Crisis Management (6 page)

Dev grinned. “Good. We will get in, find enough clothing for the coming two weeks and get out. I am sure that once you leave this world, you will have no trouble finding places to shop.”

Leo chuckled delicately. “You have a point. Fine. Lawkis shopping centre and then home. I will find what I need there.”

Six hours, nine outfits, countless sets of underwear and shoes later, Dev was shocked at the energy for shopping that Leo was still exhibiting.

“I need one formal dress for the ratification, and then, we can go.”

Dev was relieved, and she winced at the poor driver who made endless rounds from the shops to the skimmer. She watched the growing crowds, and while a few folks seemed to recognize Leo, no faces appeared again and again.

The tech shop showed the burnt-out hole of Leo’s room over and over again as the news reported it.

Dev noted the folk who were looking at the husk and then back to Leo as they walked to the dress shop. It was a tense walk for Dev as she began to feel the sensation of being watched.

“Leothanak! Oh, we just heard. I am so relieved!” A girl Leo’s age rushed up to her and gave her a hug. Dev watched carefully and the girl gave the back of Leo’s shirt a peculiar pinch.

When Leo pushed the girl aside, Dev took a closer look at the small spot on the collar that now had a blinking mark on it.

The girl tried to move away, waving airily but there was an intensity to her sudden retreat.

Dev grabbed her wrist and held it. “You will wait.”

The girl started to struggle. “No, you don’t understand! I have to go!”

With a calm move, Dev reached out, ripped the collar off Leo’s shirt and dropped the dot to the floor. With deliberation, she ground the dot under her heel.

“Leo, we find your dress and get the hell out of here. Your friend just put a pinpoint targeting beacon on you.”

“Twiss?” Leo was confused, but she walked and stood next to Dev. “We can go now. I will have the dress sent or just wear something that we have picked today.”

“Good. Let’s go.” Dev gave the young girl a shove and wrapped an arm around Leo as they moved swiftly through the shopping centre toward the entrance nearest the skimmer.

They were within sight of the exit when a male pulled a weapon and fired it. Dev stepped between Leo and the blast then jumped forward to break the arm of the man firing at them.

Leo was in shock as they ran for the skimmer, but Dev was still on alert. The driver waved them over, but there was something wrong with him. He was too eager and did not bother opening the door as he had on their previous trip.

Dev pressed a finger to her lips and moved quietly to the skimmer, shifting around it until she could see the man crouched behind the pilot. She leaned down and slammed her hand through the metal, grabbed the man’s collar and pulled him backward until his head thudded on the skimmer interior. The pilot disarmed him.

Leo came running when Dev held her hand up, and once Dev was in the open-topped conveyance, she dumped the unconscious and broken body out onto the pavement.

“Get us home, Uxal.”

The pilot keyed the skimmer to a higher altitude than street level and set a straight-line course for the high prefect’s manor.

Leo was shaking. “Twiss was part of this. I can’t believe it.”

“As I said, for a people who claim to be pacifists, your folk are very violent. Hold onto my hand. I will get you home safely.”

Leo gripped her hand with all the strength she had.

The skimmer was wobbling badly by the time they arrived at the high prefect’s home, but Uxal got them down in one piece.

Dev escorted Leo out. “Uxal, I think I broke your skimmer.”

“Agent Jarix, I am sure you did, and I couldn’t be happier about it.” He gave her a jaunty salute and called over some of the other guards to help him moved the damaged skimmer to a covered work area.

Dev hustled Leo into the residence and breathed a sigh of relief as they passed through the scanners with no alarm.

Yalio greeted them with the direct, “What did you do, Agent Jarix?”

Dev shrugged. “Can we get some tea and something for lunch? I am afraid that we did not get much time to rest. I will explain everything to the high prefect.”

Yalio frowned. “He is in conference.”

“We will wait. With tea and sandwiches, please.” Dev and Leo walked to the dining hall and sat heavily in the chairs.

Leo looked at her and burst into tears.

Dev reached out and held her hand. “We made it home safe. You are fine and no innocents were hurt. Even Uxal is fine. We could not have asked for a better result than that. Can you wait here a moment, I forgot something in my room?”

Leo regretfully unclenched her hand, letting Dev run swiftly up the steps to grab her communication pad. She returned to the dining room, and Leo’s eyes lit with relief when she sat down.

Dev started to enter her data. “I forgot I have to make incident reports. Helsin is going to kill me.” She worked absently, her office skills taking over.

“You are afraid of him?”

“Oh, no, but he has put so much effort into me that I don’t want to disappoint him.” Dev recorded the missile, the tracker and the gunfire. When she remembered the man in the skimmer, she smiled.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I forgot about the guy in the skimmer. He’s going to need a lot of medical care, as are the other two.” She smiled happily.

“You are happy about that?”

Dev sent her report and looked at Leo. “I am happy that I didn’t kill anyone today.”

“Oh.”

The housekeeper bustled in with a tray of tea and sandwiches.

Leo’s hands were shaking when she started to eat, but by the time they had taken out half the sandwiches, she was looking tired.

“I just want this to be over, but there is still so much time left.” Leo was depressed.

“I don’t care what your father says…you need to get away from this house or you need to stay inside it. It is his choice.”

They sat back and sipped at the tea, enjoying silence.

When Rasco came in, Dev explained what was going on and the options that she was giving him.

“She will stay here, and she will study. You will direct her studies and my daughter will remain with me.”

Dev nodded. “Fine. Tonight we work on math, tomorrow compatible races.”

He scowled. “What?”

