Star Rider and Bonds of Love: A Sci-Fi Space Opera with a Touch of Fantasy Heidi Skarie (fox in socks read aloud .TXT) 📖

The current grabbed the canoe andpulled it into the middle of the river. As the sound of roaringrapids pounded against her ears, waves splashed over the sides,spraying her with cold water. Her eyes widened when the canoe headedstraight toward a boulder sticking out of the water. She thrust theend of the paddle into the boulder, jarring her whole body. The canoeswung away from the boulder and continued hurtling downriver.

She paddled the canoe towardJake. Erling had nearly reached him when Jake sunk underwater. Thefront of the canoe crashed into another rock, throwing Toemekaforward. She thrust her paddle into the water, steering her waythrough the rapids the best she could.

On the bank above, blaster firerang out again. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Michio jump offthe cliff and disappear into the river. She held her breath onlyreleasing it when he finally resurfaced. Michio swam toward thecanoe, moving with firm, strong strokes. She dug her paddle into thewater, trying to slow the canoe’s wild flight downriver, so Michiocould catch up. She was thrown sideways as the raging river grabbedthe canoe, swung it around and wedged it between some rocks.

Michio reached the canoe momentslater and started to pull himself over the side. The canoe rockedtoward him. “You’re tipping the canoe!” Toemeka screamed. Sheleaned in the opposite direction, righting the canoe as he hoistedhimself in, dripping water all over. Blaster fire hit the top edge ofthe canoe, blowing a hole in it.

“Watch out!” she yelled asMichio crouched down. The angry river grabbed the canoe again, toreit away from the rocks and hurled it downriver again. Soon they wereout of range of the blaster fire.

Together they managed to turn thecanoe so that it faced downstream again. From the rear seat, Toemekatried steering straight toward Erling and Jake, but Michio’sstrokes overpowered hers. “Paddle harder!” Michio shouted,“They’ll drown if we don’t reach them in time.”

Toemeka applied the last of herstrength to paddling toward the men, wishing Michio was in the rearsteering position instead of her.

Jake’s head appeared, but hewas having trouble fighting the current. Erling finally reached himand put an arm around Jake’s neck to keep him above water. Theysmashed into some rocks. Erling lost his hold and Jake went underagain. Erling dove for him. Toemeka dug her paddle into the water andwatched anxiously for them to reappear.

Erling resurfaced, holding Jakearound the neck and one shoulder. He began swimming toward the canoe.

“Hang on. Almost there!”Toemeka yelled. Her arms and shoulders screamed with pain fromfighting the river.

The canoe drew up alongside thetwo men. Michio grasped Jake’s upper arm and tried to pull him intothe canoe, which smashed into a boulder and kept going. Erlingclimbed in and together the two men heaved Jake into the canoe. Jacklay on the bottom of the canoe, not moving.

Erling moved to the rear seat.“I’ll take over steering, Toemeka.”

They awkwardly switched places,trying not to tip the canoe, then Toemeka checked on Jake. “Oh God!He’s not breathing!” A panicky feeling surged through her. Jakecould die!“We’ve got to get him to shore.”

“He probably swallowed half theriver,” Erling said. Now that they were through the rapids, hestarted steering the canoe toward the riverbank.

Toemeka let water drain fromJake’s mouth, then pushed him onto his back. She knelt astride himwith one leg on either side of his hips. Tilting his head back andplacing one hand on his forehead, she repeatedly pushed the heel ofher other hand into his chest, hard and fast.

When he didn’t respond, shepinched his nose closed and blew into his mouth several times. Shepaused, then blew into his mouth several more times. He jerked underher and choked up more water as he gasped for air. He still wasn’tbreathing well on his own, so she held his nose and blew into hismouth again.

Toemeka felt him move beneath herand his arms slid around her as he started kissing her. Relief spreadthrough her as she struggled out of his embrace. “Stop it, Jake.You scared me half to death and all you can think about is kissingme!” she exclaimed too worried to be angry. His shoulder wound wasbleeding and he was deathly pale. “How do you feel?”

“I’m still having troublebreathing. Come here.” He reached for her.

“Rogue!” She pulled away andsat on the middle brace of the canoe. “Move your legs.”

He sat up and pulled his legs outfrom under her, smiling at her with a suggestive expression. His eyesfocused on something behind her and his grin suddenly disappeared.She turned and saw Michio, looking thunderous.

“Sorry, I forgot she wasmarried,” Jake said, sheepishly.

“Some things you’d do wellnot to forget,” Michio replied. He turned back to the front of thecanoe and continued paddling.

Toemeka scrambled off Jake,climbed over the center brace and sat down at the front of the canoe,just behind Michio.

“We’ve almost reached theshore,” Erling said. “Should we stop so you can rest, Jake, orkeep going?”

“Keep going. Cadmus probablycontacted his spaceships by now. We haven’t much time.”

“How far to the Owayan camp?”Toemeka asked.

“It’s a ways yet.” Jakestarted to sit up and winced in pain.

Toemeka was immediatelyconcerned. “You’re cut and bruised from the rocks. Better staystill.” His lips were blue from being in the cold water for so longand he was shaking. She took off Michio’s jacket, realizing she wasthe only one who hadn’t gotten soaked in the river. “Here putthis on.”

Jake gratefully shrugged off hisown wet jacket and shirt and put on the dry one. Then he studied theriverbank. “More rapids are coming. This set is a mean one. It’sfull of boulders and dangerous swirling currents. Do you want to tryand shoot it or portage around?”

“How far is it to the camp fromthe rapids?” Erling asked.

“Not far by canoe, but walkingwill take time that we don’t have. Cadmus’ spaceship will be onus by then.”

Michio looked over his shoulderat the others and rested his paddle handle on his lap. “I can carrythe canoe. Are you guys up to hiking through the woods after thatdrubbing in the river?”

“I’m all right,” Erlingsaid.

“Jake, do you think you canwalk with Toemeka’s help?” Michio asked.

The side of Jake’s mouthtwisted up. “I don’t know if I dare walk with her support.”

“I