Hack

by Annie Nicholas

  “Like a soulmate?”

  “That’s such a perfect term. Such a human way to say it. You’re my soulmate, Jeannie.”

  “Hack...”

  “You don’t have to feel the same way. I know your people have different courting rituals. I just ask that you give me a chance to—”

  She kissed him.

  He closed his eyes for a lingering moment. Nothing existed but Jeannie’s affection. It was a place of magic and calm. No cold. No pain. She was warm and golden and she tore at his heart. She kissed him and shared all her fears and wants. He felt alive.

  The sense of being watched burned through to his thoughts. Hack peered up.

  The shuttle hovered over them, the side door open, and Trace sat on the edge staring. “Done?”

  A growl rolled out of Hack, startling Jeannie enough to stop treading water. Her head went under and so did his. A splash followed. She broke the surface, her hand under Hack’s arm.

  In the sky, hovering right over their heads, was a spaceship. She sank again. Dammit, she had to get a grip before she drowned. Gasping for air, she resurfaced next to Hack. A strange man helped him stay afloat.

  “You look terrible,” the stranger said to her soulmate.

  “I’ll be fine. Get Jeannie on the shuttle first.”

  She stared at the UFO. They wanted her to board a freaking spaceship.

  A woman came to the door. “Don’t be frightened. I’m human too. They’re the good guys.” She held out a hand.

  “Hack needs medical attention. He should go first,” said Jeannie.

  “Get on the damn ship,” the stranger said. “He’ll fight me otherwise.”

  “Go.” Hack gave her a pale-lipped smile. It gave her no reassurance since pain was evident in his eyes.

  She grabbed the other woman’s hand and climbed aboard. Water puddled around their feet, making the metallic flooring slippery. Jeannie knelt to help pull Hack inside.

  He lay on his side, panting as if he’d run a marathon.

  “Is there a doctor on board?” Her voice shook as she shivered.

  The strange man climbed inside. The hatch behind him closed faster than her eyes could catch the movement. He shook his head. “We have an autodoc for emergencies.” He lifted Hack in his arms as if he weighed nothing. “I’m Trace, by the way. This is my mate, Lily.”

  The woman wrapped a blanket around Jeannie’s shoulders. “Hi.”

  Jeannie raced after the men. The spaceship didn’t disappoint. It was luxurious, with plush seats at keyboards filled with alien inscriptions. No windows but many screens showed views of their position, the cruise ship they’d jumped off, a tropical resort—one that they’d left and another that looked vaguely familiar—and the last, a strange man sneaking into a warehouse.

  She didn’t watch long, but kept moving toward the room Trace had taken Hack. It appeared like a small bedroom and Hack was on a bed. A clear dome slid out from the wall over him. Script flowed over the clear material and Trace tapped at it with his fingertips.

  “Will he be all right?” They had just found each other. She couldn’t lose him now.

  Trace watched wave patterns on the screen in silence.

  “How bad?” Hack’s voice came out of the speaker, tinny and faint.

  “You look like a mismatched puzzle inside. If your nanobots were functional, we could fix all the damage.” He paused, flipping through screens. “But they’re all dead.”

  Tubes attached themselves to Hack and his eyelids drooped.

  Lily touched Jeannie’s arm. “Come. We’ll get you some dry clothing.”

  She shrugged off the touch. “I’m not leaving until I understand what’s going on.”

  “How much did Hack tell you about himself?” Trace continued to tap as he spoke.

  Jeannie approached the dome, hands fisted at her sides. “He’s not human.” She glanced to Trace. “Are you?”

  He shook his head.

  She cleared her dry throat and stepped away. “He was trying to help some humans who were kidnapped when he was shot.”

  Trace’s eyebrows shot up. “What else?”

  “Umm...” She twisted the sleeves of her wetsuit. “He said we were soulmates.”

  Trace’s hands hovered over the controls. “Fated mates.” He worked on the medical equipment again but tossed her a few glances. “That’s something special to his people. Did he explain nanobot technology to you?”

