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  At least, not until he needed it.

  A woman in a bright pink dress hurried over to them. She gestured toward the entrance doors. “You’re police, right?” She eyed the TR-7, trepidation on her face, before looking at Jia’s badge. “You’re here to stop the criminals, right?”

  “Just get to safety,” Erik ordered. “We’ll handle them. Do you know if anyone got shot?”

  The woman shook her head. “I just heard the gun. It sounded like a pop, then I saw it. I didn’t see anyone get shot. That’s all I know.” She darted away from the detectives, her face pale.

  “It’s time for some swift justice,” Erik suggested. He jogged toward the entrance, staying close to the remaining parked vehicles.

  Jia followed him, her eyes scanning the area. “Notice it?”

  Erik slowed for a moment before nodding. “There’s no one else coming out anymore. Good. That’ll make this easier.” Jia and Erik darted from flitter to flitter for cover.

  A man with a pistol stepped out of the tower. He yelped and fired in their direction, bullets ripping into the parked vehicles. Jia returned fire, nailing him three times with her stun pistol and sending his face on a one-way trip to the hard parking surface.

  She was pretty sure he would need some mouth work after that abrupt stop.

  The pair approached the door, continuing to use the remaining vehicles for cover, their weapons aimed forward at all times. The glass doors lay open, and a loud alarm trilled from inside. Based on the tower coordinates from the address they’d been given, the jewelry store should be near the entrance. A large bronze statue of a crying, kneeling woman filled the center of the courtyard, a remembrance statue for the Summer of Sorrow, Erik suspected. Tens of millions of people didn’t just die and be forgotten in a decade or two.

  Or ever.

  Erik flattened himself against the wall and waited for Jia to do the same after she finished applying binding ties to the stunned suspect. “Emma, can you hack the local system here and get me a camera feed?”

  “On it,” she replied. “Accessing the system now, but this might take a few minutes.”

  “Let’s get going while she’s working on that.” Erik nodded toward the courtyard. “We don’t want our guys to get away before our backup arrives.”

  A few update messages on his smart lenses suggested additional police units would be there in about four minutes. It wasn’t a long time in normal circumstances, but it was more than enough time for criminals to load a flitter with small and valuable stones and flee.

  He tapped commands into his PNIU to disable the updates, his standard action during tense situations over the previous few weeks. He didn’t need to be distracted in the middle of a firefight.

  “Three, two, one…” Erik counted before rushing inside. He headed straight toward the base of the statue and crouched beside its legs. He doubted some random robbers had the gear they would need to blast through a huge bronze statue.

  Jia matched his movements as she looked for more criminals. Broken glass littered the floor at a shop in the distance. A man stood near the entrance, pistol in hand and a bored look on his face. He jerked in their direction.

  “Who’s there?” the man shouted. “You better get out of here if you know what’s good for you.”

  “NSCPD,” Jia shouted back. “Drop your weapon and put your hands on your head.”

  The criminal responded with two quick shots, but they bounced off the knees of the statue with a spark.

  Erik grunted. “So much for them being smart.”

  “If you don’t surrender, lethal force may be applied,” Jia called back. One look from Erik had her amend her statement as she rolled her eyes. “Make that ‘will be applied!’”

  “Screw you, cop.” The criminal fired several more rounds. “You’re not taking me down.”

  Erik popped up and fired a single shot. The criminal screamed as a bullet ripped through his leg. Jia nailed him with her stun pistol before he hit the ground. Shouts erupted from inside the shop.

  “That’s one good thing about criminals around here,” Erik muttered. He advanced toward the store.

  Jia took a deep breath as she moved on his flank. “What’s that?”

  “They expect everyone, cops included, to roll over for them. Cocky criminals are easy to take down.” Erik finished his statement with another shot at a criminal emerging from the store. The round nailed the man in his right shoulder and he fell backward with a groan, his gun flying from his hand.

