Core's Attack

by S. E. Smith

  Cosmos and Tilly insisted that RITA’s name stood for Really Intelligent Technical Assistant. Avery had decided that RITA’s name should be changed to Really Irritating Technical Assistant because that is what it felt like after she finished cleaning up the messes that were left behind. Given that Tilly Bell had contributed to RITA’s programming, Avery supposed it wasn’t all that surprising. Tilly was as brilliant as Cosmos—and had a free-spirit, rosy view of the world despite some of the heartache they had lived through when Hannah was kidnapped and Tansy was almost killed. Cosmos and Tilly had designed RITA to help the people around her and, more often than not, Avery found the AI’s help often caused her additional headaches.

  Avery blinked and turned when she heard the buzz of her cell phone. A glance at the screen told her that the ‘nothing dangerous’ was enough to alert the State Department. Taking a deep breath, she counted to ten before picking up the phone and forcing a smile on her lips. Touching the screen, she walked around her desk and sank down into the plush leather chair.

  “Secretary Albertson, what a pleasant surprise. How can I help you this evening?” Avery politely asked. She leaned back in her chair as she listened to the blistering rant. “Really? That is fascinating, sir. Yes, I can see why the Indian Minister is very upset…. Yes, sir, I’m sure no one would be happy to discover they’ve been hacked. It is a growing security issue throughout the world. I believe I read in today’s paper that the Minister is currently under investigation. The article stated he has received illegal payouts from certain shell companies that were laundering money.... No, sir, I didn’t realize that he was claiming that the companies were legitimate. If I’m not mistaken, several of the companies were under surveillance for trying to do business here in the States…. No, sir, no one from the State or Justice Departments has shared classified information with me. It was in the Times, I believe.” Avery fought the urge to cross her eyes as the Secretary of State continued with his tirade. She was going to need a stiff drink by the time he finished. “Yes, of course, anyone would be upset at suddenly losing that much money…. Yes, sir…. Yes, sir, Cosmos does have some business interests in India, but we’ve never dealt with the Minister. The objective of Cosmos Raines Industries is to focus on education, health, and technology for women in small, rural villages…. No, sir, Cosmos has been out of the country for the past several weeks.” Avery silently rolled her eyes at just how far out of the county he had been, but smoothly continued. “As head of his security, I would be the first to know if anyone at CRI was involved in hacking a foreign dignitary…. Yes, sir. If I discover any information, I’ll be happy to pass it along to you—personally,” Avery added, repeating the Secretary’s emphasized request. “I hope you have a good evening as well, sir. Good night.”

  Avery hung up and tossed her cell phone onto her desk. She leaned her head into her hand and released a soft curse. The headache that had been threatening all day now felt like a major wrecking ball battering her brain.

  “Nothing dangerous? Ten million dollars, RITA. The Criminal Oligarchs of the world do not like it when someone steals ten million dollars out of their personal piggy bank,” Avery groaned.

  “Ten million dollars is pocket change to them, Avery,” RITA retorted nonchalantly.

  “I need you to compile a dossier on the Secretary of State. Something is going on. See if there is any reason for someone to blackmail him—a mistress, an illicit affair, gambling, unusual financial deals—anything that could compromise him,” she instructed, lifting her head and looking at her computer screen.

  She grimaced when she saw something far more disturbing sitting on the corner of her desk. The life-sized, curvy woman smiled at her. Avery leaned her head back against the headrest of the chair and closed her eyes.

  “Do you know how unsettling it is to know that you can take on a corporeal form now, RITA?” Avery muttered.

  “I’m still trying to find the perfect program. Do you think this one makes my butt look big?” RITA asked, sliding off the corner of the desk, turning her back, and looking at Avery with twinkling green eyes over her holographic shoulder.

  Avery chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not answering that. The last time I said yes to the question about your boobs, FRED deactivated my ATM card,” she tiredly replied, opening her eyes and sitting up. “I think you have a lovely figure.”

  “I’ve been telling her the same thing, but she wouldn’t believe me,” FRED murmured from where he was sitting in one of the plush leather chairs by the electric fireplace.

