by EJ Fisch
-11-
East Sun
Fringe space
Dane Bothum turned toward the door when he heard it open, hoping for some results. Instead, he found two of his soldiers watching him from the doorway. Annoyed, he motioned for them to come in and checked to see if the governor was still unconscious. “What is it?” he asked gruffly.
“Transmission for you, sir” one of them replied, handing him a communicator.
He took it and waved the soldiers away. “Bothum here,” he answered.
“I had to get back before I was missed,” came the voice of his informant. “I’ll return to you soon. It shouldn’t be too long before they start to figure out what’s going on down here.”
“Did you get a name?”
“Two, actually,” the woman replied. “The first person who had access to the Tantali database was Saiffe’s personal assistant, and she was conveniently out on maternity leave at the time of the interception. The other is the governor’s son, Jayden Saiffe.”
Bothum straightened, suddenly much more interested in the conversation than he had been a moment before. “And what became of this Jayden Saiffe?”
“He was picked up after the attack. They’re holding him at HSP headquarters.”
And the situation got complicated just as fast as it had turned for the better. “We need him.”
“I’ll send someone to get him out. We’ll have him to you soon.”
“For your sake, you’d better hope he hasn’t told them anything,” Bothum snapped. “Bring me that boy!”
-12-
HSP Headquarters
Noro, Haphez
“Found anything on our Tantali visitors?” Aroska asked as he returned to the situation room after escorting Jayden to a private holding room.
Skeet and Zinni looked up from their work. Ziva was nowhere in sight. “I found something interesting in the agency’s transmission logs,” Zinni said. “The original transmission saying that the governor would be here today is there, it was just overwritten. However, whoever did it either didn’t know that file history was enabled, or they didn’t care.” She paused, flashing a mischievous grin. “It was just a matter of restoring the original message.”
“Good work,” Aroska said. He paused a moment, bothered by the fact that he’d just sounded as if he were speaking to Tate and Jole. He suppressed the thought, burying it just as their remains had been buried under the rubble of the demolished building. “Where’s Ziva?”
Zinni shrugged, either indicating that she didn’t know or that it was none of his business. “Get this. The false transmission file – the one that said the Tantalis wouldn’t be here until tomorrow – was created three seconds after the real one came through. That’s when the edit took place. The switch happened like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“They knew it was coming,” Skeet concluded, “and they were waiting for it.”
Aroska nodded thoughtfully, processing the information. “So someone inside HSP has been monitoring the Tantali Royal House, waiting for a transmission so they could replace it with a false one. They changed it quickly so nobody would know the truth—” he shot an approving glance at Zinni “—therefore enabling Solaris to set up an attack in the forest without us realizing what was really going on. It didn’t really matter if someone found the original message as long as the false one bought them enough time to do their damage.”
“We’re lucky we got that tip when we did,” Skeet said.
“Solaris is after the governor for a reason,” Aroska continued, “and they’ve got someone good enough to hack into the agency’s systems.”
Zinni tapped furiously at her keyboard. “Either Jayden really doesn’t know what’s going on, or he’s not telling us everything.”
“Ziva will love that,” Skeet scoffed.
Aroska looked to the open door. “Where is she?” he asked again. Upon thinking harder, he wasn’t exactly sure why he cared. Somehow the idea of keeping tabs on her seemed appealing.
Skeet actually looked like he might answer, but a blaring alarm cut him off. A bright strobe flashed red from a unit on the wall.
“What the…” Zinni muttered, quickly transferring all of the data to a memory stick.
The three of them made their way out onto the squad floor, falling into stride with the other agents who chattered nervously among themselves as they filed toward the nearest exit.
“Maybe it’s some sort of drill,” someone murmured. “Aren’t we usually notified about things like this?”
Aroska paused, held back by some inexplicable feeling in his gut. Had they not just confirmed that Solaris had access to some of HSP’s systems? That meant they were certainly capable of remotely triggering the emergency alarm, but what would that accomplish? It would force everyone out of the building, keep them occupied as they searched for the source of the alarm. Divert our attention away from what’s really going on, he thought. He stepped out of line and went up the stairs instead of down.
“We need to get Jayden,” he said before Skeet or Zinni could even ask where he was going.
“He’ll be evacuated with an escort,” Zinni called. “We’ll rendezvous with him outside!”
Aroska was grateful when he heard the two of them rushing up the steps behind him. “Skeet, you said it yourself. We don’t know if Solaris is still after him or not. This could be nothing. Even if that’s the case, I’d rather not leave him in someone else’s hands.” He hesitated before admitting, “Something just doesn’t feel right.”
He sprinted up the remaining stairs three at a time with Skeet and Zinni hot on his heels. Considering they both outranked him, he wondered if he was perhaps undermining their authority. But neither of them had explicitly told him to remain downstairs, and of all people, they were most likely to understand his thought process.
