Desperate Measures Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty-Eight

July 20, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Parking Platform of Residential Tower of Erik Blackwell

A light breeze brushed Jia’s face. She watched the rivers of light marking the flitters flowing from location to location between the towers of Neo SoCal. There was a certain irony in humanity achieving a common-use air vehicle and still being restricted to lanes.

They might have vertical and horizontal lanes, but the average flitter in Neo SoCal didn’t take advantage of its flight capability except when landing and taking off.

She’d read the virtual lanes were originally enforced to make the autodrive systems safer and more reliable and discourage the small number of irresponsible self-drivers from causing too much trouble. She included herself in that group now, despite having balked at Erik doing it so much when they first met.

These days, she didn’t care to let the flitter drive itself. Her taste for flight had grown along with her understanding of the world.

Erik stood beside her with a thoughtful expression, his hands in his pockets. “You sure about the message, Emma? It’s our week for unusual messages.”

“Yes,” Emma replied, eschewing taking a form, given their public location. “It was clear you were to be on the platform at this particular time. I showed you the message text in its entirety.”

“But standing out on a parking platform in a residential tower?” Jia threw up her arms. “This is ridiculously open.”

“Don’t be overly concerned. I’m monitoring the area for unusual activity. Thus far, the only thing I see out of the ordinary is a limousine.”

“Somebody’s probably having a better night than us,” Jia grumbled.

“Maybe she’s finally decided to get rid of us.” Erik grinned. “Because we’re too

noisy

. It’s easier to kill us here. A good sniper can hit us from kilometers away, and it’s not like even you can spot everything that might be a threat in a crowded part of Neo SoCal.”

Emma harrumphed. “We’ll just have to put your lives to the test.”

“Thanks.” Erik laughed. “Sometimes you can be so warm and fuzzy.”

“She’s already proven she can get into our apartments without much trouble.” Jia looked around to make sure no one else was nearby. Emma was reliable, but she wasn’t perfect, as Barbu’s escape had proven.

“Get inside, sure.” Erik shrugged. “Kill us? We’ve both tagged her when she’s gone full ghost on us, and neither of us is ever far from a weapon. We’re also together a lot more now, which means we often have Emma nearby. She’d have to take us both out. Missile, maybe?”

“I could block a missile launched this way with a drone,” Emma insisted. “And she’s not going to sneak in a gunship. I’ll admit the ID uses impressive technology, but I’m getting better at seeing through their tricks. If I were them and I wanted to kill you, I’d sabotage the

Argo

.”

Jia scrubbed a hand over her face. “Can we please stop talking about ways Alina might kill us?”

A flitter pulled out of a nearby lane and headed toward the platform. Jia slipped her hand inside her jacket and gripped her slugthrower. She didn’t believe Alina would attempt to assassinate them, but being prepared wouldn’t hurt.

The vehicle slowed and descended toward them, passing under the bright holographic lights of the parking platform. It was a long black luxury flitter, the window shading set to opaque. Despite Emma noting it before, Jia remained nervous.

“Transponder check, Emma,” Erik ordered, the earlier humor gone from his face.

“It is registered to a local limousine rental company,” she replied. “They haven’t reported any stolen vehicles. Corporate registration is too labyrinthine for me to determine who might ultimately control the company without more investigation, but upon initial inspection, there is nothing unusual about the vehicle other than its appearance at this location at this time.”

“If I get gunned down by a guy in a limo, I’ll never live it down.” Erik grumped.

“Obviously,” Emma replied. “You’ll be dead.”

Jia ignored the two of them.

The limo set down in front of them. With a whir, a rear window lowered. Jia’s heart rate kicked up, and she prepared to draw her weapon until a bright mix of pink flamingoes and smiling anthropomorphic suns on a blue background changed her mind. A Hawaiian shirt. She knew she would never die at the hands of a man in a Hawaiian shirt.

Jia dropped her hand. “

Malcolm?

”

The technician grinned from the spacious dark-green-upholstered back seat. “Now, this is how I expected to be treated when I started working for ghosts.” He gave them a thumbs-up. “This is nice.” He bounced a couple of times. “You know, I’ve never been in one of these. The MX 60 is nice, but this is cooler.” He glanced at Erik. “No offense.”

