Hack

by Annie Nicholas

  “What happens now?” she asked. This was the first time in ages where she’d had no plans for her future.

  “We eat good food, swim in the ocean, and have sex.”

  “That’s it? Forever and ever?”

  He chuckled. “For now, we are guests of the resort until I’m fully healed.” He plucked one of the regulators off the beach. “Want me to show you what I can do underwater?”

  She grabbed it out of his hand. “Yes.”

  Sneak peek of CRYPTO, book 2 of Cosmos Resort and Dating Agency

  Chapter One

  Aliens existed. Diana Brooke had known this fact for years and had used it to her advantage. Like now. The hard-light hologram amulet that hung from her neck not only could change her appearance but worked great for camouflage.

  She stood on the edge of a thick jungle, the hologram blending her into the dark greens surrounding her body. Just ahead, sitting in the basin of the valley, cradled between green mountainous peaks, was an alien camp. This one was more permanent than any others she’d seen before.

  They had cleared it of all vegetation. Green domes were in straight military lines. From experience, she knew these to be living quarters and collapsed into easy-to-carry boxes. In the center, though, was a windowless structure made of cinder blocks. Only one door gave access to the interior and it was guarded around the clock.

  Two days she’d watched the camp activity, trying to figure out what they were doing on this deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. Aliens came to Earth to steal natural resources. She’d seen it all and in return, she stole from them. It was the circle of life.

  She started to hum the song under her breath as she watched someone push a cart inside the cinder block building. What the hell was in there, and did she want it?

  For the last month, she had been tracking space shuttle activity. It was how she found such camps. The majority of aliens traveled over the South Pacific, which wasn’t surprising considering how many uncharted small islands there were in the area. One shuttle had braved a tropical storm that had almost sunk her yacht. She’d lost the signal at this island. She had hoped to find a crash site but instead had stumbled upon something much bigger. Much more lucrative.

  She hoped.

  People milled about the camp going about their daily activities. An untrained eye would have thought this a group of mercenaries. Lazy mercenaries. Most of them left their weapons on the ground and nobody even patrolled the perimeter. She would rob them just on that principle alone. The average person wouldn’t know what the silver amulets everyone wore did. Diana touched the one she wore. They were all aliens wearing disguises. She’d never seen so many in one place. Whatever they were up to must be lucrative. After this heist, she’d be a millionaire.

  She slid her helmet visor over her eyes and focused the viewer on the space shuttle. She’d love to get her hands on one of those bad boys, but she hadn’t a clue how to fly one. The shuttle could out-fly and outmaneuver any plane on Earth. The amount of money she could earn selling one of those would ensure that even her great-great-great-grandchildren wouldn’t have to work. If she ever had children.

  Being an alien tech thief made having relationships difficult.

  A broad-shouldered man moved along the base of the shuttle. With cool liquid grace, he ran the palm of his hand over the surface as if searching for something.

  Hello.

  Involuntarily, she took a step closer.

  He glanced over his shoulder in her direction.

  Her heart caught in her throat and she went still, barely breathing. The hologram didn’t make her invisible, just difficult to see. Had he spotted her? Damn it. He was on the other side of the camp and the only reason she could see him was due to the binocular aspect of her visor.

  Yet, he made eye contact before refocusing on his task and plucked a tiny black object from the surface of the space shuttle. Shoving it in his pocket, he blended into the encampment population. The only reason she didn’t lose track of him was that she had the visor target on him. A green glow circled his head in her viewer. He glanced in her direction again. Stark gray eyes met hers through her lenses.

  “Fuck me,” she whispered. It was like meeting death’s stare. Everything else about him didn’t draw attention. Straight nose, narrow face, brown hair. Not too big, not too small. He was average. Too average.

  The holograms could change a person’s appearance so why would he choose to look so drab? Aliens tended to overdo it when pretending to be human. She’d even seen some wearing famous people’s faces.

