“Pretty bold.” Jia shook her head in disbelief. “Was there any evidence that they had systems access or were jamming?”
“No,” Emma replied. “I don’t see a PNIU on Miss Thompson. I assume they’ve destroyed or removed it already.”
“They were just banking on rushing in there, grabbing her and getting away.” Erik stopped in front of the door. “If we hadn’t come right here, they probably would have. How are we doing for non-combatants?”
“No one is in the hallways presently, and I only have access to the main building’s exterior cameras.”
“Can you lock them in?” Jia asked. “You’ve done similar things before.”
“I can invert the emergency evacuation protocols,” Emma suggested. “It’s only a temporary solution.”
“We won’t need that long.” Erik nodded to Jia. “Let’s keep our fields of fire straight. If we’re going to keep people inside, we don’t want them to get nailed by stray bullets.”
Jia frowned and flipped on her safety. She pulled her assault rifle up and slid the strap over her shoulder before grabbing her stun pistol. “The fewer bullets flying, the better.”
Erik shrugged. “At least there will be someone the cops can interrogate. I know what Thompson said, but if this syndicate is holding out for his help, that means there is only a small number of dirty cops left.”
“We should at least try to get them to surrender before we open fire,” Jia suggested.
“Sure, but that’s on them.” Erik flipped his fire selector to single barrel mode. “We’re here to save Mara, not investigate this crap. I’ll leave that to the 1-2-2 after we get her. Once we secure her, we’ll contact Captain Ragnar, and he can deal with the cleanup. He can make sure she’s with someone trustworthy.”
Jia nodded and took a deep breath. “Emma, if you would.”
The door slid open, revealing the long, sparse hallway with apartment doors spaced out on either side. Based on the supplied targeting highlights and navigational markers, they needed to move up and to their left. A loud scream echoed from that direction.
Jia frowned and jogged forward. “Let’s finish this before it gets complicated.”
“Not a bad plan.” Erik headed after his partner. “Let’s take out the sentries. We’ll let the other guys have a couple of seconds to reconsider the errors of their way.”
“Fine by me.” Jia slowed and moved toward the wall. She edged forward, her gun ready, and nodded across the way. “I’ll cover you while you take position.”
“Works for me.”
Jia stopped at the corner. She took a deep breath, but her heart didn’t pound in her chest, nor did her stomach tighten with anticipation. A battle was always a dangerous time, but after so many encounters and hours of training, her body knew what it needed to do. A handful of syndicate thugs weren’t worthy of concern. If they didn’t have a hostage, they would be a minor irritant, almost a joke.
Erik chuckled and flipped his fire selector to four-barrel mode. “No complaints here. Ready when you are.”
She spun around the corner and pulled the trigger of her stun pistol. The two thugs jerked up their guns, but she’d already fired twice, downing both, before they completed the motion. Erik and Jia charged forward to the intersection. With a quick motion, she holstered her stun pistol and brought her rifle down. If it came to a real fight, she needed to be ready.
“Whatever happened to getting them to surrender?” Erik asked.
“They’ll still get their chance. I just want to make sure that if they turn it down, this is over quicker.”
“Give it up!” Jia shouted. “We’ve got you surrounded.” She arrived at the intersection, hoping they’d buy her lie, but she didn’t peek around the corner. Emma’s highlights made it unnecessary. The AI also helpfully added a blue highlight to mark Mara’s position.
“Back off, cops!” bellowed a thug. “Or we blow this bitch’s brains out. You understand?”
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” Jia shouted back. She waited until Erik was beside her. Both turned the corner, ducking low and their weapons ready. The two thugs stood behind Mara. Their guns both pointed at her head, a tactical error. If they’d fired immediately and gotten lucky, they might have evened the odds, but now Jia and Erik both had their weapons trained on the thugs.
“Wait.” One of the thugs narrowed his eyes. “I know you two. I thought you retired.”
“We did,” Jia replied, keeping a tight grip on her rifle. “But we don’t take kindly to syndicate criminals kidnapping innocent women, and we happened to be in the neighborhood. How unlucky for you.”
Mara whimpered, her eyes pleading with Jia. A huge bruise was already forming on the side of her face. Trickles of blood marred the other side. Jia fought the urge to kill the men right away. The planet would be better off without them.
“This ain’t got nothing to do with you,” the thug seethed. He pushed the gun against the back of Mara’s head. The woman closed her eyes and trembled. If he pulled the trigger, the thugs would be dead in under a second. Jia didn’t trust that the brain trust in front of her understood that, so it was time to be blunt.
Jia sighed and shook her head. “Are you really going to do this? You know who we are. You know our reputation. We can’t even go on vacation without getting wrapped up in trouble and killing terrorists. We go out for coffee and stumble into firefights, and all of those fights end with a lot of dead terrorists or criminals and us barely scratched.”
Erik nodded at his huge rifle. “Listen to her. We were minding our own business when we got dragged into this. Now we’re here, and we’re loaded with enough ammo and weapons to kill ten times as many pieces of crap as you two.”
The thug scoffed. “You’re not doing anything while we have her.”
