Enlightened Ignorance Read online

“Unfortunately, not in the particular place I trapped him,” Emma replied, a hint of contrition in her tone. “Oh. I can because the circumstances are about to change. Don’t be alarmed by what I’m about to do.”

  Several vents opened in the corners of the room near where the walls met the ceiling. A dozen silvery orbs descended with a whir, circling near the back of the room. Nine new human outlines appeared on Erik’s smart lenses.

  “Did he come back into the room?” Erik asked.

  “No, but I’m fairly certain he’s about to blow the door,” Emma explained. “He carries a lot of toys. I’d tell you the type of device, but it seems to be custom-made, so I can’t easily identify it from camera observation. I doubt you have more than thirty seconds before there is a detonation, based on what he’s doing and saying.”

  Erik sprinted forward, making lefts and rights as necessary in the fabrication maze. Jia hurried after him. They closed about half the distance, denser rectangular station formations dominating this part of the factory floor.

  A massive explosion rocked the back of the room, rattling the entire floor.

  Flames, smoke, and shards of metal ricocheted off nearby machinery. The overlapping sound formed a short, powerful percussive symphony.

  Erik’s ears rang.

  Jia dropped behind a construction station and rolled her eyes. “Finally, someone who carries around even more ridiculous stuff than you. That explosion was way bigger than what you’d see from a breaching disk.”

  “You kick ass with what your superiors allow you to carry.” Erik crouched behind a nearby station. “Captain Ragnar probably wouldn’t let me carry all my best gear on basic duty. Otherwise, I’d always have the laser rifle.”

  “Probably not. Now that I think about it, that’s probably for the best.” Jia peeked around the corner and pointed her pistol. “But I’m going to admit a few stun grenades might have been handy.”

  “True.”

  Emma’s bot squadron descended. A high-pitched whine followed by a harsh buzz sounded from the other side of the room. The security bots dropped out of the ceiling like angry hail, thudding unceremoniously on the hard floor or bouncing off equipment with a loud clank.

  Jia sighed. “EMP?”

  “Sadly, yes,” Emma replied. She sounded irritated. “This annoying fleshbag is smarter and better equipped than your average gun goblin. Please note additional police units are almost here. From what dispatch has related, the situation has been fully contained, with all bomb drones destroyed, despite the flitter damage. There have been no civilian injuries. Minor injuries among police and militia. It might be wise to pull back and wait for reinforcements, considering the nature of your current enemies.”

  “No way. Not after all this.” Erik patted his TR-7. “I don’t want to wait for the militia. I want to take this guy down myself. If this is about a symbolic public hit, why don’t we offer a symbolic defense of Neo SoCal on our own? We should remind these bastards that Neo SoCal isn’t someplace anyone can show up and blow up whatever they want. If they go after the cops, they’re going to pay.”

  “I understand how you feel,” Jia countered, “but this is the actual shooter. Remember, we need to take him alive so we can interrogate him.” She pointed at his gun. “Consider putting that down and using a stun pistol?”

  Erik snorted. “I don’t need a stun pistol to take the guy alive.”

  Jia raised an eyebrow. “Does shooting one of your four-barrel bursts grant the bullets magic stun powers? If so, I’ll have to consider buying one of those.”

  “No, but I’ll shoot him in the shoulder or knee. He didn’t sneak into the ceremony in full tactical gear.” He shrugged. “And Emma mentioned bulkier armor. His buddies might not be taken down with stun pistols either. This might get messy, and if we pull back and wait for reinforcements, he might get away.”

  Jia looked like she was going to offer another complaint before smiling and shaking her head. She put away her stun pistol and drew her slug-thrower. “Let’s take him down, then. For the new chief.”

  Erik dropped his gun from his shoulder. “I don’t know who these guys are, but I’m already pretty sick of them.”

  “Incoming grenades,” Emma shouted.

  “Evade!”

  Chapter Twenty

  Emma highlighted the grenades in bright yellow. Despite her warning, the enemy was still in the process of throwing them. The warning and ability to track their arc gave the detectives what they needed to survive the explosives.

