by Smith, S. E.
Tansy pressed the off button and leaned forward. RITA sounded so much like her mom it was more than Tansy could handle in her exhausted state. She laid her head on her knees and let the silent grief consume her. Her slender body shook from the force of her quiet sobs. Pulling her good leg up as close as she could to her body, she closed her eyes ignoring the freezing wetness on her cheeks and waited to call back one last time. She couldn’t leave this world without at least saying goodbye.
*.*.*
Mak stood in the middle of Cosmos’ living quarters growling at Derik and Cosmos. Terra was upstairs getting a shower. Mak was doing his normal pacing. They had been there for almost a week. Derik was supposed to return tomorrow morning and he and Cosmos were playing a game of cards. Mak’s fists clenched into tight balls as he fought the urge to put one through the wall.
“Why can you not communicate with the one called Tansy? Why do you not tell me about her location?” Mak asked again.
Derik rolled his eyes at Cosmos before laying down a green card. “UNO,” he said.
Cosmos looked at the ten cards in his hand and the one in Derik’s with a frown. He hated card games. He just did not understand them. When Derik found Tink’s UNO cards and wanted to play, he almost decided to plead ignorance as to what they were but RITA had to butt in and tell him. Instead, he had spent the last four days entertaining one teenaged Prime male who wanted to be introduced to every available female under the age of fifty, one huge-ass Prime male who only wanted to know about Tansy, and one frustrating Prime female that drove him nuts!
“Like I told you before, no one can contact Tansy unless it is an absolute emergency,” Cosmos said laying down a card and changing the color to yellow. “She is incommunicado, deep under cover somewhere scary probably. She’ll call in a few days when she gets back to the States. She’s never gone more than a couple of weeks and always calls at least once a week when she is gone. For all I know, she could have called Tink’s phone a hundred times by now.”
“She hasn’t,” RITA said cheerfully. “I always monitor all incoming calls on the phones I designed in case of an emergency.”
Cosmos ran his hand through his hair and tried not to look toward the stairwell leading up to Tink’s living quarters. He didn’t understand it but the thought of Terra being up there was driving him nuts. He was having a hell of a time concentrating.
“I win!” Derik crowed out as he dropped his last card down on the pile. “You want to play again?”
“No!” Cosmos said grumpily as he threw his cards down. “I think I’ll head down to the lab for a little while to do some work.”
Mak moved to stand in front of Cosmos as he stood. “I want to know what you mean by incommunicado.”
“Listen, Mak. Tansy works for our government doing some kind of shit she doesn’t tell anyone about, even her parents. She is a great gal but no one really knows what she does. She’ll call and when she does, I’ll see what I can do. I can’t make any promises though,” Cosmos said tiredly.
He was beginning to really, really regret building that damn portal! His life was so much simpler before. Cosmos felt his gaze move back toward the stairs leading up again and growled in frustration. He wanted his life back before aliens and unexpected visits and beautiful, aggravating alien females came into it!
“I want her!” Mak growled out in frustration.
“Yeah, you and every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a dick! Have you seen what she looks like in a bikini?” Cosmos asked impatiently. “She’s built like a centerfold! Her…”
Cosmos’ words were cut short by Mak’s hands wrapped around his throat lifting him off the ground by at least three inches. Cosmos’ grabbed at the hands holding him and choked. His eyes were glued to the look of pure murder glaring him in the eye. Maybe taking his frustrations out on someone the size of King Kong wasn’t a very smart idea. Then again, he seemed to have lost all his ability to think since the female upstairs walked into his life.
“Mak, you cannot kill the human male! Tink would not be happy and neither would her mother who speaks so highly of him,” Derik said putting a hand on Mak’s arm to calm him. “Besides, I think Terra would be upset as well.”
“Mak!” Terra’s soft cry filtered through his brain at last.
