Double Life Read online

  "Are you seriously considering this?"

  "Why else do you think I'm here?"

  "Lyss, I'm saying this as a friend," he said quietly. "You really should reconsider this."

  "Oh, that is so typical you," she snapped. "I got this. And quit calling me Lyssa—"

  "Oi, barmaid!" Dal Jamus' voice boomed.

  Razia looked around for the barmaid, but she was the only girl in the room. It was then she realized that Jamus' beady black eyes were fixed on her, and he had a lascivious smile curled under his beard.

  "Oh for crying out...I am not a barmaid!" she barked at Jamus.

  "Well then," he grumbled, finishing his second drink. "Come on over here, and I’ll make you one."

  Sage couldn't help but snort, and Razia rolled her eyes in disgust.

  Jamus didn't like that answer, and took two giant steps to stand in front of their table.

  Razia craned her neck slowly upward until she reached his eyes, two black orbs staring down at her mercilessly.

  "Hi."

  "You do what you’re told!" He swung his huge hand back, attempting to strike her, but his heavy hand was too slow for Razia. She ducked before it hit her, and instead it caught Sage flat on the face, sending him flying.

  Razia scrambled out of the way, and climbed up onto the bar so that she was eye level with him.

  He laughed, his voice echoing. "What? Are you some sort of bounty hunter?"

  "Yeah, actually I am," she said proudly.

  He was taken completely unawares when Razia leaped off the bar to land a foot square in his gut. He staggered back a few feet, stumbling backward until he fell into the table with a loud crash.

  Razia jumped down to the floor, and he stumbled around, catching his breath, before stopping and growling at her.

  He roared forward, but she ducked and threw a punch into his stomach—the highest she could reach.

  He started laughing.

  "Mmm!" She grabbed her throbbing knuckles. He was built like a brick wall.

  Still laughing, he grabbed her by her legs, pulling her upside down. She dangled helplessly, blood rushing to her head, one foot caught in his hand and the other flailing.

  "Hey! Put her down!"

  For a split second, Razia thought she'd been knocked for a loop. Because that almost sounded like the annoying intern she'd left at the Manor last week.

  But that was impossible. Because she'd left him at the Manor last week.

  What a crazy thought that Vel Peate would be at a pirate bar on D-882. Or that he could possibly have found her on this planet. Or that he would be there, in any capacity, and not out with Dorst or one of her other brothers on a perfectly normal planet excavation.

  Because that would be impossible.

  Against all of her smarter instincts, she swiveled her head, and her eyes nearly flew out of her head.

  There was Vel.

  And he was, in fact, standing in a pirate bar.

  Eyes wide, standing in front of a man five times his size, his tiny little fists up and ready for a fight.

  "What is this?" Jamus laughed, swinging Razia a little bit. "Is this your little boyfriend here to save you?"

  Before Vel could respond, Razia’s heel connected with Jamus’ inside elbow and his arm crumpled, dropping her. She landed on her hands, rolling forward, to face Vel, who looked oddly impressed with her skills.

  "What in Leveman's Vortex are you doing here?" she screamed at him.

  "Look out!" Vel grabbed Razia and ducked down as a giant fist came swinging just above their heads.

  "Stay out of the way," Razia growled, shoving Vel out of the line of sight. She quickly scanned the room, looking for anything that could help her. Jamus lunged for her again, but he was slow, thanks to his gigantic size. Razia easily sidestepped him as he landed on a table.

  She spotted a couple of thick black wires hanging from the exposed rafters and got an idea.

  He came thundering toward her again, and she ducked between his legs, climbing up on one of the last unbroken tables and reaching for the wires. She tested them for a second, making sure they wouldn’t come out, and waited, a smirk on her face.

  When he turned to come for her again, she jumped and grabbed the wires, swinging back and slamming her two feet into his face with all of her might.

  Her feet imprinted on his face as he fell backward, hitting his head on the hard bar then on one of the barstools before finally landing on the ground and lying still. Razia jumped down, breathing hard, waiting for him to get up. He didn’t move, so she hopped to the floor, walking over to kick him.

