Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1

by EJ Fisch

  Her focus was drawn to the nostium jar and the drip bag on the dining table. She threw them into the kitchen sink with a wad of paper and lit them on fire, opening the window to allow the fumes to escape the room. The thin plastic tube and bag melted away quickly. The glass jar itself didn’t burn, but the fire consumed the nostium residue and the shattered container contributed nicely to the rest of the mess in the room when Ziva threw it on the floor. She pocketed the needle and rinsed any remnants down the drain, extinguishing the flames. The final step was Gamon’s communicator; she retrieved it and tore out the memory chip, erasing any evidence that he had ever contacted her. She wiped all of her fingerprints from it and then chucked it at the wall, destroying the delicate screen.

  She heard the hum of engines outside and knew that law enforcement had arrived. The building’s front doors burst open and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the spiraling stairwell. Ziva dropped back down to the floor, ready to play the part of the injured victim, but the swollen injection site on her arm caught her attention. While nostium was undetectable in the blood stream, any sign of an injection would raise questions she didn’t want to answer. After a brief search for a solution, she did the first thing that came to mind. Gritting her teeth, she ran her arm across the end of the kytara that wasn’t impaling Gamon’s body, opening up a second gash over the hole left by the needle. She quickly collapsed onto her back and closed her eyes, and that was how the officers found her when they entered with weapons raised.

  Ziva didn’t remember much about the next two days. The first hours were spent in the med center receiving treatment for her face and arm. Then she found herself caught up in a whirlwind of HSP red tape and the relentless news reporters who had learned about her battle with Gamon. They no doubt wanted to make sure everyone knew about the young woman who had somehow killed a Nosti by herself. The agency took her under its wing, releasing her name but declining all interviews and photo opportunities. She remained safely anonymous, tucked away in the dorms at HSP’s training center.

  She lay quietly on her bed on the third day, staring up at the ceiling and wishing she could catch some shut-eye during her allotted down time. Her roommate, a short girl with stunning blue eyes, napped on the bunk against the opposite wall. Ziva recognized her from school and basic training. The girl had a long, cumbersome name, but everyone had always just called her Zinni. She seemed nice enough; in any case, she hadn’t bothered Ziva with questions about Gamon or her injuries, and that was much appreciated.

  A knock drew Ziva’s attention to the room’s open door and she found a training officer standing there.

  “Payvan, someone here to see you,” he said.

  Intrigued, Ziva got up and followed him down the hall. She wondered if her mother had by chance come to visit after hearing about the battle. It was probably just wishful thinking, and it really wasn’t even wishful – it was just thinking. She honestly had no desire to see her mother, not now anyway. Namani Payvan-Jaroon had changed after losing her husband in the Fringe War, after marrying the Royal General, after giving birth to Ziva’s twin half-siblings. The woman was the primary reason Ziva had run away from Haphor and returned to Noro as a child. She had never been exactly sure what had caused the change. It was some combination of depression, denial, and no doubt persuasion from Njo, the bastard that he was. He’d despised Ziva from the beginning, so she’d loathed him in return.

  Ziva felt her face flush with anger and she shook her head. Getting worked up over the past was pointless. She continued following the officer until they came to the cafeteria, where several high-level agents were gathered around a man wearing a formal HSP uniform. She immediately recognized him as Director Emeri Arion.

  “You must be Payvan,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand as she approached. “I’d address you as ‘Novice’ like all the other recruits, but that title hardly seems appropriate after what you’ve done.”

  She wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to respond, so she simply nodded and shook his hand in return.

  “Ziva, I came here to make you a proposition. I’m sure you’re familiar with the agency’s operations divisions. Only the best agents become part of our ops teams.” He consulted a data pad one of the agents passed to him. “The academy has given you some impressive marks already. You’ve broken some records that I didn’t think could ever be broken, and you somehow managed to best a rogue Nosti without any formal training. Your background data and psych profile are exactly what I’m looking for. I want to turn you into a special ops agent.”

  Ziva blinked. “Sir?”

  “You’ll still undergo the same training regimen as everyone else, of course. We can fine-tune the skills you already have and build on them. It will be up to you to work hard and pass all the tests, but if you’re willing to do that, I’ll pull you out of the Junior Guard and move you straight into the ops training program. What do you think?”

  It was the first time Ziva had smiled in a long time. “I’d like that very much, sir.”

  -23-

  Payvan residence

  Noro, Haphez

  Ziva’s foot twitched when she felt someone’s fingers brush against it. Her eyelids fluttered open and she sat bolt upright when she saw morning light pouring in through the window. She was on the living room sofa, and she vaguely remembered sitting down to keep an eye on the front door while Aroska and Ryon sat with an unconscious Jayden. The fact that she’d accidentally dozed off made her sick.

  “Morning, beautiful,” Skeet said with a grin, tickling her foot again. He extended a glass of govino juice.

  “Oh shut up.” Ziva pulled her legs down from where they’d rested on the center table and quickly swallowed the contents of the glass. “How long have I been out?” she gasped.

  “About an hour,” Skeet replied. “Aroska didn’t want to bother you.”

