Enlightened Ignorance

by Michael Anderle

  Ten meters into the tunnel, two helmeted terrorists in tactical suits knelt behind a thick, curved gray barrier. Both men perched their rifles atop the barrier, each almost as large as the ones the exoskeletons carried. The terrorist guns came to life in bright bursts. The CID agents without exoskeletons scattered, ducking behind the bots and the truck, but the rounds ripped right through the vehicle, coming within centimeters of killing an agent.

  Jia dove behind one of the drill bots, and a round whizzed past her shoulder. She didn’t want to test her tactical suit against a bullet of that size and velocity.

  What a great vacation we’re having, she thought. Next time, Colonel Adeyemi will ask us to take time off so we can go visit a local war zone.

  Erik, Alina, and the HTR exoskeletons opened fire and spat a cloud of bullets into the tunnel. The terrorists ducked as the bullets bounced and sparked off their barrier.

  The exoskeletons advanced in a tight formation, their shields overlapping—a deadly mechanical phalanx with fully automatic weapons.

  With the enemy suppressed, Jia and the non-mechanized squads took position on either side of the tunnel. Having good equipment didn’t mean much if they were outnumbered.

  “Stun grenade out,” announced one of the HTR agents. With a pop, his grenade launcher blasted its ammo toward the terrorists. The men didn’t move. They kept up their fire and didn’t react to the arcing white grenade discharge.

  “Stun-resistant tactical suits,” Erik muttered. He fired a burst that sparked against the barrier. “That damned Barbu really set these guys up, didn’t he? They might as well be an Army unit.”

  One terrorist brought his head up too far. His helmet didn’t survive the barrage of multiple exoskeleton rifles blasting high-velocity rounds into it. Being splashed by his partner’s blood and brains finally broke the resolve of the other terrorist. He leapt over the barrier screaming in rage, a grenade in each hand. Another volley blew through his suit, and the explosions from his grenades mangled his body.

  “Can’t doubt these guys’ commitment to the cause,” Erik observed.

  “The other agents are securing the building and going apartment to apartment to clear it,” Alina reported. “They haven’t found any terrorists yet. Why do I get the feeling this has all been nothing but stalling?”

  “Emma, stop watching the apartment,” Erik recommended. “Fan out with your drones. Whatever they’re going to do, it’s not going to be subtle. Hit every dome; Alina might be right.”

  “Ah, nothing worse than an intelligent psycho,” Emma replied. “But there are limits. I only have so many drones available.”

  “This isn’t Neo SoCal. You’ll manage.”

  Emma harrumphed. “I’d like to see a fleshbag accomplish as much with as little.”

  “They have to be down the tunnel,” Jia observed. “We’ve got enough firepower here to push on through. If they’re stalling, we shouldn’t let them waste our time.”

  Alina nodded. “You’re right, Detective Lin, but I’m worried. We’ll need to react quickly, and we can’t trust the locals. Someone leaked our raid. We still need to secure the building, too. For all we know, they might be hiding in the other apartments and waiting for us to drop our guard.”

  “I’ll grab a mini-flitter and get ready to go if Emma finds anything,” Jia suggested.

  Alina looked at her. “I’ll go with you. I don’t like these things much anyway.” With a few quick finger commands, the clamps and straps holding her released. She dropped to the ground in a crouch. “I’ll have someone pick it up later.”

  She pulled an infantry rifle off the back of the exoskeleton and slung it over her shoulder before stuffing magazines into her pocket. “I didn’t bring my lucky gun. There’s our problem.” She clucked her tongue. “Then again, it’s garbage against armor.”

  She pointed to two of the CID agents on foot and circled her finger in the air before gesturing for them to come. “You two are with me. Anyone not in an exoskeleton should head back to the garage and secure the area. You’re just targets otherwise. The rest of you, you’re under Detective Blackwell’s tactical command. He’s got decades of fighting terrorists under his belt, so if he tells you to slap yourself, you say, ‘How hard, sir?’”

