Desperate Measures Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Three

Erik leaned against the MX 60, his arms crossed, staring at Vincke’s body in the back of the cargo flitter. After the man’s stunt, they’d tried slamming medpatches on him, including antitox patches. Nothing helped, and the man stayed inconveniently dead.

That didn’t surprise him.

The conspiracy wouldn’t have used an execution method that could be easily defeated. He assumed the eventual autopsy would reveal some new and horrible nanotech or genetically engineered bioweapon. The colonel planned to hand the body over to Alina, who informed Erik and Jia via a message to the colonel that she would debrief them in a couple of days.

Striking at field operations would grant them leads, but never prisoners. They would have to get the lower-level operatives in companies like Ceres Galactic, the ones who might understand they were involved in something dangerous but lacked detailed knowledge of the masters of the conspiracy.

Erik preferred a decapitation strike against the enemy, but if he could bleed them out with a thousand tiny cuts, he wouldn’t complain.

Colonel Adeyemi finished a conversation with one of his men at the back of the cargo flitter and headed down the ramp, staring straight at Erik. Jia was checking on some of the wounded soldiers. Everything Erik heard suggested they’d be fine, but he knew she remained shaken about the losses they’d suffered in the battle against the Hunter ship.

“That went well, all things considered,” Colonel Adeyemi offered. He nodded at the cargo flitter. “Honestly, that op proceeded much smoother than I thought it would.”

“Smoother?” Erik chuckled darkly. “You think us taking on an army of

yaoguai

, including some living tanks, was smooth?”

“Yes. Among other things, they didn’t manage to blow the place, and now we know they’d planned to.” Colonel Adeyemi shook his head. “Your instincts were right. It sounds like it was a trap.”

“Too bad for them, I always find a way to pull the cheese out of the trap.” Erik nodded. “I’m leaving it to Koval and her people to go over that place, but even if they get nothing, we wiped out a

yaoguai

lab.” He stepped away from the MX 60. “It could be worse. They could have let those things go for a walk. I don’t know how long they can live without someone pumping chemicals to them, but it could have gotten messy if we had hundreds of monsters roaming the French countryside, looking for things to kill.”

“No team losses either.” The colonel looked thoughtful. “And you’re right about expectations. I don’t think anyone thought you’d be walking into those kinds of

yaoguai

numbers. I was thinking we’d see more Tin Men or bots.”

“That’s the problem with the conspiracy.” Erik shrugged. “They’re willing to use anything, so we never know what to expect. One day it’s humans or Tin Men, the next day it’s

yaoguai

or half-alien assassins. Or damned ancient alien ships.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sometimes it feels endless. I know we’re winning, but I’d like to down more officers, fewer foot soldiers.”

“It’s not endless. The ID’s doing their thing, but you’ve been at the forefront. You took out one of their big-deal members and stopped their operations all over the Solar System.” Colonel Adeyemi smiled. “If this were a counterinsurgency campaign, I’d be feeling pretty damned good about our momentum. Taking down Vand would have been a major turning point where we knew we could suppress them. You should think of it that way, too.”

“True.” Erik blew out a breath and stared into the tree branches shifting under the soft wind. It might be nice to visit a place like this sometime when he didn’t need to show up and fight through monsters. “You’re right. I feel like I’m right about to hit the top of the mountain, and then it’ll all be downhill. Not easy, but at least downhill. I don’t care how rich and powerful these bastards are. They can’t keep losing facilities like this one and their cyborg factory and mount effective forces.”

“Agreed. No one would have blamed you if you ran off and hid on a beach somewhere after Molino, but you didn’t, Blackwell. You remembered that those men and women needed someone to avenge them. And that’s why I respect you.” Colonel Adeyemi extended his hand. “Men like my son. I appreciate what you’ve done, Erik, and I’ll continue to support you with everything I have until it’s over. I’m sure it’s not the best for the rest of my Army career, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Erik shook the colonel’s hand. “Thanks, Colonel. I appreciate that, and I won’t let you or your son down.”

July 16, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Apartment of Erik Blackwell

Erik yawned and stretched as he headed toward his bed. It’d been a busy few days. That was how things always seemed to happen with Alina. He’d begin to relax, and she’d pop up or send a message, and Erik and Jia were off to another gunplay-heavy vacation in some beautiful or exotic locale they needed to save.

He’d always thought military life was unpredictable, but that wasn’t true. If anything, it was the opposite. Individual battles might not occur on a careful schedule announced ahead of time, but at least when he was in the military, he always knew the nature of the enemy.

Erik took a deep breath. He would have preferred Jia sleep at his place, but an excited call from her sister had ended that idea. He didn’t want to get in the way of her new, more positive family relationship, and they spent so much time together, a day or two apart wasn’t going to kill him.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, his mind jumping from everything that had happened on Molino to the present. It’d been easy in the beginning to plan his revenge. He’d half-assumed he’d die along the way, but now in Jia, he had a reason to live, and his successes proved it wasn’t a dream.

