The Complete Razia Series, page 68
"I was locked in a prison for days because of you!" Heelin bellowed. "You and your stupid career advice!"
Lyssa blinked. "What?"
"That was your plan all along, wasn't it? You and Dorst, showing me what life was like outside of the Academy, huh? Well you know it worked! I never want to be anything other than a stupid Doctor of Close Space Exploration—"
"Hang on," Lyssa blinked. "You're a CSE?"
"Yes, of course," Heelin said. "Don't you remember after our sixth year, I stopped…."
Lyssa shrugged and glanced at Vel, who was shaking his head.
"You know what, fine! I'm happy being here. I'm happy working for Dorst. At least that way, the only thing I have to worry about is whether or not he leaves me on a planet!"
And with that, Heelin stormed off in a very familiar way.
"Do I really act like that?" Lyssa asked Vel.
"Oh Leveman's, you're a thousand times worse," Vel said with a laugh. "You really didn't know he was a CSE? You had three months to get to know him."
"I was busy!" Lyssa snapped. "Again, saving the system of piracy as we…" Her gaze landed on the other person who had exited the transport shuttle. Opli stared back at her with a cool sort of observation, a sly smile on his face. She swallowed her fear and forced herself to look indifferent, the way that Lyssa would look at a police officer. And she just hoped that's whom he saw as he stalked over to them.
"H-hey," she said to Vel, who immediately noticed the change in demeanor. "Why don't you go grab a shower and I'll take you to lunch, huh?"
"S-sure?" Vel said. "You okay?"
Lyssa locked eyes with Opli as he approached and forced a smile on her face. "I don't know yet."
"Well, well, well," Opli said. "I admit, I'm a little surprised to see you here."
"Lyss?" Vel asked.
"Scram, kid," Lyssa barked to Vel. For a brief moment, she could see him considering whether to stay, but thankfully he turned to walk away, glancing back at them once or twice before leaving the terminal.
"This answers so many questions I have about you," Opli said, "namely, what you were doing here a year ago."
"You'll have to be more specific."
"Don't play games, pirate." A cold dread took hold of her. He knew. "Tell me: do you take me for an idiot?"
"You do work for my brother." She paused with a very Razia-like grin. "Well, used to."
"And yet, as much trouble as you've given us, he doesn't recognize you," Opli sneered. "That says more about Lyssandra Peate than Razia, doesn't it?"
"I actually don't think that's any of your business, unless you’re now part of the family. Did I miss the wedding announcement?"
"You obviously missed the press announcement promoting me to Captain of the Special Forces." Opli leaned in closer and Lyssa saw the new patch on his chest. Something about that unnerved her.
"And I guess you'll have as much success as your predecessor," Lyssa retorted. "No one is ever going to let you pull something like that again. The runners have made sure of it."
"Do you know what your brother's problem was? He believed his own words too much. He thought if he simply proved how right he was, people would suddenly respect him."
She didn't like how uncomfortably close that description was to her own troubles with bounty hunting. "And you don't?"
"I like to take precautions before I make my move. Wait for the opportune moment to strike."
She mirrored his expression. "And I can only guess that you'll be waiting for the opportune moment to share my little secret, hm?"
"Right now, it suits me to keep that nugget of information to myself," Opli said and that made her more nervous. "You may think that you're safe, but you are far from it." He paused and looked in the direction that Vel had walked off. "And so is everyone you care about."
And with that, he turned to saunter away, leaving Lyssa to ponder what kind of man she was now dealing with.
Fusion
Book 4 of the Razia Series
S. Usher Evans
Dedication
To Mike and Terry
I love you
CHAPTER ONE
She blinked her eyes open. It was bright—brighter than her ship. The bed was more comfortable, and there was a person curled up next to her, his arm slung across her bare stomach.
And, shit, she'd fallen asleep again.