  She shook her head. “He mentioned it but we were trying to escape the ship. We didn’t have time for details.”

  “Lily will explain it to you while you change and eat.”

  She crossed her arms. “What about Hack?”

  “He’s dying.” Trace faced her. “I’m going to fly us to a place on this planet that might have the technology to save him.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jeannie’s knees gave out and she sat on the cold hard floor.

  “Trace.” Lily knelt at her side. “Try some tact.”

  “Sorry.” He worked at the dome. “I’m not myself. Keeping my best friend alive is traumatizing.”

  “Come on, Jeannie. Let him work on Hack. He’s not really such a jerk. He’s just worried.” Lily helped Jeannie to her feet. “This way.”

  In a zombie state, she allowed the other human woman to lead her away. Hack was dying?

  Lily brought her into another bedroom with an unpacked suitcase on the floor. The walls were decorated with pictures of otherworldly landscapes. From the suitcase, Lily produced a pair of yoga pants and T-shirt. “These should fit.” Then she opened the compartment from the wall and pulled out a silver fabric. “It works like a towel. I’ll give you a chance to change while I make you something to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “How about a hot drink? They have something that tastes like coffee with an aftertaste of cinnamon.”

  “Okay,” she managed to whisper with a tightening throat. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

  The door slid closed and Jeannie crumpled to her knees. Head hanging, Jeannie squeezed her eyes shut. Tears leaked from between her eyelids, dripping onto her lap. This was all her fault. If she had just stayed... Stayed at the resort...

  She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. If she had stayed at the resort then Hack would still be held captive on the ship. Not that resort. The one on the television. The one giving her déjà vu. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. She was losing her mind. All the stress was cracking her noggin like an egg.

  A knock on the door. “Jeannie?” asked Lily.

  “I’ll be right out.” She couldn’t hide the tears in her voice. She sat quietly again before changing out of her wet clothes. The door slid open and Lily waited on the other side with a steaming cup. Jeannie took a sip and tasted whiskey mixed in so she took a deeper drink.

  “Trace says we’ll be at the resort in ten minutes.” Lily guided Jeannie to a couch against the wall.

  “The resort doesn’t have the kind of technology Hack needs.”

  “I mean the alien one. That’s where I met Trace, Hack, and Crypto.”

  Jeannie drank until her cup was empty. “The alien resort,” she said slowly. Her head was pounding.

  “Trace asked me to explain nanobots to you so you would understand what is going on with Hack.”

  “Okay.”

  “The three of them have—”

  “Three?”

  “Crypto’s the third member of their team. We dropped him off to assess the situation of the imprisoned humans. We’ll go back once Hack has the care he needs.”

  “You were saying?”

  “They have tiny robots in their bodies that allow them to do incredible things.”

  “Like grow gills?”

  “Exactly, except in Hack’s case, that’s his original form. It also gives great strength, speed, and fast healing. But something happened to Hack’s nanos.”

  “He was struck by lightning.”

  “Most of them w
ere damaged by the overload of power.” Trace entered the room. “The remaining ones worked to depletion to save Hack and make him look human. They obviously weren’t strong enough to make the change completely. He’s half-human and half-alien right now. His internal organs are barely functioning together. He can’t remain like this indefinitely.”

  “He needs to change shape.” Not look like the man she’d fallen for or even human.

  Trace rested his elbows on his knees, eyes weary and mouth hard. “He needs functioning nanobots for that and we don’t have access to any.”

  “I thought the resort would have better medical equipment.”

  Lily placed her hand on Jeannie’s. “Nanobot tech is rare. Trace, Hack, and Crypto have them because they’re agents for the Intergalactic Intelligence Agency. The alien version of the CIA.”

  Jeannie leaned forward. “Can’t you give him some of yours?”

  “I’d give him half of mine if I could, but we’re not the same species.” He groaned and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “I sent an urgent communiqué to headquarters but I’m not sure how long we can keep him alive.”

  Rising to her feet, Jeannie straightened her spine.

