Read Ronan: Ziva Payvan Book 3 Online
Authors: EJ Fisch
There was a soft click as the director disengaged the locking mechanism from the inside – apparently he’d gotten tired of people barging into his office uninvited. The door slid open and she strode in, immediately fixing her gaze on the man who stood in front of the massive picture window across the room.
“
Four weeks
?” she shouted.
Emeri sighed and moved over to his desk. “This is exactly why I told Stannist to send you up here immediately,” he muttered, running a hand through his graying hair and disturbing the impeccably-combed turquoise stripes.
“Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Ziva, I need you to calm down and listen to me.” He passed her a data pad, and she suddenly realized she’d left her other one on the floor in the hallway. “We’ve compiled all the information we have on the situation; you can look over it more thoroughly when we’re done here.”
“I said
why
didn’t you tell me? You think some damn communication rule trumps
this
?”
“Payvan, please!” Emeri closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet but carried a commanding tone that compelled her to listen. “I can assure you the communication limitations had nothing to do with it. We chose not to inform you because you were barely halfway through your rehab session at the time, and we didn’t want to risk you trying to return to the planet before you were healthy enough to do so. The Royal House wouldn’t hear of it anyway, not before your hearing had taken place.”
“That is the biggest load of
sheyss
I’ve ever heard,” Ziva said. She’d been tempted to leave the base several times throughout the last few weeks of rehab, not necessarily with the intention of avoiding her trial, but just to get a taste of freedom again. She’d refrained, of course. Despite the brutal training sessions, the short break from the insanity of ops had been enjoyable, and the thought of the Royal Officer’s people chasing her down seemed rather unappealing after her bout with Dasaro. Now it appeared the one time she’d chosen to settle down and follow the rules, everything had gone to hell.
For a moment Emeri didn’t seem convinced that keeping her in the dark had been the best move, but he composed himself and cleared his throat. “What do you know about an entity called Ronan?”
The question caught Ziva off guard. She found herself sitting in Kat Reilly’s shop on Chaiavis, listening to the young woman talk about the mysterious disease that had killed her friend Corey. “I…barely anything,” she replied, giving him an abbreviated version of the same story Kat had told her before returning to Argall. Nobody knew for sure what Ronan was, only that it had been responsible for Corey’s death and would have killed Kat too if she hadn’t sacrificed herself in the mining town. “She gave me some information she wanted me to look into after she had passed.”
Emeri waved his hand over his own data pad, sending whatever he’d been looking at to the device Ziva held. “
This
wouldn’t happen to be that information, would it?”
Despite the fact that she’d never had time to take an in-depth look at the pad Kat had given her, a quick glance at the screen revealed that this was indeed the young woman’s data, copied word for word but now marked with an HSP case logo. Ziva opened her mouth to ask how the agency had gotten the original data pad, considering it had been locked in the hidden strongbox in her bedroom, but her mind made the connection before she could say anything. She saw herself lying in her hospital bed with Aroska hovering over her.
“Where’s my kytara?”
“I found it on Bosco’s ship on the way back here. I’ll put it away for you.”
Of course. As of this moment, he was the only other person in the galaxy who knew the location of her strongbox. “Damn you, Tarbic,” she muttered.
“Tarbic brought this information to our attention shortly after returning from Argall,” the director said, shooting her an unimpressed glance. “He said he found it in your backpack after you were shot.”
Ziva forced her facial expression to remain unchanged. Even though Emeri knew of her Nosti abilities, she was thankful Aroska had left her kytara – and the strongbox, for that matter – out of the picture.
“After meeting Ms. Reilly in person and witnessing what took place in Argall, Tarbic insisted we open an investigation,” Emeri continued. “We delegated the case to Adin Woro’s field ops team until we had enough information to act on. There was a lead on the other side of the Fringe, and they found evidence of Ronan’s presence on Niio…”
Aroska Tarbic stepped into the tiny room and swept his gaze across the space, lowering his rifle a bit when he saw it was empty…just like most of the other identical rooms he’d already looked in. The corridor he’d been assigned to stretched further than he could see with his night optics, and the walls were lined with hundreds of small storage rooms roughly three by three meters. Most contained nothing but dust and rodent feces. He’d found the occasional empty box, and one room had housed a pair of strung-out Elsara whose beady eyes had glowed as he viewed them through his headgear. But the rest were empty, with nothing to see but cold, windowless gray walls.
Despite the fact that he had thus far found nothing of interest, Aroska continued to proceed with caution. He moved forward slowly while following a heel-toe pattern, treading so lightly he could barely hear his own footsteps. This warehouse complex was massive, and Ronan’s men were somewhere in it. Danger could literally be waiting around any corner.