  Letting out a deep breath, she reveled in what had just happened.

  If that didn’t make a statement…

  "Are you out of your mind? Vel barked, running up to her. "He could have killed you!"

  "And what in Leveman’s Vortex are you doing here?" Razia said, turning on him with the meanest, most angriest face she could muster. "And how?"

  Vel looked like he was trying to summon all the bravery he had as he stood in front of her. "I’m here to continue my internship."

  "W…what?" Razia gaped, as if he were speaking in tongues.

  "My internship," Vel repeated. "We still have six months left."

  "I’m sorry, do you not remember that I told you that I'm quitting?"

  "Can you get on with it then?" Vel replied, knowingly. "Because last time I checked, Lyssandra Peate was still on the roster at the System and Planetary Science Academy."

  "Shut up!" A terror shot through her. They were, after all, still in a pirate bar. Luckily, thanks to the scuffle that had just occurred, the bar was completely empty.

  "And until she’s off, Pymus isn’t letting me switch doctors," Vel finished, a smirk on his annoying little face.

  "Fine," she growled, pulling out her mini-computer. "I’m calling him right now."

  "Won’t do you any good unless you’re planning on coming clean," Vel stated, folding his arms over his chest. "And, based on what I saw, I don’t think you really want to do that."

  "Oh yeah? And why is that?"

  "You may not care if the family knows you're Lyssa Peate, but do you want all of these pirates knowing that you’re really Jukin Peate’s sister? Especially after you just got back into the pirate web?"

  Razia’s mouth dropped open before she could stop it.

  "Yeah, I thought so," Vel said with a self-satisfied smirk. "So unless you want everyone knowing not only that fact, but also that you didn’t really kidnap me, you're going to let me stay here for the duration of my internship."

  All she could do was stare at him, unable to believe that he had actually outsmarted her.

  "What do you think this is going to be?" Razia sputtered, after a few moments. "I’m not excavating any planets."

  "At this point, I honestly don’t care what you do." Vel rolled his eyes. "But I am not failing this course. And in order to pass, I have to spend the next six months with you."

  "How in Leveman’s Vortex did you even find me?"

  "You can thank me for that one actually," Sage interrupted from the ground where he'd been lying ever since Jamus sent him there. Blood dripped from his nose as he poked at the bridge. "I’m fine, by the way. Thanks for asking."

  "What do you mean, thank you?" Razia asked, ignoring his injury completely.

  "I saw this kid yesterday." Sage sniffed, getting to his feet slowly and cupping his nose. "Wandering around a transport station near S-864. Asking if anyone knew how to get to where the pirates hang out."

  Razia looked angrily at Vel, who cleared his throat sheepishly.

  "Obviously, I knew who he was. So I thought I’d bring him here to you."

  "Why didn’t you bring him back to the Academy?" Razia growled. "I know you know where that is."

  "Eh." Sage shrugged before grinning slyly. "I actually thought it would be funny to see the look on your face. And let me tell you, Lyss, you did not disappoint."

  "You are an unbelievable
asshole," Razia growled.

  "In other news, we’ve been chatting for, what…five minutes? How much longer do you think our friend here is going to stay asleep?"

  At that very second, Jamus snorted, causing Razia to jump about ten feet.

  Sage laughed and wiped his nose again. "Which begs the question: how in Leveman’s Vortex are you going to drag this giant guy to the bounty office?"

  Razia stared at him with no answer.

  "Didn't quite think this one through, did you?" Sage chuckled. "Maybe next time you should actually—"

  "Shut up," Razia said, turning to this newest problem.

  "Have fun with that…" Sage said, patting her on the back. "I’m off to see a doctor and make sure my nose isn’t broken."

  Annoyed, Razia watched as he sauntered out the door.

  She looked over at Vel, who promptly walked over to the only table and chair in the room that wasn’t broken. "Unless you’re taking me to excavate a planet, I'm sure I don’t care."

