Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1

by EJ Fisch

  “Could be,” Ziva said, looking around to see if the others were ready, “but it’s more likely someone of lower rank trying to reroute the attention away from themselves. Start from the lowest possible position with Level 4 access and work your way up.”

  Adin nodded and shook her hand. “Please let me know if you all need any help. I know Saun too and I’m ready to do anything. Anything. Just say the word.”

  Ziva was reluctant but finally nodded. “If I know Emeri, he kicked me off this case so he can look good for the Royal Officer and so he won’t have the responsibility of cleaning up any messes I make. I’ll contact you when we reach Sardonis and then you tell him exactly where we are and what we’re doing and see if he’s willing to send back-up.”

  “I will.”

  Ziva clapped Aroska on the shoulder and put on her own helmet. “Let’s get going.”

  The two of them walked over to where Skeet and Zinni were waiting with Marshay, Ryon, and the rest of Adin’s team. “You’re sure you’ve got everything you need?” the housekeeper asked in a motherly tone.

  “If we don’t, we’ll survive without it,” Ziva said, unconcerned. “You two—” she looked to Mari, Colin and Mack as well “—all of you might want to lay low for awhile. HSP won’t be happy when they find out you’ve collaborated on a rogue mission.”

  She and Skeet and Zinni climbed into their cockpits and Aroska turned to shake Adin’s hand. “Be careful,” he warned as well. “Thanks for all your help.”

  “Glad to give it,” Adin said as Aroska turned and headed for his own craft. “Hey, man, good luck.”

  -34-

  Fringe space

  Sardon local time

  Ziva loved traveling at FTL speed. She loved the momentum, she loved the dancing colors, but above all she loved the quiet. The steadiness and the low rumble of the ship’s engine made her feel at peace. Sometimes she would nap during FTL trips, but not when she had a mission to take care of. Not like now. Now, the engine’s hum and the gliding sensation helped her focus. She took a moment to study the tiny hologram of Dakiti that hovered on the control panel thanks to Zinni. If everything went according to plan, they would touch down on the roof of the compound’s highest structure just before first light. They were equipped with suppressed projectile rifles rather than plasma rifles that would more easily be seen in the dark if fired. Ziva wasn’t sure which she preferred – projectile weapons were more accurate and efficient, but plasma didn’t leave nearly the mess, in a way making it just as useful.

  She shook her head and checked the readings on her viewscreen. Two minutes to destination; after that, at least another twenty until they would reach Dakiti and be able to jump. Upon clearing the roof, they would rappel down an elevator shaft beside a maintenance ladder to gain access to lower levels of the building. It was still early enough that a fresh batch of guards wouldn’t be on duty yet and late enough that the ones already on patrol might be getting lazy. In reality, their timing couldn’t have been better.

  Ziva looked at her readings again and adjusted the earpiece in her helmet. “All units stand by to cut FTL speed. On my mark.”

  She paused a moment, waiting until the last possible second. If Jayden was already at Dakiti, there was no time to waste. “Cut in sub-light engines.”

  Dropping out of FTL travel was always disappointing; it meant the time for relaxation and quiet reflection was over. But at the moment, Ziva was pumped so full of adrenaline that she barely noticed. The dreary gray-brown world of Sardonis lay directly ahead, one half bathed in light as it rotated toward the sun and the other half cast in shadow. On the ground it was exactly how it looked from this view in space: cold and wet. Ziva had spent time on Sardonis on two occasions, but hadn’t cared to stay long – after all, it had been the Sardons who were responsible for the explosion that killed her father during the War. It was a slimy, swampy mud hole in general, a fitting environment for the semi-amphibious Sardon scum who inhabited it. Above a certain elevation, however, there was next to no plant and animal life. Nothing but dirt and rocks. The H-26s would be safe there while the team was inside Dakiti.

  “Zinni, do you have a reading on Jayden?” Ziva asked, veering toward the dark side of the planet.

