Red Lined (The Mallet Book 3), page 14
“Don’t look at me like that,” Amanda said.
“You could hack her comms,” Sofie said.
“I need to be here with you. If I stop moving, I’m going to fall asleep. You think sending me to stare at a screen is the best idea?”
“I wanted Haadiya,” Rick said. “I need someone Nhu might listen to. They’re acting like I’m not even in the unit.”
“We need him here,” Sofie said. “His people follow his orders. I don’t think they’ll do that for me. They know I’m a cop. And every single one of them gives me that glare of defiance before they do as he asks.”
“I can only watch Nhu. We need to know who they are calling.” Rick put the call on hold.
“What the fuck?” Amanda asked.
“I guess Nhu isn’t entirely ignoring him. What do you think we should do?”
“Maybe Haadiya has someone who can hack the comms? You got it right about needing him here. No one will do what either of us needs without him issuing the commands. I don’t blame them. We’re the enemy, right?”
Rick rejoined the call. “Nhu came in to ask me to make them some food. Like I’m a servant now,” Rick said. “This is getting worse. I need someone on their level to… I don’t know, control doesn’t seem possible, maybe persuade them to act like they’re on our side?”
“I’ll ask Haadiya about a hacker. If he sends someone to help, can you deal with Nhu’s objections?”
“Oh yeah, they’ll love that. I can find some reason we need help from the dark streets. How’s it going out there?”
Sofie hoped Rick was right. She didn’t need to be worried about Nhu undermining the team while she searched for a solution. “The message seems to be consistent that the new leaders will be loving and nurturing. Some variation in the wonderful promises, but not enough to fragment the movement. We need to find the real power behind this contact.”
“Okay. Let me know if Haadiya agrees to help. I won’t say anything until I know someone is coming.”
“If you think Nhu is really working against us, lock them up.” Sofie didn’t think Nhu would act to sabotage the Mallet, but they had their own priorities like all the Executives did. And if she was honest with herself, not just the Executives — everyone on the Mallet was out to make their own lives better.
“I’ll keep an eye on Nhu, but I can’t guarantee I’ll notice if they are doing something dangerous.”
“I’ll reach out to you to let you know what Haadiya says.” Sofie ended the call.
“You know, a hacker doesn’t need to be on-site to work,” Amanda said. “Unless Nhu has cut access from outside, the system is open to manipulation.”
“And if they have?” Sofie asked.
“That can be cracked too. Let’s get back to Haadiya.”
44
Solving a case by hacking information was not Sofie’s style. She liked tracking down the perpetrator by following clues and talking to people. But she had to accept that this case wasn’t going to work out that way. She still thought of it as a case, even though it was more like an intelligence operation. It helped her to feel some hope they’d solve it, because she had no experience with spying, and no experience equaled no confidence.
But her preference wasn’t helping to solve anything. This wasn’t the kind of crime she dealt with on a normal basis, so no informant or even experience guiding her. It definitely felt like everyone was a perpetrator, but maybe that was just in Maintenance.
Sofie let her thoughts float as she followed Amanda and their guard back to Haadiya’s residence. Sometimes drawing back from the chase let her see details she missed with too tight a focus. This time it gave her nothing. Normally she wouldn’t feel sympathy for criminals, but life on the Mallet was shitty. Change was needed, and she wanted the station to survive the transition.
“I’ll be out here,” their guard said as she pushed on Haadiya’s door contact plate. “I like not knowing your plans. Means I don’t have a wrong side to choose. I just do what I’m told unless I don’t like the orders.”
What kind of life had the woman lived to make her so passive? Sofie didn’t comment; the woman was allowed to make her own choices.
She explained Rick’s call to Haadiya. “I don’t have an answer for him.”
Haadiya sent a message on his pad before saying, “My hacker will be here in a few minutes. He will find out what Nhu is doing.”
“And then?” Amanda asked. “Can you control them? Even if it’s innocent, they’re getting in the way.”
Amanda looked ready to pass out.
“Maybe you should grab a nap,” Sofie said. “Or at least sit down while we talk.”
“I could use another stim,” she said, but did sit on the sofa. “If I fall asleep, don’t forget to wake me.”
Sofie nodded and then turned back to Haadiya. “Can you? Manage Nhu?”
“I don’t think they see me as an equal,” he said. “I am no longer an Executive liaison. I am the boss of the dark streets.”
“Nhu isn’t an Executive either,” Sofie said. “No Elite, no liaison.”
“Yes, and as I said, I have a role, they do not. It makes a difference even if they look down on me.”
“Amanda is right. Even if they are playing games to gain an advantage in the new structure, they’re getting in the way. If we aren’t successful, there’s no new structure. There’s no caste system in death.” At least I hope not.
“Sofie, just because I’m helping you save the station doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious. I won’t be happy if Nhu rises and I don’t. I will help you with Nhu, but my suggestion is to lock them away until this is over. I am more use to you here than I am babysitting Nhu.”
Nhu shouldn’t need a babysitter.
“Let’s see what your hacker finds. It’s not like we’ve got any leads to follow. I feel like we’re going to be running after shadows as the station blows apart.”
