Enlightened Ignorance

by Michael Anderle

  “Yes, we even got a few live ones from the group that attacked the police.” Alina looked at Erik and Jia. “But let’s go through this in order. First of all, I’ve got the local police talking to the CID, and as far as they’re concerned, this was a CID operation, and I’m a CID special agent from Earth. They don’t understand that it was an Intelligence Directorate operation with CID help and not the other way around. Your names are officially not in any report. A few things have popped up on the net here and there, but my people are handling that. With far fewer drones, cameras, and people in a single habitation dome, it’s easier to scrub this than you might expect. It’s not perfect, but we know how to handle that, too.”

  “How?” Jia questioned, curiosity in her voice.

  “If you can’t remove all the information, add your own bogus information.” Alina offered her a merry grin. “The truth can be out there, but when it’s surrounded by lies, it’s hard for people to latch onto any one explanation.”

  Jia eyed her. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better.”

  “It does for me,” Erik declared. “I don’t want to go back to Earth and get mobbed by reporters. I can’t ask Captain Ragnar for a vacation from my vacation. I’m tired from all this running around and shooting terrorists.”

  “I should inform you that your captain has been informed of the truth,” Alina clarified.

  Erik’s eyes narrowed. “Oh? Why did you do that?”

  “He already knows who I am, and he knows how to keep his mouth shut, so I thought that would be best. Secrets have a way of ruining relationships. I also believe he would see right through any lies about what happened here.”

  “What about the terrorist sympathizers in the department and the CID?” Jia asked. “They knew we were coming, and you said that meant something had leaked. If that’s not handled, we could have a repeat of this.”

  “Seeing their buddies get their asses handed to them made them panic. One CID agent and a handful of police officers have been arrested. They’ve kept it quiet while they continue to investigate, but from my understanding, they were probably the only ones.” Alina grinned. “You two didn’t just help stop a terrorist attack. You helped clean out corruption from the locals.” She looked around. “I should say you three.”

  Emma reappeared with a smirk. “I did stop the horrible bomb, after all.”

  “That you did,” Alina admitted. “I still don’t know what to make of you, but there’s no denying that if you were sitting in a military lab right now instead of helping Erik, a lot more people might be dead. I know the Defense Directorate wants you back, but I’m going to whisper in a few ears in paranormal land and see if they can whisper in other people’s ears. I’m not promising anything. Despite what everyone thinks, the ID doesn’t secretly control the government, but it never hurts to let people know you have powerful allies.”

  A flicker of appreciation passed over Emma’s face, followed by a quick nod.

  Jia looked down for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought. “Mont might not have been bluffing about the dead man’s switch, but have you been able to verify anything he claimed about the bomb? I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around a gravity compression bomb.”

  Emma scoffed and folded her arms. “Are you trying to take away from my victory? How rude, Detective Lin.”

  “I’m just wondering how a second-rate anarchist got his hands on an advanced prototype WMD.” Jia eyed Emma. “That’s what worries me more than anything.”

  Alina’s jolly smile faded to a grim frown. “He wasn’t lying. ID technicians have taken the bomb into custody. While they disarmed it, they verified that it most likely would have worked, given the emitter situation.”

  Erik stood up, smiling. A moment later, his smile disappeared. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

  “I wish I was. The Defense Directorate has apparently been experimenting with this type of device in recent years, but it’s been a low priority because they didn’t want a weapon that would only work with a large existing grav emitter—especially since their main concern is anti-Zitark weapons development, and we have no decent intelligence on Zitark gravity manipulation technology. Even if they reverse-engineered it from Navigator tech like we did, it might be different in fundamental setup.”

  Jia sighed. “So someone stole the bomb from the DD, just like Emma?”

  “I’m far more impressive than a bomb,” Emma griped. “One doesn’t simply disarm me.”

