He wondered about Mu Arae and the Knights Errant. Was he seeing more than was actually there? No, that hadn’t been a conspiracy; the attack was a fact. The only question remaining was who was ultimately responsible, and why.
That likely, unfortunately, had little to do with the uptick in crime in Neo SoCal.
Jia swept her hand through the air until all her windows disappeared. “It’s not that I’m disappointed. I just worry about missing a way to stop this trouble before it gets worse and more citizens suffer. Not everyone who is causing the trouble worries.”
“Sometimes you can’t stop trouble before it gets worse. Sometimes all you can do is manage the trouble until it lessens. You get that, right?”
Jia squared her shoulders, her face resolute. Erik would say determined. “Realizing I can’t solve all crime doesn’t mean I don’t want to do my best to fight it, either before or after it happens.” She raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t just shrug on the battlefield and say, ‘Oh, well, sometimes the enemy is going to get to the high ground before we do.’”
It was time. A grin of approval took over his face.
“Yeah, that’s true. You’re saying you’re ready to do what it takes to protect this city, then? Even if it makes you uncomfortable?”
Jia nodded. “Of course. I always have been. It wasn’t fun having Captain Monahan, my old partners, and most of the 1-2-2 hate me.”
Erik reached under his desk, grabbed the box, and set it on his desktop. “Then I have a little gift for you. Something that’ll symbolize you being the detective who will do what it takes.”
“A gift?” Jia’s eyebrows lifted. “What’s the exact occasion?” She eyed the box, biting her lip. “Were you waiting for me to say something like that?”
“Kind of.” Erik gestured toward the box. “You’ve become a real cop, ready to face real problems.” He patted the box.
She bit her lip, thinking through the possibilities before standing up.
Jia walked over to the desk, curiosity on her face. She picked up the unadorned box and pulled off the lid, revealing the engraved silver pistol inside.
Jia eyed him.
“A gun?” She sounded doubtful. She read the phrase engraved in hanzi Chinese characters aloud. “Heaven is high, and the Emperor is far,” she translated, then eyed Erik, a faint smile on her face. “Is that your way of telling me to bend the rules in pursuit of justice?”
Erik let out a little chuckle. “I’m surprised you got what I was going for, but yeah, something like that. You let Monahan push you around when you were in the right, and I don’t think you should ever let that happen again. Scumbags know how to work the system, and they’ll continue to work the system by taking advantage of whatever they can: greed, fear, and laziness.”
“Don’t we risk becoming part of the problem if we ignore the rules?” Jia countered. “I don’t want to be a vigilante. I’m a cop.”
“I’m not saying you should become a vigilante,” Erik replied. “I’m just saying sometimes you need to push back against authority, and you can believe what I’ve told you about permission.” He pointed at his face. “Just because I’m missing most of my former wrinkles doesn’t mean I don’t have a few years of old-man wisdom to pass on.”
“It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” Jia eyed the writing on the pistol again, realizing Erik was a bit deeper than he looked or acted at times.
“Exactly.” Erik’s face turned serious. “Monahan was just lazy, but the chief of police was straight-up dirty. We don’t know who else is taking a bribe, being blackmailed, or otherwise being pulled around by an invisible chain. We can’t let them bench us by using a few rules.” He furrowed his brow, a few stray dark thoughts passing through his mind. “But that’s not all the gun’s about. When we first met, you couldn’t bring yourself to fire your stun pistol at a man who got in a flitter and tried to run you down. If you want to protect the people, first you need to protect yourself.”
Jia’s mind went back in time, her voice only slightly more subdued. “A lot of things have changed since then. I understand a lot of things I didn’t understand before. I had my face shoved into the muddy water, and I gasped for breath,” her eyes turned hard, “but I survived.”
Erik gestured toward the box. “Then you should understand that sometimes you can’t stun your way out of a problem. Sometimes you need bullets. You’ve done well in the fights we’ve had so far, but I’ll feel safer if I know you can do more than just throw out some stun bolts.”
Jia pulled the pistol out of the box before setting the box on his desk again, admiring the pistol. She turned it back and forth. “Light, perfect grip, fits my hand nicely.” She aimed it away from her partner after confirming it wasn’t loaded. “It’s very nice, much better than some of the slug throwers I’ve trained with on the range.”
“I had it custom-modified,” Erik explained. “A good weapon should always match the user. That’s why I’ve kept the TR-7 for a long time, and they even let me use it instead of the up-to-date issue weapons when I was still serving.”
“If I have two guns, I’m going to need two holsters.” Jia walked over to her desk, set the gun down, and headed back to retrieve the magazine, carrying the box back to her desk. “Isn’t two holsters a little silly?”
“You could just not carry the stun pistol.” Erik stroked his chin. “But maybe you’ve got a point. Maybe you should be carrying around a TR-7. I’d always know you’d back me up if you had a weapon like that.”
Jia sat back down with a little eye roll. “I think I’ll stick to the pistol. I understand where you’re coming from about sometimes needing to shoot actual bullets, but I’m not convinced I need to run around with portable artillery on my back. I’ll admit our luck has been interesting, but we’re supposed to be cops, not soldiers.”
