The King jerked, struck by the invisible beam from the weapon. Sparks and internal hydraulic fluid leaked out of the large hole she’d carved through the center of the bot. Jia let out a shout of triumph, then aimed again and pulled the trigger. This time she blew a leg off. After her third shot, the machine stopped moving.
Erik quit firing. She snapped her head in his direction, surprised.
He inclined his head forward. “No more little guys.”
Jia blinked and looked around. He was right. She’d been so focused on destroying the King that she’d lost overall tactical awareness.
She would need to work on that.
A loud hum sounded from outside. Jia swiveled the tripod in that direction and licked her lips in anticipation. A long dark shadow heralded the arrival of something even worse than the King. An armored personnel carrier pulled forward, hovering a few feet off the ground. The only saving grace was the lack of a turret on top.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Jia griped. She pulled the trigger twice, blasting two new holes in the APC, but the vehicle continued forward. She pulled the trigger again, but the weapon didn’t fire. Out of energy. “What is it going to do, run us over?”
“I doubt that,” Erik replied.
The APC pivoted to its side, and the doors began to open. Light glinted off the squirming six-legged bots filling the vehicle.
“It’s doing what it’s supposed to—carry troops.” Erik sprinted toward the case and grabbed the missile launcher and a round. He dropped the projectile in and steadied the launcher on his shoulder in a practiced move that took only seconds. “Backblast area clear,” he shouted. She replied, and he launched.
The missile screamed toward the APC as the door finished opening. The attack passed the bots and struck the inside. A massive explosion ripped the vehicle in half. The main chunks of the vehicle collapsed to the floor with an echoing thud as pieces of security bots fell from above like metal hail.
“I’m really glad I’m not paying for this,” Jia commented.
Erik grinned. “Yeah.” He loaded in a new missile and walked over to Jia to hand her the launcher. “One more shot, just in case, and for the experience.”
She hoisted the launcher onto her shoulder and looked behind her to make sure Erik wasn’t there. “Backblast area clear!”
“Yes!”
Her missile flew toward the burning remnants of the APC and exploded, finishing off the few larger bots that had survived the initial attack. Burning debris now lay all over.
The warehouse and the area behind it no longer resembled a dump, but a warzone. She half-expected the local police to show up and investigate. Maybe the former criminals supported the range because they wanted something in the neighborhood that would discourage the locals from investigating reports of gunfire and explosions nearby.
Jia knelt and set the launcher down. “I admit the laser rifle and missile launcher are pretty handy, although both are heavy. That rifle is insane. It carved through that King like it was paper, despite its armor.”
“Not the right kind of armor for that kind of attack,” Erik commented. “Weight’s bad, but stick it on an exoskeleton and you might be okay.” After a few seconds, he smirked. “So, you like them big?” He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Jia smirked back. “Sometimes size does matter. Sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s nice to have the option.”
Erik grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Another klaxon sounded.
Jia rolled her head around her shoulders to loosen up. “They just keep coming, don’t they?”
Erik pulled his rifle down. “Sure, just like they do in real fights. At least this will be more fun than testifying in court against gangsters.”
Jia readied her rifle and loaded a fresh magazine. She aimed at a bot scurrying toward them and fired. “You know what? You’re right.”
Chapter Five
Sophia waited, her hands resting in her lap and her legs crossed.
Her elaborate scarlet and black asymmetric one-shoulder draped gown highlighted her curves with scientific precision and revealed enough of her skin to be appealing without being coarse.
No matter what many claimed, one’s physical appearance carried power, and she intended to make full use of that truth. She’d learned just how great a weapon beauty could be over the decades.
It didn’t matter if anything about her had ceased to be natural decades ago. The obsession with purity was the greatest lie that the foolish dregs making up most of humanity had let themselves accept.
The divine gave mankind knowledge, and she saw no problem with taking that knowledge and applying it to transcend the so-called natural order. Of course, the lesser beings populating the UTC needed to be kept in check.
It was far too amusing that the UTC thought it was helping them, but really, it was indirectly carrying out the will of the Core.
Such lies and misdirection had their place, but their plans needed to proceed with caution. The Local Neighborhood races interjected far too much uncertainty into formerly clear plans. The nonhumans would have their uses, too, but not until the time was right. It’d taken far too much effort as it was to encourage limited contact with such dangerous outside elements, and there was only so long they could depend on alien xenophobia to keep them away from UTC space.
Everything would change then.
Sophia tried to convince herself not to worry about aliens. In the end, all living beings wanted the same thing. She just wanted to make sure humanity—and by extension, her group, the Core—had the upper hand when the UTC started mixing more fully with the aliens. Humanity would rule the galaxy, and the Core would rule humanity.
She stared out at the long, empty table in front of her. It was time. She shouldn’t keep her colleagues waiting.
She tapped her PNIU. Twelve other chairs winked into existence, followed by flawless holograms of the other members of the Core, all the men and women dressed elegantly, according to their personal tastes. She appreciated that they all shared her mindset about the importance of appearance. When people could sculpt themselves with ease, they had no justification for not appearing their best.
