Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2 (20 page)

Aroska took the seat and waited for Jada to sit down across from him. “Speaking of Ziva,” he said, trying to move things along as efficiently as possible.

“Speaking of Ziva,” the girl sighed, her tone making it sound like some sort of agreement rather than a simple echo. She was quiet for a moment, thoughtfully rubbing her hand across her forehead with her eyes closed. Even after having only met her once, it was clear to Aroska how close Jada and Ziva were, and he respectfully gave her some time.

“I can tell by the tone of your voice that you have a different view on all of this than most people,” she said. “I couldn’t care less whose side you’re on right now and I understand you’re only doing your job. However, I want you to know that I really appreciate the attitude you seem to have; you’re not here to interrogate anyone, you’re here to carry on a civilized conversation like a true professional. I think Ziva would appreciate it, too.”

Aroska found himself rendered momentarily speechless, part of him happy for the compliment and part of him feeling guilty about even being a part of HSP at the moment. He reminded himself that he had yet to hear the whole story and that he should remain a neutral party for the time being. “Thanks,” he replied. “Like you said, I’m just trying to do my job. Despite everything, I have a lot of respect for your sister and I’d like to catch up to her before the rest of the agency does. I don’t want to see her suffer any more than she has to.”

“If I asked if you knew where she was, would you tell me?”

“Even if I
did
know, I doubt I could tell you.” That much was true – he literally hadn’t the slightest clue where Ziva was, though he imagined she might be somewhere in Haphor since she’d gone through the trouble of sending him there. He felt more and more like a pawn as the seconds passed, and the more he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a better term to describe himself. Ziva was using him to keep Dasaro and company occupied while she was running around doing the galaxy only knew what. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to get this nonsense over with and see some action.

He shifted in his seat. “If Ziva were to come here to Haphor, where would she go?”

Jada seemed puzzled by the question but broke out into a grin. “At this point she would probably infiltrate the Royal City in broad daylight just to prove she could.” Then the smile dissolved as abruptly as it had appeared. “Honestly I don’t know,” she said with a sad wag of her head. “She never liked spending much time here.”

And with that Aroska felt as though he was back to square one. Ziva had neither told him what to do nor told him how to
figure out
what to do. Did she expect him to just go sit at a bar somewhere and wait for her to make contact? At the moment that didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

He stood up, unsure how to end the conversation. He’d been there for what, fifteen minutes? Jada watched him quizzically, her wise brown eyes telling him she was aware he was fighting some sort of internal battle. He wanted very much to tell her what he knew, though he recalled what Ziva had said about her being fearful of getting too involved. At this point he didn’t feel like he even knew enough for it to be a problem; he’d be putting himself in more danger than anyone else.

“I wasn’t entirely truthful with you a minute ago,” he said, resolving to at least fill her in on the basic details. “It’s true that I have no idea where Ziva currently is. However—” he glanced toward the door and lowered his voice a bit “—she’s been with me for the past two days. The agency
does
have me running point on the team assigned to track her down, but I’m doing it on her behalf.”

The look on Jada’s face made Aroska wonder if she even believed him. She watched him through slightly narrowed eyes in a manner than reminded him of Zinni or even Ziva herself. Neither of them said anything for a while as they each contemplated what he’d just said. For a moment Aroska regretted saying
anything
, but after a few more seconds of studying the girl’s face, he could tell a certain shadow had been lifted from it. Still, she didn’t smile and her eyes didn’t change.

“Good to know, Lieutenant,” she said, standing up as well, “but I ask that you don’t tell me anything else. If we were in Noro that would be one thing, but right now I’m stuck under this roof and it would be best if I didn’t know any more than I have to.”

“Completely understandable,” Aroska said, offering a hand. “I just thought you should be aware – I wish I would have had your good judgment when I was seventeen.”

Jada shook his hand and her lips finally parted in a radiant smile. “Try eighteen.”

“My mistake, my lady,” Aroska said with a sheepish dip of his head. He checked his watch – he’d managed to waste a total of twenty minutes there at the Jaroon estate. Perhaps he could spend a while scoping out the streets for any signs of Ziva, though he couldn’t bring himself to believe it would do much good.

“There’s a little café just outside the Royal City,” Jada said as he turned to leave. “I’ve met Ziva there maybe three times – it’s the only place I know of that she ever frequents when she’s over here. It might be worth it to check there. If she sent you here to ask me where to go, that’s where I’d tell you.”

Aroska shrugged. “Hey, at this point I’ll take anything I can get.” With one last nod he was on his way out, angling toward the stairs with a cautious eye in the direction of the lavatory. There was no sign of Njo, Namani, or the butler who had let him in as he strode through the entry and broke out onto the front walkway. His groundcar sat untouched where he’d left it, though it remained under the watchful eyes of several Royal Guard agents who were patrolling the immediate area. They all hesitated when they caught sight of him so he picked up his pace, just as uncomfortable with being scrutinized as they were with him being there.

