“What’s wrong?” Erik asked, wondering what was bothering her.
It was, after all, her first trip off Earth.
“No, it’s just…” Jia laughed. “I’m just thinking about all the things I’ve never experienced. Plenty of places on Earth aren’t like Neo SoCal, so it’s not strange there aren’t towers, but I’ve never been to a place like this. It’s extra-strange, because it doesn’t look that different in some ways, but I know we’re under a dome.” She gestured to a huge multi-pronged tower structure. “And that’s weird conceptually.”
“The grav emitters? What’s so weird about them? They don’t look all that different from most wide-range grav emitter towers I’ve seen.” Erik peered at the structure in question, seeking an anomaly.
“Like I said, a lot of this will sound stupid to a guy like you who has traveled all over.” Jia’s attention lingered on the tower. “But it’s strange to think that without those towers, people would be bouncing around. Artificial gravity on a ship is one thing, but this is a whole city.” She shrugged. “I’m being stupid. It’s just funny how a trip to the moon can change one’s perspective. I’m beginning to understand a lot about how your years on the frontier made you the man you are.” She waved her hands. “In a good way.”
“I took it that way.” Erik smiled. “Then even if we don’t solve Alina’s problem, this trip has been worthwhile. Let’s just relax for a day, then get to it. I do want to make one stop.”
“For what?” Jia asked.
Erik patted his duster above his holster. “We’re going to need something more than a stun pistol and our slug-throwers. We won’t be able to use our disguises, but we’re cops. We’ll be able to get what we need.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
June 7, 2229, Chang’e City, the Moon, Bar Four Symbols
The air stank of sweat and liquor. Too many bodies were packed into too tight a space, a common problem in most lunar buildings. The weapons store they had visited the day before had been much the same. Chang’e City should have been named “Cramped City.”
Jia chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Erik asked. They’d been using the disguises on and off, but it was hard for him to get used to looking at the unfamiliar face. He could see hints of her beautiful face in the disguise, which made it even more unsettling.
At least the bar was familiar.
He’d never been there before but traveling across human space had reinforced that few things truly changed about humanity, no matter how much distance one added. Human civilization had sent mankind to the Moon and then the stars, but many of the colonies came off as a pale recapitulation of what had already been done. Sometimes he wondered if Jia was right, and humanity should have never left the Solar System.
“I’m so glad I traveled all this way to experience this smell,” she joked. “It’s unique. I should bottle and sell it. I can call it ‘Lunar Musk.’”
Erik sniffed his armpit. “It’s kind of growing on me.”
“You can be my first customer.” Jia stopped and placed her hand on Erik’s arm, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s still bizarre to me that our contact would be someone so obvious. Whatever happened to subtle information brokers?”
Erik followed Jia’s line of sight. A beautiful dark-skinned woman sat behind a table in the corner, wearing a loose, flowing dress that bared her shoulders. While she would turn heads in a bar under normal circumstances, her long, rainbow-colored hair all but demanded it. She met Erik’s eyes and offered him a thin smile. The corner near her table was the only part of the bar not filled with bodies jostling for space.
“She’s not the one who needs to hide,” he mumbled. “We are. Let’s go.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ID chip Alina had given him on Earth. “I hope this isn’t a waste of time.”
“We can always go sightseeing,” Jia suggested.
“You’ve seen one crater, you’ve seen them all.”
“I haven’t seen one yet up close.”
“There is that,” he agreed.
The detectives headed over to the table, maneuvering through the crowd.
A couple of people eyed one or the other of them approvingly, but once they saw the other person, they turned their attention away, not interested in the competition. Erik and Jia arrived at the table, the sound of the bar vanishing once they were within a meter.
“Are you Kalei Verna?” Jia asked. “I find it hard to believe there is more than one woman matching your description who frequents this place.”
“This kitty has claws.” The woman held out her right hand palm up. “Place it here, darling, or this conversation is over before it started.”
Erik deposited the chip in her hand and waited. Her palm glowed briefly.
“Subcutaneous scanner hardware?” he asked.
Kalei grinned. “Does that offend your Purist sensibilities?”
“Seems convenient.” Erik shrugged.
“It is.” Kalei’s eyes darted around for a few seconds. She tossed the chip on the table and gestured toward two open seats. “Please sit down. I know who you are, even if you’re trying to hide things, but that’s not a problem because all I’m here to do is give you information. What you do with it is your own business.”
“We can talk freely here?” Erik asked, taking a seat. “Or do we need to go somewhere else?”
She smiled. Was there a suggestion under her veneer? “Darling, going somewhere else is the way you look suspicious and draw attention, and we don’t want that, now, do we?”
“You kind of stand out in case you didn’t notice,” Jia commented.
“Distract a man, and you get to pick what he notices,” Kalei retorted.
“Distracted people work better for us anyway,” Jia agreed. “Do you know why we’re here?”
