Free Ronan: Ziva Payvan Book 3 by EJ Fisch Page A

“Maybe this does answer our question. What do you think they want?”
    “Good question,” Taran muttered, grasping the back of the chair he’d been sitting in. “They could just be scouting out our squad. It’s probably no secret that we’re here – three weeks is a long time to stay in one place. Or they could be probing. There could be an entire unit on its way here to wipe us out. Or…it could still just be a coincidence.”
    “Orders?”
    He shifted his gaze to meet hers. “We’ll start by scouting right back. I want more information about these guys. Where’s their base of operations? What kind of weapons are we dealing with? Who are they communicating with? I’d like to go down to the port and get a personal look at this ship they arrived in. I want them to know that we know they’re here.”
    Mae nodded. “I’ll call everyone home for a briefing.”
    Taran’s eyes followed her as she moved back to the main console where the Resistance dossiers were still displayed. “The moment they do anything hostile, we’ll retaliate in a similar fashion. Let their people lose contact with them the same way we’ve lost contact with Devani.” He directed his attention to the dossier that remained on the screen, eyes fixed on the leader’s name, the name that had been plaguing him since the disappearance of the Delta Patrol: TAV RONAN.
    “And if they can’t lead us to Ronan, someone else will.”

-10-
    Docks
    Niio Spaceport
     
    Ziva had never been a fan of Niio. The place was even more of a cesspit than downtown Noro and the entertainment districts on Chaiavis. Like Chaiavis, it served as a major transportation hub for the Fringe worlds on this side of the galaxy, but a person had come to the wrong place if they were looking for political asylum. There were no foreign embassies, no formal governing bodies. Who was in charge depended on which gang’s territory you landed in. She made her way down the boarding ramp of the little HSP ship – called the Zenith , as she had discovered – with a distasteful eye on the surrounding docks. Niio’s filth, crime, and debauchery weren’t restricted to certain areas; they were prevalent across the entire moon. Carrying out a mission here meant being twice as cautious, keeping one eye on the target and one eye on the general environment around you. She’d had to set some would-be muggers straight on a couple of different occasions.
    Even during the nighttime hours, the moon’s sky remained a soft orange thanks to the gas giant it orbited. The planet itself was Niio – the little moon had no formal name and had come to be known simply as Niio Spaceport due to the transportation center it boasted. But if you said you were going to Niio, chances were you meant the moon, and chances were you weren’t planning on staying long. For every person who landed at the port, someone else left. Not many people had the misfortune of calling the place their permanent residence.
    Ziva turned her attention back to the Zenith’s boarding ramp as it shut, confident that the ship’s security system would deter any potential thieves and alert her if there was trouble. She carried only a backpack, not planning on staying long enough to need any additional supplies. Skirting around a small shuttle delivering cargo to a nearby dock, she angled toward the public transportation terminal, one of the only respectable areas she’d ever come across while visiting the moon. She scanned the docking pass HSP had provided and marveled for a moment at the impressive flight log they’d fabricated for her ship. As far as Port Control knew, the Zenith was part of a small courier fleet for a company based on Aubin, which was good considering she was familiar with the desert planet after spending numerous independent service terms working there.
    She continued walking and found herself on the main concourse, lost in the sea of travelers ranging anywhere from jaded smugglers to wanna-be pirates to