Chapter One

Chapter One

January 5, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Pacific Tactical Center

Erik crawled over the leaf-covered forest floor.

The density and texture of the dirt and plants were off, a subtle reminder everything around him was simulated. A device resembling a thin silver choker was wrapped around his neck.

He’d signed all the waivers and paid for the full sensory immersion package, including mild pain and stuns. The physical risk of the average barfight was greater, but it was enough to discourage bad habits.

One arrogant turn on a real battlefield might end with him missing more than an arm.

“How are we doing, Jia?” he whispered as he looked through the foliage. “You in position yet?”

A building stood nearby, partially obscured by the dense trees.

“I need a couple more minutes,” Jia sent back, her voice beamed directly into Erik’s ear via his PNIU. “The guards changed their patrol pattern suddenly, but I did spot the hostage before they covered the window. Given the size of the building, we’re talking less than ten meters between either the front or back door and the room they’re keeping the hostage in. We time this right, and it should be an easy recovery.”

“Good. And changing patterns? That’s some good simulation work. That stuff isn’t always predictable in the real world.” Erik ducked a spider web as he continued crawling forward, a dense patch of shrubs keeping him out of sight of the two guards standing in front of the ramshackle wooden building nestled in the trees.

Both men held rifles, and they were surveying the forest with bored expressions, not speaking.

Jia snickered. “At least this time, I don’t have to shoot through any walls. Sometimes I’m worried I’m becoming too accustomed to the absurdities of being your partner.”

“I thought you wanted to do real cop work?” Erik challenged.

Jia looked around before replying, “I meant

investigative

-type work. Not so much shooting people.”

Erik chuckled. “I do have a way of getting in trouble, but you’re doing great. You’ve come a long way.”

“Meaning what?” Jia sounded more amused than offended. “What does it mean to ‘do great’ as your partner?”

“Not get killed?” he offered. “Not use your head as a way to stop bullets?” She snickered again as he answered truthfully, “You’re willing to do what you need to when the time comes.” He pushed a leaf aside to get a better view in front of him. “I can’t say that was true when we first met, even if it wasn’t all that long ago.”

“Getting shot at so many times kind of has that effect on a person.” She glanced down at her PNIU to see if she had any alerts before continuing the conversation. “I suppose running into corrupt and deadly criminals was like beating my head against the wall of absurdity. Either I had to change my beliefs to fit the reality I was living, or it was time to ship me off to a psychiatric ward. If I didn’t worry about those kinds of people, I wouldn’t be here training with you so often.”

“Oh, come on, admit it! You like it!” Erik grinned. “I can’t turn you into a Special Forces operator with only a few months of part-time training, but you’ve got a lot of natural talent.” He checked behind him. “You might have done well in the Army, Jia. You could be out on the frontier, taking down terrorists and insurrectionists while giving your family conniptions.”

“I

don’t

think I’m military material,” Jia replied.

His smile was still evident in his voice. “The Army has

everything

you love—lots of rules, and stern men and women who like to chew people out. They support order in the UTC in their own way.”

“I’m fine with being a detective. I’m not saying there’s no other way I might serve the UTC, but I think my real talent lies in investigation. Having to get rough occasionally is a side effect of that.”

“I understand, and now I’m in position for the assault.” Erik stood and flattened his back against a broad tree trunk. He could easily hit the guards at this distance even without aim assist, but eliminating the opposing forces was a secondary goal.

The primary objective was to rescue the hostage, which required coordination with his partner.

They trusted each other, but the more they fought and trained together, the better they could predict each other’s movements and instinctive tactics. It’d taken him years to achieve with the 108

th

what he’d already achieved with Jia in months.

That meant something.

“The guards are sweeping back,” Jia reported, scanning the area. “I’ve got a count of five roaming. I confirm at least two inside. We’ve got two out back as well.”

“Two out front,” Erik replied. “And your five-count matches what I’ve seen, but we’re running out of time before they execute the hostage.” He paused before adding, “Emma was extra-sadistic with this one.”

The AI remained quiet. Sometimes she felt the need to offer an acerbic running commentary, but they’d been blessed with silence since the beginning of the training session.

Jia looked to the left. “Most of the roamers are heading toward the front,” she noted. “They should be there in about a minute. I think we should make our move then. You should start taking them on, and that will draw off most of the remaining guards. I can down the two in the back while I’m moving toward the entrance, but I wonder if we can be

sure

they won’t execute the hostage.”

“They won’t.” Erik’s eyes narrowed. “Emma made it clear in her briefing that they won’t kill the hostage until the time limit is up, tight as it is. You’ve got a good plan. Just wait about thirty seconds after I begin shooting so I’ve got most of the roamers heading my way.” He nodded, satisfied with the plan. “I’ll give you a count before I shoot.” He took a few deep breaths, his hands tightening on his rifle stock. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t real.