He still wasn’t entirely sure if Ronan was a person or an organization; maybe it was both. Whatever it was, it had numerous soldiers at its disposal. The ones they’d been tracking through the Niiosian spaceport appeared to be human, though it had been difficult to tell for sure since their faces had been covered by sleek helmets. None of them were overly tall – roughly Zinni’s height – but even with the light armor they wore it was clear they were well-built. Nobody else on the spaceport moon had given them a second glance; they fit right in with the merchants, smugglers, mercenaries, and thousands of other people traveling to and from all corners of the galaxy.
Aroska continued down the hallway and found the next five rooms to be, yet again, empty. This was of course the closest anyone had ever gotten to Ronan’s people, other than Kat Reilly herself. He had no idea if they were simply using this warehouse as a storage space or if it was a prison and lab like the building Kat had found on Chaiavis. The information she’d entered into her data pad had been so thorough. She’d interviewed her friend about his time in captivity and had documented all the stages of his horrible symptoms right up until his death. She’d kept detailed records of her own struggles with this mysterious disease Ronan had given her and had written out a lengthy description of her findings in the warehouse she’d searched. Aroska imagined it wasn’t much different from the one in which he now stood, and after reading everything Kat had compiled, he was confident that he would recognize evidence of Ronan’s presence if he saw it.
He still found himself wishing she would have shared her story with the entire group before they’d returned to Argall. If her theory about the seizures was correct, it had been too late to save her anyway, but it bothered him that she’d chosen to confide only in Ziva after they’d all become a team.
Oh Ziva. She’d kill him when she found out he’d taken the data pad and syringe from the strongbox while putting her kytara away. For a moment he’d debated over whether to take the items at all, but as soon as he’d realized they belonged to Kat, he’d decided investigating further was the best way to honor the young woman after she’d sacrificed herself to save all of them. Several weeks had gone by before they’d understood the full magnitude of the situation, and now here they were finally closing in on some answers.
Aroska paused a moment and glanced back the way he had come. “Anyone having any luck?” he said into his earpiece.
“Everything’s still quiet,” came Skeet’s voice.
“Looks like the area ahead of me is opening up a bit,” Zinni replied. She hesitated a moment. “Nothing’s registering on infrared, but I’ve got some containers I want to check out. Stand by.”
Aroska was beginning to wonder if they were even looking in the right building when he came to a storage unit whose door was shut. Every unit was equipped with a sturdy metal door that unfolded and sealed the opening, but all the others had been open. A locked door likely meant the room actually contained something important, and he was greatly curious as to what that might be.
The door control was crusty and obsolete, probably dating back to the original establishment of the warehouse complex. A bit of fiddling with the wiring behind the control board was all it took to disengage the lock. Aroska lifted the door, wincing at the abrasive metallic scraping sound it made, and repeated the process of stepping inside and sweeping his eyes from corner to corner. The room itself was identical to all the others, but the carefully-stacked pyramid of shipping crates it contained was new.
Aroska approached slowly, studying the ground for any form of booby trap before looking over the stack in the same manner. None of the crates were marked with any sort of identifying logo, but it appeared they had all originated from the same place and held the same goods.
“I’ve got some shipping containers here,” he said quietly, receiving affirmative responses from both Skeet and Zinni. He carefully reached out and flipped one of the lids open. Inside he found rows upon rows of plastic packages, each of which contained a fine yellow powder. He lifted a package and gave it a quick sniff – xanix, a narcotic popular among the Fringe Systems, unless he was mistaken. While it was the most interesting thing he’d found so far, it didn’t appear to have anything to do with Ronan. With an exasperated sigh, he dropped the package back into the container and returned to the hallway.
“Just drugs,” he announced. “Some smuggler probably stashed them here.”
“Keep moving,” Skeet said quietly. “They’ve got to be in here somewhere.”
Rather than respond, Zinni swore and began to cough. “You okay?” Aroska asked, picturing the intelligence officer disturbing some built-up dust. There was no shortage of the stuff in the building. When she didn’t respond, he stopped. “Zinni?”
The sound of her scream immediately set him in motion again. He opened his mouth to ask for an explanation, but Skeet’s commanding voice dominated the comm channel: “Zinni! Status report!”
Her response was garbled. “Got smoke…third quarter.” All that followed were muffled noises.
Aroska continued moving and glanced down at the tiny viewscreen strapped to his wrist, noting that he was also three quarters of the way through the route he’d been assigned to. Though she was two long corridors over, Zinni was somewhere directly across from him.
