Hannah's Warrior: Cosmos' Gateway Book 2 (3 page)

The next week was a bit blurred. Hannah
remembered Jacq taking her up river to a larger town where her
parents tearfully met her along with Tink and Tansy. Hannah later
learned most of the hostages were rescued. Four were killed
including the mother and the one daughter who remained behind in
the hut. It took over a year for Hannah to come to terms with the
knowledge there was nothing she could have done to save the girl
but that still did not stop the guilt from overwhelming her at
times. At first, Hannah battled depression and anxiety. She didn’t
want to be around other people and preferred spending her time
either out exploring the different places her parents stopped at or
just hanging with her sisters in the motor home they lived in. Her
parents talked about setting down roots and buying a house but
realized Hannah’s photography and need for space was the only thing
that seemed to help her. Instead, they spent more time visiting the
National forests around the United States and Canada or taking
scenic excursions in Europe.

It was one of their trips to South Africa
that had really gotten Hannah to come out of her shell. She was
eighteen and her mom had an offer to come consultant on a new power
plant under construction. They almost didn’t but Hannah wanted to
see some of the wildlife there. After several heated discussions on
safety, the decision was made to go. Hannah fell in love with the
open plains, rugged mountains, and even the people who seemed to
thrive there. When her parents returned to the United States,
Hannah decided stay. Hannah’s father was nervous but her mom seemed
to understand Hannah had finally found her way back to the living.
And so, with a kiss and a promise to call frequently Hannah began
using the contacts she made over the years with her photographs and
writing and began a career as a freelance photographer/writer.

She met Abasi almost two years ago during one
of her many excursions into the far reaches of the plains. He had
lost his wife and infant son to disease and was on a journey to
join them. Instead, he found Hannah or she found him. They still
argued that point. She was taking photos of a black rhino in Kenya
when they stumbled upon each other. Hannah had learned Swahili and
was about to give him holy heck for ruining one of her shots when
she recognized the look in his eyes as the same one she had after
her kidnapping. One thing led to another and they began talking.
Abasi told Hannah about the journey he was making to the other life
and Hannah told him about her journey back to the living.

Hannah looked at her hands and smiled. The
black rhino in the meantime was not impressed with their new found
friendship. Both of them ended up in a tree. Through the course of
a night, they became friends. Abasi was determined to help Hannah
learn to trust again and Hannah was determined her friend would
discover he still had much to live for. Hannah chuckled when she
thought back over the past two years. She still didn’t trust
humans. She had two new scars to prove why she shouldn’t and Abasi
had decided his goal in life was to find the perfect mate for
Hannah. One who would overcome her distrusts and protect her, even
if that meant from herself. Hannah shook her head as she gazed back
up at the stars. That was what her stupid wish had been…to find a
warrior who was strong enough and brave enough and honest enough
for her to trust. Personally, Hannah didn’t believe any such man
existed on Earth who could do that.

Late the next morning, Hannah and Abasi
reached another village almost fifty miles inland. Hannah waited
impatiently again as the phone rang. If Tink didn’t answer this
time, Hannah would be on the next plane to Maine. She was just
about to hang up when Tink’s breathless voice came on the line.

“Hi Hannah.” Tink’s husky
voice said.

Hannah immediately
recognized the sound of
I-really-don’t-want-to-talk-to-you
in
it. Well, too bad. Tink was going to explain why it took her so
long to answer the phone and why the hell was Hannah getting bad
vibes.

“Why didn’t you call me
back? What is going on?” Hannah demanded in frustration. She rolled
her eyes at Abasi when he raised his eyebrows. Okay, maybe
demanding wasn’t the best idea but Hannah was slowly going nuts
with worry.

“I’m fine, thanks for
asking!” Tink replied with a grin. “I had to work today and had a
bunch of errands. I was just about to call you.”