  Some of the agents looked like they wanted to disagree, but they didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t die, Detective,” Alina suggested. “This tunnel might be nothing but stalling and traps, but if they’ve got more guys in here and you keep whittling them down, that will be fewer who can crawl off to help their boss.”

  “We might find Mont,” Erik countered. He nodded at Jia and Alina. “But if he’s not in here, don’t let him get away.”

  Jia snorted. “He won’t. He picked the wrong week to come to the moon.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Don’t ever fight a battle on the enemy’s terms.

  Decades in the Army had reinforced that concept for Erik. Now, as he proceeded down the tunnels, he was forced to admit that everything they had done since starting the raid was on the enemy’s terms.

  The enemy knew the terrain and had defensive emplacements. There was also a difference in motivation.

  The terrorists had proven their willingness to give their lives, and Old Barbu had hooked them up with more than a few cheap pistols.

  He didn’t doubt the dedication of the CID agents and Alina, but they weren’t going to blow themselves up to take down a terrorist.

  Erik grunted and reminded himself this battle wasn’t Molino.

  The terrorists might have nice gear, but they’d lost the element of total surprise, and soon they would lose their lives unless they surrendered. So far, all the enemy had accomplished was disabling a few units and dying.

  Alina might be right and they were doing nothing but buying time for their comrades, but paying with their lives still meant they were slowly losing.

  Unless that was the plan.

  The loud, steady thump of the exoskeletons’ feet hitting the floor reverberated through the tunnel. The squad had killed the lights and activated their thermal vision.

  Without Alina, Erik was in command of the now-three-person exoskeleton squad. Under normal circumstances, that would be enough firepower to mow down a room full of criminals, but they’d already lost exoskeletons to an ambush.

  A good enemy might not repeat the same attack, but an effective tactic wasn’t soon forgotten. Confidence kept a man calm in a battle; arrogance would end with him meeting with his Maker.

  They would need to be careful.

  The terrorists might be at the end of the tunnel, or the whole thing might be a distraction. In that case, it would be up to Alina’s and Jia’s team to deal with the real threat.

  Additional pressure in the tunnels might put more pressure on any other operational terrorists’ teams.

  “Keep it tight,” Erik ordered, moving forward. “Triangular formation. I’m the tip of the spear. We should presume similar equipment. We won’t win this by attrition, we’ll win it by annihilation. The terrorists have made their position clear, so we’re going to do them the courtesy of greeting them as politely as they’ve been greeting us.”

  “Roger!” the other two agents responded enthusiastically.

  He’d wondered if they would have issues taking orders from him, but decades of military experience came out in his words, voice, and movements. Hunting terrorists in exoskeletons was something he’d been doing for longer than Jia had been alive.

  This day, like every day, it was time to save civilians.

  The tunnel abruptly turned to the right. Slight thermal differentials allowed them to distinguish the walls from the air. There was no sign of additional enemies, which made him more cautious. He doubted it would be that easy. The kind of men with the foresight to prepare EMP rockets were the kind who might set traps.

  “Halt,” Erik whispered, narrowing his eyes.

  The squad complied without question or comment. He adjusted the
sensitivity of his thermal sensors.

  “Got you.” He grinned.

  Residual thermal footprints led around the corner. That he could pick them up given the kind of gear the suspects were wearing meant they had been there recently. The tunnel wasn’t just a handful of guys pretending to be more.

  “Around the corner,” Erik transmitted, keeping his voice low. “I’m going to open with a blinder, then we finish them off. Counting down from three, two, one.” He launched his blinder grenade toward the corner and it bounced off the wall at a perfect angle. In thermal mode and with the grenade already past the corner, the follow-up flash wasn’t that intense for Erik, but judging by the panicked echoing shouts, the same couldn’t be said for the terrorists.

  It was time to clear the obstacle.

  Erik and the squad surged forward. The three terrorists standing in the center of the tunnel fired wildly, their bullets spraying everywhere in their blinded state. A few bullets bounced off the squad’s shields shortly before the exoskeletons’ rifles came alive.