“Please,” Mara whispered. “I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die.” Jia stared at the men. “Because if you die, these men die, and I think they value their lives enough to not throw them away. Now, you two, be smart little boys and drop your guns. If you do, I give you my word that you will get out of this alive because I’m sure the police have questions for you. But if you harm that woman, you’re not leaving this hallway without some new holes in your head. What’s left of them, anyway.” She glared at them. “And trust me, I won’t lose any sleep over taking out syndicate trash who killed an innocent woman. It’d be very satisfying.”
Mara squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly.
“This ain’t your business,” the thug screamed. “You ain’t even cops anymore!”
Jia offered him her best crazed grin. “Which means there’s absolutely nothing holding us back. You really think if we paint the hallway with your brains, that the NSCPD is going to bring us in?” She stopped smiling. “This is your last chance, idiots. Drop the guns or die. I’ve got a nice rifle here, and my partner’s got a ridiculous rifle with four barrels. We’re both in tac vests. I’ve even got some plasma grenades. I wonder what it feels like to be vaporized?
The thugs glanced at each other, then released Mara and raised their arms. The woman fell forward and scrambled on her hands and knees toward Jia.
“Drop your guns!” Jia shouted. “Or we drop you!”
“Geeze, chill, Lady Justice,” replied one of the thugs. They both let go of their pistols, which clattered to the ground. Mara made it to her feet and ran behind Erik.
“On your knees and turn around,” Jia ordered. “It’s your lucky day because my finger isn’t that twitchy. You’re getting some binding ties and being left for the locals.”
“What’s going on?” Mara whimpered. “Who are these men?”
“Some gentlemen who have business with your brother,” Erik explained.
“Is this because of a case he’s working on?”
Jia shrugged. “Something like that, but it’s a little more complicated. Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on you and make sure you�
�re safe.”
Mara took a shuddering breath. “But won’t I be safe now that you’ve stopped these men?”
“Like I said. It’s complicated.” Jia slung her rifle over her shoulder and pulled out some binding ties. “For now, let’s get our presents ready and get out of here.”
Chapter Eight
Erik adjusted the window tinting of the hotel room until it was solid black. Mara lay on a bed behind him, sleeping on her side. She’d passed out on the way over. They’ve been worried that she’d been hurt after passing out in the flitter, but her vitals were stable. Some people couldn’t handle the kind of excitement so common in Erik’s and Jia’s lives.
For now, they were waiting. They’d sent a brief message to Captain Ragnar, clarifying their involvement but not giving any specific location information. While they trusted the captain, they needed to be sure their efforts weren’t wasted.
Jia leaned against a wall, her lips pursed. “How are we doing, Emma?”
“This room and the exterior hallway are secure,” Emma reported. “But we might be more secure staying aboard the Argo rather than in a hotel, my ability to hack their systems and your disguises and fake registration notwithstanding.”
“We can’t risk our ID work getting mixed up in a local favor. Alina might pull the ship if we do. This isn’t like Mars. It’s not an investigation that went in a different direction.” Erik shook his head. “Besides, we don’t need a ship. We just need to hide from the syndicate until we get this under control. Compared to the Ascended Brotherhood, these guys might as well be kids with water pistols.”
Jia pushed away from the wall and sat on the edge of the other bed. “You don’t think this is strange?”
“Those goons going after leverage?” Erik shrugged. “It’s a standard play. What’s strange about it?”
“No, not the syndicate.” Jia gestured around the room. “How easily we can do this sort of thing. We armed up with enough firepower to take down a squad, grabbed a woman from thugs, and tucked her away under a fake name in a room protected by a super-AI and Intelligence Directorate anti-spying technology. And we didn’t spend time talking about it other than having Emma pick a random hotel.”
“You say all that like it’s a bad thing.” Erik shrugged.
“It’s not that it’s a bad thing,” Jia replied. “It’s just strange, even compared to our old lifestyle. We were cops before, but we weren’t as good at hiding from everything and everyone. We depended on backup and resources.”
“We still do. It’s just different resources now.” Erik walked over to his TR-7, which was sitting atop a dresser. He ran his finger over the weapon, remembering all the times over the decades it had saved him. “I look at it differently. The only way to win a war is to adapt to battlefield conditions.”
“And we’re in a war with the conspiracy?”
“Yeah, we are.” Erik lifted his hand. “And some of these adaptations prove useful in other situations. I’m never going to complain about not having to spend a lot of time figuring crap out, and I’m never going to complain about having advanced gear.”
Emma appeared near the door, this time in a blue and black NSCPD patrol uniform. “You’ll want to see this. It’s relevant.” She pointed, and a data window appeared with a paused news video featuring a concerned-looking blonde reporter standing in front of a bullet-riddled flitter on a parking platform. Police drones and officers stood behind her in the distance.
“Play it,” Erik ordered.
“A shocking scene is unfolding today at Commerce Tower 45.” The reporter gestured to the police covering the area. “The police are still offering minimal details on what happened other than revealing that a police detective was shot and left for dead. He’s been stabilized but was taken to the hospital, where he is now in critical condition. It remains unclear who attacked the detective and what motivated them, and the police are refusing to pass along further details at this time. They’ve told us that no one else was found at the scene, but the detective’s stun pistol had been discharged. The police are being tight-lipped about whether this relates to the arrests and recovery of several men related to a shootout in Residential Tower 82. We’ll keep you up to date as the authorities offer more information.”
