Desperate Measures Chapter 9

Chapter Seven

July 9, 2230, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Lin Family Home

Before meeting Erik as a young cop, Jia couldn’t hold her alcohol. A single beer represented a grievous threat to her self-control.

She used to take pride in that, feeling it was a sign of her avoidance of vice, but it’d also made her mother’s parties treacherous affairs. Now, with her newfound tolerance, she could soothe her worries with some wine without risking humiliation.

Jia smiled and plucked a glass from a tray carried by a white-clad and white-gloved waiter. He offered her a polite nod before wandering away.

On the surface, the elegant affair, the men all tuxedo-clad and the women in beautiful dresses, should have summoned pure relaxation. Sprightly live music in the form of an

erhu

and

guzheng

pair gave the night a touch of class.

Jia couldn’t give in to that feeling since her lingering concern about her family’s opinion was weighing her down.

She tried to distract herself by watching the

guzheng

player pluck her instrument with precise movements and the careful bowing of her partner. There was nothing more mesmerizing than a skilled instrumentalist, but even focusing on the music didn’t calm her heart.

Jia sipped her wine. Erik was beside her, filling out his black tuxedo to perfection and matching her plunging black gown well. Jia tried to tell herself not to be nervous. They’d been to several parties now without incident, but when Mei had called and said she would be absent because of a business trip, Jia had gotten worried.

If her mother had some clever scheme, waiting until her sister was gone would be a smart and tactical chance to hatch it. On the other hand, her mother and sister typically worked as close allies, and Mei’s absence might be evidence of nothing being on tap.

The uncertainty added to Jia’s stress.

Erik swallowed a snack he’d been chewing. “I’ll give it to your mom. These crab puffs are really good.”

“Mom sprang for real crabmeat,” Jia offered between sips. “I’m not just saying it’s not printed. I’m just saying it isn’t artificial.”

“Nice.” Erik waggled his eyebrows. “Then I’m going to have to stuff my face with your parents’ money.”

Jia smiled, some of the tension leaving at Erik’s antics. Considering how much he’d been dreading the party, he came off as more relaxed than she was.

“Leave some for the other guests,” she ordered.

Erik saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” He inclined his head toward the crowd. “Be on your toes.”

Jia followed his gaze. Her mother glided through the crowd effortlessly, her attention focused on her daughter and Jia’s boyfriend. There was no anger or disappointment in her face, which was a good start.

Lan Lin could be difficult to deal with at times, but she’d seemingly dropped her objections to Jia dating Erik. However, Jia couldn’t ignore the possibility it was all part of a long-term plan to ambush them and break them up.

She needed to get through this night. She swallowed wine as her mother stopped in front of them.

“I’m surprised,” Lan offered, her careful gaze sweeping Erik and Jia.

“Surprised, Mother?” Jia replied. “About?”

“You managed to make it.” Lan glanced at Erik’s plate laden with crab puffs. “You always cancel at the last minute, so I’d assumed you’d come up with some excuse not to attend this party. It’d likely sound very convincing.”

Erik plopped a crab puff in his mouth, leaving Jia to face her mother alone. He smirked.

The bastard.

“It’s not like we’re purposely trying to avoid your parties,” Jia explained. At least it wasn’t like that all the time. “We’re busy, and since we don’t work for the NSCPD anymore, our job takes us to a lot more places. I should point out Mei isn’t here.”

She’d ask Mei for forgiveness for selling her out.

“Mei didn’t miss my last two parties.” Lan’s face twitched into a tight frown. “Your new job is really that involved?”

Jia sighed. “I wouldn’t say it’s that involved, but we have to be ready, and we’re protecting a lot of different clients, so our schedules are not always our own.”

She’d grown better at lying, but that wasn’t the same as being comfortable with it.

Lan nodded slowly, some of the disapproval on her face drifting away. “It’s unfortunate. I was hoping when you left the police department, you would have more time to spend with your family, but now you’re always out of the country or off the planet, getting involved in trouble even when you’re not trying to. Like on Venus.”

Erik swallowed his latest crab puff. “That’s what it means to be successful, right? To be busy?”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Lan motioned to Jia. “But I don’t want my daughter to spend all her time working harder, not smarter. You two spend so much time doing the work directly. Why not become management and hire staff to handle shooting at people?”

“It’s not about the money,” Jia insisted. It was difficult to win arguments with her mother when she couldn’t tell the woman the truth about what they did.

