He reminded her of Tauron. Which made sense, she supposed, since he grew up on that pirate ship. He'd been there years before even she had showed up.
"Yeah, because if we go in underground, these vibration sensors they have in place won't pick it up," Sage snapped, giving Ganon a dry look. The pilot was used to it and ignored him, pointing out other options.
As much as she hated to admit it, it was probably the right call to ask Sage for his help. Bounties and transactions she could handle, but when it came to this kind of stuff, Sage…well, he was just better at it than she was.
But she'd rather die than tell him.
"Like anything you see?" Lizbeth came to sit next to her with an amused smile on her face.
"Get sucked."
"So why hasn't anything happened between you two?" she asked, her voice low enough that none of the others would hear. "I can tell he's crazy about you."
"He's not...that's not what it is," Razia stammered uncomfortably. "We just grew up together. Tauron told him to look out for me."
"So, you're the reason you two aren’t together?” Lizbeth observed, chuckling as Razia’s face contorted into a deep scowl. "Look, you can try to tell me you aren't lonely, but we both know that's a lie."
"Why do you care?"
"Because I'm your friend, and I see more than you know."
The word hung in the air and Razia forgot about Sage. Friends. Razia didn't have friends. Pirates could barely even stand her, let alone want to be her best buddy. Harms was less a friend than a kindly uncle and Sage, well…maybe she'd consider being his friend if he weren't such an insufferable dickhead all the time.
Lyssa didn't have friends either. Most of her brothers made sure that she was reviled as much at the Academy as she was at home. Vel was…well, she didn't really consider Vel a friend. He almost had to like her, as they'd been through so much together.
But Lizbeth had just said it like it was a foregone conclusion. They were friends.
"So, I got some bad news," Sage said, walking over to the two of them. "Or good news, depending on your perspective."
"We can't get in?" Lizbeth asked, deflating.
"No, we can. It's just..." Sage turned his eyes to Razia. "We're going to have to do a space jump."
Razia's face paled considerably and she hated herself for it.
"I think I get the core concept, but what does it entail?" Lizbeth asked.
"Basically, this planet has tightly controlled access in or out," Sage said. "Because it's not an active archive; not a lot of ships come in. So ours would definitely raise some eyebrows if we broached the atmosphere. So we'll skim the highest levels of the atmosphere, just out of their radar and then just parachute in."
"How do you parachute from space?" Lizbeth asked. "Won't you float away into space or burn up?"
Razia's heart leapt into her throat and she began to smell sulfur.
"No," Ganon said, "you're technically in the stratosphere. So we'll be pulled down at a high rate of speed. It's three and a half minutes from the ship until we pull parachutes, then another four to six until we land." He gave Sage a cocky look. "Think we can break the sound barrier again?"
"Sounds like fun," Lizbeth grinned giving Ganon a once-over before turning to Razia. "You said you've done this before, right?"
"Yep," Razia nodded, her voice strained. Sure, she'd fallen out of the ship, in her dreams, straight into Plethegon. Breathing was now incredibly difficult as she tried to get a grip on her spiraling terror.
"Razia," Sage said, concern evident in his voice. "Are you—"
"No, I love space jumps," she said, wondering why her voice sounded small and weak. "They're my favorite thing to do in life."
Before he could say another word, she walked out of the room so she wouldn't be sick in front of them.
***
Razia stood in the bay, nervously adjusting the too-big gloves over her fingers. The ship was hovering at just about twenty-five miles above the surface of the planet. In order to make it all the way down to the ground, they needed to wear special suits to protect them from the icy chill and the low oxygen. The suit was four sizes too big for her, made for one of Sage's crew, and the helmet was moving oddly on top of the extra fabric.
On the other side of the room, she spotted the other two. Lizbeth looking like she was swimming in her suit as well. Sage, the taller of the two figures, gave Razia a thumbs up and she nodded, hoping that the helmet was enough to hide her queasiness.
