"I had a gun against my head!" Lyssa screamed, her words echoing in the hall. "I begged you to save me, and you just…left me to die."
"Obviously not," Mrs. Dr. Sostas Peate said, taking a sip of her brandy. "As you're still here."
"You…you actually…" She stammered for a moment, almost not believing her own ears. "Is that why you let Sostas take me? Is that why you let him leave me on planets for days at a time and drag me to the damn near end of the universe? Why you let him put me in unimaginable danger? Because you…you'd rather....?"
Mrs. Dr. Sostas Peate didn't respond, but a small blush was finally visible beneath her caked make up.
"What did I do to you?" Lyssa asked, her voice high. "What could I possibly have done to have—"
"You were born," her mother replied, before taking another gulp of brandy.
A gasp arose from the collective audience.
"Mother!" Vel hissed.
Lyssa was stunned silent. Her ears rang dully, but her mind was numb—repeating over and over what she'd just heard. More voices joined in the chorus, a symphony of screaming in her head. They were chanting the same thing:
She'd been born evil, damaged. Nothing she did would ever change that. The Great Creator had given her a preview of what was to come, and kept haunting her dreams with reminders. Her fate was sealed, and there was nothing she could do about it.
But she wasn't dead yet.
She wouldn't give these people the satisfaction of defeating her.
Scraping together the last bit of dignity she had, Lyssa raised her chin and stared squarely at her mother.
"Fine," she said, her voice no higher than a whisper, but audible to everyone in the room. "You wish I was dead? That I had never been born? That's fine. You're gonna get your wish. Because this is the last time you will ever see Lyssa Peate."
And with that, she turned around and walked out of the silent ballroom.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!"
Razia kicked him once more in the side for good measure. Methodically, she bound his hands and feet, and kicked him onto her floating canvas. She actually wasn't sure what he was worth—maybe a couple thousand credits. What she did know was he'd looked at her funny at the bar, and that meant he needed to get his ass kicked.
This was her fifth bounty in half as many days, and she was starting to feel it as she walked out of the bounty office into the dying sunlight. Her arms and legs ached and her head was throbbing from too little sleep and too much thinking.
She had everything she wanted now. She was free of Lyssa Peate—free from hateful mothers, disappearing fathers, jealous siblings. Free of Pymus and his obnoxious questions. Free from having to excavate planets, free from having to bite her tongue when she was weaseled out of thousands of credits. Free from stupid interns and their stupid questions and their stupid ideas to drag her to the Manor.
Not completely free, she thought moodily, ignoring the buzz from her mini-computer. Vel'd been calling her non-stop for days now, undoubtably to have a chat about what had happened. She was uninterested in hashing it out—what was done was done, and all she needed to know was she'd been right all along. Lyssa Peate was better off disappearing forever. Nobody cared about her anyway.
It would be better for him if he just interned with Dorst. Their older brother could teach him all about how to be a good scientist, the proper way to excavate a planet, without all the machines and dangerous rock creatures. They would probably have a great time bonding—Peate to Peate. Vel would be happier not having to worry about pirates, hunting bounties, or sisters whose souls were damned to...
She sighed audibly before becoming cross with herself for moping. She just hadn't been sleeping well was all. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back at the Manor standing in the middle of the ballroom, and it usually ended in the world disintegrating under her feet.
After a few minutes of rambling down the street, she found herself walking into Harms' bar, quite unsure of how she'd got there, but quietly relieved to see him.
"You look rough. Want a coffee?" he said.
"Yes, please," she mumbled, placing her head on her hands.
"You okay?"
"'m fine," she mumbled, as a coffee appeared in front of her. "Just haven't been sleeping well."
"Probably because you've been capturing pirates left and right lately. You can take a break, you know."
"Nah," she said, cupping the coffee in her hands. "This is what I've been waiting for, finally able to focus on work."
"And what have you been doing since you got off probation? Not working?"
"I've been distracted by other stuff," she said, placing the coffee cup down.
"What kind of stuff?"
She shrugged noncommittally.
"I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to get mad at me," Harms began.
Immediately, she skewered him with an icy glare. "Why does everyone think I just get mad at—" Harms gave her a knowing look and she deflated. "I haven't slept," she mumbled.
"I know, and that's why I'm going to tell you to take a break," Harms finished. "Seriously, you've been working non-stop for the past two weeks. You've turned in five top bounties and at least ten mid-to-low level bounties."
"So?" Lyssa snapped, before blinking at him. "Wait...it's been two weeks?"
"See, you don't even know what day it is. Take a breather. Go hang out on a beach for a week, or wherever it is you disappear to."
"I'm not disappearing anymore," she growled, feeling irrationally angry at the thought of having to slink back to the Academy, or that she in any way needed Lyssa Peate. Didn't he know? Lyssa Peate was damaged goods—the farther away she got from her the better. Even her own mother thought…
"I'm telling you that you should. And you need to—"
"The only thing I need to do is find another bounty. Quit telling me how to live my life."
"Wow," Harms said, sitting back and looking at her. "Really?"