“Okay.” Hannah replied in
frustration trying not to grind her teeth. Tink was just like their
mom! Irritating and exasperating all at the same time. Hannah knew
Tink was just pushing her buttons. Tink knew she wouldn’t have
called and left a message with RITA unless she was worried about
something. “Hi Tink. How are you? I’m glad you are fine. Now, tell
me what is going on. I had one of my feelings and you know they
always come true.”

Hannah listened as Tink drew
in a shaky breath over the line. “Okay, but you aren’t going to
believe me.” Tink said softly.

Hannah waited impatiently as Tink began
telling her a story that if it had come from anyone else she would
have immediately dismissed it as being ludicrous. Instead, Hannah
drew in a deep breath as she realized that not only had her weird
sensor been correct…the magnitude of the situation was much worse
than she could ever imagine.

Tink explained how her roommate and best
friend, Cosmos Raines, a resident genius on any level of the
imagination had developed some type of portal…a portal that took
Tink to another world. Tink explained how she had used her hammer
on some type of alien creature to save a boy. The boy turned out to
be another alien, only Tink didn’t realize it at first. Tink
described in minute detail the spaceship she found herself on, the
men she met, and how she couldn’t seem to stop crying since Cosmos
brought her back. Hannah listened as Tink told her about one man, a
man named J’kar, who seemed to have affected her baby sister in
ways neither of them understood. It took a minute for Hannah to
realize Tink wasn’t talking any more.

“
Hannah?” Tink asked
hesitantly.

“
I’m trying to decide whether I should
kill Cosmos or give him a kiss for saving you.” Hannah replied
softly.

Hannah knew how smart Cosmos
was but she never dreamed he could create something like this. The
danger such a device could do to their world was unbelievable.
Surely, Cosmos thought of that. As smart as he was he should have
made a list of all the things that could go wrong and had some type
of safety net in place…and, what about the government? Wouldn’t
their government know if such a thing was possible? Hannah would
have thought Cosmos should have seen enough alien horror films
growing up to know how dangerous a portal to an advance
civilization could be to their planet, not to mention the reaction
if people knew life existed outside of their galaxy. Hannah
believed everything Tink told her. Their father might be a science
fiction writer but Tink wasn’t and she wouldn’t make something like
this up. If Tink said she was on a spaceship in another galaxy
through a portal Cosmos built, then she was.

“I’m coming home. I’ll be
there as soon as I can make the arrangements.” Hannah said in a
voice that meant there would be no arguments. She might go ahead
and kiss Cosmos while she was strangling him! Hannah thought as she
began making plans in her head.

“You aren’t going to tell
mom, dad, or Tansy are you?” Tink asked hesitantly.

Hannah could hear the tinge
of fear in Tink’s voice. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the
others knowing…no, there was something else going on and Hannah was
going to find out what it was. Besides, if Tansy found out god only
knew what would happen! She would charge in guns blazing if she
suspected Tink was in the remotest danger. Then, they really would
have an intergalactic battle on their hands! Now, if her folks
found out that was another story! Hannah almost felt sorry for the
poor aliens! Her dad would question them to death and her mom would
be reinventing everything or driving them insane!
Oh, lord,
thought Hannah
in dismay
, it would also mean another
place for her parents to get it on!
Hannah
couldn’t quite suppress the shudder that escaped. That seemed to be
her parent’s main reason for living! Hannah groaned as she thought
of all the places her parents have probably made love at or on. She
had never met two hornier people in her life! Not even the animals
she photographed seemed to like it as much as her parents.
Oh, God!
Hannah groaned
again softly.
This is so NOT what she
wanted to focus on right now!
Hannah took a
deep breath. No, her parents and Tansy were not going to be
informed if she could help it.

“No, at least not until I
see you and determine if I need to involve them.” Hannah replied
gruffly. “I’ll make the arrangements now and email them to you
later this afternoon. Oh, it’s night there, isn’t it? I love you,
kid. Stay safe until I get there.” Hannah added distractedly. She
had a lot to do if she was going to fly to Maine.