Mak’s eyes came back into focus as they swung over to where Terra was standing on the edge of the steps looking at him in horror. Mak let his eyes swing back to Cosmos who was beginning to see black spots in front of his eyes. He let his grip relax. Derik grabbed Cosmos around his waist and helped him over to the couch. Mak watched as Terra rushed over to Cosmos. The minute she touched his cheek she gasped, pulling her hand away and holding it to her chest in confusion.
“Derik, get a cold compress out of the cooling device in the kitchen,” Terra said softly looking at Cosmos funny.
“Don’t,” Cosmos choked out. “I’m okay. I just want to get to my lab.”
“Cosmos?” RITA said suddenly.
“Wha…” Cosmos cleared his throat, rubbing it. “What is it, RITA?”
“Tansy called wanting to do a conference call with her parents, Hannah, and Tink. I told her they weren’t available,” RITA said with a slight pause. “I think she is in trouble. I scanned her voice. It came back showing higher levels of anxiety and something I could not quite analyze… the closest I was able to determine was sadness. She said she wanted to tell her family goodbye… and that she loved them.”
Cosmos sat up with a jerk. “Can you contact her?” Cosmos choked out in concern.
“No, her satellite phone is turned off but she said she would call back in approximately forty-two minutes, five seconds and counting,” RITA replied.
“Patch her through to the communication’s system immediately. I don’t care when she calls. I want to talk to her!” Cosmos said struggling to sit up.
Mak looked at Cosmos frowning. “What is wrong?”
Cosmos looked back at Mak a moment before running his hand through his hair. “I don’t know,” he said hoarsely still rubbing at his throat. “But, whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good. I need a drink. Do you want one?” Cosmos asked with a slight grimace.
“Yes,” Mak said looking at Cosmos for a moment before he looked at his sister who was standing to one side frowning down at her hand. “I could use one of the beers you introduced me to if you do not have something stronger.”
“I’ll take a beer!” Derik said with a grin. “I like it.”
Cosmos shook his head. Teenagers, it didn’t matter what planet they came from! “Terra, would you like something?” Cosmos asked softly curling his left hand into a fist.
Terra looked up startled. Her eyes were bright silver with confusion. She shook her head briefly. Cosmos’ eyes followed the flow of her hair as it swung back and forth with the movement. His eyes jerked to Mak’s when he heard him clear his throat. Mak was looking at Terra with a small smile on his face.
“I’ll go get the beers,” Cosmos said gruffly.
“I am tired. I believe I will retire for the night,” Terra murmured, looking at Mak briefly before her eyes darted to Cosmos’ back as he walked into the kitchenette. “I… don’t understand.”
Mak walked over to his sister and gently pulled her against him. “You belong with him.”
Terra’s eyes jerked up to Mak’s before she looked down again. “No, it is not possible. He is a human male. He is not strong like a Prime male. He will not be able to protect me like a Prime male can. He…” Terra’s eyes moved to her left hand. She opened it slowly to look at the delicate circles showing on her palm. “He is human,” she whispered softly.
Mak didn’t say anything. He just held Terra for a moment more before she pulled away with a slight, absent-minded nod and walked slowly up the stairs leading to Tink’s former living quarters. It was a good thing he didn’t kill the human. He would need to talk to him about Tansy, though. If he ever talked about her that way again, he just might.
Mak looked at Derik
who was sitting on the couch playing computerized games and shook his head. He was glad his younger brother was going home tomorrow. He never realized just how much energy it took to keep up with him. Cosmos came in a minute later carrying two beers and a glass with an amber liquid in it. He handed the amber liquid to Mak and sat down next to Derik on the couch picking up the other game controller. Now this is one thing he did know.
It was time to kick some teenage butt! Cosmos thought as he joined in the battle.
*.*.*
Tansy lifted her head tiredly. She was late in calling back. She had fallen into a light doze after her crying stint. In truth, she had needed both the rest and the cry and not necessarily in that order. She pulled herself stiffly to her feet and checked her perimeter before she moved back to where her backpack was. It was definitely lighter than it had been. She had a couple of power bars, one bottle of water, a few bandages, and some extra rounds of ammo. Pulling the satellite phone out, she turned the power on. She entered the pass code and waited for RITA to pick up.
