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  Razia's face fell; she'd completely forgotten that Jos and Harman had only paid a fraction of the money out to the pirates. Not only that, but because Jukin's part of the conspiracy remained under wraps, nobody knew how close they had all come to the brink of pirate extinction.

  "How bad is it?" Razia winced.

  "I'd go off and disappear to that place you tend to disappear to," Harms said. "Dissident, in fact, is nothing short of livid."

  "Fantastic," Razia huffed, sitting back. She just couldn't win, could she?

  "And you should be thanking Sage here," Harms said, tossing the other man a look. "From what I can tell, he saved your ass."

  "Oh God in Leveman's Vortex, Teon," Razia bellowed, turning on him. "Just because I had a little freak-out during the space jump doesn't mean you had to tell everyone that—"

  "He means about the Universal Bank thing," Sage interrupted her with a knowing grin. "You know, how we broke about a hundred pirate web rules?"

  "But do tell about this space jump thing?" Harms cooed. "Did he jump out and save you?"

  "What are you talking about?" Razia said to Sage, ignoring Harms.

  "Dissident was pissed when he read you had broken into the archives," Sage said. "But I told him it was my idea, my plan, and he let it go."

  "Of course, he let it go for you," Razia grumbled.

  "Which is why I told him it was my idea," Sage said, "because he would have kicked your ass out otherwise."

  Razia's face heated up and she tossed him a meek look.

  "I'll take that as a thank you. Besides, if you're out of the web, who am I going to compete with?" Sage winked mischievously to Harms who was watching their interaction amusedly. "Whatdya say? I'll go hijack a ship worth four million credits, and you can go find the fourth most wanted pirate in the universe."

  "Fine," Razia snapped back, whipping out her mini-computer to see who it was.

  "Oh get sucked," Razia growled as he cackled happily beside her. "How in Leveman's Vortex are you number four?"

  "What can I say?" Sage laughed, sitting back. "Breaking into the Universal Bank? Got everyone's attention—"

  "What in Leveman's?" Razia screeched. "What, so you break a bunch of rules and they love you for it, but I save the entire damned system of government and everybody's pissed at me?"

  "It was a lot of money," Harms said placatingly.

  "It was my damned—oof!" Razia's rant was interrupted by an elbow to the side from Sage. She rubbed the spot gingerly, muttering her thanks to Sage, who shook his head at her.

  "What?" Harms said, sensing that he had missed something.

  "Nothing," Razia grumbled.

  "That's two you owe me," Sage whispered, as he stood. "Well, I'd best be outta here. Being the fourth most wanted pirate in the universe…lots of pressure you know. Better go hide out until the attention dies down."

  Razia glared at him as he strolled away whistling.

  "It's a fake bounty, you know," Harms said, once he was out of earshot. "It'll be gone in a month probably."

  "Bastard," Razia sniffed, sliding down lower. "Why's he gotta rile me up like that?"

  "Really?" Harms raised his eyebrow at her. "You don't know?"

  "Know what?" Razia mumbled, glaring after the direction Sage left.

  "Speaking of lovers, what in Leveman's is going on with you and Relleck?" Harms asked.

  Razia's face turned five shades of purple and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. What had that son of a bitch told everyone?!

  "I..what…I mean… I don't know…" she stammered.

  "It's funny, because he had the same reaction when I mentioned your name," Harms chuckled. "Fine, if you want to keep your illicit love affair a secret—"

  "It wasn't—" Razia exclaimed before she clamped down on her mouth. After a few moments, she continued, "It wasn't anything. I was just…well…"—she blushed even redder—"I needed to get some information out of him and he wasn't cooperating. So I tried a different tactic."

  She peeked up at Harms, anxious for his reaction. He rubbed his graying beard curiously and asked, "Did you get the information you wanted?"

  "Basically, yeah."

  "Then no harm, no foul," Harms said with a reassuring wink. "I just…you know, wouldn't go around using that tactic on everyone."

  "No way," Razia blanched. After a second, she asked curiously, "So…he seemed…?"

  "Seemed like I don't want to know anything about your dating life," Harms shook his head, and held up his hands. "I'm your pirate informer, you've got to go somewhere else for love advice."

  A smile blossomed on Razia's face. "Yeah, I got that covered."

  ***

  S-864, it turned out, was not all government buildings and skyscrapers. There was a small enclave of older buildings filled with trendy shops and cafes, and trendy-looking young men and women. But there was one trendy woman that Lyssa was searching for amongst the coffee shop tables.

  She spotted the familiar mop of light brown curls and jogged over.

  "Hey!" Lizbeth grinned, hopping to her feet and wrapping her arms around Lyssa. The latter had now become accustomed to this type of greeting, but still awkwardly returned the hug.

  "You look good," Lyssa said. "Did you finally get a good night's sleep?"

  Lizbeth didn't answer, but was intently studying Lyssa's face.

  "What?" Lyssa said nervously.