He smiled and patted her shoulder. “You should eat. Your spirits need a lift. I think you and Nhu have more in common than you think. While they are ignoring the current situation for the future, you are ignoring the future to focus on the current situation.”
Is that true? Should I be able to figure out what Nhu is up to because we are so similar?
“Without us solving the current situation, we have no future,” she said. “But yes, I’m starving.” She looked over at Amanda, who was now curled on her side, asleep.
He led her to the kitchen, where he took a meal package from the cupboard and pulled the tab to heat the contents. “You have a moment right now to think. What is your place in the new Mallet?”
Sofie tasted the stew. Much more flavor than what she could access normally. The inequality of the Mallet was ingrained in every single aspect of life.
Haadiya’s question bothered her because she’d never thought beyond her current role. “No matter what changes, there’s always a need for cops. I like what I do.”
“If you could make one change, what would it be?” He poured her a stim-juice.
“That’s the problem: choosing one,” she said. “I agree that there’s too much power in too few hands. We need more balance. Sure, the work won’t change, but why do the workers have to be so exploited?”
“You should be one of the leaders,” Haadiya said, “in the future. Oh, here is my hacker.”
Sofie tossed the meal container into the recycler and joined Haadiya in the living room. Amanda still slept on the couch. A man sat across the desk from Haadiya, clearly waiting for her to give him something.
“I need your codes to get in fast,” he said. “You want it fast, right? No waiting for me to get in a back door?”
Sofie looked at Haadiya. She couldn’t hand over codes that gave this hacker access to everything.
“Just kidding, lady,” the hacker said. “You can set me up, right? Like a user. You give me access to what I need, and I do my thing.”
“I guess I lost my sense of humor,” Sofie said. “I need my pad and a name.”
“Call me Newboy,” he said. “I need admin rights for the comms in your secret bunker.”
Sofie logged in and looked for the case room. There was only one access level available: user. “No admin,” she said.
“Lemme see,” Newboy said. He grabbed her pad and sighed. “You need to set the access in a different place.” He typed on her pad before Sofie could stop him. “Here we go. And I’m in.”
She made a mental note to have Amanda check his work when she woke. “How long will it take?”
“The target is Nhu Eckerman, right?”
“Yes. And only them.” Sofie ignored Haadiya, who was watching them work from across the room. If she focused on what Newboy was doing, maybe she could prevent him doing something outside what she needed.
“Okay, so this Nhu is making a lot of calls. Give me a second.” Newboy kept up a running narration as he coded searches. Five minutes of unintelligible comments and he straightened from his slump over his screen and pointed. “Yeah, here’s the locations. That help?”
The list showed that Nhu was almost constantly reaching out. If it was to gather intelligence on the source of the upheaval, it would be great. But one location stood out. Sofie pointed to it. “Any chance of a recording, or transcript?”
“Erased. But the call was only a few minutes.”
That’s all it took to tell people their future was going to be what they deserve.
45
The trip back to the case room was a blur. Sofie struggled to keep her focus on the journey as she thought back through all the times Nhu pretended to be on their side. How they had manipulated the team to be alone when Sofie was at the meeting with the contact. How they found information in bits and pieces when it was clear they knew exactly what was going on.
Haadiya and Amanda kept pace with her as the guards cleared the way. Sofie didn’t care what actions they took. The faster she could get to Nhu and confront them, the faster the Mallet would be safe.
“Are you going to interrogate Nhu in private?” Haadiya asked.
“They know the tactics, so I’m not wasting my time finding a private place. If there is a good reason for this betrayal, they won’t mind telling all of us.”
“You want a guard to join us?” Amanda asked. “It might help intimidate them. If Nhu thinks they can work around us, maybe some hard-assed, heavily armed criminals will push them over the edge.”
Or be a diversion. “I think the guards should stay outside,” she said, coming to a stop. “We’re here. Let me take the lead. Haadiya, I need your Executive perspective but don’t explain unless I ask. Amanda, take over the comms and let Rick know what’s going on.”
“And Virgil?” Amanda asked. “Nhu wanted him gone because he might recognize them, right? Do you want to bring him out of the room?”
“Not until I say so.” Sofie didn’t want him causing problems if he did recognize Nhu. She wanted them feeling alone and facing a united enemy. She pressed her card on the contact plate and stepped inside the room.
“Nhu, move away from the comms.” Sofie kept her voice level.
“You found out what’s going on?” Rick asked.
Sofie nodded but left the details for Amanda to explain. Nhu narrowed their eyes at Sofie, then glanced at Haadiya. He didn’t react, and that seemed to get through to Nhu.
“Where am I supposed to go?” they asked. “What are you accusing me of?”
“Haadiya, put a chair against the wall for Nhu. Amanda, do your thing with the comms.”
Nhu didn’t put up any resistance, but Sofie didn’t see any sign that they were about to confess. She heard Amanda talking quietly to Rick, then tuned out everything but Nhu and Haadiya. She stepped toward Nhu, close enough to violate their private space and make them uncomfortable. Nhu leaned away a little but showed no other discomfort.