Lyssa Peate threw the hotel blankets and the arm off of her, starting the annoying search for her underwear and bra on the carpeted floor. Twenty-three years old, brown haired with an array of tanlines on her arms and legs, she didn't normally wake up naked in a hotel room. She found her bra hanging from a lampshade, and her underwear flung underneath a table. Memories of how they'd gotten there wafted up and she pushed them back down. If she could just sneak out before he woke up…
"What's the rush?" Sage Teon murmured, propping his head up on his arm and giving her that stupid grin of his. His blond hair was even messier than normal from sleep, sticking up in odd directions. "Why don't you stay? We can get breakfast and—"
"No."
She said it more for herself than for him, as the thought of lounging in bed with him for a little longer was so tempting it hurt. At the same time, it was too much to have stayed with him at all. Too much to have been drawn to his glimmering eyes and that half-smile that insinuated he wanted her. She hated how much she craved the closeness, how easy it was simply to forget how risky and stupid this was and let herself drown with him.
"Lyss," Sage said, climbing out of bed. He obviously had no problem with being naked around her, as he pulled her against him gently. "Don't go."
For a brief, soft moment, she leaned into him, remembering how it felt to be safe in his arms. Her resolve weakened every moment she remained with him.
And yet, if anyone found out about them…
The thought alone was enough to put the brakes on. She shoved him away, and he fell backward onto the bed, overdramatizing the move with a loud sigh. She ignored the way he watched her as she searched the room for her pants, her shirt, her black boots. It was almost like he expected her to change her mind and stay.
It wouldn't be the first time.
She stood up, fully dressed, and faced him. "We're not doing this again."
"You keep saying that." Sage scratched his stomach lazily. "But wasn't this your idea last night?"
She sniffed; he was right. She'd been at Eamon's, the top pirate watering hole, hoping to get a glimpse of the new crop of pirates fighting their way to the top of the pirate webs. But when she'd spotted Ganon, Sage's boisterous and obnoxious pilot, walking through the front door, she knew all of her previous plans for the night would fly out the window.
She and Sage had gotten pretty good at pretending to be normal. They idly chatted, bantered a little as per usual, and waited for the crew to become too absorbed in beer to notice them slipping out the back.
They'd made out a little in the private office, and then disappeared to this hotel room for the rest of the evening. Lyssa never planned on spending the night, but after a few hours of sweaty, tangled bliss, the idea of getting out of his warm embrace was hard to justify. Especially last night, when, in-between their more strenuous activities, their conversation had turned to business. Sage offered his opinions on the pirates she was thinking of capturing while placing distracting kisses on her stomach, and she actually considered them, too exhausted for her pride to speak for her.
Those moments, more than the physical, were the most nerve-wracking the next morning. They reminded her that this wasn't just some no-name sex partner, this was Sage, with whom she had nearly a decade of history.
She shook those thoughts from her head. "We're not doing this again."
"I don't get it," Sage said, lying back. "I haven't told anyone. Ganon doesn't even know. What's the problem?"
"The problem is that they don't know now," she hissed. "But the moment someone does, like Harms or Ganon or someone with a big, fat mouth, everyone's going to…."
"Going to what?"
"Going to think I'm nothing but your bimbo girlfriend," she growled at him and hated the way his mouth twitched at the word 'girlfriend.' "After all the shit I've gone through, I don't want to throw it away because everyone thinks—"
"You worry way too much what others think," Sage said.
Lyssa glowered at him. It was easy for him to say. He never struggled as one of the least wanted pirates. He'd had his top twenty status handed to him on a silver platter.
"If they don't respect me," she said through clenched teeth, "then they won't put bounties on me. And if they don't put bounties on me…"
"But they have been," Sage said. "You're in a good place now. So why not relax a little? Slow down and enjoy life?"
"Because this isn't going to last," she whispered to herself so Sage wouldn't hear. Nearly every pirate had seen her stand and face Jukin, and many of them continued to add money to her bounty. Harms had even said that Dissident, the runner of her pirate web, had been singing her praises the week before. Far from being at the bottom rung of piracy, she was one of the most well-known and well-respected pirates.
