Desperate Measures Chapter 7

Chapter Five

Julia lightly stepped across the loading platform leading from the floor of the hangar to the top deck of the

Beidou

. She’d considered a larger ship, but that brought complications. Something smaller was easier to land in most environments and situations.

Flexibility was its own strength.

It didn’t matter now. She needed to leave Earth. She’d been foolish to linger, even more so after she’d gone out of her way to warn Shoji. A woman who didn’t take the advice she offered others moved past mere foolishness to outright stupidity.

The issue went beyond her life. Necessity was a relative consideration, often shaped by arrogance rather than truth. If she died on Earth, the future would be imperiled. Gambling with her future because she wasn’t prepared to trust all her underlings was, in a word,

pathetic

.

Micromanagement, arguably, was her one true weakness. The Last Soldier and the Warrior Princess—if they knew who she was, they would have already blasted through her villas and mansions or be chasing her through space like bloodhounds.

They’d learned too much. Technically, so had the Intelligence Directorate. She’d lost a half-dozen agents to the ID in the last two months, and though the other members of the Core wouldn’t admit it, she knew they’d lost people as well. Their control over key portions of the government was slipping.

New strategies were needed.

Julia entered the open airlock and nodded to one of her uniformed crew members, a pilot. He bowed his head in reverence.

“Is everything prepared?” she asked.

“Yes, Miss Caldo,” the pilot replied. “All supplies are loaded, and we’ve plotted an HTP schedule that will get us to New Pacifica at maximum speed. We’re doing our final security sweeps per your instructions, but I anticipate we will take off in less than twenty minutes.”

“Good.” Julia offered him a quick nod before moving into an adjoining passageway.

There was no point in telling him to hurry, given she had wasted days already. The only thing she could not understand was why no one else was taking this as seriously. Shoji was a fool. With the latest ID raid on Pwyll Tower, it was more important than ever for members of the Core to shift to a defensive posture.

For the first time in decades, their enemies were ahead of them. The Core needed time to gather their forces and split the opposition, military, intelligence, and freelance. It was time to revisit some of their earlier strategies.

To bring unity, first they would need to sow disunity.

However, before anything else, strategic repositioning was necessary. While they didn’t know enough about the limitations of the jump drive, putting ten light-years between her and her worst enemies was a comfortable cushion.

Making her way down the passages of the ship toward her main cabin, Julia focused on the different plans she needed to manage. It wasn’t impossible to operate a personal empire remotely, just more complicated. Add to that a need for secrecy, and it went from child's play to something one needed to focus on.

It might be decades off, but the future where she could rule openly would be a relief. The effortless efficiency would be glorious.

Part of her wondered if leaving on the ship would make her more vulnerable. Shoji might be less a fool than a pragmatist. Sophia would not have been killed if she’d remained in her villa. All the power and influence of a member of the Core didn’t mean much if they couldn’t fly with a battlefleet to protect them in space.

Their greatest advances had been taken from the Hunters, but the ancient aliens were as absent as the Navigators they’d purged from the galaxy.

No, she had learned from Sophia’s mistake.

Her ship was well-armed for its size, and she was being accompanied by other ships piloted by some of her most trusted people. All of them together would not easily fall to a surprise attack by anyone.

Besides, the Last Soldier and the Warrior Princess would need to know where she was going to finish her off, and for all their skill, fortune, and damnable luck, there was no evidence they did.

Julia stopped in front of her main cabin, frowning at a slight smudge on the access panel. It was always disappointing when staff didn’t pay attention to details. Punishing them severely at the start of the trip would be bad for morale, but she wouldn’t let it pass if this type of lapse continued.

Julia opened the door with a press of her hand against the panel. The vast cabin was almost identical to one of her favorite rooms on Earth. Sprawling holographic displays along the walls gave the impression it was perched atop a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The setting sun painted the simulated sky orange, red, and pink—beautiful, if fake.

Some might say the same thing about her.

Long trips required the human mind to be anchored to where they’d come from. It didn’t matter if she was far more than human. The scenes calmed what was left of her.

Despite the size of the room, it was close to empty, other than her magnificent bed in the corner and a small obsidian desk near the bed.

A desk she’d had custom-made from obsidian formed during the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 2144. Everyone in her place would need a reminder of how weak one was before the power of Mother Nature.

The Core was on the precipice of conquering life and death. To win that fight would be the beginning of controlling all of nature. Humanity had tried to slay their gods, confident in their science, so new ones would be born from ancient technology far beyond them.