The three of them arrived at the holding area, a bank of secure, private rooms situated between the field ops and spec ops wings. The rooms were well-furnished and comfortable, designed for holding witnesses and important visitors rather than criminals. All the doors were already open, no doubt unlocked by the warden when the alarm had sounded. Aroska went straight to the room where he had left Jayden, rendered momentarily speechless by the sight of the broken lamp and overturned chair within. The young man had been escorted out all right, but it appeared that he hadn’t gone willingly.
“Damn it,” he muttered, frantically glancing into each of the other rooms as he continued down the corridor.
“You were right about something being off here,” Zinni said as she rushed forward to the warden’s office space. “Oh sheyss.”
Aroska and Skeet leaned over the warden’s desk to find Zinni crouched beside the man’s body. A trickle of blood oozed from his temple, marking the spot where he’d been struck with something solid. His access card remained clipped to his belt, untouched.
Zinni pressed her fingers to his neck, checking for a pulse. “He’s alive.”
“Who the hell has Jayden, then?” Skeet demanded.
“You two go,” Zinni said, waving them away. “I’ll stay with him.”
Skeet and Aroska began to walk briskly down the hall, dodging the occasional agent who was still trying to leave. “It takes Level 4 clearance to access anything on this floor,” Skeet pointed out, looking wildly about as they moved. “Taking that and the shape of that room into consideration, I think it’s safe to assume that Solaris didn’t break in remotely.”
“If they still need him for some reason – and I’m beginning to think they do – they’ll do anything to get him,” Aroska said. “What’s to say they didn’t physically breach the building?”
“That’s impossible. The whole complex has been on Code Orange lockdown since we brought Jayden in. Nobody’s been able to get in or out without proper identification.”
Aroska turned a corner and pulled up short. There was Ziva, standing alone, pistol aimed down one of the landing pad access corridors. Slowly, Aroska drew
his own weapon and moved up behind her, followed by Skeet. “Then they were already here,” he muttered.
Down the short entry hall, backing toward the door, was a large man with an HSP ID tag clipped to his jacket. His right arm was clamped around Jayden’s neck, and with his left hand he pressed a gun against the young man’s side.
“Let him go!” Ziva ordered. “Drop your weapon!”
Rather than comply, the man began to drag Jayden closer to the door and opened fire on the three of them. The young human ducked as low as he could and wriggled out of the distracted Haphezian’s grasp. The intruder immediately shifted his aim back toward the boy as he struggled to open the locked door.
“Jayden, get down!” Aroska shouted, firing at the man before he could shoot. He crumpled to the ground as the sizzling bolt of white-hot plasma struck him in the chest, and in that instant the entire building fell eerily silent. Even the alarm had been deactivated.
Without a word, Ziva stepped forward to get a closer look at the dead man. She plucked his ID tag from his jacket, tossed it to Skeet, and rolled his sleeve up. Aroska watched as she tore away his timepiece, revealing the Solaris tattoo underneath. It was lighter-colored than most, no doubt to help hide it, but it was there nonetheless.
“I’ve seen this guy around,” Skeet said, giving Aroska a look before tossing the ID back to Ziva. “He’s legitimate HSP. Still, someone of his rank wouldn’t have had clearance to open the holding rooms. He had to have help from somebody else.”
Ziva caught the tag but didn’t seem to be paying attention to what he was saying. She stood up, her red eyes on fire. “What were you thinking?” she demanded of Aroska.
Perhaps killing the intruder hadn’t been the smartest move, but did she not realize that in doing so he had saved Jayden’s life? “I was protecting our witness,” he replied bluntly, returning her hot stare with one of his own.
“And you also just killed our only link to Solaris,” she snapped. “There were no survivors in the forest.” She glared at him for a few more seconds before storming away down the hall.
Skeet cleared his throat, gave Aroska an apologetic glance, and jogged after Ziva. Wondering briefly if he could ever do anything right in her eyes, Aroska watched them go and then turned to Jayden.
“You okay?”
The young man was shaking, but managed a nod.
-13-
HSP Headquarters
Noro, Haphez
“At ease, Lieutenant,” Emeri Arion said before Ziva had even made it through the office door. “You’re going to stand here and listen to what I have to say. Understand?”
Ziva sighed and positioned herself a meter or so in front of his desk, wondering why he had called her in. He clearly knew her well enough to know that she was unhappy with the incident that had just occurred with Jayden, and he’d been smart enough to shut her up before she had a chance to protest. The young man was now under the watchful eyes of Skeet, Zinni, and Tarbic to prevent a recurrence of what had just happened. It was obvious that not even the walls of HSP could keep him safe, and he would have to be taken somewhere else.
“I know you well enough to know that you’re probably not thrilled with what just happened,” Emeri began.
Ziva raised an eyebrow.
“Mr. Saiffe isn’t going to give us any further information if he doesn’t feel safe, and it’s clear that he is no longer adequately protected here. I’m placing you and your team in charge of transferring him to more secure location. You will coordinate all investigation-related activities with Adin Woro and the Alpha field ops team while you keep Jayden in protective custody.”
