Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1 Read online

  DAKITI

  Copyright © 2014 E.J. Fisch

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Publisher’s note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Cover art by T.E. Thompson

  The Transcendence Publishing name, imprint, and logo are trademarks of Transcendence Publishing.

  Questions or comments?

  Contact:

  [email protected]

  SPECIAL THANKS…

  …to Phil and Nick – without you guys, this story and these characters might never have existed

  …to Tanni, for putting up with my procrastination and providing such wonderful feedback over the past couple of years. Your support has been invaluable

  …to Nola, Amanda, and Jameson, for being fantastic editors. Never underestimate the value of a few extra sets of eyes

  …to the rest of my family and friends who have listened to my brainstorming rants, acted as a human thesaurus, referred me to a resource, and helped me out in any other ways. The little things do count and your contributions and support mean a lot

  DAKITI

  Table of Contents

  For Emma

  …because she told me to

  -1-

  Dakiti Medical Research Center

  Sardonis

  “Hold still, now,” the medical bot repeated in its monotone, mechanical voice. It leaned over him, nothing but a cold form against the blinding light above. He felt himself drifting out of consciousness again until the needle penetrated his skin just above his left elbow. He opened his mouth to scream as the burning sensation spread up his arm and into his shoulder, but no sound came out. Maybe he had gone deaf… no, he’d obviously heard the bot speak. He gagged, spitting bile out over his chin. The restraints on his wrists and ankles seemed tighter than usual when he struggled against them.

  “Hold still,” the bot commanded again, clamping a metallic claw over his bicep. “Relax.”

  He gritted his teeth as the burning sensation moved into his face and chest. With as many times as they’d done this to him, he thought it might no longer have an effect, yet it did. Everything around him was a blur, but this was perhaps the most awake he had been in all the times they’d brought him in here. How long had it been? Weeks? Months? Years? He couldn’t recall ever being fully conscious. In fact, all he could remember was this room – this cold, pure white room and the strange beeping he could hear whenever they made him lie down on this table.

  Somewhere around him, a door slid open, something that had never happened while he was there. A musty, salty scent filled the room – he was surprised he even remembered what salt smelled like. Desperate to see what was going on, he fluttered his eyelids and tried to sit up, but it was no use.

  “How is he holding up?” a man asked in a strange accent.

  Two shadows passed over him and blocked out the light. He struggled to see but his eyes glazed over and he felt his muscles relax. He tried to speak to the shadows but another needle was suddenly plunged into his throat. He gasped for air for a moment, and then the white room disappeared.

  -2-

  HSP Headquarters

  Noro, Haphez

  Noro, Haphez. People knew that name, perhaps because it was the planet’s largest city and the site of Haphez’s busiest spaceport. Maybe it was because it was named after the planet’s sun and the system in which it was located, or because its notorious reputation was known in every corner of the galaxy. In any case, it was a sprawling city, home to over eight million people and stretching from the banks of the Tranyi River to the edge of the Tasmin Forest. Although it lacked the sparkling elegance of the Haphezian capital Haphor, a person still couldn’t help but be intrigued by the city’s towering structures and mysterious energies.

  A thick fog had settled in on this particular morning, sending a chill through the air. A low hum could be heard far above as shuttles and aircars traveled about among the buildings, though the vehicles themselves were invisible in the haze. The sun was nothing more than a pale yellow disk that struggled to warm the earth through the dense cloud cover and the planet’s thick atmosphere. The headquarters of the Haphezian Special Police loomed ahead, rising high above the fog and dwarfing the other buildings on the west side of Lakin Square. The docks were packed full of parked cars, and more hovered around the complex, waiting for a chance to settle in. It was the first day of a new service term, and operations agents from all seven of HSP’s regional offices were reporting in to receive their new assignments. There was a certain tension in the air that seemed almost tangible.

  The fog swirled around her heavy boots as she crossed the street, studying HSP’s impressive campus as she walked. The Haphezian climate always took some getting used to after spending an entire term doing contract work on the tropical world of Aubin. She took a deep breath of crisp air and made her way up the long staircase to the front door of the headquarters’ main building, acknowledging the guards as she slipped her identification key over the scanner and continued by. The holographic screen of her communicator lit up as her login information was processed, displaying bold red text: WELCOME LIEUTENANT PAYVAN. REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO ASSIGNMENT TERMINAL.

  She sighed and tilted her head. Back to the same old grind. Pocketing the communicator, she continued moving and fell anonymously into place among the rest of the agents heading upstairs.

