Erik’s eyes lifted. “You knew?” He heard a soft hiss behind him, then a slap and a few chuckles. Her eyes glanced toward the noise, then back at Erik.
If she wasn’t concerned, he wasn’t concerned. But he glanced at a framed art piece to make sure no one was coming up behind him.
She ran her hand through her hair. “I’m familiar with the procedure, and I hope your hair changes. Mine got stuck this way. Your build and the way you move show you’ve got training, and don’t think for a second my security grid didn’t tag that gun when you stepped inside.”
Erik raised an eyebrow. “You let me come in armed?”
The bartender laughed. “If I kicked out every man with a gun, I wouldn’t have many customers, now would I?”
Erik nodded. “Fair enough. So, you were saying?”
“I’m guessing…” She licked her lips. “Merc. Probably been working offworld for a few years, earned some fat, juicy corp payoffs, so you’ve come back home to live large, but all the credits in the world don’t make you smell right to Uptowners, so you’re coming to a place like this, thinking we’re your people because having more credits don’t change a man’s smell.”
Close. Very close.
Erik sniffed his armpit and grinned. “I think I smell fine.”
“Very funny.” The bartender extended her hand. “Alicia.”
He gave her hand a firm shake. “Erik Blackwell.”
“Of course. Even your name fits.” Alicia leaned back, her hands resting on one of the drink shelves filled with bottles. “Unless you spent all your money on that car and your treatment, I’m assuming you’re not looking for work?”
Erik shook his head. “I’ve got a new job already lined up.”
Alicia frowned. “I know you don’t have to tell me, but you’re not hitting anything around here, are you?”
“Nope. I mean an actual different career. Nothing…so violent.” He thought about that for a few seconds. “Not so violent most of the time.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
Erik downed the rest of his drink and let out a sigh of satisfaction. Maybe it was the smell or maybe it was the taste, but the liquor satisfied more on Earth. “Cop.”
Alicia burst out laughing but stopped after a moment when Erik didn’t join her.
“A merc turned cop?” Alicia asked. “Now I’ve heard everything.”
“Something like that,” Erik responded. He stood. “Thanks for the drink. I just wanted to check this out. I think I’ll be back in the future.”
“Because you like the drinks, or for something else?” Alicia asked, her voice hesitant.
Erik leaned forward. “A good cop needs an ear on the street, doesn’t he?”
Alicia snickered. “You’re asking a question like that? I’m guessing you’ve been offworld a long time, and you’ve forgotten how squeaky clean everyone wants to pretend the homeland is.”
“That might be true.” Erik stood. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
“Fine, Blackwell. See you around.” Alicia gave him a polite nod.
Erik nodded back before heading to the door. The single drink had barely touched his head, but his fancy new ride had a fully autonomous system. He could have pounded back ten drinks and been fine.
“Blackwell,” Alicia called.
He looked over his shoulder. “What?”
“Don’t care what you do, but make sure you don’t bust up my place.” Alicia folded her arms over her chest.
Erik frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see.” With that, she turned and headed toward a man holding up an empty bottle at the other end of the bar.
Erik stood for a moment, parsing the cryptic thought before stepping into the parking lot.
Oh. That explains it.
Four thugs in dark jackets stood by his MX 60, laughing. Two men had metal claws extending from their hands. A thin clear tube filled with blue liquid circled another’s man’s neck, a small metal circle near a vein. An auto-drug injector.
Hints of metal peeked out from the neckline of the fourth man. They were thugs who didn’t care about displaying cybernetics.
A lot of people called them Tin Men.
Erik wasn’t a Purist, so he could care less about their cybernetic enhancements. He cared far more about what they might be planning to do to his MX 60.
He stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. “Can I help you, boys?”
The Tin Man with the metal chest turned toward Erik and smacked his lips.
His gaze roamed the ex-soldier for a moment before he smirked. “You’re not what I expected, but that don’t mean much.” He raised his hand and gestured for Erik to approach. “Transfer the codes to my PNIU. I like your flitter, so I’m taking it, and I don’t want to mess up my new car.”
“If I do that, won’t the cops just come and get you?” Erik asked, a slight smile on his face.
The Tin Men laughed.
“Nah, not like that,” the leader replied. “If you have enough juice to get into the Shadow Zone without trouble, you should know that. No cops are going to worry much about some fool losing his car, and the real authorities won’t care as long as we don’t bring heat. And when rich Uptowners come down here,” he dropped his voice, “they’re always coming for something they shouldn’t be doing, so we both know you ain’t going to call no cops down here.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a long, jagged knife. “I’m betting no one even knows you’re here.” The thug shrugged. “If you disappear, no one’s going to come looking.”
Erik scratched his cheek and grunted. “You know, here’s the deal. I could kill you, but I’m going to have to kill a lot of people eventually, I suspect. Maybe not soon, but soon enough, and I don’t want my first kill back on Earth to be a choice.” He looked at them all. “So pathetic. You’re not worth the trouble.”
The Tin Man howled with laughter, popping the guy next to him on the arm. “You serious? You think you’re a big man?” He gestured at Erik but spoke to a guy at his side. “Get him, Wolf. Teach him to respect his betters.”
