Obsidian Detective

by Michael Anderle

  “What?” Erik shouted. “How? I thought he wasn’t being mixed with the general population at the jail until they finished working out the details of the deal?”

  “He rather conveniently committed suicide in his cell,” Jia explained, her voice dripping with barely concealed anger and obvious suspicion. “They claim he had a knife smuggled in and slit his wrists, but also rather conveniently, there was a problem with the surveillance system at those exact moments, and by the time they realized what was going on, he was already dead and lying in a pool of his own blood. He left a suicide note about being overwhelmed by his conscience and being ashamed of his part in harming the people of Neo SoCal.”

  Erik grunted. “Why, Detective Lin, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re suspicious of the circumstances of his death. It’s almost as if you think the circumstances are complete and utter crap.”

  “I can’t believe this. I didn’t hold out a lot of hope that Naric had much else that was useful, but he was obviously holding some cards back.”

  “It’s generally a good play in theory,” Erik suggested. “Especially if he was worried about ending up dead. He miscalculated, just like with me.”

  Jia groaned. “What do we do now? If he were still being held in the station, maybe one of our tech guys could find some records or something, but the jailhouse? Who knows how tainted it might be? We can’t question every guard and review every record. They wouldn’t even let us.” She spat a few choice words in annoyance. “He was so close to a deal. If he’d written a letter saying he didn’t want to face the rest of his life in prison, it might have been more plausible than a complete piece of self-serving garbage about suddenly being overcome by an attack of conscience right before he’s going to start unloading to the local police and the CID about everything he knows. It’s almost like whoever did this is rubbing our faces in it.”

  Erik considered that a for a moment. “Maybe they are, at least partially.”

  “You think so?” Her surprise ate into the anger in her voice.

  “I think they’re trying to send a signal. Someone wants to make it clear they can get to anyone anywhere. They’re trying to scare the investigation into ending.”

  “No!” Jia argued. “I refuse to be scared off.”

  “Me, too.” Erik’s hands tightened around the control yoke. “The fact they took him out is proof in and of itself that there’s more here to find. What position is higher than a member of the Metroplex Council and has power?”

  “I don’t know.” There was silence on the line for a moment. “A minister of parliament? In theory, a governor has more power, but in all ways that matter, the council has far more ability to influence Neo SoCal than the governor. Same thing for Congress. In practical terms, they’re nothing more than a rubber-stamp for UTC laws.”

  “No,” Erik replied, thinking through some possibilities. “This is centered in Neo SoCal. I doubt this is about Parliament or toothless leftovers. We need to shake things loose. We need to force whoever is behind this to make a mistake. Right now, they’re controlling the tempo of everything. We need to force them to adjust to ours, and then, only then, can we stop them.”

  “But how?” Jia sighed. “If they have the power to get to someone like Tessan in jail and fake a councilman’s suicide, I don’t know what we could even do to goad them. These are powerful people.”

  “Which means they’ll be arrogant.” Erik descended into a less-cluttered lane. “And you really don’t have any ideas? Sometimes when you fight an enemy, you get them to slip up by intimidating with a show of force, but you know what’s even better than an actual show of force?”

  Jia took a moment to answer. “A fake show of force. It doesn’t require anything real to back it up.”

  “Exactly.”

  “We lie.” Jia almost sounded giddy at the prospect.

  “Now you’re getting it.” Erik grinned. “Naric’s dead. Winthorpe is dead. There’s no one left to protect and no one obvious left to target, so we need to give them a target. Someone they think they might be able to get to, and that’s when we catch them in the mistake.”

  “But who?”

  “Me,” Erik answered.

  Jia’s breath caught. “Can I ask you one thing?”

  “What?”

  “You don’t have a death wish, do you?”

  Erik replied with a dark chuckle. “No, and you know why?”

  “Why?” Jia asked.

  “Because I have several very important things to do before I die,” Erik replied. “Until then, I can’t allow myself to be killed. That clear things up?”