  Another criminal skidded to a halt and raised his gun, but not quickly enough to avoid Jia’s stun bolt to the chest. He dropped to the ground with a thud. She turned and stunned the previously wounded man.

  Erik and Jia moved closer to the entrance. They sprinted to the walls on either side of the shattered front windows. Rows of open display cases resting on thick reflecting metal filled the store, but there wasn’t any glass.

  Two more quick shots rang out from an open backroom but missed the detectives. Judging by the sound, the men inside weren’t using anything heavier than the pistols he’d already seen.

  “Trying to kill cops is pretty stupid,” Erik shouted. “But if you come out right now, you might survive this.”

  The ensuing creative stream of profanities impressed Erik. He hadn’t heard that kind of language since leaving the Army.

  “I’ve accessed the cameras for the floor you’re on, but the cameras to the store have been disabled,” Emma reported. “Diagnostics indicate there’s no active feed.”

  “That makes sense,” Jia offered. “The cases aren’t broken. There is no way they aren’t bulletproof. That means the thieves needed to hack them somehow, probably through the system. An EMP would just leave them sealed.”

  Erik nodded. “Just because they brought a few toys with them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t idiots.”

  “Not saying they are, but they are armed criminal idiots.”

  “A minor problem.”

  “I’ll kill you, cops,” screamed a man from the backroom. “You better get the hell out of here if you want to live!”

  Erik set his gun to two-barrel mode. “Lay down cover for me. I’m going to move inside.”

  Jia nodded, her face grim. She fired a bolt into the back. The criminals remained out of the line of fire, so she followed up with another couple of shots, producing a pretty light show as part of her suppression fire.

  Erik charged through the door and slid feet-first toward a display case. One of the criminals fired in his general direction but was only willing to risk his arm. His bullet went wide and bounced off the hard tile of the store’s floor.

  Jia ceased fire and pulled back to the wall. One of the men took his chance to dart forward, shouting as he pulled the trigger over and over. Erik leaned to the side and fired into his knee. The man screamed and tumbled forward as most of his knee disappeared. His partner rushed into the room, his gun at his side.

  Erik jumped up and pointed the TR-7 right at the new arrival’s chest. “Drop it,” he barked. “Or don’t, but I doubt you can survive two high-velocity rifle rounds at point-blank range.”

  The criminal’s eyes widened at the sight of the huge weapon. He dropped his pistol and slowly raised his hands in the air.

  “Don’t kill me,” he pled. “I told them we should surrender, but they didn’t listen to me.”

  Erik snorted and nodded at the groaning man now missing a chunk of his knee. “He’s not dead. Not yet. On your knees, and turn around.”

  Jia secured the prisoners with binding ties as Erik kept his weapon trained on them.

  “Maybe a little overkill?” she suggested with a nod at the criminal with the knee wound.

  Erik scoffed. “Nah. Slap medpatches on the holes and he’ll be fine. None of these guys has more than a single hole. No deaths, easy-to-patch injuries. I think they got off lightly.”

  “Additional officers have landed and are on their way,” Emma explained. “I’ve sent your location an
d confirmed the takedown.”

  “See?” Erik waved a hand around. “The ambulances will patch these bastards up, and they’ll be nice and healthy for trial.”

  The only remaining unwounded and non-stunned criminal groaned and looked at the cops. “Of course, it had to be you two, of all the cops in Neo SoCal.”

  “Who arrests you is irrelevant.” Jia folded her arms over her chest. “If you don’t want to be arrested, don’t commit crimes. It’s not that hard.”

  Erik and Jia both turned at the sound of thunderous footsteps. A mob of officers sprinted toward the scene, stun pistols and rifles at the ready. A few of them carried actual slug throwers. They swarmed the downed suspects.

  “You got this?” Erik asked the officers.

  One of them nodded. “We’ve got this, Detective.” He looked at the blood splatters on the floor and walls. “Uh, good job.” His voice wavered.

  “There’s something I need to show you back at my body,” Emma reported. “If you’re through ventilating shiny-rock-obsessed idiots.