Julia headed toward the desk but stopped at the sound of a light knock. She turned, one eyebrow raised. “Come in.”

The door slid open, and a young man stepped through with a smile. His uniform marked him as one of her stewards, but she didn’t recognize him. That was unusual for crew aboard the ship, but she had allowed more recent autonomy in personal promotion and reassignment.

Julia frowned. Despite those allowances, she’d made it clear that only her most trusted crew were supposed to accompany her on this particular trip. Autonomy didn’t justify flagrant violations of her orders.

“What?” Julia barked. She didn’t know who was responsible, so she would take it out on the closest target.

“Did you want a meal after we take off, ma’am?” the man asked, closing the door behind him.

“No. I’m fine.” Julia kept slight venom in her tone to test the man. “What’s your name?”

“Jamieson, ma’am. I was transferred to the yacht yesterday.” He smiled brightly. “I’m very excited about the opportunity to see New Pacifica.”

Julia narrowed her eyes. “You are?”

“I’ve never left the Solar System. This is my first time going into space. I thank you for the opportunity to serve you during this fascinating time.”

Everyone on board knew they were taking a long trip, but only the pilots knew their destination. Jamieson might have overheard, but her loyal pilots had been with her for years, and unlike some of her subordinates, they understood respecting her orders.

Annoyance filled her. The effort before her was almost insulting.

Julia tapped at her PNIU to summon Security. “Who is your master?”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” The man stared at her with a confused look.

“Shoji? Farad? Ivan?” Julia scoffed. “Whom do you work for?”

“I work for you.” Jamieson shook his head. “I don’t know who any of those people are. Are you talking about my supervisor? That’s—”

“Don’t waste my time with this pathetic act.”

Julia sighed, lightly dusting her black dress. No matter how much she was told nanoknitting could repair anything, it never felt the same when something was damaged, and she suspected the next few minutes might end with blood and a torn dress.

She stepped out of her heels. Confidence shouldn’t replace practical preparation in any dangerous situation.

Jamieson’s brow lifted. “If I’ve done something to offend you, ma’am, please let me know how to make up for it. I’m terribly sorry. They said to go check on you and see if you wanted anything. I didn’t realize you wanted to be left alone.”

His tone was plaintive, as was his face. It made Julia want to rake her nails over it and draw blood.

“You have offended me, yes, by your incompetence.” Julia scoffed. “I was wondering how you could have gotten close to me with my normal preparation, but now I understand. It’s brilliant in a way.”

“You understand what?” His eyes looked at the empty room before coming back to rest on her. “I’m lost.”

“You aren’t a special, highly-trained killer,” Julia explained, circling her hand. “A mercenary or a criminal with a history and the necessary skills. There’s no way you would have gotten onto this ship if there was any hint of suspicion. My people check too thoroughly. And trust me, Sophia tried many times to sneak someone of real talent close to me, just to watch she might claim, but I knew she would take the opportunity if she had it.”

Jamieson’s shoulders slumped and he trembled. “I don’t know who Sophia is.”

She shook her finger at him. “Do you want me to explain who and what you are? This is self-indulgence, I’ll admit that, but it does bring me some small pleasure in letting you know how spectacularly you have failed.”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding.” The man swallowed, and his gaze dipped to his PNIU. “May I go, ma’am?”

“No, you certainly may not.”

He looked up. “Then…I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want you, my feeble little man, to listen,” Julia spat. “Oh, I’m sure you have some sad story. I’m sure your records say you’re a good man who has always obeyed the law. There’s nothing in there to indicate you are even remotely antisocial.”

“That’s true.” The man nodded quickly. “That’s why I think you’ve made a mistake. To be honest, ma’am, you sound paranoid.”

“No, Jamieson. I’ve simply deduced the most likely scenario.” Julia flicked her wrist dismissively. “But I’ll commend you to your commitment to your deception despite my detection of it.”

She pursed her lips. There were no alarms, and Security hadn’t arrived. She tapped her PNIU again. The new arrival must have been carrying a jammer.

That was more skill than she expected from the type of man in front of her, but that only meant his handlers were thorough.

“You see, it’s difficult to kill me with a bomb,” Julia replied with a sigh. “That would be what most would attempt, and yes, bombing my ship right before a trip would be one of the more likely spots, but I have my ships so thoroughly swept that it’s impossible. Attacking me at one of my homes would be impossible without an army, and one

cannot

move an army without making detectable waves. It’s the same for any of us, really.” She snorted. “The only reason I even tried to bomb Sophia was that she was sloppy and off-world.”