  “I’m being invaded by holographic, horny robots. God, but I need a drink,” Avery groaned, rising from her chair and walking around her desk to the small bar.

  “No, Avery love, you need a vacation,” RITA responded with a sweet smile.

  Avery’s lips twitched with a mysterious smirk. “I’ve already scheduled it, as you are well aware,” she answered, pouring a small glass of red wine.

  “I haven’t figured out a way to move things in the physical world yet, but we are working on it. You’ll have to see Cosmos for a portal device. He keeps them locked up now—but I happen to know someone who could help you break into the safe,” RITA teased.

  Avery chuckled. “Playing matchmaker again, RITA?” she asked, turning and raising an eyebrow at the spectral AI figure who was now sitting on the arm of the chair where her ‘boyfriend’ sat.

  “Who me? Of course! You work far too hard, and the job you do is dangerous, Avery. You deserve to be happy, honey,” RITA said, sounding so much like Tilly Bell that Avery’s gut twisted.

  “Thank you, Mother RITA. I think I can manage my own life from here,” she dryly responded. “I need you to put a lock on Runt. She is not to hack into any accounts outside of her assigned missions. I’m trying to keep the girl alive. If she keeps going rogue, I’ll have to reassign her to a different division.”

  RITA’s expression turned serious. “Amelia won’t respond well to a cage, Avery. She might bolt again,” she warned.

  Avery shot RITA a pointed look. “Make sure that she doesn’t. Now, if that is all, I need to review the files on the Avilov case. Did Rose or Trudy find anything on Afon Dolinski?”

  “His car was found—underwater. His body has not been recovered. If I didn’t know so much about the man, I’d swear he was dead. But—knowing what we do, I have to believe he is still alive,” she muttered in irritation.

  “Easy, love. I can see your binary coding shimmering,” FRED soothed.

  Avery lifted a hand and rubbed her brow. FRED was right. Zeros and ones were replacing the formerly smooth image of RITA’s golden brown skin. Avery didn’t know if RITA was having issues with the stability of the corporeal form program or if there was just a heavy load currently on the CRI’s mainframe.

  “Mm, I think Amelia is having trouble sleeping and is working late tonight. We might need to keep her company, darling,” RITA murmured, turning to FRED.

  “Please do,” Avery ordered. “If I need anything, I’ll contact you.”

  “Righty-o, love. Come along, darling. I think Amelia is scanning The Bank of Dubai’s systems,” RITA chuckled.

  “If we replicate, I want little AIs just like her,” FRED replied as they vanished.

  “Replicate—little AIs? Heaven help us all. I really need to talk to Cosmos and Tilly,” Avery grumbled.

  Returning to her seat, she spoke the login command and leaned forward when the screen came up. She scanned the report, impatiently tapping a pen on her notepad.

  “What am I missing?” she murmured, staring at the screen.

  As tired as she was, she was too distracted to call it a night. Avery felt guilty and grief-stricken, and as much as she needed to keep that from the others—Cosmos especially—within her own mind, her feelings needed to be dealt with.

  It was her duty to protect Cosmos Raines and his family—a duty that she had failed to accomplish. Boris Avilov, a Russian billionaire and head of a Russian mafia group, had murdered Adam Raines
, Cosmos’ father.

  Avilov had wanted Tansy Bell, who was a CPAT operative and a close family friend of Cosmos. Tansy had stolen information from Avilov that made him very unpopular with his comrades. They didn’t appreciate the detailed information he had kept on his illicit business dealings with some of the most powerful men in the world—including the Vice President of the United States, whose agenda to get promoted by eliminating his boss was exposed.

  Cosmos and a team of alien warriors from a distant world had ruined Avilov’s plans to terminate Tansy. Unfortunately, during the mission, one of the aliens—Merrick Ta’Duran—had been captured by Avilov’s men along with two Russian policewomen who had been helping Cosmos.

