Double Life Page 9

  "No, I'm afraid it has to be a full physical," the doctor said. "Don't worry, he'll be asleep for at least the next hour."

  Lyssa folded her arms in front of her chest. "I am not going to have a physical today."

  "Well, if you don't, I can suspend your membership to the Academy," the doctor said matter-of-factly. "Your choice."

  "Son-of-a..." Lyssa swore, getting up and following the doctor into a separate room.

  ***

  "There, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" the doctor said, walking out behind her.

  Lyssa glared at her as she walked down the hall and rubbed her arm where she'd just received more shots than she'd probably ever gotten in her entire life. Not to mention the invasive examination she'd just had to undergo. She could count on one hand the number of people who had gotten that close to her personal business, and was not pleased to add some random doctor to the count.

  She searched her pockets for her hair tie and realized she must have left it in the examination room. She turned around to walk back in but the doors were self-locking.

  "Dammit," she swore.

  Well, she supposed it was high time she started wearing her hair differently, as Razia the Bounty Hunter would never be seen again. Vel had mentioned that she looked—

  "Vel, shit," she said, spinning around. She couldn't remember which room she'd left Vel in—he was bound to be waking up soon. She tried to retrace her steps from where she'd left him.

  She rounded a corner, and ran into someone.

  "We keep bumping into each other…"

  It was the lieutenant again—but this time he had two other officers with him. Still irritated from her examination, she angrily brushed by them, in no mood to talk to anyone right now, least of all these stupid Special Forces idiots.

  "Out of my way."

  "Hey, you'd better watch yourself," the one on the left said, grabbing her arm as she passed them by. "You are speaking to three members of the U-POL's Elite Special Forces."

  "Oh, you mean the twenty members who haven't gotten an inflated paycheck yet?" Lyssa snapped back. "Save yourself the embarrassment and just resign already. They always do."

  The lieutenant narrowed his eyes at her, "You seem to know an awful lot about police business, ma'am."

  "Oh, indeed I do," she grumbled, pushing past them. She didn't get very far, because one of them grabbed her arm again.

  "I'm going to need to see some identification."

  She tried not to laugh at him. "You want to see some damned identification, here's my damned identification." With that she slapped her C-card down in his hand.

  The lieutenant scanned her identification then smiled curiously. "That’s interesting."

  "Yeah, I am." She rolled her eyes. The Peate name was fairly uncommon; they probably knew that she was related to their "fearless" leader. "He’s a real asshole, though, if you ask me."

  "Well, Razia, this is an interesting turn of events."

  "Yeah, I don’t…" She trailed off, looking to him sharply. "What did you just call me?"

  She watched in horror as the three U-POL officers raised their guns to point directly at her.

  "You are under arrest for engagement in piracy." The lieutenant smiled as his compatriots raised their guns at her. "Razia."

  Lyssa gaped at him for a moment until she saw which C-card she'd given them, and her heart sank into her stomach.

  To these three Special Forces officers, she was Razia, the six hundred and fifth most wanted pirate in the galaxy.

  And based on the three guns pointed at her head, it appeared Dissident had finally come through on his threat to kick her out of the web.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  "Shit."

  "Don’t move a muscle," the one on the right said, holding his gun steady.

  "So, about that." Razia laughed nervously. "You know, I am just so low in the bounty rankings—"

  "Says here you’re an associate of Tauron Ball," the lieutenant said. "That’s interesting because I thought we'd killed all his associates."

  Razia’s anger flashed, but she was more worried about how in Leveman’s Vortex she was going to get out of this one. The hall was long and narrow, and they’d have to really be bad marksmen to miss her. Judging by how little they actually did, she was sure they spent a lot of time at the firing range.

  "Now, put your hands on your head and drop your weapons!" the second officer said, with much less conviction than the lieutenant.

  "Seriously," Razia said, backing up slightly. "I can get you someone better—Sage Teon!"

  "No." The lieutenant smiled. "I think you’ll do just fine. It’s been a while since we’ve hanged a pirate."

