Hack

by Annie Nicholas

  Hack

  Cosmos Resort and Dating Agency

  By

  Annie Nicholas

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  A Word From Annie

  GET EXCLUSIVE ANNIE NICHOLAS MATERIAL

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Earth’s oceans had the same saline concentration as Hack’s home world. That meant his nanobots, microscopic robots which flowed through his system, didn’t have to make any shape changes to his body. Especially not to his sensitive gills. The cool liquid slid over his silver scales. Using his webbed hands and feet, he remained close to the hull of the cruise ship cutting through the turbulent water.

  He was waiting for nightfall to climb onboard and further investigate the smuggling of humans off planet to slave traders. The Intergalactic Intelligence Agency, IIA for short, had sent him and his team to stop the human abductions. Their reconnaissance had led them from Cosmos Resort and Dating Agency, an alien singles’ vacation spot on this backward planet, to this boat.

  The bottom of the ship suddenly rose above him as if on the crest of a wave. It fell back toward him just as fast. Hack dove straight down, darting out of the way before being brained. What the hell? He scanned the surface from below and only the erratic movement of the hull gave a hint of what was transpiring above. The ship crashed down a second time just as he rose from the depths. He clamped his claws to its slick underbelly so as not to be separated.

  Hack held on and climbed the wide curved hull to the water’s surface. Dark clouds obscured the stars to the east and were closing in fast. Waves crashed over his head and he shook it to clear his vision. Something else was in the sky aside from the storm clouds. He narrowed his eyes, using the nanotechnology to focus on the object.

  Rectangular, dull gray metallic siding, no lights. A space shuttle similar to the one he and his team used. “Trace?” He used the nano communication system to connect with his team members. “Are you following the boat? Because you’re visible. You’ll blow our cover.”

  “That’s not us,” Crypto responded.

  “Where is Trace?”

  “In some kind of mating frenzy with his human. They were bonded after you left.”

  Crypto didn’t sound happy. He rarely did ever since the female he had fallen for had seduced Hack. Long story short, it placed a strain on their friendship.

  Hack was happy though. “Good for him.” Their information tracker, Trace, had had a hard and lonely life. Every agent did. That one of them had found a mate gave Hack hope. “The shuttle is moving closer. This must be when they actually abduct the humans off the boat.”

  Lightning cracked across the sky. Whoa. That was huge. Earth’s weather patterns were part of the information packet he had downloaded prior to the mission. It hadn’t done the lightning justice.

  Using his nanos, Hack darkened his scales before climbing the side of the rocking boat. Huge waves smashed against him. Shouts carried on the wind—not in a human language. The crew came from Cosmos Resort where aliens were introduced to voluntary humans as prospective mates. The key word was voluntary. The humans on this boat had chosen to have their memories wiped because they wanted nothing to do with aliens.

  The shuttle now hovered over the boat. Why were the smugglers endangering their lives by coming during a storm?

  “Report,” Trace’s voice filled Hack’s head, startling him and almost making him lose his hold.

  “Trying to climb on board.” Also trying not to be seen or break any bones.

  “I can’t locate you on our radar system.”

  “Storm.” Even in his head, Hack’s voice sounded strained. He grunted as another wave sandwiched him to the hull. “Let me concentrate before I’m swept away.” The shuttle’s appearance now made sense and explained why the routine security system placed on this primitive world hadn’t caught the smugglers.

  Hack climbed the side of the boat and over the handrails. Out of air, he sank to the deck. The nanobots would normally keep his oxygen at optimum levels to avoid shortness of breath, but he had gills at present. He commenced the change back to lungs. It took only moments for his gills to vanish under his skin. In the meantime, he watched two crew members carry an unconscious woman from the interior of the cruise ship and onto the slick surface of the deck.

  The ship lights illuminated the shuttle as it lowered a ramp to the aliens who climbed aboard with their cargo in tow. Rain pelted upon them as if the universe had tipped over a full bucket. Hack blinked until he closed his inner transparent eyelids designed to see underwater. “They’re loading humans onto the shuttle.”

  More crew arrived on deck with the humans in their arms. They all wore holograms so the slavers appeared as human as their victims. They wouldn’t take everyone off the ship—such a massive disappearance would draw attention. The way Cosmos Resort worked was to import women and men from around the world with the promise that it was a singles’ vacation spot for the rich. Once there, the truth was revealed about alien lifeforms. Most chose to forget what was revealed and were then shipped to a human resort. On this ship.

  The ones being carried off at present, however, would be sold on the black market as slaves, breaking several galactic laws.

  Hack fisted his hands. He would stop this right here, right now. Everyone’s attention was centered on loading humans on the shuttle. They wouldn’t see him coming.

  Lightning zigzagged across the dark sky, a blaze of pure light that blinded. It struck a pole not ten feet from Hack. Sparks flew across the deck. The shock wave of energy traveled over his flesh and tossed him back into the raging ocean. Dark water swallowed him whole. Instinct had him expanding his gills, but they were under his skin and useless. He had changed shape earlier to have lungs, which now burned for air. He kicked for the surface while commanding the nanos to release his gills.