  Which left Razia, all one hundred and twenty pounds of her, trying to figure out how to move twenty tons of dead weight halfway across the city to the bounty office.

  ***

  An hour and a half later, a sweaty and exhausted Razia and a knocked out, snoring, drooling Dal Jamus sprawled out on the floating canvas (which was barely a few inches off the ground from his weight) were nearly to the bounty office. Vel walked behind her, his focus on the book he was reading, and occasionally throwing a smart remark about how much trouble she appeared to be having.

  "For someone who does this for a living, you appear woefully unprepared," he said, looking up at the giant U-POL building looming over them. "What’s that building?"

  "U-POL office," Razia huffed. "And the…reason…why…we have to…go in…the back way."

  "Why’s that?" Vel asked.

  Razia threw down the canvas ropes, her breathing heavy. "Because, idiot, they already think I kidnapped you once, and I’d rather not have to run from the whole group of them when I’m hauling a five-hundred-pound bounty."

  Vel smirked. "Fair point."

  "Now," Razia said, tossing her hair back. "If you see any of those idiots, just do me a favor and hide, okay?"

  "Where are you going?" Vel asked.

  "Inside," Razia said plainly, walking through the small bounty office door. And, as luck would have it, there was only one person at the window.

  She closed her eyes, feeling like maybe, just maybe, her luck was turning around, and she would finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. She walked outside and, giving Vel a smart look, turned to pull her bounty into the office.

  And then he got stuck.

  Razia tugged at him, but he was good and wedged in there.

  "Hey, lady, I go on break in five minutes!" the attendant called.

  "Just give me a second," Razia pleaded, turning to pull Jamus with all her might.

  "Four and a half minutes…"

  She threw him a dirty look and jumped over Jamus, trying to shove him in from the outside.

  "Three minutes."

  "You’d better hurry up," Vel commented from a bench outside the bounty office. "Sounds like he’s about to close."

  "Get sucked!" She marched back into the office and pulled directly on the canvas. Digging her heels in, she pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and pulled.

  "Two minutes."

  She yanked as hard as she could. With a loud pop, Jamus flew into the bounty office on the gurney, stopping about halfway across the room. Razia scrambled to her feet, and pulled him the rest of the way.

  "There," Razia said, satisfied. "Turning in Dal Jamus."

  "Uh-huh," he said, searching his records. He furrowed his brow, typed in something else, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully

  "What?" Razia asked, wiping the sweat off her brow.

  "Looks like most of this bounty was a fake," he said, chewing on the cigarette and not looking at her.

  Razia blinked. "What do you mean, fake?"

  "Somebody put up some money on him to put him in the top twenty temporarily," he said. "The number’s there, but there ain't no money behind it."

  "The runners wouldn’t approve that!"

  "Honey, who do you think put the money on him?" He smiled knowingly. "Looks like this guy beat up some U-POL officers. Leveman’s, I’d give him some money for doing that."

  "So how much money are you going to give me?" Razia asked, trying to remain calm.

  "Looks like before the bounty," the guy said, typing a few numbers into his computer. "Five thousand?"

  Razia closed her eyes, for if she looked at this man another second, she would reach through the window and wring his neck.

  "Whoops," he said, sitting back. "Looks like I’m on my break. I’ll finish your transaction when I get back."

  And just like that, the window slammed in her face.

  Stunned and exhausted, she slid down to the floor to sit, her head in her hands. Every part of her body was sore, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.

  Just then, Jamus let out a loud, whiskey-filled belch and his eye opened.

  "Wh…" he muttered.

  "Perfect."

  CHAPTER NINE

  She winced as she moved her sore shoulders, adjusting the heat pack to the spot that had just barked at her. Subduing Jamus once was enough for anyone—twice was insane. Although he'd been much easier to handle with bound hands and feet. It had been more trouble to get him back on the floating canvas, as the man at the window had so happily pointed out that she needed to get him into a holding cell.