“Bomb?” Jamieson squeaked. Beads of sweat dripped down his face. “You’re saying you’ve killed someone?”

“Killed someone? Oh, yes, little man. I’ve killed countless people.” Julia gave him a cold smile. “Not with my own hands, of course. I’ve done that, too, but I’ve ordered many more people killed or set in motion events that led to their deaths.

He eyed her, this time with a little backbone in his glance. “You’re saying that like it’s nothing.”

“I don’t kill maliciously,” Julia offered along with a smile. “I’m not evil, but sometimes people are in the way, and I do what I need to for the greater good. Humans are animals in the end, and animals die all the time at the hands of other animals.”

“W-why are you telling me all this?” Jamieson asked, backing toward the door and reaching into his pocket.

If the man was a suicide bomber, she might have trouble, but she doubted it. Nothing about him fit the profile. He wouldn’t have bothered talking to her instead of charging and exploding.

No. He needed to get close to her. Poison? Nanopatch?

“I’m telling you this because I suspect you’ve never killed anyone before.” Julia gave him a pitying look and waved a hand at him. “Let me further deduce the truth. You don’t have problems. It would have been too obvious, but there’s someone you know who is in financial distress, a lover most likely. Not a relative; screening would have found that, too. You must work for one of my companies, or you wouldn’t have made it this far. Oh, it’s been a long time since I thought to manipulate your type in such a fashion, but now I see the advantages. It’s more difficult in some ways, but it can be useful in so many others.”

“I-I already explained this. I was transferred here. I work at a resort owned by one of your companies.” Jamieson stopped moving toward the door and took a deep breath. “There was a promotion opportunity, and I took it.”

There was no pleasure in defeating a cowering, whimpering animal, but an interrogation would be pointless. There would be too many layers between Jamieson and the puppet master.

“As I said, I

admire

the strategy,” Julia continued with a genuinely warm smile. “It’s clever in its own way, despite the implied desperation. I don’t even care how much they offered. A small amount of money is impressive to people like you. You’ve probably even convinced what you’re about to do is somehow righteous. That you’ll be helping your friend and killing a tyrant at the same time. They’ve taken a pathetic fool and thrown you at me, hoping that against all chance, you’ll get me. I’m sure they even had you practice, but you’re not a killer. You might try to kill me, but I can see it in your eyes. You’re afraid, not of me, but of what you’re supposed to do, and that’s why you failed the second you stepped into this cabin.”

Jamieson’s eyes widened. “You know? Y-you can’t.”

“Of course I know, fool.” Julia strolled toward her desk. “Unfortunately, this isn’t where I offer you more money not to do it. That would end nicely and neatly for both your friend and us, but alas.”

“W-why not?” Jamieson licked his lips. His hand now rested deep in his pocket. “This isn’t about my greed, you know. I have a friend. She’s in bad shape. Her father did things he wasn’t supposed to, and now he’s in prison, but she didn’t know about it. My friend, she’s got serious problems, along with Nanorejection Syndrome. She’ll die if she doesn’t get this money for her treatment.”

“So?” Julia leaned against the back of her desk. “Why is the condition of some random person I don’t even know relevant to this situation?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Jamieson yelled, his face reddening. “She’ll

die

. She’s never hurt anyone. She doesn’t deserve to die because her father blew all their money and got himself locked up. I d-don’t want to hurt you, or anyone, even if you have killed people. I just want to help her.”

Julia raised an eyebrow. “She doesn’t deserve to die? What does her death have to do with my life?”

“Good people don’t deserve to die. None of this situation is her fault.” Jamieson cut through the air with his hand. “She’s done nothing but try to live her life.”

Julia pushed away from the desk. “Good people? Her fault?” Her mouth twisted into a snarl. “She’s weak, so she deserves to die.”

“How can you say that?” His eyes flashed. “Don’t you have any sympathy?”

“Because that’s the way of nature? There is no shortage of humans in the galaxy.” Julia sneered. “A few deaths here and there in the big picture, which you obviously can’t comprehend, are irrelevant, and she very much does deserve to die.”

“You rich bitch,” screamed Jamieson. “You don’t know what it’s like when you don’t have everything you could ever want!”