But, a nagging voice reminded her, things were going too well and the Great Creator had a nasty habit of pulling the rug out from under her just when she felt invincible.
"C'mon." Sage kissed her neck, resting his hands on her hips. "Stay a while."
She answered him by shoving him away and rushing out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind her.
***
Razia walked out of the hotel kitchen, hoping it looked like she was hunting a bounty and not coming from Sage Teon. This, whatever it was, sneaking around, had been going on for months now. It had started after they'd busted everyone out of jail—the heat of the moment and a near-death experience had momentarily made her lose her mind and seek comfort in the most unexpected way.
Then it had happened again. And again. And then she asked him to meet her. They were now meeting at least two or three times a week. And every time she came back to her senses, she hated herself for being so weak.
A loud whistle cut through her thoughts and she searched for the source of the voice. A pirate she'd never seen before, older, chunky, with a smirk on his face, stood across the street from her.
"You're just a flash in the pan, sweetheart," the cat-caller crowed.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Razia said, placing a hand on her hip.
"Name's Elric Sacrista—"
"Who?" Razia said with the smallest of smirks. "Leveman's are you even in a web, or do you think you'll get Dissident's attention by annoying one of his top twenty pirates?"
The man's smirk soured immediately and he shuffled away. Razia watched him go with a shake of her head. Even though things were better by a long shot, there were still pirates, mostly those without any notoriety, that thought it good sport to flap their jaws at her.
For the most part, Razia wasn't bothered by them. But she was still worried that those small pirates would influence bigger pirates, and, by extension, Dissident, and he would revoke all of the privileges that he'd bestowed on her.
The thought made her ill.
Actually ill, she realized, as a queasy, sick feeling rolled up from the pit of her stomach. She pressed a hand to her belly, taking a deep breath until it passed. As the wave dissipated, she chalked it up to low blood sugar—she'd been too busy with Sage to eat anything.
Memories of the night before replaced the sickness, and a blush crept up her neck. A part of her wondered if he was still in bed and ached to return to him. But the other part was quick to remind her that she had work to do.
The pirate city was mostly quiet since most of the rabble-rousers were sleeping off their partying the night before. She forewent the horrible pirate transport shuttle and walked the six blocks to Harms' bar, mostly because her stomach was still churning. She rubbed her midsection gingerly. Low blood sugar was all it was, and she'd order a soda.
Slowing her walk, she yanked out her mini-computer. The screen was still on the previous night's transactions, where she'd left it before Sage had distracted her. She was hoping to ask Harms about two new pirates that she'd…
She paused in the middle of the street, the sickness returning along with a particular need to empty her stomach. It was stronger than it had been before, and she wasn't sure she could resist it for much longer. Plastering a neutral look on her face, she walked into Harms bar, waving to the man in the back.
"I wondered when I'd be seeing you again," Harms said, a wide smile on his bearded face when she slid in across the booth from him. "Saw your capture of Gene McGuffey on the intraweb yesterday."
"Funny how saving Dissident's life was enough to get my captures posted, huh?" She grinned, but it was tinged by the increasingly familiar sickness. She quickly ordered a drink from Harms' tabletop serving program, and a small serving robot brought it out a few moments later. She drank until the nausea lessened and then sat back in relief.
"Everything okay?" Harms asked.
"Yeah," she said with a nod. "Just haven't eaten anything in a while. So I went to Eamon's last night."
"I heard."
She chewed her lip. "Did you hear anything else?"
"Should I have?"
"Nope," she said quickly. "Anyway, I didn't see a lot of pirates I knew. Seems like a lot of guys are bowing out."
"A lot? Try everyone," Harms said. "You heard Stenson retired, yeah?"
Razia whistled. "That's like…half of Dissident's top pirates."
"Not everyone's willing to test the runner's protections," Harms said. "Jukin may be gone, but this Opli guy is…well let's just say he's been too quiet."