  The other three stealth fighters kept formation and followed. “Affirmative,” Zinni replied. “It looks like our Tantali friends just arrived at the medical center.”

  “Hopefully they’ll be able to fend for themselves until we can get to them,” came Skeet’s voice.

  At the moment Ziva didn’t really care what happened to Jayden and Bront, but knew that Emeri would have her head if she defied orders to come here and then didn’t get them out. She wasn’t convinced that Aroska’s mind was right about this Saun Zaid woman, either. She would never abandon one of her own in a place like Dakiti, but something in her gut warned her to be cautious.

  She switched comm channels. “Lieutenant Woro, come in. We’ve reached Sardonis.”

  There were several seconds of static, and then she heard Adin’s voice. “Roger that. My team has the Intrepid and we’re getting ready to leave the planet. I’ve got a captain back at Headquarters who’s not very happy with me.”

  “Leave the planet?”

  “We’re not letting you four go in there on your own.”

  “Adin, no! If you come now you’ll blow this entire mission.”

  He paused. “How about we wait just out-of-system in case you run into some trouble?”

  There was no question of whether or not they would run into trouble. “Fine,” Ziva consented. “Just call the director. We’re going silent for awhile.”

  “I will. Be careful.”

  She cut the transmission and turned the H-26 a bit further into the planet’s shadow. Sardonis was a smaller world than Haphez, but its lowlands were densely populated. Civilization was crammed into every livable crevice in the cities, but Dakiti was isolated, situated nearly one hundred kilometers from any populated area – another reason everything could potentially work to their advantage.

  The four ships descended into Sardon airspace and pulled up just below the outer limits of the atmosphere. “Maintain thirty klicks,” Ziva instructed. “Drop zone eight minutes and closing.”

  Looking down through the clouds outside the cockpit, Ziva could occasionally make out the faint lights from cities far below. They were flying higher than any major traffic lanes on the planet, though there was still the possibility of a smuggler’s ship or something of the sort crossing paths with them. She turned her attention back to what was in front of her.

  Skeet and Zinni had been chattering incessantly for most of the journey, telling jokes and reminiscing about old missions, but now the comm channel was silent as each agent mentally prepared themselves for the jump and whatever lay beyond. Ziva admired their abilities to balance business and fun – sometimes their jokes helped keep her sane, though she didn’t dare admit it. Aroska hadn’t said much since leaving Noro. Ziva looked out to her left where his Scout lurked, invisible in the darkness and clouds. She hoped he was right about his friend Saun. She hated to think that he’d been oblivious enough to not realize her true intentions.

  Adjusting her earpiece again, she opened a direct transmission to his ship. “Are you with me?”

  “I’m not against you if that’s what you’re asking,” came the immediate reply.

  Jumpy. Sharp. Even through the communicator she could hear the fear in his voice. He had less than three minutes to pull himself together.

  “Are you afraid?” he asked after several seconds.

  “No,” Ziva replied. “Are you?”

  No response.

  She smirked. “The silence is very reassuring.”

  “What’s your secret?”

  “If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she said, hoping he’d think she was joking. She was confident in her own skills, but the underlying knowledge of her Nostia was what really made her fearless. But if anyone knew about it, she w
ould have to kill them. She switched back to the four-way communicator. “Two minutes to destination. Setting AI pilot.”

  “Copy,” three voices said simultaneously.

  Ziva slid her visor down and locked it, then made sure the life support connection was secure. She flipped a small lever, transferring all control of the craft to the built-in artificial intelligence. After taking one last look out the front of the cockpit, she directed her full attention to the readings on the viewscreen. They were nearly on top of Dakiti.

  “Alright people, look alive. It’s time.” Ziva took a deep breath and watched the screen. “Ejecting in five, four, three, two… punching out.”