  She retreated deeper into the jungle shadows and tracked him visually. This time when he glanced in her direction, she gasped. His nose was hooked now, his mouth wider and soft when she was sure they’d been thin and hard a second ago. Was her tracker malfunctioning or were her eyes playing tricks on her? Had she lost him? The targeting system on her visor was alien tech and had never let her down before. He still wore the same clothes—maybe she had not seen his face clearly the first time. Or his hologram had changed faces as he moved toward the edge of the camp.

  Why would he program it to do that?

  He drew close enough that she witnessed his face change more. Cheekbones grew sharper and the jaw-line straighter. His body filled the tan fatigues, the sleeves of his T-shirt stretched out around his biceps, and clung to his chest. Holograms couldn’t change at a person’s whim.

  What the fuck?

  The stranger melted into the jungle thirty feet from where she stood.

  She flipped her visor back up and stared at the encampment. It wasn’t going anywhere. What had he taken off the shuttle and did she want it? In her experience, aliens didn’t like entering the wilderness. They were forced to use places like deserted islands or remote locations like Siberia, but they stuck to their bases. They didn’t walk into jungles by themselves.

  This guy was heading into the heart of a rainforest thick enough to make the average person claustrophobic. It was humid, damp, and steaming hot. Her own fatigues clung to her skin and sweat trickled down her back. The deeper he went, the more uncomfortable he would become. So, the question was, what was driving him away from the comforts of the base?

  Diana unholstered her laser gun and edged her way to where he had entered the jungle. It didn’t take long to find his footprints in the moist soil. Maybe he was like her. Tracking alien tech and selling it to the highest bidder. It was a dangerous living but she thrived on this shit and didn’t want any competition.

  Someone was following Crypto. He wasn’t sure who yet. The slavers were lax with their security and he doubted it was them, but he had caught glimpses of movement on the edge of the slaver base. Whoever it was hid in the shadows and was now tracking him through the jungle.

  While retrieving Hack’s transponder off the slaver’s space shuttle, he had sensed he was being watched. His nanobots were military-grade and designed for combat. It took them a millisecond to adjust his vision to infrared and spot somebody using hollow technology to hide in the jungle. It was a rookie move not to mask their body heat. That the slavers hadn’t noted the intruder only proved their inadequacy in securing their base.

  He had infiltrated the encampment by mimicking faces. It hadn’t taken him long to discover the humans were being held in the warehouse in the center of the camp and were under guard at all times. Coming up with a rescue plan would be simple, but first he had to save Hack’s cheating ass. The dimwit had killed off all his nanobots and was now dying. His only hope lay in Crypto’s pocket.

  Part of him wanted the little bugger to suffer, but he didn’t want him dead. Things between him and Hack had been strained the last year. He couldn’t help feeling sore about Hack sleeping with his ex-fiancé, even though he knew Hack wasn’t completely at fault.

  Now wasn’t the time to reflect on his past though. Trace would arrive any minute at their meeting point and he had a shadowy intruder on his trail.

  The island consisted of three mountains with
the slaver base hidden in the center. Trace would come in from the north, flying close to the water, using the mountains to shield his approach. They would meet at the same spot where Trace had left Crypto a few days ago. The climb was steep and rigorous but he wasn’t even slightly out of breath when he crested the other side. His nanobots kept him in prime condition. It helped his nanos that his natural form came from a planet with a much heavier gravity than Earth’s. Titanium made up his bones and muscle fibers, which made changing shape difficult. This was why he required military-grade nanobots. His frame remained the same no matter what outward disguise he used.

  A flock of birds took wing behind him with a cacophony of noise. He squatted behind a tree, watching his back trail, looking for what had startled the birds. There, in the darkness, something moved. He switched his vision to infrared once more. The intruder from the camp had followed him. Persistent. He grimaced and sent a command to his nanos.