One of the clawed thugs stepped forward, scraping the claws against each other. He growled and advanced on Erik. “I’m not going to kill you, Uptowner. I’m gonna slice you up.” Wolf’s grin turned feral. “You ever even been in a fight, Uptowner?”
Erik smirked and shook his head. “This isn’t a fight. This is a warm-up for later.” Wolf had barely registered Erik’s reply when the major sprang forward, his right fist already cocked behind him.
Wolf’s eyes widened and he stumbled back, taken off-guard by the sudden attack.
Erik slammed the fist into the man’s head, snapping it back. The Tin Man crumpled to the ground moaning, his eyes rolling up in his head. Erik slammed his boot tip into the thug’s head and the man slumped down, unconscious, blood pouring from his nose.
“You’re dead, Uptowner!” screamed the leader. “Kill his ass, Ant!”
The other clawed thug rushed forward and brought up his arms. After the druggie’s auto-injector liquid drained through the port, the man’s nostrils flared and his pupils dilated.
“I feel no pain!” screamed the druggie.
“You poor bastards.” Erik stepped back and to his left. “Thinking you have a chance.”
Erik threw up his arm to block a slash from the clawed thug.
The metal ripped through his sleeve into the skin of his arm, a sharp pain following. The top layer of flesh was actual biological tissue, including nerves, but without the deeper muscle tissue to destroy, the pain remained muted. By his standards, it was only a sting.
He’d felt worse.
Two quick throat punches sent the thug to the asphalt and a quick stomp knocked him out.
“That’s two,” Erik pointed out, waving for the next guy to come at him. “Let’s go, pain boy. Show me what you’ve got.”
The druggie shuffled forward, frothing at the mouth, arriving just in ti
me for his head to meet Erik’s foot.
He stumbled back, and Erik threw a hard left with his cybernetic arm before following up with a right hook. The next move was a punch right to the thug’s solar plexus, followed by two more quick punches. Erik snapped his foot forward at the now-falling thug, and the battered man flew back and hit the ground. He rolled several times, his eyes closed.
The remaining Tin Man’s lips curled in a sneer and he lifted his knife. “You got lucky.” He slapped his chest. “But you’re not going to be able to beat me, Uptowner. You’re dead. I’m going to carve you up and dump your pieces in a hole somewhere. No one’s going to find you, and no one’s ever going to know what happened to you, because Uptown likes to pretend there’s nothing bad left down here.”
Erik shook out his left arm. The wound still stung.
He’d have to get a first aid kit on the way home. “Are you going to kill me with that knife, or is your plan to talk me into throwing myself on the pointy end to get away from the pain of listening to you?”
The Tin Man flicked his wrist, launching the knife at Erik. Erik snapped his arm up using his interfaced smart lens to his cybernetic arm. He snatched the knife out of the air and his fingers wrapped around the handle.
“What the…” The Tin Man gritted his teeth as he tapped on his chest, the metal sound obvious. “You know the good thing about having a metal plate over your chest, Uptowner? You don’t worry much about getting stabbed.” He sprinted toward Erik, yelling like a rabid banshee.
Erik waited for the charge.
When the Tin Man was close, Erik spun around his side. He tossed the knife into his right hand and brought his left arm around the other man’s neck, yanking him to a complete stop. He whipped the knife forward and brought the point to the side of the man’s throat.
The Tin Man froze and held his breath.
“This can go one of two ways,” Erik whispered into his ear. “The problem with having an armored chest is that it makes me target other body parts.” He pushed the tip in a bit. “Do I have your attention?”
Erik took the slow nod as an affirmative.
“I can crush your throat with my cybernetic arm. That would be funny since you thought you had an advantage over me. Or I can stick this knife into your throat, and that would be funny too since you provided me the blade in the first place. You have a preference?”
The Tin Man let out his breath. “I didn’t know you had hardware. I just thought Wolf didn’t carve that deep.”
Erik let out a dark chuckle. “Thirty years I was out there, protecting people from insurrectionists and terrorists, but maybe I should have been here dealing with trash like you. Tell me, Tin Man, if I killed you right here, would anyone shed a tear over an unmarked hole in the ground? Would anyone care?”
“I-I’ve got connections,” the thug stammered. “Y-you don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“And maybe someday I’ll care about your connections,” Erik growled.
“Who are you?”
“No one you need to worry about…yet.” Erik tightened his arm around the man’s neck just enough to cut off circulation, but not enough to crush his windpipe. He tossed the knife to the ground.
The Tin Man struggled, his arms thrashing. In time, his head slumped and his eyes closed. Erik dropped the unconscious man to the ground without ceremony.
“Just not worth it,” Erik murmured, and shook his head. He turned toward the bar and waved, hoping Alicia appreciated that he hadn’t started flinging bullets.
Chapter Ten
June 17, 2228
Jia looked down at her napkin before looking back up. I can’t believe I let Mei talk me into this.
She managed to smile at the handsome blond man sitting across from her at the white-draped table. Light classical played in the background.
