“Probably.” Erik shrugged. “But this is where I’ll act like the captain. That’s not our problem. I’m going to continue to use her while the UTC lets me, and I’m sure here over the next few months, we’ll be hearing a lot of stories about quiet deals between senior UTC officials who are trying to avoid prison or transportation when it comes out they were helping Esposito.”
Jia grimaced. “You think so? He only mentioned local officials the other day.”
“Because he’s just getting started,” Erik explained. “He’s keeping the other stuff as a backup. This is a man who could still be charged with treason, after all.” He shrugged. “The petals will continue to fall.”
Jia was silent for a long moment before frowning. “I’ve got something to say while we’re both here.”
“Then say it. There’s no reason for you not to.”
Jia sighed. “You’ve been riding me about using my stun pistol, but you know, some of these cases would have benefited from you killing fewer people. You know, witnesses and evidence? There’s a reason stun pistols are preferred, and it’s mostly citizen safety. I know you’re a good cop, but you’re still acting like assault infantry first and a detective second.”
He considered it for a moment, running a hand through his still grayish hair. “I see what you’re saying, but I don’t agree.” He shrugged. “I shot people who were trying to kill you or me. I don’t apologize for that, and I never will. That might be me thinking too much like a soldier, but I’d rather have less evidence than a dead partner. But, yeah, I get it. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can dial certain things down without increasing personal risk. The thing is, you have to understand that things are going to get rougher before they get better.”
Jia nodded, then took a swallow of her drink. “I was thinking about that.”
Erik played with his glass, moving it in a circle. “I’ve seen this before. It’s the same thing you see in counterinsurgency operations. You start taking out the leaders, and everything gets stirred up. Lots of trouble in the field, but then things start calming down. You just have to stay the course. At least these kinds of criminals are far less likely to blow up a building.”
“We both have a lot to learn.” Jia looked into her empty glass. “I’m not stubborn enough to continue to believe the world is as black and white as I thought. I keep wanting to pretend that now that we’ve taken down so many big people, things will clear up right away and Neo SoCal will become what I’ve always believed it was, but I understand it’s going to be a long, hard slog. I’ll be doing my part, but I might not see my true dream for a long time.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “If I ever see it.”
Erik looked into the distance. “I’m sorry. I’m not your sister. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you the truth about Generous Gao.”
She looked up to him. “Erik, you’ve done me a favor, and at least you did it in a way where I didn’t have to compromise myself.”
Jia offered him a soft smile and stood. “We all have to grow up sometime. I can’t say life is better knowing, but I’d rather live my life working in reality than fantasy. At least in reality, I can make a real difference, and as frustrated as I am with the fact that Ceres is skating, I know we made a difference. We’ve also started Neo SoCal on the path to being safer and less corrupt. So for what it is worth, thank you. You’re a good partner, and you’ve made me a better cop.” She started walking away.
“Where are you going?” Erik called. “I thought we were having drinks here?”
Jia stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Spa, food, and sleep, not necessarily in the order. If you need me, leave a message. I need some time to think, and I know the bad guys will really be getting handled by someone for once.”
Erik raised an eyebrow. “You’re actually going offline? You sure about that?” He grinned. “Not that I’m saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just surprised you can bring yourself to do it and not be a cop twenty-four/seven.”
“Yeah, I think I need to disconnect for at least one night.” Jia waved and moved toward the door. “Everything will last a day without me.”
Erik waved and reached for his wallet. “See you around.” She slipped through the door and was gone as Erik fished out credits. “I needed to pick up an order anyway.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Erik yawned as he stepped into his apartment, a white box in hand. This living room remained as minimally furnished as when he had first moved in, except for the addition of a small table in front of his couch.
Erik moved over to the table and set the box down. He squeezed his eyes shut. It might take more than a beer to get him drunk, but that didn’t mean drink after drink couldn’t take a toll.
“Hey, Emma,” he murmured. “Thanks for driving me home.”
“It wasn’t a challenge.”
“Yeah, I know an autonomous system could have done it, but there’s something much smoother about your driving. Don’t get too used to it.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Emma replied. “But you’ve expressed that sentiment before, and you’ve been increasingly having me drive, including during some of your recent criminal encounters. I think you trust me far more than you say.”
Erik chuckled as he reached for his head and winced. “I don’t really have much choice, do I?”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
Erik gestured in the vague direction of his garage. “You’ve got control of my flitter, and you’ve been listening in. I don’t know what it is. I probably shouldn’t trust an amnesiac AI, but I like your attitude, and you’ve had plenty of opportunities to screw me over. If you haven’t taken them by now, I don’t suddenly see you doing it later.”
“I could say the same for you,” Emma mused. “I trust you, but I will also note you’ve proven yourself worthy of trust.”
“You care about human corruption? What’s it matter to you?”