"Yes, really. I'm fine."
"Okay, then." He shook his head, sounding as if she was going to regret it. "What do you want to know?"
"Linro Lee," she said, pulling out the first name that came to mind. She'd been looking at his profile last night, or maybe it was a few days ago. He was in Contestant's web, and since Relleck was still the most wanted in the universe, he would be a fair consolation prize. "Does he have a crew?"
"No," Harms said simply, without expanding.
She blinked at him, feeling his animosity from across the table. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't really come there to talk about Lee (she wasn't really sure why she was there in the first place), so she didn't have a list of questions. And her mind, slowed by exhaustion and non-stop activity, was coming up blank.
The only thing she really wanted to talk about was why she kept dreaming about Leveman's Vortex, and how much she wanted to knock her mother into next week. But, as usual, she couldn't with Harms. And from the way he was looking at her, she wasn't sure he'd be receptive even if she could.
"Anything else, Razia?" he asked, superiorly. "I have a busy day telling other people how to live their lives."
"Oh don't be an ass." Razia rolled her eyes. "I was just—"
"Payment, please?" Harms said, holding out his hand.
"What, for that?" Razia blinked. "You barely gave me anything."
"You didn't ask anything, and I’m on the clock the moment you sit down," Harms said, looking at his tablet. "Not to mention all the freebies over the years."
"Fine then," she said, slamming her C-card down on the table, angrily watching him swipe it. "Take your damned money."
"Pleasure doing business with you, Razia," Harms said, pulling his tablet up in front of his face and ignoring her.
"Well...well, screw you too!" she snapped, standing up and snatching her C-card away from him. "Maybe I'll just go find another informant."
"Good luck finding someone who'll work with a woman."
Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"
"It's the truth," he responded, dragging his finger along the tablet as he continued to work. "Now run along and find this bounty you're so eager to capture."
"Fine, I will," she said, but with much less gumption than before, his words stinging more than she cared to admit.
***
She sat on the bridge of her ship, several windows open across her dashboard with Linro Lee's information. To be honest, she should've asked Harms a little bit more, but she couldn't call him now.
The nerve of him, saying that other informants wouldn't talk to her because she was a woman. She was in the top twenty! She'd turned in major pirates—Santos Journot, even. She had to have made some kind of impression.
Instinctively, she turned to look behind her to whine, but again, she was reminded that she was completely alone on her ship. She couldn't believe she was so wrapped up in not having Vel there—she'd done perfectly fine alone for two years. Why did she need anyone to talk to, when she could be bounty hunting?
She looked up at Lee's info in the pirate intraweb.
The three aliases that she'd discovered earlier had been used recently, although sparingly. Between the three, there were gaps in parking, in food, and other—
Her gaze traveled over to her mini-computer, as it lit up again. She reached over and ignored the call.
Other, she corrected herself, incidentals. She might be able to find him based only on the three, but it would be easier if she could figure out if he had a fourth alias. It was, of course, entirely possible he'd just not spent any money in the times when—
Her eyes darted to her mini-computer again, as he was calling her once more.
When there was a gap.
"God in Leveman's Vortex," she said, rubbing her face to wake up. She was on her second cup of coffee, but her scattered mind couldn't focus on the task at hand. What she really could've used was a good, long run on a planet.
But she was no longer excavating planets, so that was out. So was sleeping, which was more tossing and turning than actual sleep.
Her mini-computer lit up once more, and she turned it off.
***
Because of all her prep work, Lee was actually fairly easy to find—using one alias exclusively on M-6899. He must've been on vacation—it was a popular planet to plan a get-away. The planet itself was mostly water, with some small islands (most likely the tips of huge mountains from the surface floor). These islands were encompassed by all-inclusive resorts, but smaller cities were built on top of massive wooden docks. It was in one of these smaller cities—just the kind of place a pirate would be found—that Linro Lee was spending his time.
She lazily looked through the available parking decks, happy to find most of them wide open. She chose her spot and swiped her Lyssa C-card on the dashboard to pay.
Insufficient funds.
She stared at the pop-up on her dashboard, the words making sense but not computing. Insufficient funds? Was there some kind of minimum for this parking account? She could've sworn she had tons of money in her Lyssa Peate account.
Swallowing, she quickly turned to the Universal Bank to check her account balance.
Less than one hundred credits.
She sat back in shock.
She'd finally run out of money.
No, that wasn't entirely true. She had plenty of money—millions in fact—in her Razia account. But by swiping her Razia card, she would let any pirate hunting her know exactly where she was.
The smart and mature thing to do would be to turn her ship around, excavate a planet, sell it, then capture Linro Lee.
But the stubborn voice inside her head was having none of that, and she promptly slid the Razia C-card in her dashboard to pay for parking.
***
She was feeling rather paranoid and exposed as she walked along the warped wooden planks. Beneath the slats, she could see, hear, and smell salty water sloshing against the pillars extending down into the sea floor below. This planet, she mused, was probably a gold mine for some prospector—they'd paid a couple thousand credits for it, and now it was a major destination for vacationers. It might've been someone like that smartly-dressed prospector, who'd weaseled some poor DSE out of a huge profit.