  Nothing.

  He breached the water’s turbulent surface and gasped. The nanos moved his flesh, but at a sluggish pace. What was going on? He swam after the boat. If he didn’t climb back on board, he would drown.

  The shuttle seemed to be realigning its ramp with the ship’s deck. If he hurried, he might have time to help those poor humans.

  Claws still tipped his fingers and toes, making the climb possible again in the storm. His nanobots’ malfunctioning was evident by his decreased strength and agility. Subconsciously, he scanned them for damage. He crawled over the handrail for the second time that night, energy low and muscles cramping. The results of the scan were not surprising. Lightning had destroyed ninety-three percent of his nanobots.

  No wonder they weren’t responding fast. Hack shut down all nonessential functions so they could focus on the task at hand. He commanded a small force to crawl out from under his scales and assemble into a microscopic transponder. Every IIA agent was injected with nanos. Most of these tiny robots couldn’t exist outside their host’s body. Hack was the exception. He had a unique relationship with them.

  Though the winds tore at the ship and shuttle, the transponder made of his nanos flew through the rough weather. It was barely visible but he could sense its path. In a chaos of bounces and flips in the air, it flew over the heads of the smugglers who were occupied with unconscious humans. One of the crew swatted the air over his head as if shooing
a fly. The transponder attached itself to the side of the shuttle.

  Hack sighed with relief. “Are your sensors reading the beacon?” he asked his silent team.

  No response.

  Hack sank into a dark corner of the deck and shivered. The nanos no longer regulated his body temperature. Time was running out before they shut down to regenerate. Initiating a physical change, he closed his eyes and hoped they had enough power to make him appear human. In his present form, he’d be outed as an alien instantly and unlike at the resort, he didn’t have any holo-tech available.

  Slowly, painfully, his nanos rearranged his flesh. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming. The process was usually seamless and without discomfort. Hack suspected his nanos couldn’t control his pain receptors at present. So, he suffered. Sweat mixed in with rain and soaked his body. He wore only the small shorts he’d left Cosmos Resort with.

  The shuttle retracted the ramp and closed their bay doors with a clang that echoed over the thunder.

  Hack closed his eyes. Those poor humans. He’d been too late. “Trace?” Still no response. It required more nanos than he had to communicate. If his team knew to look for the transponder’s signal, they could find the shuttle and rescue the humans. But his team didn’t know.

  When he opened his eyes, he discovered the deck empty. A small blessing. He used the wall to leverage himself to his feet and guide his halting steps to the closest door. Once inside, he blinked until his vision adjusted to the soft lights. The hall was lined with golden wood paneling and entrances to guest quarters.

  He tried the first knob on his left and it was unlocked. Stumbling inside, he caught his balance against the side wall and kicked the door closed. His vision tunneled. Fuck. He was going to pass out. A bed was ahead of him and he crawled onto it.

  The world went black.

  Jeannie Havers flailed into consciousness, arms and legs fighting off an invisible enemy. Sleep dug its hooks into her and tried to drag her back under. “No,” she screamed. Her elbow came into contact with something hard, sending a jolt of pain along her arm. “Ouch.” She sat bolt upright in bed, clutching her injury.

  She was awake. Oh, thank goodness. It felt like she’d been trying to escape a nightmare of...something. Aliens? No, that was weird and was fading now.

  A male groaned.

  Slowly, she turned.

  A strange man lay next to her, a hand pressed to his eye. “Fuck.” He growled. Actually growled like a rabid animal.

  She shrank away, back pressed against the wall. “What are you doing in my bed?” There had been a party last night, well... The last few days, with lots and lots of alcohol. Had she invited him to her room?

  The stranger rolled to his side, his bare muscular back to her, then sat on the edge. He wore only a pair of tight-fitting boxers.

  Her eyes widened as her gaze traced from his broad shoulders to his narrow hips. Damn, she drawled out the word within her head. She had done good. If only she could remember some of it. She glanced down at herself. What the heck? She was still wearing her pajamas.

  “Sorry, I must have crawled into the wrong bed. I wasn’t feeling very well when I laid down.”

  “Wasn’t my door locked?” Disappointment flared. He wasn’t her one-night stand.

  “No.” He rubbed his face. “I’m Hack.” Twisting at the hips, he offered his hand.

  She automatically shook it. “Jeannie.” The contact ignited a heat low in her gut. She jerked her hand out of his grasp. Golden skin of sunlight and eyes the color of amethyst. The left one slightly swollen. She’d woken up next to a young god. “Hi,” she whispered. “Sorry about the elbow-knock.”

  “Hi.” His smile turned shy and melted her panties. “I’ve had worse.”

  Maybe she should have been more afraid than she was, but he’d been in her bed all night and, from the state of her clothes, hadn’t touched her.

  He laughed and his smile turned sheepish. “I guess I should go back to my room.”

  She leaned forward and scanned her floor. “Where are your clothes?”

  “I don’t have any.” He cleared his throat. “Can I borrow a towel?”

  Chapter Two

  Hack left Jeannie’s room with a white towel wrapped around his hips. His left eye throbbed from her elbow jab. Damn, that smarted. The halls were empty, thankfully, but he heard faint noises behind the doors of people waking and preparing for the day.

