their enemies. She fought like one of the Desert Warriors. He knew, deep in his heart, that she would be the only woman for him.
"Aye, she looked different this time" Thane confided. He knew Vladimir would never tell their younger brother, Peron, anything about their personal lives.
Peron never missed a chance to humiliate either of them in public. Peron also had a charm of his own, which made the wilder women on Mars want him but it was only for one night, and they promptly forgot about each other by the next day. This was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Peron was two years younger than Thane was and stood about three inches shorter than Thane's six-foot-three inch stance. He weighed about one hundred ninety pounds of lean muscle and normally sported a jet black Mohawk. His pale lime green eyes were always showing the mischievous side of his personality.
Because Peron was reckless, he was never offered the Captain's position. He liked to take to many chances. Act first and ask questions later, was Peron's mode of thinking. Act first was normally, shoot the living daylights out of whatever the moving object was until it quit moving. Ask questions later usually meant, if the moving creature was still alive, interrogate it until it died.
For Thane, it was different. He liked women but not enough to go out of his way to help them or strike up a conversation with anyone of them in a bar. Thane enjoyed it when the women chased him but that never lasted to long. They would normally give up after several attempts to get a date with him.
In addition, because of his persistence, it gained him the Captain's position on board his father's own ship, The Orion. Thane never once allowed his personal feelings to invade his train of thought. He was a quick thinker and even quicker on pulling the trigger. He knew exactly what words to say to make his enemies talk. He had no problems with giving orders. He just had a problem taking orders from certain people.
That was the reason why he chose the single life. No woman wanted to work for him. He gave up on working on getting a woman after his last disastrous relationship when he was eighteen.
He had been chasing after a cheerleader named Mindy for almost a year when she finally accepted a date with him; it was for only one night. Mindy was a blue-eyed, tall, leggy blonde-haired woman who was more than a little wild in the bedroom. She told him that was how she did all men, even the ones who worked as hard as he did. She was not interested in having a long-term relationship with anyone except herself.
Since then, Thane had never tried to get any woman to be with him. Sure, he had his occasional one night stands with a prostitute but, in the morning they were forgotten. The last female he had bedded down with was on the night his twin sister, Charity Gemini Santalaceto, disappeared. Charity disappeared almost six months ago, while she was taking care of her father, who was in the hospital.
The only thing that one of the nurses told them was that the man who took her was not from their home world. She also handed Peron a couple of tapes that had recorded the scene when Charity was taken but they were damaged. It took Vladimir a couple of hours to put the tapes together and clarify the video. When the video was finally pieced back together, they learned that Darrius, commander of the Dacronis, took her.
Thane, Vladimir, and Peron spent the last six months trying to find the Dacronis but to no avail. Darrius made sure that his tracks were well covered. They all remembered that night. Peron was out at the local bar, Vladimir was helping their mother at home, and Thane was out with a prostitute. They all took turns on watching over their father, who was finally released from the hospital last month.
"How was her look different this time?" Vladimir asked.
"She was dressed in a long white gown with a veil," Thane stated.
"You said she looked like an Earther, correct" Vladimir commented.
"Aye," Thane said as he looked up at his older brother.
"A white gown normally signifies a wedding," he stated.
"So, what you're telling me is that what I dreamt about was this girl's wedding day," Thane almost choked out the words when he spoke.
"Is that such a shock? Our ladies get married in white if their still virgins," he stated with a light laugh.
"Aye. You're right. I hate it when you're right"
"You better get dressed. I think I hear the infamous page of Mars from Admiral Zocar," Vladimir stated.
"Good idea," Thane agreed as he stood up and stretched his arms above his head.
"Did ye tail go numb again?" he asked as he watched his brother pull his tail out from under him.
"A little," Thane stated as he massaged his tail, trying to get the feeling back into it.
Most of Mars knew that Thane and his twin sister were only half-Martian. Their mother was full-blooded human. A hot-tempered Irish human at that. Their father was a Martian warrior who had rescued their mother from slavery about thirty years ago.
Vladimir and Peron were full-blooded Martian and adopted. They sported the fur that covered most of their body with the exception of the sideburns of their face. They also had long pointed ears and antennae. The antennae always matched the color of their hair. They also had long almost mouse-like tails that started at the base of their spines and reached down to the floor, with about six extra inches that lay on the floor.
Thane and Charity only carried a few traits. They had short pointed ears and the antennae. Their body hair was minimal. In fact, their body hair was almost nonexistent. Charity took after the female side of the human world and Thane took after the male side of it. For that, Thane was very thankful.
