The Complete Razia Series, page 8
"No," she snapped, not looking up at him.
"Really? Aren’t you a damned good bounty hunter? Isn’t that what you told Relleck?"
"I'm in no mood for this."
"Oh, come on. I'm just playing. I actually called to see if you needed any help."
"Why, because you don't think I can find him either?"
"Well, if you were having any luck finding him, I assume you'd have found him by now…" Sage glanced at some unseen point above the video call. "As you've got less than a day to bring him in."
"Dammit," she said, burying her head in her hands. She'd completely lost track of time. The pressure in her chest was starting to build again as she turned over all of the consequences of not finding this bounty in time.
"Have you slept?"
"No."
"You should probably do that at some point," he said. "You know you get cranky when you don't sleep."
"Get sucked into Leveman’s Vortex."
"Okay, okay. Just here to help. So what did Harms tell you about him?"
"He's been hanging around G-245."
"Now, see, that's not what he told you." Sage sighed. "You never listen, do you?"
"Okay, what did he tell you then? And why was he even talking to you about me anyway?"
"Harms said he was a transporter. And what do transporters do?"
She gave him a mean look.
"I'm serious," Sage said. "What do they do?"
"Transport shit."
He sighed again. "You know, if you're going to have this attitude..."
She looked up at him again, expectantly.
"Look, what kind of guy are you hunting?"
"Old guy." Razia wasn't sure what he was getting at.
"Not just old," Sage said, looking as if he was hinting at something.
"Paranoid?"
"What’s the other P word?"
"Pirate?" Razia said, raising her eyebrow.
"So you’ve got an old, paranoid pirate." Sage nodded. "Do you really think he went completely legitimate?"
"I know he's not using his real name," Razia said. "Hence my problem."
"God in Leveman’s Vortex." Sage rolled his eyes. "Okay, I’m gonna make this really simple for you. Most—if not all—transporters have gotten hijacked at one point or another by pirates. It’s just what makes the universe expand."
"Yeah, and?"
"Do you think a former pirate would get hijacked?" Sage said. "Do you think that maybe, just maybe, he’s got some deal worked out with the runners to keep pirates off his back?"
Razia looked up at him, her mind turning. "Are there records of on-time percentages for transporters?"
"Yeeeees." Sage nodded at her. "Now you’re getting it."
"So if I were to find maybe the top hundred with their on-time percentages—cross-check to see which ones had filed insurance claims and see if any of them hadn’t."
"You’re welcome."
She snorted, willing the blush to stay off her face. "I would've figured it out eventually."
"Yeah and by that time, you would've been coming to me, begging me to hire you on my crew," Sage said. "And, as funny as that would be for me, living with you isn't my favorite thing in the world."
Razia, searching the transporters' on-time percentages, paused to give him a dirty look. "I am a fine roommate."
"You are messy, and kind of mean," Sage shrugged.
"You're just a baby, that’s all," she said, pulling up transaction records of the transporter with the highest on-time percentage.
Zephyr, Benson
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
UT200014-95-91-60:67
Refueling Station 8790
25,000C
UT200014-95-89-50:55
O'Pera's Diner
G-294
50C
UT200014-95-84-32:56
Refueling Station 1245
25,000C
UT200014-95-80-57:16
Yankari's Diner
S-6642
50C
For a transporter, he didn’t have that many purchases—not for gas, not for food, not even for a room to sleep in at night. While some transporters slept on their ships, something wasn’t adding up.
"You said I had chicken legs!" Sage barked at her.
"You do!" Razia replied, plotting out his route on a star map. There were plenty of gaps—there was no way this guy could've made it from one gas fill-up to another without refueling somewhere.
"Okay, yeah, when I was thirteen," Sage said, pouting. "But my legs are manly now!"
"Yeah, manly," Razia said, calculating the probable time that the transporter needed to stop for fuel, and identifying any stations in the general vicinity based on the average rate of speed. Three stations and five transactions met her criteria.
"Well, Annber said they were gorgeous," Sage muttered.
"Who?" Razia said, snapping from her thoughts.
"Girl I met at Eamon’s. I think she’s the one."
"You say that about every girl you meet," Razia said, going back to her bounty. She tried the same tactic with another gap in transaction fueling—checking any stations in the area where he'd have to refuel based on his current route.
And at the second refueling station, she saw an identical name.
"Found him." Razia said.
"No shit, you did not find him already."
Razia simply ended the call and set a course for S-6642.
***
She sat in the diner, staring at a cold cup of coffee, and glancing at the time on her mini-computer every few seconds. Outside the window was the blackness of space, and on the other side was a dock that was mostly empty, but that had been filled with transport ships off and on for the past few hours.
Just to be sure of her hunch, she'd spent the entire trip over there mapping out three weeks’ worth of activities and uncovering three other aliases. When added together, it painted an exact picture of a transport route going to G-245 to S-6642, a recently settled planet that was still being built up.