  “Yes,” Jia murmured. “I’ve got your back, Erik.”

  * * *

  July 11, 2228, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station, Office of Captain Robert Monahan

  The captain cradled his head in his hands. “I’m thinking about retiring. I’ve been thinking about it a lot these last few weeks. I don’t know if I can handle this anymore. Everything I spent years cultivating is falling apart.”

  “’Cultivating?’” Jia shook her head, her antipathy plain on her face. “You cultivated looking the other way from corruption, sir. You might have convinced yourself you were doing it in the service of the metroplex, but given the kinds of things I’ve seen, I don’t believe that, even if you do.”

  Erik glanced at Jia before turning to the captain. “Do what you have to do, and we’ll do what we have to do. I’ll be honest; I’m only interested in taking down whoever thinks they can kill our witnesses and suspects.”

  “I should have made up some excuse to send you away,” Captain Monahan muttered. “You and Detective Lin have started something I don’t think anyone’s prepared to handle.”

  “Spare me,” Erik replied. “Just because everyone pretends to buy into the lie of the perfection of modern Earth, it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten past history. Society didn’t crumble before because people admitted there was corruption. They just dealt with it, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

  Captain Monahan lifted his head. “When I’m home, I find myself asking if any of this a good thing, or if we’ve upset the status quo in a way that will cause the city to suffer more. Don’t you see? This isn’t about being self-serving. I do care.”

  Jia eyed him. “This isn’t about looking the other way regarding minor offenses. This has already involved treasonous and murderous officials, and it’s obviously not over yet. We can only begin to imagine what other crimes are involved.”

  “This plan is insane, Erik,” Captain Monahan insisted. “You want us to lie and say Naric gave you a bunch of information via some encoded file. Then we’re supposed to lie and say you’re taking the lead on the arrest of a major figure within a few days?”

  Erik nodded. “That’s the short version of it. It’s not insane. It’s straightforward, and it’s just plausible enough to make them move.”

  “If I allow myself to believe there is some final conspiracy out there, whoever is involved in this has influence in both the police department and the jail,” Captain Monahan stated. “Won’t they see through the lie? Won’t they wonder why the evidence isn’t in a system for their review? They’ll know it’s a trap.”

  “Not if we stress we’re worried about spies,” Erik suggested. “And given what happened with Winthorpe, people have no reason to doubt it.”

  Captain Monahan grimaced. “You want to basically announce to the public that they can’t trust the Neo SoCal police? Because that’s what you’re suggesting.”

  Jia flipped a hand out. “They already can’t trust the council. The only way we’re going to restore true order and respect is to catch whoever is pulling the strings. The damage has been done. All we can do is clean house now, sir. If you want to retire and still be able to look at yourself in the mirror, then you should make your final action helping us free the metroplex from more corruption. Help us with the plan. We won’t be able to pull it off without your conne
ctions and access to resources.”

  Captain Monahan sighed. “Two men are already dead, Erik. How do you know you won’t end up the third? If you die in a mysterious suicide, will that really help?” He turned to Jia. “You ready for your partner to die?”

  “I won’t die because I know they’ll be coming,” he replied. “And that’s why it has to be announced that it’ll be within a few days. We need to force them to move now.”

  “They could do something you don’t have any chance of countering.” Captain Monahan flipped his fingers out on both hands to mimic an explosion. “They could blow up your car.”

  Emma laughed through Erik’s PNIU. “Between me and the security system on this car, that’s unlikely.”

  Captain Monahan grimaced, eyeing Erik’s PNIU. “I didn’t realize she was listening.”

  “Oh, I’m always listening,” Emma added, giving a slight chuckle at the end.

  “But you…” Captain Monahan groaned. “You know what? Screw it. She’s a machine. A strange machine, but just a machine.”

  “You’re nothing more than a biomechanical machine yourself, Captain,” Emma responded, irritation in her tone.