  She mashed the button without another thought. The cockpit cover over her head flew open and she felt herself shoot out into the darkness. Everything was still and quiet here in the clouds, though she could hear the faint hum of the other three ships as they zoomed by beneath her. Turning her body around, she flattened her hands to her sides and dove downward.

  It was still too dark to pick up anything with the helmet’s night optics, so Ziva kept her eyes on the altitude reading in the visor’s heads up display. The actual fall would take about four minutes plus a few seconds, and it was crucial that the parachutes were opened at the correct moment or the whole mission would be wasted.

  Freefalling was a little like traveling at FTL speed in Ziva’s opinion. Her jumpsuit did a good job of blocking out the freezing air at this altitude, but the sensation of the crushing wind still reached her skin and she found it relaxing. She hadn’t had to HALO jump to reach a destination more than two or three times throughout her career, but there was something about the adrenaline rush that left her reenergized and ready to move upon landing.

  Keeping her eyes on the altimeter and the time reading, Ziva waited a few moments and then leveled out and spread her arms, slowing a little. The numbers on the HUD continued scrolling as she descended. She counted in her mind, hoping the others were doing the same. Now. She yanked the release cord and felt the pack on her back open up as her chute deployed. For a split second, it felt as though she was traveling back upward as the lightweight material caught the air and harshly slowed her fall. With her legs swinging wildly, Ziva reached into the darkness on either side of her and found the toggles, regaining control of her movements.

  She could now see the structures of Dakiti through the helmet visor and steered herself a bit closer to the landing zone. Skeet, Zinni and Aroska were a bit further behind, but she could see that they too had successfully deployed their chutes and had control of the toggles. Phase One had gone smoothly enough, but they would certainly be taking things one step at a time. The next item on the list was the landing, which would require much precision and control. The initial fall had taken just over four minutes, as planned, and the remaining distance with the parachutes would be covered in another three. The roof on which they would land was large, but after falling from such a great height and at such a great speed, it would be somewhat difficult to land accurately on a surface of that size. It would take only the slightest error for one of them to miss the roof and either be detected by someone in the building or become stranded on the ground. Aroska was good, but her team was more experienced, and Ziva hoped he would be able to keep up.

  The numbers on the altimeter continued scrolling, quickly approaching the building’s height. Nearly all of the surrounding structures were visible now, and two narrow pillars of black smoke billowed up from unseen vents on the other side of the building. From this point, Ziva could make out two armed sentries walking along the low wall that lined the roof of the main med center. The roof access hatch was precisely where Zinni’s calculations had said it would be. It would be best to do their work without taking out the guards, which would alert the entire compound if they failed to report at a set time or if someone found the bodies. It was rather foggy and still dark enough that her team could most likely get inside undetected.

  Fifty meters to the roof’s surface. Ziva kept the toggles steady and positioned herself directly over the center of the building. The guards were carrying what appeared to be high powered spotting scopes, which struck her as being somewhat ineffective in this weather. Twenty meters. Ten meters.

  Ziva took a deep breath of the rich oxygen in her suit and let go of the toggles. She pulled the cable to close her chute and it retracted quickly and silently into the pack on her shoulders. She fell the remaining couple of meters, landing softly on the balls of her feet, and crouched low with her rifle up and ready. With the night optics in her helmet, Ziva could see that neither of the guards had broken stride and that both of them were still pacing nonchalantly.

  She could hear the other three landing behind her and rose to her feet, taking cover behind one of several large ventilation units that ran along the roof’s surface. If the guards were carrying spotting scopes, they were probably focused on what was down on the ground rather than what was right in front of them, but Ziva kept her eyes glued to them nonetheless. She slinked toward the access hatch in the center of the roof, pausing every few seconds to listen and study the guards’ movements. When she was sure it was safe, she beckoned for the others to follow.

