Erik had never questioned the security of messages. It hadn’t been relevant to his job on the ground. He was assault infantry, not intel. All he needed was for Intel to do their job so he could do his.
He also didn’t know enough about quantum communications technology to come up with a useful follow-up question, but from what Garth had said, it sounded like it was secure enough.
Despite that, he didn’t need years as a detective to understand something he had learned as a soldier long ago: a smart enemy always attacks the weakest point.
“What about internal stuff?” Erik asked.
“Internal stuff?” Garth’s brow knitted. “I don’t know what you mean. There’s no special internal quantum signature other than the one I just talked about.”
Erik shook his head. “I don’t mean the tech or the science. I mean people. Hermes is a big corporation, and it’s not like no one ever goes bad at a corporation. Just look at what happened with Ceres Galactic. Could someone inside have changed the codes?”
“Nope.” Garth shrugged. “It’s the same fundamental problem. It’ll still throw off the signatures. You could do it temporarily, I guess, but the propagation would tip someone off at the first transfer, and a lot of times messages are transferred in-system before being batched through the HTPs.” He frowned. “But…” He looked at the side, his face pinched in concentration. “If you didn’t care about changing the message, but only hiding the message, that’s a lot more possible. It’s the integrity of the message that’s protected, not its existence.”
Erik nodded, hiding his disappointment. “I don’t think that’s what happened in this case, but thanks for the info. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m just trying to follow up all the potential problems, and checking into the next logical step.”
Garth touched his nose. “All the fancy technology, but in the end, it always comes down to that, doesn’t it?”
“That it does.” Erik nodded politely. “Talk to you later. I’ll let you know about the Navigator book.”
Garth smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.” He waved and headed down the hallway, his door sliding closed behind him.
Erik stepped into his apartment and waited for the door to seal.
“You think that was helpful?” Emma asked, her voice coming from his PNIU but not transmitted directly into his ear. “Did you need that information?” Emma asked.
“That was useful, I think. If I want something more low-level than that, I feel like I’m going to have to read his crazy conspiracy theory,” Erik answered.
“I fail to see how it was useful, but please enlighten me, Detective.”
“He confirmed that the messages weren’t fake,” Erik explained, making his way over to the couch. “Not that I thought they were, but I needed to be sure. For all I know, the people I’m looking for are halfway across the galaxy, and I’ve been wasting time, being led around like an idiot.” He dropped onto the couch with an annoyed grunt. “But I also don’t know where to go from here.”
“Perhaps Colonel Adeyemi could help,” Emma suggested. “I’d rather avoid any entanglements with the DD and their myopic views on what I should be doing, but he does have a vested interest in helping and access to a far greater scope of resources than you do.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to drop him a message and see if he’s got any new info or leads,” Erik mused. “He wants to know what happened to his son as much as I do, but judging by the past, it’s not like he’s going to respond anytime soon. I suspect he’s got to walk lightly on this, even more so than I do.”
“You’ve got something better to do than wait?” Emma replied with faint amusement in her voice.
Erik leaned back. “Yeah, fight crime.”
Chapter Eight
Jia folded her hands behind her back as she stared out the massive bay window of her sister’s new apartment.
The towers forming the Hexagon loomed to her left, thick clouds of flitters swarming around them like bees protecting a hive. She didn’t even want to begin to think about how expensive an apartment with this kind of view had to be.
Mei had always preferred luxury, even when she was younger, and she had worked hard to be able to maintain that lifestyle. Jia couldn’t fault her.
It wasn’t as if she were living off their parents.
She admired the orange-red of the sunset sky. The lights on the buildings and vehicles shone around her, forming a tapestry of individual pinpricks of light like stars. Ironically, light pollution had long since washed the stars away at night in major metroplexes, but humanity had replaced them. Heaven had been brought to Earth.
“It’s a nice view,” Jia commented, feeling her sister coming up behind her.
Mei stepped beside Jia with a smile. “Isn’t it? I’d been wanting to move for a while, and I got the idea for a place with this view when we had lunch at that one restaurant with a nice view of the Hexagon. I find it…inspiring.”
Jia looked at her. “Why is that?”
“Because those companies represent some of the most important in the UTC,” Mei explained, nodding toward the towers in the distance. “They are the pinnacle of commercial achievement. In a sense, they are the culmination of thousands of years of civilization. If one wants success in life, one should target the successful.”
Jia chuckled. “You sound like Mother.”
Mei gave her a sideways glance. “Is that so bad?”
“Not saying it is. Just stating a truth,” she replied. Enjoying the view for a moment, Jia noted that one of the flitters a dozen floors beneath them looked like Erik’s, but whoever they were had the top down, enjoying the night. “By the way, Mom called me the other day.”
Mei blinked, startled by the revelation. “Really? She didn’t tell me that.”
Jia shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad. She seems to finally accept me as a detective, but she’s still worried about my future. The annoying part is, she is trying to run my love life as if it were a business strategy, using the tactics of my accomplishments to push for a better suitor in case I get busted doing something stupid later.”