  Afterward, Avilov had thought Cosmos would be an easy target. To the outside world, Cosmos was a shy billionaire, a genius inventor who lived in a world of privilege and gadgets. In reality, Cosmos was all of those and a modern-day superhero/superspy who used his wealth and inventions to fight against corruption and crime. Still, none of Cosmos’ inventions, gadgets, or their Intel had been enough to protect his parents.

  Avery bowed her head and closed her eyes. She knew what Avilov had done to the kind and gentle man. Pushing her chair back, she picked up her drink and walked back over to the window. It was done—there was no way to undo it. Raking herself over the coals for not preventing it was not helpful to anyone.

  Staring out over the city again, Avery thought of another reason for her unease. There was a long list of dead bad guys and three missing perps that she wanted to confirm were dead or locked up before she closed the case, yet it wasn’t the bad guys that she kept thinking about—it was a tall, dark, and very sexy good guy.

  “What makes him different from any other man?” she wondered.

  Besides the fact that he is an alien, she thought with a shake of her head.

  Although that might have helped pique her curiosity, she hadn’t felt the same reaction to any of the other ‘Prime warriors’ she’d met. No, it was Core Ta’Duran who had done the impossible. He had made her curious and was a constant sexy distraction.

  She hadn’t even known that aliens existed until after Avilov’s people had attacked. While the team was en route to help, RITA had offhandedly said ‘By the way, Avery, I guess you should know that Cosmos has created a portal to an alien world. The warehouse is full of them at the moment. Please don’t shoot any of them. It could cause an intergalactic incident.’

  Fortunately, her handpicked team had accepted the revelation as just a routine part of another mission. Avery wasn’t sure why she had been shocked that no one had reacted with disbelief. As Jenny, the resident doctor for the team explained, anything was possible when working with Cosmos Raines.

  Avery lowered the glass in her hand and narrowed her eyes. Merrick had been found and returned to his world. Perhaps she should check on him. Avery snorted at her excuse to go through the portal and get closer to a certain alien who wasn’t Merrick… but she had already scheduled the days off, and this game that she and Core had been playing with each other since their first meeting needed to come to an end.

  Finishing her drink, she walked back over to the bar and cleaned the glass. She tidied the area and looked over at the computer. She was starting to feel edgy.

  “Three days. I’ll give myself three days to get him out of my system,” she murmured to herself.

  Satisfied with her decision, she walked over to her desk, picked up her phone as she passed by, before she sank into the plush leather chair. She pressed a contact number on the screen, and waited for Cosmos to answer.

  “Have you found Dolinski?” Cosmos asked as a way of greeting. Avery raised an eyebrow.

  “Not yet, but I will. I’m calling in my bonus,” she stated.

  There was a long silence before she heard Cosmos take a deep breath. She smiled. It wasn’t often that she caught him off-guard.

  “Are you sure about this, Avery? There are—things you don’t understand about the Prime,” Cosmos muttered.

  Avery could picture Cosmos running his fingers through his hair. He did that when his brain was kicking into gear and running through all the relevant scenarios. She looked at the computer screen and swiped her finger across it. She selected a new file titled ‘Bonus.’ Inside was a report that she had requested from RITA about the Prime, their world, their anatomy, and personal notes that she had added about Core. An image of the man in question filled half of the screen.

  Six foot six inches tall, with two hundred and fifty pounds of defined muscle. She sighed softly at the sight. He wore his black hair short. His silver-colored eyes held twin flames that sent a wave of heat through her. The expression on his face was assessing and downright predatory. He was a hunter, and she wanted him.

  “You promised, Cosmos. Avilov is dead, only three of his men are still unaccounted for, and the alien has returned to his world. The situation has been contained. Three days is all I’m asking for. After that, you can have the device back and I will finish locating the missing men. Trudy and Rose are working on it, as well. I’ll personally lead the team when I return,” she stated, staring at Core’s image.

  “It’s not that, Avery. I… Listen, I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Cosmos admitted in a rough voice.

  “You don’t have to worry about that, Cosmos,” she reassured him.

  There was another pause before Cosmos spoke again. “I’ll leave a gateway device on the desk in my lab. RITA will let you in and program it with RITA2’s help. I hope to god you know what you are doing, Avery. If you are Core’s bond mate, your lives will be forever connected whether you want them to be or not,” he warned.