  Alina shook her head. “No. It’s not like they’ve got warehouses full of these kinds of things. All DD experimental gravity compression bombs are accounted for, and the device itself, although using some similar principles, wasn’t constructed based on the existing DD designs. We believe this was developed externally.”

  “By whom?” Jia pressed.

  “That’s a good question we don’t have a clear answer for.” Alina shrugged. “We don’t have that information yet, but unusually advanced technology popping up in recent years has almost always pointed the same direction.”

  “Talos,” Erik muttered through gritted teeth. “If not them, someone helping them.”

  Alina nodded. “That’s my working theory.”

  “Why aid anarchists?” Jia shook her head, clearly frustrated. “How does that advance their goals?”

  “Since we don’t have a firm grasp of their goals other than their obsession with illegal technologies, it’s hard to say.” Alina motioned toward the door. “But if I had to wager a guess, I’d say it was a test.”

  “A test?” Erik asked. “Not an assassination attempt?”

  Alina chuckled. “Just because a lot of people have tried to kill you doesn’t mean that every time murders show up, they’re looking for you. Your involvement in this was because of me. No, if it was Talos, I’d think they both wanted to test the bomb and see how people reacted.”

  Jia shivered. “You believe they would kill tens of thousands of people just for that?”

  Erik considered the implications. “If they developed the bomb, doesn’t that mean they had to test it somewhere else? You wouldn’t be able to test a WMD without someone noticing.”

  Alina clucked her tongue. “My poor Odysseus. Have you already forgotten what you learned in your decades out on the sea that is the frontier?”

  Erik pursed his lips, then nodded. “You’re right.”

  Jia frowned at him but pointed at Alina as she asked, “What is she talking about?”

  Erik sighed. “I’m thinking too much like an Earther. There are a lot of asteroids and non-colonized moons floating around the UTC frontier. If Talos controlled a local governor and some of the local garrison officers, they could easily test a bomb without anyone reporting it. It’s not like the UTC is watching every square meter of human space.”

  She eyed him. “That’s a terrifying thought.”

  He just shrugged in response.

  “It gets better.” Alina tapped her PNIU and a fuzzy image of Remy Mont appeared. He was at a table, eating a churro. Another man sat across from him. Erik didn’t recognize him.

  Erik narrowed his eyes. “Most of the guys we fought wore helmets. Should I recognize the other guy?”

  Alina tapped her PNIU again, and the image disappeared. “No. This was recorded on Remus about a month ago. Mr. Mont’s conversation partner is a leader in the United Freedom Alliance.”

  “The hijackers?”

  Alina nodded. “One and the same.”

  “So, the hijacking was related to Mont’s plan, after all?”

  “That’s where things get complicated.” Alina tapped her PNIU again. Images of the hijackers appeared, followed by other men. “The men aiding Remy Mont came from several different terrorist groups. While they all seemed to share an anarchist ideological bent, they haven’t previously cooperated. Someone got them together for this job. As far as the transport, from what CID has been able to find out from the interrogated hijackers, none of them knew of the bomb plot. It turns
out they were operating independently of their group’s main leaders. That might be to our advantage. I suspect Barbu was worried about the authorities because of the increased pressure due to the hijacking.”

  Erik snickered. “You’re telling me these overzealous idiots went rogue on their own group and ended up helping us ‘government dogs’ stop other terrorists from pulling off something even nastier?”

  “Exactly.” Alina snickered. “Hubris strikes again.”

  “But who could herd all these anarchists together for this job?” Jia wondered. “Talos again?”

  “We don’t know for sure. The ID and CID are both trying to monitor known members of the different groups. Terrorist groups coordinating isn’t new, but we haven’t seen them work together to pull off something like this before. That’s usually insurrectionists, and it’s rare they’d do that kind of thing as a terrorist attack instead of as part of a direct attack in their home system.” Alina shrugged, ease returning to her face. “For now, it doesn’t matter. We stopped the terrorists, and we have the bomb. The terrorists lost people, and they’ve lost a lot of resources. We might not have wiped them out, but we wounded them.” She motioned at Erik, Jia, and Emma in turn. “You three are talented.”