"Quiet is…right." After the prison break-out, Jukin had been demoted to an unknown role in the U-POL, although he'd holed himself up in the Manor. The UBU was still trying to determine if he was to be tried for his part in the presidential assassination, but Razia hadn't heard anything about it in a few weeks.
His second in command, Opli, had taken over his elite unite of pirate-catching policemen and the group had had all but disappeared from D-882. No more random inspections, no more haughty requests for identification even though the U-POL could not arrest pirates.
But Razia knew that he was up to something, even if she didn't know what that something was. Her interest in him was compounded when she found out he knew her dual life as Lyssa Peate, something even Harms didn't know about. The thought of Opli sharing her secret made her queasy, or perhaps the bubbles in her soda had worn off.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Harms asked. "You look pale."
"I'm fine. So, what do the runners think about the new pirates?"
"Obviously, they don't like having a bunch of untested kids languishing in their top twenty," Harms said. "These guys don't know anything about hiding or how to use aliases. It's pretty pathetic."
"Just makes my job easier," Razia said, clenching her jaw. "So what do you think? Go after a new kid or go after one of the last remaining guys?"
"Hard to say. Dissident's been giving mixed messages lately. Obviously, he'd like all of Contestant's pirates captured. But he doesn't want Contestant retaliating against him by going after his top pirates, present company included."
She didn't miss how Harms beamed when he spoke, but she had to cover her mouth with her hand as it became dry.
"Are you sure you're all right, honey?" Harms asked.
"Nope," she said, flying out of the booth and dashing into the bathroom.
***
A week later, Lyssa couldn't avoid the reality: she'd caught something nasty. She'd vomited her guts out at Harms' bar, and it had taken all her angry bluster to convince him that she could make it back to her ship without an escort. Although she'd promised Harms she would see a doctor, she'd waited a few days to see if it would pass.
It did, at times. But she never quite shook off the constant nausea, and she'd thrown up enough to put her in danger of dehydration. So, she set a course for the Planetary and System Science Academy where she'd find the universe's top doctors to deal with whatever bacterial or viral infection she'd picked up.
She rolled over onto her side and groaned again, wishing she had someone to bring her a glass of water. She reached over to her mini-computer and dialed the number of her best friend, Lizbeth Carter.
"Hey—What's wrong?" Lizbeth said, her smile melting into a concerned glare. Her curly, light brown hair fell around her face. Lizbeth was at work in her glass-enclosed office, visible behind her head. The new space was a perk of her promotion to lead investigator. "You look terrible."
"I'm sick. Going to the Academy."
"Poor baby," Lizbeth cooed. "Do you want me to meet you there? Carry you to the infirmary?"
Lyssa snorted, but another wave of nausea rolled through her. She moaned and covered her eyes, breathing through it.
Lizbeth tutted. "Boy, you really are sick aren't you? What is it? Fever? Cold?"
"Just…sick, throwing up a lot," Lyssa said, picking up the mini-computer and holding it to look at Lizbeth.
Lizbeth opened then closed her mouth, the corners turning up. "How are your boobs?"
"What?" Lyssa said, giving her a look.
"Your boobs. How are they feeling?"
"I dunno. They hurt, I guess." Lyssa wasn't sure what illness caused sore breasts, but Lizbeth seemed to have an idea, based on the way her eyes sparkled.
"You, uh…you seen Sage lately?" Lizbeth asked, twirling a light brown curl around her finger.
Lyssa glared at the screen. Lizbeth knew the answer to that question. "Do you think he got me sick?"
"Oh, I think it's possible he gave you something," Lizbeth said lightly. "How much longer until you get to the Academy?"
"Few hours," Lyssa said, closing her eyes.
"Try to take it…easy. Get some rest," Lizbeth said. "I have a feeling you're going to need it in a few months."
Lizbeth's confusing conversation aside, Lyssa did get a little rest before she was being called to announce her license number and dock at the Academy's extra-planetary station. She forewent her normal Academy uniform in favor of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, hoping she could avoid all unwanted attention between her ship and the infirmary.