  Her eyes widened slightly. "Really? I’m like…six hundred."

  "Captain Peate says that if we’re to come across any pirate, no matter how small, we’re to bring him in and he’s to die for his crimes." The young officer on the left said, his eyes narrowing at her.

  She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That sounded like something Jukin would say.

  "Well, then, why don’t you go find yourself a ‘him’ to bring in, and leave me be—"

  "Put your hands on your head," the lieutenant said.

  Just then, the door opened and a lethargic-looking Vel came stumbling out of a room. His boils had shrunk to red marks all over, but his eyes were hooded with the after-effects of the medicine.

  "Who is this?" One of the U-POL officers turned their gun toward Vel.

  "Nobody," Razia stammered. "I mean, I don't even know who he is."

  "I'm Vel!" he slurred. "Vel Peate!"

  "Peate?" they said, looking at each other.

  "Are you Jukin's brother?" the lieutenant asked.

  "Oh Jukin!" Vel said, eyes spinning. "Yes, Jukin Peate is my... Why are you pointing a gun at my s—"

  Razia, with nothing else to do, grabbed Vel before he goaded the stupid U-POL officer into shooting him—or worse.

  "Unhand him!" They barked, turning their guns back to her.

  "Say what now?" she blinked, looking at them.

  "I said, unhand him!" the lieutenant snarled.

  She looked down at Vel, who was starting to sober up, and the U-POL Officers, who obviously had no idea what was really going on.

  To them, a dangerous pirate had just taken hold of the brother of Jukin Peate.

  She smiled at her good fortune.

  "Don't move another muscle, or the kid gets it," she growled, grabbing him roughly and wrapping her arm around his neck.

  "L—-Gack!"

  "Shut up," she muttered.

  "Unhand him by order of the Universal Police Special Forces!" the lieutenant demanded, his hand tightening on the hilt of his gun.

  "How about you go tell your boss that this is payback for what he did to Tauron," Razia snapped back, formulating an escape plan. If she could just get close enough to them—they wouldn't dare try to shoot her with Vel right there. "Jukin never should've messed with pirates, and now his brother's going to pay for it."

  "If you harm one hair on his head, Jukin'll have your head on a platter," the lieutenant threatened.

  She stepped toward them, Vel still stuck in a headlock, as if to make a break through them. The U-POL officers jumped, but held their guns steady. Just one more step, and she would be close enough.

  Without warning, she thrust Vel to the side of her, his body smacking against the wall with a loud thud. In the brief moment that the U-POL officers were distracted, she kicked one in the stomach and let her elbow fly into the face of the other. Then she reared her fist back and punched the lieutenant in the chin, sending him backward.

  The three officers incapacitated, she turned to peel Vel off the wall and took off sprinting down the hall.

  "Dr. Peate!!" Vel panted. "What is going on!?"

  "Shut up and run!" she barked back.

  They came to a fork in the hallway and ran toward the left, then took another left at the next fork. Up ahead, a patient was walking o
ut of a room. Just before the door closed behind him, Lyssa threw Vel in and jumped in after him, the door closing and locking behind them.

  "Dr. Peate!" Vel gasped, clutching at his chest. "What was that? Why are we running?"

  "Keep quiet," she snapped, pulling her ear away from the door. "We have to stay in here for a while."

  "What is going on?" Vel repeated. "Why are you wanted by the U-POL officers?"

  "I’ll explain later," she mumbled, searching the room for something—anything—to hide her appearance. She found a makeshift hair band and was able to tie her hair up behind her head. She pulled her glasses on and adjusted them in the reflection of a shiny cabinet.

  "Dr. Peate, are you listening to me?"

  "Not really, no." The only safe place right now was back at her ship, but people would start asking questions if Vel walked casually down the hall after he was supposedly just kidnapped.

  She walked around the room, looking at each piece of equipment and sighing when it didn’t seem to be able to work for her. She needed something large and hollow, or something to—

  Her ears picked up on the sound of squeaking wheels outside.