  “Enough, Emma,” Erik ordered. “She’s right, though. About the bomb, not the machine thing. Well, technically, she’s right, but I’m willing to take the risk. Besides, it wasn’t that long ago you didn’t want me on the force, and now you’re obsessed with trying to protect me?” He stared at the captain. “For this to work, though, the only people who can know are us three. If anyone else finds out, they might leak it.”

  “Please, Captain,” Jia insisted. “We need to end this.”

  “Fine, I’ll do it,” Captain Monahan muttered. “Don’t blame me if you get killed, Erik. I think this plan is insane, and most likely to end with you dead rather than us catching anyone.”

  Erik grinned. “Don’t worry. If I’m dead, I won’t be able to blame you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Erik headed toward the elevator leading to the parking platform. It was time to go home, or at least to the apartment he pretended was home. It still didn’t feel like anything more than a place to rest his eyes at night.

  His PNIU chimed with a call from Malcolm, and he stopped.

  “Hey, Malcolm,” Erik answered. He yawned. “Is this something that can wait? If not, I’ve got a date with a pillow.”

  “Uh, I need you to come to my office,” Malcolm replied, his voice unsteady. “I’ve got a few things I want to talk to you about, and no, I don’t really think this should wait.”

  “Fine. Be right there.” Erik ended the call. With everything Malcolm was working on, there were numerous possibilities, most of them unpleasant.

  Let’s see what he’s got.

  Malcolm swallowed as Erik stepped into his office. He leaned to the side to confirm Erik was alone before his hands flew over a virtual keyboard projected atop his desk and followed up with a few gestured commands.

  The door to his office slid shut.

  Dozens of floating windows popped up, completely encircled the tech with a dense sphere of information: text reports, columns of numbers, images. None of what Erik saw made any immediate sense to him, and he didn’t spot anything that appeared to be directly relevant to Winthorpe or Tessan.

  “What’s going on?” Erik asked, revolving slowly to take in all the windows. “You made it sound important.”

  Malcolm took a deep breath. “Okay, we should be able to talk openly for now. I mean there’s no one recording us, but it’s not like I could stand up to Intelligence Directorate spies.” He grimaced. “I’m not saying they’re involved. I just…I’m not used to doing things off the books. I’m nervous.”

  “Nothing wrong with being careful,” Erik suggested. “Careful people tend to last longer.” He glanced behind him, half-convinced a zombie Winthorpe would pop up and assassinate him.

  “So, as you might have guessed, it’s about that side project you asked me to do,” Malcolm explained. “I got busy and checked into the codes you got me.” He sucked in a breath. “I did a few things I probably shouldn’t have, but I got too curious.”

  “Are you in trouble?” Erik frowned.

  He had hoped Malcolm would be careful, but if the man had a problem, Erik would need to save him. He had dragged him into the mess, and he wasn’t letting anyone be a sacrifice for his personal vengeance.

  Malcolm shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. Let’s just ignore that part. The point is, I was able to locate something based on the codes you gave me. I found a local address I can correlate with the original sender of the message. It’s an office owned by a company called Halcyon Corporation. Have you heard of them?”

  Erik shook his head. “Should I have?”

  “You’re the one who came to me with the breadcrumbs, Detective.”

  Erik grinned. “Fair enough. No, I’ve never heard of them.”

  “They mostly focus on electronics research and development, from what I can tell,” Malcolm explained. He gestured to a few different windows containing articles about the company. “There’s nothing particularly special about them. I dug a little, and they’re a Ceres Galactic subsidiary. Does that mean anything?”

  “It feels like half the freaking companies in the UTC are Ceres Galactic subsidiaries,” Erik stated. “That might mean something, or it might mean nothing at all. I’m sure they’ve got their fingers in some dirt, but the question is whether it’s the particular dirt I care about.”