Chapter 2

Borj ‘Tag Krell Manok looked
at the image in his hand again. The image contained the picture of
three Earth women. One was his brother, J’kar’s, bond mate. The
other two were her sisters. Borj had to fight off his younger
brother, Mak’s, efforts to steal it from him. They had finally
compromised on creating a duplicate image. It took everything
inside him not to howl out in rage at the procrastination of his
father and the council. He was ready to defy them all and use the
portal to go find his bond mate. Borj shook his head in disbelief.
Out of all four brothers, he had always considered himself the
calmest, most rationale of the group. He was careful to think out
every detail before executing any plan of attack. He weighed each
strategy, each outcome, measuring which would benefit their people
the most. That was why he was their ambassador. But right at that
moment, he was anything but calm. His eyes were drawn again to the
image to the left of Tink.

The female was slightly
taller than the other two and had twin golden-brown braids on each
side of her head hanging to her waist. She was wearing very short,
tan pants ending mid-thigh, two small triangular pieces of fabric
barely covered her breasts, and boots.
The
image was slightly wrinkled from being with Borj at all times and
the corners were beginning to fray from him running his finger
along the edge as if he could actually touch her delicate skin. He
knew deep down this female was his bond mate. There was no other
explanation for his reaction to just the image. His brother and his
bond mate, Tink, had been planet side for several days now and he
was just waiting to hear of the decision as to whether he would be
allowed to go and retrieve the female.

Borj glanced up when he heard his name called
out. Turning, he watched as one of his father’s men hurried towards
him. The elderly man was breathless by the time he reached Borj.
Borj waited impatiently for the man to catch his breath so he could
give him the missive from his father.

“
My Lord, your father and the council
request your presence immediately.” The man gasped out.

Borj ran his thumb over the image one more
time before he nodded briskly to the man. Perhaps now he would
finally get an answer to the requests he and J’kar had made for one
of them to return to the female’s planet.

Borj tucked the image in his breast pocket
and followed his father’s elderly assistant down the numerous
corridors to the council’s chamber. As he entered, he bowed deeply
to the twelve men who sat along a curved table and then again to
his father who sat in the center. Straightening, he looked up and
was unable to contain his surprise at the look on his father’s
face. Borj frowned as he approached the high table. Never had he
seen his father so relaxed before. Normally, his father was filled
with barely suppressed impatience and an abundance of energy. He
was known for his short temper and stern, often harsh manners. Now,
while he looked impatient, it seemed for a different reason. Gone
were the harsh lines of stress…in their place was a barely
suppressed grin. Borj looked into his father’s eyes and actually
took a step back at what he saw. Was that a twinkle in his eyes?
Borj shook his head. He must have finally lost his grip on reality
if he thought his father had a twinkle in his eye! Perhaps he
should speak to the healer…

“
Borj.” Teriff ‘Tag Krell Manok said in
a deep voice.

Borj shook his head in an effort to clear his
mind and return it to the matters at hand. Bowing again, Borj
replied. “My lord, you and the council requested my presence?”

“
Yes. It has been brought to our
attention your brother’s bond mate has need of her family to be
with her. The healer has mentioned this might help her during her
breeding.” Teriff could not keep the grin off his face as he looked
around at the council members who looked at him as if they had
never seen him before. “I am to be a grandfather to twins and I
will not allow anything to prevent this from happening! The council
has agreed with me that you should return to the female’s planet
and bring one of her family members back.” Teriff finished, looking
sternly at Borj.

Borj stared at his father for a moment as his
heart leaped at the idea of bringing the female in the image back
with him. He almost howled out in his excitement at the thought of
seeing if the female was as responsive as his brother’s mate. She
would surely attach herself to him the same way his brother’s bond
mate did. She would be unable to keep her hands off of him. She
would wrap herself around him and …