It returned ten-fold as the hatch on the end of the room slid open with a loud groan, revealing the planet beneath her feet.
It was a long way down to the ground below.
She could see the curvature of the planet, the blue tint of the atmosphere clashing against the blackness of space. Lights dotted the surface, although they were almost inseparable from up here, she knew from the plans that they sat atop giant buildings that towered at least a mile into the sky.
She forced herself to look away from the hatch, and tightened the straps on her parachute. That was when she noticed a fourth person standing with a protective suit on—Ganon.
"Why is he coming?" Razia asked, tugging at Sage's suit.
Sage tapped the side of his helmet.
"I said, why is he—" Razia stopped mid-sentence when Sage flipped a switch on the side of her helmet. Suddenly, she heard Sage's crew doing status checks, of Ganon telling Lizbeth what was going to happen, and Sage's voice, a few nanoseconds after his lips moved.
"What'd you say?" Sage said.
"I said," Razia snapped. "Why is he coming? The more people we have with us, the more chance we'll be seen."
"Ganon is going to jump with Lizbeth," Sage said, as Lizbeth happily slipped her arms through two straps on the front of Ganon's suit. Razia could see him grinning handsomely as he looped another set of straps through her legs and around her waist. Razia resisted an eye roll at their already too-familiar flirtation.
"Okay, so why can't she jump with you?" Razia said.
Sage raised his eyebrows and pointed to the same harness on the front of his suit.
"…No way."
"C'mon," Sage said, ignoring her. "If we don't jump soon we're going to miss the spot."
"I don't need you to jump with me," Razia insisted, her stubborn ego winning over her paralyzing fear of heights. As if she were going to get strapped onto Sage like some damsel in distress. "I've done this before."
"The only way you're jumping off this ship is strapped to me, so you'd better get used to it," Sage stated.
"Get sucked, Teon."
"Yeah, let her jump if she wants to jump," Lizbeth offered. "She said she's done this before—"
"And she nearly got herself killed then, too!" Sage snapped at Lizbeth. "She's petrified of heights!"
"TEON!" Razia hissed, but it was too late.
The snorts and cackles filled her helmet, as the crew—having been running status checks until this point, began laughing from the bridge.
"Afraid of heights?"
"Well, that is surprising!"
"Oh, no, she's going to fall outta da ship and break her nail!"
Razia's eyes narrowed into an icy glare directed at Sage, who didn't even flinch. Tossing him a rude gesture, she marched over to the open hatch.
"Razia, I mean it," Sage warned, nerves in his voice as she moved closer to the edge of the ship. "Get over here."
"Yeah, go get strapped in,” Ganon smirked at her. "You don’t wanna fall."
Razia narrowed her eyes.
"Lyssa," Sage said warningly. "Don't you dare—"
She didn't hear the rest of what he said, as she flipped off her helmet microphone effectively silencing him. He let loose a silent diatribe that she was sure was full of colorful curses, his breath fogging the front of his helmet.
She smirked at him, then leaned backwards and fell out of the ship…
…immediately regretting her decision.
Everything was quiet as she floated f
or a moment, except for her own panicked breathing and the similarly panicked voice in her head. As the seconds ticked by, she was speeding up, based on the way the sky and the ship were spinning, and sickness rose in her throat from fear and dizziness. As she spun faster, black dots speckled her vision, and her panicked internal voice began to worry that her helmet wasn't completely attached, that maybe she was suffocating. She wanted to rip off her helmet so she could take a deep breath.
How long had she been falling at this point?
Was she coming in too fast?
If she pulled her parachute, would she snap her neck?
The black dots turned into a tunnel vision as everything grew hazy…
She was back in Leveman's Vortex, standing in front of the Arch as the ground disintegrated beneath her feet. This was what it felt like. She may already be dead and falling to Plethegon.