“Can’t fly around in a limo all the time,” Erik replied with a shrug. “It’d be kind of noticeable.”

“But you’d look so suave and cool.” He smiled.

The door opened itself, revealing a wide U-shaped seating arrangement centered around a small table. A black partition separated them from the front seat. Erik and Jia stepped inside and sat. The doors closed.

Malcolm gestured to the table. “Supposed to be able to bring up food and drinks, but our driver is very uncool. Talk about cheaping out at a weird time.”

“Keep talking like that, Mr. Constantine,” Alina said over a speaker, “and I might be forced to reconsider our relationship.”

“It was a joke.” Malcolm sank down in his seat. “Sorry.”

“What’s with the limo?” Erik asked with a grin. “Just feel like rewarding us? It doesn’t seem like your style.”

“I was in town anyway on an unrelated errand requiring this vehicle,” Alina explained. “So I figured we’d chat about that data you sent us. We all prefer face-to-face conversations about important things.”

Malcolm sat up. “She explained the gist of what it is and how you got it, but not sure why I’m here since I haven’t looked at it.”

Jia offered him an apologetic smile. “No offense, but we figured you didn’t have any more context than Emma. Our best bet was to pass it on to the ID directly.”

“It’s not that.” Malcolm shook his head. “And I shouldn’t bitch. It’s not like I have anything better to do since Camila’s out of town again.”

Something thumped behind them. Erik and Jia both pulled their guns.

Malcolm swallowed. “What was that? Was it a missile?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Alina offered with a chuckle. “He should be asleep again in a second or two.” There was a soft

click

over the speaker. “Tougher than I thought. Like I said, unrelated errand.”

Jia stowed her weapon slowly, frowning in the direction of the trunk. She hoped she didn’t end up there.

Erik smirked, clearly unworried about future trunk situations involving him. “Let’s get back to the data. If you’ve called us all together, I’m assuming it’s more important than confirming Emma’s observations. You could have just sent a message.”

“Yes,” Alina answered. “It’s a perfect storm. My people have collated intel strands from a lot of different sources, including leads from the

yaoguai

lab and the data you sent us. It’s borne fruit quicker than we anticipated, with those records being key.” Excitement laced her voice. “Among other things, we’ve been able to trace at least some of the Molino deliveries to Alpha Centauri, but

after

they were delivered to Earth. We’ve been able to follow movements in recent months, including not that long after our little Hunter incident, and action in the last couple of days.”

Jia frowned. “Would they be shipping something that important around that way, rather than picking it up directly?”

“Hard to say. Sometimes it makes more sense to use the obvious sources. If people of Sophia Vand’s status were flying around the galaxy constantly, it’d raise more eyebrows and make it easier for people like us to figure out something strange was going on.”

“You think there are artifacts on Alpha Centauri?” Erik asked.

“We can’t be sure,” Alina replied. “Here’s where things get complicated and questionable. Everything fell into place on this intel analysis because of the data you sent. It would have been helpful in a lot of ways even without our more recent leads, but combined with those, it’s all but screaming for us to pay attention. I’d like you two to take a look as soon as possible, so that’s going to involve using the jumpship.”

“Is it ready to go that far?” Malcolm asked, rubbing his wrists. “I thought it was a big deal just to go out to the edge of the Solar System.”

“Dr. Maras believes so, and he’s the expert. Good a time to test it as ever.”

Malcolm swallowed. “Test it on us?”

“You’ll incidentally be there,” Alina replied.

Erik nodded slowly. “But they might be expecting us to come. If they understand the ship’s capabilities, they might be ready, and Barbu’s woven an elaborate trap. They might want to take us and grab the ship.”

“That could all be true,” Alina offered, “but if this Barbu wants to help you, we can take advantage of that. If he’s a member of the conspiracy pointing us at his friends, that’s fine, too. As for the ship getting caught, I trust you’re smart enough not to park it anywhere near Chiron. Short of having another jump drive or knowing where you’ll be, they won’t have a chance of taking the ship.”

Jia took in the conversation like she was listening to a show, barely processing it. It had been all but preordained that she would leave the Solar System once she got involved in hunting the conspiracy, but it had always seemed like a distant possibility for years in the future, not weeks after a trip to France.

