The Complete Razia Series, page 37
"Stay here," Razia whispered back, creeping up to the door and quietly pushing it open with her foot. She checked for any sign of movement or a weapon or a Dal-Jamus-sized goon, but with a flick of the light, she found the living room completely empty.
Ransacked, but empty.
"Oh Leveman's," Lizbeth said, rushing past Razia into the apartment and helplessly taking in the mess around them. "This is a mess…"
"Anything stolen?" Razia asked, peering into the bedroom to make sure no one was hiding in there. She peered into the closet as well, not completely satisfied that they were safe until she'd checked every nook and cranny.
"Lyssa…" Razia heard Lizbeth's shocked voice in the living room and came running.
"What is it?" Razia said, dashing into the living room, fists up. She saw Lizbeth staring blankly at the empty dining room table, a broken coffee cup at her feet.
"They took my laptop," Lizbeth murmured. "They took all the paperwork, my computer—all the evidence I'd been amassing….it's gone."
"Don't you have a backup?" Razia asked.
Lizbeth began to laugh frantically. "Oh sure, there's backups of my computer. But they'd need to order me a new computer, which will take up to two months. Then they'd need to submit a ticket to get the computer re-imaged, which could take another month." She gave a half-smile. "Government efficiency at its finest."
"Well, maybe—"
"Lyssa, you don't understand," Lizbeth said, looking around the house nervously. "Nobody's ever known where I lived before. This is…this is…"
"They're just trying to scare you," Razia replied, opening the kitchen pantry.
"And they're doing a good job of it!" Lizbeth exclaimed.
"Oh come on," Razia said, walking back into the living room. "I thought you said you'd been shot at before—"
"This is my house!" Lizbeth cried. "I'm not safe here anymore. I…no one's ever known…I don't know how I'll ever be able to sleep in here…"
To Razia's complete and utter shock, Lizbeth sank down onto the dining room chair, placed her head into her hands, and began sob. Razia watched her moan and cry into her hands and felt an odd urge to comfort this stranger. Rarely the recipient of comfort herself, she had no idea what to do.
"I can't stay here," Lizbeth moaned, shaking her head. "I can't…what if they come back for me? Oh Leveman's, what if they follow me?"
"Well look," Razia said, finally able to speak, "why don't we head back to my ship on D-882? I think I know of a place we can go where they won't be able to find us."
"Yeah?" Lizbeth sniffed. "Okay…"
"Bring your running shoes."
CHAPTER TEN
Lyssa came trotting up to the ship, panting and sweating something fierce. The fifteen miles went a bit slower than when she would run with Vel, who had a habit of goading her into running faster. But this planet was flat, the grasses low, and the temperature perfect—just as she had expected it to be. She personally felt in a much better mood than before, but she couldn't say the same for Lizbeth, who had barely said a word since they left her apartment on S-864. She just kept staring ahead in blank defeat that Lyssa knew all too well.
Lyssa knew better than to bother the girl; at least, she hated to be bothered when she was frustrated. So she'd extended her run to a couple of hours, even stopping to do a bit of excavation on a particularly interesting field with multi-colored flowers, hoping that Lizbeth would have cooled off enough to be ready to work again.
But when Lyssa saw her sullen compatriot, Lizbeth was anything but relaxed.
"Oh, so glad you decided to come back," she snapped cattily. "Thought you were going to leave me here."
"As you are sitting on my only mode of transportation off this planet, that's highly unlikely," Lyssa replied, trying not to rise to the bait.
Lizbeth angrily slapped the side of her face. "Goddamn bugs!"
"Oh, what's the matter?" Lyssa chuckled, walking by. "You can't handle a little camping?"
"I hate camping," Lizbeth seethed, slapping her arm. "I hate this planet and I hate you!"
Lyssa ignored her tirade and made her way onto the ship, and over to her silver cabinets. She dug around for a moment, tossing aside salves and aloe for sunburns, until she found the antihistamine and the bug spray in her first aid kid. She strolled back outside and tossed the tube to Lizbeth.
"What in Leveman's is this?" Lizbeth grumbled, carefully reading the tube.