  Erik and Jia leapt in opposite directions. Their dodges briefly exposed them to the enemy, and rifle rounds screamed from the opposite end of the factory floor. One bullet slammed into Jia’s vest, stinging. The crushed spent round dropped to the floor. She landed behind another workstation, her jaw tight. Grenades completed their flight, exploding in a mass of deadly fragments and smoke that riddled the floor and nearby machinery.

  If she hadn’t jumped, she would have ended up taking a shower of hot, sharp metal.

  “Just keep moving,” Erik ordered. “Emma will give us a head’s up if they try something special.”

  Jia nodded. She rushed for another workstation, this time ready to fire. Her pistol came alive as she sprinted. Two shots bounced off the bulky dark armor worn by the men. A third shot went high and through a man’s exposed neck. With a gurgle, he fell over on his back, blood spraying.

  The other men opened up with their assault rifles. Their bullet swarm missed Jia by centimeters as she took new cover. She had a tactical vest on, but unlike her opponents, she didn’t have a helmet. Her heart pounded. She needed to be careful.

  Getting killed isn’t the preferred way to end my career.

  Jia wasn’t the only person who needed to be careful. The criminals had all turned to fire at her, ignoring her partner. All four barrels of the TR-7 flashed, and a river of bullets launched from the gun. The overconfidence of the criminals cost them as the barrage ripped through one man’s armor and sent him spinning in a bloodied dance toward the floor.

  “He’s got armor-piercing ammo!” one of the men shouted. They leapt for cover.

  Jia hurried around the corner of her cover, her breathing ragged. She didn’t snap off a quick shot. With Erik’s cover fire and the panic, she had the time to line up and put a bullet into the exposed face of another man. She ducked but continued firing every couple of seconds. Erik’s gun went silent. The TR-7’s insatiable appetite was the only problem with going all-out.

  She snorted. The criminals thought they had the upper hand, but Erik was right—they needed to understand who they were dealing with. Erik had tried to get them to surrender, and they were sheltering someone who had shot the chief of police and fired at police officers. Antisocial didn’t come close to describing them.

  “Incoming,” Emma warned. “And I suggest you keep moving until I tell you it’s safe.”

  Jia jumped and rolled as another grenade tumbled through the air. This time, the grenade exploded high in a blinding white-blue flash that melted half the workstation that had been her previous cover. Flames and heat licked her face, stinging. A second of hesitation would have ended her life.

  “Plasma grenades?” she muttered. “Oh, come ON!” She took a right in a crouching jog. “What’s next, rocket launchers?”

  After Erik opened fire again, Jia hurried to settle into her new position.

  Plasma and frag grenades flew through the air in wide arcs, exploding at different heights. Debris rained down all around the factory floor. The scorched and smoldering workstations emitted a steady stream of dark, acrid smoke into the air. Jia managed not to cough. Her visibility might be cut down, but Emma’s signal to her smart lenses remained unaffected.

  A whoop of triumph came from the criminal far too soon. Jia scoffed under her breath.

  “You should let us know where you are,” one man shouted. “You’re probably burned half to death. It’s a painful way to die. Let us come over and finish you off. That’s what you
get for taking us on.”

  “That was annoying,” Erik muttered, his quiet voice transmitted directly to Jia. He crouched a decent distance from her on the other side. Emma’s helpful outline let Jia track him, but they’d been split up by the counterattack.

  “The enemy is out of obvious explosive devices,” Emma reported. “Despite their taunt, the survivors have not advanced.”

  “They can’t risk the possibility that they’re wrong, especially now that they’ve lost their ordnance superiority,” Jia offered. “They also realize if we’re not dead, we might be stalling. They might have more guys hiding in the back, but we have the entire NSCPD on our side, not to mention the militia.”

  “Let them wonder,” Erik replied. “It means they won’t see us coming. They’re moving better than the last batch. I think they’ve had decent training. These guys aren’t going to surrender just because they ran out of grenades.”