She shook her head. “I’m not against taking more of those people down, but we can’t handle this with just the two of us.” She smiled at Malcolm. “You’re great for background support, but if this is them, it’s going to end with shooting.”

Malcolm waved his hands in front of him. “I’m not complaining about anything that gets me shot at less.” He jerked a thumb at his chest. “Lover, not fighter.”

Alina snickered but politely declined the obvious line of attack. “I understand, and that’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about ever since Lanara requested more people. We’re asking more and more of you, but we also need to face the fact that you’re not regular ID. I brought you two onboard because you have a way of finding trouble, but that’ll be pointless if you get killed.”

Erik grinned with far too much eagerness. “We can handle ourselves, but it’d be nice to have backup for when we knock on somebody’s door. And we need more flexibility than leaning on Adeyemi.”

“You’re right. We’re not always going to have a handy Army squad around to help. Fortunately, the ID has most of our house in order, and I’ve convinced the relevant people that if we want to maximize your efficiency as a resource, you’ll need regular support, not ad hoc teams, or begging the DD for help.”

“Regular support, as in permanent backup?” Jia asked, more excited than she had anticipated.

“Exactly.” Alina sounded far too satisfied with herself, but without seeing her face, it was hard to judge. “I’ve got two agents I trust who would be perfect for this. I’m going to assign them to you two. When you’re not doing something, they can sit around picking their noses for all I care. They’ve got strong personalities, but they’re good at their jobs.”

Erik frowned. “I don’t do well with babysitters. I agreed to work with you because I had control and you give me leads. I’m not taking orders from lackeys.”

Alina snorted. “Calm down, Erik. This is a win-win, and I do understand. The last thing I want to do is mess up the rhythm you two have going with Emma, and I’ve seen that you’re at your best when you’re calling the shots. The agents will report to the ID, but in the field, they’ll take orders from you and Jia as you see fit.”

Jia raised an eyebrow. “And they’re not going to have a problem with that? Didn’t you say they have strong personalities?”

“If they do, make them see the error of their ways. You two know better than most people that respect is earned, not given.”

Erik chuckled darkly. “As long I have permission to do what I need to.”

“You do. In addition, I’ll be sending messages to our assets in Alpha Centauri and specifically Chiron, but this mission is yours, not the local AC agents’. They’ll provide support, but unlike your new subordinates, they won’t necessarily take orders from you. Keep in mind it’s a five-day lag one-way with comm, so I’m relying on your autonomy.”

Jia furrowed her brow. “We have to fly all the way out to the

Bifröst.

That should give you the time you need to get them up to speed.”

“I’ve already sent messages.” Alina fell silent for a moment as if concentrating on something else. “The agents will be ready in two days, along with Lanara’s new engineers. You’ll all board the

Argo

, then hard burn for Penglai. If Maras is not totally full of crap, you should be able to make it to Alpha Centauri in four jumps. They’ll require calibration both by the good doctor and Emma in between, but you’ll get there a lot faster than if you hit the HTP. This mission should also provide data that’ll help better tune the drive, but he can’t do much about that without Emma’s active input.”

Emma appeared in a seat next to Malcolm in an elegant green ballgown. “Has Erik had an opportunity to make you aware of my desire to upgrade the

Bifröst

’s AI?”

“He mentioned something in a message, but I think with what we’ve got going on right now, we shouldn’t tweak anything unnecessary. Agreed?”

“For now.” Emma sounded annoyed.

Erik looked sympathetic but kept his tone professional. “So, get ready to meet new ghosts and engineers in a couple of days, gel with them on the way to the jumpship, head to Alpha Centauri, and what,

quietly

investigate?”

Alina laughed. “You do what you need to do to get results. I’m doubtful we’ll find any alien artifacts lying around, but you might be able to flush more roaches out of their holes. Keep a low profile on the investigation, but I’ll do my best to get the locals to clean up for you if you need to get loud.”

Jia’s heart thundered. Chiron, humanity’s first extra-solar colony. They were going there on a mission, not on vacation, but that didn’t make her any less excited.

Too bad she was probably going to shoot someone or destroy something with explosives once they got there.