Drop Zone

by Amanda Carlson

  “You’re making it sound doable,” Mina mused. “I’ll give you that.”

  “Honestly, I think we have a shot.”

  “Landing at Gemini high-rise in thirty seconds,” the sim intoned.

  “That’s you,” Mina said. “Must be exciting to hear the name of your new residence out loud.”

  “It is,” Lee agreed. “I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of hearing it.”

  She grinned. “I’ll see you in twenty. I’m curious where you can take this satellite plan. Then we’ll have to use our wiles to sell it to McAllister.” That in and of itself would be a huge endeavor.

  But maybe it would work.

  * * *

  Mina was stuffing the last few snacks Eggie had printed for her into a bag when her cuff beeped. It was the sound she’d assigned to Vince.

  “Engage,” she ordered.

  Vince popped up on holo, hovering above her wrist.

  “I’m sorry,” he blurted before she could say hello. “I missed our meet-up this morning, but it wasn’t intentional.”

  “That’s okay,” Mina replied casually, Kaylee’s words from this morning pinging around in her head like a clanging bell set to the tune of I told you so. She didn’t want Vince to know how much it had affected her that he hadn’t been available. But there was no denying it had. “Where are you?”

  “In France,” he replied gruffly. “Are you in a secure location?”

  “I’m in my residence alone,” Mina confirmed.

  “The moment I stepped foot in my unit last night, they summoned me back.” His tone implied his suspicions. Someone had been waiting for him to return and had alerted Ambrose, his boss and the Protectorate’s leader. “I had no choice but to comply. There was no time to formulate an audio or to send it, and even if I could’ve, I was surrounded by company. I’ve been in meetings pretty much nonstop, including on the flight back. I was just now released for a small break.”

  She peered closer at his holo image. He looked fatigued. She wasn’t the only one who needed a dose of Jump, an approved energy booster made with natural stimulants. Mina had just taken hers.

  “On the bright side, they’ve called you back to France,” she said with forced cheer. She hoped Vince wouldn’t pick up on the forced part. “It’s what you were hoping for.”

  Vince’s life revolved around the Protectorate, and the separation from his work after he had gone rogue trying to bring down Veritus had been hard on him.

  Having him in France, possibly permanently, was exactly what Mina had been trying to protect herself against. Yet another reason why they wouldn’t work as a couple. Maybe this was for the best.

  Though convincing herself of that was going to take some time.

  “It’s great, and it isn’t,” he said. “It’s almost dinnertime here, so they can’t hold me for much longer. I’ll check in again when I can. How’s it going with Norm?”

  “We interviewed him, got a full, verified accounting of his dealings with Waterbury over the years, and got him to a safe location this morning.” Mina left out the fact that she’d argued with Norm to get him into hiding for his own good. “Lee and I are heading over to Mr. Raphael’s. McAllister has given us the go-ahead to try to figure out how to safely box up Waterbury. Lee has some grandiose plans, which may or may not include things that float around in space.”

  “That sounds…interesting. Sorry I can’t be there.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I miss you,” he said quietly.

  It went unsaid that they hadn’t had enough time together.

  “Um…” Mina hesitated. “I miss you, too.”

  Weird to say out loud, but it was true. She really did.

  “I’m sure once I didn’t answer this morning, you assumed I’d changed my mind.” He chuckled. “Which is the furthest thing from the truth. It was completely out of my control. I was looking forward to seeing you again. The sooner the better.”

  Needing to change the subject—because Mina, to no one’s surprise anywhere on the planet, wasn’t great at talking about these things—she said, “When do you think you’ll return?”

  “I’m not sure. Things here are…complicated.” His voice sounded strained. “I’m connecting my removal from America to what happened with Norm, even though no one has admitted it. They keep quizzing me about what I was involved in yesterday, specifically, who you are. It’s been going on for hours.”

  “They have my name. You gave it to that guard yesterday when we were trying to get into Petra’s residence.”

  “Yeah. I know. That might’ve been a mistake on my part. But it’s taken me by surprise, because they know I’m in contact with the American federal government and, for the most part, have approved my involvement. It’s not something that they should be suspicious about. I was briefed by your director, while accompanied by Ambrose, on the first case we worked together.” He was helpfully leaving out all the things that had gone wrong. There was no need to rehash them. “My assumption is, when they decided to take a deeper check into my story yesterday, your name didn’t pop in the appropriate place. Ambrose is perturbed that I’m keeping things from him.”

  “You might have to give him specifics to set things to rights.” Mina didn’t want him to lose his job because he had an affiliation with her, and her identity was cloaked.

  “I signed several nondisclosures, given to me by your director, and I plan to honor my word. The French government would love deeper intel on the Americans, and their agents, but they’re not getting it from me. I think they’re testing me to see where my allegiance lies.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “A few months ago, I would’ve said France all the way, but now I’m not so sure.”

  Mina was tempted to ask Vince how secure his comm line was, but she also knew this man was a professional. He wouldn’t be talking so openly if he felt there was even a minute chance he would be overheard. Certainly not about his allegiance to the country that employed him.

