Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1

by EJ Fisch

  At the mention of the word “Sardon,” Jaxton’s pulse had quickened – Ziva could feel it in his wrist. He was hesitant to reply, but swallowed. “The other mark is to differentiate…” he began as beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead. His breathing became quick and uneven. “I can’t say…” he said, quickly attempting to get up.

  Ziva clamped down on his arm and held him there. “Differentiate between what?”

  He tried to pry her hand away, but he was shaking so badly that it was no use. “Please,” he murmured, running his tongue over his dry lips. “I… I need another smoke.”

  “Jaxton?” Aroska pressed.

  “They’ll kill me if they find out I told you.”

  Ziva glanced at Aroska, who immediately went to shut and lock the door. He quickly swept over the rest of the shop, making sure the environment was secure.

  “Who?” Ziva asked as soon as he returned.

  “I can’t tell you,” Jaxton cried desperately. “Please, they have complete control over me. They will kill me.”

  “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Aroska said. “Is there any way they’d know we’re here right now?”

  Jaxton shook his head. “I don’t know. I… don’t think so.”

  “Then talk to us.”

  Ziva slid her hand form Jaxton’s arm and leaned forward in anticipation. “Who are they?”

  Still shaking, Jaxton raked his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. “The second star you saw on the Sardon is to differentiate between us and them,” he explained slowly, glancing around as if he was unsure whether or not to go on. “It’s a second Solaris cell based on Sardonis, controlled by a man named Dane Bothum.”

  “Do you know where this Bothum is located?” Ziva asked.

  “He uses Dakiti as a primary headquarters.”

  “The Sardon medical facility?”

  “That’s right.”

  Ziva nodded to herself, thinking things over. “Are you aware that Solaris abducted Governor Enrik Saiffe of Tantal yesterday?”

  “Yes,” Jaxton replied, “and I also heard that there were no Solaris survivors after HSP showed up. Can I assume you were there?”

  Aroska didn’t answer. “Jaxton, who is the Solaris agent working inside HSP?” he asked bluntly.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  His shifting eyes gave away the lie. “I’m pretty sure you do,” Ziva said, removing her pistol and holding it where he could see it.

  Aroska held a warning hand out to her and pulled out the bag of govino sticks. To Ziva’s surprise, he lit one of the sticks for himself and pointedly took a long drag from it, looking the junkie in the eye as he did so. Jaxton immediately reached for the sack, but Aroska kept it just out of his grasp. “Who?” he repeated.

  “You don’t want to know,” Jaxton answered.

  “Don’t do this to me, Jaxton.”

  “One smoke. Let me think things over, and then I might tell you. Just one.”

  Aroska looked to Ziva for a moment and then reluctantly tossed the man a stick. “Fine. You’ve got two minutes.”

  Jaxton gratefully took up the govino stick and let himself out the front door. He leaned up against the large window, staying in sight.

  “Will he run?” Ziva asked.

  “If he does, he’s too wasted to make it very far,” Aroska replied, pocketing the remainder of the sticks and snuffing out the lit one on the counter.

  “Then how do you know the information he’s giving us is even credible?”

  “I don’t, but at least he’s giving us something.”

  Ziva looked toward Jaxton at the exact moment that the sizzling plasma bolt struck him in the head. She dove to the floor, dragging Aroska with her. “Someone obviously doesn’t want him giving us anything,” she muttered, straining to see out the window. There was a streak of blood where his head had struck the glass on impact, and she could see part of his limp body where it had collapsed on the walkway outside. The shot had come from a distance, but there was no way to tell whether the shooter was aware of their presence inside.

  “Sheyss,” Aroska swore, pulling himself into a sitting position against the wall. “Can you see anything?”

  Ziva shook her head but looked out again anyway. There was a line of sickly trees that obscured her view of the shops across the street – beyond that were the tall buildings of the city. The shot could have come from just about anywhere.

