Desperate Measures Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-One

August 25, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Private Hangar of the Argo

Erik wasn’t surprised Alina was waiting in the hangar when the

Argo

arrived.

She hadn’t sent a message ahead to say she would be there, but he assumed there was no way she wanted to have ancient alien artifacts sitting around, waiting to be stolen by a strike team of

yaoguai

and Elites.

He ordered Emma to open the cargo bay door and headed down the ramp with Jia and the two agents. By the time he arrived, Alina was walking up the ramp, her ponytail swaying.

She was in her skintight tactical suit, a rifle slung over her shoulder, ready for action.

Erik nodded at the recovered containers in the bay. “Bring your flitter in here, and you can grab these and run.” He looked past her. There was no limo this time, only a boring-looking mid-range gray model. Inconspicuous, but probably deadly.

Alina motioned to Erik. “You really should get that regrown.”

“I’ll stick with what works. Emma’s already set things up for me. I’m getting my replacement tomorrow.”

“If you say so. Oh, and Adeyemi will be getting you a new laser rifle.” Alina walked over to the containers. She looked down at them with an odd expression on her face. “Every successful operation against those people is important, but if these are Hunter artifacts, this was a nice, deep cut.”

Kant looked pleased with himself. Anne stood there, arms folded, face unreadable.

“What happens now?” Jia asked. “What is the protocol when the government gets their hands on ancient alien artifacts from a race we’re still not admitting to the public even exists?”

Alina squatted near one of the containers and ran her hand over it. “This isn’t something the ID will follow up on. In this case, we’re just another layer—delivery boys and girls. The verification of the existence of the Hunters might have been recent, but it’s not like no one anticipated we might find some other race as important and advanced as the Navigators. There are teams, the best people, who’ll look into these artifacts.”

“In other words, they’ll disappear into a government lab.” Erik eyed the crates. “And no one else will know about them.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Alina smiled. “Don’t be so down, Perseus. You slew a lot of monsters and brought back tools that might help us slay more. Radical honesty with the public has its place, but they don’t

need

to know everything all the time.”

“I just want to make sure we don’t end up as another conspiracy, playing with dangerous toys and silencing anyone who knows too much.”

Alina chuckled quietly. “A government’s always a conspiracy of sorts, and we ghosts do all sorts of questionable things. I can sleep at night, knowing I do my job to protect innocent people, not to enrich or empower those who are already rich and powerful.” She stood. “But do you care that much?” Her gaze shifted to Jia. “Everyone has their own reason, but is it enough?”

“Is what enough?” Erik asked.

Alina gestured to the container. “Is this enough? These may or may not include artifacts that were likely taken from Molino. Does it change anything to know your soldiers died for ancient secrets?”

Kant’s smile faded. He took a breath through his nose, his face reddening. Anne shook her head at him.

Erik stared at Alina, his mouth twitching. He wasn’t sure if she was baiting him or if it was an honest question. Honesty about his motivation had propelled him from Molino to Earth. His view of the future might have changed after meeting Jia, but not everything else.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “It never did.”

“It didn’t?” The corners of Alina’s mouth twitched into a frown. “Why do you say that?”

“Because they didn’t

deserve

to die there, not like that.” Erik turned away from her. “I never really cared about the why. I care about the

who

. It’s not like I would not have chased their killers down if they were normal terrorists used as a cover story. You’re just lucky that it turns out the people I want are involved in something a lot bigger. Don’t worry. I’ll see this to the end because that’s how revenge works.”

“Good to know.” Alina ran her finger over her PNIU, and her flitter lifted off and flew slowly toward the docking bay. “I’m not going to act like I care all that much myself. You’re using the ID to help you get your revenge, and we’re using you to help destroy a threat to the UTC. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement.”

“For now,” Jia interrupted.

Alina gave her a sweet smile. “Yes, for now.” She waited for her flitter to turn around and land and the trunk to open. “I’ll let you know what we find. The possible Hunter artifacts are the big win here, but the conspiracy has the other items in there for a reason.”

“Like I said.” Erik’s smile turned cold. “Doesn’t really matter.”

“Kant.” Alina nodded at the flitter’s trunk. “Load them up. Please. As for you, Jia and Erik, I’ll see you soon.”

August 28, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Apartment of Erik Blackwell

Erik and Jia approached his apartment with caution, keeping their hands on their guns. Emma had informed them shortly before landing of an intrusion into Erik’s apartment, along with the open presence of Alina.

They couldn’t be sure if it was a trap. Their spymaster liked her games and craft, but other than sending a passphrase to them the day before, she had not been clear on where and when she intended to meet them.

Erik rotated his left shoulder. The doctors told him the itch he felt was psychological and would go away once he became more comfortable with his latest replacement arm.

He agreed with himself that punching an assassin in the face with the cybernetic limb would be a good way to break it in.

They took up positions on either side of the door and checked the hallway. Emma had secured the cameras and doors of the other apartments to cover them, but it cost nothing to check.

Jia drew her stun pistol. Erik readied his slugthrower. Alina might be on the other side of the door, or the conspiracy might have come to get their alien toys back.