  "Checking your eyebrows." After a tense moment, she sat back, Lyssa's brows passing inspection. She finally got around to examining the rest of Lyssa and gave an appreciative nod. "Look at you, wearing actual clothes for once. Jeans and a cute shirt?"

  "You told me I had to wear these," Lyssa replied, but with a hidden smile.

  "And wearing some eyeliner to boot!" Lizbeth grinned before sitting back. "Speaking of drastic changes, thanks for the alternate identity."

  "Are you getting rid of your apartment?"

  "I'm not sure. With McDougall gone and all of his cronies getting swept up in the investigation, I'm hoping maybe I'll move back in once everything dies down. The commute from here sucks."

  "So, are you in a hotel or something?"

  "Nah, I'm staying with one of my girlfriends."

  Lyssa stiffened, trying not to let the jealousy rise within her.

  "Stop it," Lizbeth chided. "Merja's just an old friend from college. Don't be jealous."

  Lyssa mumbled she wasn't jealous.

  "Speaking of jealousy," Lizbeth asked. "Have you told Sage about Relleck?"

  "I am not seeing him," Lyssa spat, turning purple.

  "Good, because I don't approve of him for you."

  "I don't know what in Leveman's it is," Lyssa admitted with a heavy sigh. "I don't want anyone to know that I'm even…interested in him. Bad enough that Dissident's angry at me for busting up his payday, but if he thought I was fraternizing with the enemy…" She shuddered at the thought.

  "And that, my dear, is still a mystery to me," Lizbeth said. "Why didn't you tell State the truth about Jukin?"

  Lyssa's mouth shut quickly.

  "You could have not only put the man who killed Tauron in jail, but you would have been hailed a hero of the pirates."

  "Yep," Lyssa nodded, having told herself the very same thing every single day since the election.

  "But instead, Jukin's exonerated completely, although State's got a closer eye on him, and all the pirates are pissed at you."

  "Because I just wanted something over him," Lyssa shrugged.

  "Don't lie to me, Lyss."

  "I'm not lying."

  "When are you going to trust me?"

  "Quit talking to Vel!" Lyssa barked.

  "I didn't talk to Vel," Lizbeth replied sweetly. Lyssa gave her a doubtful look. "Okay, so we chatted at the Academy a few weeks back about you, and he told me about your trust issues."

  "I'm going to kill that little asshole."

  "Do you even know how many people care about you?" Lizbeth asked, smiling. "Me, Sage, Vel, H
arms…yet you continue to push us away." She sighed and sat back. "Did you push Tauron away?"

  Lyssa swallowed and remembered Vel's warning. "No."

  "So why isn't your brother sitting in a jail cell right now?"

  "Because…" Lyssa trailed off, staring at a leaf on the ground intensely. The truth had been staring at her in the face, ever since she laid eyes on Jukin back in his office, before he even said a word to her. "Because he reminded me of my father."

  That was not what Lizbeth had been expecting. "How so?"

  "My father was obsessed with Leveman's Vortex," Lyssa said, continuing to stare at the leaf. She closed her eyes and felt as if she were falling out of the ship again. "Because he discovered how to get past it without being pulverized. All the way to the Arch of Eron."

  Lizbeth's eyes bugged out of her head. "What?"

  "Yeah, it's all real, by the way, so, you know," Lyssa smirked, still not taking her eyes away from the leaf, "adjust accordingly. My father was trying to figure out how it all worked. He would bring all of his DSE equipment with him to take samples, but there's a strong magnetic field that would scramble everything five minutes after he'd turn it on. He would prepare for weeks, trying everything from encasing his tools in iron to using another magnet to reverse the polarity. Nothing he tried ever worked, and he would get so frustrated." She paused, taking a deep intake of breath. "And normally he would take his frustrations out on me."

  "Did he hit you?" Lizbeth asked quietly.

  "No, never physically." Lyssa shook her head. "But he did know how to cut me down."

  Lizbeth nodded, but remained silent for Lyssa to continue.

  "And when I saw Jukin," Lyssa said, her eyes still on that leaf on the ground, "when I saw that same frustration, the same defeated look on his face, he just reminded me so much of my father…

  "I want to hate my father for what he did to me. I want to hate him for the way he spoke to me, for the way he left me on planets for days. I want to hate him for leaving me when I was eleven to fend for myself with my shitty siblings. But, I…well, I can't. And for whatever reason, I can't hate Jukin either." She paused, closing her eyes and chuckling at herself. "Good God in Leveman's Vortex, you must think I'm insane."

  "No," Lizbeth said, reaching across the table to take her hand, "I think it proves to me that you're human."

  Lyssa finally lifted her eyes to meet Lizbeth's and was surprised to find her warmly returning her gaze.

  "Which is a good thing," Lizbeth said with a smirk. "Because I was actually kind of afraid you were a cyborg."

  Laughter, real, honest laughter, erupted from Lyssa's chest. It felt like eons since she'd had a good laugh.