“Is this some sort of thrill-seeking thing?” Lan asked. “I can’t blame you for running into trouble you don’t expect, but I thought you said the new job was quieter than being a cop.”

“It is,” Jia lied. “Overall.”

Erik waved down a crab puff waiter to refresh his exhausted supply. Lan paused in her interrogation of her daughter to survey the room, locking onto each and every waiter and waitress individually to ensure they were circulating and no guests were in distress.

A proper hostess could multitask to ensure her event was unfolding smoothly while lambasting her daughter over her life choices.

It was both one of her talents and a skill she had worked on for what seemed like a century. Having two talented daughters had required her to stay on point more than once.

“It’s not going to be forever,” Erik interrupted.

Lan and Jia both looked at him, awaiting clarification.

“Things are busy right now because we’re establishing ourselves,” Erik explained. “But this isn’t going to last forever. We’ve already accomplished a lot in the short time since we’ve gone private, and we have clients who really trust us. I think with a little more of a push, we could do something like you’re suggesting.”

Lan nodded slowly, looking satisfied. “That was all you had to tell me, Jia. Sometimes you make things more difficult than they have to be. Besides, it’s unnecessary for you to work, isn’t it?”

“It is?” Jia asked with surprise. “Since when do you not want me to work?”

“I want you to have

influence

, which isn’t necessary if you choose the right man.” Lan glanced at Erik. “He spent a long time in the military. Consider it rude if you want, but I have noticed his vehicle and his apartment. Money’s not much of an issue, and you both have fame now.”

Erik cleared his throat. “I’ve saved a lot and invested well. I didn’t have a lot of needs on the frontier, and you know what they say: the real miracle is compound interest.”

Lan chuckled quietly. “Restraint

is

a key to prosperity.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Erik offered her a winning smile.

Lan smiled back. “Now, I hate to be rude, but I haven’t spoken to all my guests yet. I’ll come back to you in a bit. A good friend of mine was just about to discuss her new grandchild.”

“Of course,” Jia murmured, her heart pounding.

Lan offered a final small smile to Erik before wading into the dense, chattering crowd. She didn’t look back.

“That’s just a stalling tactic.” Jia sucked in a breath. “What if we continue to be busy? She’ll get louder with her complaints.”

“Nothing wrong with positive thinking,” Erik replied. “It’s not like we could tell her the truth, though if we did, she would probably be impressed by your fancy new government connections.”

Jia chuckled and finished her glass. “She would be.” She looked around. “I haven’t seen my father since the party started.”

Erik nodded toward a corner. Jia’s father, red-faced from too much wine, chatted merrily with three other red-faced men. One man said something, and they all started laughing.

“Oh. He’s escaping into wine.” She nodded in agreement. “Good plan.”

“Aren’t you?” Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not in the middle of an escape.” Jia deposited her glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “I’m just accomplishing battlefield preparations.”

“It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be.” Erik smiled. “It’s not my kind of party, but your mom isn’t being that …uh.” He searched for a word that would be appropriate in this company.

“You’ve been bought off with real crab.” Jia sighed. “You are a cheap date.”

“Hey, real crab isn’t cheap.” Erik patted her shoulder. “And there is no harm in winning me over, but it’s good to remember that not everything is crazy-ass missions and death. I figure you should be the one reminding me of that.”

“I understand, which is why I care about this.” Jia’s gaze followed her mother until the older woman stopped and chatted with another guest. “You’re not picking up on the obvious. This whole thing was a trap.”

“What trap?” He glanced around in concern. “She doesn’t hate me anymore.” Erik shrugged. “And I think that’s a win. We’re actually dating this time, so the party doesn’t feel like a recon mission where I’m worried about being discovered and taking an arty barrage.”

Jia’s inhale was soft. “You really didn’t pick up on it, did you?”

“Pick up on what?” Erik frowned. “Is the drink choice supposed to be some sort of slam on me? If so, it’s not working. I’m a beer guy, but it doesn’t mean I won’t ever drink wine.”

Jia gestured subtly at her mother. “What do you think she’s talking about right now?”

“I don’t know. Rich people crap. Investments, politicians they’re planning to buy. That sort of thing.”

“No.” Jia lowered her voice. “She told us what she was going to talk about—her friend’s new grandchild.”

“And you hate kids now?” Erik looked confused. “You’re not Miss Playful, but I didn’t realize you hated kids.”