The diner where she was sitting was on all five aliases’ transaction records (at different times). Based on his total pattern and regular route timing, she could reasonably expect him to show up soon.
She looked around the diner and sighed, wondering just when he would show up. There was a rather bored-looking cook behind the counter, reading a book, while the only waitress was smoking and doing a crossword puzzle.
By the looks of the place, it didn't get much business.
Her mini-computer buzzed and her heart leaped from her chest. One of the five transporter accounts had just paid for an hour's worth of parking and begun refueling.
Any minute now.
She readied herself for action—if he ran, or if he stayed to fight. Hard to tell how he'd react to being captured after all these years.
The door opened. Razia took a deep breath and looked up, ready to meet her destiny.
He was old.
Really old.
As in, she could probably break something if she tapped him.
His back was hunched, and his hands shook as he put his C-card back in his pocket. His hair was combed over his spotted head, and his suspenders were keeping up loose-fitting pants. He pulled off his thick glasses to wipe them on his handkerchief, then placed them in his pocket.
But it was definitely Evet Delmur.
"Hey there, Fred," the waitress said, as he sidled into the seat. "The usual?"
He nodded, and the waitress put a cup of coffee in front of him. "Darn kids these days, they—"
He paused when he realized Razia was staring at him.
Delmur let out a sigh and pushed himself off the stool. She watched, tense, as he sauntered over to her table.
"All right. What do you want?"
"Excuse me?" she said, her own voice sounding weird.
"You been pinging my accounts. Why?"
"I've been... How did you know I was pinging your accounts?"
"Honey, I own the transporter company. I'm not some two-bit pirate. I got alarms and alerts all over those search results."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you were retired."
"I am retired," he grunted. "So where's your boyfriend...I've got to set him straight."
"What boyfriend?" Razia asked, confused.
"The one who sent you in here to distract me while he came around back to capture me." He looked around. "I know this trick."
She blinked at him, then slid out of the table, her temper flaring. "I am here to bring you in."
"So now they’re sending little girls?" He chortled. "The runners have sunk to a new low."
Razia’s face fell from a frown into a scowl. "Little girl?"
"Oh," he said, blinking. "Are you...serious?"
"Do you think I would've spent so much time on you if I wasn’t?" She was beside herself with fury, and wanted to haul his laughing ass in as soon as she possibly could to wipe that grin off his face.
"Honey, I’m retired. You run along and find yourself some other low bounty to chase after."
"No, Dissident said—"
He began to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Now I get it!"
"What?" Razia said, confused.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag. "When you see Dissident, send him my apologies for not getting this to him sooner."
"What in Leveman’s is this?" Razia said.
"Chocolates, from H-876. I fly by there on occasion and Dissident always has me bring him some of the finest. I’m sure that’s why he sent you to pick them up for him."
He tossed the bag on the table, and she stared at it, dumbfounded.
"I...I'm not...I mean..."
"I know Dissident, and he'd rather die than let some woman in his web." Delmur laughed. "None of them runners like the idea. Just not natural."
She swallowed, praying that she could keep shame and embarrassment off her face. It could've been a trick, but his words were true. She'd been too preoccupied with finally getting a decent bounty that she'd never questioned why. She should've known something was up—especially when Dissident began to barter with her.
"He...uh...didn't send you for anything else, did he?" Delmur said, eyeing her up and down.
"Get sucked into Leveman's and die," she growled, giving him the meanest glare she could muster.
"Ah, well. In that case, Mabel, I will take that pie to go."
"Here you are, Fred. See you next time," the waitress said.
And with that, he took his box and his coffee in a to-go cup, and walked out the door.
CHAPTER SIX
Lyssa sat on her ship, speeding back to the planet where she had left her intern, numb with shock and the realization all of her dreams had just gone up in smoke.
There was no way Dissident was going to let her stay in the web.
When she wasn’t in the web, she couldn’t be a bounty hunter.
If she couldn’t be a bounty hunter, she would have to be Lyssa forever.
She caught her reflection in the front glass. She looked like Razia—hair down, black shirt, cargo pants. But the face was all Lyssa—defeated, miserable, and giving in.
She'd been going back and forth in her mind, wondering if there was anything she could possibly do to remain in the pirate web—even so far as taking Sage up on his offer. Desperate times, and all.
Then again, who was she fooling?
She was nothing but a joke. A chocolate-fetching joke. No matter what she did, or how hard she worked, she was never going to be good enough for them.
"This is your punishment for being a lying, deceitful child."
She swallowed, forcing herself to keep it together. She couldn’t think about that now.
Besides, she had bigger issues to deal with. Namely her intern, who she'd left all alone on a planet for over three days. The next stop was undoubtably being hauled in front of a disciplinary committee.
Served her right, she supposed. If she was lucky, perhaps she would get suspended. If she wasn’t so lucky…she might be looking at losing two jobs in the same week.
As she got closer to the planet, she finally gathered enough courage to make the call.