  Emma harrumphed. “I’m far beyond merely talented, Ghost Girl.”

  “Take the compliment for what it is. You’re all special individually, but together, you can accomplish things that entire teams might have trouble doing. You’ve proven that again and again over the last year.”

  Jia folded her arms, eyeing Alina like the woman was about to throw a plasma grenade. “Thank you?”

  Erik remained silent. He thought he knew where this was going, but he’d let Alina speak her piece.

  Alina sighed. “You both know the truth of the UTC. You stared into the corruption, then you promptly picked it up by the neck, punched in the stomach, and tossed it back on the ground before stomping on its head. At the end of the day, though, you are detectives, and you have a lot of restrictions as such.”

  “You’re saying we shouldn’t have those restrictions?” Jia asked.

  “I’m saying police officers need certain guidelines because law and order have to be maintained a certain way in a civilized society.” Alina slid her finger across the PNIU and a labeled navigational map of the entire UTC appeared, stretching across the living room. The spheres represented both the Solar System and Mu Arae. Erik stared at the latter.

  “But?” Jia pushed.

  “But,” she continued, “law and order require buy-in on a certain level from society, even from the criminals. They might want to take advantage of others, but they understand that you can’t harvest from a garden you poison.”

  Alina walked into the map, the star systems and lines floating around her. “But groups like Talos don’t believe in the UTC. They want to tear it all down and seize control for their own twisted purposes. They don’t care who they hurt or how they do it. The only way to deal with them is to dive into the shadows with them and strangle them there, and sometimes that means you need to bend a few rules.”

  “Heaven is high, and the emperor is far,” Jia quoted.

  Alina snapped her fingers. “Exactly. Good way of looking at it.” She dismissed the map before focusing on the two of them again. “I made it very clear this whole thing was a test. No, I didn’t know about the United Freedom Alliance or this plot, but I knew something was going on here, and I wanted to see if you could handle it. The real problem with fighting people in the shadows isn’t ignoring the rules here and there, it’s what being in the shadows does to us hunting the monsters.”

  Erik could feel the hard miles she had already put behind her. She wasn’t selling this to two neophytes as she added, “The UTC needs people who are willing to do what it takes to fight the corrupt and evil people lurking and waiting for their chance, but they need hunters who won’t end up worse monsters in the end.”

  Erik locked eyes with Alina. “How are you so sure we won’t become worse monsters in the end?”

  “Because you kill when it’s necessary to save others, not because it’s convenient or fun,” she looked at each of them. “That type always goes bad in the long run, even if they’re useful in the short run.”

  Erik snorted. “I’m going to kill whoever was responsible for Molino. It’s not convenient or fun, but I’m not doing it to save others.”

  “Whoever performed that massacre is almost certainly a dangerous group responsible for a lot more deaths than just your unit’s.” Alina adopted a relaxed smile. “We’ve danced around it, but I’m making you an offer right now. I need your help. I need you as sort of subcontractors. I’ve been looking for a team I can trust and who I know can handle extreme danger. People not totally attached to the ID, but to whom I could route ID resources and intelligence. I need folks who know how to investigate and get things done.” She nodded at Erik. “We both know the only way you’ll get your revenge is with more resources and more freedom.” Her gaze flicked to Jia. “My observations suggest you both perform better overall as a joint investigative team.”

  Jia smiled tightly. “Presuming a bit much, aren’t you?”

  “Perhaps.” Alina nodded. “But I don’t think I’m wrong.”

  “You want us to become ghosts?” Erik frowned. “I don’t know if I’ll have a lot of freedom if the ID is bossing me around.”