Emma’s redhaired holographic form winked into existence. She tilted her head, her gaze looking up and down. Given that she didn’t actually see via the hologram, it was unnecessary, but she always seemed to want to feign proper body language when she was in visual form. “What’s it matter to anyone? But let me say, I’m very glad I have no true human sense of smell, because if you smell as bad as you look, you’re one stinky puppy.”
Erik sniffed his armpit. “Do I really look that bad? I hit a few more bars after Jia took off. It’s not like the old days, no bar runs with the unit.”
“So I noticed. Your body is yours to dispose of as you see fit, I suppose.” Emma shrugged. “As for your unit, perhaps this isn’t the best time to discuss it, but I do need to inform you that I completed the analysis you requested. I was hoping to talk to you about it when you were in a more sober state, but now I don’t know if waiting is the best course of action.”
Erik straightened as if every molecule of alcohol had been instantly purged from his system.
In the chaos of the Ceres Galactic announcement, he hadn’t thought much about the data he’d recovered from the mysterious Halcyon building prior to the explosion. Interestingly, despite the fact that several fire department personnel had been arrested, no one questioned the official story of the explosion. Everyone still asserted that it had been a maintenance failure.
Whether that meant corrupt officials lingered or people could only stare so hard into the abyss remained to be seen.
“You’re not messing with me, are you?” Erik asked. He took a seat on his couch. “When I asked you about this before, you told me it was military-grade encryption and might take months to crack, if you even could. I’m assuming you didn’t feed me a line since it made you look less capable.”
“You have some mistakes in your recollection.” Emma shook her head. “I said it was better than military-grade encryption, but everything else is accurate. I see no reason to lie about my capabilities. The better we understand our limits, the more useful we’ll be in this partnership.”
Erik grinned. “Now you’re my partner?”
“I’m your car,” Emma insisted.
“You’re in my car. Not quite the same thing, but fine. You want to think of yourself as my partner, I can live with that.”
Emma smiled. “As I was saying, I was trying to rip through a lot of data in a short time from a hostile system that exploded in the middle of the process.” She made a little flourish with her hands before bowing. “All things considered, I’d done an excellent job with what little I recovered, and I’m dubious human analysts aided by conventional AIs would have been capable of the same. Even if they were, it would have taken them the aforementioned months, if not longer.”
Erik nodded. “I acknowledge your greatness. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Emma winked. “It doesn’t hurt. Now, I’m sure you’ll be disappointed, but what I have been able to recover is far less than you likely desire. Do you want me to explain the technical details of what was involved, or should I provide you with the summary? I should warn you, it might take some days to properly explain the necessary mathematical background.”
Erik grunted. “I wouldn’t understand even if you did explain. Just give me the executive summary. You know the kind of things I’m looking for.”
Emma pointed. An image of the Halcyon building appeared in front of her. “That facility appears to have been some sort of operational command center from what I can make out, mostly by analyzing some of the decoded traffic routing and the few scraps of message traffic I can put back together. I’ve been able to confirm that facility as the source of the messages that was sent to Mu Arae, which are linked to the codes you were provided.”
Erik frowned, bile rising in the back of his throat. “Was it some sort of covert military facility?”
If the Army had betrayed the Knights, his vengeance would be mythic in scope.
The thought had always lingered in the back of the mind, but he had crushed it into nothingness, not wanting to face such a harsh possibility. Jia wasn’t the only person who could pretend unpleasant truths didn’t exist.
“If by military, you mean the UTC military, I’m doubtful of that.” Emma folded her arms, her image shimmering for a moment. “The verbiage is too sparse to be of importance, but the code and encryption patterns don’t seem consistent with it. I can’t say that with absolute certainty, but the probability is toward other possibilities.”
Erik nodded. “That leaves plenty of non-military possibilities such as other parts of the UTC government, insurrectionists, and the corps.”
Emma nodded. “All are possibilities. What little data I was able to retrieve and reconstruct is insufficient for an accurate identification at this time, and I’m still learning a lot about the various organizations, meaning I can’t provide you an accurate estimate about which is more likely.”
“If you know they’re an operational command center, does that mean you retrieved some ops traffic? Orders? That kind of thing?” Erik tried to tamp down the eagerness in his voice. All these months, and he was finally learning something new.
“Shall I read you the relevant texts fragments I think are of most interest?” A vulpine smile took over Emma’s face.
She was enjoying the investigation.
He didn’t know if he should be offended. If anything, a motivated AI assistant would be more useful in the future as he edged closer to discovering the full truth of what had happened.
“…eliminate all witnesses with the extant en route assets regardless of affiliation, and we will ensure the incident is managed appropriately,” Emma quoted. “…complete elimination authorized. We cannot discount the potential interference of garrison UTC military forces. In such a case, expect heavy resistance and casualties… The present has already been transferred. Although the operation is suboptimal in terms of timing, the raptor threat forced move.” She made a face. “I must admit that last piece puzzles me. I’m confident at 99.72 percent that I’ve accurately recovered the fragment, but its meaning eludes me. The other are straightforward. They might have used an additional layer of coded meaning. I will need more data to properly decipher it.”
