Shattered Truth

by Michael Anderle

  “Think of it more like potentially bad news.” He replied. “Local cops in the Central Florida Metroplex caught a woman named Jeanne Caron earlier today. According to CID, she’s a leader of a terrorist group called the Evolved Six.”

  Jia tossed the name around in her head for a few seconds. “I’ve never heard of them.”

  “Me either,” Erik offered.

  “They are militant Cosmic Universalists,” Captain Ragnar explained. “Like all Grayheads, they believe humans are inferior to aliens, but the Evolved Six take that to the next level and believe that if they can stir up enough trouble, they can encourage the aliens to come take us over and it’ll lead to some kind of age of enlightenment. The typical garbage you hear from them, but their particular version comes with a lot more people shot or blown up before the golden age part.”

  Erik scratched his forehead. “Terrorists always think you can make a better world if you kill enough people.”

  Jia tapped her chest. “As idiotic as I find Cosmic ideology and as much as I despise terrorists, what does this have to do with us? I can’t believe a terrorist they caught in Florida is linked to Canna.”

  Captain Ragnar shook his head. “Caron has no strong links to this area other than some incidental contact with several of the local more pacifistic Grayhead groups, and they have been going out of their way to help the CID. This Caron woman used to be an up-and-coming leader in the movement, but she turned violent a few years back, and apparently, a lot of them believe her violence will drive aliens away rather than bring them. The government is more than happy to exploit that belief if it helps catch terrorists.” He pointed at Erik. “The quick explanation is you’re the link, Detective Blackwell.”

  “Huh?” Erik grunted, his mouth open for a moment before he shut it. “I’ve never heard of this woman, and I’ve fought a lot of terrorists in my Army career, but none of them were Grayheads that I remember. Maybe out on the frontier, it’s less fun to wonder what would happen if aliens swept in where there aren’t as many troops and ships to keep them in check.”

  Captain Ragnar looked surprised but recovered quickly. “You’re sure you don’t know her? You’ve never met her, or maybe a relative? Maybe you killed her brother or something?”

  “No.”

  “Sister?” Jia asked.

  “Not that I recall,” he answered.

  Jia put up her hand, opening a finger for every relative she spouted off. “How about father, mother, cousin, uncle, aunt?” Jia lifted a second hand, but Erik stopped her.

  “It’s not like I personally checked everyone’s PNIUs or DNA after I shot them, but we weren’t being sent against random people out there. I would know if I was going after those kinds of people.” Erik shrugged. “That name’s not familiar either. How am I the link?”

  “She’s refusing to talk to any of the locals or CID. She specifically said she will talk to you. She mentioned you by name. She was asking for, and I quote, ‘Detective Erik Blackwell of the Neo Southern California police,’ but she refuses to explain why. Just so you know, CID already looked into any possible connections between you two and they couldn’t come up with any either, but I was hoping you might have remembered something that didn’t make it into official records.”

  Jia raised an eyebrow in question and turned toward Erik. “That’s not impossible, right? As you’re fond of pointing out, the frontier isn’t Earth or even the core worlds. I’m sure things get left out of reports, accidentally or otherwise.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory.

  Erik looked down for a moment. He had decades of military service spread over dozens of planets and moons. Some assignments barely registered, nothing but a boring blur of eventless patrols, and other moments remained etched in his mind, short, violent seconds that would linger to his death. None of them involved a woman named Jeanne Caron.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe she knew someone I served with, or I took down someone she was close to, like the captain said. It’s possible. Terrorist groups sometimes share resources, but if that were the case, you’d think I would have at least heard of her group.” He thought for a moment before looking back at the captain. “Do they have any off-world presence? Anything out in the deep frontier?”

  Captain Ragnar shook his head, looking less confused. “Not according to the CID reports. If you don’t know her, it’s probably just a ploy. You’ve both been on the news a lot, and Erik, you even more so, given your background. She must be trying to stall, but you can still help.”

  It took a moment for Erik to process that comment. The only thing Jia heard was the soft sound of the air conditioning before he asked the question she wanted to know.

  “How?”

  “I want you and Jia to head to the CFM and assist the detectives responsible for investigating Caron and her friends, even if it just means putting in an appearance and giving our terrorist friend one less reason to stall. I’ve already taken care of the paperwork and booked a trip on an HSBT and a hotel. Your flight leaves in a couple of hours. Get what you need and get going.” Captain Ragnar looked apologetic. “Sorry for the short notice.”

  Erik considered that on a hyper-sonic ballistic transport (HSBT), the trip to the CFM would only take about a half-hour, and they would be able to take his flitter, which meant Emma would have her precious body. The flight would likely be shorter than the trip to the airport, even when you included the time for loading and unloading.

  “It might take a day or two for this all to finish up,” Captain Ragnar continued. “I apologize about running into your days off, but the CFM police and CID are both concerned that the Evolved Six are up to something in that area, and the longer we stall, the greater the chance innocent people end up dead.”

  “What if she still doesn’t talk?” Erik asked.