  Their loud reports overlapped in a cacophonous frenzy and their bursts perforated the terrorists. The men jerked backward, collapsing on each other like broken tree limbs, their bodies at angles no normal body should bend.

  It was another entry for the day’s most futile examples of bravery.

  The squad spread out, each man seeking more enemies or incoming EMP rockets. Only the soft sounds of their breathing could be heard.

  “Let’s keep going,” Erik ordered after ten seconds. “Agent Koval’s right. These bastards are probably trying to slow us down.” He pushed the exoskeleton into a light jog. The intensity of the thermal trail increased, and each step was bringing them closer to the rest of the terrorists and Remy Mont.

  As bad as fighting a battle on an enemy’s terms was, fighting an enemy without knowing their total strength was even worse. Erik wasn’t worried, though. If he killed or disabled every man he ran into without suffering any losses, it would mean a net weakening of the opposing force. Even the most dedicated fighting force could have their will broken by constant losses. If all it took to win a battle was a stout heart, the UTC would have been ripped apart by terrorists not long after its formation.

  “Emma, give me a direct line to Jia and Alina,” Erik requested. Hoping Mont was at the end of the tunnel wasn’t the same thing as knowing the man was.

  “Unfortunately, that’s not currently possible,” she replied.

  “What?” Erik chuckled. “The great Emma can’t redirect an exoskeleton’s comm system? You’re slipping.”

  “I could manage that if any of these boys had bothered to set up relays. This isn’t even simple dirt around us for the most part, Detective. It’s lunar bedrock, filled with a rich bounty of obnoxious materials. While we aren’t that deep underground, it’s blocking all transmissions. Need I remind you that I lack the ability to change the laws of physics?”

  “I’m disappointed,” Erik joked. “We’ll get you changing those laws in the future.” His smile slipped. “Does that mean your drones are dead? Alina was depending mostly on your recon. The CID didn’t send many up.”

  “No, I had already programmed them to use a general search pattern,” she explained. “Detective Lin and Agent Koval should have access to all their feeds, but of course, if we reestablished comm contact, it would be more efficient since I can coordinate them all with vastly superior efficiency and help locate any suspicious bullet beavers.”

  “All the more reason to move faster,” he mumbled. “This tunnel can’t go on forever.”

  “You might want to switch from thermal mode,” Emma recommended. “Ambient human visual-range lighting levels are increasing in the far distance.”

  “Return to normal optics,” Erik ordered the rest of the squad.

  “Roger!” The HTR agents matched his pace.

  Emma was proven right a few seconds later.

  Warm lighting filtered into the widening tunnel, illuminating the entire length of the current stretch. No terrorists or hardened checkpoints blocked their way. No traps exploded to bury them in lunar rock. Erik was almost disappointed in the terrorists.

  He’d fought better men before. Bravery might be impressive, but bravery combined with intelligence turned a man from a sad story into a legend even his enemies respected.

  “You guys ready to rush to the light at the end of the tunnel?” Erik joked.

  The agents laughed nervously.

  “Don’t worry.” Erik chuckled. “I’m too stubborn to die here. Just be like me.”

  “Roger that, sir.”

  Erik continued his advance. He picked up the pace and swept his rifle back and forth, seeking a target. He doubted the tunnel emptied out next to a grav tower. This was nothing more than an escape tunnel. He’d seen this kind of tactic before, and the presence the tunnel confirmed two important facts about their adversaries. He’d bet his MX 60 on it.

  First, the raid had successfully located the terrorists’ hideout. Second, the terrorists had had a decent amount of time to prepare prior to whatever original mission they had planned. Panicked, hasty drilling with the bots would have been detected by seismic sensors and investigated.

  That kind of thing would have been routed immediately to the local authorities or the CID, raising the chance of detection.

  Erik wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d had weeks to prepare, and if they were pulling off tricks like huge escape tunnels, it meant there would be more surprises before the day was over. He might be forced to reevaluate his estimate of their intelligence, but it didn’t matter.