Thane stood about six-foot-three and weighed about two hundred twenty-five pounds of muscle. He was blessed with his mother's sky-blue eyes and her Irish lilt, along with her unpredictable temper. Both Vladimir and Peron also had their mother's Irish accent but not her temper.
The only chest hair he had was an inverted triangle of golden blonde hair on his lower stomach, which went below his pants and a couple of wavy hairs around his nipples. The rest of his chest was a hairless golden bronze color. His legs also had some hair on them but as his mother put it, "twould not be enough to weave a blanket out of it." Thane almost had to laugh when his mother put it to him like that.
"And, might I add something? Ye look like you've slept on your head. A shower would fix that problem" Vladimir stated as he opened Thane's door.
"A shower sounds like a great idea" Thane agreed as he watched his brother walk out of the room.
Thane stood up and looked around his sleeping quarters. It wasn't much of a room but it was enough to hold a few furnishings. All their rooms were the same. Each room had a twin size bed, a nightstand, and a dresser.
Connected to each room was a bathroom. It had a large metal shower, a three drawer cabinet, a mirror, and a linen closet.
Being that it was a space ship, everything on the inside and outside of it was made out of metal. It also had an automated computer system, which didn't work half of the time. The Orion had one medical room that housed all their medical supplies, ten sleeping quarters that were all identical, a kitchen/dining room that was fully functional, a large gym for unwinding, and a bridge at the front of the ship.
As Thane made his way to the bathroom, he felt as though his head was going to explode. He had been keeping a headache every morning for the last two weeks; ever since he started dreaming about the red-headed woman. Placing a hand to the side of his head, he began to rub his temples and used his free hand to search for a bottle of aspirin. After locating the bottle, extracted two little white pills and quickly dry swallowed them down.
"Now, time to get a quick shower before Peron and Vladimir start up with their obnoxious singing" Thane softly commented to himself as he removed his black silk boxers and quickly stepped into the shower. He shivered when the cool water first sprayed and then it warmed up to a comfortable temperature.
"Too late" Thane grumbled when he heard his two brothers start up with their usual untalented voices.
Thane leaned his head against the wall that had the shower head on it and closed his eyes. He would have given anything for one morning without them singing but, then he would be concerned about their health and wellbeing.
"Hey Thane! What are ye doing?" Peron questioned through the shower wall.
"Trying to ignore the both of ye" Thane admitted.
"Ye know we just have to make your day a happy one" Peron stated as he turned off his shower.
"I know and ye two have become quite talented at it too!" Thane softly laughed as he turned off his shower and quickly grabbed a blue towel off of the metal towel rack beside the shower.
After wrapping the towel securely around his waist he walked out into the hall and found Peron and Vladimir flexing their muscles in their own towels. He leaned up against the metal door frame, with his arms crossed over his chest, and shook his head.
"You're just jealous because I look better in a towel than ye do" Peron stated with a sarcastic smile.
"Ha, I doubt that very much" Vladimir laughed as he bent his arm up and made a fist, causing his bicep muscle to bulge up.
"Well, it's the truth. In fact, I think I look better than both of ye do without a towel on" Peron stated as he removed his towel and then slung it over his shoulder.
"Alright now. Both of ye need to get some clothes on. Peron, I know for a fact that I look better than ye do without a towel on" Thane chuckled as he removed his towel and then walked back into his room.
"Yeah, but I am still the one who gets all the ladies' attention when I walk into a room" Peron grumbled as he walked back into his room.
"Not really because I help all women out whenever they need it" Vladimir stated as kept his towel in place as he walked into his room.
"Oh well, at least I don't have to help any women out in order to get their attention" Peron laughed before closing his door.
"Alright ye two go get dressed" Thane ordered from behind his closed door as he pulled his blue jeans on.
"Aw man, ye take away all the fun" Peron whined as he proceeded to get dressed.
"You're right, its part of my job as captain" Thane chuckled while he put his black leather vest on and then pulled his socks and boots on.
Reaching under his pillow, he pulled out his pistol and his thigh holster and then attached the both of them to his leg. Then he went over to his dresser and pulled out his belt and belt holster and put them on. Being that he left the gun in that holster, he did not need to put his other pistol into it.
After checking both guns, he placed them back into their holsters and then pulled his just-below-shoulder length hair back into a low ponytail. He took one last look around his room to make sure that everything was in its place; he turned off the lights and left the room.