Jeanne leaned forward, strained against her binding ties, her nostrils flaring. “It’s all very simple if you think about it the right way. There are plenty of ways to kill humanity. Corrupted nanotech. Engineered viruses spread through the HTPs. Humanity can fall. Humanity will fall if we don’t do something now.”
Jia narrowed her eyes, her eyes as hard as stone. “Spoken like a true psychotic terrorist. Most people don’t spend their days trying to figure out how to hurt other people, but you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it. It sounds like getting rid of people like you is the best way to protect humanity.”
“She’s got another good point,” Erik observed.
“Violence is sometimes necessary,” Jeanne snarled at Jia. “When a cell turns cancerous, the body destroys it to save the rest of the cells. If the body doesn’t destroy it, medicine is used to destroy it. Sometimes a sacrifice is necessary to save the whole, and that’s what the Evolved Six are doing, We are sacrificing a few to save the many because we have more foresight than our alleged brothers and sisters in the human race.”
Erik gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re going to save our species by placing them under the control of an alien race?”
“They are better than us,” Jeanne hissed. “Far, far better.”
“No, they aren’t.” Erik shook his head. “They’re just aliens. If anything, we probably have an advantage over most of them, if not all of them, if you compare everything.”
“That’s only because we’re a violent, rapacious species,” Jeanne muttered. “And you don’t understand. No one understands except Cosmic Universalists. The religions pray to their false gods for guidance, but we have godlike beings out there waiting to bless humanity.”
Jia had never felt a more powerful urge to slap the stupid out of someone in her entire life. Unfortunately, they were there to get information, not punish a terrorist.
The courts and prison systems would do that.
“Then explain it to us,” Jia asked softly. “If there’s something we’re missing, we’d be happy to discuss it with you, but you have to help us understand.”
“Everyone thinks they know about the other races.” Jeanne shook her head, her eyes open and flicking between the two of them. “But they don’t. They only show us what they want us to see to test us. They are far more advanced than us, but by feigning primitiveness, they can better understand where we are spiritually, and they know we’re not yet ready for their control. But we can make ourselves ready.”
Erik raised an eyebrow. “More advanced?”
“How could they not be? The Leems visited Earth centuries ago.” Jeanne nodded as if that were all the proof she needed. “The others have developed technologies we wouldn’t dream of deploying, such as the advanced living machines of the Orlox. They are a species that has evolved beyond individual egos. Their very nature is unity. We could learn so much from them.”
“The Orlox aren’t humans, and not being an individual goes against what it means to be human. As for the Leems, they only came to Earth because of a mistake that was out of their control, using technology they didn’t develop.” Erik shrugged dismissively. “If all these races are so advanced, why haven’t they taken humanity over yet?”
Jeanne laughed. “Don’t you see? That’s the myopia of human thought. They know if they conquer us, they won’t be able to elevate us, so we need to go to them and beg them to take control. Then, and only then, can humanity achieve the spiritual enlightenment we need to avoid destroying ourselves in the end.”
Erik looked at Jia, not bothering to conceal his annoyance. “Are you hearing this?”
Jia sighed and nodded, the urge to slap Jeanne building. “This is pointless.”
Erik turned back to Jeanne. “I’ve killed a lot of terrorists in my life, and a lot of them give big speeches that are supposed to justify why they get to kill innocent people, including children. And that’s what I think this is. I think you’re a psycho who looked around until you found someone who gave you an excuse to kill people. Now, you’re planning to hurt innocent people here in the CFM.” He growled. “The only thing I don’t get is why you asked for me. There’s no way you’re deluded enough to think I would buy into your crazy philosophy with that speech.”
Jeanne leaned back, condescension all but oozing out of her face. “I read about you, Detective Blackwell.” She nodded in Jia’s direction. “I also read about your partner, but I thought you might have more of an understanding of the truth because you have traveled more. I hoped,” she hissed, “that you might not be a total lapdog of the corrupted corporate state that rules us.” She stopped, giving Jia a sickly-sweet smile. “Like most in law enforcement. I heard on the news about how your investigation led to arrests at Ceres.”
Erik scratched his cheek. “This is an attempt to recruit me?”
“You’ll see the truth soon enough, Detective.” Jeanne closed her eyes and dropped her hands into her lap. “I’ve nothing else to say to you.”
Erik stood. “Good, because I’ve got better things I could be doing.” He spun on his heel and headed toward the door.
“We’ll catch your friends, Caron.” Jia stood and followed her partner out of the room, closing the door with a definitive bang.
The hallway was empty; Antonio nowhere to be found. He was likely watching the whole interrogation from his desk, where he would be more comfortable.
Emma’s voice chimed directly into Jia and Erik’s ears. “That wasn’t pointless.”
Jia looked back and forth, but there was no one nearby to question why they might talk to thin air. Captain Ragnar and many in the 1-2-2 knew about Emma, but Erik didn’t want her existence revealed to every person they met, even cops.
“How was it not pointless?” Jia asked.
“Because something changed,” Emma explained. “There were unusual energy fluctuations in the room.”
“Unusual energy fluctuations?” Erik furrowed his brow. “Meaning?”
