Standoff, page 31
“Clucky?”
“Yeah, seeing you with a baby is something I want more of.” She smiled.
“Me too.”
“With Mira?”
I sighed and, quickly handing Bret back to his mother, changed the subject. “Come on, we really need to get moving. Lacy, send us all the baby pictures you can.” I moved in to hug both of them and squeezed tight. Bret reminded me of Niko, and she did. As painful as it still was, I had to and needed to connect with them, all of them.
“I will,” she said. “Don’t hesitate—”
“If I need you or Jim, I will let you know. I’m sure you’ll keep an eye on me either way…”
I let those last few words hang and she blushed. “I also want to know as soon as you’re getting that chair together for Silao. I want to watch how he copes with the drones and in being up in the air. The balance there might be a bit for him to get used to.”
“We’ll all keep in touch,” I promised.
Malaki gave them both a hug and then we walked out together.
We were nice and clear of the area when she said, “So…Molsk, really?”
“Yes,” I said. “Soon as I can.”
“I was hoping you weren’t serious.”
“I have to be; I need help, serious help. M-Corp can’t seem to do that. They’re struggling. Michaels and your father had a plan, but it’s not worked so far so maybe Mom seeing me will work. She needs to see how bad things are. Not just get interested in science again.”
“Okay, if you can, keep me posted. I know Lacy has done everything she could for you. If Mom is the only way, Mom it is.”
“She is, and I can’t process everything right now,” I said, my voice solemn. “I suddenly want so much out of life, you know…”
“Jasmine and Bret are both amazing. I would love kids, but…” She focused on the ground, and then side-eyed me as I wobbled.
“Not right now,” I added for her.
“Yeah, not at all right now.” She waved her arms around. “This all, of this isn’t right, it’s the right person, just not the right time, the right…”
“You want kids with Justin?” I asked.
Malaki leaned in against me and blew out a shaky breath; her whole body trembled. Fuck that killed me. I wrapped her up. “We’ll work around this. You know we will.”
“What if they ship him out?” Her voice cracked. “What if they realize we’re too close?”
“You’ll never let him get to you that much that you’d put us or your job on the line. As much as Justin…and I know how much you mean to each other. Hell, even your father does.”
“My father.” She looked up at me, her eyes wide. “Shit.”
“He’s not stupid,” I said and squeezed her tighter to me as we walked, making it difficult for her to even do so, she fumbled her footing and nearly toppled the both of us over.
“No,” she said and sighed. “He’s not stupid. I’m surprised he hasn’t moved him already to be honest.”
“The both of you out there are the best they have, and they all know it.”
“You really think so?”
“Malaki.” I glared at her and pushed us both forward, smelling something from the local mess hall. “You know you are. Now shut up or you’re paying for more food.”
“Well, I’m probably going to have to pay anyway…Might as well make it worth my while. You and Mira. You need to think about this. Seriously.”
Fuck she really was going there. “Mal, I like her, I’m drawn to her in so many ways, but…”
“The logistics?”
“Not so easy.” She pointed up and I pointed down at the same time.
“Exactly.”
“The heart always wants what it can’t have the most.”
“Is that why you and Justin seem to have this thing…”
“I’m in love,” she admitted and tapped her chest so hard it thunked. “I don’t know what else to call it but it’s not a thing.”
“I like being in love,” I said and then cringed.
Malaki hugged me tight and then pushed away. “Now that is what I was getting at.” She stepped in front of me, so that she had to walk backwards, and stared at me. “I like us both being in love,” she added. “But there’s going to be complications along the way and we need to be ready for all of them.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m not ready for them.”
“Me neither.”
She moved back to my side, and we entered the mess hall, picking up a tray each, which we then loaded with drinks. I got freshly toasted bread and a plate of eggs, meat and grilled cheeses. Well, all of what might have consisted of false meats, protein and sugars. It at least looked like good food.
We sat and Malaki kept on staring into the distance. Then she pushed her plate away. “When are you going?”
I picked up my coffee mug and took a good drink. It was going cold, but still took the edge off. “As soon as I get some word off your father I guess.”
“Then I’m going to start making some arrangements with Justin and the team for work.” She smiled. “And as much as I think you shouldn’t, you probably should go and see Mira too before you leave.”
That was actually a good point. “I’ll see if I can,” I said and I soon sent a message.
Ruslan – Can we see each other today?
It took me to finish my breakfast before I got a reply off her, but at least I did.
Mira - Come down to the swim labs, I’ll meet you in 401.
I told Malaki, and she just moved to clear her tray. “If I hurry up, we can get in one of the depots transports and get in on a job this weekend.”
It was fast, but we both knew Malaki had to do the right thing for the squad and I had to do right by my health. I gave her a quick hug. “Message me,” she said. “Tonight, as usual.”
“I will,” I replied. “Safe trip.”
“You too.” Then she was gone, running up the corridor.
I watched her ponytail bob left and right till she was gone, then I made my way back down into the bowels of OOF and toward Mira.