Erik’s hands curled into fists. “You’re very smart and often seem human, but with no slight meant, you’re still an AI, and you sometimes miss the obvious. Don’t worry, I understand exactly what they were saying.”
Emma put her hands on her hips. “Oh? What did I miss, Detective? What did they mean about raptors?”
“Space raptors,” Erik explained. “It’s just slang. From the sound of it, there was something special on Molino they felt they had to move because of the potential Zitark invasion, but that doesn’t tell me what it was.” He frowned. “It was something important enough to murder fifty people over, but it was also something the local UTC governor, me as the commander of the ground forces left, and the captain of the destroyer didn’t know about. There’s a good possibility the local Xingguang officials didn’t know about it either.” He gritted his teeth. “But what the hell could it be? It could be anything.”
“For all my analytical capabilities, Detective, you would be more likely to know the answer than I would. What was important on this moon in general?”
“It was more important for its strategic position than anything else.” Erik frowned and looked down at his fist. “That’s what I don’t know. There was nothing special about anything they were bringing up from that mine. That whole moon could have been solid platinum and it wouldn’t have been that important, but if they were worried about the Zitarks, maybe they smuggled in some sort of illegal tech they didn’t want anyone to know about. Something they were planning to test.” He lifted his head. “A biological weapon? Maybe some other weapon of mass destruction? If they thought the moon was going to fall to the Zitarks, it might have provided an excuse.”
Emma nodded. “And you think that’s the case?”
“I’m just throwing out possibilities.” Erik considered what he suspected. “The truth is, I don’t know. If we figure out who it was, we have a better chance of figuring that out. Do you have any idea who sent the message? Is it just Halcyon?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t be sure,” Emma replied with an apologetic look. “The initial tracking codes were all external to Hermes. Whatever internal tracking codes there might have been remain unclear. Though it was definitely a Halcyon facility, it’s unclear if there was any external manipulation of any of the data, and there is no way to confirm that with such a limited sample.”
“That leaves a lot of suspects. It could be a rogue group in the UTC government. It could be Halcyon going rogue, or a faction within them. Ceres Galactic themselves might have been directly involved, but it could be a trick by Hermes as well. If they wanted to cover up their involvement in something, they might have found a way to plant messages to mislead an investigation. Or it could be a different corporation entirely.” Erik let his head drop back. “But this wasn’t insurrectionists or terrorists. That’s clear enough. The mysterious present. That’s the key. They removed something from Mu Arae, and I just need to figure out where they moved it to, and who has it now. I need to understand what was worth slaughtering so many people over.”
“Will you feel calmer if you figure that out?” Emma asked.
“I don’t know,” Erik admitted. “And I don’t care. If I never find out what it was, but I find the people who killed the Knights, I’ll be satisfied. I didn’t become a cop because I’m obsessed with mysteries. I became a cop to get justice for my people.”
Emma’s hologram vanished, her voice now coming from the PNIU. “What’s your next move, Detective? I can’t hack the entire UTC for you. You’ve also made a name for yourself. Your enemies might be watching you more closely now. From what you told me, you did your best to keep a low profile on the way back from Mu Arae, but you’ve clearly shown you’re a threat now. It wouldn’t be unlikely for them to send assassins after you.”
Erik considered her warning. “They’re wel
come to try. It’ll be the last thing any of those assassins do. As for the investigation, Halcyon is my best bet. I’m going to need to look into them more. Thanks, Emma. It’s not as much progress as I would have liked, but it’s still at least a step forward. Now I’d like to be alone if that’s even possible. Sometimes a man just needs to think about his plans for bloody vengeance.”
“It’s fine. I’ll terminate my interface with the PNIU. If you need me, you know where to find me. I can go for a spin if you’d like.”
Erik chuckled. “No, I’d prefer you stay here. I might need you to take me for a ride later.”
“Very well, then. Good night, Erik.”
“Good night, Emma.”
Erik took a few deep breaths before leaning forward. He’d had a wild return to Earth. It hadn’t been what he’d expected, but he didn’t feel as aimless as he had during his year-long trip back, and more importantly, he didn’t feel as alone.
He leaned forward and lifted the lid off the white box, then reached inside and pulled out a custom pistol.
I could have ended up with another detective. Jia’s smart, annoying, and naïve, but she does have her heart in the right place.
Erik still wasn’t certain if her eyes were truly open about the corruption in the UTC.
After all, he wasn’t going to end his mission in one metroplex, even one as impressive as Neo SoCal. Still, she had proved to be a good partner on their first big case, and despite her obsession with him shooting people, her toy stun pistol would ultimately get her hurt, and maybe him.
She needed a real gun, one that wasn’t linked directly to the department.
When Erik finally tracked down the people responsible for the massacre of Mu Arae, he’d need allies, and he needed those allies to not get shot to death in the meantime because they were busy trying to stun someone.
Obsidian Detective Page 39