“That’s what parents do. They worry. I would rather have a mother who worried too much than one who didn’t care at all. Excessive attention is the ultimate expression of love.” Mei turned and headed toward her couch. “And I hope you feel that way too, even if she and Father have been hard on you.”
Jia followed her sister and took a seat beside her on the couch. “I do. I just want her, Father, and you to all respect the choices I’ve made, not just accept them. It’s not that I ignore you, or how you feel about things, but there are certain goals I need to satisfy, and they require me to be a police officer. I don’t think that anyone else needs to have those goals, but they work for me.”
Mei looked at Jia thoughtfully, a slight smile playing on her lips. “That’s true. I can’t remember you ever telling me that I was wasting my life going to work at a corporation. I never even suspected you disapproved, despite it being less public-service oriented than your work.”
“That would be because I do not disapprove.” Jia looked around the tastefully decorated apartment. “As far as I know, your company’s not doing anything illegal. Society can’t function if no one enforces the law, but it also can’t function if everyone is.”
Mei laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Her smile slowly disappeared, and she absent-mindedly twirled a bit of her hair around a finger.
Her expression turned uncertain.
Jia swallowed, not sure why the sudden change in atmosphere. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine.” Mei averted her eyes. “It’s just things are unstable right now at work. I’m not blaming you or your partner, but everyone at all levels of management is worried about the implications of a Ceres Galactic VP going down, along with a council member. It’s having reverberations throughout the entire business community.”
“The implications?” Jia asked. “There are no implications. The VP wa
s participating in a criminal conspiracy, as was the council member, and the latter’s involvement in the conspiracy was what led to his death. That’s not exactly something a normal person would fall into by just doing their day-to-day job.”
Mei looked her sister in the eyes. “I understand that, and it makes sense, but that’s not what everyone at the company feels. I can tell you from talking to other people that the sentiment is hardly limited to my company.”
Jia frowned. “What sentiment is that?”
Mei swallowed, not replying for a long moment. “Not everyone’s convinced that the VP even did anything.”
Jia scoffed. “He admitted to it.”
“As if no one in the history of civilization has ever confessed to something they didn’t do or confessed to something worse than what they did out of fear of the government and the authorities.” Mei took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You can’t deny there’s government corruption. The police chief was part of this, and so was Councilman Winthorpe.”
“No, I don’t deny it, which is why I’m surprised you are arguing this.” Jia stared at her sister. “No one’s claiming the corporations are the only problem with this city, but it’s not like we can ignore malfeasance being committed by the most powerful entities in the UTC. Corruption can’t be ignored, regardless of the source—law enforcement or otherwise. If we just ignore it, it’ll only get worse.”
“I understand what you’re saying, and I’m not saying I believe some of the things people are suggesting,” Mei replied with a faint nod. “But that doesn’t change the fact that there’s fear that this is about deflecting attention from government corruption. People believe the authorities are going to start a war on corporations to do that.”
Jia groaned. “But it’s not like that. This wasn’t some order from the Council on high. Erik and I were the ones pushing the investigations that led to all of this. Esposito surrendering himself to CID was probably just a way of limiting the damage on his own terms. Are you saying I’m waging a war on corporations to distract from government corruption?” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you really believe I’d do something like that?”
“No, no. Of course not, little sister.” Mei forced a smile. “Whatever else I might ever say about you, I would never, ever suggest you would tolerate corruption.” She let out a dark chuckle. “You’re rather rigid, but I suppose that makes you a good police officer.”
Jia let out a sigh. She didn’t want to fight with her sister, particularly about something like corruption, which was beyond their direct ability to personally solve. “What I’m saying is that all anyone has to do in this situation is follow the law to avoid attention. Even if you believe Esposito was pressured with the threat of greater charges, it doesn’t change the fact he was involved in some very dangerous activities and might have been involved in trying to kill Erik and me.”
Mei grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you upset. I’m just letting you know what people are saying.”
Jia closed her eyes and put up a hand. “I understand. We can’t do what we need to if people don’t understand why we’re doing it.” She opened her eyes. “I don’t know about the true scope of government or corporate conspiracies. All I know about are the cases I’ve worked and where the evidence takes me. Erik is on my side, and our new captain appears to be. I can’t guarantee that no additional big corporate VPs will be arrested, just like I can’t guarantee that new politicians or police officials will be arrested.”
Mei turned to look at the Hexagon, her gaze distant. “The problem is the average big corporation has so many moving parts, there’s probably always someone somewhere breaking the law. I just hope those of us who are honest don’t end up going down with them.”
A tense quiet gripped the room, only a light hum from some kitchen appliance keeping complete silence at bay.
Mei cleared her throat. “Let’s talk about something less controversial.”
“What’s that?” Jia asked, ready for her sister to catch her by surprise once more.
“Your dating life.”
Jia laughed, the stress flowing out of her. “I think that’s more controversial than corruption.” She shook a finger at her sister. “But this time I have the upper hand.”