She pulled up her video call application and saw all the calls to Sage, to Dissident. Even a few to Harms. All the people she no longer had in her life, who she'd probably never talk to again.
It was weird to think that just a few days before, everything had been swimmingly for her. She looked at the call history, her gaze lingering on the last call, from Sage, where he'd so obnoxiously helped her find Delmur.
What a waste.
Pushing those self-pitying thoughts out of her head, she called Vel’s mini-computer.
The call rang for a while, but he didn’t answer. Annoyed, she immediately redialed.
And then, very faintly, she heard a beeping sound.
Leaving the video call ringing, she followed the sound to the back of the ship, down her ladder to the lower level, through to her bedroom, where Vel’s bag had been neatly placed next to her bathroom.
She nervously reached into the bag and pulled out his beeping mini-computer.
Without it, he had no way of calling for help. So for all she knew, he was dying somewhere.
But, more importantly, without his communicator, she had no way of locating him on the big, huge, giant planet he was currently stuck on.
"Uh oh," she whispered.
***
"Shit, shit, shit, shit," she spat, pushing leaves and branches out of the way. "VEL!"
When she got close enough to pick up readings on the planet, she began scanning every corner of the planet her sensors could reach for any sign of large animals—roughly human-sized. Every second that ticked by without a hit, her panic grew exponentially.
"Vel!"
She’d already been kicked out of the pirate web, and she'd definitely be kicked out of the Academy for killing her intern. As if her mother didn’t despise her enough…
"Vel!"
Finally, after five or six scans, she picked up the readings of a plausible humanoid life-form. But it was in the middle of a thick forest—and she could only land her ship in a clearing two miles away.
"Vel! Are you here?"
And she'd been out there, in the jungle, for what seemed like forever, screaming at the top of her lungs. Hoping against hope that with every branch she pushed away, every time she turned around, she wouldn't come across a dead intern.
"Vel!"
"Hello, there, Dr. Peate!"
Sweet, sweet relief washed over her as she spun around—until she caught sight of him.
He was covered—head to toe—in swollen bites. Some of them were oozing white pus, and others looked just about ready to burst. His eyes were glassy, but he forced himself to smile at her.
"It appears as though you forgot to leave me some bug spray," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "I assure you, I look worse than I feel. Could I bother you for a drink of water?"
"Here," she said, tossing him the bottle on her hip. "So, um…"
He smiled at her as he gulped down the bottle.
"Did I forget to leave you a potable water sensor?" Lyssa asked nervously.
He continued gulping.
"I guess so…"
He finished the bottle, and, even with the bulbous swelling bites all over his body, he smiled at her. "How did your research go?"
"R-Research?"
"Yes, I can only assume you went to go do some research," Vel said. "Did you find out anything interesting?"
She opened and closed her mouth, reality crashing down on her again. Delmur was gone, Razia was out of the pirate web, and all her dreams of greatness had vanished into thin air.
"No," she spat after a few moments.
"Well, maybe next time you'll be more successful!" Vel said, looking very much as if he wanted to scratch one of his boils. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I think we should just get you back to the Academy," Lyssa said, eyeing him. "To the medical wing."
"Oh, these?" Vel said, waving her off. "Don't worry about these. I'm sure they will go down soon."
"I think you're loopy. Let’s get you back to the ship so you can get some rest."
"Oh, wait," Vel said, reaching into his bag and handing her a set of neatly organized bags of leaves and specimens, and other scraps of paper. "I'm not sure if this will be enough to do a presentation on, but I'm sure it will at least get us started."
She stared at him, amazed. Even after leaving him with little survival gear, he'd still managed to gather data. And from the looks of it, he'd even captured more readings than she normally did.
"Thanks..." She swallowed. "And hey... I'm sorry I just left you here."
"I'm sure it was important, whatever the reason. And I understand. I'm just glad I could be helpful!"
She watched him stumble back the way she'd come, toward the ship, and couldn’t help but be a little impressed at how dedicated he was to Dr. Pymus.
***
They arrived at the Academy just as Vel's skin started to turn green. As obnoxious as he was, and as much as she hated everything about him, somewhere deep in her soul, she knew he was still her little brother. She'd feel bad if he actually...died.
"Shall we...unpack first?" he said, his eyes seeming to go in and out of focus.
"I think we should head over to the medical wing now," Lyssa said, helping him to his feet.
"I hate to...impose..." he protested as she guided him down the ladder and off the ship.
She hurried him out of the docks and into the first available lift—hoping to avoid any and all unwanted attention. She wasn't sure what her other brothers would say if they saw Vel in this state, and definitely didn't want to run into—
"Dr. Pymus!" Lyssa gasped, as the lift opened.
"Well my, my!" Pymus stepped onto the lift with them. "I had heard you'd returned from your excavation a little early."
He barely acknowledged Vel, who was leaning against the wall, pale and sweaty.
"Yes, well." Lyssa gulped, wondering what sort of fallout she was going to get when Vel told him what had happened.