“I haven’t the foggiest.” Kalei’s gaze roamed Erik for a moment as if appraising him, but he didn’t sense any amorous intent. If anything, he thought he recognized the telltale signs of greed on her face. “People come to me upon referral from a wide variety of interesting people. I make it my policy to provide the people sent to me information as a favor to those who have referred them to me for other favors. I also make it my policy to not ask too many questions ahead of time. Questions complicate matters.”
“Aren’t you an information broker?” Erik asked. “Wouldn’t you want to know?”
“If people always had to give me information to get information, no one would ever come to me, now would they? They wouldn’t think they were achieving an advantage.” Kalei smacked her lips. “And that would put me in a pickle and make my career more difficult than it otherwise needs to be.”
Erik didn’t understand how she made a living, but it wasn’t his problem. Chang’e wasn’t his beat, and unless she was supporting Talos, he didn’t give a damn. If she was, he would track her down later.
“Arms smuggling,” Jia explained. “We hear there’s been some movement around that area, and we want to know if you have any leads for us on anything major.”
“Guns, huh? Or bombs?” Kalei raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “That’s always trouble, especially with all these terrorists hijacking transports. It’s a dangerous time to be alive, don’t you think?”
“Does that mean you know someone or not?” Jia bypassed the woman’s question.
Erik didn’t say anything. Jia was handling the situation fine. They weren’t there to threaten anyone, and they weren’t operating as detectives. Without leverage, they could only hope Alina hadn’t pointed them at a dead-end.
Kalei leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Marius Barbu. I’ve heard he’s been moving major product recently. I can give you an address and a passphrase, but that’s all I’ll do. Barbu is bad news, and I’m far too beautiful to go anywhere near him. Don’t let the fact that he looks like a half-dead mummy fool you.” Her eyes connected to Jia’s, then to Erik’s. “That man is dangerous.”
“Anyone else?” Erik ask
ed.
Kalei offered him a languid smile. “This isn’t Neo Southern California, darling. We only have a few major players. If anyone else was moving that much product when Barbu was trying to, there might be trouble, and he would make an example out of them. He’s your man.” She crooked a finger. “I’ll give you a little passphrase. I can’t guarantee it’ll work for more than a few days, so you better go to him right away.”
Erik leaned in to hear her whisper.
“The sun shines on us regardless of whether we’re good or evil.”
Erik pulled away slowly, eyeing the woman with suspicion. “That’s it?”
“What did you expect?” Kalei rattled off an address. “You can find him there. The rest of this isn’t my problem. My debt is paid, and right now, I don’t think either of you can provide me anything that would put me in your debt.”
Jia frowned. “You don’t care about someone moving a lot of guns through your city? In my experience, when there are a lot of weapons in play, some end up in the local area and cause trouble.”
“That’s my experience, too, but one woman can’t stop everything.” Kalei gave a little wave. “I think we’re done here. I’m expecting other people today, and they might get nervous if they see too many people they don’t know.” She nodded toward the door. “I’m sure you understand.”
Erik stood and pushed his chair in. “Thanks. We’ll be going. Just keep in mind that traps don’t tend to work well on us.”
“I can imagine.” She looked Erik up and down before turning to Jia. “You two remind me a lot of Barbu. You’re not people I want to make angry.”
An hour later, Erik and Jia approached the unassuming building. It didn’t look like a place where a major arms dealer did business. Given the man’s reputation, it didn’t seem like he would have to hide.
“Once we get in there, Emma,” Erik began, “just start hacking away. We’re trying to collect information for Koval.”
“Maybe we should take this opportunity to test her a little more as well,” Jia suggested. “If you want this relationship to be reciprocal, you need to make sure she’s not always the one who has the advantage.”
Erik looked over. “What did you have in mind?”
“If this turns out to be someone questionable, we can test how the local police perform with an anonymous tip. If they do nothing, we’ll know they aren’t reliable. I’m not convinced the local police are completely corrupt. I’m more convinced that Koval wants us to dance on her terms. I’m not saying she’s corrupt, and I believe this will probably end with her taking down a bad guy, but that doesn’t mean we have to be puppets.”
Erik considered for a moment before nodding. “Good point.”
They stepped into the shop and confronted the ancient eyepatch-wearing man behind the counter. Jia stared at the man briefly, respect in her eyes. Erik didn’t know his story, but his scars and face suggested a hard life.
He stared at them for a few seconds before rasping, “I’m sorry. You need an appointment.”
Erik laughed and motioned to one of the holographic flowers. “I need an appointment for a hole-in-the-wall flower shop?”
“Things upwell are different than downwell,” the man insisted.
“I’ve been all over the UTC, and I haven’t run into that kind of thing, Mr. Barbu,” Erik replied.
“And who might you be?” he wheezed.
“Let’s just say I’m a person who appreciates that the sun shines on us regardless of whether we’re good or evil.”
“Oh, I’m at your service.” Barbu straightened his back. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“We’re in the market for extra protection,” Jia explained. “Selene Firearms rifles, preferably.”
Barbu squinted. “Why do you need me, then?”
“Because we’d like more rifles than one person typically needs, and we’d prefer no one knew we had them,” Erik lied. “We want extra protection, but not extra trouble or attention.”
