Overview
Frozen then awakened after a thousand years, Kell is unprepared for modern life. Allie is only supposed to help him adjust. But some things, like falling in love, never change.
Kell is brought back to life by scientists after falling into a glacier ten centuries ago. But can a man from the Iron Age adapt to modern times? Hired as a linguist, a specialist in ancient languages, Allie believes her job is only to communicate with him. But some things never change. The attraction between them is sudden and strong. Then Allie discovers what the Army really wants to do with Kell, and suddenly time is running out. In the middle of the Arctic Circle, surrounded by hundreds of miles of snow and ice, it's now up to Kell to use his skills of survival to save them both, and to acknowledge the love growing between them.
Tracker and bounty hunter Bruce Steele is hired to find Kell and Allie. He's never failed. But this time fate plays a vicious trick on him, and, after an accident, he awakens in the far future on a space station with two slight problems—a raging hard-on and an android with nuclear sex appeal. But there are far bigger problems—there's no need for a tracker on a space station, and the android he's come to love is slated for demolition. But no problem is too big for Steele. Determined to carve a place for himself in the ultra-technical world of the future, he's decided to save his adorable, pedantic android...and find a place for both of them in a world he doesn't understand.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781786511423 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Totally Entwined Group |
| Publication date: | 11/04/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 136 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Samantha Winston is the pen name for sci-fi writer Jennifer Macaire. She lives in France with her husband, children, and two dogs. She grew up in upstate New York, Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. She graduated and moved to NYC where she modelled for five years for Elite. She went to France and met her husband at the polo club. All that is true. But she mostly likes to make up stories.
Read an Excerpt
Copyright © Samantha Winston 2017. All Rights Reserved, Totally Entwined Group Limited, T/A Totally Bound Publishing.
Allie O’Shea closed the heavy, leather-bound book she’d been reading at her desk and looked at the man standing in her doorway. He wore a crisp gray suit, a navy tie and a CIA pin on his lapel. His presence wasn’t a surprise because he’d made an appointment to see her, but it was a mystery. He hadn’t said what his visit was about, only that it was urgent and strictly private.
Allie motioned for him to sit in the chrome seat in front of her glass-topped desk and she leaned forward in her chair. “What can I do for you, Mr. Smith?”
“My presence here is top secret,” he said. “Before I say anything more, you’ll have to sign this nondisclosure contract.” He set a sheaf of paper on her desk. “Just read the last line and sign here, please.”
She started to grin. This must be a joke. Who would pull such a stunt on her, though? The grin slid off her face. Nobody would, not in this building. No one teased her anymore. This wasn’t first grade where her short, stocky stature had earned her the nickname Minnie. She worked with serious, highly trained, dedicated people who rarely smiled much less cracked jokes. In the short time she’d worked at the Farmington Institute of Dead Languages, no one had ever displayed the slightest interest in her except professionally. So this must be real. But what could the CIA want with her? She decided to say yes to his demand. If the CIA wanted to play secret spy games, she would go along.
She pulled the papers to her, read them and signed on the dotted line. It all appeared legit. “All right, I swear. What is this about?”
“Do you remember reading about the man found in the Arctic Circle last year?”
“An Iron Age man in perfectly preserved condition found in the tundra beneath the permafrost.” She paused, and a spark of interest pricked her. “Did you find some writing in his belongings? Is that it?”
“Before I say anything else, I want you to sign another paper. It states you will never divulge anything about the mission involved.” He handed her a single paper.
Odd, she’d already signed his nondisclosure statement. What was this? Allie examined the document. It stipulated she could never speak about the mission to anyone, no reports were to be written, no photographs taken, nothing, or else she would be liable for damages. What damages? In short, it said that if she blabbed, she would regret it for the rest of her life—financially she would be ruined, and legally she could be put in jail. She frowned. It was extreme for a legal document. She had never seen another contract like this one. Usually they were only valid until the final report was published, but this one specified until the end of her life.
“Hardly the best way to start a working relationship,” she said, frowning at the legalese.
“It is to protect us, but it will also protect you. Anything that happens to you as a result of this project will be entirely our responsibility. And you will be handsomely rewarded.”
Okay, she was hooked. She took her pen and signed her name with a flourish. “There. Is that all? Can you tell me about the writings you found?”