“We hacked your comms,” Sofie said. No need to warm up to the subject. “You are behind the riots. You are taking orders from someone. Just tell me who and we can end this situation.”
“What makes you think your hacker is truthful? It would be easy to plant an evidence trail to me.”
Sofie looked to Haadiya to answer the question.
“I trust the man,” he said. “If I find he lied to us, he will die. He knows that.”
“I trust Haadiya,” Sofie said.
“Because you know him?” Nhu laughed. “You know me too. Why am I the one sitting here? He runs the biggest criminal enterprise on the Mallet.”
“True, but he has been nothing but helpful. Telling us his identity was a big risk. For all he knows, we’ll be arresting him as soon at the Mallet settles down. He hasn’t kept his ambitions secret.”
“At least you’re savvy enough to know he still has ambitions,” Nhu said. “What do you want to know?”
“You admit it?” It was too easy. Sofie expected Nhu to deny their role in the violence until there was no option but to tell the truth.
“There is no benefit to me in pretending. Yes, I am the contact for the riot leaders. I am controlling the transition.”
“Who do you answer to?”
“The same people as always. The Elites.” Nhu relaxed in the seat. “They want to keep the income stream but are tired of living on the Mallet. Who isn’t?”
“So, there is no residency clause?” Sofie wished she could ask Haadiya to explain but Nhu needed to remain the focus of the questioning.
“There is. Not everything I told you was a lie.” They licked their lips. “I would like some water.”
“I want answers that will help save the Mallet and everyone on it, including you.” Sofie nodded to Haadiya to bring Nhu a drink. “Are you going to tell us?”
“I understand why it is difficult for you to figure out, Sofie. You are not expected to think about long-term strategy. I am surprised that Haadiya has not told you.”
Why does every criminal in an interrogation play games? Even when they want to tell you how smart they are, there are all these little distractions and snipes. “I want to hear it from you.”
Nhu accepted the plastic bottle of water and took a long drink. They put the bottle on the floor and sat straighter. “The Elites have formed a new corporation. This entity will buy the rights to the Mallet from the individual families with an amendment to the clause. Only one representative of each family will be required to live on the Mallet. That representative can be appointed from outside the family and caste. That person will receive compensation commensurate with the profit flow.”
“And you want to be one of these representatives,” Sofie said. “And the violence is to discourage other corporations from making a bid until the plan is complete.”
Nhu smiled. “See? You are smart enough to figure it out.”
“If the Mallet is destroyed, how will anyone profit?”
“There has been no permanent damage to the station, few injuries. We will need the workers on the line when we are done.” Nhu reached for the bottle again. “The Ulindia team is prepared to take action if I misjudge the situation. We have kept the violence to Maintenance so it will be easy to subdue the crowd.”
“And the competition is sitting back and waiting?” Haadiya asked. “You haven’t told us everything, Nhu. Torque was told the evacuation was temporary, so at least one of our clients knows, or is really behind it.”
They sighed. “You are right. We must finish this soon. The competition is gathering resources. This takeover may be secret here, but outside the Mallet… news is spreading. And the grace period information was true. We only have three days to get the contract signed.”
And that meant Nhu and their Elite masters would lose control of the crowds before they could cool tempers. And someone new would own the Mallet, someone who might just be worse.
46
“Am I to be locked away?” Nhu asked with all the self-righteousness of someone who believed they were being wrongly accused.
“I need to think,” Sofie said. “Just sit here until I know what I’m going to do.”
“I’ll watch Nhu,” Haadiya said. “May I give you one piece of advice?”
“Sure,” Sofie said. It’s not like I have to do more than listen to it.
“This changes what we need to do,” he said. “We aren’t trying to return to the status quo. We are building the future. I know you think Nhu and I are only trying to ensure we have power, but remember that we know how the Mallet works.”
“I will ask you for help,” she said, “but you are not the only ones who know how the Mallet works. And your view is from the Executive level.”
She didn’t wait for him to answer. She didn’t have time to really process what had happened, but she wasn’t going to define the future of the Mallet by herself. Most of their problems came up because someone thought they could do just that. Building the future from a cop’s perspective was probably worse than doing it from an Elite’s or Executive’s. And she’d never signed up to be a savior.
She opened the door to Virgil’s cell and stepped inside, closing everyone out.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Why do you think something happened?”
“You wouldn’t be here if nothing has changed. Is the Mallet safe?”
Sofie told him everything.
“I fucking knew the Elites were behind it,” Virgil said. “I just didn’t want to believe it.”
“The promises were powerful,” Sofie said. “If I bring you into the other room and let you help, will I be making a mistake?”
Her words surprised him, and she watched the internal battle play out on his face. The frown deepened, and then gradually cleared. She knew he would set a price; this was the Mallet, after all.
“Can I trust you to let the last few days go? That the new world won’t start with shoving anyone in a cell? Or worse?”
An acceptable price. “If I could punish someone for this, it would be the Elites. You and your friends are safe if we win. I can’t promise anything if we lose.”
