by S. E. Smith
She padded down the hallway in her socks to the kitchen. It wasn’t until she stopped and looked into the empty refrigerator with a grimace that she remembered the safe house replicator that she had mentioned to Derik earlier. Scratching her grumbling belly, she walked over to the pantry door and opened it. She paused in front of the alien unit mounted in the in the pantry cupboard and released a tired sigh. As much as she’d tried to avoid using the things, she was hungry and didn’t feel like cooking.
Plus, there was a limited selection of food available in the house since she hadn’t been scheduled to stay here. She wrinkled her nose at her reflection in the dark glass. Now, to decide what she wanted!
“Uh, macaroni and cheese,” she hesitantly requested.
She bent forward and watched with fascination as the replicator produced her dinner. The door slid open and inside was a bowl of steaming, cheesy noodles just the way she liked. Her stomach growled in approval when the delicious aroma swirled around her.
“Okay, maybe I have to admit this is good, but how will it taste? That is the question,” she grudgingly muttered.
She carried her dinner to the table, then returned to the replicator and requested a glass of milk. She grinned when it magically appeared. Taking a sip of the white liquid, she was surprised that it tasted just like milk—and that it was cold!
“Okay, I give. This is pretty cool so far,” she sighed.
Returning to the table, she slid onto the chair and removed her wristband, placing the micro-computer on the table in front of her. She continued working on the encrypted documents in the file while she enjoyed the thick, creamy pasta. In minutes, she had the rest of the documents decrypted.
She studied the information that was now appearing on the projected screen. Someone had been as curious about Afon Dolinski as she was, and the style of the summarized notes was very… professional and brisk, like a reporter had written this.
Fascinated, she began reading the documents. Afon and his sister had been placed into an orphanage when they were babies. His twin sister had been adopted four years later, but he had not. By the time he was nine, he was living on the streets.
“No wonder the guy had issues,” she muttered.
She opened the next file. Apparently Afon had stayed under the radar until he was sixteen. There was a grainy image of him as a teenager standing next to Boris Avilov.
Obviously a bad decision, she thought.
Afon must have thought the same thing. It wasn’t the expression on his face that gave her that feeling. It was in his posture and the way his gaze was fixed on Avilov. He was definitely wary.
“Should have kept your head down and kept going, man,” she jokingly advised.
There were short annotations in Russian that she had to translate. It mostly described Avilov’s growing power. She swiped the document aside and opened the next one.
Her eyes widened and her fingers trembled when she saw the photo of a beautiful girl looking into the camera. Her long black hair fell over one shoulder. Her eyes glittered with innocence and curiosity. While the photo had obviously been taken many years ago, Runt felt like she was staring into a mirror.
She slowly reached out to touch the image, pulling back when her fingers went through it. Her throat tightened, and she fought to breathe. Desperately, she scanned the scrawled notes on the page.
Arianna Dolinski, aka Anne Davis: age 15.
Adopted at age four from a Russian orphanage by Albertson and Anne Mae Davis— both deceased.
Arianna (Anne Davis) married Lou Thomas—deceased.
The last word was circled. Runt dropped her fork and wiped her cheek, absently looking down at her damp fingers. Returning her gaze to the screen, she swallowed. The note about her parents being deceased must have been put in within the past two years.
She leaned back in a rush of emotion. She was related to Afon Dolinski! As far as she knew, he was her only living relative. That is… if he was alive and hadn’t died in Hong Kong. Her damp eyes moved to the smiling face of her mother, and she touched the short strands of her own dark hair. If she let her hair grow out, it would be hard to tell them apart.
And just like that, she was furious. She quickly closed the document. Tears blurred her vision, and she angrily wiped them away with the back of her hand. Glaring at the screen, she drew in a swift breath, and opened the next document. It contained another photo. The photo was blurry and had been taken from a fairly long distance. There was no writing, just the image, which was dated six months ago.
“RITA, I need your help,” Runt requested in a shaky voice.
RITA’s face appeared on the screen. “What do you need, love?” RITA asked.
“Can you enhance the face of the man on the screen and run a search? I need to know who he is,” she requested.
“Of course, sweetheart. It shouldn’t be difficult,” RITA replied.
Runt watched as face after face flashed across the screen at a dizzying speed. In less than a minute, a match came up. Her stomach sank, and her heart raced. Rubbing her hands against her jeans, she stared at the face of the man that she had been looking for.
“You were right, dear. Afon Dolinski didn’t die in Hong Kong. He is now known as Aaron Dolan. Mr. Dolan appeared in Washington, D.C. a little over a year and a half ago, and it seems he wisely invested most of the salary he received from Avilov. His net worth is now roughly two and a half billion dollars,” RITA said.
Runt swallowed again, and studied the image RITA was displaying. Dolan and Dolinski were definitely the same man. Dolan had a touch of gray at his temples, but everything else was the same.
“Where is he?” Runt asked.
RITA rattled off the address. “It’s quite a nice neighborhood that he lives in. I’m currently downloading records of his security system and personnel,” RITA said.