  "You just wanted to protect him," Lizbeth said. "The same way Vel wants to protect you. The same way Sage jumped after you when he knew you were in trouble. No matter what you say, deep down, you still love your big brother."

  Lyssa gave Lizbeth the most dubious look she could muster.

  "Don't look at me like that," Lizbeth laughed. "I'm serious. And the fact that you put saving his ass above your own reputation…well." She reached across the table and grabbed Lyssa's hand. "I'm proud of you."

  "Oh get sucked," Lyssa snapped. "I was just giving him a chance to do the right thing." General State's words about justice and unintended consequences came to mind again, and she did her best to shove them back down. She had hoped, perhaps that just as her father had, Jukin might see the error of his ways before he caused any serious damage.

  And no sooner did she have that thought than two universal policemen appeared at their table.

  Her heart leapt to her throat and she cast a nervous glance to Lizbeth. "Can I help you?" Lyssa asked, trying to sound normal.

  "Your brother has ordered us to bring you in," the one on the left said.

  "Oh?" Lyssa said, sizing Lizbeth up for a hostage.

  "You've been on our radar for some time, but it's been hard to track you down," the one on the right said.

  This was it. They'd finally caught her.

  "And really, what has she done?" Lizbeth snapped at the officers.

  She hoped Lizbeth would be able to read her mind and sense the desperation that was there. They would have to escape, Lyssa would become synonymous with Razia, and she'd have to come up with a new identity. Forget planet excavations, forget running around with Vel, it was a new life.

  "From what we hear, she's significantly overdue on her annual physical."

  And she'd have to come up with—

  "Wait, what?" Lyssa gaped. "Dorst sent you?!"

  "He put in a call to Captain Peate and asked us to specifically bring you in." The officer on the right grinned meanly and stopped forward to take her by the arm. "Captain Peate authorized us to use force if necessary. Recommended it, in fact."

  "Oh, son of a… Unhand me!" she screamed as she was carted off between two Universal Police Special Forces Officers.

  ***

  Conviction

  Book 3 in the Razia Series

  Sneak Peek

  Panic flooded her entire body as the second handcuff clinked into place.

  "Wh-what are you doing?" she gasped, pulling her hands apart. She could only get an inch or two before the metal cut into her.

  "I am catching a pirate who's been bothering me for a few weeks." Loeb laughed, his meaty hand landing on her shoulder. "Saw you'd spent a few hours at Eamon's. Pretty damned stupid for you to come after me after you'd been drinkin'."

  "Y-you…wh…what?" Razia stammered, her mind too addled from beer and shock to process anything quickly.

  He pushed her forward into the street, and she finally realized what was happening.

  "Hold on a second, you can't capture me!" she exclaimed.

  "Oh, did I miss that news bulletin about girl pirates?" Loeb chuckled, his hand coming down on her shoulder again. "You play the game, you gotta lose sometimes."

  Lose, she couldn't lose. Losing meant that her own bounty would be nulled out and back to zero.

  She found herself uttering words she never thought she'd say. "How much can I pay you to let me go?"

  "C'mon, darling, let's not do this," he tutted. "You wanted to run with the boys, didn't you?"

  She whined. "It's not about that, it's…I'm different."

  "So now you wanna be different?" Loeb chuckled. "You been saying all this time—"

  She glared at him and shut her mouth. He wouldn't care how much shit Dissident was going to give her, or how her entire bounty was funded by one individual currently burning in Plethegon. Everything she had been working for, all of the hard work—it had vaporized right before her eyes.

  She was captured.

  She. Razia.

  Captured.

  Conviction

  Piracy is a game.

  What do you stand for?

  Now available

  ***

  As always, thank you, dear reader, for going with me on this adventure. As an indie author, I rely on my awesome folks like yourselves to help share the word about my work. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other fine book retailer. I am so excited to hear what you think—even if it's a short review. And don't forget to check out my other work below and subscribe to my newsletter to get all the latest info from yours truly.

  The Madion War Trilogy

  He's a prince, she's a pilot, they're at war. But when they are marooned on a deserted island hundreds of miles from either nation, they must set aside their differences and work together if they want to survive.

  The Madion War Trilogy begins with The Island, now available free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and also for paperback and hardcover. Book 2, The Chasm, will be available July 12, 2016 and Book 3, The Union, will be available Valentine's Day 2017.

  Empath

  Lauren Dailey is in break-up hell, but if you ask her she's doing just great. She hears a mysterious voice promising an easy escape from her problems and finds herself in a brand new world
where she has the power to feel what others are feeling. Just one problem—there's a dragon in the mountains that happens to eat Empaths. And it might be the source of the mysterious voice tempting her deeper into her own darkness.

  Empath is a stand-alone fantasy that is available now free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and also for paperback and hardcover.

  About the Author

  S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a "real job" as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and writing was the bee's knees. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit.

  Evans is the author of the Razia series, Empath, and the Madion War Trilogy, all published by Sun's Golden Ray Publishing.

  Check her out in her internet home

  http://www.susherevans.com/

  Or on Twitter

  @susherevans

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