“I was doing this through the local police sensors,” Emma replied. “They aren’t as thorough and powerful as I would have liked, especially in this part of the building. It isn’t like I can drive into the building and park myself in front of the interrogation room.”
Jia frowned at the closed door. “But what does it mean? There’s no way she’s got a device on her. Even if the general sensors here aren’t too good, the personal scanning equipment used during in-processing could have detected anything down to unexpected nanites.”
“I’m not sure what I detected,” Emma admitted. “It might have been nothing, some sort of hidden technology or even a systems interference, but for various reasons, including your eventual plausible deniability, I didn’t thoroughly infiltrate the local system.”
Erik pointed down the hall. “Let’s go find Antonio. I doubt this is a coincidence, and I also doubt Jeanne called me here to recruit me.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They didn’t have to wait long.
Antonio met them in the hallway less than a half-minute later after emerging from an observation room not that much farther up the hall. He looked frustrated. Too bad Erik would have to add to that feeling.
“Possible problem,” Erik explained. “Might be nothing, but maybe something you should check out, just to be sure.” He looked toward the interrogation room. “Considering who we’re dealing with here.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Antonio frowned and looked past them down the hallway at the interrogation room. “I watched the entire thing. She talked more to you, but it’s all standard Grayhead propaganda.” He returned his focus to Erik. “Don’t feel bad. We didn’t think you would get anything out of her. She’s a nutjob, and she enjoys screwing with cops. It was a longshot, but sometimes these things don’t pay off.” He shrugged. “We got lucky catching her. Maybe we’ll get lucky with her friends.”
“That’s not it. I wish it were.” Erik shook his head. “Double-check your systems.” H
e didn’t like lying to a fellow cop, so he decided to meet the truth halfway. “A strange alert popped up on my PNIU when I was in there. I’ve got it linked into some custom sensors in my MX 60. I don’t understand all of it, but it might be because someone’s trying to hack the detention center’s systems.”
Antonio’s frown deepened. “You serious? Wouldn’t the detention center system pick up on that? I doubt the Evolved Six are the first people who have tried to hack a place like this. I mean, we’re not exactly Neo SoCal here, but we’re not some backwater place either.”
“I don’t know. I’m not an expert. I’m just a suspicious cop who has dealt with his share of surprises in the last few months.” Erik gestured toward the interrogation room. “We don’t know why she wanted me here, and we don’t know their plan, so it wouldn’t hurt to check. That’s all I’m suggesting.”
He resisted the urge to push Antonio like he might one of the 1-2-2 detectives.
He didn’t have a good feeling for his personality, and unlike Monahan’s boys, the CFM detective actually seemed to care about solving crimes. Erik didn’t care if that was only because it involved terrorism. The other man needed to give him a reason for disrespect first.
Jia nodded. “According to some of the files I read, the Evolved Six do have some experts in their group who might be able to pull off something like that. It’s one of the reasons they’ve been avoiding the authorities as effectively as they have throughout the years, despite lacking the resources of the more well-established militant Cosmic Universalist factions.”
“Damn. You’re right.” Antonio scrubbed a hand over his face. “Even when we think we have everything under control, we don’t. I’ll go check on that now. The last thing we need is terrorists hacking this place.” He pointed to the observation room door up the hall a few meters. “If you could wait there for me, that would be great. I’m hoping this is nothing, but if it turns into something more, it would be nice if you were nearby. We might need some extra help, and I’ll be honest—if you hadn’t been here, we might not have noticed.”
Erik and Jia nodded. Antonio scrambled off, slapping his PNIU before explaining the situation in a low voice. The NSCPD detectives headed into the observation room. A central table with holographic displays of the interrogation room stood in the center, surrounded by several gray chairs. The lack of obvious controls meant they would need to interface their PNIUs if they wanted to alter the display, but neither cared at the moment.
Jia took a seat, her brow creased in deep concentration. “What are you thinking? I’m trying to anticipate her strategy, but it’s like there is something on the edge of my vision that won’t come into focus. It’s bugging me, and not just because she’s an insane terrorist with an impractical goal.”
“I’m thinking they used me as a big distraction while they tried to hack the system,” Erik replied. “And I think you’re right to be suspicious.” He pointed at one of the displays. Jeanne remained in the interrogation room, her hands folded neatly in front of her as if waiting for something. “I also think the big play hasn’t happened yet. She’s too confident. She knows something we don’t. I care a lot more about smug terrorists than smug criminals. The Prospectors and the Gray Circle didn’t kill people just for the sake of killing them. This sleight-of-hand garbage is getting on my nerves.”
“There is some additional information you need to be aware of,” Emma explained.
Erik had grown surprisingly used to a woman’s voice coming out of nowhere when he was thinking about something else.
Maybe that was what married life was like.
“What?” he asked.
“The files sent over to you didn’t include some relevant background information,” Emma elaborated. “But it was in the linked CID files, so I don’t think the intent was to conceal it from you. Detective Perez didn’t mention it either, assuming he’s even aware of it. In my opinion, he’s overwhelmed.”