  “Then she doesn’t talk.” Captain Ragnar shrugged. “You just put in an appearance. I think this will end up being a complicated CID investigation, but the more we do to establish better links between the NSCPD and other departments and agencies, especially after the local mess, the better, in my opinion. If she refuses to talk after you show up despite asking for you, then the locals will know she’s stalling and can focus their resources and personnel accordingly.”

  Jia took a deep breath before turning toward the door. “My first trip away from Neo SoCal in a long time, and it’s not a vacation. It’s dealing with terrorists with ridiculous ideologies.”

  Erik chuckled, nodding to the captain before he followed her. “At least you won’t be bored.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Erik slowed the Taxútnta MX 60 as they approached the transportation tower.

  Several transports were docked on the expansive platform forming the primary launch area. Lower-level platforms provided access to other forms of regional transportation, but only the HSBTs launched from the top.

  There was too much risk of collision otherwise.

  Jia picked out the numerous not-so-concealed anti-air turrets arranged along the edge and body of the platform. A true wall was impossible atop a massive tower piercing the sky, and the government had long since learned its lesson in defending against terrorists, even if they were far weaker than they had been in decades past.

  When cities grew toward the sky, they also grew more targets for the antisocial and dangerous.

  The long silver-gray craft lay ready on angled platforms, arranged in a circle and pointed outward. The platforms were marvels of gargantuan latticework filled with hoses and huge grav field emitters. From Erik’s flitter, Jia could only make out the tapering top half of the HSBTs.

  Despite the swarms of flitters filling the skies of Neo SoCal, everyone near them flew horizontally level toward one of the many security gates lining the side of the platform. Each vehicle stopped and waited for the holographic signal to change from red to green. Police flitters prowled above and below the lanes, along with drones.

  The place was better monitored and defended than many militar
y installations.

  After fifteen minutes of stop-and-go traffic, the MX 60 pulled into the security checkpoint, which consisted of a narrow tunnel filled with floating pyramidal emitters and a small number of drones. A large, thick door sealed the opposite end of the tunnel in the distance.

  The MX 60’s comm system came alive with an incoming message.

  “Welcome to the Hardy Transportation Center security checkpoint,” offered a chipper woman’s voice—the security attendant. “Do you have any contraband to declare?”

  Erik entered a few commands on his PNIU to interface her with his system and send along the detectives’ police clearance and flight information. Without their police status, there was no way they would be allowed to bring along their weapons. Jia wasn’t sure if the TR-7 was needed for an interrogation, but it wasn’t like he normally kept it somewhere else. He lowered the tint to allow their camera drones a clear view for facial recognition. It would expedite the boarding process.

  “Let’s see,” the woman replied. “Detectives Blackwell and Lin. Just sit tight, and we’ll begin the scan.”

  The hovering pyramids swept the MX 60 with waves of soft blue light. Several drones, chemical sniffers, slowly circled their vehicle. Erik drummed his fingers on his control yoke, waiting.

  Jia sat there with a pensive expression. Something was bothering her about the trip, but she couldn’t figure it out.

  “Please identify the weapon you have under the passenger seat,” the security attendant asked, sounding as chipper as ever, as if people attempted to smuggle dangerous weapons through checkpoints every day. Given that she controlled a tunnel she could seal remotely and was probably far away, there was no reason for her to be afraid.

  “A Selene Firearms TR-7 Quad,” Erik replied. “It’s my personal weapon, and it’s also used during my police duties.”

  “Is that class of weapon absolutely necessary during this trip?” the attendant asked.

  “If you check out the information I transmitted, you’ll see that I have full travel clearance and licensing for the weapon,” Erik replied.

  There was a slight pause. “One moment, Detective.”

  Jia leaned toward him to whisper, her eyes practically drilled into the storage for the gun, “Are you going to insist on bringing it? What if they say no?”

  Erik nodded forward. “The captain’s sending us to a city with active terrorists. I’d rather be as prepared as possible. It’s not crazy to bring superior firepower if you might end in a fight.”

  Jia’s jaw tightened, then her mouth moved back and forth as if she were trying to chew a piece of tough meat. “I can’t argue with that.”

  “You could try.” Erik grinned.

  “You’re clear to proceed, Detectives,” the attendant replied. “Please follow the indicated arrows to get to your transport. Our system indicates you are currently flying in manual mode. Please be aware that the automated guidance system must take over your vehicle once you clear the tunnel or you will not be allowed to board the transport.”

  “Duly noted,” Erik replied.

  The tunnel entranced doors parted in the distance, and Erik slowly pulled forward. Deeper into the tunnel, it split in two directions. He turned as necessary with the help of the flashing yellow arrows on the tunnel walls, and after five minutes of slow flying, the MX 60 emerged onto the main launch area.

  Jia took a few additional deep, cleansing breaths, trying to push away the unease suffusing her muscles. If she could crystallize her concern in her mind, she could deal with it.

  From outside, the HSBTs had looked large, but from only a few hundred meters away, they resembled huge spires built by insane giants. The detectives’ transport towered over the flitters flowing toward it, its shadow all-consuming. The huge cargo doors stood open near the bottom. The vehicles approaching it slowed as they moved inside.

  Several flitter-buses hovered in place farther up the vehicle, docked against the side. Passengers without vehicles were loading from the buses into the personal seating section.