“I don’t understand why they didn’t finish him off.” Jia folded her arms. “If he’s still alive, there’s no way he’s not going to IA and the CID.”
“They might not have had enough time,” Erik replied. “Or they might think they could still make use of him.” He nodded toward the sleeping Mara. “There was no reason to go after her if they just planned to kill him. Giving him some free holes and leaving him to recover while they have his sister would be enough. Or maybe they just screwed up. It’s not like the smartest people choose ‘syndicate enforcer’ as a job.”
Jia scratched her cheek. “You’re right. Things might have just gotten out of hand. They met with Jared, and he made it clear he wasn’t going to work with them. He’d called us, so he might have been gambling on us being able to handle anything that came up. The tempo of everything was a little faster than I’d like, but at least we’ve got it mostly under control.”
“It’s not gambling when you know the result. The question now is how we want to continue.”
“Nothing Jared said about possible dirty cops was wrong.” Jia pulled back her jacket to reveal a holster. “Even if he feels like cooperating after getting new holes, if we call the 1-2-2, this might end with a bullet in Mara, too.”
“Then we should go ahead and put in a direct call to Ragnar and arrange a meeting. By now, he’s probably got some people lined up because of the message we sent.” Erik frowned. “That’s our best bet.”
“Agreed.” Jia nodded.
“Do it, Emma,” Erik ordered. “On speaker.”
A couple of seconds ticked by before Captain Ragnar answered, “Blackwell, how is Mara?”
“She’s asleep but unhurt. You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to, but I’m assuming Jared’s the detective who got shot?”
Captain Ragnar sighed. “Yes. We’ve got some long-range drone footage of some of the fight, but the local cameras and drones were disabled. He did a decent job stunning some of them, but they shot him several times, grabbed their guys, and ran. From the timing of things, it was about the same time as you were rescuing Mara. The local enforcement zone dragged their feet on passing that information on to me, even though it was my detective who got shot. The CID is already swooping in to take over the investigation.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Jia offered, and let out a quiet grunt. “Especially since he is dirty.”
“I’m surprised he managed to slip through, but if he was telling the truth, it makes sense. No new money, no messing with cases would make it hard for anyone to pick up on him.” Irritation flavored the captain’s voice.
“What about Mara?” Erik asked. “We did our part and saved her, but we’re not in a position to offer her long-term protective custody. You could grab Halil and a couple of other guys we know we can trust and have them watch her.”
“It’s already more complicated than that,” Captain Ragnar replied. “I told you the CID wants control, and they also want Mara. They’re worried about someone in the department getting to her, and I can’t blame them.”
Jia furrowed her brow. “She would be safer. Jared might be one of the few pieces of trash left in the 1-2-2, but we can’t assume Jared’s the only leftover one in the entire NSCPD. All that reform and anti-corruption work have been good, but there are just too many people to catch every snake. One small leak and she ends up kidnapped as a bargaining chip.”
“It’s not like Jared’s going to be able to help them now. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t end up doing time.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jia’s gaze drifted to Mara. “If they can’t use Mara to get to Jared, they could use Mara as an example of what happens to people who resist them. Then all the other lef
tovers will be more willing to help them out.”
Captain Ragnar let out a frustrated grunt. “You’re right, Lin. If you two hadn’t saved her, this situation would already be out of control.”
“I think it already is.” Jia glanced at Mara and shook her head. “It’s just not as badly out of control as it could be.”
“I’m going to contact the CID agents who are taking over the case, and then I’ll call you back with a meeting location.”
“Sounds good,” Jia replied.
Erik scratched the side of his nose. “I hope it’s not going to cause you too much trouble that we were involved in this, Captain.”
The captain laughed. “Trouble? I think it’ll be great PR. If we spin it right, we might even be able to convince people that you’re still always watching and waiting to help us. If you don’t mind, that is.”
“You do whatever you want.” Erik looked at Jia. “I don’t care if you use my name to keep some idiots in line. But I also hope to not get involved with NSCPD stuff again if I can help it.”
“I’m fine with it, too,” Jia offered with a smile. “I became a police officer because I wanted to help Neo SoCal. If my name can do that without me putting in any effort, that’s even better.”
“I’ll contact you soon,” the captain replied. “I’m glad to have you two on my side again, even if it’s just for an evening.”
Jia didn’t feel bad about stepping out of the MX 60 with her assault rifle in hand in the parking lot of a small park. She trusted Captain Ragnar, but there had been enough surprises in her life in the last couple of years that she valued careful preparation more. Erik opened the back door to let Mara out before pulling his TR-7 out of the flitter. In the end, trust was nice. Superior firepower was better.
Other than a handful of drones flying overhead, the place was empty, not surprising given the large but idle construction bots standing around the area. Scaffolding and unopened crates were piled around the bots. Shallow holes dotted the area.
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