"It'll help with the bites," Lyssa said, placing the can of bug spray next to her.
Lizbeth's face softened slightly and she carefully unscrewed the cap on the antihistamine. "Thanks…"
Lyssa sniffed in response and bent over to stretch out her sore hamstrings.
"So what in Leveman's are we even doing here anyways?" Lizbeth asked.
"I needed money," Lyssa grunted and popped back upright. "Since I'm not getting reimbursed for the enormous parking bill I racked up yesterday."
"Oh, great," Lizbeth snapped, holding her breath as she doused herself in bug spray. "So we're out in the middle of nowhere because you need money. Meanwhile, pirates are out hijacking ships filled with guns and taking them to the capital, and we have no idea why."
"Well, and I thought a run would be nice, but you didn't want to go," Lyssa said. "So I was giving you some space…"
"Yeah, space is all that I need," Lizbeth continued. "Everyone just wants me to relax and calm down and give my projects to other team members because that's the team spirit. I've been bringing in five times as many case reports as everyone else, but am I even seen as a team lead yet? No!" She had clearly begun to rant again, pacing around the small clearing in front of Lyssa's ship. "And you! Bringing me out to the middle of nowhere just so you could…could…well make money!"
"Being out here always…it always makes me feel better…clears my head…." Lyssa stammered. "I thought…"
"Just because you like it, doesn't mean that I…" Lizbeth trailed off, having a realization. "Is this…all of this is your way of trying to make me feel better?"
Lyssa's face reddened and she stared at the ground awkwardly. "I mean, you said that you didn't feel safe…and when I don't…I mean, no one knows we're out here…'cept for my stupid boss brother…but he's not gonna come all the way out here to…"
"God in Leveman's Vortex," Lizbeth gasped, some of the life coming back to her face. "You actually are trying to be nice?"
"It happens sometimes."
"Well, next time you want to be nice, you gotta let me know," Lizbeth laughed. "Because you sure confused the crap out of me."
"It's not just about you," Lyssa said defensively. "It's about…I mean, I am doing a planet excavation, because I do need money, and—"
"Say no more. I won't tell a soul that you're really a big softy at heart."
"Whatever," Lyssa sniffed angrily, marching back onto the ship to wash off the sweat and embarrassment.
***
After her shower, Lyssa wanted to take some more samples from the surrounding area, and Lizbeth decided to come along. Even though Lizbeth was no longer moping, Lyssa could tell that she was deeply preoccupied with her stolen laptop and stagnant investigation.
"So what's next?" Lyssa asked, trying to be conversational as she stuffed another leaf into her sensor and waited for the read-out. "You told your boss about the guns and he didn't care. Can you go around him?"
"Maybe," Lizbeth said. "I've done it before, but only when I had a tight case and I could definitely make an arrest."
"I mean, they're transporting guns. Is that enough?"
"We don't know what they're doing with the guns, though." Lizbeth chewed on her lip. "For all we know, that security company could be bolstering its arsenal with shipments of stolen guns because they're a security company. That's…well, sadly, that's normal pirate business. Hijacking cargo isn't necessarily anything new, even if it is guns."
"You know that's probably not what's going on," Lyssa said dryly. "Why would they have gathered all of the pirates, all of that secrecy? Why are they hiding the hijackings altogether? Why would those two diner people shoot at us?"
"Where are those guns coming from?" Lizbeth added.
"And how is that bald guy involved?"
"Harman, yeah," Lizbeth chewed on her lip. "He works for General State."
Lyssa stuffed another leaf into her sensor. "Doesn't it seem fishy to you that General State would be working with pirates? Or that those two guys would even have connections in Llendo's administration to set something like this up?"
"Not really. Politics is shady business. And piracy's got a lot of money."
"But that's what's confusing, right? The insurance companies aren't getting notified…"
Lizbeth's head tilted up. "What's that now?"
"When a transporter is hijacked, they notify their insurance company," Lyssa said, thinking aloud as she twirled a leaf in her hand. "The insurance company then puts out an announcement about the hijacking to the U-POL which is how it ends up on the pirate intraweb."
"So?"