Wait a second, she thought, annoyed with herself. Why did she keep thinking about things no longer part of her life?
She pulled out her mini-computer, opening Lee's profile again. He was still making purchases at a bar down the street. Still, she mused, scrolling down his recent transactions, even with a secret alias, he didn't appear to be hiding very well.
Five drinks today at the same bar.
Three nights at the same hotel—same room.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner—all within a two-block radius.
And this same pattern had gone on for the past three days.
Stuffing her mini-computer back in her pocket, she wondered why he could've gotten so sloppy. Maybe in the absence of Santos Journot (you're welcome, she thought bitterly), pirates were feeling a bit less pressure. Or maybe he'd just gotten cocky—not many left D-882 to hunt pirates.
Her thoughts were halted by the sight of someone familiar standing in front of the bar she was about to walk into. In her muddled thoughts, she could've sworn she'd been in this situation before.
"Hi friend," Sage said at her, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Ugh." She rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"
"Couple things," Sage said. "First, you need to apologize to Harms."
"He needs to apologize to…" She trailed off as her mind caught up. "What are you doing here? How did you find me? And why were you talking to Harms in the first place?"
"The answer to the second question is I know both your aliases," Sage said with an impatient smile. "So I can always find you."
"I only have one alias now," Razia snapped, trying to get around him.
"I noticed." Sage stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Pretty unlike you to have such a low balance. Don't you have a thing for that?"
"I'm not doing that anymore." Razia growled. "Move."
"You know, maybe you should take a week off. You're looking rough—"
"That's exactly what Harms said!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why does everyone seem to want to have a say in my life—"
"Come on, Lyss—"
"Don't call me that! I am done with her."
"Fine, whatever you want to call yourself," Sage said, gently taking her arm. "I'm telling you—"
"Get off," she said, shoving him away and marching into the bar.
"Seriously," Sage said, following her closely and looking around nervously. "This is not—"
"Go. Away." She growled, turning just as a drink was placed in front of her. She looked to the bartender curiously. "I didn't order this."
"He did," he said, pointing behind her.
Razia looked behind her, and, to her utter surprise, Relleck was standing there with seven of his goons.
And Linro Lee.
"What the..." Razia gaped, looking around.
"That's why," Sage snapped in a whisper. "Maybe next time you should take the hint when Harms is trying to help—"
"Harms wouldn't sell me…" She trailed off in realization. "Oh…yeah, he would."
"He was trying to get you to take a break so he wouldn't have to. But, as usual, you had to be a real bitch when anyone tries to help you—"
"How dare you!"
"Hate to interrupt the date," Relleck said. "Should we do this the easy way, or do we have to endure another one of your pathetic attempts at defending yourselves?"
"Do you really think I'd be dumb enough to come here without my crew?" Sage said, as a group of six rose from a table in the corner.
"Of course not," Relleck said, motioning to the other side of the bar. At least ten men rose from their seats and joined them.
"Oh come on," Sage said.
"Now, as
I was saying," Relleck said as his goons closed around them.
"Hold on," Razia screamed. "Just...hold on a second."
All the men in the room looked to her expectantly.
"Who are you hunting, really?" Razia said.
"That doesn’t matter," Relleck said, stepping forward.
"Yes it does." She poked her finger at Relleck’s chest. "Who are you after?"
Sage made a gesture toward Relleck, mouthing something.
"Well, obviously, I’m after Teon, but you're a good consolation prize."
Razia stood back, blinking for a moment before balling her fist and lunging with a, "You son of a—"
When her fist hit his chin, the melee started. She was shoved and pushed between different fist fights, ducking and bobbing as fists and jaws went flying all over the place.
Oof!
Crash!
Out of nowhere, an elbow knocked her right in the stomach. She fell down to her knees, and found herself looking up at a fast moving gaggle of men, all focused on everything except her on the ground. If she scooted ever so slightly, she could wriggle her way out of the tangle of legs and feet.
Out of the brawl, she took stock of the sight. Nearly twenty men—the entire population of the bar—were beating the crap out of each other.
And although she could've easily slipped out the door to safety, she had unfinished business to attend to.
Putting her fingers in her mouth, she whistled loudly enough to get everyone's attention, as she readied her feet to run.
She locked eyes with her target and smirked. "Hey Relleck. Come get me."
She hung around long enough to see him untangle himself before twisting around and breaking out into a planet-worthy sprint down the wooden street.
She could see him chasing her out of the corner of her eye, and was glad to see no one else following him. He was getting close, and she broke out into an all-out, creature-fleeing run, putting some distance between them.
When she felt he was far enough behind her, she suddenly ducked between two buildings, holding herself flat against the wall and waiting with a quiet, excited pant.
She heard the footsteps and readied herself, instinctively reaching out and grabbing the back of his shirt, using his inertia to throw him into the alley. He landed in a heap, winded and dazed from the chase, but she could see the angry fire in his eyes.
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