  She walked over to the door, opening it slightly and seeing an orderly wheeling a large garbage cart.

  Five minutes later, she was wheeling said garbage cart and knocked-out orderly inside the room.

  "Dr. Peate!" Vel screamed. "What in the name of all that is good in this universe are you doing?"

  "Finding us a way out of here," she said, turning over the cart and dumping the garbage. "Now get in."

  "G...get in?" Vel blinked, looking at the garbage bin. "Do you know what kind of diseases and—"

  "I don't care. Get in."

  "No."

  She rolled her eyes. Of all the times for him to grow a backbone. "Please."

  "Not until you tell me why you attacked those three U-POL officers," Vel replied.

  "If I tell you, will you promise to just get in here?"

  "Yes," he said. "You have my word."

  She took a deep breath and sighed. "The U-POL are after me because I happen to spend most of my time as Razia, a bounty hunter, and I am technically wanted for engagement in piracy."

  That was obviously not the answer Vel was expecting. "What?"

  "There, I told you, now get inside," she demanded, pointing at the garbage cart.

  "I most certainly—"

  "We had a deal," she said. "Now either you come with me now, or I will make you come with me. And believe me, if I have to make you, you'll end up with a headache."

  ***

  "I can’t breathe!" Vel whispered from inside the cart. "It stinks in here."

  "You’d better shut up before I roll you into a wall," Lyssa spat back. "Or onto a ship and leave you there."

  As Lyssa wove through the hallways, she walked by a U-POL officer, then another. Though, as more of them barged right by without a second glance at her, she became less concerned. They were too busy looking for her to notice her. Still, she took as many back hallways as she could to avoid attention.

  They arrived at the docks without incident, and although there were U-POL officers milling about, they lacked the gold markings of the special officers, and therefore seemed uninterested in actually looking for anyone. She could see her ship in the distance, she was home free—

  "Dr. Peate!"

  She closed her eyes and groaned. Almost home free.

  "Oh dear, Doctor!" Pymus was rushing over to her, trying to look worried. "I have just heard about your brother! The poor child..."

  "Yep." She shrugged offhandedly, inching closer to her ship.

  "What a terrible, brutish thing for this pirate to do," Pymus tutted. "To think, a pirate would be so brash as to kidnap the brother of Jukin Peate! What was he thinking?"

  His words triggered a memory in the back of her mind, and she felt irrationally angry.

  "She," Lyssa snapped, automatically.

  "Excuse me?" Pymus did a double take.

  "My brother was kidnapped by Razia, a very well-known bounty hunter," Lyssa said, smiling proudly.

  "I see." Pymus nodded. "And you would know this because…?"

  Lyssa backtracked a bit and looked down at the cart at her hands. "I was there, of course."

  "Indeed?" Pymus sighed. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see if they catch her."

  "Don't be ridiculous," Lyssa said, inching closer. "She's not going to be caught anytime soon. I'm just going to pay whatever ransom she wants."

  "So you’re going to reward this delinquent behavior?" Pymus asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

  "You sound like Jukin, Pymus."

  And with that, she pushed the cart onto the ship.

  ***

  Lyssa sat on her chair, still in shock. They were getting as far away from the Academy and the gathering swarm of U-POL officers as they could. She was relieved that they'd even let her off the station—if she had waited half an hour more, she might have been stopped and had her ship searched.

  Her head hurting, she yanked her glasses off and pulled down her hair to rub her scalp. It was over now, but her heart wouldn't stop pounding.

  "So a pirate?" Vel broke the silence from behind her. He sounded disgusted.

  "You should probably let Mother know that you’re okay," Lyssa replied, not turning around.

  "Should I also let her know that her daughter is a wanted criminal?" Vel spat.

  "Well, I'd say it wouldn't necessarily surprise her," Lyssa joked, turning around with a half-hearted smile. "She probably thinks as much already."

  Vel was not amused. "So, what? Are you trying to do whatever you can to piss off the family? Jukin becomes a police officer, so you decide to become a pirate?"