Within a moment he was pulling the car out into the traffic of the Royal City’s main thoroughfare, which was minimal on account of the lockdown. The community was large but the road provided a straight shot to both primary entrances as well as several secondary ones. Lost in thought, Aroska barely noticed when he arrived back at the front gate. After a brief stop and a quick search of the car by the guards, he found himself making his way through the hustle and bustle of the main city.

Jada had neglected to specify where exactly this restaurant was, but being as most of the buildings in the vicinity seemed to be offices, he imagined it wouldn’t be too hard to find. Taking his chances, he guided the car to the right, easing into place on the one-way street between two slower-moving vehicles. Before he had made it half a block, the line stopped moving altogether, held up by some unseen delay at the next intersection.

Heaving an impatient sigh, Aroska leaned back in his seat and drummed his fingers on the controls, realizing he really had nothing better to do than sit in traffic. He glanced to the walkways on either side of him, wondering what the chances were that he would actually catch sight of Ziva. Keeping an eye out for someone who didn’t want to be found – especially when that someone was Lieutenant Ziva Payvan – was as close to futile as something could get. It wasn’t a matter of finding her, but rather of her making herself known when she saw fit.

That was why he nearly laughed out loud when he saw her. At first he hadn’t realized who he was looking at – her hair had been released from its perpetual ponytail and she was wearing dark glasses – but after a quick double-take he saw she was watching him. She was sitting on a bench using a news hologram for cover, but her head was turned directly toward him. With her eyes obscured, it was impossible to tell if she was making eye contact, yet he could feel her gaze boring into him as if she were standing a meter away. Not wanting to draw any attention to her by staring, Aroska shifted his focus back to the street. Traffic was still frozen; Ziva had clearly inserted herself into this particular spot knowing he would be held up long enough to notice her.

When he stole another glance in her direction, she had risen to her feet and was holding the shades at her side. As soon as he reestablished eye contact, she replaced them and looked up the street. Only then did he notice the HSP-issue hoverbike parked at the curb a short distance away, no doubt the same one she had taken from the checkpoint in the forest. Using it in the middle of the city was a bold move on her part…unless she wanted to be caught.

Of course
. The questions she’d asked the night before had seemed odd at the time, but as he sat there now he understood perfectly. He sat still for another moment and watched as Ziva moved toward the bike and boarded it. With such a small and agile vehicle, she would be able to maneuver through the heavy traffic with little effort. Feeling almost sick with adrenaline, he picked up the car’s comm receiver and opened a direct transmission to Dasaro. “I’ve got her!” he exclaimed.

-42-

City Center

Haphor, Haphez

There were times – but only a few – when Ziva wished she would have paid more attention to the teachings of her…
master
. Jak Gamon had often told stories about Nosti who had developed a kind of sixth sense thanks to their nostium infusions. With the right amount of concentration, they could sense the movements of enemies around them, even if those enemies   were a fair distance away. The nostium may have stimulated the brain and allowed the user to manipulate their surroundings, but she’d never been able to fathom how it could produce psychic powers. She’d always just assumed the stories were Gamon’s way of motivating her to focus; lost and angry, she’d had little interest in anything other than the fighting aspects of her training.

Only now, after a lengthy career at HSP, did she truly understand the advantages her quiet time and meditation gave her. She darted out into the street, wishing she possessed the fabled sixth sense, and swiftly maneuvered the hoverbike through the rest of the traffic that remained at a standstill. She was counting not only on the fact that Aroska had taken the hint and called for backup, but also that Dasaro would just send a local team after her rather than come all the way over in person. In the case of the latter, she would have plenty of time to make a break for it, but that would mean coming up with an entirely new plan which would in turn delay departure even further. For a while she’d considered scrapping the getaway plan entirely and remaining on the planet, but without the ability to move about freely, finding Tachi’s killer and proving herself innocent would be nigh on impossible.

Finally traffic opened up and Ziva accelerated, no longer concerned about attracting attention. It was a chilly ride without the riding suit she had come to think of as her own. The wind bit at her skin and whipped her loose hair around in front of her face, but she refrained from pulling it back. It was surprising how much of a difference it made in her appearance, and she was impressed that Aroska had been able to spot her as quickly as he had. None of the passersby had paid her any notice – half of them probably didn’t even watch the news.

From her current location, it would take approximately ten minutes to reach the little relay station in the forest. Upon arriving there earlier that morning, she had stashed the riding suit and supply belt and had proceeded to walk on, breathe on, and touch everything she could in order to give the appearance that she’d been there for the duration of the investigation. After that, it had only been a matter of finding somewhere to lie low and wait for Aroska. The traffic delay had been a pleasant surprise, effectively reducing the effort needed on her part. It was good that he’d come and done what she’d asked – the majority of the plan would play out the same regardless of his presence, but he was needed in order to pull off the whole “escape” part at the end.

Haphor itself was beginning to thin out now and trees were becoming more and more prominent. Ziva could imagine a swarm of infrared probes converging on the city, controlled by similar swarms of overly-eager agents at both the Noro and Haphor offices. Surely HSP wouldn’t be dumb enough to follow her too closely – if the activated team followed protocol, they would monitor her via the probes and wait for the ranking agent, Aroska in this case, to arrive before proceeding. She could only imagine what Dasaro must be thinking, stuck in Noro and helpless when it came to bringing her down himself.