  “I really hope this entire inquisition is not about your relationship with me,” Mina said. “I would hate for you to have a prolonged rift or lose your job in the Protectorate because of that. I can talk to McAllister. I’m sure he could arrange to send out a brief confidential memo confirming who I am and that you’ve played a small role in a few of my cases. That should be enough. You love your job. You’re good at it. Losing it because of me would be silly.” And impractical. And irrational. And a million other words floating through her head.

  “My leaving the Protectorate wouldn’t be solely because of you. But if things continue to worsen, I may take you up on that.” She was relieved to hear it wasn’t all about her. But honestly, she didn’t want any part of it. It was too burdensome. “There’s more to the story.” Vince lowered his voice. “I’m beginning to suspect that Ambrose might be a double agent.”

  Mina gasped.

  Not because he’d told her his suspicions, or that they might be true, but because saying something like that out loud could get him killed.

  “Don’t worry,” Vince countered, reassuring her. “I’m on an ultrasecure channel in an isolation chamber. The walls are made of ten-centimeters-thick titanium, no tech embedded, and my cuff is connected to a nano-fiber cable. I took all the precautions available to me. We use these chambers when we reach out to our spies. Legally, these chambers have to be impervious to any auditory or vid surveillance to protect our assets. We take that very seriously.” Of course the French government had spies. Every major government did. “I’m not sure when we’ll be able to talk like this again, and I wanted you to have all the details. Particularly if something happens to me. I trust you more than anyone else, and you understand what these implications mean, specifically. You also have the means to help if necessary.”

  Mina felt a pulse of alarm run through her. “Give me a realistic guesstimate of the peril you
think you’re in if someone finds out about your suspicions.”

  “Very low. There’s a chance Ambrose would act preemptively if he knew my hunch, but I know how to be discreet,” Vince replied. “And, let’s face it, I’m too well known now. People would notice if I suddenly disappeared for an extended period of time. Ambrose dug himself a hole when he required me to be splashed around the international media day in and day out. Now that I’m a regular on the screen, people would wonder where I’d gone and make inquiries.” The media blitz was a good thing. Imagine that. “As I uncover more and more about the inner workings of the Protectorate, it’s pretty clear that I’ve been naïve about a lot of things, not to mention entirely too trusting. It’s probably why I was able to work my way up in the ranks so quickly. They wanted a lapdog. They provided the lap, and I willingly climbed in. Now that I’m waking up and asking questions, they don’t like it. I don’t think they’ll harm me, but if they could keep me under lock and laser until they had my sworn compliance, I believe they would. I’m going to keep investigating quietly and see what I uncover.”

  “Be careful,” Mina cautioned. Not that he needed to hear it, but still. “You are at risk of tearing open something that people would kill to keep quiet.”

  If he was right about Ambrose, and the news broke, it would be very dangerous. If Ambrose Bernard, head of the entire French Protectorate, really was a double agent, that would mean he was trading military and government secrets to someone or an entity, likely another government who was not an ally, for currency.

  It was a stunningly huge allegation.

  “I understand the implications and appreciate your sentiments,” he said. “Which is why I wanted to tell you.” His head moved toward something she couldn’t see. “The green light is flashing. Someone’s trying to signal me. I have to go. I’ll contact you as soon as I can. I wish I was there to help you with your case. Next time we speak, I won’t be able to be as candid, so listen for the clues.”

  “I will. Take care of yourself.” Mina bit her lip. “I’m going to have to share your suspicions with my partner and my director. I can’t keep this news from them. It won’t go further than that. The added exposure may help protect you. McAllister will document what you’ve told me, and we can use it against the French government if necessary.” What was left unsaid was if something happens to you.

  He nodded. “I expected you would. I trust them both. Hope to see you soon.”

  Vince disappeared off her wrist.

  The sense of loss was acute.

  Chapter 7

  “Let’s go over it one more time.” Mina paced by Mr. Raphael’s screen, which was situated on a wall in the living area. Lee was running real-time feed of a group of satellites. She watched as they floated across the screen like isolated ships sailing into an unknown void. Earth, in all its green, blue, and swirling white brilliance, beamed up from below. It was pretty spectacular. “I want to understand what you’re describing before we try to sell it to McAllister. Have you been in contact with Harmony? We’re going to need her input on this as well.”

  Lee was unfazed by Mina’s request to get Harmony on board. He simply nodded. He knew her worth. “Harmony and Agent Poston are on their way. They should be here within five to ten. As for the plan,” he began again, “in order to knock Travis Blade’s satellite out of the sky, we would need permission to use something already up there. Privateers might be a good option. What’s being displayed on-screen right now is live feed from the Orbital World Satellite Station. It’s mandatory that everything in space be registered. They fly several cams on continuous loop for the public to see.” The Orbital World Satellite Station, or OWSS, was the largest space station and was occupied by over one hundred individuals from different countries at all times. It was massive. There were more satellite stations up there, run by individual nations that were smaller, but Mina didn’t know how many. “The OWSS is in charge of keeping track of everything floating around up there. Travis Blade owns ten satellites, and the one Waterbury has his cams linked to is called Currency Reigns, which is completely apt.” The Syndicate wasn’t known for flying under anyone’s radar. It was in-your-face or nothing. “It’s nestled around a few dozen other satellites and numerous space- and science-monitoring equipment. It’s set to float across the screen in about twenty.” He waved at the screen.