  Lyssa was too shocked to hear him curse to respond.

  "And so, when," Vel continued angrily, "when did you have time to become a pirate? Unless..."

  She raised her eyebrows at him as he began to realize.

  "God in Leveman's Vortex, you've been lying about working with Father!" Vel said, sounding like this revelation was much more traumatic than the first.

  "Duh. I thought that was fairly obvious."

  "Were you…were you...when you left me on the planet for three days?"

  "Okay," Lyssa said, leaning forward a little. "Look, I'm really sorry about that, but there was this thing—"

  "I could have died!"

  "You didn’t seem to care if I was researching Leveman’s Vortex."

  "Continuing Father’s work is important to—"

  "To whom?" Lyssa laughed. "Pymus?"

  "Oh screw Pymus!" Vel said. "That slimy son of a bitch. He’s always hanging around the Manor like he’s a damn uncle or something. Everybody hates him there."

  Again, Lyssa was momentarily shocked by the language. "So why are you working with him?"

  "That’s my business." Vel smirked, throwing her a superior look.

  "Well, look at you, growing a damn spine," Lyssa responded.

  They continued to stare daggers at each other for a moment when the silence of the room was broken by a video call coming in.

  "Who’s Dissident?" Vel said, able to see the video screen from his perch behind her.

  Lyssa’s heart sank into her chest. Some part of her wanted to ignore the call and avoid the embarrassment of formally being kicked out of Dissident’s web. Especially in front of Vel, who was still glaring at her.

  "You wouldn’t want to give me some privacy, would you?" she asked hopefully.

  "Nope," Vel responded.

  She sighed and spun around. "Just do me a favor and don’t say anything, okay?"

  Taking a deep breath, she answered the call.

  "Dissident, I can explain—"

  "There you are!" Dissident chirped. His elation was sickening.

  "Look, I’m sorry, you gave me an old man to go after, you couldn’t possibly—"

  "What are you talking about?" Dissident said cheerily. "You kidnapped Jukin Peate�
��s brother, you sneaky rascal!"

  The words took a moment to sink in as she stared at him. "Wait…what?"

  "I couldn’t believe it." Dissident shook his head. "I couldn’t believe anyone had the gall to just pluck him out of the station—a station full of scientists and all that—and take on three police officers at the same time? How in Leveman’s Vortex did you think of it?"

  Razia blinked, mouth open.

  "I mean, sure Tauron did some crazy things in his day, but you…!" Dissident shook his head. "Contestant even said he couldn’t believe it. None of his pirates have ever had the stones to stand up to Jukin Peate!"

  "Wha…?" Razia said, finally able to make sounds.

  She opened up the pirate news and was shocked to see her picture plastered over the intraweb:

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the number next to her name. Hands shaking, she opened her bounty poster.

  "God in Leveman's Vortex," she whispered.

  "I mean to tell you," Dissident said, shaking his head, "I don’t know what you were thinking, but I just can’t believe it. You know, not since Sage Teon has a bounty shot up that fast. I was telling Contestant that none of his pirates are—"

  "That’s funny," Razia said, noticing the pirate web entry. "Because it actually doesn’t look like I’m in your web anymore."

  Dissident’s face shifted. "Oh…well…I…"

  Razia tried to swallow the smile growing on her face and look serious. "Looks like I’m a free agent, so to speak, doesn’t it?"

  "No, well, I mean…of course I'll add you back…" Dissident stuttered.

  "As a full member of the pirate web?" Razia asking, trying not to let her voice shake with excitement.

  "Well that is just a little much for—"

  "That’s a shame then." Razia shrugged. "Guess I’ll just have to go talk to Contestant—"

  "Hold on. Let’s not be hasty!" Dissident said.

  "Cause, you know, I’ve still got the kid. And I can do whatever I want with him. Probably get a nice ransom. I’m sure Contestant would be very interested in yet another one of your—"

  "All right, all right, all right," Dissident said quickly. He looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth.