Planet Heist (The Dunham Archives Book 1) (18 page)

“Take me home.” I pleaded. In moments, I was passed out Rowan’s arms.

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Performing a mental check of myself, I checked what kind of weapons were still on my person. There was still the constant, dull pressure of my cloaked dagger against my back. The family ring still sat on my finger, a Rizer clipped just below my dagger. There was another gun in my shoe, for some odd reason. Rowan must’ve placed it there while I was out, however long that was. From the size and pressure, I deduced it was a classic Seecamp LWS.32 .32ACP, a gun the size of my palm that would blow brains out. Razor pins dug into my scalp. Satisfied with this, I tuned in to my surroundings.

Voices. The first sense that came back to me was hearing. Two very distinct and one unknown voice ran into my ears at what seemed like a deafening volume. The first, a deep male voice, was clearly Rowan’s. Another, a powerful, low female voice was easily recognizable as the Prime Minister’s. From this it was suddenly clear that I was in Saize, in the enormous state capital that functioned as the Prime Minister’s mansion during her time in office. The third and final voice had a thick north Saizian accent (which remarkably represented a clean British accent), high and tinny female voice. She sounded angry, but I couldn’t make out her exact words.

Sight came next. The room I sat in after who knows how long was a large, lavish room. The walls were red, the carpets pristine white. Around the huge room were touches of gold – a massive bed fit for a queen decked in gold piping, curtains that matched the bedspread, and several bright red recliners with golden tassels. The Prime Minister sat in one of these chairs, my brother and the angry women on two others. Floor to ceiling shatterproof windows looked out on the spectacular view of a courtyard with grandiose marble statues of each and every previous Prime Minister. I recognized Jayan Halag, the eighth Prime Minister of Saize, but couldn’t make out the others from here. There were cameras attached to the ceiling in six places, so I knew there must be a viewing room just down the hall. There was a set of French doors to my left, and through them was a completely marble hallway with officially-dressed looking people rushing to and fro. There were very quiet voices coming from down the hallway, and I figured it was some sort of conference. There were chairs up and down the hall, ornately decorated and inviting. The room was lit with golden light fixtures that brought in a shining yellow light that cast eerie shadows across the furniture.

In a flash, the voices that rang around the room were understandable.

“…wake her up then, imbecile!” The third voice said.

“I’ve tried! She’s been comatose for almost three days! And, I can assure you, my IQ is at least forty points higher than yours.” My brother growled back.

“Shut it!” The Prime Minister said in a hoarse yet authoritative voice. Her use of crude phrasing was shocking, at least to me. “Dunham, you better find a way to wake her up, and soon. She
has
to fix this, or I’ll die.”

Ah,
I thought,
this is about the ‘little cut’ I gave her at the meeting.

It took all my power to force open my eyelids open. The rush of sensory awareness sent my heart racing for a few moments, until I regained my composure.

“Rowan.” I groaned as loudly as possible.

“Kairee? Thank god! I was worried you’d never come out of it.”  Rowan walked over to me and whispered in my ear, “I know you’ll want to know, so you’ve been comatose for three days, we’re in the Prime Minister’s mansion, the one that doubles as the capital building, under technical, but un-enforced, arrest, and the other woman in here is Veela Hanson, the chief something-or-other of the Prime Minister’s. She keeps insulting me and it’s really getting on my nerves. Anyways, she says that after you negotiate the poison business with the Prime Minister, she’s going to take us into the custody of the nation. We really need to figure out a plan to get out of here before you speak to the Prime Minister.” My brother’s voice was so hushed I almost couldn’t hear him as he whispered in my ear. There was a glint from then nape of his neck, and I realized he had both a gun and a knife clipped around his chest to a hidden holster on the inner side of his jacket.

I glanced around the room, my sight coming to me in full now. My brother looked bedraggled and tired, as if he hadn’t been sleeping for a few days, which could very well be possible. The woman whose voice didn’t ring a bell in my mind by voice sat by the Prime Minister, and the moment Rowan said her name, her identity snapped into place. Her official job title was Secretary of National and Foreign affairs, but she was truly the Prime Minister’s right hand woman. She had short, pin straight, blonde hair, large, light brown eyes and black glasses that made her look inquisitive, genius, and dangerous all at the same time

I risked a look at the Prime Minister’s ‘little cut.’ Her entire shoulder was wrapped in gauze, but blood still seeped through. Around the gauze, her skin continued to eat away at itself, so quickly you could almost see it being torn away.

My mind began racing, as it normally does, to figure out a master plan. This was a truly precarious situation. Whenever something involves legalities, arrest, poison, and public figures, it gets messy. And, you’d be surprised to know, situations like these happen much more often than you’d think.

“Hello, ladies!” I said excitedly, “What can I do for you today?”

Something Hanson, the dangerous woman, glared at me, “Is your entire family made up of cretins, or is it just you two?” She glowered.

“You know, Hanson,” I began, and in a moment I was up, my dagger pressed to her neck. I stepped away when mortal terror gleamed in her eyes instead of inflicting any damages, but retained a threatening look in my eyes, “insulting my family will get you absolutely nowhere if you’re trying to earn my help. And you, specifically, are in no position to affront
my
family. If I remember correctly, which I always do, you come from a family in the lower slums of Saize. You’re mother was an addict, and your father was an…oh wait, he left you to take care of your six little siblings when you were four. Two of your siblings were arrested young, not that there’s anything wrong with
that
, and the others disappeared and you haven’t heard from them since.” I said in an especially insensitive manner, “You can insult whatever of mine you want, just not my family.”

She was taken aback, her face contorted in a mixture of rage, sadness, and confusion, as if she couldn’t decide how to feel. “How did you know all of that?” She whispered.

