Gracie’s Touch

Chapter 1-2

Fifteen minutes later she was ready to scream. She’d known it was going to be difficult, but she’d never expected it to be this difficult! She turned to Adam, pleading silently for his help.

“It’s the only way! I’m the only one who can do it,” Gracie said again, looking intently at the four men standing around her. “There is no other way.”

“Like hell there isn’t!” Chance said fiercely. He jerked away from Adam, who grabbed at him.

“Chance…” Gracie began.

“He’s right, Gracie. There is no way in hell we are going to let you do this,” Mark said.

Gracie sighed again in frustration. “Adam, you talk to them. You know I’m right.”

Adam watched as Gracie rose gracefully from the chair in front of the row of computers. He shut his eyes briefly in an effort to get control of the rage burning inside him. He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to be the one to admit it. Adam opened his eyes and looked at his younger brother, Adrian, who hadn’t said a word throughout the whole argument. He had the same look of resignation in his eyes.

“Gracie is right. She is the only one who can do this.” Adam spoke quietly but with authority. As the leader of one small group of New York rebels known as the Freedom Five, it was up to him to make the tough decisions. He wasn’t sure he would be able to live with some of those decisions if they survived the fight for their freedom.

Five years before, Earth had been invaded by a group of ugly-ass aliens. There had been no warning, no promises of peace, nothing. The half-organic/half-robotic aliens had simply begun gathering up as many humans as possible and placing them in huge holding camps protected by a shield of some kind.

Millions perished from lack of food and medical care. It was later learned, thanks to the work of computer hackers—or geeks as Gracie liked to be called—that the aliens were planning on using the humans as renewable parts for their own deteriorating forms. The Alluthans were experimenting on the captive humans to test their limitations and compatibility.

Gracie lost her parents and an older sister when the aliens first attacked New York. Adam, his brother Adrian, and two other survivors, Chance and Mark, found her hiding in the old subway system six months later.

She had escaped with her laptop and some external hard drives, and had managed to tap into one of the maintenance room’s access points to monitor what was happening. The governments of the world finally banded together to fight the threat, but not before a devastating number of humans had died or were lost in the large alien holding camps.

Gracie was the youngest daughter of two university professors at NYU. Her ability to understand computer languages, and languages in general, was unbelievable. By fifteen, she had mastered eight different languages fluently and another seven on a conversational level.

She also used her skills at deciphering computer-generated languages to stay one step ahead of the Alluthans. For the past two years, she’d focused on studying the language and computer applications of the Alluthans so she could find a way to defeat them.

Adrian looked at his brother with a tense frown on his face. “You know it is suicide. She’ll never make it out.”

“That’s not true!” Gracie said, turning to frown at the four men towering over her petite five-foot-four frame. “I have an excellent chance of escaping.”

“And how, pray tell, do you figure that?” Chance growled, folding his arms across his massive chest.

“Chance, I can speak, read, and write their language. I’ve been studying it extensively, as well as their computer applications. Team Two has one of their supply ships in the old warehouse down by the river thanks to me. All I have to do is program it to autopilot to the mother ship.

“Once on board, I’ll upload the programs I’ve developed to bring down the shields protecting all their bases and prisoner camps around the world. Once it has downloaded, I’ll reprogram the ship to bring me back to Earth,” Gracie said with a plea for understanding in her voice. “I know I can do this!”

* * * *

Chance walked over and drew her against him, holding her close. She was the closest thing to family he had left besides the other guys standing with them. He had lost his family also and had vowed to protect Gracie from the first time he saw her emerald-green eyes staring fearfully back at him in the dark tunnel five years ago.

He didn’t want to admit for a long time that as she matured, his feelings for her grew beyond a brotherly love. At seventeen, Gracie was still too young. Chance was waiting as long as he could before he claimed her as his own, but he feared he would never get the chance to tell her how he felt about her.

“What if they find you? What if it doesn’t work and you get trapped there?” Chance asked huskily as he held her against his hard length.

“They won’t. It will work. I’ve double and triple-checked the programs to make sure they would work. You saw for yourself how the shield collapsed, and I was able to take control of the ship and bring it down. The alien didn’t have a clue about what was happening,” Gracie said as she wrapped her arms around Chance. She wanted to give him reassurance, but she also needed it herself.

“When do we do this?” Adrian asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Adam replied. “We’ve received confirmation from around the world that everyone will be ready.”

Mark nodded. “You better come back, little britches, or I’m going to be mighty pissed at you.”

Gracie smiled softly before replying. “I will, Mark. I will.”