Ziva cleared her throat. “Sir, with all due respect, what the hell are you thinking?”
“Payvan, please be quiet and let me finish,” the director commanded. “This has become your primary mission. The assignment you received yesterday will be postponed until further notice. You and your team will continue the investigation into Governor Saiffe’s abduction from the field, all the while protecting his son. But if I hear of anything – and I do mean anything – that you’ve done to compromise Jayden’s safety, you’re off the case.”
Ziva nodded. The idea of babysitting the young human was less than appealing, and so was finding the governor for that matter. She didn’t know much about this potential alliance with Tantal, but in her opinion it wasn’t worth the minerals – however valuable and useful they might be – the Haphezians would receive in exchange for protecting the small human colony. Even her original mission to take down the local Solaris captain would be better than this, although it too seemed like a waste of her talent. Not only were she and her teammates the best that special ops had to offer, but she was one of a few contract assassins within the spec ops division that could be paid off the books to carry out tasks the agency and military couldn’t be directly involved in. Only a few people – the ones she’d told – knew she was anything more than special ops. Emeri obviously knew, and he was still willing to give her this menial assignment.
“We’ll take Jayden to my place,” she said. “He’ll be safe there.”
“Very well,” Emeri agreed. “For security reasons, this information will go no further than this room. However, relocating will require you to work more closely with Lieutenant Tarbic, and as I understand, you two are having some problems. Believe me, I wouldn’t have assigned him to your team if I’d known how much he knew about his brother’s death. It’s true that he’s going to have to temporarily put the past behind him if this arrangement is going to work. But judging by what I saw in here yesterday, you’re certainly not helping the situation.”
It was all Ziva could to do keep from rolling her eyes.
“This is a massive agency, is it not?” Emeri continued. “I have more important things to do than break up fights between you two. You’re the best we’ve got, and I will not have our best conducting themselves like juveniles. Now nod your head and show me that you understand everything I just said.”
Ziva didn’t nod, but she did understand. He was right after all – cooperating was going to require effort from both parties. It was just going to be a long evening. “Sir,” she said, dipping her head and walking quickly out of the room.
-14-
HSP Headquarters
Noro, Haphez
Aroska emerged from the cafeteria stirring a glass of govino juice, the virgin version of the fruity drink derived from the fleshy seeds of the govino pods that were so plentiful on Haphez. He took a sip and winced, unable to help but think that it tasted odd without the alcohol that he was used to. Rules were rules, though – drinking of any kind was not tolerated on the HSP campus.
He meandered out of the cafeteria, lost in thought as he made his way back to the elevator. He’d been right to shoot the Solaris intruder, hadn’t he? Ziva was correct in that valuable information could have been gained from an interrogation, but wasn’t keeping Jayden alive more important? He convinced himself that he didn’t really care what Ziva thought and that he’d made a good decision.
Gentle hands suddenly took hold of his jacket, pulling him out of his thoughts and into a vacant office. He closed his eyes as a pair of soft lips found his, and for a moment he allowed himself to forget about the stress of dealing with Ziva and Jayden. The moment was exactly that, however, over just as fast as it had begun. The same stress he’d escaped from was what drew him back to the present, and he reluctantly pulled away.
“Not here, okay?” he said quietly.
Saun Zaid gazed up at him with her striking fuchsia eyes, forcing a disappointed smirk. “You’re right, I’m sorry,” she said, smoothing down his jacket. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since yesterday.”
“I was reassigned,” Aroska answered, brushing some strands of loose hair from her face. She had gentle features, a radiant smile, and her black hair was streaked with vivid stripes that matched her eyes. Despite the fact that he outranked her, she’d taken him under her wing when he’d joined
the Solaris Control Unit after losing Jole and Tate. The two of them had worked many cases together in the past three months and had become rather… close. Aroska still wasn’t entirely sure what it was that they shared, but he liked it.
Saun took a nervous step back. “Reassigned? What does that mean?”
“I’ll be back to the SCU in no time,” Aroska reassured her. “I’m part of a temporary joint task force with a spec ops team.”
“Are you serious?” Saun’s eyes gleamed and she grinned wide. “That’s fantastic! Who’s your supervisor?”
Aroska hesitated. He’d never told her what he knew about Soren’s death, so he doubted Ziva’s name would have any real significance for her. Part of him was leery about sharing any information with anyone, but the other part trusted Saun just as much as Adin.
“Ziva Payvan,” he replied.
Saun lifted her eyebrows. “Wow. Adin told me you’d been having a rough couple of days. I guess that explains it. Isn’t she supposed to be some sort of hotshot shouka who won’t take no for an answer and thinks she owns this place?”
The rumors that had trickled down through the agency’s ranks over the years made Ziva sound like some fictional bully. Aroska often wished he could still be as sheltered as everyone else, oblivious to Ziva’s true identity and nature. “She’s definitely a hardass,” he said.
“You can be one yourself sometimes, you know,” Saun said, jabbing her index finger into his chest. “Maybe you need to show her who’s boss.”