“Come and get me,” she said aloud.

Before long the city had given way entirely to thick foliage and Ziva guided the bike onto the road that would take her up past the old comm tower. She hoped she was far enough ahead of her pursuers to give them the impression that she was oblivious to their presence. It was almost demeaning having to play dumb to such an extent, demeaning to the point that it was increasingly hard to be convincing. She shook away the negative thoughts; within a few hours she would be on a transport headed for the safety of Chaiavis.

The comm tower rose above the trees dead ahead so she turned up the little hill and brought the bike to a stop directly in front of the relay station. She left the door open when she went inside and, after taking one last look around the interior of her little hiding place, leaned against the doorframe and waited.

There were two scenarios that were most likely to go down. One, HSP would go with the quick and quiet approach and send in a small squad of elite agents commanded by Aroska. Two, it would instead be an invade-and-destroy mission where she would be boxed in by an entire division of officers, also headed up by Aroska. Both cases could be dealt with – though neither was ideal – but she found herself hoping it would be the former. She doubted Dasaro would go to such extremes as to call in an airstrike or something of the sort; he would want visual confirmation of her death and multiple witnesses. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had the agents equipped with cams so he could record what went down and watch it every night before he went to bed.

Ziva waited a good twenty minutes before she saw any signs of HSP approaching. Four groundcars were tearing up the road, the first belonging to Aroska and the other three being of the slick black variety used by the Royal Guard. She’d just expected the squad to be sent from HSP’s Haphor field office, but this had started out as the RG’s investigation anyway so their presence made sense. She let out a deep breath and told herself that these new conditions by no means altered the playing field.

Aroska’s car, which contained him and another agent, proceeded directly up the hill while the RG vehicles continued a bit further and came around the back of the shack, cutting off any means of escape. Aroska had relinquished the pilot’s seat to the agent with him and was now peering through a spotting scope, the whole of his attention focused on the front of the little building. It was time to get moving.

Before the car had come to a complete stop, Ziva bolted from the front door and took off at a dead run across the clearing toward the trees and the creek bed. Angry shouts could be heard almost immediately, and she heard Aroska’s voice distinctly: “Let me handle this!”

Heavy footsteps followed, accompanied by comm chatter and the hum of something hovering on repulsors. Pointless as it was to hide from them, Ziva ducked behind a large tree at the top of the steep riverbank and stole a peek at her pursuers. Aroska was by far closest, perhaps twenty meters from her, and the other agents hung back a bit. They all had weapons drawn, ranging from plasma pistols to large assault rifles, and they moved steadily forward through the foliage.

Killing someone was not on the agenda today, but Ziva realized that as much as Aroska was acting, so was she. As far as anyone else knew, he was on Dasaro’s side and out for sweet revenge on the person who had killed his brother; she needed to play that part. Pressing her back against the tree, she drew in a deep breath and tightened the grip on her pistol. She needed to stop their advance, at least momentarily. “Make it real,” she murmured.

Shifting the gun to her right hand, she leaned to her left and squeezed off a shot from behind the cover of the tree. The plasma bolt struck one of the agents squarely in the right shin just as she’d intended and he crumpled into a heap with an agonized screech. Switching hands again, she rolled against the tree trunk and extended her left arm, firing another round that barely missed Aroska’s head.

Multiple sets of feet crashed through the underbrush as the agents scrambled for cover. “Ziva!” Aroska’s voice rang out. “It doesn’t have to end like this! You can come peacefully with us now and we’ll review your case, or I can end things right here. Take your pick!”

“Do you think I’m stupid, Tarbic?” she shouted back. “I know you’ve got orders to shoot me on sight – don’t bother offering me any deals at this point.”

“I just want to talk, Ziva. I’m offering you a chance to tell your side of the story here and you’re willing to just throw that away?”

He was doing excellent. “I thought you were on my side here, Tarbic. After everything that happened on Sardonis, are you really willing to just turn around and feed me to Dasaro?”

She heard him snort. “Sardonis? You shot Soren before my eyes. Do you really think I could actually forgive you for that? The only reason I agreed to go with you to Dakiti was because I thought we could rescue Saun, and then you killed her too.”

“And you think you can change any of that by killing me?” Ziva checked the charge in her pistol. Enough energy remained for one or two more decent shots if she was lucky. That would work out perfectly…unless one of the RG agents became a little too trigger happy. Once more, she turned to her right and fired two rounds with her left hand, the first of which struck the fallen log concealing the nearest officer. The second petered out while still in mid-air, telling her the gun was now dead.

“Look around you, Tarbic,” she shouted. “The only way this will work is if you come get me, and I can guarantee that I will put all of you down before that happens.”

Ziva was startled when a leaf crunched behind her, and even more startled when the barrel of a pistol was jammed against the side of her head. She froze, able to see only Aroska’s boot and part of his leg in her peripherals. “Tag,” he said. “You’re it.”