"So if there's nothing showing up on the pirate intraweb, then the insurance companies aren't getting notified," Lyssa said, deep in thought as she scanned another leaf. "And if they aren't getting notified, then the businesses aren't getting reimbursed for their lost cargo."
"And if they aren't getting reimbursed, then who's footing the bill?" Lizbeth finished for her. "If they're supposedly just paying the pirates to take their own cargo?"
"And we know that some of the cargo is going to S-864, and being protected by that Harman guy. He works for a company called Secure Solutions."
"Secure Solutions," Lizbeth mumbled, chewing on her lip. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Maybe it was something in your reports?"
Lizbeth thought for a moment and shook her head. "Can't remember. We don't all have hard drives for memories like you do."
"I don't know if a security company could afford to pay a couple hundred million credits to pirates anyways," Lyssa said. "And besides, we only saw them at that one warehouse. Maybe they were just hired to guard it. Maybe he was just wearing the uniform to fit in."
Lizbeth's face fell, the new lead suddenly evaporating under her.
"I mean, maybe not," Lyssa said quickly, trying not to deflate Lizbeth's bubble. "I mean, we're obviously onto something or else they wouldn't have taken your laptop, right?"
"That still terrifies me," Lizbeth said, and Lyssa saw her shiver a little bit. "I don't like that they know where I live now."
"You seem able to take care of yourself," Lyssa replied. "Didn't you say you knocked out three guards to come…er…rescue me?"
"I snuck up on them," Lizbeth admitted. "Knocked them out with the butt of the gun."
"Well, that makes sense," Lyssa mumbled, louder than she meant to.
Lizbeth placed her hands on her hips. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Just saying that you don't…" Lyssa trailed off, wondering if a bit of good-natured ribbing would cheer Lizbeth up. "You don't even know how to throw a punch."
"Of course I do!"
"Really, because when you tried to hit me before, you were terrible at it."
"All right, tough girl," Lizbeth said, squaring her shoulders. "Want another go at it?"
Lyssa attached her mini-computer to her belt and folded her arms across her chest. "Go for it."
With a heave, Lizbeth reached back and whirled forward, but Lyssa stepped out of the way, grabbing her arm and knocking her to the ground.
"See?" Lyssa smiled from above her. "Terrible."
"That's 'cause you knew I was coming," Lizbeth grumbled as she picked herself back up.
"No, it's because no one ever taught you how to hit. Show me your fist."
Lizbeth proffered her hand.
"See, your thumb is inside your hand there," Lyssa said. "You'll break your thumb."
Lizbeth moved her thumb to the outside.
"Don't punch with the flats of your fingers either. Hit with the knuckles and you won't hurt yourself. Aim to punch with the first two knuckles, and keep your wrist straight."
"Okay."
"Now, the other thing you're doing wrong is throwing all your weight into the punch on the first go-round. You never want to throw a heavy punch, try a one-two jab like this," Lyssa punched her right arm out, then her left. "Harder to defend in that case."
Lizbeth slowly punched the air as Lyssa had.
"Keep your arms level with your shoulders," Lyssa said, watching Lizbeth. "Keep your chin down…"
"Anything else you'd like me to remember?" Lizbeth grumbled, awkwardly trying to throw punches into mid-air.
"Don't aim for the head. Aim for the chest or the ribs. If you aim for the face you'll break something. Use your hips for power, not your upper body. Root your feet."
"Anything else?" Lizbeth huffed.
"Yeah, don't hit anyone until you've had more practice," Lyssa smirked, stepping away to test some more specimens and chuckling at Lizbeth's enraged growl of frustration.
***
Lyssa worked and Lizbeth continued to practice punching random trees until the sun began to sink low in the sky and Lyssa made the call to trudge back to the ship. Lizbeth went to take a shower, and Lyssa set to building a campfire and rehydrating some of the food. As the night descended around them, they quietly ate the bowls of noodles and vegetables, enjoying the sound of the local avian species chirping in the distance.
"I can see why you don't want to give up the whole scientist bit," Lizbeth sighed, looking up at the stars. "This is pretty amazing."
Lyssa's eyes snapped over to Lizbeth but then she turned back to watch the fire. "Well, it's good money. Untraceable. Nice to have the separate income."