  But enough about that, she thought, drinking more coffee to try to shake the exhaustion that had settled behind her eyes. She was still in her pajamas, wrapped in her comforter, sitting on her bed, looking at her mini-computer. Her ship was in orbit around D-882, as she wanted to stay close to the pirate mecca, but didn't want to rack up expensive parking bills. Thanks to her friend Dal Jamus and his stupid fake bounty, she still only had a few thousand credits in her Razia account. So if she ran out of money... she would be forced to excavate a planet.

  And she wanted to delay that effort as long as possible.

  Vel cleared his throat, breaking the silence of the room, and she tossed him a dirty look. He was ignoring her as much as she was ignoring him, reading yet another book in the corner of her room that he'd reclaimed. Her already-small bedroom was even more cramped with his air mattress, bags of clothes and personal items, and his stacks of books.

  Just his presence made her want to scream.

  She turned back to her mini-computer, currently displaying the pirate intraweb news.

  She searched for Jamus’ bounty profile:

  He'd been zeroed out—customary when a pirate had been turned in—but there was no accompanying story in the pirate news. Had nobody written one because she was the one who'd turned him in?

  She went to sip her coffee, but her mug was empty. Scowling, she moved to get up, but the dull ache in her muscles was too much.

  "Go fill up my coffee."

  Vel lifted his eyes from his book and laughed. "No."

  "You’re an intern," Razia said, pulling the covers tighter around herself. "Isn't that what interns do?"

  "Yes, and you’re supposed to be teaching me how to be a Deep Space Explorer," Vel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You can have your coffee when you take me to a planet."

  "Asshole," Razia grumbled, drinking the last dregs in her cup.

  He didn’t respond, continuing to purposely read.

  She turned back to her mini-computer and refreshed her bounty again to see if anything had changed.

  She refreshed the page two more times out of boredom and frustration, but still, no change. Annoyed, she switched to her video call application and dialed Dissident’s number.

  "And why are you calling me?" Dissident drawled. "You're off probation. I thought we understood each other."

  "Just interested to see if you've heard." Razi
a shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. "You know, how I singlehandedly took down Dal Jamus."

  "And?"

  Razia blinked at him. "And I'd say that's pretty impressive."

  "Call me when you're the top bounty in the universe. Otherwise, I don't care," Dissident said before ending the call.

  Razia frowned and sat back, simmering for a moment.

  "Didn't sound like he was too impressed."

  "Get sucked," Razia grumbled.

  "For someone who doesn’t believe in the Great Creator, you use that phrase a lot."

  She shifted. "I never said I didn’t believe in Him."

  "Sure don’t act like you’re scared of that river of fire," Vel responded, turning the page.

  Razia wrapped her comforter tighter around herself. "Whatever. Why are you even talking to me?"

  "Who is that guy anyway?" Vel said, closing the book and looking up at her. "And why do you care what he thinks?"

  "He's my runner."

  "That's helpful."

  "He runs the pirate web."

  "Which is what?"

  "Ugh," she grumbled, finally deciding that an explanation would be less trouble. "Look, pirates belong to big unions, called webs, which are run by guys like Dissident, who serve as the boss and take care of admin stuff, like paying off the U-POL so we don't get arrested."

  "So how come you nearly got arrested then?"

  "Because," Razia glared at him for bringing up such a sensitive subject, "I was briefly kicked out. But I’m back in."

  "Why were you nearly kicked out?" Vel asked, sounding more curious than spiteful.

  "Dissident is an asshole."

  "Is he the only guy? Runner?"

  "No, there are four. Contestant, Insurgent, Protestor, and Dissident."

  "So why don’t you go work for them?" Vel replied, returning to the book.

  "Because…" Razia's face grew a little red. "Nobody else will take me."

  "Maybe if you weren’t so mean," Vel muttered.

  "There aren’t many girl pirates. Or any…other than me."

  "So why in Leveman’s Vortex did you decide to become a pirate?" Vel asked, closing his book finally.

  "Better than the alternative," Razia replied, sounding a lot more bitter than she'd meant to. Vel’s gaze drifted up to her. They hadn’t spoken about the incident at the Manor; neither of them wanted to bring it up.