  “The automated loading system is pinging the MX 60,” Emma explained. “I assume you weren’t ignoring her when she told you their system has to fly you into the transport. I don’t think any of the upgrades you’ve had done will survive the anti-aircraft defenses present at this facility.”

  Jia didn’t understand Erik’s attraction to manual driving, even if it was a harmless quirk in most situations. A little push might be helpful.

  Erik put up a hand as she opened her mouth to speak. “I’m very aware that’s a good way to get us kicked out of here. Go ahead and let the automated system take control, Emma.”

  “Very well,” the AI replied.

  Jia stared at him, one eyebrow raised. “You are being reasonable.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be predictable; it will throw you off your game.”

  “What game?”

  “It’s a form of expression.”

  She sat back, chewing the inside of her cheek. Did she have a game? She would have to look up the expression.

  The flitter continued forward at a crawl, even stopping on occasion, always close to another vehicle. Fifteen minutes passed before the MX 60 arrived at the cargo bay doors. The flitters inside were parked in rows and locked into place on both the top and the bottom of the cargo bay, thin black cables attached as a last resort.

  Large circular grav field emitters also extended from each cargo space to both protect the passengers and invert the local grav field so passengers didn’t have to spend their trip with blood rushing to their heads, depending on their position in the parabolic flight path.

  The first flight where a couple of those had gone out had been a news event for three weeks.

  Five more minutes passed before the MX 60 lined up next to another vehicle, the cables slowly extending and pulling the vehicle to the metal of the cargo bay.

  Jia’s stomach lurched as the grav field emitters activated. She made a face. “I forgot how unpleasant this feels. I’m surprised more people don’t throw up.”

  “It’s not on my list of fun stuff,” Erik mumbled, his hand straying to his belly. “But at least this way we can bring along the MX 60 and Emma.”

  “I don’t feel anything,” Emma offered cheerfully. “Just thought you should know in case it might make you feel better.”

  “Funny.” Erik took a deep breath. “It could be a lot worse. You should feel what it’s like to go through an HTP. Every time I do, I half-wonder if it’s shredding my soul.”

  Jia swallowed and shook her head. “I think I can go my whole life without experiencing that.” She had no reason to leave Earth. It would take far more than her lifetime to assure that Earth became what she used to believe it was. “You think this will turn into something?” she murmured.

  “You mean with Jeanne Caron?” Erik asked. He tapped his PNIU, and a mugshot of the woman appeared on the central dash display. She was an attractive violet-eyed and purple-haired woman in her early thirties.

  The woman smirked in the photo, her contempt for the authorities and typical human order obvious.

  Jia narrowed her eyes. There was no contrition in that face, only arrogant defiance. A true believer who would kill for her ideology. This woman was a killer, and for some reason, she wanted to drag Erik into her twisted game.

  “I’ve been reviewing her background records,” Emma offered.

  “I was going to do that when we got there,” Jia responded. “But that’s helpful as a first step.”

  Emma chuckled. “I do live to serve. Actually, no. I live to not be bored, but in this case, it helps us both. Caron’s a Canadian native. She radicalized about three years back, as Captain Ragnar alluded to, after being arrested during a Cosmic Universality anti-war protest in the Montreal Metroplex.”

  “Anti-war protest? What war did anyone care about three years ago?” Erik asked. “She cared about some insurgency on the frontier?”

  “Not at all,” Emma replied. “J
eanne, along with many of her ideological compatriots, claimed that the UTC was purposely trying to goad the Local Neighborhood races into war.”

  Jia scoffed. “The closest we’ve come is with the Zitarks recently, and everyone seemed determined not to go to war. What a pathetic excuse to become a terrorist.”

  Erik looked uncomfortable for a moment, as if he bought into the idea, before shaking his head and gesturing to the picture. “She’s a terrorist. She’s probably just in it for the killing and figured out an excuse that sounded righteous.” He stared at the picture. “And right now, she’s a terrorist who wants to talk to me.” He tapped the screen. “The more I know about her, the better chance we have of getting something useful out of her. I have a feeling this’ll be a big waste of time, but who knows? Maybe the Lady will take pity on us.”

  “Attention, loading bay passengers,” interrupted a soft voice through the MX 60’s comm system. “Loading is complete. Although the grav field emitters should eliminate most of your discomfort, please remain seated and belted during takeoff. Please note that even with your localized grav fields, you will still perceive and experience mild acceleration.”

  Erik and Jia lapsed into silence for the next several minutes before a light rumble shook the MX 60. The rumble intensified into something respectably disconcerting, and Jia took a deep breath and held it.

  They couldn’t see anything inside the cargo bay except rows of other docked flitters, so she had nothing to take her mind off the experience.

  Bile rose in the back of her throat when she remembered Erik’s mention of hyperspace travel. Sometimes she wondered if humanity had made a mistake by leaving the Solar System.

  It had encouraged things like the Social Cohesion policy that led to the transportation of criminals. If humanity couldn’t just ship off its troublemakers, maybe they would have been forced to handle them properly, or maybe not.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain, please prepare for launch in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…”