  “Is there a back door?” she whispered, though there was no real need to be quiet.

  “This way,” he replied. Crouching low, he led her around the counter and into a storage room where a door led into the alley behind the building. Everything was quiet. The shooter was probably long gone – anyone with a brain stem would be out of there before surveillance probes could catch them on camera.

  The two of them crept along the outside wall, moving back around toward the front. So far nobody else had approached the building or stopped to examine the body. Their vehicle waited directly down the alley, also untouched.

  “Come on,” Ziva said. “Stay low.” She sprinted for the car and turned to find Aroska, who had stopped and was going through Jaxton’s coat pockets.

  “Give me a second,” he said, aware that she was waiting. His hand emerged with what appeared to be a communicator, and he hurried to join her in the car.

  Ziva pulled the vehicle away and took off as fast as she could. “This definitely complicates things,” she muttered, taking a look at Aroska. “Find something?”

  “Maybe,” he replied thoughtfully, plugging the communicator into the car’s portable computer. “Let’s see who he’s been talking to.”

  The device’s contact history came up on the small screen and Ziva did her best to read through the numbers as she steered through the city traffic. “That looks like an HSP code,” she pointed out, motioning toward a frequently used number. “Is it traceable?”

  “Won’t be able to get any chatter,” Aroska replied, “but I’ve already pinpointed a location. We need to get to Headquarters right now.”

  -24-

  HSP Headquarters

  Noro, Haphez

  Aroska held the portable computer from the car as he and Ziva came out of the elevator onto the field ops squad floor. “We’re right on top of it,” he announced, looking around. There was a garbage receptacle just to his left. Handing the computer to Ziva, he took hold of it and spilled its contents onto the floor. Ziva joined him and together they dug through the scraps of discarded food, paper, and plastic.

  “What’s going on?” Adin exclaimed, rushing over from his desk.

  “We’re looking for this,” Ziva replied, recovering a small white communicator from the pile of trash. She stood up, as did Aroska. “Someone was using it to contact one of Lieutenant Tarbic’s CIs.”

  Adin took it from her and looked it over. “This is one of the encrypted comm units that all the captains use.” He handed it back to Aroska. “You’re saying the mole was using it to get in touch with your contact?”

  “Yes,” Ziva replied, snatching the communicator and handing it back to Adin, “and he happens to be dead now, shot in the head right before we could question him. Whoever has been talking to him wanted to make sure he doesn’t tell us anything. They probably dumped the communicator here recently, maybe when they realized Jaxton had company.” She warily swept her eyes over the squad floor but saw nothing of interest. The area was clear of any surveillance cams that might have caught sight of the mole. “See if you can pull any information from it,” she said to Adin. “If it’s encrypted, we won’t be able to listen in on any transmissions, but bring up the other recent contact codes and see what you find.”

  “Sure, sure,” Adin said.

  “Have you made any progress toward finding Governor Saiffe?”

  The man shook his head. “We’ve had surveillance on all of Solaris’s known bases since yesterday, and we sent strike teams into each of them earl
y this morning. There’s been no sign of him. It would help if we could find the shuttle he was taken in, but as long as they’ve got someone in here who can cover their tracks, we’re screwed.”

  Aroska’s gaze ventured toward the workstations of the Solaris Control Unit across the massive floor. It looked like the agents were starting to mobilize. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

  He quickly jogged across to where they were and caught sight of Saun Zaid as she was walking away with a field pack slung over her shoulder. “Saun!” he called, hurrying to catch up.

  She whirled, startled, and didn’t seem terribly relieved to see it was him. “What are you doing here?” she said, stifling a cough.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Most of the SCU is being dispatched into the field. The director wants us out there as close to Solaris as we can get so we can look for anything that might help us find the governor.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  She seemed a bit more relaxed now. “Could be hours, could be days,” she answered, “whenever we find something.”

  “Saun, Jaxton is dead.”