“I do my research. Now, since I already know what you want, I’ll step outside for a moment and talk it over with my brother.”

“You can’t do that!” Hanson half-yelled, “We can’t let criminals run around the capital building unsupervised.”

“We both know that my brother and I won’t be unsupervised. You have cameras every-where. We’ll be just fine, and I simply need to tell him something. If it would make you
feel
better, you can send a royal guard, or whatever, in with us.” I smiled.

“I will then,” She replied, walking out into the hallway. She called one of the guards that was watching the door to our side.

“Come on, Row.”

He, the guard, and I all took a walk to the end of the hallway. My brother and I went past many doors, each time checking if there were people behind it until we came to a completely empty room.

“In. Now.” I commanded the guard.

“You can’t order me around like that!”

“Watch me.” The order escaped from my lips with extreme ferocity. I was not in the mood for someone not to cooperate with my plans. I gripped his arm and pulled him into the room as he struggled to get away from me.

“You’re strong for a little girl.” He grunted.

“Shut it.” I demanded harshly, taking off my left shoe and pulling out the gun. Holding it in my hand, I shot every camera visible with such precision it would scare a sniper. The guard looked as if he would suffer a heart attack at any moment.

“Rowan, remember when we visited here a few years ago?”

He nodded.

“Well, in the main conference room, just down the hall, there’s a huge passageway to the stage. So, in our usual manner, we’ll have to disrupt what must be a very important conference so we don’t get taken into the custody of the state. Row, are you up for it?”

He nodded again.

“Alright. Then I need you, Mr. Guard-man, to alert every armed person in the facility to our plan; I expect each and every one of your men to be on my tail the moment I come out of speaking with the Prime Minister. But, you must let her talk to me, in private, because I’m going to save her life. You all need to congregate in the meeting room, but don’t tell anyone that there’s a problem, just wait for us.” I informed the guard.

“O…kay?” He was clearly confused.

“Well get to it then!” I gave him a push towards the door. He was out in a moment.

“Okay Rowan, I’m going to need all of your cunning to get out of here.”

I briefed him on the real plan, and we walked back to the Prime Minister’s room.

Hanson opened the door for us, and we stepped in. The Prime Minister herself had fear in her eyes as I walked over and began unwrapping her gauze. She winced and flinched and tried to pull away.

“Calm down, I’m going to fix it. I just need something in return.” I told her quietly.

“Anything.” She whispered back. Hanson and my brother were bickering loudly behind us. I sighed loudly.

“Rowan!” I snapped, aggravated, “Must you always
argue
with someone? I am
trying
to concentrate here!”

He muttered something of an apology and stayed silent from then on.

“You were saying?” The Prime Minister grimaced.

“In exchange for healing you, I require twenty minutes – that’s all –  in the Saizian National Archives.”

“Not that. I don’t want the most powerful sixteen year olds in the galaxy in my archives. There’s way too much information in there that you could get your shrewd little hands on.” She argued, rather reasonably.

“Well then, you can die in a week.” I rebutted.

She sighed in defeat, “Fine. But, since you’re technically a ward of the state, I can’t make any promises on whether or not I’ll send guards after you.”

“That’s fine, but know that I can’t make a promise as to whether those guards live or not.” I replied solemnly.

She nodded curtly, “Just fix my arm as soon as you can. I’ve got things to do, places to be.” She said.

“Anything specific?” I smiled.

“Well, since
you
asked, absolutely nothing. I don’t want crashing in on any meetings with planetary leaders any time soon.” She said.

“I hope you know that you just gave told me exactly where you’re going to be in a week. That’s not the point though. Listen to me – I’ll be at the
Yusai
tonight around seven. Meet me there, and don’t do anything stupid.” I told her.

“What’s the
Yousay
?” She asked.

“
Yusai
,” I corrected, “It’s this criminalist restaurant downtown. They only let you in if you’ve got a reputation. The Dunham twins have their own table. I’ll bring the cure, and you better not bring that server-pixie Hanson or that oaf Dmitri Ivanov that you’re so fond of bringing places they don’t belong.” I said with a glance at Hanson, who was still arguing with my brother.

“I’ll be there.” She was so nervous it was hard to believe.

“Alright, now I’ve got a front page to make.”

I stood up and squeezed Rowan’s arm.

“We’ve got an escape to perform. And Hanson,” I said seriously, “you are
really
annoying.” I pulled out a razor and swiped it across her pasty skin, leaving yet another scar across the galaxy. Walking out, I touched the Rizer pressed to my skin and an idea suddenly filled my head.

June 22
nd
1:36 pm

Kaito, Capital City, Capital Building, Saize

I heard panicked voices as Rowan and I stalked down the hall to the main conference room. Even from here, it was clear that the guards were trying to keep scared government agents in order.

“Alright, Row, are you ready? We haven’t been on the news enough lately, anyways.”

He chuckled darkly, “Let’s go.”

The doors into the meeting room were lavish, but we didn’t go in. Instead, I grabbed a chair from next to the door, snapped off each leg, and placed them between the door handles – the most simplistic way to lock a door from the outside. After the doors were sealed, Rowan followed me to a huge tapestry showing scenes from the Nalakine bible. I knocked on the wall next to the tapestry, creating a dull thump. But, after knocking on the tapestry, there was a low, hollow thud that echoed around whatever was behind it.

“Found it.” Rowan laughed. He pulled the tapestry off its hook, revealing a leaded door with a padlock.

“What do you think?” I asked Rowan, testing his abilities.

“Eight digits – numbers and letters – six guess limit. I suspect the combination is 142AFN58.” He told me confidently.