Anaz-Voohri (30 page)

He had to save her. Keeping his eyes on the guards, Kin whispered, “Now!”

 
Both rose and jumped up fifteen feet, over the barbed coils, to land on the soft grass outside the wall. Kin had never seen the place where they stood. Dark and not as well maintained as the CEM, it looked like a public park.

“Run,” Kin encouraged Shani, although he had no idea where to go.

As they raced away from the wall, an alarm shattered the night. Sirens followed and searchlights scanned the immediate area outside the fence. Blending with shadows, Kin remained behind Shani in hopes his natural shield would mask her from the sentries as well.

Dogs barked in the distance and the excited voices of the guards shouted orders.

Shots pinged around them from the roof of the CEM. The sizzle of phase fire ignited a tree along their path. The guards wouldn’t give up easily. Kin would bet they had strict orders not to let any subject of this ultra-secret experiment escape alive. The searchlights swept the ground around them and soon they ran across a lawn flooded with light. More shots exploded… automatic fire.

Kin saw Shani falter in front of him. “No!" He caught her in his arms and kept running. He had to find cover. A small shack, probably a tool shed, offered shelter from the searchlights. Kin ran for it. No point trying to get inside the shack, it would only become a trap. He deposited Shani on the ground behind the shed to check her injury.

Blood poured out of the gaping hole where the large projectile had both pierced and exited her chest. She smiled feebly. “Save
yourself
,” she rasped. “It’s too late for me.”

Kin realized with horror that he couldn’t save the girl he loved. She was so young, so beautiful, and dying. He squeezed her hand and tears dripped down his chin.

“Kiss me,” she begged. “I’m scared.”

How could he refuse? Kin bent to kiss her and as their lips met, he felt the last breath escape her chest. She was gone. Barely containing his rage, he stared at her inert body to imprint the image upon his mind forever. ORION had murdered his family and now their guards had killed Shani as well. On Shani’s head, he swore they would pay dearly for their evil actions.

The bark of approaching dog patrols set Kin to blend with shadows again. He mouthed a silent goodbye to Shani then sprinted toward the glow of the city, toward freedom. Away from the streetlights he spotted a dark alley between two low buildings with pagoda roofs. He hid there, invisible, but two soldiers with a dog rushed up the narrow alley. The Doberman came straight at Kin. Even in his invisible state, the animal could smell him.

To avoid detection, Kin leapt to the rooftop. He waited then dropped on one soldier and neatly snapped his neck. Stealing the dead man’s weapon, Kin shot the second soldier in the head, snatched the other gun then leapt back to the safety of the roof. He’d acted so fast, the baffled Doberman still barked at empty air as more soldiers arrived.

Hopping from roof to roof like a cat burglar, balancing on slanted tiles, Kin vanished into the night among the many pagodas of Beijing. His heart roiled with frustrated rage. He’d just killed two men and felt they deserved to die, but it didn’t calm his growing anger. Kin swore he’d kill again and again, until those responsible for the death of his loved ones found their just karma in this lifetime. And beware anyone standing in his way.

*****

Washington
, DC
- Five years later - 2019

Zack hated formal fund raisers, mainly the ones in Washington, DC that included politicians, whom he never trusted. Around the grand ballroom aglow with chandeliers, the banners said,
Re-elect Silas Grant
. To the side a chamber orchestra played soft music that muffled the laughter and the conversations. Distinguished guests in tuxedos and ladies in stunning evening gowns danced sedately or mingled around the dance floor.

Loosening the starched collar under his bowtie, Zack turned to Carrick. “I should never have agreed to come along.”

Carrick, who harbored a silk eye-patch matching the navy blue of his parade uniform, frowned. His single blue eye glinted with resentment. “What’s your fucking problem? I couldn’t possibly bring a woman tonight. I intend to court Tierney and officially talk to her father." Since he’d lost his eye to a hybrid woman five years ago, during the McDougall mansion fiasco, Carrick had stubbornly refused any biological or electronic implant.

Zack stifled a sigh. “The eye-patch is a nice touch. That and the new General stars on your lapel should sweep her off her feet." Zack refrained from further sarcasm. After all, Carrick’s personal life was none of his business.

“I’ll stick with what God gave me and I’ll do without what he took away." Carrick winked, as if he still had two eyes. “Besides, the patch has a certain charm. Women find it appealing.”

“Yeah.
You look quite the hero." Zack’s snide tone belied the compliment.

Since Carrick considered Zack a friend and kept confiding in him, Zack had no choice but to accept it. He found it more difficult each day to cope with Carrick’s arrogance. But the man was his boss, now at the top position in ORION, the international secret police of the GSS. Realizing his dream of grandeur, Carrick had become one of the most powerful and most feared individuals on the planet. Still, Zack disapproved of Carrick’s methods, whether at work or in his private life.

For a long time, Zack had felt indebted to Carrick for his miraculous recovery in the care of Dr. Devertas. Since he’d returned the favor by saving Carrick’s life, however, Zack found it increasingly difficult to pretend to care about the ruthless bully.

“In any case,” Carrick said, debonair as ever, “I see my sweetheart coming this way and I’m going to ask her for a dance.”

“Good luck." Zack threw at Carrick’s retreating back.

Scanning the crowd, Zack searched for Archer, who’d decided to attend in spite of his mysterious fall from grace with the Grant family. Zach wondered what that was all about but had been warned not to ask.

President Grants’ popularity had grown in the past few years, due to his tackling of the Anaz-voohri threat. He’d revived the Star Wars program and promised to rid America of hybrids. Since ORION remained a very secret organization, Grant had taken credit for all the hybrids arrested on US soil. So far he seemed to have succeeded in keeping America safe, but for how long? In Zack’s opinion, as soon as the Anaz-voohri took the offensive again, Earth was still no match for them.