  Her fuchsia eyes widened. “What?”

  Aroska looked back across the floor. Ziva and Adin were hovering over a computer in the Alpha team’s bullpen. “He was shot, probably by Solaris to keep him from talking. He was about to give us the name of the Solaris agent working inside HSP.”

  “You still think there’s someone?”

  Aroska nodded. A sudden and terrible thought hit him as he watched her, but he dismissed it as absurd and shook his head. “The guy we found yesterday couldn’t have been acting alone.”

  Saun raised her eyebrows and took a step closer to him, all signs of her jumpy behavior gone. She glanced over at Ziva and Adin. “So, how are things between you and the dragon lady?”

  Aroska smirked and crossed his arms. “We’re still driving each other crazy, but I think things have… improved.”

  “Did you take my advice?”

  “I did. I was afraid she was going to bite my head off, but I think I made an impression.”

  Saun laughed and punched him playfully in the arm. “You’re pretty good at that.”

  “So I’ve heard,” he said with a wink. Then he sighed. “I’m just trying to ignore her and focus on what I need to do to complete the mission. I can’t wait until this is all over.”

  “It will be soon,” Saun assured him, patting him firmly on the shoulder. “You’d better get back to work. I have to go.”

  “Let me know if you find something,” he said.

  “I will,” Saun replied, walking toward the stairs to join the others. “Goodbye, Aroska.”

  Something in the tone of her voice disturbed him, but Aroska shook it off as he had before and watched her go. If anyone could find something of use, it was Saun – they’d worked together long enough that he knew how she operated.

  “Tarbic!” Ziva’s voice boomed across the floor. “Let’s go!”

  Ah yes. He chuckled to himself as he made his way back toward her, recalling Saun’s new nickname for her. Dragon lady. Fitting.

  “You ready?” Aroska asked as he approached.

  She said nothing, her mouth a straight line.

  He shook his head and followed her into the elevator.

  -25-

  Payvan residence

  Noro, Haphez

  Ziva sighed and leaned back against the seat’s headrest. The scrambled communicator had been handed over to Adin, and according to Aroska, most of the SCU had been deployed into the field. So far, the director hadn’t found out about the little mishap with the Sardon the night before either. Everything seemed to be running smoothly for once, something she’d learned to never take for granted. Now she could devote all her energy to questioning Jayden about this mysterious transmission.

  Her communicator beeped and she looked down at the incoming identification code, recognizing it immediately as Skeet’s. Perhaps she had thought too soon. “Yeah, Skeet.”

  “We’ve got a problem here.”

  They came into sight of her house at the exact moment the words left his mouth. Five armored cars were scattered across the yard and a couple of strange men in uniform stood near the front door.

  “What the hell?” Aroska muttered, speeding up.

  “I’ll say,” Ziva replied to Skeet. Her hand went to her holster. “We’re almost there.”

  She was somewhat relieved when she recognized three of the armored cars from the Tantali convoy in the forest – at least it wasn’t more Sardons or HSP. However, the guards outside didn’t seem so happy to see them.

  Aroska pulled the car up and they leaped out, pistols drawn. The two Tantalis reacted quickly with their own weapons, and two more came out of the house.

  “What is this?” Ziva demanded as they advanced quickly toward the front door.

  “Drop your weapons!” one of the guards ordered.

  Ziva holstered her gun and held her hands up but didn’t break stride. “What’s going on here?” she asked again.

  The guards didn’t stand down, but seemed unnerved by her lack of hesitation. Skeet suddenly appeared in the doorway and held out his hand. “Easy, boys,” he cautioned. “They’re with us.”

  Ziva and Aroska proceeded into the house, receiving nervous looks from the guards. Zinni, Ryon, and Marshay were all seated in the living room with about ten guards surrounding them. Five or six more were in the kitchen with Jayden. Some of them were rather disheveled and sported various bandages and braces, probably survivors from the ambush in the forest.