“Open it, Emma,” Erik ordered.

The door slid open. Erik and Jia charged into the apartment, covering both sides. They jogged away from the door to avoid immediate explosives, but Emma closed the door without incident.

“Got her,” Jia called, her stun pistol pointed down the hallway.

Alina wandered into the living room at a lazy pace, showing no visible concern about the weapons pointed at her. “Confirm the answer to the greatest, most honest question.”

“What is the population of Diogenes’ Hope?” Jia replied.

Alina smiled and settled onto the couch, draping one leg over the other. “I’d thought about doing this at a restaurant, but security’s been heightened at both your places since your return from the mission anyway. It makes it easier for me.”

Erik frowned and put his gun away. “Are they coming for us?”

“They have many times already if you think about it. We are more concerned now, given the special losses incurred this time. We don’t have any specific credible threats if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jia holstered her pistol. “Sometimes I wonder if this couldn’t be better handled through Emma.”

Emma blinked into existence, sitting in a holographic chair. “That would be more efficient.”

“For now, we’ll continue as we have been.” Alina leaned forward. “And in the spirit of openness and honesty—”

“No such thing as an honest ghost,” Erik pointed out.

Alina raised an eyebrow. “An honest spy is a dead spy.” She smiled thinly. “Then let’s call it the spirit of respect. I want you to know that I debriefed Agent Devereaux and Agent Marle separately. I will do that after every major mission. They are under your direction, but they are still ID agents, and I sent them to you both to help you and to keep an eye on you.”

“In case my revenge gets in the way of your plans?” Erik asked.

“Something like that, but it helps keep everyone honest. Remember, you’re flying around in a prototype jumpship, something vital to the defense of the UTC, as is Emma. The

Argo

itself represents a significant investment in resources, as do all the weapons, vehicles, and ammo given to you.”

Erik grabbed his neck. “I feel the tug of the leash.”

“Think of it as a reminder.” Alina smiled. “But don’t be too concerned. Some of the powers-that-be who were dissatisfied with your destruction of the Hunter ship are pleased that you successfully delivered what appear upon initial analysis to be genuine ancient alien artifacts.”

Jia sat on the couch opposite Alina. “They’ve already established that much?”

“Yes, not that they have any idea of what they do or what to do with them.” Alina shrugged. “The Hunters might not be new to the conspiracy, but they are new to the UTC government, and…”

“And?” Erik prodded.

Alina gestured to his left arm. “I like the new arm, by the way.”

“The question?” he prompted.

“What’s to answer? I’m a ghost, not a scientist, but it’s hard not to wonder, given that all the races ended up with similar HTP tech, how much was left behind on purpose by the Navigators.” Alina frowned. “Our previous encounter with the Hunters and their technology makes it clear they weren’t friendly benefactors hoping to pass along gifts to younger races.” She waved a hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is it’ll cost a lot of people a lot of time and money to accomplish what the conspiracy might already have, and

that’s

what worries me.”

“What about the other items?” Jia asked.

“Almost entirely biological samples,” Alina replied. “The scientists are still performing tests, but they’ve identified obvious

yaoguai

embryos and bodily fluids, along with DNA samples from heavily modified sources and more Leem DNA.”

Erik folded his arms. “I wonder how screwed we’ll be if they can get their hands on something else?”

“Who knows? What’s important is this continues to confirm the conspiracy’s most likely direction.” Alina cut through the air with her hand. “And the more we know about that, the better we can counter it.”

“They haven’t given up on cyborgs,” Jia noted. “They might have blown the facility before the locals could rip it apart, but I didn’t get the feeling that was where they made the Elites.”

Alina nodded. “No, all the available information strongly suggests against it and supports that place was primarily a

yaoguai

test and breeding facility.”

Jia frowned. “That Elite leader, Luca, seemed pretty insistent that the Elites represented some new force on par with the Ascended Brotherhood. They might not be invincible, but the implications of the technology are worrisome.”

Alina smiled at Jia. “You’re far from the only one who believes that, Jia, and we’ll do what we continue to do, which is keep an eye out. The question is where we go from here.” She turned back to Erik. “Our follow-up analysis suggests the items you grabbed on Chiron don’t represent all of their original source, Molino or otherwise. The simple issue is we’re at a dead-end tracking the others, even with the helpful records provided by your new and suspicious friend Barbu.”

“I never said he was our friend,” Erik stated.

Jia switched to another topic. “What about the companies on Alpha Centauri?”

“The CID is preparing for raids on a few suspect companies soon with additional intel provided by us,” Alina explored. “We’re trying to expedite them because the conspiracy will cover their tracks, but if they find nothing, at least we have other directions to look.”

“I don’t think we care about following up on every individual item that might have been in that shipment.” Jia looked at Erik and back at Alina. “We took down a group of abominations and earned some privateer treasure. Not bad for a few days’ work.”

Alina’s brows lifted, a curious glint filling her eyes. “Privateer treasure? Interesting.”

“I agree with Jia,” Erik added. “We know more about their monsters and their tech, and we have their stuff. That has to go down as a loss.”

“And a hard one to take,” Alina agreed.