  -3-

  HSP Headquarters

  Noro, Haphez

  Aroska Tarbic took a deep breath and shifted his weight to his other leg for what seemed like the thousandth time. Despite the fact that he’d found the shortest available line for an assignment terminal, it still felt as though he’d been standing there for hours. He’d stood in line and received plenty of new assignments throughout his career, but never before had he done it alone, no doubt the reason time seemed to be dragging. It had been three months – a whole service term – since the explosion that had claimed the lives of his two teammates. He’d retained his title as lieutenant of the Alpha field operations team, but had been assigned to the Solaris Control Unit, a special task force that tracked and monitored the local radical group responsible for planting the bomb that killed Jole Imetsi and Tate Luver. As much as he enjoyed the position and the chance to avenge his friends’ deaths, it was temporary at best, and there was no telling what the agency would do with him now.

  The dull buzz of murmuring voices filled the commons where the assignment terminals had been set up. Everyone seemed more on edge than usual today, but maybe it only seemed that way because Aroska himself was on edge. He took a brief look around. There were the young agents who had just graduated from HSP’s brutal training camp, eager to accept their first missions. He had to chuckle; some of them still sported bruises and bandages after their final combat test. Then there were the other lieutenants who stood patiently with their teammates, faces expressionless as they waited to see what challenges they would face next. Finally, there were the standalone agents, those like Aroska who had lost team members or had been holding temporary positions. Their faces were all void of any emotion, but each of them had a twinkle of anticipation in their eyes.

  “What are you think
ing about?”

  The sound of Adin Woro’s voice pulled Aroska from his thoughts. He turned and found the Beta team’s lieutenant standing beside him, arms folded across his chest as he too surveyed the crowd.

  “I suppose I’m trying not to think about anything,” Aroska replied with a shrug.

  “You plan on sticking around?”

  “I put in a petition to continue my work with Solaris, but in the end, the decision isn’t up to me.” Aroska gestured ahead; only two people stood between him and the assignment terminal. “I guess we’ll find out here in a minute.”

  Adin was quiet for a moment, no doubt sensing the emptiness that Aroska felt without Tate and Jole there. The Alpha and Beta teams had been close, and Adin had always embraced Aroska’s squad as if they were his own teammates. “I spoke with the director. He’s agreed to let you stay on as a priority field ops reserve agent, regardless of what you find out today. I’d be happy to have you serving with us, and it’s always nice to have someone you trust watching your back.”

  “I’d like that,” Aroska said, feeling a bit better. “Have you already checked in?”

  Adin forced a nervous chuckle. “Yes, we… we made Alpha team.” He added a respectful dip of his head, aware that it was a somewhat sensitive subject.

  Aroska hoped his disappointment wasn’t as apparent as it felt. He was by no means angry – the shuffling of personnel just meant that his chances of ever leading a field ops team again had been reduced to nothing. If he’d been given a choice, however, he would have picked Adin’s team as his replacement anyway.

  “Hey man, that’s really great,” he said, shaking his friend’s hand and masking his feelings with the most sincere smile he could muster. “Congratulations; you deserve it.”

  “Thanks.” Adin nodded toward the assignment terminal. “Looks like you’re up.”

  Aroska swallowed and stepped forward, feeling the apprehension settle in like a cloud hovering above him. He swiped his identification card and lowered his eye to the optical scanner, then waited a moment for his information to process. After several uncomfortably long seconds, his profile appeared on the screen and his eyes went to work. PRIMARY DEPARTMENT: SOLARIS CONTROL UNIT. Well, this is a good start. The cloud of anxiety began to dissipate, and he released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. ASSIGNMENT: SPECIAL OPERATIONS JOINT TASK FORCE. Aroska lifted an eyebrow. Interesting. So rarely did the high-and-mighty special ops agents willingly accept a field investigator into their ranks. He could only imagine what the process of setting up this arrangement had been like. Regardless of how the spec ops team felt about him, this was an extraordinary opportunity and he found that he couldn’t fight away the smile that was spreading across his face.

  REPORT TO SPECIAL OPERATIONS LIEUTENANT ZIVA PAYVAN FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

  Everything around him seemed to grind to a halt, and the only sounds to be heard were his own heartbeat and a dull ringing in his ears. Aroska squeezed his eyes shut as an image of his younger brother, with dead eyes staring vacantly upward, tore through his memory. He could still hear the moist thump of the bullet striking Soren’s head, smell the blood that splattered over their café table, feel the heat leeching from the young military engineer’s body as he died in Aroska’s arms. The same adrenaline that had surged through his veins as he looked wildly about for the shooter was surging through him again now, and he took a step away from the terminal to keep from slamming his fists against it.

  That had been two years ago. He’d heard the name plenty of times since then – Ziva Payvan, Ziva Payvan, Ziva Payvan – the name of Soren’s killer. She’d been the Cleaner selected to carry out his death sentence, the death sentence he never should have been given. People said that she was ruthless, brutal, that she’d get the job done no matter the cost. Supposedly, she was the best HSP had to offer. But Aroska had never had the great privilege of meeting her. In fact, he’d never even seen her. He’d brought up her personnel file more times than he could remember, and had wasted hours staring at the redacted paragraphs, the blank space where her image should have been. Even as a field ops lieutenant, he was still outranked by the spec ops division’s lowest-ranking intelligence officers, and his clearance level wasn’t high enough to grant him access to their information. Half the people around him at the assignment terminals could be special ops and he wouldn’t even know it. They were a secretive bunch; in the rest of HSP’s eyes, they were merely anonymous agents. But regardless of his clearance level and how long it took to find her, Aroska had vowed that Ziva Payvan’s life would end on the day that he finally caught up to her.