Funny, she thought it would be warmer to be burned alive—
She came back to herself as a hand grabbed her arm, and a firm body pressed against her back. A hand roughly threaded her arm into a strap, and then another hand did the same to her other arm. Then, more gently, the hand gently intertwined with her fingers, pulling her hands outward and upward. The air was growing thicker around her and her legs hitched upwards, aligning to his legs as the extra fabric pooled out around them, slowing them down further. She could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest as she pressed against him and her panic quieted enough for her to crack open her eyes.
It was absolutely beautiful.
She felt open and exposed as they floated but was completely unafraid. She leaned back into him, comforted by his presence behind her.
His arms left their spot behind hers and one arm snaked around her waist, holding her tight to him. She saw the parachute deploy behind them, and they slowed down even further. She leaned into his arm around her waist. His other arm came to join it, securing her tight to him.
The world was closer now, and she could see the buildings, although she realized she had no idea which building they were targeting. Shame began to flood her cheeks, and she was grateful that he couldn't see. She couldn't believe she'd gone off on that kind of panic-induced crazy, one that quite possibly could have gotten her killed.
To think she'd worried that she was already dead, going to Plethegon. She'd already dealt with that, hadn't she? She was a good soul…wasn't she?
She became acutely aware that the two arms around her were uncomfortably tight, pressing her against a taught chest that was heaving heavily. She could feel the vibrations through the thin fabric of the suits, and was glad her microphone was switched off. She really didn't want to hear what he had to say.
Unfortunately, he realized she couldn't hear him, and he flipped the switch on her helmet.
"Can you hear me now, you stupid idiot?" He screamed through the speaker in her ear. "What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with you?" she mumbled, grateful that he was behind her and couldn't see the embarrassment on her face. It was bad enough that Sage thought she needed to jump with him, but the fact that he just saved her—it was mortifying.
"I mean, I can't even, you are—the depths of your idiocy!" he continued, so angry that he was unable to form coherent sentences. He continued yelling at her as they landed atop one of the tall buildings that had once been a small dot but was now a behemoth of a tower.
He angrily unhooked her from him and she stumbled forward, unable to keep her balance on the gravel rooftop. He ripped off his helmet, his eyes wild with fury and his face bright red.
"Don't you ever, ever do that again," he bellowed, his voice echoing off of the rooftops.
"I think I handled it fine," she replied, meek compared to him.
"Fine. Fine?" he exclaimed. "Fine?"
Ganon and Lizbeth landed on the roof next to them, and Ganon pulled off his helmet. "Okay, guys, keep it down. We don't want to—"
"I don't recall telling you to help me," Razia snapped, becoming more confident in the presence of others.
"Oh, here we go!" Sage threw up his hands. "I save your life and—"
"You didn't save my life," Razia spat back. "I would have—"
"Splattered on the ground like a damned bug," Sage growled, getting in her face.
"Not to break up this little—" Ganon started.
"Shut up!" they hissed at him in unison.
"Your ego is going to get you killed one day!"
"Get sucked, asshole!"
"Seriously," Lizbeth said, stepping between Razia and Sage before they came to blows. "We just jumped out of space and made a spectacular landing on top of this building. Everybody's okay and in one piece. So how's about we not blow this entire operation because you two need to just screw already?"
Razia's eyes grew to the size of saucers and Sage turned five shades of red.
"I would never—"
"S-screw?"
"That's what I thought," Lizbeth said, walking back over to Ganon, who was watching in gleeful humor. "Lead the way."
***
There were over a hundred floors in this archive skyscraper, the same as the rest of the buildings in this sector. Ganon had stayed behind on the top floor to keep a look-out for the inevitable security detail that was going to arrive, while Sage and the two girls took the lift (after he had deactivated the security sensors on the elevator). The journey was silent—Sage refusing to even look at Razia, and she him. Lizbeth seemed to be the only one actually enjoying herself.