  “I don’t believe in magic, Cosmos. I’ll be there tomorrow. Thank you,” she replied before disconnecting the call.

  She leaned back in her seat. As much as she hated the idea of moving on, it might be time to find another position when she returned. She had been with CRI for six years. That was longer than any job she’d ever had, or would ever have again. As it was, she worried that she hadn’t protected her heart nearly as well as she should have. The others had given her a nickname. She was the Ice Queen. It was a reputation that she cultivated with her demeanor and sharp tongue. Avery smiled sadly. In many ways, she was as good at disappearing as Runt.

  ‘We can never stop running. Remember that, honey. If we do, they will find us.’

  “I’ve stayed too long, Momma,” Avery murmured. “But they need me now more than ever.” She sighed. “I’ll finish this mission and re-evaluate what I should do next. I promise.”

  Avery ignored the tightness in her chest as she leaned forward and shut down the computer system. She rose from her seat and picked up her purse and cell phone. Pressing another number on her slim phone, she lifted it to her ear.

  “Have the jet ready to leave for Maine in one hour,” she informed the agent.

  She turned off the lights and silently exited the office, sealing the door behind her. Minutes later, her driver was waiting outside. He opened the door for her, and she slid inside.

  “Where to, Ms. Lennox?” the chauffeur asked.

  “My apartment, then the airport, Robert,” she murmured.

  “You’re working late tonight,” Robert observed.

  “Nothing new,” she lightly retorted.

  Her eyes briefly met his in the mirror. All she saw was concern. Robert had been with the company Cosmos’ parents had started over thirty-five years ago. He had tried retiring, but gave up after a few months and returned to CRI. When Cosmos had decided that Avery should have her own driver, she had argued at first that it wasn’t necessary, but then she reluctantly gave in, and now appreciated the fact that she didn’t need to worry about the traffic.

  Forty minutes later, they were speeding along the expressway to the airport hangar reserved for corporate jets. The black SUV pulled up to the security gate. Robert rolled down the window so the guard could scan Avery’s security clearance. Several minutes later, he pulled up next
to a luxurious Gulfstream G650. The stewardess, Carol, smiled and reached for her bag as she stepped away from the car.

  “Would you care for dinner this evening, Ms. Lennox?” Carol politely asked.

  “Yes, please. What’s on the menu tonight?” Avery asked, suddenly realizing she was famished.

  “There is fresh Salmon with lemon sauce, vegetables, and rice pilaf,” Carol replied with a smile. “Anton was delighted when he heard that you would be traveling and thought you might not have had time to eat before we took off.”

  Avery chuckled. “You both know me too well,” she teased, climbing up the steps. “He’s right, of course. I haven’t had a chance to eat anything.”

  “I’ll let Anton and Rex know you are ready to depart,” Carol replied.

  “Thank you,” Avery murmured, moving to the elegant lounge chair.

  She settled in and buckled her seat belt. Looking out the window, she saw Robert wave to Rex, the pilot, as he completed a last minute walk-around. The perks that came with being Head of Security for CRI were nice, but Avery thought of them as tools to do the job—nothing more, nothing less.

  “We should be taking off shortly. Is there anything else I can get you for the moment, Ms. Lennox?” Carol politely asked.

  Not unless you can deliver a Prime warrior to go with the Salmon and lemon sauce, Avery thought with a wry humor that she hadn’t felt in weeks.

  Since she didn’t think Carol or Cosmos would appreciate her mentioning aliens, she simply shook her head and returned her attention to the window. No, there was nothing Carol could get her for the moment. Cosmos would provide what she needed, and Core had what she wanted: three days of living in a fantasy world.

  2

  Calais, Maine:

  * * *

  Avery maneuvered the Tesla Roadster around the corner and onto the street that led up to the warehouse where Cosmos Raines lived and worked most of the time. She paused and waited for the doors leading to the underground parking area to automatically open. RITA was tracking her through the car’s GPS system.