“How much is extra protection worth to you, sir?” Barbu asked.
“How about thirty percent per unit?” Erik suggested. “That’s a nice fee for your trouble. We’d like them within a week. We’re on a schedule. It’s a small order, just twenty rifles, and maybe ten magazines apiece.”
Barbu sucked in a breath through his teeth, producing a whistling sound mixed with a deep wheeze. “Right now, a lot of suspicious people are keeping a close eye on Chang’e City. Things have gotten complicated, and I’ve been dealing with some big orders lately. I do live to serve, but I think the quick turnaround means my expenses will go up accordingly. I’m going to have to ask for eighty percent per unit.”
Erik laughed. “Don’t get greedy, old man.”
“And don’t get impatient, old man wearing a young man’s face.”
“Fine.” Erik’s face twitched but he didn’t take the bait. His hair was a sign of his true age for people in the know. “Forty.”
Barbu ran his tongue inside his cheek. “I’ve got a good feeling about you. I’ll do fifty, but I can’t go lower than that, not with current market conditions, sir. How about you come back tomorrow and we discuss the logistics? I’ll have a firmer grasp on deliverables then, and samples of the merchandise. I will have to ask for a fifty percent down payment tomorrow before committing to moving any product since you are new customers who haven’t been in contact with me before. Consider it a safety deposit, but I do apologize if the request causes any offense. That’s not my intent. I look forward to establishing a long and profitable relationship with you two.”
“That’s fine.” Erik glanced at Jia. After she nodded, he added, “We’ll be back tomorrow around this time.”
“I hope you have a nice rest of your day, sir and ma’am.” Barbu’s toothy smile felt dismissive. They took the hint.
Erik and Jia remained quiet until they were far up the street and almost to the train station that would take them back near their hotel.
Emma broke the silence with a snort. “I’m unimpressed with lunar criminals.”
“Why?” Erik asked.
“His systems were surprisingly easy to break into. It was almost trivial.” Emma scoffed in disdain. “At least some of the more recent information. Or so I would like to believe or say, but I suspect that’s unlikely given how many parts of his system remained sealed. I only stopped accessing it because after you left, the security tightened again, and I understood that I was being tested.” Frustration dripped from her voice. “That shell of a fleshbag and his tiny shop represent security far better than you might see in most corporations.”
Jia grimaced. “You’re saying he let you in on purpose?”
“I believe so. There was significant resistance when I initiated my efforts. I was even using proxies to help conceal the source, but several seconds after Detective Blackwell gave the passphrase, I was able to defeat the defenses. This is annoying. I feel disrespected.”
Erik slowed and looked over his shoulder. Plenty of people wandered the streets or flew by in mini-flitters or the occasional small hovercar, but no one appeared to be following them.
“What about the files he let you find?” Jia asked.
“There are recordings of obvious criminality focusing on recent arms deals, but I will note his image and audio have been conveniently replaced by another appearance and voice. I’m currently examining the files, and although they’ve obviously been altered, I don’t believe it’s possible to capture the original information. You couldn’t prove he’d been involved in anything with these records.”
“I don’t get it.” Erik shook his head. “I don’t see his angle. Why give us evidence?”
“It has to be some sort of trap,” Jia suggested.
Erik gestured to the upcoming train station. “Let’s get back to the hotel and review what Emma found. If we’ve got something useful, we can pass it on to the locals to see if they do anything with it. We might have a better idea of what Barbu is up to after
seeing how they react. That way, we’re testing both Alina and him. It’s like you suggested...”
He stepped around a corner.
“Time for people to dance for us.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“War’s good for business,” explained the digitally distorted Barbu. He had been talking, according to the recording, to someone he referred to as “Mr. Jeffers.”
Among other things, they had verified the locational information in the data stream had been wiped. That seemed pointless, given they had visited the shop and could easily include that information if they passed the rest of it along.
Erik and Jia had been reviewing some of the information Emma recovered, focusing on whoever was most likely to be Alina’s person of interest.
There was no guarantee that Barbu’s leaked information covered everyone important, but he’d passed along these people for a reason. Even criminals had certain lines they wouldn’t cross. This Jeffers might have pushed too far for Barbu’s taste.
Jia gestured to the frozen images in the projected data window. “This is our best bet. Everyone else he’s given up seemed small-time, but this was about a big order, and the level of money Jeffers was willing to throw around says to me that whatever he needs his weapons for is going to happen soon.” She sighed. “There’s one major problem.”
Erik frowned and nodded at the data window. “Every other recording has clear angles, but we don’t have any angles on Jeffers’ face. It’s like Barbu wanted us to know about the guy, but also didn’t want us to be able to identify him too easily.” He leaned back, kicking a foot up to rest it on the wall. “I don’t know if he’s doing us a favor or just screwing with us.”
“This is also the only case among the data I collected wherein he obviously altered the name of the other party,” Emma clarified. “It’s clear by examining the data that’s the case. He even went through the trouble of making sure the lip movement lined up.”
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