“Again, a point that is irrelevant. Don’t you see? She deserves to die because she isn’t strong enough to solve the problem

herself

.” Julia shook her head, her disdain fairly radiating from her face. “You think she didn’t know about her father, Jamieson? She

knew

, but she chose to look the other way when it was convenient. If your friend had any sort of wit or strength of will, she would have figured out a way to make his death benefit her and kill him. An emotional plea for him to take out insurance and then have him murdered, or something like that. But sitting there whimpering about how she didn’t know when her genetically flawed self is dying? Pathetic.” She spat, “It churns my stomach.”

Jamieson pulled a knife out of his pocket. “Thank you, ma’am. I didn’t think I could do this, but you’ve made it easy, and haven’t you read what the Purists say? Nanorejection Syndrome might be a sign of someone who is a better human because they don’t have to rely on machines.”

“What’s your grand plan? Hmm? Say you do kill me? You’ll never escape this ship.”

Jamieson licked his lips. “I will if I kill you and run in the next few minutes.” He lifted his chin. “You think you’re so much better than me? Smarter? Why? Because you were born rich? You think I didn’t notice you trying to call for help on your PNIU?” His eyes bulged. “Surprise, bitch! No one’s going to know what’s going on in here.” He patted his other pocket. “They helped me make sure of that. Now I’m going to take out a monster and save a life at the same time.” His eyes widened in understanding. “I’ll be a

hero

.”

He stalked toward her, all hesitation gone. Julia could finally bring herself to grant him a smidgen of respect. Granted, he was a fool, but at least he was a committed and brave fool at the end.

“Do you know why I can’t just pay you to let me live?” Julia asked.

Jamieson stopped, his brow wrinkling in confusion. “Because you’re too arrogant? We can make a deal if you want. I think you’re awful, but I care more about my friend than killing you.”

“No. That’s not it. We can’t make a deal because I’ve already told you too much, but that’s the sad part of this. The minute we began this conversation, your life was forfeit. Sometimes,” she shot a look at her fingernails before looking back at Jamieson, “I’ll admit this is a vice. It is amusing to speak openly about my plans to people who know nothing of them.”

Julia looked him up and down. “Shoji or Constance, I suspect. I’m dubious the others would rely on this sort of gambit, but I could be wrong. Just so you know, after you’re dead, I’m going to make sure no money goes to your flawed, weak, and useless little friend. Her death will make the human race all the stronger, without her flaws continuing to the next generation.” Her eyes narrowed. “She doesn’t have any children, correct? I’d hate to have to kill them, too.”

Jamieson screamed and charged, the knife held in front of him. Julia smiled sweetly, waiting for his arrival. She sidestepped the blow with ease.

He swung at her and she whipped up her arm, grabbing his wrist in a lightning-fast motion. She squeezed, and he cried out in pain as the bones cracked in her iron grip. The knife clattered to the ground, and Jamieson stumbled backward, groaning.

“H-how?” He clutched his wrist.

Julia snapped out her leg. Her kick connected, and the man howled as he flew across the room and slammed into a wall with an audible crunch. He fell to the floor, groaning, beneath the image of the gentle ocean waves.

“You’re a Tin Man,” Jamieson moaned. He coughed up blood.

Julia scoffed. “Of course not. The problem with introducing machines into the body is they make a mockery of its potential.” She strolled toward the fallen man and crouched by him. “Machines need to be repaired, but

bodies

repair themselves.”

“You’re stronger than a man twice your size,” wheezed Jamieson. His chuckle was dark. “Don’t tell me that’s because you hit the gym.”

“No, no, no. I didn’t say I didn’t have any modifications, just that they aren’t cybernetic in nature.” Julia smiled down at the man. “A long time ago, a small group of people became aware of the greatest race in history, a race most don’t even know of called the Hunters. In examining the remains of that race’s great works, that small group of people realized the true future is in biological enhancement, Jamieson. The path of technology is the feeble dead-end of lesser races.”

“You’re a monster.” Jamieson spat blood at her face. “A

yaoguai

.”

“No. I told you already.” She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him. “I’m the woman who will rule humanity forever. I am a goddess.”

Julia squeezed until the bones in his throat cracked under the pressure. His eyes bulged, and he gagged. She watched him until the end, enjoying seeing the life leave his eyes more than she remembered the last time she’d killed someone.

She tossed the body aside and reached into his pocket to find the jammer. After snapping it in half, she clucked her tongue.

“I wasn’t planning to kill any more of you soon, but one of you has forced my hand. Pity.”