“Hello dear,” RITA said immediately.
“RITA, were you able to get in touch with everyone?” Tansy asked tiredly.
“Tansy, where in the hell are you and what is going on?” Cosmos' voice came on over the phone.
“Cosmos, I need to speak with my family, at least one of them,” Tansy said leaning her head back against the wall.
She pulled her pistol closer to her. She checked to make sure it was fully loaded just in case. She would save one round for her if it got that bad. She would never let those bastards take her alive. She would still be dead, it would just take a lot, lot longer before she was and she had no intentions of letting them torture her.
“Tansy, they can’t talk to you right now,” Cosmos said quietly. “Tell me what is going on. You’re in trouble, aren’t you? Do you need help? Do you want me to come get you?”
Tansy choked back a laugh. Cosmos come get her? The certified genius who has never fired a gun wanted to come and rescue her from the middle of the Russian mafia? If she didn’t hurt so much she would have laughed. Instead, a soft sob escaped her before she could hold it back.
“Cosmos, I need you to do me a favor,” Tansy said instead of answering him. “I need you to give my family a message for me.”
Cosmos felt his gut twist at the anguish in Tansy’s voice. Whatever and wherever she was, it wasn’t going to be good. He knew what she was up too. He had followed her exploits from the first time he met her, or rather, he had RITA follow them. Her mom and dad knew as well. It was one of the reasons her mom invented RITA. During one of Tansy’s brief trips home, Cosmos had to stitch her up from a knife wound. Tilly Bell had given Cosmos a tracking device to insert into her daughter.
“I want to know where she is,” Tilly had told Cosmos quietly. “No matter what happens, I want to be able to find her and bring her home.”
Cosmos never told Tansy about the small device he implanted into her hip or the fact Tilly and he kept track of her using it. He swallowed down the bile at the thought of having to tell any of Tansy’s family something bad had happened to her.
“What is it, Tansy? I’ll make sure they get it,” Cosmos promised.
“I want you to tell them I’m sorry,” Cosmos listened as Tansy took in a deep breath. “Tell them I love them and goodbye for me,” Tansy’s soft, husky voice pleaded tearfully. “Tell them I always loved them and I’ll miss them.”
“Tansy, you listen to me. I’m coming for you. Do you hear me? I’m coming for you. You stay alive until I get there,” Cosmos snapped out as he paced back and forth clenching and unclenching his fist.
“It’s too late for that. I don’t have anywhere else to run or hide. It is only a matter of time before I’m found,” Tansy said tiredly. “I’m tired, Cosmos. I’m tired and I hurt and I don’t want to hurt anymore. I won’t go down without a fight but there’s not a hell of a lot more fight in me right now.”
“Tansy, I know where you are. I can get you out,” Cosmos said desperately. “You just have to stay alive until I get there.”
Tansy laughed bitterly. “Cosmos, these guys will eat you up and spit you out for breakfast. There are too many of them and they are some of the meanest sons-of-bitches I’ve ever encountered. It would take a friggin’ warrior from outer space to whip these guys’ asses and I don’t think my dad can send me any.”
Cosmos smiled and glanced at Mak who looked like he was ready to start tearing things apart with his bare hands. “Well, your dad might not be able to send you any but I can. I’m sending you a really big ass alien named Mak. You stay alive long enough for him to get to you, baby. I promise he can kick all the asses you want plus some.”
“Cosmos,” Tansy started to say when a loud growl came over the phone. “What the hell was that?” Tansy asked in confusion.
“That is Mak. He is the big ass alien I told you about,” Cosmos said already planning what needed to be done. “I’m serious, Tansy. You stay alive. Just don’t kill his ugly ass when he comes to get you, okay? You’ll know it’s him because he is bigger, badder, and meaner than anyone or anything you’ve ever seen before.”
“How will you find me?” Tansy asked, beginning to feel a sliver of hope blossom inside her.
“I implanted a tracking device in you years ago. Your mom and I always know where you are,” Cosmos said huskily.
