Cosmos Raines Industry’s Houston Headquarters:

Core glared at RITA before turning his aggravation on Cosmos. He couldn’t beat the shit out of an AI system. Instead, he took his anger and frustration out on the human who was warily watching him.

“When is the last time you heard from her?” he demanded.

“She received a phone call from Secretary Albertson the day she returned,” RITA interjected. “And then she flew to Washington, D.C. Avery’s driver said he dropped her off near the Jefferson Memorial. That was the last time he saw her.”

“We’ve been going through video from the area’s surveillance cameras,” Cosmos said, his frustration palpable. “It’s as if she vanished into thin air. Our delayed return to Earth didn’t help. I thought the Council was never going to get off their asses and make a decision.”

“Father finally threatened to replace the lot of them—except Merrick, of course—if they didn’t make a decision he approved of,” Terra murmured.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Cosmos curiously commented.

Terra reached out and ran her fingers along his cheek. “You were with Trudy,” she answered.

Core could see they were privately sharing more with each other. He turned away and walked over to the window. After RITA2 had opened the portal here and RITA told them Avery was not here, he and Cosmos had asked why they had not been informed earlier that Avery was missing. She had replied that no one had realized it was a problem—until now.

“Tell me again what the driver said,” Core demanded.

“That Avery instructed him to return to Houston,” RITA answered. “She said that she would be doing some work from the Washington, D.C. townhouse and would let Robert know when she returned to Houston. He said that she appeared distracted when he picked her up at the townhouse, but that was not unusual. She intended to take a taxi when she was ready to return after her appointment. There are no records of her ever doing that. Rose and Maria thought Avery had extended her vacation. It was only when I tried to pinpoint her location that I realized her phone was off,” RITA explained with an apologetic tone.

“Surely the fact that she hadn’t made any phone calls or used her computer should have been some kind of indication!” Cosmos growled, running his fingers through his hair.

“It isn’t unusual for Avery to go off the grid, Cosmos,” Rose replied.

Maria nodded. “Avery knows better than anyone that electronic devices can be traced or tapped. I know she had some reservations about Albertson. She requested that we do a forensic audit of his finances. We already have the accounting team on that,” she added.

“His money trail is quite intricate,” RITA replied.

“So at this point all we know is that Avery’s last known contact was with Richmond Albertson,” Cosmos stated.

“He’s working with Karl Markham,” a soft voice said.

Core turned to look at the quiet, dark-haired woman who looked far too young to be a part of the team. She had slipped into the room behind the other two women when Cosmos had called this meeting. She was wearing an oversized coat that made her look even smaller than she was. She had curled up on the couch with a small laptop and been silent until now.

“How do you know, Amelia?” Cosmos asked.

“He’s been sending payments to one of Markham’s offshore accounts. I’ve been focusing on Markham. He contacted a hacker to get info on Avery. I intercepted the job, then RITA and I gave Markham a bunch of crap mixed with known facts, but what’s important is he gave me the name of the account he’d set up with the hacker, which eventually led me to one of Albertson’s foreign bank accounts,” Runt explained.

Core looked at Cosmos. He was about to ask Cosmos where he could find this Albertson when he noticed that everyone in the room was looking at the young woman with their mouths hanging open. He was about to ask what was wrong when Cosmos grinned at the small woman and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so much at one time.” Cosmos chuckled with a shake of his head.

The woman scowled at him. “Whatever,” she muttered with a shrug and looked back down at the computer in her lap.

Once again, Core was about to say something, but this time Cosmos’ cell phone rang. Cosmos pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at it. His frown melted into an expression of relief, and he grinned at Core.

“It’s Avery,” he said, answering the call and lifting the phone to his ear.

In an instant, the relief disappeared from Cosmos’ expression, his face hardened, and his body tensed. Core stepped closer.

“Where is she?” Cosmos demanded in a harsh tone.

“It’s Karl Markham,” Runt said at the same time as RITA did.

Anger burned in the pit of Core’s stomach. Cosmos locked eyes with Core, then lowered the phone and pressed a button. The man’s grating voice filled the room.

“Do you have the ability to contact one of your aliens, Mr. Raines?” Markham asked.

“Where is Avery, human?” Core demanded.

There was a brief silence before a low, menacing chuckle came over the phone. “I will send a vehicle for you. Come alone and unarmed. If you break either of those conditions, I’m afraid I will have to terminate Ms. Lennox with a very painful death,” Markham instructed.

“Put Avery on the phone,” Cosmos demanded.

Markham laughed again. “I’m afraid Ms. Lennox isn’t available to talk at the moment. She is currently… asleep,” he said.

“How do we know you even have her, then?” Cosmos said, looking over at where Rose and Maria were frantically working with RITA to pinpoint the location of the call.

“I could send you a piece of her to assuage your doubts, Mr. Raines. Perhaps the hand with the markings on it would convince you,” Markham coolly suggested.

“Touch her and I will enjoy ripping you apart,” Core growled.

“The car will be in front of your building in one hour,” Markham replied with another chuckle before he ended the call.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Rose cursed, looking up at Cosmos and shaking her head.