  “Agreed.” Jia frowned. Emma’s helpful outlines made it easy to track the survivors as they spread out in two groups, both moving in opposite directions, except for one man. “Is that our shooter, Emma?”

  His outline turned green.

  “Yes,” Emma confirmed. “His face suggests he’s far more worried than the other men.”

  “They’re all but delivering him to us,” Erik suggested. “I’m going to move again. I don’t have enough AP magazines for a long, drawn-out fight, but we can least finish these guys off and take our guy. You ready?”

  Jia nodded. “I am when you are. Remember, we need him alive.”

  “Sure. Moving on five, four, three, two, one.” Erik erupted from cover and opened fire. His first burst shredded a man’s arm. His target screamed and tumbled in front of one of his firing friends. The criminal’s rifle bullets flattened against his friend’s armor, but the confusion disrupted the small group.

  Jia popped up and opened fire. She headshot one man, but another turned, and her bullets bounced off his helmet with a spark. She rolled back behind cover as they returned fire.

  Erik zigzagged forward, laying down bursts every few steps. More men fell to the monstrosity he called a rifle. The loss of the men forced the ones engaged with Jia to rush for cover, giving her more openings. Her careful three shots finally found their mark. A man groaned and fell, his hand going to his bleeding neck. The last armored man standing fell to a four-shot burst from Erik. That left the man who’d shot the chief. He darted in the direction he’d run before, panting and sweating.

  “Give it up!” Jia shouted. She sprinted out of cover and between the rows of heavy machinery. She snapped up her gun, took aim at his leg, and pulled the trigger. She blinked at the accompanying unusually thunderous gunshot. The hitman screamed and fell forward.

  She approached the man, her gun still pointed at him. Large holes in both legs revealed the reason for the loud noise. Erik had fired at the exact same time at the other leg. The suspect let out a long, pained groan.

  Erik jogged forward with a satisfied grin on his face. He pointed using his gun. “See? He’s not dead.”

  Jia kicked the suspect’s weapon away and holstered her pistol. “That’s true.”

  “You bastards,” the man hissed through his gritted teeth. “You blew out my knees.”

  “We did, didn’t we?” Jia commented, a complete lack of sympathy in her voice. “I was aiming slightly higher, but you were moving.” She shrugged, pulling out her ties. “Same difference.”

  Erik kept his TR-7 in his hand while his partner knelt to bind the suspect hands. He squealed in pain.

  “Oh, stop your whining,” Erik muttered. “Med patches will clear that right up, and it’s not like we blew your legs off. That’s after you shot the chief, tried to kill a lot of cops, and you and your friends tried to melt us with grenades.”

  “You’re under arrest,” Jia declared. “All Article 7 rights apply. Do you need these explained to you?”

  The suspect groaned again and fell unconscious.

  “I’ll take that as a no for now.” Jia moved a few stray hairs out of her face. Sweat had matted them down. She sighed. “But this doesn’t help the chief.” She glared at the man. “They still win if they killed him.”

  “That’s not a problem,” Emma interjected. “He was shot, but he’s in stable condition.”

  Erik set his rifle on his shoulder, looking around to make sure the others were truly out of action. “Oh, so our friend here isn’t only a criminal, he’s a criminal who is bad at his job.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  May 21, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Municipal Tower Two, Neo Southern California Police Headquarters Level

  Erik tugged down the jacket of his dress uniform.

  Even though the clothing had been custom-fitted for him, something about it felt uncomfortable and scratchy.

  It was almost as if he had trouble wearing a uniform anymore, like the decades in the Army and the death of his men soured him on the experience. He’d check the theory by wearing a uniform after he tracked down whoever was responsible.

  For now, he’d just have to put up with it as he sat in a chair next to Jia on the raised stage. Their gray chairs, along with others, were arrayed in rows on one side of a podium.

  Several other police officers who had shone brightly during the crisis sat with them. Erik and Jia had tracked down the shooter, but other calm heads had been necessary to save people from the drone swarms. City officials and representatives of the police brass sat on the other side, including Captain Ragnar, who offered Erik a polite nod.