Tansy took in a deep breath before letting it out. “Thank you, Cosmos.”
Cosmos smiled. “Don’t thank me, thank your mom. You better keep yourself safe long enough to do it or she is going to be really pissed off at me.”
“I’ll try,” Tansy said before becoming perfectly still. “I have to move. I’m about to have some company.”
Tansy quickly ended the call and stood up. She moved stealthily through the dark room toward an old elevator shaft. It looked like she had been found again.
Chapter 4
Mak swung around glaring at Cosmos. “What did she mean she was about to have company? What type of company? Why is she calling to say goodbye to her family?” Mak snarled out.
“She is in trouble. Serious trouble that she thinks is going to end badly,” Cosmos said already moving toward the stairs leading down to his lab.
He needed to program Tansy’s coordinates into the gateway. He didn’t know if it would work but he was going to try to open a portal doorway into the same universe. It would either work or it could… Cosmos mind was already running the different calculations of what might work and what might go wrong. He was oblivious to Mak and Derik following behind him. He would need to test it out first. The last thing he wanted to do was blow Mak up. That would not be good for public relations between Earth and Baade, not to mention it would piss off Terra and Derik.
Cosmos looked down at his left palm and grimaced at the sight of the intricate circles in the center of it. Damn, he thought. Clenching his fist, he tried to ignore the way it burned and itched. Cosmos quickly tapped in the code to enter the lab and moved to the console in the center. Sitting down in the chair, he swung around and began punching in information.
“RITA, I need Tansy’s position immediately,” Cosmos called out as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
Mak walked up behind Cosmos and grabbed his arm swinging him around. He leaned down over him and growled out menacingly. “You will tell me what is going on now!” Mak said through clenched teeth.
Cosmos looked up at Mak for a moment before letting his eyes drift over to Derik. Derik gave him a quick nod. Cosmos glanced back up at Mak before replying with a frustrated sigh.
“Sit down and I’ll try to explain,” Cosmos said quietly knowing it was better for Mak to know what he was about to be thrown into.
Mak moved away from Cosmos. He leaned back against the railing separating the upper level from the lower one and folded his huge arms across his massive chest. Mak’s eyes narrowed as he took in Cosmos’ expression. It was very grim compared to the way the human male normally
looked.
“From the coordinates RITA has on Tansy it looks like she in Moscow. That is thousands of miles from here. It would take days, plus a lot of red tape, to get to her - days it sounds like she doesn’t have. I am going to try to reconfigure the portal to her location so that it opens to where she is. I’m not sure if it will work. I need to run a few tests first. Theoretically, it should but I don’t want to take a chance with something going wrong since I have never done it before,” Cosmos said quietly.
“Why is she in danger?” Mak asked just as quietly as a slow rage built inside him at the thought of the female he knew to be his bond mate being in trouble.
“Tansy does undercover work for our government. She puts her life on the line every day to try to make our world a better place. She will have to tell you more about it. I just know what I know from the few bits of information I’ve collected and some of the wounds I’ve seen on her. Every second longer it takes for me to get this ready means a second less that she might have. She was right about me not being able to do much to help her. I’m a scientist, not a fighter. Whatever is going to be on the other side of the gateway is probably going to be some bad shit. I’m guessing you would know how to handle it,” Cosmos added looking at Mak’s massive frame.
Mak’s smile was enough to cause a shiver to course down Cosmos’ spine. “You get me to Tansy and I will take care of anyone trying to harm her,” Mak growled out softly.
“I’m going with you!” Derik said moving up beside his older brother. While he was several cycles younger, he was almost as tall. “I can help you.”
“No,” Mak growled out looking sternly at his younger brother.
“No,” Cosmos said. “It is going to be difficult enough with one of you guys out there. If the calculations I have figured out in my head work, it will be risky enough. It would be too dangerous trying to keep track of two of you and Tansy.”
“You will return home as planned,” Mak said sternly. “If you do not return, it may cause problems. They must not know that there is anything wrong here.”