Time Raiders: The Seduction
Cindy Dees
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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The Beginning
Fifty thousand years ago, after discovering that human females carried a nascent genetic potential that might one day develop into the ability to star navigate, the Galactic Council planted a dozen pieces of a bronze disc, known as the Karanovo stamp across the Earth, hidden in darkness until mankind advances enough to travel through time and find them.
And then, out of the ashes of the mystery-shrouded Roswell Alien crash in 1947 arose a secret research project called Anasazi. Its improbable goal: learn to use the recovered alien technology for the purposes of time travel.
However, the discovery of an ancient journal, known as the Ad Astra, has given Professor Athena Carswell the information she needs to begin sending modern time travelers back through human history in search of the twelve pieces of the Karanovo Stamp. This stamp, when fully reassembled, will send a signal across the galaxy to the Council, indicating that mankind is ready to be introduced to the rest of the galactic community.
Threats loom on the horizon, both from humans who would see the project endedor worse, steal its work and use it for nefarious endsand from the Centauri Federation, which will do anything to stop humans from learning how to navigate the stars
Chapter 1
Not long ago, in the early days of Project Anasazi
Red Rock University
Flagstaff, Arizona
Athena Carswell jolted upright in her leather recliner as a jovial male voice shattered the labs deep silence. Sheesh! You guys look like youre putting on a funeral! Who died around here?
Youre about to, she snapped. You just ruined two hours worth of data collection and a weeks worth of setup. She carefully removed an elaborate headband with trailing wires from her head, then whirled in irritation to throw the intruder out.
Wow. She stopped abruptly. The intruder was a serious hunk. Her gaze swept down, then up again. He was tall, athletic and ruggedly gorgeous, with neat brown hair and a sportsmans tan. But it was his piercing blue eyes that stopped her cold. He was going to make a beautiful corpse when she finished strangling him.
He had the gall to sweep his own gaze assessingly down her body. Abruptly, she was aware of her silk blouse and the way it clung to her curves, the constriction of her bra beneath it, the way her wool skirt hugged her hips rather more closely than shed like at the moment.
His eyes lit with heat. And that was a definite smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. She didnt know whether to fan herself or be mortally offended.
Pretty Boy snorted skeptically. Didnt seem much like data collection going on. Looked to me like you were sleeping on the job.
She scowled, insulted at the insinuation that shed been goofing off. She retorted, I was trying to control my brain wave output and sync it up to the computer. Being relaxed and comfortable helps.
He strolled over to the console that housed the powerful mainframe computer they were trying to program to duplicate and amplify human brain waves by several orders of magnitude. She watched him warily. He glanced up at her suddenly, catching her staring at him like a drooling idiot.
Collecting herself, she said sharply, Uh, excuse me. But didnt you see the big red Keep Out sign posted on the door? Youre not supposed to be in here.
He spun to face her, flashing a thousand-watt smile straight off a daytime soap opera. Ah, but I am. Supposed to be here, that is. I just inherited this outfit. He made eye contact and purred at her, Which is to say Im your new boss.
Athena stared. Some colonel is being sent out from Washington to oversee our project. This guy was altogether too young andhotto be a stuffy army colonel specializing in advanced sine wave resonance research.
Colonel Peter Grafton, U.S. Army, Advanced Research Center, at your service. He executed an exaggeratedly gallant bow that looked as if it belonged in a Cinderella movie. You can call me Pete if you like. His eyes twinkled devilishly as he added, Or you can just call me sir.
Hah! She retorted, Im a civilian. Im not required to sir anybody, thank you very much.
He shrugged. Ive always thought being called sir is a sign of respect that should be earned, anyway.
Athena bit back a snarky comment about the likelihood of his ever earning the title from her. But now this cocky jerk happened to control the purse strings to her continued research, and she couldnt afford to antagonize him. She mumbled a curse under her breath. Shed hated the idea of going to the military for funding, but her team had had no choice. It was that or shut down. Their previous grant from the government was about to expire, and their work was too classified to take to the public sector to fund.
Project Anasazi was so close to success. Just a few more months, maybe even a matter of weeks, and shed find the last remaining piece of the puzzle. And then
and then mankind would have mastered time travel.
With a little help from a piece of alien technology recovered from the 1947 Roswell crash, of course. It hadnt taken sixty years plus to crack the technologyit had taken almost all of those years to figure out what the crown-like apparatus found on the alien pilots head actually did. But after that, it had been a simple matter of learning to interface with the crown. Well, not simple. The math behind brain wave amplification was horrendous. But todays computers made the calculations possible, and at speeds rapid enough to make using the crown a possibility.
Her studies showed that if the user was a psychic of sufficient power, it should be possible to project an object, or even a person, back and forth through time.
So. Is that the famous crown Ive read about? Grafton commented from shockingly close by. A faint whiff of his aftershave tickled her nose. The subtle scent was green and woodsy. And manly. And wholly addictive.
She tucked the crown carefully in its protective nest beside her chair, making sure not to catch the wires on anything. Yup, thats it.
Have you figured out how to duplicate it yet? he asked.
She retorted, First we have to figure out how the crown works. Then maybe I can build you another one.
Grafton frowned. So, theres no backup if something happens to this one?
She sighed. That worried her, too. No. Wed be dead in the water as far as time travel goes. For a while, at any rate. However, weve learned the general principles of time travel from the crown, and given what were learning now about brain wave amplification, Id think in another fifty years or so we could figure it out for ourselves.