"I see," Lizbeth said, sounding as if she didn't believe her. "It's been a while since I've been able to see stars on a planet. Can't ever get a glimpse on S-864, but I used to see them all the time on C-47478462."
"Is that the planet you're from?" Lyssa asked, realizing she knew absolutely nothing about this woman she'd been working with.
"Nah, I'm from S-864," Lizbeth said. "Well, I was born there anyways. Both my parents worked for the UBU. But they retired about ten years ago and bought some property on C-47478462. Spent a couple years there before I joined up with the Intelligence Agency."
"C-planet," Lyssa said, thinking. "Residential?"
"You got it. They bought about fifty square miles surrounding a giant lake. Dad always loved the water, but Mom said she wasn't going to live on an all-water planet and have to deal with taking boats to and from places. So they compromised and bought a lake."
Lyssa knitted her brows together. "Your parents sound…normal."
"My dad is a giant dork," Lizbeth laughed affectionately. "And I love my mom, but she's crazy."
"Not as crazy as mine," Lyssa murmured, but Lizbeth didn't hear it.
"Mom's always calling me to make sure I'm not dead," Lizbeth laughed. "She was worried about me going into field work, of course, but she's gotten over it mostly. The only thing she gets mad at me for now is that I don't get out to see them as often as I should."
Lyssa said nothing, an ache in her chest.
"So," Lizbeth said, completely unaware of Lyssa's pain. "Now that we've got a chance to talk…we should continue our conversation from the other day. Are you a virgin?"
"That is a completely personal and inappropriate question," Lyssa snapped, jarring from the jump from Lizbeth's parents to her sex life.
"Come ooon," Lizbeth said with a grin. "You're such a locked-down person. I want to know if you've ever been in love."
"I slept with someone, but I wasn't in love with him," Lyssa said. "I was sixteen, and he was a fellow student in the Academy. Everyone else was doing it, so I did it to get it over with."
Lizbeth's eyebrows bolted upwards. "…To get it over with?"
"I was tired of being a virgin so I fixed it," Lyssa said, as if it was just a normal everyday activity.
"Wow, and I bet it was just the best thing you ever had, huh?" Lizbeth drawled.
Lyssa shrugged. "It was whatever."
"Yeah, okay…" Lizbeth laughed. "You know—and I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you—sex is actually a beautiful thing, and a lot of fun."
"You are obviously speaking from experience," Lyssa said, with more edge than she meant to.
"Yeah, I am," Lizbeth snapped back. "Because I'm a hot-blooded female and I like to have sex. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me." She paused to give Lyssa a look. "And don't you dare bring up that crap with Relleck."
After a pause, Lyssa asked, "Would you have slept with him?"
"Oh I dunno, maybe," Lizbeth said, taking Lyssa off guard with her indecision about the matter. "Not for information, anyways, maybe just…you know, for fun."
"Fun?"
"Yeah, he's got a nice body."
"He's a dick."
"I didn't say I wanted to marry him." Lizbeth rolled her eyes. "You don't date someone like that. Hit it and quit it as fast as you can. Now Sage, on the other hand—I could marry that guy. Marry him and bang him like a screen door in a thunderstorm."
"Wow, this is…really uncomfortable," Lyssa said, turning to the dark forest around them. The thought of Sage having sex with anyone was enough to make her ill.
Lizbeth laughed heartily. "You are too uptight, Lyss."
"I don't understand how you can be so free with talking about that kind of stuff when everyone doesn't respect you? You said yourself that everyone's talking about sleeping with you to make you go away."
"And those people can get sucked," Lizbeth replied with a firm tone. "Who I choose to sleep with has no bearing on who I am as a government investigator, or even as a human being."
"But you're perpetuating their perceptions of you."
"Until I show up at their front door with a bunch of U-POL officers and arrest them," Lizbeth smiled. "I mean, look at you. You act like a man, and you're still treated like crap. So why not just do what you want to do and screw everyone else?" She paused and added, "Not literally, of course."
Lyssa was quiet for a moment and then asked, curiously, "Have you ever actually slept with someone you were investigating?"