Not to do so implied laziness of spirit, and anyone like that didn’t belong in the Core.
A burly, handsome blond-haired man in a suit near the center of the table looked her way. He cleared his throat and spoke with a faint Russian accent. “It’s been some time since we had a full meeting. Was this really necessary, Sophia? This type of meeting brings with it risks.”
“Everything we do carries risk, Ivan.” She scoffed. “That’s what it means to be leaders. As for whether it was necessary, that is a matter for debate. However, given events that have unfolded on Earth and the moon involving the Last Soldier, I thought a formal meeting was in order, lest everything we are working on be threatened. I also wanted to make sure we’re all in agreement about how to proceed, so we avoid certain problems.” Her gaze cut to a breathtakingly gorgeous long-haired Japanese man in a black silk robe. “Especially since certain assurances about the clean up on Molino have proven to be premature. Wouldn’t you say, Shoji?”
The Japanese man threaded his fingers together, his mouth quirking into a ghost of a smile. “Premature? I dispute that characterization. The package was retrieved from Molino, and our involvement with the elimination of all relevant witnesses has yet to be exposed. As far as the rest of the UTC is concerned, those soldiers were killed by terrorists.”
“The Last Soldier disagrees.” Sophia narrowed her eyes. “And he’s harmed our interests by looking into the matter.”
Shoji’s smile turned infuriatingly merry. He needed a good slap. “His disagreement is irrelevant. For all his skill, he’s only one man with limited resources. We are thirteen, with access to some of the greatest resources in the entirety of the UTC.”
Ivan shook his head. “But it’s not just him. There are elements of the UTC government that aren’t optimally controll
ed, and there’s some evidence that they might have had contact with him. This has turned into more of a threat than any of us anticipated. We can’t ignore that risk just because it’ll make us feel better about our superiority.”
Shoji whipped his hair over his shoulder and gave a bored sigh. “All other annoying elements will be taken care of, if not soon, in the near future. We need to continue to handle this entire situation with care. All our efforts could come to nothing if the wrong people become aware of things. Exposure is more of a risk than one obsessed suicidal soldier and whatever ragtag allies he can scrape together with a sob story about his unit being lost. He could eventually grow despondent and end himself.”
Sophia scoffed. “There’s little evidence of that. He won’t stop until he finds the truth or he’s dead.”
“Well, I do love a simple solution set.”
A scowling dark-haired man at the end of the table crossed his arms. “I care more about the package. Your ridiculously circuitous movement of it has hampered things, and the research summaries sent along weren’t as promising as I’d hoped. It’s almost as if you’re trying to keep something from the rest of us.”
Sophia waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, Farad. All of the artifacts were not only successfully retrieved and transported, as I previously described, but the analysis is proceeding apace. We’ve discovered useful things that justify the effort we put into acquiring them and covering it up, even with the few loose ends.”
“Meaning what?” Farad narrowed his eyes. “Details are useful. Generalities not. You’ve called a full meeting. That’s an inconvenience you should atone for by being open.”
“The artifacts are believed to have the capability of helping us directly achieve our ultimate goal rather than the temporary solutions we’ve relied on in the past.” Sophia leaned forward, a genuine if cold smile appearing. “If not that, they at least have the ability to teach us how to achieve that goal based on our existing knowledge.”
Several men and women at the table exchanged glances. Sophia deepened her smile.
“Have we confirmed if they are Navigator technology?” Ivan asked. “All the initial reports said they appeared to be different from previously recovered Navigator artifacts, and that is why the research has been slower, after taking into account the transfer times.”
She tapped a finger on the table. “It’s too early to tell. They are from the appropriate time period, but there’s some evidence it might be Hunter technology, even if it is different from what we have dealt with in the past. It’s not as if we have exhaustive knowledge of all ancient dead races.”
Murmurs broke out around the table, something passing for genuine excitement among the members of the Core. Sophia waited for the din to die down before continuing.
“But as noted in the initial report, there were at least a few distinct Navigator artifacts in the cache,” she explained. “That does raise questions that might remain unanswered despite our best efforts.”
“The Navigators were hiding the artifacts from the Hunters?” Shoji suggested. “Or perhaps the opposite?”
Ivan grunted. “Does it matter? The Navigators and Hunters were dust before we’d mastered fire. Perhaps the Hunters did wipe out the Navigators, but we only have a few scraps of evidence to suggest that. We must complete our plan before knowledge of the Hunters leaks out and people seek the technology and complicate matters. If knowledge of the Navigators hadn’t spread, this wouldn’t be so difficult. Now every maggot on a frontier world is digging into caves, hoping they can find Navigator tech and raising the risks to our operations.”
Shoji threw his head back and laughed. “What absurdity. You really think Navigator technology could have been concealed so easily from the rest of humanity?”
“What’s so funny?” Ivan glared at the other man. “Why couldn’t it? I still think it was a horrid mistake to let that knowledge spread.”