  “What are you doing?” Trace asked.

  “If it’s that hopeless then I’m going to stay by my mate’s side to the end.”

  “There is still hope, Jeannie. If I can find one surviving nano, we can coax it to replicate by providing what it needs. In a controlled environment, they can multiply very fast.”

  “Is there any chance one could be on my clothes or me?”

  “Normally, I’d say no but Hack is one of the few whose nanobots can survive outside his body. But he’s been depleted since the lightning strike...” Trace jerked in his chair as if struck by an idea. He then jumped to his feet. “The transponder we followed. The one he attached to the shuttle. It’s made of his nanobots.” Sitting at the control panels, he changed the shuttle’s course. “I contacted Crypto. He’ll get the transponder and meet us at the rendezvous.”

  Jeannie had been standing when Trace changed their flight plan and she hadn’t felt it. Their tech was much more advanced than Earth’s. “This means we can save Hack?” She had to hear Trace say it before allowing herself to hope.

  He spun around in the chair, handsome grin on his face. “Yes.”

  Lily let out a whoop before sitting on Trace’s lap. “You’re so sexy when you’re smart.”

  After making her way back to Hack’s bedside, Jeannie watched his chest rise and fall. He also had domes over his beautiful gills that filtered water through them. What did he look like in his true form if his gills were part of it?

  She placed her hand against the glass.

  Hack placed his on the other side. “Don’t be scared. I have lots to fight for.”

  Her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. It didn’t matter what he looked like because no matter what, he belonged to her. “Trace is going to use your transponder to make you more nanobots.” The words were alien on her tongue.

  He grinned. “Look at my non-tech guy thinking like a techie.”

  “Don’t get used to it.” Trace’s voice carried through the ship’s intercom. “My brain might not recover from the strain.”

  Hack watched her. “My soulmate, there are some things we still need to discuss.”

  “Save your strength.”

  “Things you don’t recall.”

  Her head stared pounding again. “Shhh.” She rubbed her temples. “Not now. There’s just too much going on. Let’s handle one problem at a time.”

  He gave her a sad look. “Just remember that I’ll always love you and will wait forever if need be for you to accept me as I am.” His eyelids closed.

  “I do accept you.” Didn’t she?

  “We’re landing. Stay in your quarters while I check things out. I don’t sense Crypto’s presence outside yet,” said Trace on the intercom.

  Lily hurried into the room, the door sliding closed behind her, and she pressed something on the panel. “It’s locked.”

  “You know how to communicate with me if there’s trouble?”

  “Yes.” Lily sat next to Jeannie. “I’m new at all of this as well.”

  “Have you seen Trace in his original form?”

  Lily blushed. “He won’t agree with me, but he’s beautiful. Want to see?” She pulled out her cell phone.

  Curiosity got the better of Jeannie and she leaned closer.

  “He let me snap a few photos.”

  Jeannie took the phone and stared. It was like an exotic bird and human had a baby. These pictures were taken on the shuttle. “Does he usually go around in this shape?”

  “I’m trying to convince him to. He’s afraid he’ll scare me away though. When he went to rescue you and Hack, he changed back to his human form.”

  “So I wouldn’t get scared.” Jeannie returned the phone and noted the tremble in her hand. “Weren’t you at least startled?”

  “The first time I saw an alien in their natural form I flipped the fuck out and screamed like a B-horror-flick heroine.” She shrugged. “I’m getting used to it. I didn’t flip when I saw Hack’s real form and Crypto refuses to show me his.”

  Jeannie glared at the other woman. She’d seen Hack’s original form? Jealousy wasn’t something she was accustomed to, but this sure felt like it.

  “Do you want me to describe him so you’re not too shocked?” Lily asked as if reading Jeannie’s thoughts.

  “I want it to be...” A surprise? No, that wasn’t it, because she dealt with enough shocks lately. “I want it to be special.” Something just the two of them shared.

  “I understand. Trace’s big reveal seems more important to me than our mating ceremony.”