  Ziva stood up. “Skeet, there could be a Solaris army surrounding this house as we speak. Please, by all means, bother me.” She took a moment to brush some loose hair out of her face. “How long have you been here?”

  “Twenty minutes or so,” Skeet replied, stirring his own juice. “Aroska says you don’t think Solaris wants Jayden dead. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Ziva gave her sleepy mind another few seconds to wake up before mustering up an explanation. “Think about it. They’ve had three different opportunities. First of all, they could have just shot him in the forest along with the rest of the Tantali guards. Then, at HSP, our Solaris inside man had plenty of time to off him before we caught up to them. Instead, he created a diversion by pulling the emergency alarm and tried to lead him out of the building. Last night, that Sardon was obviously involved with Solaris, so why didn’t he just kill Jayden while he was sleeping? He used Axonyte and was dragging him out of the house. They’re trying to take him somewhere, somewhere away from us. They need him for something.”

  “Presumably related to this transmission that the Sardon mentioned?”

  Ziva nodded. “Like you said yesterday, we’re not sure if Solaris left Jayden in the forest when they saw us coming or if they just didn’t know they needed him yet.”

  “What are you saying?” asked Aroska, who had just come in from outside.

  “I’m saying we could be dealing with one of two scenarios. Case one: Solaris knew they needed Jayden but they were forced to abandon him in order to escape before we could capture any of them. Now they’re trying again.”

  “Unlikely,” Skeet said, shaking his head. “It doesn’t seem like it would have been that hard to grab him. They took the governor easily enough.”

  “Which is why Scenario Two makes more sense,” Ziva went on. “Solaris captures Governor Saiffe, hoping he can provide them with information about this ‘transmission,’ but they realize later that they also require Jayden for whatever reason. That would explain why they just dumped him in the clearing – they didn’t know that he was the one they needed.”

  “I see
what you mean,” Aroska said. “That’s why they haven’t just killed him – they need him alive to do whatever the governor couldn’t. Still, that guy at HSP was ready to shoot him yesterday before I took him down.”

  “Meaning they don’t want Jayden telling us whatever it is that they want from him,” Skeet concluded. “If they can’t have him, no one can.” He grew quiet for a moment. “You don’t think Jayden was involved in the governor’s abduction, do you? Maybe it’s no coincidence that he’s still alive.”

  “I suppose it’s something to take into consideration,” Aroska admitted after several long seconds of silence.

  “Either way, he’s still hiding something from us,” Ziva said. “I’ve got to go talk to him.”

  “He’s still asleep,” Skeet said, stopping her from rushing off. “He seems to be conscious now but we haven’t been able to wake him up yet. Ryon is with him now.”

  “Maybe we’ll learn something from Vinny Jaxton,” Aroska suggested. “I’m leaving to find him now.”

  “Then I’m coming with you,” Ziva said, slipping on her boots and taking a jacket from the hook by the door. She fastened her supply belt and holster and turned to Skeet. “You got things handled here?”

  He nodded. “Go. Zinni will be here soon, and we’ll contact you if anything comes up.”

  Ziva pulled on her jacket and made sure her pistol was fully charged. “I would still love to know how the hell Solaris found us,” she said as she and Aroska went out the door. “And they somehow breached my security. This is an HSP-grade system…” She stopped there, her mind making the connection just as the words left her mouth. If someone had managed to alter the agency’s transmission logs, trigger an emergency drill, and access the holding rooms, they probably wouldn’t have had a problem remotely disabling her system. She swore under her breath; it was time for an upgrade.

  It was another clean, crisp morning and a thin layer of fog crept across the grass as they made their way to the car. “I wish you’d be a little more patient with the kid,” Aroska said, getting into the pilot’s seat.

  “He’s not telling us everything,” Ziva shot back. “Solaris keeps coming back because they want whatever he’s hiding. All of this is his fault.”

  “Ziva, he’s alone and terrified. The people who are supposed to be protecting him shouldn’t make him more afraid.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop telling me how to do my job.”

  Aroska maneuvered the vehicle across the massive yard and into the outskirts of Noro. “And what exactly is your job? Who are you, Ziva Payvan? You seem to know all there is to know about me, but I know next to nothing about you. You’ve got the rest of HSP walking on eggshells. What’s so special about you?”

  “That is both confidential and none of your business,” Ziva replied.

  He scoffed. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, you’re just one more arrogant shouka who couldn’t care less about anyone but herself.”

  Ziva took a moment to stare out the window at the passing scenery. “You’re not wrong there,” she sighed. I don’t care because I can’t care, not in this business.

  Aroska’s knuckles were white on the steering controls. “You’re unbelievable,” he muttered.

  They completed their journey in awkward silence. Soon they arrived at Lakin Square, which accounted for the greater part of downtown Noro and stretched from the spaceport and HSP Headquarters to the projects on the east side. They veered the craft toward the latter where various shops were located, though the majority of the buildings were run down and abandoned. Aroska stopped the car a short distance from a shop that had certainly seen better days but still displayed an open sign in the window.

  Ziva reached for the door handle, but Aroska’s hand on her shoulder held her back. “Stay here,” he said rather gruffly. “I’ll go in first. We don’t want to scare him off.”