“If she is going to live away from Yagoth, she needs to know what her dating options are. It’s important. Trust me.” Dev nodded.

He looked uncomfortable and stared at his daughter for a moment. She smiled beatifically.

“Fine. Teach her what you like, but keep her here.”

Devani chuckled. “As you wish, High Prefect.”

Chapter Nine

Leo and Dev spent two days working with the console and finding races that were suitable for dates when Leo’s father finally let her out of the house.

Helsin was due to arrive that afternoon, and he was coming to give Leo and her father a full check up.

“Okay, Leo. Time to take a break. Show me the great hall. We have gone around it dozens of times, and I am curious as to the contents.”

Leo’s cheeks darkened. “We aren’t supposed to go in there.”

“Why not?”

Leo frowned. “I don’t know. I just know it has some museum pieces in it.”

“Well, since we can’t go to the museum, why don’t we take a look?”

“Okay, just for a few minutes.”

They walked down the steps carefully, turning left and walking down the long, arched hall, past the dining room and toward the large double doors.

Leo tugged at one door. “It won’t move.”

Dev grinned. She was being compelled to look in that room, and this was not the time or place to check her instincts.

She placed her hands carefully on the doors and pushed steadily until she felt metal give inside the wooden panels. She tugged one door gently to create a small space to slip through. Leo followed and they both gasped at what was lit by the lace-covered windows.

Huge weapons, obviously designed for the Yagoth height covered every wall. Swords, daggers, sabres, even a few maces were all hung up out of Dev’s reach. “Oh wow. Well, this explains a few things. Now, back to the hall, and I will shut the door.”

Leo didn’t need to be told twice.

Dev pushed the door closed and leaned against it. So much was now clear that her head ached. “Come along, Leo. Let’s see if Helsin has appeared yet.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Leo seemed to have forgotten her earlier panic.

“No. He is the doctor at Udell base. He’s nice and I like him, but we are not pair bonded in any way.” She tried to say it firmly, but her voice wavered.

They walked toward the grand staircase, and in the entry hall was the man of the hour. Helsin stood waiting for his medical kit to be examined, and he looked wonderful in a black-and-gold uniform that matched the default pattern on hers. His belt and its myriad pouches were being rifled through, but he took it all with calm and grace.

“Don’t mention our trip to the grand hall.” Dev whispered it to Leo.

Leo looked at her blankly. “Where?”

“The big double doors. The grand hall.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. We just took a walk as a study break. Maybe Yagoth atmosphere is not suited to you, Dev.” Leo shook her head and went upstairs.

Dev was confused, there was no recognition on Leo’s face when the hall was mentioned, and normally, every emotion she experienced trooped across her features. She shook her head and turned to greet Helsin.

He was buckling his belt back in place and met her with a grin. “It is good to see you are not suffering any ill effects of Yagoth, Agent Jarix.”

“It is just good to see you, Dr. Helsin.”

He winced. “It did sound pompous, didn’t it?”

She laughed. “Yes, it did. Well, here comes the master of the household. I will see you later. Off to teach Leo what parts of a Lysam to avoid during a handshake.”

He grabbed her arm, and she faced a surprised expression. “How do you know that?”

“I am here as her tutor, and I only have to keep four hours ahead of her. I stay up late and read.” She patted Helsin on the cheek and headed up the stairs.

She wanted so much to hug him hello, but they were both working. If he stayed until the ratification day, they would catch the same shuttle home. There would be time for a hug then. In the meantime, she was going to do more research, but her topic was going to be the Plenai. If no one entered that room and the Yagoth had forgotten their warrior nature, there had to be a reason. The Plenai were a good start.

Dev left Leo to do her research and dragged her communication pad onto her lap. She keyed in
Archive, History of the Plenai.

The pad was standard issue for the Sector Guard, and in five minutes, she had the entire recorded and rumoured history of the predators of Yagoth.

Dev was shaking after the first hour of reading and sick to her stomach by the time she finished the file.

“Dev. Dev. It’s time for dinner.”

Leo touched her shoulder, and Dev stood up with a jerk. “Yes. That sounds right. Dinner.”

“Where were you? Your mind seemed a million miles away.”

Dev smiled and patted her shoulder. “Just working on some research for tomorrow’s lesson.”

Leo and Dev joined High Prefect Rasco and Helsin at the dining table.

Helsin gave her a peculiar look. “Agent Jarix, are you all right?”

Dev looked at him and shook her head. “No. I am not. I need to speak to you when you have a moment.”

He nodded. “Are you feeling unwell?”

She smiled weakly and passed the soup to Leo. “I really don’t know.”

Rasco cheerfully told Leo about the medical exam she was going to have the next day as well as the injections she would have to endure.

Dev’s mind was whirling during the entire dining experience, and when everyone stood up to go his or her separate ways, Helsin spoke quietly to Rasco before turning to her. He jerked his head, and she walked up to him. “I need to speak to you in private. It is important.”

“Where? You know this house better than I do.”

She took him by the hand and led him through the hallway and into the grand hall. A shove from her hands dislodged the door once again. Once they were through it, she pushed it closed again in case anyone got curious.

“All this privacy for me?”

She exhaled in a gust. “Can you see in the dark?”

He fumbled at his belt and a light flared wide. “Now what?”

“Look at the walls, Helsin. These are not the walls of a people who were always victims. They were warriors, and they have forgotten everything about it. It comes out in their habit of hiring folks to fight their battles, but they no longer act in self-defence. I have done some research. The Plenai had a doctor who created a memory suppressant that could be deployed using a warhead that landed in a populated area. Once it landed, the people there would forget how to fight. Perfect targets.”