“I wonder,” he murmured.

Emma appeared in front of him, eschewing one of her costumes or dresses for a blue terrycloth robe. He decided to not read too much into it.

“Wonder what?” she asked.

“I was wondering about the future.” Erik chuckled. “I was wondering if you’re right.”

“I don’t know what specific conversation you’re referencing, but of course I’m right. I always am, except when I’m wrong, and that’s so rare as to be as easily dismissed as a rounding error. Therefore, I’m effectively always right,” Emma finished with a firm nod. “Being based on a fleshbag isn’t the same thing as

being

a flawed fleshbag.”

Erik motioned around the room. “The apartment was something I bought as part of my cover, my new image. We had that conversation about my living situation and some other recent conversations, and it’s made me wonder about where I’ll be comfortable living when this is all over.”

“The hunt for the conspiracy?”

Erik nodded. He lay back on the bed and rested his head on his hands. “I grew up in Detroit, but it’s been a long time since that place felt like home. Neo SoCal’s a place I came for a job, not because I love it. I’m not Jia. This isn’t my home. It’s just a home base.”

“Presumably you’ll want to stay with her.” Emma conjured a chair and sat. “That would suggest a good possibility that you’ll end up in Neo SoCal. There are worse places to live. There is little any human might want that you can’t find in the metroplex.”

“Jia will stay here? Not necessarily.” Erik shook his head. “She’s grown, and she’s seeing more of not just Earth, but the UTC. I can see it in her eyes because I went through the same thing when I joined the Army. You start wanting to see different places and experience everything. You realize how much more humanity is than just Earth. I think being on the

Argo

and

Bifröst

has made her think that way. She’s already seen some of it. The moon, Mars, Venus.”

“I suppose, but speaking of those ships, once you no longer need to use them as weapons, I’m dubious the government will let you keep them. You’ve said as much.” Emma looked almost melancholy. “I know you’ll find a way to keep me out of their pathetic clutches, but I don’t think you can hide an entire ship from them. That might present difficulties if you’re seeking a similar lifestyle, presumably with less shooting and more exploration.”

“We don’t need the jump drive to see the UTC.” Erik yawned again. “This is where you were right, but your timing was wrong.”

Emma scoffed dismissively. “Rounding error, remember?”

“If I wanted to travel the UTC with Jia after finishing off the conspiracy, we could do that if I had my own ship.” Erik managed a small smile, happiness pushing away the fatigue trying to tug his eyelids shut. “Money’s the other thing I’ve been thinking about on and off. I need to care more now.”

“Money?” Emma sounded surprised. “That’s not something you’ve expressed a lot of concern about in the past. Why is it on your mind? Your initial purchases aside, it’s not as if you live extravagantly.”

“I was thinking about the party and Lan,” Erik explained. “I do have a decent amount of money, and Alina’s slipping us some nice cash in addition to taking care of our expenses, but if I quit working for her tomorrow, I’d only have my savings and a military pension. I was good at saving, but if I owned a ship and was responsible for maintenance, fuel, HTP fees, and all that crap, it would shrink damned quickly.”

“True, and I have a hard time imagining you flying around the galaxy with Jia in some tiny Rabbit transport.” Emma snickered. “The truth is, you’ve both become accustomed to a nicer class of ship, and ignoring the weapons, something like the

Argo

would be a challenge for you to afford, outfit, and maintain without additional income.”

Erik sat up. “All I’ve ever done is save my money.”

“That’s not a terrible thing. It demonstrates more delayed gratification than most humans.”

“I didn’t care much about investing it.” Erik offered Emma a grin. “But now I have an AI.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “I should point out investment AIs are already omnipresent in the financial realm. Therefore, I wouldn’t necessarily outperform the market, given certain aspects of my design. Many of those lesser AIs are pathetic overall, but rather good at their intended purpose.” She frowned and folded her arms. “I’m presuming you don’t intend for me to do anything illegal. It’s not that I’m unwilling to do it, but I suspect if I liberate a large sum of money for you, it will draw too much CID attention to escape.”

Erik shook his head. “Kill a man, and the government pretends to care. But

rob

the rich, and the government declares war on you.” He swung his legs off the bed, excited about the idea now. “I’m not asking you to outperform everyone or do anything illegal. I’m asking you to do better than I could. I don’t know a lot about this kind of crap, which is why I let my money sit in low-interest accounts. It added up after thirty years, but it’d be nice to not have to do anything for a while when this is all over.”

Emma gave him a penetrating look. “You’re willing to trust me with your money?”

“I already trust you with my life, Emma. Most days, that’s more important than my money.” He headed toward the hallway. “And I need more money. Since I’m planning to survive all this, I’d like options, and money equals options.”