  He got out and went inside, leaving her alone. She climbed out as well and leaned against the car. Suddenly so many questions – how was she supposed to answer? “The greatest killer in the history of HSP.” People usually didn’t take kindly to that. In fact, only a select few even knew – Emeri and some of the agency’s captains, Skeet and Zinni, and then Marshay and Ryon were aware to an extent. The only thing everyone else knew was that she was the lieutenant of the Alpha special-ops team who went off-world for one service term per year, not the part about being one of HSP’s contract assassins. If Aroska really wanted the two of them to get along – which they needed to – he didn’t need to know.

  Taking a deep breath of morning air, Ziva took a moment to look around the part of the huge square that she could see. There were quite a few people wandering to and fro, some obviously drunk or high. Although the city of Noro already had a reputation for being rough, this area exceeded the norm. The people here were dirty and fearful, and the crime rate soared. The streets were dark and narrow, and most of the buildings were old and scarred with bullet holes and plasma burns.

  Aroska emerged from the shop, disappointed. “He’s not here,” he announced, approaching the car, “but his stuff is inside and this is his bike parked out here.”

  “You know where to find him then?” Ziva asked, crossing her arms.

  Aroska smirked and pulled a small sack from his pocket, displaying the bundle of short brown objects it contained: govino sticks. While the juice of the same name was derived from the fruity seeds inside the govino pods, the outer shells contained a hallucinogenic compound and were often crushed, rolled, and smoked recreationally. Ziva had smoked a stick on a couple of occasions but didn’t like the way it made her head feel foggy.

  “Jaxton is one of my confidential informants – I didn’t want to share that in front of everyone last night,” Aroska explained. “He’s a very heavy smoker; ergo it’s not very hard to bribe him for information. These junkies will do anything for a fix. If I know Jaxton, he’ll be nearby having a smoke. You take a look around out here, and I’ll check out back.” He showed her a photo of the man on his data pad. “We’ll meet back here in five.”

  He disappeared down the alley beside the shop, leaving Ziva alone again. She turned back toward the square and began to wander toward a more crowded area down the street. There were several benches situated around a rusty old fountain that was blanketed by fungus and barely dribbling. A man that appeared to be Jaxton sat on one of the benches with his back turned, smoking a govino stick just as Aroska had predicted.

  Ziva approached slowly and came around to perch on the back of the bench. She could now see that the man was indeed Vinny Jaxton, but he was either too stoned to realize she was there or he just didn’t care. He looked like an average inner-city junkie, with filthy clothes, greasy hair, and dark circles around his eyes. His hands were in his lap, one of which held his half-smoked govino stick, and he was staring vacantly ahead at the fountain.

  Unsure whether to begin without Aroska, Ziva took a deep breath and cleared her throat, staring straight ahead at the fountain.

  For a moment Jaxton didn’t move, and Ziva wondered if he’d picked up on such a subtle gesture. However, after several seconds of awkward silence, he brought the govino stick to his lips and shot her a glance. “Cash?” he asked, exhaling the smoke through his nose.

  “Sure.”

  He was quiet for another few seconds. “What are you interested in?” he drawled.

  “Information,” Ziva replied, revealing the HSP credentials under her jacket.

  For appearing to be so out of it, Jaxton certainly reacted quickly. He dropped the stick and scrambled to his feet to run, but Ziva seized the back of his coat before he made it more than two steps. He only struggled for a moment before she wrenched his arm behind him and led him back to the shop, where she pinned him to the wall with her pistol to his chest.

  “Please,” he whimpered. “I’m only holding it for a friend. None of it is mine! I swear!”

  “I’m not here about drugs, you idiot,” Ziva snarled, moving the barr
el of the gun up to his forehead. “I want—”

  “Hey, hey, hey! Ziva, Ziva!” Aroska stepped into the shop, keeping his own pistol trained on her for a couple of seconds longer than she would have liked. “Let him go.”

  Ziva glanced from one man to the other and then holstered her weapon, reluctantly stepping aside. This was Aroska’s turf after all, and although she felt more confident in her own interrogation techniques, it couldn’t hurt to let him run the show.

  “Jaxton?” Aroska said quietly, extending a hand in an attempt to calm the man. “We’re just here to ask a few questions.”

  Jaxton hadn’t taken his eyes off Ziva since Aroska came in. “Is she okay?” he asked, finally turning away.

  “She’s with me,” Aroska replied, sliding his gun back into its holster. “In fact, if Lieutenant Payvan wants any information from you, I expect you to fully cooperate. Can you do that?”

  The man still seemed unsure, but nodded anyway. “What do you people want?”

  “I need some information about Solaris,” Aroska replied. “What have they been up to lately?”

  Jaxton moved around to the other side of the shop’s counter and took a seat on a tall stool. “Not much,” he answered. “You of all people would know if something was going on. What do you want to know?”

  “We want to know what connections they have with Sardonis,” Ziva said. She took hold of his arm and rolled his sleeve back to reveal the Solaris star, the same one the insurgents in the forest bore. “I came across a Sardon last night with this tattoo, only there was an extra mark here. What do Sardons have to do with Solaris?”