That didn’t make this exercise a game.

He stood and peeked around the trunk. The trees thinned between his position and the building. A straight charge would end up with him taking several rounds to the chest.

Emma might not cheat and give the guards superhuman aim, but she didn’t make them rank amateurs, either.

Two guards emerged from the trees on one side of the building. Another appeared on the other side. All of them displayed the same vaguely annoyed look.

“Going to start in five, four, three, two, one…moving!” Erik murmured. He popped around the tree and opened fire. His first shot ripped through one of the door guards. The second door guard didn’t even have time to turn his head before Erik’s next round pierced his head.

Both bodies dropped to the ground with muffled thuds.

The five roaming guards charged forward, their shouts of alarm joining the cracks of their rifles. Bullets whizzed by Erik, and the large trunk serving as his shield stopped others. He finished off two more of the roaming guards as the rest rushed toward the front of the building.

The plan was working.

As Erik sprinted to another tree, several bullets narrowly missed him. There was little cover left beyond that point. A quick reply with his rifle took out another guard, and two more gunshots rang out in the distance.

“Rear guards down,” Jia reported, sounding satisfied.

“I’m done in the front,” Erik noted after a few more shots and collapsing bodies. Not hesitating, he zigzagged toward the front door, taking the opportunity to reload. The door slid open, and Erik fired before the latest guard could get off a shot. “One more down. Rolling.” He entered the dusty room filled with sheet-covered round tables. A doorway led to the back. After a quick sweep, he jogged toward the back door. “In position in the front.”

“One second,” Jia replied. More gunshots sounded. “Sorry, they didn’t stay down. You would think they would have learned.”

Erik chuckled. “Give me the count when you’re ready.”

The scenario hadn’t been as challenging as the last few Emma had provided because of Jia’s presence, but his partner’s tactical reactions improved daily. If it wasn’t the training center, it was showdowns with criminals and terrorists on the job.

That was one way to get better fast.

The authorities’ continued squeeze on corruption in Neo SoCal had forced the most disgusting elements into the light. Now, it was up to the police to take the roaches down before they scurried back into the darkness.

“Three, two, one…” Jia counted.

Erik slammed his boot into the door. It flew from its frame and clattered to the ground, revealing a narrow hallway.

He charged forward, sparing only a second to consider that a wooden doorframe was something he might be lucky to find on a frontier planet, if there. Rickety wooden buildings with those kinds of doors were common in net dramas.

Emma might have been watching too many of the wrong sources when crafting the scenarios, but he was more concerned about combat tactics than door-entry training.

A man with a rifle rushed through an open door and turned toward Erik, not seeing Jia coming up behind him. She didn’t bother with her rifle. Her spinning kick ended with a boot cracking against his head and the man slamming into the wall before sliding down said wall with a groan.

Erik wasn’t sure if she’d done it for show.

She snapped up her rifle and pointed it through the doorway, her eyes narrowed.

Erik came down the hall to take position beside her and snapped a look through the doorway. Inside the room, the remaining man had a pistol pointed at a man with a bag over his head. The simulated criminal glared at Jia as she walked inside after Erik nodded.

“Drop it,” Jia ordered, pointing her gun at him. “Or we drop you.”

Erik inclined his head toward her, his own rifle coming up and pointing at the man’s face. “You heard the woman.”

Sometimes Emma added decent programming to the simulated enemies and allies, and sometimes they were nothing more than emotionless robots. She hadn’t specified at the beginning of the current scenario.

“You fools stand no chance,” the man replied. “I’m going to leave with this man. If you make any quick moves, he dies.” The jerk had a self-satisfied smirk real enough that Eric wanted to slap it off his face. “Then where does that leave you?”

The hostage whimpered.

Erik appreciated that touch. Decades might have hardened him, but it was important for Jia to develop a thick enough skin to focus on the criminal in a situation like this. It was far too easy to get distracted and end up with a dead hostage and a dead rescuer.

Rescuers didn’t always have time to soothe the victim, and a little fear was preferable to a hole in the head.

“You’re going to escape with a hostage through a forest?” Jia snorted. “I find that highly unlikely. Give it up. At least you’ll live to stand trial.”

The man shifted his hand, which was a mistake. The barrel now pointed away from the hostage’s head, and Erik squeezed off two shots. The first ripped through the hand holding the pistol, the second through the man’s forehead. He fell back, his pistol sliding across the floor.

The building vanished, replaced by the silver-floored white room of the training center.

