One Dark Future

by Michael Anderle

  Erik should have walked away. All rational thoughts told him to walk away, but he found himself unable to move.

  “Okay,” Erik muttered. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “Let’s assume I believe you aren’t a total nutjob and that you actually have stumbled onto a conspiracy. I can’t say conspiracies don’t exist, because I’ve been knee-deep in them since coming back to Earth. That means there’s a non-zero possibility you’re telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean we’ve hit point-one-percent.”

  “I’ll take that number,” Garth breathed, hope returning to his eyes. “And I know that all intelligent people come around to the truth when they see the evidence. Sometimes it just takes a while. But you’ve seen it. Like you said, you’ve fought it. I know there’s a lot more going on with you than the news admits. Things that the average person would laugh off as absurd if they didn’t know the truth.”

  “Tell me about what’s going on.” Erik walked back over to his flitter and leaned against it with his arms crossed. “Take it slow and from the beginning. If I don’t like what I hear, I walk, and you promise never to bother me again.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Garth related the existence of his Truth Brigade and Minho’s document. He elaborated on how they’d investigated the observatory incident using their different resources, and how everyone had become worried when White Rabbit didn’t come to a meeting and wouldn’t respond to messages. Shortly thereafter, the others started disappearing or mysteriously dying in rapid succession.

  It didn’t take much for a group of conspiracy nuts to decide that meant something bad.

  After fleeing his apartment, Garth had collated what information he could from the surviving messages of the Brigade. His quick analysis pointed him to a hidden site online, where he used codes and phrases known only to the Brigade to recover additional data, again suggesting there was something suspicious about the observatory explosion and giving a specific set of coordinates. When he attempted to return to the site hours later, he couldn’t connect anymore.

  Despite some editorializing during the explanation by Garth about the Navigators obviously coming on a ship, Erik couldn’t ignore the timing of the Brigade’s investigation and how it overlapped with what the ID investigation had uncovered.

  “What are the coordinates?” Erik asked, still not believing Garth might have stumbled onto a true conspiracy. “I can follow up on this. I’ve got the resources and connections, the kind of people who won’t get taken out, even by assassins.”

  “I know. That’s why I came to you.” Garth swallowed. “But I can’t give you the coordinates so easily. No offense, Erik, but those coordinates are the only reason you have for keeping me alive.”

  “What the hell?” Erik dropped his arms and furrowed his brow. “You came to me for help, but you think I’m going to kill you?”

  “I think I need to be careful. Even if you want to protect me, there might be other people you’re in contact with who’ll believe I’m more trouble than I’m worth. I thin—”

  Blood sprayed from a new massive hole in Garth’s chest. He jerked and stumbled back against his vehicle, coughing up blood. Two more shots, unaccompanied by obvious gunfire, ripped through his chest, and one skimmed his head and shredded his hair.

  Erik dropped to the ground. A bullet whizzed past and struck the parking platform’s surface, deflecting with a large spark. More rounds ripped through Garth’s flitter, followed by three striking the MX 60 and bouncing off.

  Erik stayed low and crawled toward Garth. He grabbed the huge man’s arm, and with a grunt of exertion, pulled him toward the MX 60.

  Emma opened the back without being asked and Erik shoved Garth inside, then crawled into the flitter and up to the driver’s seat.

  “E-Erik,” Garth wheezed.

  “Don’t talk. We’re safe in here. They’d need a missile to hurt this flitter.” Erik opened his console and yanked out a med patch.

  “You…need…to…know.” Garth rattled off a series of numbers, and his head lolled back. Blood seeped out of his mouth and he stared straight up, his chest no longer moving.

  Erik slapped the patch on him. “How’s he doing, Emma?”