Runt stood up, disposed of her remaining dinner, and washed her plate and cup. Then she walked back to the table, and stood there for a moment, rubbing her damp hands against her jeans. She knew what she needed to do.
Reaching out with her mind, she tried to connect with Derik. She frowned when she felt a void. She tried again and still felt nothing. Panic began to course through her—something had happened to him! Maybe the wound from earlier hadn’t healed the way they thought it had.
“Which room is Derik in?” she asked.
“Derik isn’t here at the moment. He had to return to Baade,” RITA said.
“Baade….” She clamped her lips together when she heard the dismay in her voice. He’d taken her earlier words to heart and left. She closed her eyes and bowed her head.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed her pain deeper within her mind where she wouldn’t have to look at it. She should be used to people leaving her. Besides, how could she blame him when she was the one who’d told him to go?
She opened her eyes and lifted her head, her gaze settling on the image of Dolinski. He was the last connection to her mom that she had, whether she liked it or not. Now that she knew he was still alive, she wanted to know more about him—and find out who else was looking for him besides CRI and a few aliens who wouldn’t mind seeing him dead.
“Derik will be back, honey. He asked FRED and me to watch over you and make sure you didn’t go anywhere,” RITA added.
“Yeah… well…,” she shrugged in response.
“You aren’t planning to go after Dolinski by yourself, are you?” RITA asked, clearly worried.
“I’m not going after him. I’m just going to take a closer look,” Runt remarked.
“I don’t think that is a good idea. Wait until Derik returns. I’ll notify my sis about this so she can tell Derik… and Avery and Cosmos as well,” RITA said.
Runt bit her lip, slowly walked back to the micro-computer on the table, and pulled up a program she had developed shortly after she started working at CRI. Her finger hovered over the enter button indecisively.
“No, I need to do this alone,” she quietly resp
onded.
“Amelia, Dolinski is too dangerous,” RITA protested, suddenly appearing next to her.
Runt straightened and turned enough to block the screen. Her eyes burned with emotion when she met the AI’s determined gaze.
“Forgive me,” Runt murmured, lifting her hand to touch RITA’s cheek.
“For what, love?” RITA asked with a puzzled expression.
Runt shook her head. A tear slipped down her cheek as she turned and pressed the enter button. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the instant RITA realized what she had done. RITA’s lips opened in protest even as she began to fade.
“Amelia!” RITA called in a hurt voice before she disappeared.
Runt closed her eyes. The betrayal hit too close to home—and the program wouldn’t stop RITA for long. Cosmos would receive an alert that something was wrong and activate a reset. If she was lucky, she would have an hour head start, but she would plan on it taking Cosmos half that time to fix everything.
She grabbed the wristband from the table, exited the kitchen, and hurried down the hall. She stepped into the den, mumbling incoherent curses under her breath as she did. The curses were directed at herself. She felt like she was going to suffocate under the weight of her guilt.
“It isn’t like I really hurt her,” she comforted herself. “It’s more like a short nap. She’s just taking a little break.”
She snorted, because after all, she’d named the program ‘Sleeping Beauty’. Lifting her arm, she wiped her nose with her sleeve. Instead of pricking RITA’s finger, Runt had engineered a massive dump of information to download all at once, which caused RITA’s systems to overload and forced her to shut down—but Cosmos would do a manual reboot, and she’d be fine. She’d be fine.
Runt finished tying the lace on her boots, stood up, and grabbed the black leather jacket draped across the back of the couch. She pulled it on and picked up her backpack. If Avery hadn’t fired her for taking off, Runt was sure Cosmos’ Chief of Security would fire her for this little stunt.
Taking a deep breath, she scanned the room one last time before exiting the townhouse through the back door. She made sure that she secured the door before she crossed the small porch. Stepping lightly down the steps, she hurried over to the brick garage. She lifted her hand and pressed her palm against the interface next to the garage door, impatiently tapping her fingers against her leg as she waited for the door to open. Inside, there were several vehicles.
Runt bypassed the sports car, the SUV, and the sleek motorcycle. Instead, she grabbed the helmet for the motorcycle and walked over to the small red Honda Forza 300ABS scooter. She pulled on the helmet and secured the strap under her chin before she slid her leg over the seat. She pressed the start button, and the small engine came to life.
After pushing off from the kickstand, she paused outside the garage to shut the door. Yes, the little scooter wasn’t as fancy or as powerful as the other vehicles, but she knew how to operate it. The cars and motorcycle were beyond her.
“I can bring down the most powerful computer in the world, and yet, I don’t have a driver’s license,” she said with a shake of her head. “RITA will probably make sure I never get one now,” she added with a sigh as she turned left and disappeared down the deserted street.
Chapter Fifteen
Baade: Prime Home World
* * *
Derik felt like he was getting whiplash from trying to keep up with the conversations going on around him. It had become obvious in the first few minutes after his arrival that he had made a mistake. He should have talked to their mates—or his mother or Tilly or even RITA!
As it was, all he could do was stare at his brothers with growing frustration. So far, he had learned about everything he shouldn’t do and nothing about what he should!
“No, that is not how you woo her!” Borj argued. “Angus said you need to help with the household things. Hannah loves it when I help out.”