Once they got onto the seventh floor, Sage disarmed the cameras using a robotic spider-like jammer that attached itself to the four cameras in the hallway. Razia and Lizbeth crept behind him, as he coordinated with Sobal on the other end of his mini-computer.
"Well I don't know, Sobal. That's your job, isn't it?" Sage snapped. Razia heard a muffled response on the other end and then the sound of electricity shutting off. The vast room in front of them went completely dark.
"All right. We've got about an hour until company shows up," Sage said, handing the two of them flashlights. "So hurry it up."
"You start on that side; I'll start over here," Lizbeth said, opening a nearby filing cabinet. "Start looking for row fifty-two."
Razia began walking down the aisles of filing cabinets, her eyes drifting over the numbers on the front as her flashlight drifted over them.
She paused at a filing cabinet and opened it up, shocked to see it only half-full. She reached in and pulled out the first hanging folder, reading the first page:
The name wasn't familiar, but the surname was. She opened the file cabinet above and found Serann, Jemma-Anne, probably another cousin she never heard of. Below, Serann, Morgan.
"OVER HERE!" Lizbeth called. "Found them!"
Razia jogged over to where Lizbeth was counting through the cabinets in row fifty-two. Sage was standing over her with the flashlight as she quickly opened the top cabinet.
"Like I said," Lizbeth grinned, flipping through the cabinets, "the bank manager gave us the exact coordinates."
"Hmm," Lyssa said, opening the cabinet closest to her and pulling out the first folder.
Razia hated her sister Jinjina—nothing but a bimbo baby-maker. She put the file back and opened the cabinet directly below, pulling out the first file again. Immediately, she saw a familiar name.
She stared at her own transactions for a moment, trying to remember what she had been doing at the time. She might have been hunting Guido Tedesco or some other pirate. But seeing her name next to D-882 was a little concerning. It would be so easy to track her if some pirate knew to look at Lyssa Peate's transactions. It was one thing to simply slide her C-card; it was quite another to see it in black and white like this.
"What'd you find?" Sage asked, still holding the flashlight for Lizbeth.
"Found mine," Razia said.
She went to close the drawer and stopped. Since she was here, maybe she could solve a little mystery. She wasn't even sure that she'd find her inheritance—it m
ay have been a separate account—but she had to try.
Thumbing through the files, she pulled out a folder every few pages to see what year she had landed on. There were at least three years' worth of transactions here; at least, that's how long she'd been using her own C-card account. Before she graduated from the Academy, she was using a minor card and funds from her family's account.
Pushing all of the files to the end of the cabinet, she pulled out the very first folder in her file and opened it up.
"All right, jackass, where's my money?" Razia said, flipping to the very last page, the first set of account activity after she received full control of her bank account.
"What in Leveman's?" Razia wondered aloud. "Who in Leveman's Vortex is John McDougall?"
"The Congressional Minister?" Sage said, looking up at her.
"Who's that?" Razia blinked.
"He's the leader of Congress," Lizbeth said. "Part of the President's cabinet. Why do you ask?"
"So why was my inheritance transferred to…." Her heart stopped beating in her chest as she looked down at the paper in front of her. Or more specifically, the date.
She'd never forget that date.
"Lyss?" Sage said, watching the color drain from her face. "What is it?"
"Jukin…he…" she whispered, the file dropping from her hands.
"Lyssa," Sage hurried over to her, "what is it?"
"He stole my inheritance," she stammered, suddenly unable to breathe. "Jukin…he stole it…and he…paid the Congressional Minister off to…"
"To what?"
"Kill Tauron."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The words echoed in the quiet room and in her mind.
She'd always known Jukin had paid off some high ranking official, but she always assumed it was his own money or that maybe he borrowed it from their mother. She never in a million years thought that it would be her money.
But of course it was her money.
She took a step back, and her chest constricted as breathing became difficult. She felt the coolness of the metal filing cabinet against her back, and it felt like her entire body had slipped into an ice bath.
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