Free Eyes in the Sky by Viola Grace

Chapter One
     
     
    “This is the hidden report once again, and I am notifying you that Rekitar province, Leomor prefecture and Ysku city all have eyes in the sky. Be aware that they are looking.” She signed off quickly.
    Riasa dismantled her equipment, put on her protective lenses and left the small hole with the broadcast equipment in its hidden burrow. With a few forks of hay, she covered it up completely.
    Humming, she headed out of the barn and continued her chores. She worked the façade on each and every day. The drones flew overhead, seeking her signal. She glanced at them for the appropriate amount of time and returned to her work.
    After two more hours outside, she returned to the farmhouse and smiled at her mother. “So, I guess tonight’s the night. I wish I could warn them that it was the last broadcast, but that isn’t going to be possible.”
    “Ri, the drones have already narrowed your broadcasts down to our prefecture. You need to go before they capture you.” Her mother shook her head. “We will miss you, but it will be a relief that you are safe and thriving.”
    Riasa nodded and washed her hands before helping her mother with dinner. Lobelia Zorgard was a stubborn woman, and if Riasa didn’t go outside of her free will, she would be staked out like a sacrificial lamb if it would get her off Resicor.
    Peeling the tubers was therapeutic. Her mind went blank while she was scraping away.
    “When are they coming?”
    “During the eclipse. Be ready and be prepared to be stunned or zapped in case the drones are watching.”
    “Yes, Mom.”
    An hour later, her father came in and the meal was served. They ate together as a family and watched the two celestial objects get closer and closer.
    Riasa removed her lenses and looked at the sky. “It is time for me to go and check on the goats.”
    She hugged each of her parents in turn and headed outside in the dark with a light and her lenses down. She heard a soft beat above her, and in seconds, she was swept into the sky and over the fields at a low altitude. She dropped her light and held tight as he swept her toward a stone edifice that had a ship clinging to the bottom side of an outcropping. He tucked his wings and they skidded inside.
    She got to her feet and looked down at him, all bright lines and wide wings. Wings. He really had wings.
    She blinked and reset her vision. “Hello.”
    “Please excuse me. I need to get us out of here.” He struggled to his feet and headed into the open doorway that led out of the cargo bay they were standing in.
    She followed him into the ship and took the available seat across from him when he slid into what was obviously his chair. The narrow rod in the centre in lieu of a back gave it away as belonging to someone with structural issues.
    Riasa strapped in and heard the outer door lock. A moment later, they floated free of the outcropping and then they shot skyward.
    She clutched the arms of her seat and hung on as their orientation went from horizontal to vertical. Air was pressed out of her lungs and a last view of her family farm disappeared as the ship rotated on its way out and up.
    When the pressure on her body eased, she gasped and her vision focussed on the images in the display. Her eyes sought the signals within signals and located a satellite and five other ships lifting off under the cover of the interference and darkness brought to them courtesy of the eclipse.
    The man next to her was made entirely of grey. Charcoal hair, pale crystal eyes and wings and body that appeared to be made of smoke and stone. Even the suit that wrapped his body was grey.
    The other signals scattered in different directions and her companion aimed on an independent path. The pilot did something and cruised them past one of the large Raider ships that frequented the area. The Raiders didn’t acknowledge their presence, and they continued on past them, heading out of the star system.
    When her companion unbuckled his