The only sound he could hear over the comm now was Skeet’s heavy breathing as he too hurried through the darkness. Zinni had gone completely silent, prompting Aroska to quicken his pace. He finally came to a connecting hallway and ducked down it, sprinting toward the areas Skeet and Zinni had been searching.
Unsure if there was any point in being stealthy anymore, Aroska tore off his night optics and activated the spotlight mounted on his rifle. The beam cut through the blackness and he caught sight of Skeet rounding a corner up ahead. He had also shed his headgear and was now guided by the beam of his own spotlight. Aroska hurried to catch up and the two of them ran together for another minute or so before stumbling into a space that appeared to be the open area Zinni had described.
After taking one look at Skeet, Aroska could tell he was trying hard to not just call out Zinni’s name. “She has to be nearby,” he whispered, sweat glistening on his forehead.
Aroska nodded and they pressed on together, he shining the beam of his light as far down the corridor as he could and Skeet playing his about on the walls and floor. A cloud of what appeared to be smoke drifted out of one of the rooms ahead, and their lights reflected off of something shiny on the ground as they neared.
It was Zinni’s night optics.
Skeet bent down to examine the headgear while Aroska cautiously peered into the room from which the smoke had originated. The dissipating cloud swirled around him as he moved in and recovered a small circular device that had adhered itself to the floor: a smoke grenade. He turned to show Skeet just as the sergeant approached him with a small object of his own.
“Her earpiece,” he said. “Someone took her.”
“Come on,” Aroska replied, “they can’t have gotten far.”
They took off down the corridor as fast as their legs would carry them.
Ziva sat – she didn’t even remember sitting down – in one of the chairs opposite Emeri’s desk, massaging her eyes as she attempted to wrap her head around everything she’d just been told. She should have known better than to leave Kat’s items in a place anyone, even one person, knew about. Then again, she hadn’t planned on being shot in Argall and never envisioned anyone but herself putting her kytara away. Still, taking something she’d obviously made a point of hiding had been a bold move on Aroska’s part. It wasn’t the first time she’d been overcome with the desire to skin him alive.
“There would have been a small syringe with that data pad,” she finally said. “What became of it?”
“It was sent to forensics along with a copy of the data,” the director answered. “Based on the chemical composition of the residue found in the barrel of the syringe, and taking the documented symptoms into consideration, it appears it was designed to affect the nervous system. But the substance still hasn’t been identified.”
“Sounds like the gas on Na,” Ziva mused, wondering briefly if there was any connection. “Adin said he lost contact with Skeet and Aroska this morning.”
“I implemented Condition Black protocols for all field-bound agents after the attack. They’ve been ordered to cease all communications, to become invisible. Lieutenant Woro’s clearance level doesn’t make him privy to that information.”
“Isn’t that something he should know if he’s overseeing the case? He probably thinks they’re dead.”
“Ziva, you know as well as I do that that protocol is designed to protect our agents at all costs, even from the agency itself. We’ve had our fair share of dirty agents throughout this past year. I’d think you of all people would opt to err on the side of caution in this situation.”
He was right after all, and she responded with a simple nod.
“I want you out there, Ziva,” Emeri continued. “We need you to go connect with your team and find Officer Vax. We’re considering this an act of war against the agency, and we’ve already got most of the spec ops teams on the hunt for any signs of Ronan. But you heard Kat Reilly’s story in person – you know how a run-in with Ronan affected her. You may have been out of commission for the past ten weeks, but you still just might be the best suited for this investigation.”
“If my team has gone dark, how am I supposed to find them?”
“Finding people who don’t want to be found is what you do best. After Vax was taken, Tarbic and Duvo set up a temporary base of operations on Niio while they searched the moon and nearby systems. That’s where they were when we sent out the distress call this morning. If they’re smart, they’re probably long gone by now, but you know how they operate. I have the utmost confidence in your ability to track them down.”
Ziva bowed her head and had to force herself to say what she was thinking, something she normally had no trouble with. “Is there any sense in even searching for Zinni at this point? Four weeks is a long time.”
Emeri gave her a slight nod of understanding. “I know. As of right now, we’re still operating under the pretense that she’s alive, based on what we know about Ms. Reilly’s life expectancy after she was captured. And even if it’s too late for Officer Vax, galaxy forbid, I feel it is imperative that we continue the search for Ronan. Whatever it is, it needs to be stopped.”
“What about this Aura Stannist woman? She’s not going to let me just walk out.”
“Leave her to me. I’ll stall her and take any flak from the Royal House until you return.”