  Erik flipped on his safety and looked at Jia.

  Jia nodded. “The important thing is that we stopped them. The uniformed officers and EMTs can handle it from here.”

  They wandered back to the MX 60 with all the leisure of a couple taking a stroll in the park, the kind who just happened to bring a heavy weapon with them. Additional officers landed and filtered into the mall.

  Erik was just pleased they would be handling the hard work of processing the scene. All he had to worry about were his personal statement and report later. The brass might get a little upset about his excessive force, but everyone above him seemed to be doing their best to stay out of his way, as if his mere presence would end with them being indicted.

  He froze as he spotted the MX 60 and gritted his teeth. His heart rate kicked up, and bile rose in his throat. There were several large bullet holes in the side of the vehicle. His flitter had been a victim of the first robber’s wild firing.

  “Oh, that’s too bad.” Jia walked toward the car and knelt. She ran her fingers over one of the holes. “What about the self-sealing system?”

  “There’s internal damage,” Emma explained. “I could force the repair system to activate, but that’s a risk because of the internal damage. You need to take better care of my body. I believe I specifically said this. I can’t believe I got shot. If a bullet struck my actual crystal, it’s not like you could take me to the corner shop for repairs.”

  “Damn it.” Erik scrubbed a hand down his face as he looked around before focusing back on the car. “I need to bulletproof the Taxútnta.”

  “Is that legal?” Jia pointed to the flitter. “Even the average police flitter isn’t bulletproof.”

  “That’s because the bureaucrats are cheap, and it’s mostly legal, from what I’ve seen.” Erik frowned at the holes. “Emma, look around and find a place I can get it done legally and quickly.”

  “Legally?” Emma chuckled. “How legal? There’s white, black, and a lot of gray, Erik.”

  Erik poked a finger through a hole before he answered. “Light gray, so I can argue my way out of it if necessary.”

  Chapter Six

  September 12, 2228, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station, Captain’s Office.

  Jia and Erik slipped into the captain’s office, fully expecting Captain Quinene, their bland if non-offensive interim captain. Instead, they found a man in the formal black and blue uniform of an NSCPD police officer with captain’s rank insignia on his collar.

  The huge golden-haired and bearded man sitting at the desk was large enough that he might look imposing even next to Erik. Several data windows floated around him. He swept his hand to dismiss the one right in front of him, revealing his nametag, which read Ragnar. He stood, extending his hand.

  “Excuse me,” Jia began, confusion flavoring her voice. She stepped forward and gave his hand a light shake. “Um, what are you doing, and why are you here?”

  The new arrival barked a hearty laugh. “I’m Alexander Ragnar, and I’m the new captain of the 1-2-2.”

  “Sorry, no one sent anything ahead explaining,” Erik related, also extending his hand for a firm shake. At his full height, Captain Ragnar had a few inches on him, and the handshake to match.

  “Yes, Detective Blackwell. I suppose that much is true.” Captain Ragnar settled back into his seat. “Quinene was never supposed to be more than a placeholder, and it wasn’t like Monahan was going to come out of retirement.” He looked at Erik and Jia. “Especially after all the trouble you two stirred up. You turned a simple fraud investigation into tangling with gangsters in the Shadow Zone and killer security bots and put enough pressure on Ceres Galactic they offered up a sacrificial lamb. I don’t know if I should be impressed or worried.”

  Jia narrowed her eyes, her suspicion plain. “Then you believe Ceres was more involved than they claim?”

  He gestured to one of the data windows. It contained an image of David Esposito, the former Ceres vice-president, who had claimed he was acting on his own.

  “I’ve been a cop for a long time. Long enough that I know that someone like Esposito doesn’t sneeze without permission from higher-ups. You don’t get as big as Ceres Galactic without a few skeletons in your closet, if not a whole damned building full of them.”

  Erik wondered how old Captain Ragnar was. There wasn’t a hint of gray on his head or in his beard, but he wasn’t wrinkle-free. In the end, it didn’t really matter as much as one other crucial piece of information.