  Satellites weren’t the only things floating around in space. Scientists regularly released various information-gathering devices, along with telescopes, space crawlers, and sound amplifiers that worked as tenders. Twenty years ago, it’d been relatively easy to obtain the necessary permissions to put something into space. Nowadays, it was much harder and more regulated. Lee was right. There was a lot of stuff up there, and calamities happened often enough. “In order for something to be disrupted out of its orbit”—he got up and moved closer to the screen, using his hands to demonstrate—“it needs an impulse thrust of two-point-two meters per second squared for approximately four minutes.” He moved an arm toward one of the satellites, like he was going to give it a shove. “That allows for a significant change in trajectory. Once the orbital space is disrupted, and the vessel moves closer to Earth, gravity does the rest.”

  He flashed Mina a big smile and settled his hands on his hips, like this was all Mina needed to know.

  It was not.

  She resisted shaking her head. “Since everything is monitored and recorded”—she gestured toward the live feed where carefully crafted technology with shiny appendages floated by—“isn’t it going to look premediated if we fly something purposely into a satellite?” The whole idea was to cloak this operation so the Syndicate wouldn’t get suspicious.

  “It’s actually pretty easy to make it look like an accident. See how these smaller vessels are positioned lower or higher than the bigger satellites?” He moved closer, pointing out a few objects that looked like mini crafts with jetties attached to their back ends. “That’s on purpose. When they’re released into the exosphere, their distance from Earth and which orbital zone they occupy are calculated very intentionally. Occasionally, they misfire, causing them to either accelerate or decelerate.” He dragged his hands along the screen, pumping up the view of a few slow-moving objects. “They use a chemical reaction for propulsion. It’s located right here.” He circled his hands around the jetty structures. “Computer, show satellite collision, exhibit 1B, vid feed, at one hundred percent.”

  A new vid popped on the wall.

  Mina watched as a smaller craft-like object, which was floating right above several satellites, suddenly began to sputter. It shook for a few moments before dropping. As it went down, it took out a large wing of the satellite below it. Then both objects plummeted out of view.

  “This happens a few times a year, which is why Orbital Law requires everything up there to be insured.”

  Mina nodded. “I understand. But getting a government warrant”—for lack of a better term—“to do something like this seems like it would be incredibly difficult.”

  Not to mention extremely costly.

  “I don’t think so. I did a little digging into that also.” Lee headed to his compucase. “As far as I can tell, it’s happened a few times already.” He began to type. New data appeared on the screen. “There have been two occurrences where satellites have been brought down under suspicious circumstances. The government has never confirmed or denied its involvement, and the stories were not widely publicized. But the data found in their stable hearts led to arrests, and the owners of these satellites were boxed up for pretty heavy crimes.” Mina scanned the data on the screen. “One event happened in 2086, involving the Proton Asset Corporation. After its satellite was grounded, the owner and CEO was boxed for thirty-five years. He’d been embezzling and exporting chemis, which led to a trail of lost lives.”

  “That was almost twenty years ago.” Mina began to pace. “If agents were given permission to
do something like this nowadays, I would’ve heard about it.” At least she thought she would’ve. “No whiff of anything like this has ever filtered down.” Mina gestured to the data. “Maybe it was a military takedown. And if the US government neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, it may not have happened with governmental interference, even though law enforcement was able to get the stable heart.” She paused, thinking. It was hard to know. There had to be other secret departments she was unaware of. They could’ve been behind it.

  “I’d agree with you,” Lee said, “as it feels excessive to take down a satellite, but the last time it happened was only seven years ago. It involved a privateer by the name of Malcolm Hammer.” More data spilled across the screen, including a picture of a man with a long chin, high forehead, and jet-black hair combed away from his face. A pair of eerily diffracted green eyes stared back at her. He leered into the lens like he had payback to exact.

  “I know that guy.” Mina wagged her finger, trying to come up with how she could recognize his appearance but not his name.

  “You know him by the name The Virtual Game Killer.”

  Mina continued to shake her finger. “That’s right! That’s the champion virtual gamer who killed all those women. How many was it? Twenty-three or -four?” She shook her head. “I was just getting out of training when all that went down.”

  It’d been a really big story.

  Serial killing was harder to get away with now than it had been hundreds of years ago. But this guy had been good, covered his tracks well. Now she knew why. It’d all been stored in a satellite.

  “He enjoyed torture,” she continued. Not unlike Waterbury. “He’d connect with a woman during a virtual game and steal her data…to later gain access to her residence? I can’t remember all the details, other than it took them a long time to track him down.” Mina gazed at the screen. “So you’re telling me he was using a satellite to store his nefarious dealings, so they knocked it out of the sky?” It sounded like government interference to her. To prevent more women from being killed, it seemed a small price to pay.