“He removed the tracking software in Avery’s phone and has a scrambler on the signal,” RITA said. “Given enough time, I might be able to narrow down his location.”

“He’s on an island in the South Atlantic,” Runt said, looking up at them.

Cosmos frowned. “How do you know?” he asked.

Runt raised a delicate eyebrow. “He is using the same phone he used to contact the hacker. I uploaded a cookie so I could track when and where he made a call. There aren’t a lot of options in his location for connectivity. He was using a satellite that belongs to the CRI Communications Division,” she expanded.

“Avery was right. You are one of the best,” Cosmos said with a nod of approval.

“Using the information Amelia has given us, I believe I have located Markham,” RITA said.

A three-dimensional hologram of an island appeared in the center of the conference room table. Core stepped forward to get a better look. On a cliff along the northernmost end was a man-made structure.

“I’m trying to access the security systems, but am unable to do so. It appears he has a self-contained system,” RITA said.

“What are we going to do?” Rose quietly asked.

“I am going to go after her—and kill Markham and anyone else who gets in my way,” Core replied.

“I have a few things for you,” Cosmos said, entering the room.

Core’s gaze narrowed on the small black bag in Cosmos’ hand. Terra walked beside him with a set of clothing that had clearly come from Baade. He frowned when Cosmos placed the bag on the table of the conference room and began to unpack the items inside.

“Markham said no weapons,” Core replied.

Cosmos shot him a grin. “Yes, well, we’ll call these tools,” he quipped.

Terra placed a Prime warrior’s vest and belt on the table. Next she set down a pair of boots that seemed identical to the ones he was wearing. She gave him a reassuring smile.

“Cosmos and I have been working on a number of innovations using a blend of our technology and his,” she said.

“The buttons of the vest are filled with explosives,” Terra instructed. “Twist to the left, then to the right and it will activate the chemicals inside. You will have thirty seconds before it explodes. It will have a blast radius of several yards.

“The buckles on the sides of the vest contain wire the width of spider’s silk. It can hold up to 520,000 pounds per square inch. You’ll have a total of five hundred feet of rope if you connect the buckles together. If you attach the end of the thread to your right boot and pull it taut, it will automatically lift you.

“Your wrist band has three small grappling hooks. Attach one of the wires to it and press this hidden button to launch the hooks. In a pinch, it can also be used as a weapon.

“Along the inside seams of your boots are three arrows. The outside seams pull off to form a bow. All these items are made of organic materials and will not register on a metal detector. It is highly unlikely that the items could be discerned even under close visual scrutiny. I’ve added two daggers along the inseams of the vest as well. The right heel contains a few small devices to record visual content. I have contacts for you to wear to access them,” Terra explained, showing him each item.

Core looked at Cosmos as he held up a small, decorative patch with the CRI emblem on it. “I’ve been playing with some of your technology,” Cosmos said, then he placed the patch on his own shirt. A surprised curse slipped from Core’s lips when Cosmos held his hand over the patch—and disappeared. Core stepped forward and reached out. He was surprised again when he felt Cosmos’ arm.

Cosmos dropped his hand and he reappeared, his eyes twinkling with satisfaction as he handed the patch to Terra. She affixed it to the front of the vest.

“We have technology like that?” Core asked.

“We do now,” Terra replied.

Fascinated, Core picked up the belt. This one was devoid of the customary utility compartments. Terra took it from him and stepped back.

“If you pull the belt taut, you’ll see that it changes into more than your typical belt. The end has two spring loaded blades which form a sword,” she said with a smile.

“The hardest thing to conceal was a medical kit. We don’t know what shape Avery will be in,” Cosmos quietly added.

Terra nodded. “We both consider Prime technology far superior, but concealing a portable emergency medical unit would be impossible,” she said.

“So, we compromised,” Cosmos explained.

Terra pulled a small injector out of her pocket and stepped close to him. She motioned for him to roll up his sleeve, then gently grasped his arm and placed the tip against his skin. He heard the soft sound of the medical injector and felt a brief sting before she stepped back.

“I’ve developed a prototype healing agent. The injection I gave you is filled with nanobots designed to seek out and repair damage. They will activate the moment they detect any injuries or infection. Once they do, they will continue to replicate for forty-eight hours before they dissolve. You can share them with Avery if you bite her and they enter directly into her bloodstream. The amount of damage they can heal is limited, but we hope it will be enough to stave off a medical emergency until we can get you both off of that island,” she instructed.

“No one comes until I have her secure,” Core warned.

Cosmos nodded. “I put a miniature emergency beacon in the heel of your left boot. Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of the island and the size of the communicator, it will only be effective when a satellite passes directly overhead and only for about thirty seconds. Plan B involves you hiding Avery in a safe place while Markham hopefully has a meltdown and uses a satellite phone or some other device to connect to the outside world. If he does that, RITA might be able to infiltrate his local area network,” he said with a grin.

“Once we know that you and Avery are safe, we’ll alert Teriff and Merrick. They will be waiting with a squadron of warriors to evacuate you both,” Cosmos continued.

“Cosmos will also have a team ready to prevent issues with Earth’s governments,” Terra added.

“We’ll see you soon,” Cosmos said with a reassuring smile.