Mei furrowed her brow in confusion. “Upper hand?”
“Yes. I assume you were about to suggest you have a wonderful man for me to go out with?” Jia offered.
“Something like that.” Mei’s earlier discomfort retreated from her face, replaced by her normal easy confidence. “It’s not as if you inherently object to dating, right? What could it hurt? All you need to offer is time.”
Jia waved a hand. “I’ve got a date lined up, a group date with my girlfriends.”
“I can provide higher-quality men with better prospects than your friends.” Mei scoffed. “I’m not trying to disparage your friends, but they don’t circulate in the social circles I do, and you need a husband worthy of you.”
Jia tried to not be offended. Mei meant well, in an overbearing-big-sister-who-knows-better sort of way.
“The last ‘high-quality’ man you pointed at me was looking for a box to check, not a partner,” Jia replied. “I’ll work on it myself, thanks. Furthermore, even though I’m going out on a date, I’m not that interested in dating overall, so stop pushing me.”
She gave her sister a stern look. “I’ll date more and find a man when I think it’s time for that, and I’m in charge when it comes to my love life, not you, or Mother, or Father. Even if it goes against your expectations, I’ll do what is right for me.”
Mei sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, Jia. You don’t have to be so melodramatic.” She smiled, a twinkle in the back of her eye like a cheetah waiting for a deer to put its head down to drink. “But don’t worry. We’ll be waiting to help you along when you need it.”
“If I need it.” Jia shrugged.
“Fine. If.” Mei waved a hand as if dismissing the arrogance of youth. “Good luck on your upcoming dates.”
Chapter Nine
September 15, 2228, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station, Office of Detectives Jia Lin and Erik Blackwell
Erik let out a quiet grunt of irritation as he skimmed yet another detailed crime statistics report. He understood the importance of intelligence but sitting there reading documents all day wasn’t his idea of fighting crime.
The amusement value of the department’s previous hypocrisy wasn’t enough to ease his pain.
The reports made it clear there was crime all over Neo SoCal, both for the groundlings and the Uptowners, but they had been acting like it was all but eradicated. A lie was easy when everyone had a vested interest in feigning belief in it. Even though crime had worsened in recent weeks, there had been a decent amount before.
He might have felt better about everything if he were making progress on his personal investigation, but Colonel Adeyemi hadn’t responded to his inquiry, other than a cryptic note about it being “received and taken under consideration.”
An action junkie? He’d never considered himself that, and he had disliked the soldiers he served with who were in it for the adrenaline. He usually couldn’t trust them.
Excitement and completing the mission weren’t always the same thing.
It wasn’t like every week had been full of battles during his time in the military. Something about sitting behind the desk staring at reports made him want to go take his MX 60 and take down every person committing a traffic violation in a high-speed chase.
Erik’s gaze cut to a small box under his desk. He’d brought the gun for Jia. He wasn’t even sure why. The situation hadn’t changed in the last few days, but the more he thought about it, the more he didn’t like the idea of holding onto it.
Complicating something that should be simple rarely helped a situation.
“What do you think about conspiracies?” Jia asked as if reading his mind.
Erik mana
ged not to look startled, but only barely. Jia hadn’t so much as mumbled a word in the last twenty minutes. He might not like reading through reports and crime data, but Jia could throw herself into it for hours and come out refreshed. So why was she suddenly asking about conspiracies?
Could she sense his unease?
“Conspiracies?” Erik replied, his voice rough.
Jia shook her head as she looked at one of her reports, her eyes unfocusing. “It’s…stupid. Forget it.”
“Why don’t you let me decide for myself?” Erik suggested. “I’m your partner.” He waved a hand to indicate the two of them. “The more we talk to each other, the more we can trust one another.”
She focused back on him. “It was just a conversation I had with my sister. It got me thinking, and I’ve been wondering a lot about all the uptick in crime.” Jia jabbed her finger at a crime-density map of the metroplex, highlighting it enough for Erik to glean some information even from across the office. “I understand the idea of the criminals as insurgents, but what if there’s something more there? Some reason why crimes are now trending up instead of down?”
Erik pondered that. “There could be. There are all sorts of people and groups who might benefit from the city getting rougher, and it wouldn’t take much to push people here and there.”
“So you do think there’s a conspiracy?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Erik shrugged. “Get two people together in secret, and they’ll probably plan something to screw over a third. But that’s not the same thing as a criminal mastermind pulling the strings behind everything in Neo SoCal. Do you think there’s something there, or is this just thinking out loud?”
Jia sighed. “I don’t know what I believe anymore. We’ve been clearing cases lately, and there doesn’t seem to be a link between them. The evidence suggests no big conspiracy.”
Erik chuckled as he reached over and grabbed the last bite of his beignet from earlier. He tossed it into his mouth, savoring the flavor before taking a swallow of coffee. “You almost sound disappointed. Not everything’s going to end up like the Esposito case.”
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