An odd tingle slithered up Ziva’s spine and she lifted her gaze to meet Emeri’s. This was the man who usually denied any involvement with her operations so he could
avoid
trouble from the Royal House. “Why?” she said quietly. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because, even though you sometimes make my job ten times harder than it needs to be, I’ve never doubted your abilities for a second. I may not agree with the way you handle some things – a lot of things – but you get the job done, and I want you to know I’ve got your back. And I want to atone for
not
having your back sooner when you were in trouble with Dasaro.”
Ziva thought back to the things she had been considering all morning. It brought her some comfort to know he’d at least realized he was essentially throwing away his best weapon, but at the same time it made her even more angry that he’d felt that way and had still been willing to ship her off to the Haphor Facility without question. She appreciated the apology nonetheless and acknowledged it with a terse nod.
Emeri cleared his throat. “When your team was dispatched to the field, we thought it best that they travel in a vessel not directly affiliated with the agency, so they took the
Intrepid
. We’ll provide you with an unregistered ship you can use to go after them. A variety of weaponry was also recovered from your home after Tachi’s assassination, but the items are available for immediate pick-up down in evidence.”
Ziva rose, excited by the prospect of being able to handle something other than an antique rifle she’d had to modify on the fly. “Thank you,” she said, a bitter edge to her voice.
“I’ll have your ship left in the east landing zone; you should be able to avoid Agent Stannist that way. And Ziva, one more thing.”
She paused and turned back toward him, having been on her way to the door.
“With Dasaro, Venn, and Hoxie – three ranking officers – all out of the picture, that left us with a significant gap in the chain of command. There was some shuffling and testing of personnel while you were gone, and we’ve managed to fill Venn and Hoxie’s positions, but you were next in line to take Dasaro’s place. Duvo was named the Alpha team’s acting lieutenant in your absence, and he will now retain that title. Officer Vax requested that she maintain her status as intelligence officer, and since Tarbic hasn’t received the specialized training required for the position, we agreed. He was vetted thoroughly and then bumped to sergeant. While not a direct member of the team, you will continue to oversee their operations and carry out assignments on your own,
Captain
Payvan.”
Ziva stood perfectly still as the gears turned in her head. She once again found herself thinking back to her previous debate over whether or not she should leave the agency.
Not a direct member of the team,
she mused. To her surprise, the thought saddened her a bit, but it also meant that measures had been put in place to ensure her team’s stability even in her absence. Then her thoughts drifted to Zinni. Leaving now was completely out of the question. As much as she disliked relying on others and
being
relied on, she knew Skeet and Aroska needed her now more than ever.
“Just like that?” she said with an incredulous shrug.
“The others went through a bit more official processing,” Emeri answered. “Even though you were gone, your credentials have been updated in all the agency’s systems.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I doubted you’d want any kind of formal promotion ceremony anyway.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” Ziva continued moving slowly toward the office door.
“Dasaro’s old office is at your disposal when you’re ready. For now, get out there and do what you do. And remember, you’ll be operating under Condition Black as well.”
She dipped her head. “Sir.”
“Good luck, Captain.”
The new title continued to echo through Ziva’s head as she went downstairs and took a shuttle across the HSP campus to the landing area Emeri had mentioned. While she certainly wasn’t complaining, she’d never had any overwhelming desire to be promoted to a unit captain. She liked the idea of taking charge, but, just as she’d been pondering earlier, she wasn’t a particularly good leader. Most people only followed her because they knew she could get the job done, even if she wasn’t very congenial. That, she decided, was their problem though, and she would simply continue to – as Emeri put it – do what she did best.
She arrived at the landing zone and found the ship waiting for her. It was similar in make to the
Intrepid
, fast and stealthy, but about five years newer with far fewer scratches and dents. She piloted the craft over to the evidence lockup, where a team of techs had packed up all of her belongings per the director’s orders. Most of the items were from the formerly-hidden weapon safe in her hall closet – guns, ammunition, explosives, and other ordnance. Her personal computers and communications equipment were included as well, and with the help of the techs, she had everything loaded onto the ship in a matter of minutes.
Then she was off. Just to be on the safe side, Ziva double checked the nav computer to make sure tracking had been disabled. She doubted it would take Aura long to realize she was gone, and she knew Emeri would do everything in his power to make sure the Royal House didn’t send anyone after her, but she liked the idea of being invisible all the same. She soared into the midst of Noro’s afternoon traffic, catching a glimpse of her own house far below as she flew out over the Tranyi River. Na was visible through the front viewport as she broke out of the planet’s atmosphere, and part of her couldn’t believe she’d been a prisoner there that very morning. But the thought was not a lingering one. She directed the ship past the military moon and out into open space, and after a few careful calculations, the vessel lurched forward at FTL speed.