“I don’t…” Jia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was unsure if Erik honestly hadn’t picked up on her mother’s cues or was messing with her for his own amusement.

Maybe both.

“What’s wrong, Jia?” Erik asked, making the surprising move of setting his plate of crab puffs on a nearby table. “If she’s upsetting you, we can leave. I’ll always have your back, you know that.”

“My mother doesn’t say things without having an ulterior motive.” Jia managed not to stare across the room at the offending matriarch. “Erik, she’s mentioning grandchildren because that’s her subtle way of suggesting we hurry up and get married to provide her with some. I think she would take the grandkids without the marriage, if possible.”

“Oh.” Erik swallowed, all the confidence draining from his face. “I get it.”

“Exactly.” Jia nodded. “The thing is, Mei’s not firm enough in her position by Mother’s standards to move onto the next stage of her life, but in her reckoning, I am, despite being younger. That’s why she’s pushing

me

to get out of a field job. Because she thinks you’re a compatible and acceptable-enough match, and I should be producing the next generation of Lin women. You heard her. She figures you’re rich and famous enough that you’re worthy of being her son-in-law. You’ll enhance the Lin family as an addition.”

“Kids, huh?” Erik mumbled, his earlier swagger gone. “There’s thinking ahead, and then there’s thinking

way

ahead.”

“You never thought about kids during all those years on the frontier?” Jia asked, her tone curious rather than accusatory. She’d barely thought about anything besides her career, but she’d had less time for it to become an issue.

His voice was soft and a touch vulnerable for a moment. “I always thought I’d make a crap dad,” Erik admitted. “And I’ve been with women, but it’s not like I was in a position for a stable relationship, and it’s not like I met anyone who I felt like I wanted to raise a little Erik Junior with.”

Jia’s stomach tightened at the implications of his last sentence.

She averted her eyes and was grateful for the passing wine tray. She acquired a new glass and gulped it down. She’d let her mother control the conversation from a distance. They were busy cleaning up the conspiracy and needed to focus on the day to day issues, not worry about children.

“So, uh…” Erik began, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Erik Junior?” Emma scoffed.

Erik and Jia looked around, worried that she’d chosen to appear, but she’d limited the transmission to their ears. The distraction was welcome.

“What’s wrong with that name?” Erik asked.

“Any future fleshbag spawn between the two of you should be named after the being responsible for your survival,” Emma explained.

“And what name would that be?”

“Emma 2.0, regardless of gender.” The AI’s tone made it sound so obvious.

The two humans shared a quiet chuckle. Jia wasn’t sure if Emma was trying to do them a favor by breaking up the awkwardness or if she was being serious, but latching onto an absurd conversation vector offered an escape better than wine.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jia replied with a smile.

“On an unrelated matter, something occurred to me while I was doing data analysis,” Emma continued.

“You really want to talk about this now?” Erik whispered.

“Why not? Do you want to go back to the previous conversation?”

“No,” Erik and Jia replied loudly enough to draw stares from nearby guests.

“The lack of an impressive AI on the

Argo

is irrelevant because of my constant connection to the ship and your ability to manage it because of its smaller size,” Emma explained. “But the cometary incident reinforced in my mind that might not be the case with the

Bifröst.

”

Jia couldn’t believe they were discussing classified experimental jumpships in the middle of her mother’s dinner party, but Emma was right. Anything to avoid an awkward discussion about children was welcome.

“I need to make modifications,” Emma continued. “Heavy modifications to the AI of the other ship. Right now, it’s useless for anything except simple automation.”

“You mentioned that before but then dropped it,” Erik replied quietly.

“Because I needed more time to perform an analysis of the basics of the systems. I’m now more confident and prepared to do what is necessary.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Erik leaned closer to Jia so it’d look he was in an intense conversation with only her and not some mysterious AI kilometers away. “The DD isn’t going to let us park that ship in Earth orbit.”

“I’m just mentioning,” Emma replied, “but the sooner I can accomplish this, the better it’ll be for your goals, and I’d argue, the goals of the UTC.

“We can ask Alina about it when we have an opportunity,” Jia whispered. “It’s not like the DD can complain too much about free improvements.”

“That’s all I ask.”

She watched her mother occasionally gesture in her direction. The temporary freedom of the AI upgrade conversation gave way to a return of worrying about an overbearing parent.

Jia needed a mission far away from Earth and soon.