  The snick of the shuttle hatch opening and closing could be heard through the wall. “All is clear, Lily.”

  She unlocked their door. “Did you get what you needed?”

  Jeannie pushed past the other woman.

  Trace stood in the middle of the room, hands outstretched with a piece of black metal on his palm. “It was sitting on a large rock outside. No sign of Crypto. He’s not answering my hails either.” He pressed his lips together. “I’m not sure if we should leave without him.”

  “Hack will die if we stay.” Jeannie wanted to pull out her hair. “He retrieved the transponder so we can help Hack.”

  Lily ran her hand over Trace’s back. “I know this is a hard decision but she has a point. We save the one we know we can. Then we come back. Crypto is the meanest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. He’ll be fine.”

  Trace nodded. “We go to Cosmos Resort then.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The name rang in Jeannie’s head. Cosmos Resort. There was something missing at the end. Like... Like... Cosmos Resort and something Agency. How did she know this? She hadn’t been on vacation in five years and her current employer had rented the cheapest hotels possible when she was filming on location.

  “Jeannie?” Lily touched her hand. “Are you okay?”

  She jerked, startled back into reality. “Sure.” Her head was pounding though, but she didn’t want them concerned for her. It would be better once Hack was taken care of.

  “You seemed a million miles away.”

  She gave Lily a reassuring smile. Her mind had been focused on Earth, not a million miles away.

  “ETA one minute,” Trace called out.

  “Are there seatbelts?” Jeannie glanced around her seat.

  “What kind of pilot do you think I am?” He tossed her a glare.

  “It wasn’t an insult, honey.” Lily rolled her eyes. “All human transport systems have them for safety.”

  “If the vehicle is safe then there’s no need for such things. And you are not traveling in a human-made death trap anymore, understand?”

  Jeannie noted Lily covering a bruise on her thigh. “I fell out of the golf cart recently. Trace was traumatized.”

  He snorted. “C
aring for your safety is not me being traumatized.”

  “From my vantage it is.”

  Jeannie appreciated the playful banter. It put her more at ease. As if her known reality wasn’t crumbling around her.

  Trace rose from the control seat. “We’ve landed.” The exterior doors slid open at the same time as a medical crew in white scrubs swarmed the shuttle with a hovering stretcher. They ignored her and Lily, following Trace to Hack.

  A man in a colored T-shirt and khaki shorts entered. “Miss Johnstone, back so soon.” He spotted Jeannie and scrolled through a tablet in his hand. “Miss Havers?”

  She stood, knees locking so she wouldn’t fall back onto the chair. “I know you.”

  “You shouldn’t be here. Miss Johnstone, why is she on the shuttle with you?”

  Jeannie pressed her hands to her head. The pain sharp. “You’re—you’re the lizard man.” She remembered him on the stage, talking about space and finding love. Then he’d removed his necklace. “Oh my God. My head.” Her knees hit the hard floor, jarring her teeth.

  Hands gripped her shoulders. Lizard hands? She shoved them away. “No.”

  “Her memory wipe is fracturing. Why would you bring her back?” the man—alien said. Pete. His name was Pete.

  “I didn’t know she was from here. It hadn’t occurred to any of us to check. We were distracted by Hack.” Lily sounded panicked.

  More hands grabbed Jeannie. She couldn’t see anymore, her vision gone dark, but she swung her fists. Knuckles made contact, jarring her elbow.

  “Oof,” followed the strike the sound distinctly masculine.

  It was the last thing she sensed before her mind shattered.

  “Status update?”

  Hack groaned at the prompt.

  “Status update?” The nanobots wouldn’t relent until he responded.

  Wait. His nanos were back online?

  “Semiconscious,” he responded via mental communication. Usually, he was the one asking for status updates. It was kind of cute that they were inquiring him. He assessed the nanobots situation. Look at that, Trace’s plan had worked. The nanobots from Hack’s transponder were still functioning after days of being separated from him. “That was smart,” he spoke out loud, aware that Trace had to be close by.