“Your loss. It’s a fun gun, even if it is old.” Erik offered a smile to ensure she understood how he felt.
“Thank you, Erik.” Jia patted the box. “I appreciate the gift, and even though I still prefer my stun pistol, I do want to be able to back you up appropriately.”
“Good, then we’re on the same page.” Erik nodded toward the door. “Now the question is if you’re ready to back me up with the new captain.”
“About what?” Jia glanced at some of his open data windows. “Is there a new case?”
“Not yet,” Erik explained. “But one thing we kept running into last time was the Shadow Zone. If we have to spend a lot of time asking for permission every time we need to go there, we might lose out on valuable leads or evidence. I think if Captain Ragnar actually cares about us accomplishing our job, he’ll help us.”
Jia laughed.
Erik frowned, confused. “What’s so funny?”
“You just gave that big speech,” Jia explained. “But in the end, you’re going to go ask for permission, not forgiveness.”
His cheeks reddened. “I said it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission, but I didn’t say it was always better.”
“I think it’s a good idea.” Captain Ragnar looked at the two detectives with approval once Erik finished his explanation.
Jia blinked. “You do?”
The captain turned to her. “What, you don’t?” His following smile was more amused than smug.
“No, no. I want to have more freedom to investigate, and I’m half-convinced the Shadow Zone restrictions are more about concealing corruption than protecting people.” She looked at Erik and back at the captain. “I just didn’t think you would agree. I thought you would tell us the other enforcement zones might object, and we risked offending them.”
Erik grunted. “So what if they do? If they were doing their jobs, we wouldn’t have had to go there so many times.”
“Yes, they will object,” Captain Ragnar agreed. “But you’re both right. If we’re going to cut through all the garbage strangling the metroplex, we won’t always be able to rely on existing relationships. We don’t know
who all is clean and who is dirty. Based on the reports I read before, the local enforcement zones were damned slow in responding to some of your calls for help, which can mean anything from they’re lazy to they’re on a criminal’s payroll. I’m not saying most or even a significant number of local cops are bad, but all it takes is one guy not watching your back for you to end up dead. Even the best nanites can’t bring back a corpse.”
Erik nodded. He knew that better than most in the building.
“Are you just going to give us permanent permission to go into the Shadow Zone?” Jia asked. “Won’t that get you in trouble? I want the freedom to investigate, but you’re the one who mentioned politics.”
“You leave the politics to me. I’ve come up with a solution, and I’ve implemented it. ‘The Shadow Zone Task Force.’” A huge grin split the captain’s face.
“’The Shadow Zone Task Force?’” Jia asked, incredulity in her tone. “I think I like the sound of that, but what does that mean?” She turned to Erik. “Did you already know about this?”
Erik shook his head. “Not me. This is the first I’ve heard about it.”
“It’s a metroplex-wide multi-enforcement-zone task force,” Captain Ragnar explained. “I argued with the higher-ups that we need different zones to have quick movement in and out of the Shadow Zone during investigations, especially since the complicated links between some recent crimes have proved that the existing restrictions are too cumbersome.”
Erik chuckled. “And they bought that?”
“Not totally,” he admitted. “Half the Council is against it, along with a lot of senior people in the department. The captains running the Shadow Zone enforcement zones made it very clear they think I’m muscling in where I don’t belong.” Captain Ragnar shrugged. “But for now, the task force will be allowed to exist. In practical terms, all that means is you two, and a few other detectives scattered here and there, will have unlimited access down below. In the future, I’m sure this will mean more cross-enforcement zone and even CID coordination, but we’ll start with baby steps and work our way up to eliminating every gang and corrupt little piece of garbage down there.”
“Huh.” Erik looked at Jia and shrugged.
She looked as surprised as he felt.
Captain Ragnar leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, appearing to be far too satisfied with himself. “All the scumbags in the area are on defense right now. Wounded. Surprised. This is as good a time as any to push them into the light and then take them out. We probably have a month or two before the established powers start pushing back, but if we have our foot in the door by then, there won’t be anything they can do about it. So, use this new access to the Zone even if you don’t need it. The more presence you have down there, the fewer people can complain it isn’t necessary.”
Jia exchanged glances with Erik before she spoke. “It wouldn’t hurt to at least familiarize ourselves more with the area, big as it is. It might help us establish if there are any connections between any recent crimes and the Shadow Zone.”
One of Captain Ragnar’s bushy eyebrows lifted. “You think there are?”
“I…don’t know,” Jia admitted. “It’s a possibility.”
Captain Ragnar turned toward Erik. “And you, Detective Blackwell?”
“I wouldn’t have guessed a council member was working with a VP from Ceres when I started this job, but like you said, it wouldn’t hurt to be seen,” Erik offered. “Criminals seem to know who we are. If we poke around, it’ll at least let people know the NSCPD is taking crime seriously, even in the Shadow Zone.”
“Sounds good,” Captain Ragnar replied. “I don’t want you making a big appearance there yet. Pace yourselves, relax, and start fresh on Monday. We don’t have a reason to turn the Shadow Zone upside-down.” Both watched him chuckle.