  Hundreds of uniformed officers sat in chairs in front of the stage. An almost equal number of reporters sat behind them. There were so many camera drones hovering in the room, they could hardly maneuver without risking a collision. Everyone wanted to hear the first public statement from the chief following the assassination attempt. It’d been a long time since anyone had attempted something that bold in Neo Southern California.

  “I can’t believe we have to participate in a press conference,” Erik mumbled.

  A few cops nearby heard him and nodded in agreement.

  Jia eyed him with a slight smirk. “A few days ago, you were the one going off about sending a message to criminals. This is the most direct way to do that.”

  “Yeah.” Erik furrowed his brow. “The message was supposed to be, ‘When you try to kill cops and keep shooting at us even after we tell you to surrender, you’ll probably get shot.’ We did that by taking them on. Press conferences, though? That’s just a bunch of annoying garbage, so reporters can try to feel special and—”

  The police officers sitting in front of the stage stood and began clapping loudly. Erik didn’t even need to turn around to know why. He stood but didn’t clap, as he’d been instructed by a PR rep before being sent to the stage. He remained at attention, Jia at his side, as their new chief, Elijah Warden, walked to the podium.

  Unlike Captain Ragnar, the new chief was a man of slight build, not all that tall or physically imposing. The gray streaks in his dark hair indicated he hadn’t opted for de-aging. Erik couldn’t deny that authority radiated from the man’s stern gaze and body language.

  A person didn’t have to be a giant to intimidate.

  Chief Warden stepped up to the podium and swept his gaze over the crowd, then nodded curtly. The gathered officers took their seats.

  “As you can see,” the chief began, “I survived the attempt on my life.” He pointed to his chest. “I took a bullet to the chest right here, but my getting shot is less important than what it represented. It was a bold attempt to strike at law and order in this grand metroplex. As the corruption has been rooted out in this last year, dark, dark forces have been on the move, hoping to return us to a status quo that benefits their antisocial criminality.” He gestured to Erik and Jia. “But they failed, and Detectives Blackwell and Lin apprehended the suspect at great personal risk.”

  The crowd greeted that with a roar of approval, many of the reporters join
ing in. The chief waited until the noise had died down.

  “I’m standing before you today to send a message to all criminals, terrorists, and insurrectionists who think they are above the law,” Chief Warden thundered. “You did your best, including hiring mercenaries, and all you have to show for it are a bunch of prisoners and dead men. I’m still alive. All my cops are still alive. All the civilians we protected that day are still alive, and I’m standing in the same spot I was before to let you know that we will not rest until every last criminal and terrorist is driven from Neo SoCal.

  “We will not be intimidated. You will understand, if you don’t already, that your days in this place are numbered. We will shine a light into every dark hole where you’re hiding. If you want to stay out of prison or not end up dead, you’ll take up honest work. Or you can run off to Zitark space, for all I care.” He paused for a moment with a smile on his face. “I’m sure they’d love the snacks.”

  Scattered laughs sounded from the crowd.

  “To our friends in the media, I don’t want to waste a lot of your time today,” Chief Warden explained. “I’ll note that interrogation of the captured suspects is continuing, and we have full CID support on this matter. It’s only a matter of time before we track down every last person involved. Because of the sensitivity, we’re not releasing many details at this time, other than noting a private military contracting organization was involved, but we assure you that we will soon deliver a vicious blow that criminals in Neo SoCal will never recover from.”

  Erik groaned and leaned against a wall. The press conference was over, and he’d escaped to a nearby hallway to avoid the crush of reporters seeking comments. He’d sat on the stage for thirty minutes while reporters figured out new ways to ask the chief the same questions over and over, with Warden repeatedly stressing he wasn’t going to risk the follow-up operations by leaking evidence.

  Jia stared down the hall an arm’s length away. They were near a corner, but most of the police and media still filled the main auditorium down the corridor.