  “Not well. He needs a hospital to have any chance, but…” Emma sighed. “I can potentially back-trace the rounds. It’s very unlikely he’ll survive, but you might be able to—”

  “Fuck the sniper,” Erik growled. “He’s probably an errand boy anyway. Send an anonymous message to the police about where you think you might have seen him. It doesn’t matter if it’s not much of a chance. We need to get Garth to a hospital.” He grabbed another med patch. “Take us to the nearest hospital as fast as you can. Do whatever you need to get us there. I’ll deal with the repercussions.”

  Erik sat in a small waiting room, staring down at his bloodied hands. He’d dropped Garth off, and a local detective had shown up minutes later to take an initial statement.

  The local police had been alerted to erratic flying but backed off when Emma transmitted a message making it clear it was Erik transporting a severely wounded man.

  That left him to deal with the first detective.

  The best lies are ones wrapped in truth, so Erik told the cop about how Garth used to be his neighbor and thought he was being stalked, along with members of his online Truth Brigade. Erik even mentioned the mysterious deaths in the other cities.

  He left out what the Brigade was investigating. That detective departed, leaving him with his thoughts.

  Minutes later, there was a light knock on the door. Erik looked up as Detective Yavers stepped inside with a weary look.

  Yavers closed the door and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”

  Erik slammed his fist into the wall. He wasn’t going to ask how that could have happened. Medical science was a wonder, but that didn’t mean it was infinite in its capacity.

  There would have been far more survivors on Molino otherwise.

  “Did they at least get the bastard?” Erik rumbled, his teeth clenched so tightly in hurt.

  “I take it you were the one who sent the message about the shooter, or someone you know did?” Detective Yavers asked. “We assumed so since that message came shortly before your excuse for speeding.”

  “Did you get the bastard?” Erik repeated, glaring at the detective.

  “I shouldn’t be telling you this because it is an open investigation, but out of professional respect, I’ll level with you.” Yavers shook his head. “We checked out the area from the tip. An officer found some spent casings, but we’re getting crap from the cameras and drones—malfunctions or not recording data. Not sure yet, but we assume they were hacked. Whoever did this was a top-level pro.”

  “Of course they were.” Erik took a deep breath through his nose and slowly let it out of his mouth. “I didn’t need you to tell me that. I needed you to catch them.”

  “It wasn’t in the cards.”

  “Then I’ve got nothing else to give you.”

  Detective Yavers frowned. “We can help. If you know who did this, let us and the CID drop the hammer on them, Blackwell. This doesn’t have to be some vigilante thing.”

  Erik looked up at Yavers. “Not going to tell me I have to give you everything, or you’ll charge me with obstruction of justice?”

  “You’re the damned Obsidian Detective. No one’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I’m saying if you want justice for your friend, use every resource.”

  “He wasn’t a friend, but he didn’t deserve to die like that.” Erik stood. “Get with the CID and follow up on his conveniently dead friends in other cities, and maybe you’ll find something. That’s all I can give you for now.”

  Detective Yavers frowned. “What about you?”

  “Me? I’m not a cop anymore. It’s not my responsibility to solve crimes.”

  “Just like it wasn’t your responsibility to
stop terrorists on Venus?” Detective Yavers cocked his head, a look of challenge in his dark eyes.

  “Can’t blame me if an idiot tries to kill someone right in front of me.” Erik headed toward the door. “This time, they were too far away.”

  * * *

  May 8, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Apartment of Jia Lin

  “You look like hell,” Jia whispered.

  She offered Erik a moistened hand towel. He sat on her couch, his hands and duster still covered with Garth’s blood. He took the towel and wiped his hands.

  He’d told Jia he’d head right over to her place once he was done at the hospital. There was no reason for her to come there, especially with the NSCPD sniffing around and looking for a reason to crawl up his ass.

  “I’ve looked worse,” Erik replied. “We can’t do shit for Garth now, but he gave up something important enough to die for. Coordinates, he said. All I know is that it has something to do with that damned observatory. Too many arrows pointing that way. There comes a point where we have to think that means something.”

  “What do the coordinates point at?” Jia asked.

