Desperate Measures Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty

Jia slipped under the covers next to Erik.

They would arrive at the jumpship in less than twelve hours. A day after that, they’d be back in the Solar System. The destruction and death on Chiron felt distant, like a past life.

That sensation was becoming common after major operations. Even after the revelation of the Hunter artifacts, the whole experience seemed like an exotic vacation that just happened to involve laser rifles and missile launchers.

The feeling was perhaps a bit twisted, but she didn’t care.

Her gaze flicked to his missing arm. She respected his decision not to grow a replacement, but she would never understand it.

Erik’s superstitions had carried him forward for decades, including the relatively recent addition of the arm, and if he’d rather wait for another cybernetic replacement, she could do nothing to convince him otherwise.

“I’ve been sitting here thinking,” Erik murmured.

Jia leaned over and kissed his cheek. “That’s always dangerous. You should leave that to me.”

He grunted in agreement. “Perhaps. We can’t be sure those things are Hunter artifacts, but they probably are.”

“It seems probable. It explains why the conspiracy went to so much trouble to ship them around.” Jia rolled onto her side to look at Erik, resting her hand on her hip. “I also think we got lucky this time.

Very

.”

Erik shook his head. “Not lucky. Someone pointed us at them, remember?”

“Barbu? You think he knew about the artifacts? The ID still had to put together a lot of information to get us to them.”

“I don’t know who he is and what he knows, which is irrelevant at the moment. What matters now are the artifacts.”

Jia scrunched her brow, confused by the statement. “What about them? I assume we go back to Earth and hand them to Alina.”

Erik looked at her, face so close that she could read his indecision without him needing to speak. “Do we?”

This time, she tried to extrapolate why he would think that and failed. “Why wouldn’t we hand them over?”

A haunted look settled over Erik’s face. “We’re doing well against the conspiracy. We’ll win. I can’t say I always

knew

that, but now I do.

Jia nodded slowly. “I’d hope so. I wouldn’t take them on if I thought it was hopeless.”

“We don’t know what their true goals are,” Erik continued. “But we do know a lot of pushing at the boundaries of tech is involved.

Yaoguai

, Tin Men, and their interest in the jump drive and Emma.”

“I’d agree that is an accurate summary.” Jia lowered her elbow so she could rest her cheek on her hand. “The Hunter technology is another way they can get away from the government, so they have a chance of controlling and defeating anyone who comes after them.”

“HTPs, antigrav, and Emma,” Erik replied. “What do they all have in common?”

Jia thought for a moment. Erik got distracted for a moment in her eyes before she answered, snapping him back to the conversation. “They’re all technologies that were partially developed from something reverse-engineered from ancient alien technology.”

Erik looked away from her and stared at the ceiling. “Exactly. The UTC has laws, and the Purists have done their best to drill those into people’s beliefs, but it’s hard to resist temptation.”

“I suppose.”

“We saw what Hunter tech can lead to,” Erik continued. “The conspiracy is halfway there because they got a head start, but let’s be honest. The main reason the government abandoned cyborg soldiers was CPS more than giving a crap about Purists. It’s hard to get someone to not use a weapon if they think it’ll give them an advantage.”

Jia shook her head. “Not as hard as you’d think. It’s not like when you were in the Army and you dropped nuclear, nano, or bio bombs on colonies. Sometimes restraint is enough, but it’s good to have the option. But what are you getting at?”

“We could dump the artifacts into space and then pulverize them into atoms with our weapons,” Erik explained. “Remove the temptation.”

“Alina might not agree with that, not to mention other people in the government. They weren’t thrilled about the destruction of the Hunter ship.”

Erik snorted. “We didn’t have a choice.”

Jia placed her hand on his chest and spread her fingers. “I understand, Erik. We couldn’t risk that thing going anywhere, but these artifacts aren’t the same thing. They’re not an active Hunter ship driving people insane and converting them into minions.”

“It’s dangerous to play with fire,” he argued.

“I understand that. But that ship taught me something important, and it’s a reason why as nervous as the Hunter artifacts make me, I don’t think we should get rid of them.”

Erik turned back to focus on her. “What’s that?”

“Humanity thought we had everything figured out,” Jia replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “We thought we’d be the masters of the universe. First contact changed that thinking, but not much. The aliens are different but manageable. The Navigators were far ahead of us, but they were dead. However, the Hunter ship teaches us that demons still prowl the void, waiting for victims.” She rested her head lightly on his shoulder. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting thousands of years to catch up. We never know when someone might stumble upon another Hunter ship.”

He considered her words, broke them down, and applied the raw materials to what he knew about her.

“We need to have a weapon ready?” Erik suggested. “You think our side needs to know more about them.”

“Yes,” Jia breathed. “A weapon more reliable than nested jumping. A sword to kill demons.”

“Deliver the artifacts, huh?” Erik felt her head ride his shoulder down as he let out a breath. “Life was simpler when this was only about revenge.”

Jia sat in the galley, sipping tea.

They were only two hours out from the jumpship. She would need to get accustomed to the monotony of post-mission quiet. The tension running up to a mission made it easy to ignore the copious stray thoughts that threatened her calm.

The door slid open, and Anne stepped through. She offered Jia a polite nod before heading over to get coffee. They hadn’t become friends, but the agent was no longer on the verge of a scowl whenever they ran into one another, and Anne seemed less competitive when it came to darts.

She didn’t speak until she filled her coffee cup and took a sip. “I have something to say to you. Something I’ve been meaning to say for a while, but…pride is a difficult thing.” She looked down at her morning drug of choice before continuing. “It makes it easy to justify certain behaviors, and as time passes, the problem compounds itself.”

“I know that from personal experience.” Jia set her cup down. “What is it?”

Anne took a seat across from Jia. “I want to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Jia raised an eyebrow. “What for? I’m not upset you beat me yesterday, and I’m glad you’re agreeing to play with us. I think Erik can use some normalcy until he gets his new arm installed, though I don’t know

why

he insists on having a drone hold his darts before throws instead of letting me do it.”

“This isn’t about darts.” Anne averted her eyes. “When Agent Koval approached me about this assignment, I wasn’t what anyone would call enthusiastic about it. I think I made my position clear to both of you.”

Jia picked her cup and took another sip. “You weren’t subtle in your dislike if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I respect Agent Koval, but I have never been comfortable with how unorthodox she can be.” Anne stared into her coffee with a pained expression. “I’ve seen it now with my own eyes. You two get things

done

. I might be good, but that didn’t stop me from needing your help.”

“Erik’s saved me countless times.” Jia waved a hand. “And I’ve saved him countless times. Teammates watch each other’s backs.”

Jia noticed that Anne’s smile held actual warmth, the feeling working its way into her eyes.

“That they do.” Anne agreed. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m going to get comfortable with your overly dynamic style anytime soon, but I don’t regret this assignment anymore. I feel like I can accomplish great things with you two.”

“You remind me a lot of

me

when I first met Erik.” Jia snort-laughed, a hand covering her nose as a blush touched her cheeks. “Though you’re not nearly the naïve idiot I was. I won’t embarrass myself by telling you some of the things I believed.”

Anne extended her hand. “I apologize for being a bitch, and I hope we can continue taking down the monsters hiding in the shadows together.”

Jia shook Anne’s hand firmly. “We both needed time, and we’ve got it. But that doesn’t mean Erik or I expect you never to question us. We’ve developed a good rhythm, and we’ve got great noses for trouble, but as teammates, we need to take advantage of each other’s strengths.”

Anne returned her attention to her coffee, smiling.