Glancing up toward the majestic staircase at the other end of the room, where the President and the First Lady greeted some arriving guests, Zack did a double take. A tall, sexy woman in a revealing red ruffled dress, like that of a Flamenco dancer, shook the President’s hand then descended the steps at the arm of a handsome Hispanic gentleman.

A strange feeling constricted Zack’s throat.
Tia and her rich husband?
Yes, it was the man from the wedding photograph in the secret file. The room seemed to waver, and Zack had to hold on to a chair to remain standing. Here she was, the woman who’d broken his heart, more stunningly beautiful than in his wildest memories, and graceful as a queen. The man beside her looked older but vibrant. The confrontation Zack had avoided all these years had finally come.

Seeing her flaunt her happiness stabbed him deep. To think that she’d discarded him after he’d saved her life and moved on to better pastures. Women could be so opportunistic, even Tia.

But Zack would not give her the satisfaction to see how much she hurt him. He’d play it cool and charming. Could he make her regret her rich marriage? Taking a deep breath, he gathered his courage and made his way through the crowd of guests, toward the grand staircase.

*****

At the arm of her father, recently appointed Venezuelan Ambassador in the US, Tia descended the wide stairs toward the crowded ballroom, aware of lusty looks from the men around her. She smiled as duty commanded. What was she thinking when she’d accepted the invitation? Half-way down the staircase, a waiter carrying a tray of Champagne flutes stopped in front of Tia and she accepted a glass. She would need the drink if she was to get through this fund raiser without losing her cool.

So far Tia had evaded random DNA testing, but she knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered her hybrid nature. And tonight, in this palatial mansion among the political elite, she felt like a lamb surrounded by wolves. One in particular frightened her, General Jason Carrick, now the head of ORION. She’d just seen his name on the guest list at the door.

Although hybrid, Tia never had any contact with the Anaz-voohri, except to fight them off at gun point. Once in a while some vague dream of space left her confused and scared in the morning, but that was the extent of her connection with the enemy.

Of course, she’d quickly deducted that not all hybrids connived against the human race, but who could she tell without arousing suspicion? The hybrid hunters out there didn’t really care or even want to know. ORION’s game of search and destroy played out with frightening efficiency.

“I see my good friend Armando,” her father said in accented English. “Do you mind if I go pay my respects and smoke a cigar on the balcony?”

“Not at all, Papa."
Tia nodded and her father left her side to weave his way back up the crowded staircase toward the balcony.

As Tia reached the last steps of the stairs, she scanned the room hoping to find someone she knew, although she had given up the social scene long ago. Somewhere in the back, her eyes caught a man walking toward her, slowly, almost hesitantly. Tia stared at his familiar face, unbelieving. She was seeing a ghost. He looked magnificent, wholesome in death as he wasn’t in life. The blood retreated from her extremities. She felt suddenly cold and dropped her champagne glass.
“
Madre de Dios
.
”

A server rushed to clean up the mess but Tia ignored him. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the handsome ghost. He looked taller than she remembered and his steps gained confidence as he came closer. How much she missed him. Amusement danced in his clear aqua eyes. His face looked older, sterner than she remembered. The high forehead had gathered a few worry lines and the chestnut hair, longer and more luxuriant than when she knew him all those years ago, gave him a feral look that sent shivers through her body.

The guilt of causing all his suffering suddenly came back to her. She’d also realized after his death that although he probably hated her, she’d abandoned him in his hour of need, another source of guilt. Had the weight of her mistakes finally caught up with her? Now his handsome ghost would haunt her until the day she died, and Tia welcomed the punishment.

Zack’s ghost smiled,
then
he spoke. “You look incredibly beautiful tonight. I’ve never seen you in such a sexy gown. This red suits you.”

“Zack?"
Self-conscious about talking to a ghost, Tia looked around for any sign of strange happenings. No outlandish wind blew the chandeliers and no one seemed to find her exchange out of the ordinary.

“Could I have this dance?" He seemed rather amused by her state of shock.

Could one dance with a ghost without disgracing herself? Tia couldn’t resist his offered hand and found it quite warm and solid under hers. “Are you alive?" The possibility, although implausible, made her dizzy.

Zack caught her waist and his cynical laughter chilled her. “Alive? What kind of question is that?" He led her toward the dance floor.

“I was told you had succumbed to your infirmities." Tia struggled with the wave of repressed feelings that weakened her legs. How was this possible? She fought not to break into sobs, not here, not now.

“Who told you I was dead?" His expression softened but he looked perplexed as he started moving to the music.

“I received an official message from the CEM in New York, saying you had died and your ashes had been scattered into space.”

“Really?"
Zack missed a step. He looked as stunned as she felt. “And you believed it?”

“It made sense... Last time I saw you, the doctors told me..." Not only Tia felt like a fool, but the warmth of his arm around her waist as they resumed dancing, brought back other memories of his body close to hers.

 
“That was many years ago."
Zack’s tone held reproach, but his face quickly relaxed. “Not only am I alive, but I feel better than ever, especially in the past few minutes.”

“But you are... walking! How is this possible?" Tia hated herself for never questioning the sad news. How could she ever forgive herself?

“It seems we have a lot of catching up to do." He brought her closer to him, guiding her steps to the music. “Not only can I walk, but I can dance.”

Hope welled in Tia’s chest as their bodies moved to the slow rhythm. “Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Well, you married a rich coffee grower... Didn’t you tell my friend you wished no further contact with me?" Zack raised his brow.

“I never said such thing. No friend of yours ever contacted me. And you really believed I got married?" Tia’s confusion grew. “My father always wanted me to marry a coffee grower, but that would mean leaving the military. Can you imagine me playing housewife?" Tia didn’t like playing games and this felt so bizarre, she found herself defensive.