I could see her as soon as I entered the swim space. There were a couple of other Techean around, and I wondered at first who. But soon as they saw me, they made to leave, and she let them.
I was quick to the side of the pool. “Want me to hop in?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve used some distraction techniques; I’ve only gotten minutes or so before I need to leave. It seemed important you see me?”
“It is,” I said. “I’ll be going away for a bit. I just needed to see you before.”
“Where are you going?”
“It’s deep inland. I won’t have any access to the water.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “Then I am glad I had some time for you.”
She surprised me by reaching up to my shirt and yanking me in the pool. I spluttered water out for a moment but relished her dominance over me. This close, I wanted to kiss her even more than I had before. There were other thoughts going on in my head though. Our full compatibility.
“I have some questions for you,” she said.
“I like questions,” I replied and nuzzled in close to her, letting her warmth take the chill off the pool. Even if it was warmed in the pool, it was still much colder than out in the heated air.
“You might not like these ones,” she said, and her brows creased. “I will pass you them when I leave, but I will need the answers before we see each other again.”
“That’s a little ominous. Something to do with your customs?”
“Yes, and things I will need to have before I can—we can—really take this further.”
“Okay, I think that’s a given. If I ask you anything in return with it, will you answer them as well?”
“Of course. Please tell me where you’re going you will be safe.”
That I couldn’t tell her. I held onto her and kissed the cool metal of her tech, knowing she still felt everything of me against her. “I can’t,” I said. “I know there’s many places we go that aren’t safe. This will be no different.”
“But you need to go?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I do. I need to go for my health.”
“I can see you are damaged.” She looked me up and down as best she could this close.
“How much can you see?”
“You are hanging in there, but without some real care and rest, you are risking never flying drones again, and I know that is what you want more than anything in life.”
“I wouldn’t quite say that,” I replied and risked, “I want you too.”
She stared at me. I couldn’t ever read any emotions, but it was safe to say they were deeply buried inside for her.
“I have to go,” she urged as the other Techean re-surfaced. “Please answer those questions as honestly as you can, do not lie just because you like the idea of us. Understand?”
I pushed her away from me, reluctantly, my stomach twisting. “I will talk to you soon,” I said. “Even if I don’t know when, I will let you know I’m okay as soon as I can.”
“That is enough for now.” She smiled, ducked under the water, and with a flash of metal, she was gone.
It left me rather soggy to get out of the pool, but I knew there would be pants and other clothes inside the labs. I moved to enter one even if I was dripping everywhere. The little tech bots were out in moments and sucking up the excess water. I slipped out of my wet clothes and dried off in the air for a while, then re-dressed.
The knock from Canlas came as I was walking to the elevator back to the surface. “I’ve got your escort into Molsk. Tijan and Bob will pick you up tomorrow morning. They’re just finishing a job off for me.”
“They are good men,” I nodded to myself.
“Yes, and they know and trust you. Because you’ve had them with you a few times.”
That was another thing that had almost slipped my mind, though I’d thought of her while drifting off to sleep. “How is Ren?” I asked.
“She’s healing up. Mage Baron hasn’t left her side. She’ll more than likely be back with your squad in the next week as well.”
“Then let’s hope I can join them as well, firing on all cylinders.”
“If you head down there, it might take us longer than you think to get you running right and back out without putting your mother at risk.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ll do as I am needed to make sure we’re all safe, that she sees me as I am.”
“Elias is going to send you a data file; you won’t be able to see it or open it. But if you tell your mother it’s there, she will have all the latest up to date files from the new TAP.”
“That’s huge isn’t it. To take that down there?”
“It is, but…” He paused. “Talk to her when you can, and you’ll see what’s going on down there and why you’re not only important, but we need to stop what they are doing.”
“I will, sir, thank you.”
“Aim high,” he said and was gone.
I murmured to myself, Fly fast. Fly home.
So I had the rest of the day to myself then, I guessed. That meant I could go do something I wanted.
What do you want?
I’d like to see Silao and Ren. They were the only two on our team apart from me that was going to be bed ridden, or at least mostly bed ridden.
I knocked for Silao. “You around?”
“I’m in the helo bay,” he came back with. “Why?”
“I’m on my way, I’ll keep you company for a bit.”
“Malaki said you were heading out?”
“I will be, but not till tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I could sense his happiness. “Come on up then.”
I made the trip up to our helo pad not quite sure what to expect, apart from one pretty banged up machine.
He grinned as I entered the workshop. There was no other term for it now. The helo herself looked rough, so rough.
“Damn,” I said and moved in closer.
Silao looked up at her and grimaced. “They’re going to break her into sections when they get back from this trip and then start to rebuild from the chassis up. We’ll strengthen everything she is.” He pointed to the computer system behind us. “That’s the plan.”
My mind was spinning. “Do I want to see that?”
“Probably not,” he admitted. “Every part is money, and there’s a lot of parts we’re going to be needing.”