His focus wasn’t on them as he added, “At least, not yet.”
Chapter Ten
As they walked down a ground-level street in the Shadow Zone, Jia wrinkled her nose against the assault of the acrid scent of garbage and pollution filling the air. Flitters zoomed past, both parallel with them and in the vertical lanes above; it was even more densely packed down here than Uptown.
Jia shook her head in disgust. No one should have to live in a place that stank. A few months ago, she would have blamed all the people living there for their own plight, but now she considered the continued existence of the Shadow Zone the fault of the council and any corporations conspiring with corrupt politicians and criminals.
After all, in a city as wealthy as Neo SoCal, there was no reason for there to be a pocket of poverty and open criminality. People were obviously looking the other way.
“What are we even doing?” she asked Erik, who was walking beside her, his coat on his shoulders. “We don’t have any leads or cases directly related to here. I appreciate what Captain Ragnar has done,” she stepped around some trash, “but I don’t understand what walking around in the Shadow Zone is supposed to accomplish.”
“We’re familiarizing ourselves with it,” Erik replied cheerfully. He considered stepping on the next pile of trash with his working boots but figured there was only so much he should do to push her buttons.
“But how is wandering around aimlessly going to help? It’s not as if we can personally memorize the layout of an area this vast.” Jia craned her neck upward.
Smaller dirty buildings crowded the spaces between the monstrous bases of towers stretching above the dense layer of smog in the sky. As far as she knew, the lower levels of those towers were nothing but storage or maintenance if they were accessible at all. It was as if those Uptown were mocking the Shadow Zone citizens every day and reminding them of what they didn’t have.
“You don’t need to memorize anything,” Emma insisted, her voice coming from Erik’s PNIU. “Although official maps are lacking and satellite maps are less than useful because of the pollution layer, I could easily travel this area and map it myself. I also don’t understand why you flew me here just to wander around on foot.”
“Because flying an MX 60 everywhere would attract the wrong kind of attention,” Erik replied, tugging on his duster. “Sometimes I want the attention, but today I want to see the Shadow Zone as just another random guy.”
“If some hooded hoodlum damages me, it’s your fault.” Emma harrumphed. “But I will admit the security system on this body is rather impressive. I’d be shocked if some random criminal could actually get through it.”
“And just so both of you know, it’s not about memorizing everything.” Erik gestured at a small shop on the street corner. A young woman sat in front with a cart filled with dragon fruit and bananas. “That kind of thing is very common on most frontier planets, but I haven’t seen it anywhere Uptown. Have you?”
Jia thought for a moment before shaking her head. “I suppose I haven’t.” She turned and looked at him. “But why is that so important?”
“If you were investigating a case in an area like this, it might help to talk to a fruit vendor like her.” Erik looked across the street, focusing on a Tin Man with exposed cybernetic arms that had retractable blades visible on top. The thug glanced Erik’s way with a sneer before continuing down the sidewalk.
“That can’t be legal,” Jia mumbled. “The blades, I mean.” She didn’t follow up with a comment about the open cybernetics out of respect for Erik’s concealed arm, even if the idea still left her uneasy. The last few months had challenged a lot of what she’d once believed, and she couldn’t say the Purist ideals sat as comfortably with her as before, either. Erik was proof that being modified didn’t make someone an antisocial deviant.
“There’s a time and a place to pick a fight,” Erik replied. “And I’m not sure it’s here yet, not without a good reason.”
She eyed him, her response timed to provide the right amount of cynicism and humor. “You actually want to avoid a fight?”
Erik chuckled. “You don’t get me yet, Jia. I don’t alway
s go looking for fights. I just work to finish the fight as the victor once I’m in one.” He grunted. “Sure, we need to fight crime, but there are only two of us, and we can’t nail every random thug in the Shadow Zone. But yeah, a man showing off that kind of hardware in public is doing it for a reason.” He returned his attention to the fruit vendor, his gaze distant. “But running into that kind of thing is why we’re here. The more we know, the better it’ll be next time.”
Jia barely refrained from pointing in the thug’s direction. “Seriously? If we’re not going after him, what’s the point?”
Erik eyed a window to see if he could spot a reflection of anyone following them. “Every place is unique, and a place isn’t a bunch of addresses. It’s a feeling, and to know a place, you have to understand that feeling.” He looked at her. “So that’s what we’re doing. Absorbing that feeling.”
“A lidar-based map would still be more useful,” Emma suggested. “And a lot more practical and reliable than some ill-defined feeling.”
Jia ignored her and offered Erik a dubious look. “’Getting a feeling?’ That’s what walking around here is for?”
She surveyed the area again. It wasn’t as if everyone around them was depressed and wearing worn old clothes.
Most people seemed satisfied enough.
Several laughed as they chatted. More than a few men and women in expensive-looking outfits flowed along with the rivers of people. Erik’s MX 60 might stand out, but nice flitters weren’t absent from traffic. Even in a place already separated from the elite population, there were different status layers and people of varying experience.
Erik nodded, his voice lowered as a couple passed them. “Once you have the feeling, instinct has a better chance of kicking in and helping you out when you need it. That’s something I learned in my years of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism ops.”
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