Jia had agreed to one date. It was her way of proving she didn’t hold her family’s values in contempt, with the hope that if she demonstrated her respect toward them, they might return the favor.
It was also the fact that Mei asked for a favor.
Mei’s version of compromise involved picking out the man instead of their mother doing it, but Jia wasn’t sure if that was an improvement. Tonight’s date was Warren Southward III, a business associate of Mei’s.
Warren picked up his wine glass and took a small sip. “Let me say again how lovely you look tonight. I’m happy you agreed to this, especially on such short notice. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t been able to come.”
She nodded. “It’s okay. I had an open night, and as for the rest, thank you, Warren. That’s very nice of you to say. I have to admit, my sister didn’t tell me a lot about you.”
“I work for Aurum. My division focuses in particular on financial transactions involving the Moon and Mars. It’s definitely got its complications, but at least we don’t have to worry about colony financial matters.” He sighed. “What a nightmare.”
“I’m sure they are,” Jia admitted. She glanced around, taking in the room. “So, how do you know my sister exactly? Has her company done work with Aurum?”
Warren chuckled quietly. “I met your sister at a recent business conference. She’s already making quite a name for herself at such a young age.” He tilted his head and shook his finger. “I must say, although your sister did well describing your natural beauty, she didn’t relate to me what you do. Are you in the family business?”
Jia chuckled, shaking her head as she thought of the many reasons Mei might leave out that important bit of information. “No, I’m a police detective. My division technically handles all Class II crimes and higher. We often pass them along for efficiency reasons, but we have a wide scope of responsibility.”
“Class II crimes?” Warren’s lips parted slightly. “That’s very…interesting, I bet.” He sighed. “Not to sound rude, but there can’t be that much to do. I imagine most criminals have been transported offworld by now?”
“Oh. Yes, sure. Of course, all crime is totally under control and limited to small regions of unrest or isolated pockets, but you know, it’s like…” Jia sighed. She’d promised to at least give an honest effort. “Prevention is the key to maintaining an orderly and stable society,” she finished.
Lame! she chastised herself. How about you just read him the prologue of the Law Officers School Welcome book?
“I see.” Warren nodded, something approaching understanding in his eyes. “I was a bit confused about a Lin daughter being in such an…unusual career position, but with that explanation, it all makes sense.”
Jia smiled. “It does? I’ll admit that even my own family doesn’t understand why I chose to become a detective versus following in their shoes.”
“Yes, it makes perfect sense.” Warren returned her smile with warmth. “You’re the youngest? You have no siblings other than Mei, correct?”
Jia nodded. “Just the two of us.”
“I’m the youngest in my family as well,” Warren explained.
And that matters, why? Jia wondered.
Warren reached over and patted her hand. “I understand the urge to want to help society while distinguishing yourself from your family. It’s natural for those of us who are the youngest to rebel that way.”
She eyed his hand, then looked back up at him.
“But,” he continued, pulling his hand back, “the best way to help society is by ensuring a robust economy. If the economy is strong and wealth is being generated, everything else can be handled by people who aren’t capable of achieving that. Business is the true heart driving all of the UTC, ultimately. Think about it. There would be no colonization without the aid of the corporations. Can you imagine human colonization efforts without Hermes or Ceres Galactic? Or White Tiger?”
“I’m not arguing that corporations don’t help promote stability and growth of the UTC,” she countered. “But don’t you think it helps to have people from different backgrounds in law enforcement roles? A healthy society has
members of different backgrounds dispersed for maximum diversity of viewpoint and experience.” She put her hands under the table and clenched them into fists.
“Different backgrounds?” Warren mused. “Why would we need that? In truth, I’m dubious of the necessity of governmental law enforcement anymore. Corporate security can handle anything of importance, and the government’s moving most of the antisocial elements off Earth, where Security and the military can handle them.”
Warren picked up his napkin to dab the corner of his mouth. “Even if governmental law enforcement is necessary, our kind of people don’t need to participate. Someone of your family background and education isn’t living up to her full potential working in an unnecessary job.”
“I-I don’t think it’s unnecessary,” Jia managed. Mei, be thankful I don’t kick him under this table! Family respect or not.
“I apologize. I should clarify.” Warren offered her a disarming smile. “It’s unnecessary for people like you and me. Obviously, someone has to be involved in keeping the antisocial citizens and criminals under control, whether private or governmental. Of course, people from more limited backgrounds would find such work fulfilling, and I understand that you were attempting to distinguish yourself from your family, just as I was by thinking about becoming a diplomat at one point. I will fill you in on the story sometime since it’s practically a whitepaper about the youngest in a family. But don’t worry; it won’t be a problem anyway. You’ll find different ways of finding fulfillment.”
Her face scrunched; her confusion was complete. “What are you talking about? What do you mean, ‘it won’t be a problem?’”
Warren let out a quiet laugh. “You working, of course.” He gestured at himself. “I’m rather successful. While I wouldn’t object to my wife working, she would never have to, and I think you would find the busy social life that would come with an appropriate marriage more than adequate to fill your free time. I’d prefer a wife who didn’t work. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I consider Mei, if I’m honest?”
Jia stared at the man, processing what he had just said.
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