  Zinni moved ahead and pulled out her little scanner, checking the area below the hatch for activity. She nodded to Ziva that things were all clear, and then pressed the controls to open it. She jumped down into the semi-darkness below while Ziva remained focused on the guards. Both of them had their backs turned, their attention directed toward the rest of the compound. As soon as Skeet and Aroska had passed through the opening, she stepped back and carefully let herself down the ladder, closing the cover behind her.

  The floor on which the four of them stood could most accurately be described as a wide catwalk that followed the same path as the ill-lit hallway directly below it. Dark pipes and cables lined the walls, setting a gloomy tone, and a couple of deactivated maintenance bots rested lifelessly in the corner. It was hot and muggy, and Ziva flipped her helmet visor open to get some air. Directly behind them were the ladder and the hatch through which they had just come. To the right, a rusty set of steps that led down to the next floor. Ahead lay the maintenance entrance to the elevator – their ticket to the restricted levels that Saun Zaid had mentioned.

  Ziva slung her rifle over her shoulder and removed her helmet, checking to make sure her earpiece was still snug in her ear. The others did the same. “We can stash our stuff in the top of the elevator shaft,” she said, sliding the parachute case from her shoulders. “There’s no need for it anymore.”

  They walked briskly to the elevator door and Skeet removed a tool from his belt, promptly jamming it through the crack where the door met the wall. “I wasn’t sure if we were going to get past those sentries,” he said. The device split into two claw-like halves and pulled the door open several centimeters, enabling him to slip his hand through and force it open the rest of the way.

  “I’m just glad we didn’t have to take lethal action,” Aroska said. “Wouldn’t want the whole place to know we’re here before we even set foot in the building.”

  Glad they were on the same page, Ziva stepped forward and peered down the shaft. Cold, stale air drifted up and dried the thin layer of sweat that had formed on her face. There was a maintenance ladder against the wall to their left that descended into the darkness, and she could hear the elevator car moving about somewhere far below.

  There was a narrow lip directly above the door that kept the elevator from crushing the power cables on the ceiling, and Ziva tossed her helmet and parachute up onto it. Unraveling her grappling cable, she leaped out across the shaft to the ladder and secured it to a sturdy pipe. “Let’s go,” she said, removing a glow stick from her belt and lowering herself a couple of meters. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time.”

  The other three repeated her actions and they descended together, four abreast, following the ladder. The walls were greasy and the shaft smelled as if this par
t of the building had probably been around for a long time. Most of the Dakiti compound had existed long before the Fringe War, but much had been added on since then. Although she’d been to Sardonis, she had never been to Dakiti, and now she was finally inside the famed facility – climbing covertly down an elevator shaft.

  “This is a fifty-story building,” Zinni said, “and we want to get to the bottom two levels?” This was a question directed at Aroska.

  “Saun said they weren’t letting anybody into the underground levels. She was on Level Three when we talked, but she could be anywhere by now.”

  “Bottom two, then,” Zinni confirmed. She looked down into the abyss below them. “What have we gotten into?” she chuckled.

  Ziva felt the message indicator on her communicator vibrate and switched her earpiece to a private channel. “Lieutenant Woro! What the… what did the director say?”

  “He’s refusing to send any support. Said something about not wanting to take responsibility for any damage you cause while defying orders.”

  “I told you.”

  “Is it too late to get out?”

  Ziva looked back up the shaft and then down toward their destination. “Just a little. We don’t quit, Lieutenant. We never have, and we’re certainly not going to start now.”

  He sighed. “Right. Alpha field ops standing by.”

  She switched back to the community channel the rest of the team was using and then continued descending. “HSP’s not sending back-up,” she announced after several seconds of silence.

  Nobody said anything for awhile. Ziva truthfully hadn’t been expecting any HSP support. Part of her didn’t blame Emeri for wanting to stay out of this; any involvement with an unsanctioned mission could get him in trouble with the higher-ups in the capital. Then again, as head of the agency, he should have at least been willing to take some responsibility. She sighed and continued descending, reminding herself to focus on the task at hand.