  Even the smartest people died if you shot them enough times.

  He kept moving. They needed to take Mont down.

  Right now, the other terrorists were solely chips the engineer was cashing in to buy time. The man hadn’t come all the way from Diogenes’ Hope to give up just because of a raid.

  The tunnel sloped upward steeply, the light growing brighter with each step.

  Erik pushed his exoskeleton faster, the heavy footfalls knocking dust and rock from the roof. “You two keep on the other side of the tunnel, and I’ll take this one. Stay out of the center. Everyone will fire off a blinder right before we clear the tunnel on my mark. Unless they immediately drop their weapons, take them down with extreme prejudice.”

  “Roger,” the agents replied.

  The squad continued their charge up the tunnel. The deep darkness of a minute prior was now a distant memory. They had returned to the simulated daylight of Habitation Dome Four.

  “Launch!” Erik shouted.

  The three exoskeletons launched their blinders. A couple of seconds later, Erik and the agents burst out the tunnel into a brightly lit sprawling white tent extending about thirty meters in all directions.

  The dead shells of their blinders lay on the ground. A light breeze fluttered the flaps of the tent entrance.

  Erik had read once that every habitation dome included occasional simulated irregular gusts of wind to aid in plant development.

  Without exposure to wind, many trees and other woody plants didn’t develop strong enough wood. They also tended to grow faster than in the wild.

  The combination resulted in plants prone to collapse. It might be a feeble lie to pretend trees under a lunar dome would ever approach anything natural, but people did like a little green around their cities.

  After a quick three-hundred-sixty-degree turn to verify what his sensors were already telling him, Erik frowned. There was no one in the tent.

  Where were the enemy suicide bombers or armored men with anti-materiel rifles surrounding the tunnel and waiting to light them up?

  It was silent and creepy.

  He’d been expecting something—if not any of those kinds of forces, at least an exoskeleton or one crazed terrorist with an ax. An empty tent covering a big hole in the ground didn’t make sense.

  It wasn’t worth the lives they’d just expended to guard it.

  Somethi
ng was wrong, or the tent was serving as another way to blind the team.

  A warning popped up on his smart lenses that there was an unexpected incoming object from above.

  “Let’s head for the—" Erik began. “Forward now!”

  Erik craned his neck up and spotted the falling dark sphere. Instinctively, he pressed his thumbs against the control interface in the exoskeleton arms and pushed his feet up. On a military-grade exoskeleton, that would have normally activated the jump thrusters and modulated the grav field to aid in the jump. Within half a second, Erik realized his mistake and charged toward the exit without any special maneuvers.

  He begrudgingly accepted that the terrorists weren’t as stupid as he’d thought.

  The two HTR agents hesitated a couple more seconds before rushing after Erik. That allowed the sphere enough time to release its payload with an explosive pop. Metal netting blasted out and wrapped around the two HTR exoskeletons. Blue arcs played across the frames, and the agents grimaced in pain. Their exoskeletons tumbled to the ground, the men inside twitching.

  Erik growled, his heart kicking up. The terrorists would pay for that little stunt. “Status report.”

  “We’re fine,” one of the agents replied, his voice unsteady. He started unstrapping himself. “These terrorists sure like their traps.”

  “They know they can’t win in a straight-up fight,” Erik growled.

  The other agent freed himself of his exoskeleton and moaned. “I’ve got double-vision, and my head’s pounding like my ex-wife’s knocking on my door. I don’t think I can hit a mountain at point-blank range right now. You don’t have time to worry about us, Detective.” He pulled a sidearm from the back of the skeleton. “Just go.”

  “How you supposed to protect yourself if you’re that messed up?” Erik challenged.

  “I at least have a chance,” the agent replied. “The civilians out there don’t if the terrorists pull off whatever they’re planning. If you kill them all as soon as you see them, none of them can come after us, now can they?”

  “I can’t argue with that logic.”