  “Hell if I know.” Erik shrugged. “I don’t even remember them, and they were gibberish numbers when he said them.”

  Jia jerked back as if struck and stared at Erik. Her voice rose. “You don’t remember them?”

  “I don’t need to.” Erik gestured to his PNIU. “I didn’t record with this, but I’m sure Emma remembers. I’m the fleshbag, not her.”

  Emma materialized in a nearby chair, her expression pensive. “Based on the mention of the observatory and my attempt to map them using different systems, it’s highly likely the coordinates are ecliptic celestial coordinates pointing to a location in the outer Solar System.”

  Erik nodded slowly. “Near the HTP? That would make sense if that’s where the conspiracy’s base is.”

  “Unfortunately, no.” Emma shook her head. “Much, much farther. If the coordinates and my interpretation are accurate, this is about a thousand AUs out, placing it well beyond Sedna, let alone the HTP.”

  “I don’t get it,” Jia replied with a frown. “There’s nothing out there. Maybe old probes, but it’s nothing but lots and lots of ice and rocks.”

  “No,” Erik murmured. “There’s something out there, something important enough to risk a public assassination and kill several people to keep hidden.” He finished wiping his hands and tossed the towel into Jia’s trash. “The sniper wasn’t interested in me. He took a couple of shots at me, but he seemed more concerned about finishing off Garth. That means he was more worried about the information Garth had than anything else. He might not have even recognized me.”

  “If he did, he probably would have shot you first.”

  Erik nodded grimly. “Yeah. That’s what I figure, too.”

  “What’s our next step?” Jia asked.

  “We contact Alina. It’s not like we’re flying out that far in the Argo, but there is one way we might be able to take a look.”

  Jia’s eyes widened. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

  Erik nodded slowly, not feeling the need to say it. Converging lines of evidence pointed them at something in the outer Solar System that had to do with the conspiracy. He couldn’t think of a better reason to test a jump drive.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  May 9, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Private Hangar of the Argo

  Erik, Jia, Alina, Emma, and Malcolm gathered in the galley of the Argo to discuss the situation. The coordinates had been passed along to Alina the day before with a brief discussion of what happened to Garth. Lanara and Cutter were off working on prepping the ship, per Alina’s instructions.

  Jia had barely seen Cutter over the last few weeks, but he didn’t exhibit Lanara’s almost pathological need to stick around the Argo when they weren’t on a mission together. Of their group, he was the most normal, a man working a job for a paycheck and relaxing when he wasn’t needed. In other circumstances, she would have been surprised that someone like him would hang around people like them.

  “I’ve had some of my people follow up on the information you passed along,” Alina explained. “And I agree. I think this is a time for decisive action, but before we go into that, there’s the issue of the NSCPD and CID and the mess Erik left behind.”

  “What about them?” Erik asked with a frown.

  “I would have preferred you were less forthcoming with them,” Alina replied. “I appreciate that you kept the most important information from them, but you gave them enough that they want to dig deeper into this incident, when right now we need them doing the opposite.”

  “I couldn’t catch the guy, so I wanted someone to do it.” Erik shrugged. “If the cops and the CID are up the conspiracy’s ass, that’s to our advantage.”

  “Depending on the circumstances, yes, it can be.” Alina’s gaze dipped, frustration visible on her face. “But for now, we don’t need law enforcement watching you two closely. I’ve pulled strings to try to derail the investigation, but I want additional help in managing that.” She turned to Malcolm. “And you’ll help provide that, Mr. Constantine. I don’t want you providing active support for the upcoming mission.”

  “You sure?” Malcolm glanced at Jia and Erik as if seeking direction. “They might need me. I was a big help with Mizuchi.”

  “I’m sure.” Alina gave a firm nod. “Your skillset won’t be that helpful on the next mission. I need you here cleaning up after Erik, so when he gets back from his next mission, he doesn’t have to waste time with the local authorities.”