  Seemed like the drugs keeping the humans asleep had finally worn off. That could be another reason for the shuttle to dare the storm. Their time to grab a few humans was limited. He inquired his nanobots for a status report since his eye didn’t feel any better. The response was that they were not functional yet and would require time to multiply before attending any minor injuries. In other words, shut up and stop being a baby in binary.

  Great.

  A mirror hung on the wall over a small table with a vase of flowers. He paused to inspect the damage to his eye. The tissue looked slightly swollen but that wasn’t what had him staring. The nanobots hadn’t had enough power last night to change him to his regular human form, the one he’d worn at Cosmos Resort. They had instead changed his scales to golden skin and left his eyes the original purple color. As an experiment, he blinked his inner eyelids. The transparent, moist membrane flicked over his irises horizontally. They worked to protect his eyes underwater. Controlling that reflex was near impossible. He was some kind of human hybrid.

  A low whistle caught his attention. “Lock yourself out of your room, sweetheart?” A dark-haired woman leaned against an open door. He didn’t need any tech to know she was human. The sultry sound of her voice was enough. Humans were such pretty creatures. Aliens could play at being human by looking like them, but there was no comparison to the real thing. “You can wait inside my room while I contact a steward to bring you a new set of keys.”

  And they were so kindhearted. “Thank you.” Hack sauntered inside. Though his nanos were mostly gone or damaged, he still retained the data he’d downloaded in his memory. One of those items was Cosmos Resort’s guest list. He found the name of the only male who’d chosen to stay behind at the last orientation.

  If any of the crew recognized the name, he could claim ignorance. No matter what planet, bureaucracy made mistakes all the time.

  The door clicked closed behind him. He twisted around, the false name lost on his tongue.

  The human female had pulled off her shirt, exposing her bare, ample breasts. At the resort, the humans hadn’t been this forward. Then again, he’d worn a different face then. They had also known he was an alien by the amulets the resort forced nonhumans to wear. She thought he was her species. Maybe this was how the people of Earth courted each other. If so, Jeannie had remained clothed during their encounter. He took note.

  Understanding other cultures fell in Trace’s domain of specialties, not Hack’s. He felt more comfortable with microchips and dataflow than people. Preferring the blunt honesty of tech than the pitfalls of conversations.

  This half-naked human female had chosen not to remember her experience at Cosmos Resort. She wanted nothing to do with aliens. No matter how pretty or tempting, he wouldn’t take advantage of her. Hack scooped her shirt off the floor and placed it in her hands. “I think I misunderstood your invitation.”

  She trailed her fingernails over his abdomen. “You’re not misunderstanding it now.”

  He stepped out of her reach. What would Trace say in this situation? “Thank you for the offer.” Hack shook her hand as he’d seen other humans do at the resort. Similar to what he and the gorgeous Jeannie had exchanged. “But I must decline.”

  Yeah, Trace wouldn’t have said that. He would’ve been smoother. More charming.

  The woman just stared at their hands with confusion. He’d done something weird.

  With a sigh, he pushed past her. Once in the hall, he stormed quickly away. That could have gone better. He hadn’t been that awkward with Jeannie.
That she had been wearing clothes and had been very sweet had helped. What if she’d taken off her shirt like that other woman?

  A breath caught in his throat at the image, his body growing hard at the thought. He hadn’t reacted to the actual half-naked woman like this. Interesting.

  Didn’t matter at this point. Jeannie must think him very strange to have wandered into her bed without invitation. She wouldn’t want anything to do with him now. Ugh, she was the first human that didn’t make him feel self-conscious and he’d wrecked the opportunity by being a creep. He should have explained he’d been on the verge of passing out when he’d entered her room.

  Hack shook his head. That would have led to questions he couldn’t answer and made him seem even creepier.

  Thinking of Jeannie gave him an idea. Her suite had been unlocked. It made sense if the crew would want access to all humans while unconscious. He took the stairs and descended to the next floor, then knocked on the first door he saw. No answer. Without hesitation, he tried the knob. It turned. Hack slipped inside and found the room empty. Perfect. He spotted an open suitcase and went through the clothes until he found shorts with an elastic waistband and a T-shirt big enough to fit his shoulders. The outfit was better than running around half-naked, drawing more unwanted attention.

  Jeannie scanned the ship’s dining room. Half of the tables were full of people having breakfast. The furnishings were a light bamboo, accented with bright blue cushions. A large buffet counter lined the far end of the room where she found an empty table and set her plate of fruit and cheese. She really should approach one of the tables with other people and ask to join them. Besides wanting to film proof of sawtooth sharks in the area, one of her other goals on this vacation was to put herself out there, meet people, maybe hook up. She put the idea of ever finding a boyfriend out of her mind. Life had taught her that she was too independent and fearless to keep a man interested. She didn’t need protection or to be taken care of.

  She sat alone and rolled her eyes at herself. She’d had that opportunity this morning. Hot, naked guy in her bed and she had clutched her nonexistent pearls like a virgin.