  The skin of his right hand became metallic as the little robots extracted the titanium from his bones and built a Sneider three-sixty-one long-range blaster from his flesh. Just like his other limbs, he could not detach the weapon from his body. It was one with his arm and he took aim.

  In the scope, he could see the telltale signs of hologram blurring. It was smart. Civilians wouldn’t consider adjusting the programming for camouflage. That meant whoever was following him probably had military training.

  A low whine caught Crypto’s attention. He dropped his arm and stared over the jungle canopy northward. A space shuttle was flying low over the ocean.

  Trace.

  Dammit, the longer the shuttle remained on the island, the better the chance the slavers would discover their presence. The shuttle was still far enough away from the island that if he ran at full speed, he could arrive in time. It also meant he would lead whoever was following him straight to their meeting point.

  He growled as the nanobots reabsorbed the weapon and he leaped down the side of the mountain, allowing the planet’s gravity to do his work for him. Focused on his next steps, Crypto sped through the jungle at unnatural speed. One little distraction could mean a broken bone and losing precious time.

  Crashing out into a clearing, he pulled the transponder out of his pocket. He couldn’t remain and wait. He tried to reach his teammate via the communication link between nanobots. “Trace.” No response. “Trace, come in.” Still nothing. Their communication link was being jammed. Not that unusual around clandestine areas such as the slaver base.

  Crypto spun a slow circle. He wasn’t sure what species of alien was tracking him through the jungle. They could arrive at any second and damage the shuttle, in turn ending Hack’s only hope of survival. He needed to lead them away from here. He set the transponder on the flat surface of a large boulder. It was tiny but made of hundreds of Hack’s nanobots. Trace would use them to save their teammate.

  There was no reason for Crypto to board the shuttle. His mission was to locate and devise a plan to rescue the abducted humans. He would remain on the island, but first, he had to lure his shadowy tracker away from this site. Backtracking along the route he had taken, he made it all the way to the root of the mountain before spotting his prey picking its way down the side slowly.

  Interesting. It was using hunting skills, tracking his footsteps through the thick foliage.

  It went still as it spotted him as well.

  He allowed his gaze to slide over his stalker as if he truly hadn’t seen them. Then he jogged west toward the center of the island. The hunter had a choice to either head north to where Crypto had deposited Hack’s transponder or go west and continue to follow him. He made sure to slow his pace since he wanted the hunter to follow him.

  Moving toward the base, he planned to watch the security switch one more time before infiltrating the building to count the number of humans he had to set free. First, he had to figure out who was trailing him and put an end to it. Using the undergrowth and trees, he hid until he spotted the hunter closing the distance. Then he would make himself visible enough to keep them enticed.

  The game was something similar to what children of his world played to learn hunting skills. Though technologically advanced, his people had always lived close with nature. Crypto felt more at home in dense foliage than on a spaceship. Here he was alive, all five senses firing at the same time. Blood pumping, sweat slicking his skin.

  Under his foot, something metallic clicked. Reflex had him jerking to the side, but it was too late. Blue light flashed around him, lifting him off the ground. An antigravity net. He floated weightless within its grasp and no amount of swinging his limbs produced any movement except to make him slowly somersault in place.

  The palm fronds in front of him parted and an alien wearing a hard-light hologram amulet pointed a blaster at his head. Four others joined him.

  “I told you we had an intruder on the island,” said the one aiming the weapon.

  Chapter Two

  Well, look at that contraption. Diana squatted, hiding among the thick undergrowth. If she moved, the surrounding fronds would give her away. The man she had been chasing hovered midair, doing slow somersaults as his arms lashed out to free himself of the trap.

  Was it an anti-gravity tech? She’d stolen something similar from aliens in Siberia who had used it to carry peat soil onto their cargo ship. She’d sold it to a company in Japan for five hundred thousand dollars. The energy source hadn’t lasted long, according to her contact. They had taken it apart and still couldn’t make it work again.