“Just because?”
“Just because she needs to pass M-Corps inspection to be on the field once more, and because they need her to be a higher standard. You know Malaki…Well, add in Justin and we’ve got a fucking lot of work.”
“This is like the dream of their lives, isn’t it?” I asked and then laughed when he just raised an eyebrow.
“Everything they are makes them the dream team. This might have been your idea, but with the engineers, and the tech available, they’re holding nothing back. How many pilots out there do you think can build a helo to their own specifications?”
“Fuck, you’re making me jealous now. I wished it was ours.”
I stopped before the image that was floating around. I reached out and pinned the top layer plan, the outer skin, till I got down into the levels of the helo they’d need to rebuild. It was weeks and weeks of work, but more than that, it was us all pulling together, using all the knowledge of helos and tech, to get what we wanted. “They’re expanding the chassis?”
“And the undercarriage,” he said. “We’re going to be needing to carry a good amount of variety in materials, and men and women. I wanted us to be larger for the sake of our future; this isn’t something we can just rebuild or transfer to a new chassis when we need to upgrade.”
“We’re not rebuilding, really, are we?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I mean not really; we’re taking what we have, what they were already doing, modelling what we haven’t and speculating on a whole fuck ton of other shit along the way.”
“This is a prototype then. Our prototype.”
“Will be one of its kind and probably one that will never come up again. Unless something works well and we can do things in this no one else ever could.”
“That I like the idea of. Any thoughts on…” I looked behind him to find the tail he had settled on the ground behind him. I’d never even looked at it coming in, mostly interested in his smiling face.
“I’ve some thoughts, but till we get that seat in place from the Techean, I’m not sure how it will work. Asan and the other Techean he is with also had some amazing ideas, but…”
“You heard from him?” I had meant to ask Mira, but we’d had only had ten minutes; what can you do in ten freaking minutes?
“He’s good, we’ve been talking through the Techean dark network. It kind of operates a little like some of what the hackers around Artem use.”
“Glad of that,” I said. “I was getting worried we might not be able to help him out at all.”
“Well, the kid’s got a lot of problems, but I don’t think he’s the only one.”
“What do you mean?” Then I thought instantly of Mira.
“Yeah,” he said. “Your lady has a lot more on her plate than her brother. At the moment she’s trying to calm her father down on the whole ‘I want a life’ thing.”
32
It had been nice to spend time with Silao, plotting about the helo. He had so many good ideas. Though as we headed down and out for something to eat in one of the station’s large halls, he got quite a few odd looks. “You like how they look at you, don’t you?” I had to ask in the end. He never seemed phased at all when they were openly staring.
“When you have a body like this…” he said, waving a hand down his torso. But his smile faltered. “No,” he admitted. “To be honest, I don’t. But I can’t react any other way; they’d love it if I was shy and didn’t want to be seen. I’m different. I must prove I’m worth that, especially around Justin.”
“You’re worried?”
“Worried I’m not good enough for him anymore, for the team. I have a lot to prove and not just to myself.”
We walked and found a small street vendor to pick some food up from. Then we ate and walked some more.
“I mean it when I say this,” I said after finally deciding I had to step up and say what my mind and heart were thinking. “I’ve had a couple of friends in my life. I miss them. But things changed and they changed a lot. My family are somewhere I’ve had little contact with, and I miss them too.”
Silao’s face fell. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not sorry. If life hadn’t taken the turns it did, I wouldn’t be here now. I wouldn’t have the family I have.”
“Family?”
“I admit I didn’t think I’d ever like Justin, but you grew on me right from the start for lots of different reasons. But there’s many things that we’ve done together that no one else would have under the same circumstances. We fight right.”
“We do.” He smiled.
“Then, and I’ve said this to Malaki more than a few times…don’t ever think you’re not good enough for Justin or this squad. If we didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be. You are good enough and we want you. Only you. Even the Black Bears are out there pulling double duty for us.”
“I couldn’t quite believe that, but then…”
“Frank?”
“He’s a doll,” Silao said, his eyes misting.
“He’s very skilled, as is Casey.”
“Didn’t quite ever think I’d beat her tech.”
“But what did we do out there, together all of us?”
“We kicked fucking ass,” he said with a grin.
“And we’ve much more ass to kick too.”
“Thanks, Rus,” he said, and we started to walk back.
“No time to see Ren,” I said, checking my HUD for the time. “But it was good to be out.”
“Yes, it was. Thanks Rusty.”
Eventually, we did have to say good night. I needed some rest before the mercs showed up tomorrow and he did too.
The message came from the general as I was about to drift off.
“You’re heading in first thing,” Josef said. “They’ll drop in and pick you up at nine am. It’s not far to get you over there, so helo across and then a couple of trains. They’re going to take you into a small underground unit of theirs that’s safe halfway; you’ll spend the night there with them. You’ll get the tech, scruff up a bit, and then head further into Molsk and then out to Sinnisters’ Farm.”