Erik chuckled. “Yeah, probably. Not to feed into the propaganda, but terrorism is actually rarer on Earth than a lot of other planets. I’m sure they’ve all trained for this kind of thing, but how often do you get this level of coordinated, careful terrorist activity in a place this size?”
“I suppose,” Emma replied. “Setting that aside, what’s interesting about Miss Caron is that she’s actually been mostly off-world for the last few months. All the incidents CID or local police have linked to her were before that. They are fairly certain she returned to Earth only two weeks ago. She’s been traveling between Mars, various stations, and the Moon, using fake identification and records to beat security.”
“She’s been off-world?” Jia frowned, eyeing the nearest holographic display. “Really? Then she’s definitely here for something big. Coming to Earth puts her in more danger. She wouldn’t risk it without a good reason. Something to really push forward their cause.”
“Everything’s pointing to that.” Erik narrowed his eyes, watching Jeanne on the display and hoping she would give them some small clue that would betray her intent. “I got dragged into it, and so did you because of me. The Lady’s just having a few laughs, is all. I don’t care about me, but I do care about her terrorist friends hurting innocent people. We need to get out in front of this, and since we don’t have a lot of evidence, we’ll need to trust our guts.” He slapped his stomach. “My gut tells me this either ends with a room full of terrorists or a metroplex full of dead civilians.”
“We still have some maneuvering room,” Jia mused. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, some of the tension draining from her face. “If they were out of time before executing their main plan, they wouldn’t have bothered to pull whatever stunt that was during the interrogation. They must need her for some reason. Otherwise, it’s not worth the exposure.”
Erik shrugged. “Yeah, probably. A properly trained military unit is organized so people can take command when they lose higher-ups in battle, but a lot of these terrorists are more concerned with secrecy than maintaining operational integrity. From what Antonio told us and what the files say, these Evolved Six bastards are more concerned with secrecy than most. That’s kept CID from annihilating them when they’ve caught a cell, but now it might have screwed them and helped us. It could be as simple as keeping Caron locked up tight.”
“I’m not sad that terrorists have shot themselves in the foot,” Jia admitted. “Emma, you still aren’t noticing any unusual activity nearby, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” Emma explained. “I’ve had to withdraw from the police systems to avoid detection by their personnel, and given my current location, I have limited ability to perform general examinations of the area.”
“Okay,” Erik replied. “Yeah, stay out of the EZ system for a bit. The less I have to explain while we’re getting all this figured out, the better it’ll be.”
The display changed as Jeanne Caron looked up slowly, surveying the room, a huge smile on her face as she stared into the corners. She didn’t need sensors interfaced with smart lenses to pick out the most likely location of hidden cameras. This was a local police detention facility, not a UTC detainment center with advanced distributed surveillance equipment.
The woman hadn’t demonstrated an ounce of concern or fear during their short conversation. Erik didn’t know what to make of that. He’d encountered enough arrogant terrorists in his career to accept that they could be delusional, but her attitude, when paired with the energy fluctuations, pointed to something more sinister.
If Jeanne Caron was an idiot, she would have been caught years prior, but all of a sudden, she showed up on Earth after being off-world to avoid the authorities and gets caught by a traffic cop. He didn’t buy it, but being suspicious wasn’t the same thing as understanding his enemy’s plan.
Jia eyed the holographic display. “A few months ago, I was happy to investigate minor fraud, and now I’ve gone through corrupt corporate-linked politicians and graduated to terrorists.”
“You’re
not regretting it, are you?”
“No, I don’t regret it, but it’s very sobering to think about.” Jia looked at Erik. “I wonder where it will end? Every new revelation about the real darkness around me makes me wonder that.”
“Where what will end? This investigation?”
Jia shook her head. “No, my career. I was so naïve before. On a certain level, I think it was a trick to comfort myself and allow myself to live in a world full of corruption without acknowledging it.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Since I told myself Earth was all but perfect, I never really believed in my heart that I would have to put myself in the kinds of situations I’m in now.” Jia snorted. “It’s pathetic on a certain level, but it doesn’t matter. Every time I take down another antisocial twit, I do my part toward making up for my ignorance.”
Erik chuckled. “’Twit?’”
Jia made a face. “I’m working on my annoying words. Mei wants me to broaden my vocabulary beyond ‘cop-speak.’”
“I’m not sure this was the result she was looking for.”
“Hmmm. Duly noted and ignored. She went on and suggested another blind date. I explained I was seeing someone.”
“You are?” Erik asked, surprised.
“No, I was referring to a cactus in my garden,” she answered. “I have long conversations where all he does is listen. He’s the perfect guy for me at the moment.”
Erik wasn’t sure he wanted to delve too deeply into that family issue. “Well, about your ignorance.” He pointed to her two holsters in turn. “You’re not the same cop I met outside that club who couldn’t even bring herself to stun a man. It doesn’t matter if it hasn’t been a long time. I saw this all the time in the Army. You take a man or woman, you train them and give them a little experience, and they become a totally different person, someone capable of risking their lives to complete an important mission. It’s how you finish that’s important, not how you start.”
Shattered Truth Page 23