Cathay
Solaris City
Solaris VII
30 April 3061
Two days later, Ling Ming received a message to come in to Red Dragon headquarters. She nervously made her way to the headquarters building. Was this just routine, or had someone found out about her intrusion into the computer network.
She found herself in Teng Shen's office. "I have some disturbing news."
Her pulse raced faster. She tried to not let on any of her nervousness.
"There has been a data breach in our system. One of the techs copied some files that he was not supposed to. We have no way of knowing how far his treachery has gone. I wanted to warn you that any of your personal files that we have stored here might have been uncovered in this breach."
She tried to play things calmly. Apparently the breach had been uncovered, but was attributed to Daniel for the time being. "What does that mean?"
Shen's face gave away little emotion. "Most likely nothing. Most of the data is publicly available anyway as you are a Solaris competitor, but you might wish to keep a close eye on your banking accounts to make sure nothing untoward happens."
"I understand. Thank you for the warning. May I ask, where do we go from here on the project?"
"We have another fight scheduled for next week. I am going to make every effort to ensure that this data breach does not interfere with that. We will obviously have to do some internal security buffs, but I don't think they should impact on your training in any way."
"That's good. I hope to get several practice runs in during the week before the fight, if that's ok?"
Shen nodded. "It will have to pass the new security measures, but I think we should be able to accommodate your schedule. In the meantime, be cautious. This breach was perpetrated at the behest of some bad actors out there. While I don't think your safety is at risk, I would nonetheless stay cautious."
"I agree."
With that, Shen dismissed her, and she made her way out of the building. Her heart had been racing the entire time. Things were getting dangerous now. As soon as she was reasonably clear of the building, she fired a text to Nicky explaining the situation. Nicky suggested a meet up, and they planned it for later that afternoon.
Lin nervously made her way back to her apartment. Several times, she felt as though she was being watched. She knew it was most likely idle paranoia, but she could not shake the feeling. It gnawed at her the entire time up until her meting in the Black Hills with Nicky.
Black Hills
Solaris City
Solaris VII
30 April 3061
When she met Nicky at their usual rendezvous, she could tell immediately that something was wrong. It was written all over Nicky's face. "Why do I get the sense that there is some bad news coming?"
Nicky pulled up an image on her tablet and spun it around so that Lin could see. "Very bad news. When you texted me about them thinking that it was one of the techs that did it, I put a couple of feelers out. This is what they turned up. One Daniel Lange, found murdered down in Cathay. I couldn't get many details from the Cathay PD without explaining why I was interested, but I got enough to know that this is bad news. This puts everything in an whole new light. It almost certainly verifies Drake's insinuation that Red Dragon was behind the murder. Your employer is playing for keeps here.
Lin took a deep breath. "What do I do now? I'm in bed with whoever Drake is working for, they'll want more, but we now know that Red Dragon is playing hardball."
Nicky took Lin's hand in hers. "Look, this is dangerous territory. You have to decide which side of the fence you're going to play with. If you stick with Drake's play, you know that Red Dragon will be breathing down your neck. The safest thing is to just call the whole thing off, don't do anything more for Drake, and play it clean."
Lin shook her head. "And go on knowing that my boss is a killer? I don't like those odds either. What are the options if I stick with Drake's play?"
Nicky thought long and hard before responding. "Honestly, it's a big unknown. It all depends on who Drake is actually working for. I ran his file and yeah, he comes up as Black Hills PD, but there's no way that they are running this show. He's got ties to something bigger. That might offer some degree of protection, but again, you don't know who you're getting into bed with. Ideally, if we can get some evidence linking Red Dragon to Avellar's murder, I can make a case and get them shut down. But we don't know who is backing them. Is it just Ceres Arms corporate, or do they have some criminal underworld dealings involved? I just don't know."
"I got that poor tech murdered too."
Nicky shook her head. "That's not on you, it's on Red Dragon. That's a Cathay PD case, but if we can get some evidence, and link the two murders, it would be that much the better for taking Red Dragon down. You also have to realize that this is entering very dangerous territory. We've got two murders that we know of. They're bound to start watching you more closely, especially if anything else goes wrong. Are you up for taking care of yourself? You don't have a gun registered in the database, so I assume that means you're not carrying. Tell me if I'm wrong."
Lin shook her head. "You're not wrong, I don't have a firearm."
"I can help with that, I can push through the paperwork. I know your background is military, are you comfortable carrying a gun on the city streets?"
Lin nodded. "I can handle a gun. I just never thought I would have to here on Solaris."
"Trust me, I wish you didn't have to, but we are dealing with some pretty nasty people here. I would get yourself armed as soon as possible. How trained are you on counter-surveillance?"
"Not at all. I took basic infantry courses, but that was about it."
"Okay. Well you'll have to keep a heightened eye out for people tailing you. Don't confront any of them, but you need to be aware. Maybe it's Red Dragon that puts a tail on you, maybe it's Drake's people, maybe it's someone else. You have to be aware. You understand?"
"Yeah, I've got it. This is all so crazy."
"I know it is, but we'll get through it. We'll get you set up good, but in the meantime, do you mind if I crash at your place? It will be safer, and I'll feel a hell of a lot better keeping an eye on you until we get things sorted."
Lin nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. It's great, in fact. It will put my mind at ease as well. This whole thing got crazy real fast."
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