“The UTC could have never spread without the hyperspace transfer points.” Shoji chuckled. “And how would anyone explain something that violated everything we knew about physics? Trying to conceal it would have been more trouble than it was worth. At least the Hunter technology is more…limited in terms of the scope of the applications we intend.”
“We could have explained the new technology as human ingenuity,” Ivan insisted, puffing out his chest. “I’m surprised you think it would have been so difficult after everything—"
“The past is irrelevant,” Sophia snapped, “except in how it influences the future. We have the artifacts, and our people will continue to study them. That is what matters to me and the future. They have great promise. They will lead to our eventual goal. Is this understood?”
Farad leaned forward, scowling. “Not all past experiments with artifacts have proven all that healthy. I’m not going to be the first volunteer to try it. I’m not going to sacrifice my life for the rest of you.”
Sophia gave him a cold smile. “Cowardice isn’t always the best long-term survival strategy. Keep that in mind before saying things like that.”
Ivan harrumphed. “These advances are heartening, but the technology doesn’t solve our immediate problem.”
“Which is?”
“The Last Soldier,” Ivan insisted. “He’s been sniffing around too much. It’s now obvious that letting him live was a mistake.” He looked at Sophia. “You called this meeting mostly because of him, yes?”
“He was supposed to be a broken shell of a man who turned people away from looking deeper.” Sophia shrugged. “But there’s no concern as long as we all agree on how to proceed and don’t end up interfering with each other’s efforts.” Her gaze cut to Farad. “As has happened in the past.”
Farad averted his eyes. “What is good for some of us isn’t necessarily good for all of us.”
“We’ve been through this type of situation countless times,” Sophia continued, deciding not to press the issue of operational sabotage. “It’s difficult to predict the behavior of all variables. We should continue to push operations against him, but be mindful of anything that points back to us. This is a delicate time, and we cannot have the research into the artifacts be threatened.” She shook her head. “Besides, he’s had some minor successes, but that doesn’t change one very important reality.”
“And what is that?” Ivan chimed in, his brow furrowed in what seemed like perpetual anger.
“It’s as I said earlier. He’s one man. A troublesome man, but still a man.”
“But others have been helping him. He’s had contact with the ID. It’s obvious he’s receiving support from military sources as well. Who knows how much he’s told the police in Neo Southern California? He grows more dangerous by the day.”
Sophia rolled her eyes with as much contempt as she could manage without ocular implants. “Police? Yes. Their efforts have damaged many of our interests in the metroplex, and admittedly, even some of our wider plans, but that’s all the more reason to practice surgical precision rather than anything too obvious. Right now, if we make a bold move, we’ll just confirm everything he believes and has perhaps told to those around him. Even our reach is finite.”
“Then what would you have us do, Sophia?” Farad asked. “Nothing? Why did you bother calling this meeting? For one man, he’s accomplished as much damage to us as dozens of previous attempts by the uncontrolled elements in the UTC government.”
“Mere luck, nothing more. An ant stinging a man because he wasn’t paying attention to the insect.” Sophia’s smile turned as cold as it was wide. “And luck runs out eventually, but that’s not to say we can’t facilitate the process.” She tapped her PNIU. “I’ve sent you all a document. I have recommended a plan that will take care of the Last Soldier, while also providing us with some useful data on other matters of interest. It will also handle him off-world, where he has fewer resources to call on.”
Farad nodded slowly, some of his displeasure ebbing from his face. “Good. Every day he lives, the mor
e he becomes a risk.”
Sophia clucked her tongue. “I would have thought the decades would have taught you the most important lesson of all.”
“And what’s that?”
“Patience is always rewarded,” Sophia responded. “And the problems of the moment will seem minor in the long run.”
Chapter Six
Erik grumbled under his breath. Staring out the window of Jia’s new flitter at the stream of traffic wasn’t doing much to distract him from the day’s irritations.
He would have loved to blow off steam after work at Big Bill’s, but Jia was right. It was ridiculously expensive, and even his vast savings would go dry if he started hitting the place up weekly.
Jia glanced at him from the driver’s seat. “You’re not mad because I’m letting Emma drive, are you? I figure it’s better her than the autodrive.”
“You’re just trying to suck up to her,” Erik grumped.
Emma snorted. For some reason, she liked to be in her holographic form more often in Jia’s flitter than in the MX 60. “It’s working. I don’t like not having a body, and my preferred body has such a lovely array of sensors and options. This is a fine vehicle, but it’s far more limited than the MX 60.”
That might explain her holographic preference. A body of light was a type of body.
“Miguel said it’s taking longer than expected.” Erik shrugged. “He needed to order some special parts. It’s not like I don’t miss having a flitter.”
“It’s not the process I object to,” Emma clarified with a frown. “I’ve just become far too accustomed to having a proper and useful body. I feel very insubstantial when I don’t have a dedicated body. It’s an emotional failing, I’ll admit to that.”
Erik smirked. “It’s only human.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “There’s no reason to be insulting, Detective.”
Jia laughed. “I’m glad that’s all this is, Erik. You’ll get over it soon enough.”
Cabal of Lies Page 4