  Alina shook her head. “No, not ID agents. Like I said, subcontractors. Yes, I want to use you for ID-related missions, but at the same time, you wouldn’t be agents, and you’d have the freedom to decide how you want to conduct yourselves. I wouldn’t be trying to recruit you if I didn’t trust you to do that without guidance.”

  She waved a hand. “I know this a lot to consider, and I don’t expect an answer right away, especially after everything that will happen. When you get back to Earth, you’ll receive a package with a burner contact address for me. Just think about it. You have time. The UTC won’t collapse or becoming a utopia anytime soon.” She walked over to the door and stopped in front of it. “If you say no, it’s no big deal. I can always seek out your help when I’m working a Neo SoCal-related investigation or mission. But you both should strongly think about what you hope to accomplish and how to best do that, and especially if being a police officer will let you reach your goals.” She opened the door, stepped through, and closed it behind her with an almost silent click.

  “I knew it was coming, but now it’s out there in the open.” Erik rubbed his temples. “Let’s go grab some food. I don’t want to talk about this until I get something other than a beignet in my stomach.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Jia swallowed water at a prodigious rate.

  Her roasted chicken was good, even if her decision to indulge in Venusian spices had made her reconsider if she enjoyed spicy food. Even the most adventurous Szechuan chef might question the sanity of whoever had prepared the meal she was trying to eat.

  Erik chuckled from across the table and took a sip of his beer, but most of it remained. Unlike her, he was having a bland local pork and rice concoction that allegedly dated back to the twenty-first century. “You okay? You don’t need an antitoxin patch, do you?”

  Jia finished draining her cup. “I was a little insulted when they recommended Earther spice levels, but I was wrong.” She pushed her plate away. “I admit defeat.”

  “We should talk about her offer.” Erik set his fork down. “I don’t want it just sitting there looking over our shoulders when we return to Earth.”

  Jia gestured around the small but packed restaurant. “You want to talk about it here?”

  “Sure. We can talk in generalities. I doubt anyone’s paying attention or can hear anyway.”

  Loud rhythmic music filled the air. People shouted and laughed around the bar covering half the restaurant, adding to the din. Two large displays floated in the air, one depicting flitter racing, another a high-level obstacle challenge.

  Jia was surprised how
easily she understood Erik despite the din, but at this point, she was so used to talking to him she could read his lips.

  Even if some ghost gadget ate all the sound in the room.

  “You’re seriously thinking about it, aren’t you?”

  He looked up. “Everything she said was true. I’ve been honest with you about why I became a cop, and I’ve been honest with you about how frustrated I’ve become recently.” Erik looked down at the table and shook his head. “If she can give me what I need to avenge my men, and I can help the UTC at the same time, it’s hard for me to see what’s wrong with that. So, yeah, I’m seriously thinking about it.” He looked at her. “What about you?”

  Jia sighed. “I have been thinking a lot about how I can best help the UTC, and stopping people like we just did does feel more useful than some of the cases we deal with regularly at the 1-2-2. Everything’s important, but now that I understand the truth, I wonder if doing something different might not be better.”

  Erik smiled to soften his next question. “But you don’t want to quit being a cop?”

  Jia shook her head. “Not yet. Not immediately. I might wake up tomorrow and feel differently, but I think I need more time before I could bring myself to leave the force. Things have changed so much in this last year. We’ve made a difference, and we’ve encouraged other people to make a difference.” Jia chewed her lip. “She might be right, and we can make even a bigger difference, but you do what you need to do. I know how much what happened on Molino haunts you.”

  Erik chuckled. “We’ve been partners for a while now, but you still don’t know me, do you?”

  She eyed him, one side of her lips turned up. “I don’t think anyone can truly know what’s going on in that head of yours, Erik, but why do you say that?”

  “If I’m going to make this little career change, I’d need to know there are people who always have my back with me. I’m not ready to do it if you’re not ready to do it.”

  Jia’s breath caught, but she couldn’t immediately reply. A waitress had wandered over to fill her water and give her a smug look.