“Congratulations,” Emma offered over the PNIU. “You’ve completed the scenario. I was hoping you’d get cocky and forget to take out all the roaming guards, but the hostage is alive, and there’s no one left to chase you. That’s why it ended. No point in making you walk the hostage to the evac zone.”

“You weren’t going to add new guards along the way?” Jia asked.

“No. I define the scenarios beforehand, even if I don’t tell you all the details. It’s far too tempting to cheat otherwise. I’m sure I could flood any given battlefield with a thousand men and you’d lose, but it wouldn’t prove anything. It’s not impossible, after all, for you to lose.” Emma chuckled. “Setting that aside, don’t you think your final shots were rather risky, Detective Blackwell?”

Erik shrugged. “I’m here to train for the real world, and in the real world, there’s no way I’d let a terrorist leave with a gun to the head of a hostage. The minute he got out of sight, he’d put a bullet in the hostage’s brain and run into the forest. That isn’t even a situation where I could have been happy I wasted a few terrorists along the way. Bad training leads to bad results. That scenario called for lead therapy, and I was happy to supply it.”

“I suppose,” Emma murmured. “But if your timing had been off, you would have failed.”

“Luckily, my timing wasn’t off.”

“And what about you, Detective Lin?” Emma asked. “Didn’t you find that move questionable?”

“I agree with Erik,” Jia offered. She blinked a few times. “I agree,” she murmured again, this time more softly.

“Problem?” Erik studied her. “You think I shouldn’t have taken the shot?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s not you at all. It’s just…” She bit her lower lip before looking at him. “I think I’m getting bloodthirsty.”

He eyed her, one eyebrow raised.

She continued, “I know we didn’t have the stun pistol option in this scenario, and these men weren’t real, but I didn’t think anything of it.” She stared into the distance. “I’m not saying that’s an awful thing in this kind of situation, but I do wonder about the future.”

“You can’t resolve every situation without lethal force.” Erik’s expression darkened. “And the kind of men who take hostages or threaten innocent people have no one to blame but themselves should they end up dead. If we had held back against any of the terrorists or criminals we’ve dealt with in the last few months, a lot more innocent people would be dead.

We

might be dead.”

“I know. I know.” Jia sighed and gave a slight shrug. “It’s like you said. I’ve come a long way, and I don’t always think about the implications. And my adrenaline is pumping too much after a real showdown for me to always think about what’s happened.” She waved around the room. “This is good training, but I never completely forget it’s not real, either. If that makes sense.”

“Perhaps you missed your calling,” Emma interjected. “Maybe instead of a detective, you should be a tactical terror with the TPST.”

“The same logic applies to that as to me joining the Army to become infantry.” Jia shook her head. “Being able to take down bad guys is all well and good, but it’s not why I joined the force. It’s like I said before. Cleaning up Neo SoCal needs investigation more than gunplay.”

“So you say,” Emma responded, mockery underlying her tone.

Erik nodded. “We get more done as detectives anyway.”

“Exactly,” Jia replied. “And—” She winced. “Darn it.”

“What’s wrong?” Erik frowned.

Her eyes shifted to the side as she looked at something on her smart lenses. “A personal alarm. I lost track of time. I’ve got a date with Corbin in less than an hour.”

Erik snickered. “And how is the down-to-earth businessman doing these days?”

“He’s doing well enough.” Jia headed toward an exit. “We’re going to the symphony tonight.”

Eric scratched his razor stubble. “Sounds boring.”

Jia rolled her eyes. “I like the symphony.” She stopped and spun toward Erik, her eyes narrowed as she pointed at him. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

“Forgotten what?” Erik grinned. “You can’t force me to like the symphony.”

“This has nothing to do with the symphony. Not directly, anyway.” Jia stabbed her finger at him. “I’m talking about our bet for December. I have clearly had more dates than you in one month. Not that it was hard, given that any positive number is greater than zero. I don’t even know why you took the bet if you weren’t going to try. My victory isn’t as satisfying that way.”

“I meant to try.” Erik stopped scratching his cheek and started scratching the back of his head, a blush coloring his face. “I’ve, ah, I’ve been busy.”

“With your miniature plants?” Jia folded her arms. “Or your girlfriend the car?”

“I consider myself more an overbearing virtual cousin,” Emma offered. “Or perhaps a nagging ex-wife?”

Jia snorted. “That’s about right.”

“Whatever.” Erik shrugged. “You won the bet. We never did set stakes.”

Jia furrowed her brow in concentration. “An oversight.”

“How about I pay for drinks at Remembrance and beignets for the next three months?” Erik suggested.

“I think you’re more into beignets and beer than I am, but in the spirit of being a good partner, I accept.”

Erik grinned. “Glad you could be reasonable. I didn’t know if you’d try to strangle me, given your new bloodthirst.”