Mr. Smith put his hands on her desk and leaned forward. “It’s not exactly that, Ms. O’Shea. We need you because…” He paused and for the first time seemed uncertain.
She saw his hesitation and thought she knew why. “I’m older than I look. My specialty is ancient languages including cuneiform and Celtic. If you found something written in his belongings, I think I can help you. I can’t be certain unless I see it, though.”
“Ms. O’Shea, we know all about you. What we need is a translator. You see, the man in question is being reanimated in a station in Alaska. We have kept this absolutely confidential because of the repercussions of such an act. Surely you can understand the need for secrecy in this situation.”
Allie suddenly had trouble breathing. “Wait a minute. Hold on. Did you say reanimated? Are you saying that he’s…? That he’s…?”
“Alive. Yes. Let me explain. It seems our Iron Age man’s body was in suspended animation, flash-frozen, as it were, and when we started thawing him out, one of the scientists had the crazy idea of running an electrical current through his body.” He gave a shrug. “Why refuse? The guy had been dead for thousands of years. Nobody could have predicted what happened next.”
“His heart started beating.” Allie swallowed hard. “How long has he been in reanimation? He’s got to be brain-dead, though, right?”
The man shook his head. “All I know is that as soon as they saw the heartbeat, they stopped everything. The brain had to be protected at all costs. If anything went wrong, all they’d have would be a two-thousand-year-old vegetable. Our man has been in reanimation for nine months. His brainwaves seem perfectly normal. We’re ready to wake him up now, and we want to be able to speak to him. We need someone who speaks his language. Otherwise, he’ll be completely disoriented.”
Allie grimaced. He would be completely disoriented no matter what.
As if reading her mind, Mr. Smith continued, “He’s in a special environment, made to resemble as much as possible as an Iron Age dwelling. You’ll be there when he wakes up.”
“When exactly will that be?” Disbelief warred with amazement and excitement. An Iron Age man! What incredible things he could teach them!
“In three days. I’m sorry to be so abrupt, but you have to leave tomorrow. Your superiors know that you are needed on a sensitive case. We have contacted them already. But you will give no details. Please read all the papers in the contract that I’ll leave with you and bring them to the airport tomorrow. Meet me at terminal four, Air Alaska. Seven a.m. Don’t bring much. You won’t be staying more than a week so they’ll never even miss you here.” He handed her a heavy manila envelope, upon which lay a plane ticket. First class for Alaska.
Her mouth went dry. “If you did any research on me at all, you know I don’t fly. I can get there by train, can’t I?”
The man’s eyes grew icy. “No, Ms. O’Shea. There is a very tight time schedule. This is of the highest importance. Any refusal to cooperate fully will result in your immediate exclusion from this program. I assume you wish to work on this project? You’ll be well paid. We’ve taken the liberty of tripling your normal fee.”
She did wish to work on the project, and the money didn’t matter. She had to go. She had to see this man, talk to him and communicate with someone from the past. This was an amazing opportunity and she wouldn’t pass it up, even if she was sure to perish in a terrible plane wreck. She would think about that later. She nodded curtly. “I’ll be there.”
Mr. Smith left without shaking her hand. Allie took the papers out of the envelope and carefully read at the contract. Sign on the dotted line. If they had asked her to sign in blood, she would have. An opportunity like this happened maybe once in a lifetime.
The contract seemed in order. It was for a translator in ancient languages for the duration of one week. Her job would consist of translating the words of a man who had been in suspended animation for twenty centuries. She would assist the scientists when he woke up. After one week, she would be free to leave. A small part of her brain wondered why the contract was for such a short time. Normally a study like this would last for years. Maybe it was just a test, to see how she did. If she was able to speak to him, they might keep her on for longer. Hopefully they would let her write a paper on her findings. She would publish it and be famous. The woman who spoke to the past—she could just see the headlines.
She picked up her phone and buzzed the institute’s secretary. “This is Allie O’Shea, I’m going on a short trip. I’ll be gone no more than seven days. Call Dr. Jarvis and let her know I’ll be late with the translation, but I’ll get it to her as soon as possible.” Now all she had to do was pack and get the strongest sedative on the market for the plane trip.