J’kar scowled. “The last time I tried to do that, I turned all of our white clothes pink and Tink laughed her ass off at me—as did the warriors in the training room when I showed up in ‘pretty pink’,” he said with a shake of his head. “No, a box of candy works. The brown stuff called chocolate.”
Mak folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been banned from bringing any of that stuff into the house. The twins ate the last lot—well, I helped some. I don’t care what the bag said, the twins were able to make them melt everywhere but in their mouths. We had rainbow-colored handprints in every room! Then, if that wasn’t enough, they both got a tummy ache and pooped out a rainbow-colored river with these pellets in it that looked just like the candy. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to eat M&Ms without visualizing what was flowing into their diapers. Tansy was not happy with me,” he stated.
Derik shuddered. After listening to his brothers’ tales, he was even more sure he wanted many years alone with Amelia before they even discussed having children. Kids sounded more awful than fighting the Juangans! He would rather fight a dozen of the ruthless reptiles with one hand tied behind his back than clean a messy diaper!
Mak’s description of the gooey stuff leaking out of the sides of their diapers and running down their legs was bad enough. When he added that the twins had painted the walls and their cribs with their liquid poop… it was obvious that Mak had a stronger stomach than he did.
From behind Derik, Teriff gave his own suggestion. “You should kidnap her, tie her up, and hope she doesn’t get free like your mother did.”
Derik turned to stare at his father. That comment had at least silenced the talk about children.
“I will not force myself on my mate,” he growled with a disapproving glare.
Teriff scowled down at him. “I didn’t force myself on your mother. I am an honorable warrior, not a….” He paused and shook his head. “Yes, I kidnapped your mother and tied her up—but she dared me to do it! Your mother said if I was willing to deal with the consequences, to go ahead and try to claim her! I wasn’t about to ignore such a tantalizing challenge. Nothing else happened without her consent. Your mother can be surprisingly fierce and resourceful when she wants, and let me tell you, she packs a powerful punch when she gets angry. Prime females are hardly the docile creatures that the elders would have you believe.”
“So what do you propose I do, then? Wait until Amelia asks me to kidnap her?” Derik asked with a hint of exasperation.
Teriff rubbed his jaw and grinned. “I am suggesting that you spend some time with your bond mate away from distractions. I took your mother to Quadrule Five for a few days. There is a remote island on its moon there where you might learn more about each other,” he said.
Derik ran his hand over his face. “I don’t think that will work with Amelia,” he quietly responded.
“How do you know until you try?” his father asked.
Derik started to respond when RITA2 and DAR appeared. RITA2 was clearly worried, and DAR looked grim. Derik was surprised to see they were not as defined as they normally were when they appeared. He could see the threads of code running through them. He stepped forward when both AIs started to glitch and sections of them faded.
“What is wrong?” J’kar demanded, rising to his feet.
“Amelia—shut down…,” RITA2 stuttered. She disappeared and reformed.
“The human girl infected RITA, and she reached out to us…,” DAR explained.
“The program… Runt uploaded… infected me…,” RITA2 added.
“I was infected as… well—but RITA cut our link before it fully uploaded,” DAR growled.
Derik watched in avid fascination when DAR wrapped his arm around RITA2. He could see lines of DAR’s code merge with RITA2, repairing some of the broken and disrupted threads of code. RITA2’s form gradually solidified. She sent a grateful smile to DAR, and smoothed her hair with her hand.
“I swear Amelia is part computer. Her programing is absolutely brilliant,” she chuckled.
&nbs
p; “She tried to shut you down,” DAR retorted in a tone devoid of amusement.
“Nonsense, look at the code. She was merely creating a temporary overload. A simple reset and everything should be fine,” RITA2 replied.
“A reset that only Cosmos can do,” DAR pointed out.
“For my sis. I can’t access the main computer system until RITA comes back online. That is the only way we can connect between our worlds. We must wait until RITA is repaired,” RITA2 stated with a wave of her hand.
“Does this mean the Gateway is down?” Derik asked.
“No, the Gateway will work, but it will require manual programming. Cosmos and Terra developed a secondary system independent of RITA in the unlikely scenario that something like this happened,” DAR answered.
“The portal device I have is already programmed for the safe house. It is supposed to activate automatically in… eight Earth minutes,” Derik said, looking at the clock embedded in the device.
“The portal should open. The command would have been sent to the Gateway’s queue,” RITA2 replied.
“Is Amelia safe?” he quietly asked.
RITA2 hesitated, then sighed. Derik’s stomach tightened as he waited for her to answer him.
“Well… yes, she was. We hope so. Before Amelia shut her down, RITA was able to convey that Amelia has found Afon Dolinski,” RITA2 said.
“Dolinski,” Teriff murmured. “Wasn’t he one of the humans responsible for Adam Raines’ death?” Teriff asked.
“Yes. He worked with Boris Avilov,” RITA2 answered.
The feeling that something was wrong blossomed into full-blown panic. He should never have left her! Why did he keep doing the wrong thing with Amelia? He should have worked it out himself—or with her. Now his stupid mistake could cost his mate her life!