  She focused her visor on the trapped man. He had a sturdy, chiseled jaw, a strong nose, and a square forehead. He looked rough around the edges. Supple, hard muscles corded his frame. Carved biceps stood out on his arms. All rough edges and rugged strength. She’d been right. He must be another thief. She needed to learn that hologram face-changing trick. It would up her game.

  The aliens prodded him with weapons, stopping his spin. His glare should have disintegrated them on the spot. Once all four laser guns were trained on the floating man, the antigravity trap was shut off. He landed on his feet and the ground shook.

  Diana backed a step and noted the aliens did as well.

  The man was so well-proportioned that he had looked almost normal-sized, but now, as he loomed over the other aliens, dwarfing them, there was no way to ignore his sheer physical power.

  They were frightened of him. And they were armed. Interesting.

  They barked something in their language.

  Diana scowled and pressed a loose panel on her helmet. The translator squealed by her ear, making her cringe. She punched the panel and the voices changed to English. She needed better gear. The helmet was the first piece of alien tech she’d acquired and over the years, she still hadn’t found its equal.

  “What do you mean surrender?” one of the armed aliens asked the intimidating man. They exchanged glances and laughed. It sounded weak and watery.

  The man crossed his thick arms, shirt straining across his chest. “I do not believe in giving criminals second chances. Surrender now and I’ll let you live.”

  The aliens’ laughter thinned. One raised their weapon as if preparing to shoot.

  “Hold on.” The leader pressed his hand to the barrel, forcing the weapon down. “We’ll have to drag his body back to the camp.” He turned his attention back to their prisoner. “Is that what you want? You want us to kill you and drag your body back to camp?”

  The punch that followed was so fast Diana missed it. She assumed it was a punch because the leader’s head snapped back and he staggered against the one raising his weapon again. It caused the shot to go wide, allowing the man to drop and swipe the legs out from under both aliens. They landed on their backs, laser weapons aimed at the sky.

  The other two aliens were trying to take aim, but the man moved too quickly. Hands gripped the barrels of their weapons and they were jerked from their grasps. He used the guns like batons and smashed their handles against their head
s.

  The leader sat up.

  Diana gasped. The sound caught the man’s attention and he jerked his attention in her direction.

  A shot rang through the air. Not the pop of a projectile, but the sizzle of a laser blast.

  The man clutched his thigh as a red stain spread down his pant leg.

  One of the disarmed aliens pulled something from his pocket and threw it against the man’s back. He arched, his muscles contracting and his mouth open in agony. It lasted only seconds before he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

  Diana finally exhaled. That had been some fine display of hand-to-hand combat. She could use someone with his skill-set if she wanted to accomplish what she had in mind. The enemy of her enemy was her friend after all.

  A sharp zing buzzed through Crypto’s limbs. He sat bolt upright. His nanobots had awakened him. He hated when the little bastards did that. Hack’s nanos always seemed so cooperative and nice. They didn’t zap him with electrical shocks.

  The scent of damp soil and vegetation filled the air. He rose to his feet, stretched out a hand to lean against the cave’s stone wall. The low ceiling forced him to duck. He could make himself shorter but that required energy he didn’t want to expend yet. Not until he knew more of his situation. Sunlight poured through the entrance, broken up by metal bars. He gripped them and pulled.

  Nanobots added strength to his muscles. Still, the bars didn’t budge. The alloy was not Earth made then. Between the bars, he could see the base in the distance. His prison cell was kept separate and was hidden by the jungle vegetation. He rested his back against the bars. So, the slavers weren’t as lax as he had thought.

  The prison didn’t tunnel far into the mountainside but the ceiling rose higher in the back. He could stretch to his full height if he wanted. He rubbed his thigh where he’d been shot. At least the nanobots had healed the damage the slavers had caused. The antigravity trap had been smart.

  He couldn’t believe he’d been caught so easily. His whole mission had been about rescuing enslaved humans, and now he was the one who needed rescuing. Hack and Trace would laugh themselves blue.