  “Don’t look at me,” Skeet muttered, stepping aside.

  Ziva shot an accusatory glare at Jayden. “What have you done?” she asked, arms crossed.

  One of the guards bore a captain’s insignia on his jacket. He approached her, hand extended. “Lieutenant Payvan, Gavin Bront, Captain of the Tantali Royal Guard.”

  She ignored his handshake offer and stared him down, jaw set. She recognized him as the man who had been fighting back-to-back with Jayden before being shot in the leg. “What the hell are you people doing in my house?”

  “We received a message from Mr. Saiffe last night,” Bront replied in a very professional tone. “He was requesting assistance, claiming that you weren’t putting an adequate amount of effort toward finding the governor.”

  Ziva closed her eyes in frustration and took several steps toward Jayden. “Do you even know how many precautions we took to make sure Solaris couldn’t find you here? You led them straight to you!”

  Jayden stood his ground but glanced to his comrades for support. “I don’t understand.”

  “If you called your people, whoever’s working inside HSP could have picked up your chatter and monitored it,” Aroska put in, trying to be less abrasive.

  Ziva stepped closer to Jayden, placing herself between him and his guards. “What do you know about a transmission regarding Sardons?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. That’s why they’re after you. What do you know that they don’t want you to tell us?”

  Jayden looked to the captain, who attempted to step in front of Ziva. She cut him off, placing a solid hand on his chest.

  “Lieutenant Payvan, please,” Bront said, “Mr. Saiffe has been through a lot since yesterday. He’s in our jurisdiction now, and if you don’t mind, we’re taking him home. After all, our governor is still missing, and his son is the next person with the authority to succeed him and lead our people.”

  “Hang on a minute!” Skeet exclaimed, moving toward them and drawing a tense reaction from the guards. “As long as Jayden has anything to do with Solaris, he’s in our jurisdiction.”

  “I’ll handle this, Skeet!” Ziva snapped. She shifted her focus to each of the guards individually, addressing them as a whole. “You’re not going anywhere until I find out what I need to know.”

  Bront wasn’t convinced. “Lieutenant, if this delay affects the wellbeing of the governo
r or his son in any way, the Tantali government will hold you responsible.”

  Ziva paid no attention to the man, but kept her focus on Jayden. “Then you’d better start talking.”

  The young man straightened his shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “It doesn’t concern you,” he replied. “I don’t know what you want to know.”

  Ziva felt her face flush. “I’m not so sure I like your attitude,” she said flatly, the barrel of her pistol immediately pressed to his forehead.

  Every guard in the room suddenly had his rifle trained on her, but her team and Marshay and Ryon had their own weapons and held their ground.

  “You think I’m afraid to shoot you, Jayden?”

  He shook his head, though it had been a rather rhetorical question. With a quick wave of his hand, the Tantalis reluctantly put down their rifles and waited.

  “Talk to us, kid,” Aroska said.

  “It was two weeks ago, just before we came here,” Jayden finally began, his eyes fixed on Ziva’s pistol. “I intercepted a transmission in my father’s office. It came from Sardonis and was headed for a ship that was passing through our system. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but then something was said about The Dakiti Center. They were talking like there was something more than just medical research going on.”

  “Like what?”

  “Military stuff – the building of an army. They were calling it ‘Shelora Boeta’ and I wasn’t sure what it meant.”

  Ziva put her gun down and turned to Aroska, who nodded. “Solaris Beta,” they said simultaneously. All the pieces suddenly fell together in Ziva’s mind. This was the second Solaris that Jaxton had spoken of, the one based on Sardonis and controlled by this Dane Bothum. “Did you pick up any names?” she asked Jayden.

  “The message was being sent to a man they were calling Bothum. It sounded like he’s heading up the operation.” He hesitated a moment. “They have my father at Dakiti, don’t they? They took him there because they thought he knew about the transmission. But I’m the one they really want.”