  “It sounds like whatever you have in mind is happening soon,” Jia commented.

  “Very soon. I want you and Erik prepared to fly out tomorrow on the Argo. I’ve already briefed Lanara and Cutter. It’s time we stopped messing around, and we don’t know how time-sensitive this latest intel is, so all the more reason to hit this immediately.”

  Jia smiled. Erik’s instincts had been correct.

  “We’re flying to the jumpship, aren’t we?” Jia asked.

  “Yes,” Alina replied. “The construction base is in the Asteroid Belt. You should be able to get there in under one week with a hard burn. Upon arrival, Emma will interface with the Bifröst, so Raphael can immediately finish the calibrations for the first test jump.”

  Erik chuckled. “Bifröst? I figured it’d be a Greek or Roman name.”

  “Not my call on the name. I would have called it the Agamemnon.” Alina frowned and looked down, clearly annoyed. She lifted her head, the annoyance replaced by stern concentration. “But back to the mission. You’re going to make the rendezvous, and with Emma’s help, perform a test jump. Raphael says if that goes well, we should be able to calibrate for an in-system jump.”

  “To the coordinates,” Jia concluded.

  “Exactly. The conspiracy doesn’t want anyone to know about that object at the edge of the Solar System, so you’re going to go take a look.”

  “Is it really going to be that easy?” Erik asked.

  Emma nodded. “Despite the communications delays, I’ve been receiving regular updates from Doctor Maras concerning the drive and making the necessary adjustments to my network. I can’t guarantee success, but I’m beginning to have a better understanding and feeling about my involvement in the process.”

  Erik thought a moment. “Can you explain it? I still don’t get it.”

  “Can I explain it to you? Of course not.” Emma laughed. “Navigation with the jump drive involves a unique combination of intuition and massive processing power that of all the entities in the UTC, only I possess. I apologize, Erik, but it’d be like trying to explain calculus to a baby. Even if you understood the words, you would not understand the underlying meaning.”

  To Jia’s surprise, Erik offered a weak shrug in response.

  Alina tapped her PNIU, and a three-dimensional holographic diagram of the Solar System appeared. A flashing sphere in t
he outer system marked the coordinates, with enlarged indicators for Sedna, Pluto, and the Sol HTP.

  “We have another reason to get moving on this as soon as possible,” Alina continued.

  Two new pyramidal markers appeared close to the target coordinates but coming in at different angles.

  Jia gestured to the new markers. “What are those?”

  “As best as we can tell, two ships converging on the coordinates,” Alina replied. “Their sensor and telescopic signatures suggest human ships, though they’ve got a reduced profile relative to what we believe their true size is, which suggests they are making use of advanced stealth technologies.”

  “And those ships are going to get there soon?”

  “Very soon.” Alina looked grim. “A couple of weeks at the latest.”

  “Wait.” Erik shook his head, the disbelief painted over his face. “That thing’s way far out. How long would it take for a ship to get out there?”

  “It’s going to vary depending on when they set out and where they set out from, but in general, expect an average of one-year travel time one way.” Alina pointed to the ship markers in turn. “Someone planned way ahead, and someone has known about this for a lot longer than we have.”

  “How the hell do you miss two ships flying out there?” Erik wondered.

  “Space is big, and the stealth tech didn’t help. We only picked them up because we’ve got a lot of specialty military assets pointed at the coordinates handed to us. It’s not like a lot of people spend time looking at that part of the Solar System.”

  Jia nodded. “But some observatories do, or at least one unfortunate observatory.”

  “Yes, and here’s where things get stranger.” Uncertainty played across Alina’s face. “Someone, and I’d bet good money it’s our conspiracy, has gone through a lot of trouble to erase publicly available information about the object at the coordinates, including manipulation of historical astronomy data.” She stood and inclined her head toward the flashing sphere. “We have to assume they didn’t want anyone to find that, and they sent two ships there, likely within the last year.”