  “What’s your deal?” Erik asked, not adding any fake mirth into his tone. Sometimes he got tired of the dance of pretending to be happy-go-lucky, and he needed to know whether Ragnar, like Monahan, would need to be forced to do the right thing. Erik couldn’t watch his partner’s back if he was busy trying to protect them both from the rest of the department and their captain.

  “My deal?” Captain Ragnar’s gaze cut toward Jia, the merriment in his blue eyes not matching the subtle tension in his neck and mouth.

  “Yeah,” Erik rumbled. He stepped forward, but Captain Ragnar didn’t move or flinch.

  Jia cleared her throat. “Sir, if I may?”

  “Go ahead, Detective Lin,” Captain Ragnar replied. “I’m always open to clarification.”

  “I’m going to be straightforward with you, and I hope you’ll return the favor.”

  The corner of Captain Ragnar’s mouth raised in a barely-there smile. “I’m a happy guy most of the time, and one of the reasons is that I don’t hold a lot in.” He winked. “It keeps my stress level lower.”

  Jia inclined her head toward her partner. “Erik and I are here to solve crimes.”

  The smile on the captain’s face grew into something resembling genuine amusement. “Isn’t that what every detective here is being paid for?”

  Jia snorted, although her expression suggested she regretted it instantly. “Captain Monahan was helpful toward the end, but he seemed…resistant to us expending much effort in the pursuit of investigations unless we forced the issue. He passed along a large number of cases. Too many, in my opinion.”

  Erik grunted. “That’s her way of saying he was a lazy coward until we forced him to look into the pile of stinking garbage pretending to be a perfect little metroplex.”

  Captain Ragnar let out a low chuckle. “Yes, I’d call that straightforward.”

  “It’s a fair question,” Erik continued. “If you’re not here to help us, then maybe you should move along like Monahan and Quinene.”

  Jia opened her mouth, a slightly disapproving look on her face, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she nodded her agreement.

  “You haven’t been a cop for long, Detective Blackwell,” Captain Ragnar observed. “I’m not going to complain about how either of you became a detective, because from what I can tell, you’re actually good cops, but you might not appreciate that there are a lot of politics involved with being a cop.”


  “And I don’t give a crap about any of it,” Erik replied.

  “Let me put it a different way. Are you telling me you never had to worry about job politics in the thirty years you were in the Army?” Captain Ragnar’s brow lifted in challenge. “I’ve known plenty of retired officers, and none of them ever suggested they didn’t have to worry about that kind of thing.”

  “I spent most of my Army career in command of at least some soldiers,” Erik offered, keeping his tone lighter than before. “When you’re in command, politics matter more. But I’m not in command now. I’m nothing but a grunt, and a grunt shouldn’t have to worry about any of that garbage if his commander’s doing his job, Captain.”

  The men stared at one another, neither moving a muscle nor saying a word. Erik wasn’t sure if this was a test, but he wasn’t about to back down.

  Jia sighed. “It’s not that Erik and I are unaware of the political implications of investigations, Captain. It’s just that we don’t feel those should have greater consideration than whether or not a crime’s been committed. If all you have to do to get away with a felony is be wealthy and work for a large corporation, we might as well just disband the police and let private security run everything.”

  Erik looked at Jia before pointing to her and looking back at the captain. “What she said.”

  Captain Ragnar leaned back in his chair and shot a long, appraising look at both of them. “I agree.” He held up a hand at Jia’s frown. “I agree about politics coming second to taking down criminals. Both of you can dial it down. I’m not here to screw with you or complain about Erik running around with a TR-7 or you both riling up the entire metroplex. I just wanted to get a feel for you, because again, if we're honest and straight with one another, you two are the reason I’m here, and ultimately the reason there are a few major job vacancies within the force. Yes, CID swooped in at the end for the glory, but you set everything in motion.”

  Jia folded her arms, her frown lingering. “What do you think about what happened at the jewelry store?”