  Adin had worked with her once – she’d chosen the Beta squad to collaborate with her team thanks to certain intelligence they had. He’d been quick to praise her skill and marksmanship, at least until Aroska had shared the information about Soren’s death and his plans for revenge. Adin had laughed at first, but he’d shut up after realizing the seriousness of the situation, refusing to reveal anything he knew about Payvan or her team.

  “It’s for your own good,” he’d always said. “You’re no match against her.”

  Aroska was vaguely aware of someone speaking to him, asking what was wrong, but the words were hardly more than an echo in the back of his mind. The pressure of Adin’s hand on his arm was what finally brought him out of his trance.

  “Oh sheyss,” Adin muttered after getting a look at the screen. “Here, come on, let’s move.”

  It was all Aroska could do to force his feet forward as his mind struggled to process exactly what was happening. Adin took him by the shoulders and led him away, shooting apologetic glances at the other agents who had been waiting behind them in line. They paused in the hallway that led to the elevator bank, waiting for some passersby to clear the vicinity before speaking.

  “I don’t even know what to say,” Adin said. “If you—”

  “Just stop,” Aroska snapped, fending off another memory of cradling Soren’s dead body. “Stop it. There’s nothing you can say that can fix this.”

  Adin lifted his hands in surrender and took a step back. “I know. I just wish there was something I could do to help.”

  “Why would they do this? What the hell were they thinking?”

  “They were thinking that you’re the best agent the SCU’s got,” Adin said, crossing his arms. “They were thinking that there’s no possible way you could know Ziva killed Soren and that you’d be a great asset to whatever operation she’s running. You think the director would purposely give you this assignment if he knew the circumstances? You can’t think of yourself as a victim here.”

  Good old Adin, always knowing exactly what to say in any situation. That was why he was one of HSP’s best negotiators. It was he who had talked Aroska into joining the Solaris Control Unit in the first place as a constructive way of dealing with the loss of Jole and Tate. Somehow, no matter how blunt he was, his words always managed to put Aroska’s mind at ease.

  “I’ve got to talk to someone about this,” he said.

  “Are you kidding?” Adin’s dark gray eyes were frantic. “The Cleaners’ identities are always confidential. If anyone finds out that you know, if anyone finds out that you told me, our careers will be over!”

  Aroska sighed. “What else am I supposed to do? I can’t do this. I can’t work with her. You know my father was a person of interest in that investigation against Soren? Someone tried to take him out even after I cleared his name. I’m almost positive it was Payvan again.”

  “Look,” Adin said quietly, resting his hands on his hips. “I can’t possibly imagine how you’re feeling right now, but Ziva’s the best this agency’s got. I may have only worked with her once, but that was enough to give me a great deal of respect for her. Just try to put the past behind you and get through this mission – it will be over soon enough. Let it go.”

  “Let Soren’s death go?” Aroska said, ready to storm away. “I cannot believe you just said that. I’m going to the
director.”

  “You know that’s not what I meant.” Adin stepped around and cut him off. He was quiet for a moment before heaving a sigh. “Okay, if you really want to take this to Emeri, at least do it with a clear head. You’ll be in deep enough sheyss when he finds out what you know. No need to add a temper tantrum and reckless behavior to your discharge paperwork.” He winked.

  Aroska nodded and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out through his nose. That was a good point, after all.

  Adin clapped him on the shoulder and the two of them slowly continued toward the elevators. Most were crowded with people trying to get back to their respective squad floors after the excitement of receiving their new assignments. One of the cars at the end of the row was clear so they moved toward it, waiting patiently as it descended to their floor.

  “Tell you what,” Adin said as they stepped aside to let the elevator’s occupants out. “You go talk to the director and then we’ll go get something to eat. See if we can’t ease your mind a bit.”

  Aroska almost didn’t hear him, preoccupied by the lone woman who emerged from the elevator. She somehow seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall that he’d ever seen her before. She was broad-shouldered and muscular, but despite her thick build there was a certain gracefulness in the way she moved. An HSP badge dangled from her hand, eliminating the possibility that she was a new recruit, and she wore a black field jacket that complimented her figure nicely. She was taller than most women Aroska knew, though he still had several centimeters on her, and looked athletic. But it wasn’t her size, build, or clothing that caught his attention. It was her eyes. They were a deep crimson, and there was something strangely fascinating about them that Aroska couldn’t put his finger on. He’d seen plenty of red Haphezian eyes before, but these were different. They were fiery and intense, yet full of wisdom and curiosity at the same time.