But your report said you dont think we have that long until something bad happens
She cut him off sharply. My office. Now.
His eyebrows shot up and he studied her far too intently for comfort. It felt as if he was all but stripping her naked with his burning blue eyes. And at the thought, her body suddenly felt entirely too hot.
She tried to cover up her gaff by adding hastily, Cup of coffee, Colonel? I can give you an overview of the program and then walk you through where we are now.
Thankfully, the good colonel was not slow on the uptake. Coffee. Great. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to fly here this morning.
Athena caught the curious gazes of a couple of the computer techs. She really hoped they hadnt heard that not long until something bad happens comment from Grafton. Shed deliberately kept that part of the project from her team. They were already under enough pressure what with all the funding problems theyd had. They didnt need to know that the fate of the world rested on their heads, too.
The moment her office door closed, Grafton whirled to face her. Whats up? he asked shortly. Impatient energy poured off of him, and her breathing accelerated to match it. He was such a mans man. Definite alpha male.
She replied, The staff hasnt seen the classified document you have. Theyre not aware of the deadline looming over this project.
Why the hell not? Theyll work faster if they know what theyre up against.
Facing him felt like trying to stand against the force of a hurricane. Lord, he was overwhelming. She was a scholar and an academic, and lived in a quiet world of study and thought. She wasnt up to dealing with this tornado of a man. But she didnt have much choice in the matter. Funding and Graftonor no Project Anasazi.
She tried to explain her decision. They already give me a hundred percent. And what we do takes tremendous attention to detail. Absolute precision. I cant afford to have anyone racing through their work and making a mistake. Lives depend on us getting this right.
If youre correct, the future of the world may depend on us getting this right.
Athena knew that. Shed already bet her reputation and her career on that fact. And as soon as they tried to use the crown, she might very well be betting her life on it.
He made no further argument for the time being, but she got the feeling she hadnt heard the last of it. After a moment he asked, Where are we on the project?
Close, but were missing something in the algorithms, and my brain waves arent being exactly duplicated. Were within a few microns of the right amplitude variations, but were not quite there.
Have you sent anything back in time yet?
She jolted. Good Lord, no. We dont want to chance breaking the crown by using it incorrectly.
Seems to me that at some point youll just have to jump off the cliff and give it a go.
Humph. Military thinking. That might work when youve got a hundred more tanks to blow up where the last one came from. But weve got one crown. One shot at getting this technology right.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You might very well discover that last missing bit if you just use it.
Too risky.
He gave her a long, hard look, then said tightly, Thats not your call anymore, Dr. Carswell.
She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. A surge of resentment warred with a wave of desperation in her gut. Shed known she was selling Project Anasazis soul to the devil. She just hadnt expected to be confronted by the consequences so soon. Shed hoped to have a couple more weeks before Uncle Sam swooped in and took over. And she definitely hadnt been counting on this force of nature landing in her lap.
Grafton startled her by saying, Tell me more about you. The report didnt say much about your talents beyond the fact that youve shown a knack for using the crown.
She shrugged, embarrassed. My particular skills seem specially suited to it.
You have the ability to astral project, is that right?
She squirmed, abruptly aware of how perceptively that sapphire gaze was drilling into her. Well, yes.
What exactly does that mean?
Its akin to dreaming, but a great deal more vivid. I project my awareness to someplace other than my own body and experience it with exquisite sensory accuracyas if Im actually there. Thankfully, he made no editorial comments on how whacky that sounded. She continued reluctantly. With the crowns help, I can project an image of myself to another location so that people there can see me.
His eyes definitely widened at her assertion, but she pressed on doggedly. Ive recently mastered sending an image of another person to a specific site. When we perfect the computer program and can boost the signal more, I should be able to send not only the image, but the physical person. Eventually, we hope to parlay that into sending people into different times entirely.
He responded, Thatsincredible.
I know it sounds crazy. But its true, she blurted. Every bit of it. You can see for yourself. Weve got an astral projection experiment scheduled for tomorrow.
Ill be there.
At least he was suspending judgment on her sanityor lack of itfor now. Silence fell between them. Eventually, he murmured, So. Youre unique, as well, then.
His voice was a caress across the back of her neck, intimate, sensual. Surely he was only talking about her psychic ability. But something in his tone hinted at a deeper meaning.
I highly doubt that. Damn. Did she have to sound so breathless? Im sure there are other psychics in the world who can do what I do. Probably better, in fact.
Maybe. But none of them are here and involved in this project. What effect does the crown have on other types of psychic abilities?
She blinked. That was actually an insightful question. We have a telekinetic gal on staff. Using the crown she can zip stuff all over the room, but has had no luck sending an object out of her direct line of sight. Apparently, her skill is tied to seeing where shes sending the object. Weve pretty much given up trying to further develop her relationship to the crown.
Grafton looked surprised. Are you saying the device is sentient?
Another insightful question. Athena frowned. Im not quite sure how to answer that. Youd have to try the headgear on yourself to know what I mean. Whether its some other part of my own awareness thats being enhanced, or whether theres actual intelligenceartificial or organicwithin the artifact itself, I couldnt say. But Im definitely
notalonewhen I use the crown.
Id like to try it.
Alarm shot through her. Maybe it was fear that the crown would like the new boss too much, or maybe fry his brain. Or maybe she just felt proprietary toward it. Either way, she wasnt comfortable with the idea of him using it. She answered quickly, Most people who put it on experience a blinding headache for several days thereafter. The crown seems to have an affinity for certain brains.