  Malcolm nodded. “I know what you mean, and being a subsidiary can mean anything from Ceres telling them what to do to the subsidiary just sending money their way.” He rolled his eyes. “Sometimes they even compete against each other, and that doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Don’t try and make sense of greed.” Erik considered Mu Arae. Ceres Galactic didn’t have a strong connection to the mining colony on Molino, other than a few products here and there, but it was hard to be anywhere in the UTC and not being around at least a few Ceres Galactic goods and services. Erik had checked, and Xingguang wasn’t a subsidiary of the company. That suggested the scope of Halcyon’s involvement might be more about them than their parent corporation.

  “And here’s where it gets really spooky,” Malcolm continued, waving his hands. “Or suspicious. Whatever.”

  Erik frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “As best as I can tell, the office at the address is currently empty,” Malcolm explained. “They’ve got the whole thing slotted for removal. In fact, the entire platform, along with most of the tower level, is being redone. You know how many people and companies have to sign off to renovate an entire tower level?” Malcolm’s eyes darted around before settling on Erik, and he licked his lips. “It’s probably easier to get a Zitark to agree to be a vegetarian.”

  “Sure, but corps agreeing isn’t impossible,” Erik countered. “Even sky castles need repairs and renovation at times. There’s only so much fancy materials can prevent.”

  “Sure, sure.” Malcolm jerked his finger up to point at a window to his far left. “But what about that? How do you explain it?”

  Erik leaned forward and squinted. “I can’t read reversed tiny text from over here, even on a black background.”

  “It’s relevant dates,” Malcolm replied. “The timing is suspicious.” He fluffed his shirt, today’s being a verdant jungle scene. “From what I can tell, they suddenly decided to clear out the level not all that long after those messages were sent from Neo SoCal toward Mu Arae. It doesn’t have to mean anything, but I’m doubting they needed someone that far away to sign off.”

  Erik’s stomach tightened. “Huh. Yeah, that is a little suspicious.”

  Uncomfortable coincidences were beginning to pile up.

  It smelled like someone was clearing out their building and everything around it after sending kill orders to Mu Arae. It’d be a good thing to do if they didn’t want to leave any evidence behind.

  “And the renov
ations haven’t proceeded at all,” Malcolm added. He pointed to a dense block of text to his right. “They cleared out the level and the platform, but never got around to doing anything with it. It’s still pending. So basically, there’s an entire platform and most of a tower level being used for nothing. I’m not an expert on real estate, but that seems pretty wasteful to me.”

  “I agree.” Erik nodded. “Send me the address, and I’ll check it out. Thanks, Malcolm. This is helpful.”

  Malcolm tapped to transmit the information. “Also, I know you have that fancy AI, but I have something that still might be helpful.”

  Erik waited for Emma to respond, but she didn’t. Maybe she had learned her lesson with the captain, or maybe she wasn’t paying attention. He wasn’t sure if her not paying attention was even possible.

  The AI kept demonstrating remarkable analysis and hacking capabilities, but her obsession with things like having a body made her come off as a woman who happened to be trapped in digital form rather than an advanced computer system.

  “What do you have?” Erik asked.

  Malcolm reached into his desk and pulled out a black cube with a small triangular IO connector at the bottom.

  He held it up in his palm. “This is something I’ve always wanted to try. It’s a high-speed remote transmitter, but we don’t have much use for them in the 1-2-2. We never do the kinds of investigations you see in the dramas, and these don’t generally leave enough of an audit trail to be acceptable by the regs. If you connect this to a system IO access port, it can quickly copy and dump files. If we had used one of these in the Windward raid, things would have been different.” He shrugged and looked disappointed.

  Erik reached for the device. “I should be clear, Malcolm. This investigation is going to continue being off the books. Way off the books.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Just tell me one thing.”

  “Sure.”

  Malcolm locked eyes with Erik. “Are you going after someone who deserves it? Not someone who just cut you off in traffic or something like that?”