Partners: Book Two, page 14
“Do about them?”
Jess turned and met her eyes. “They either have to agree to join us, or I’ll have to take them down.”
Take them down. Dev felt a little chilled. The serious woman, and her fellow tech, who had eagerly jumped at the chance of coming along on their first mission, and Jess was talking about making them dead. “Jess, are you sure this is a correct thing to do?” she asked, after a pause. “Because I’m not sure Doctor Dan would think it was.”
Jess studied her for a long moment. “You don’t?””˜
“No,” Dev answered honestly. “I don’t think he would want us to get into this trouble, and hurt our colleagues, to provide him with assistance. I think it would make him sad.”
Jess looked intrigued rather than upset. “He doesn’t want to be rescued? He would rather be tortured to death? Really? Because that’s what’ll happen to him, Dev. I’ve seen it. They’ll string him up and take power poles to his entire body until his brain fries.”
Dev thought very hard about that, but sad and hard as it was, she thought she knew the truth of it. “I remember once we were in class, and we were doing a lab. One of the people in class did something wrong and the lab broke apart and the stuff in it went flying.”
Jess waited without speaking.
“Doctor Dan stepped in front of it, so it hit him, and not us,” Dev said. “It hurt him a lot, but he just stood there and let it hurt him.”
“Ah.”
“Dr. Doss came and he yelled at Doctor Dan, because he said we were replaceable.” Dev folded her arms. “But Doctor Dan said he didn’t care.”
Jess pondered that. “You may be right. He may not agree,” she said. “But I’m going to go rescue his ass anyway. Offer still stands, Dev. I’ll leave you and maybe those kids at Drake’s Bay. Go myself.” She put a hand on Dev’s shoulder. “Could be one way.”
After a pause, Dev exhaled. “Whether or not Doctor Dan thinks this is good or bad, I want to go with you.” she said. “Because...” She paused for a long time. “Because I think it’s the right thing to do.” She looked up at Jess. “It’s what I want to do.”
Jess smiled. Then she leaned closer and kissed Dev on the lips. “Thanks,” she said. “That made the one way thing a lot less likely, because you’re a lot better driver than I am, and I need you.” She eased back a little. “So now that we’re over all this serious, self-sacrificing bullshit, let’s surf.”
There was really no question in Dev’s mind that she would rather go practice that sex thing than try surfing. However, she nodded anyway. “It’s going to be cold, isn’t it?” She regarded the water mournfully.
“Very.” Jess unchained her board and set it to one side, then pulled a thick jumpsuit from the rack and started to unfasten her own. “But I promise I’ll warm you up later.”
Ah. Well at least there was that to look forward to. Dev regarded the suit she’d been handed, and resolved to at least try to enjoy it.
IT WAS COLD. Dev held on to the rocks as the water rushed around her, almost overwhelming her with the smell of salt and the rich scent of the water itself.
She was in a shallow curve of the rock, somewhat protected from the roughness of the surf, but it was still more than enough to have tossed her around if she wasn’t holding on.
Very different than the pool. She shook the wet hair from her eyes and watched as Jess got onto her board, and paddled across the surface of the water, heading for the outer wall. When she got there, she turned, and as the next surging wave came in she got up onto the board and stood up, as the water picked her and it up and rolled toward the little shore.
Wow. Dev watched in fascination as Jess balanced gracefully, her body relaxed as the wave rushed along. She could feel the pulse of the sea herself, its surge alternately sucking at her and shoving her against the rocks she had tight hold of. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
Jess waited for the board to reach the little beach she’d launched from and hopped off, grabbing the handhold and hauling the oblong item with her. “See?” She turned and called out, spreading her arms. “Easy!”
Dev released her hold and waited for the next surge to shove her beach-ward, practicing her newly learned swimming skills as she made her way toward Jess.
It wasn’t easy. The pull of the water made progress tricky, but she kept at it as Jess stood there leaning against her board, watching her. Eventually it was shallow enough for her to stand, and she slogged out of the water onto the beach, trying not to shiver too much as the cool air hit her.
“Doing okay?” Jess asked, as she joined her. “Not like the pool, huh?”
“No,” Dev said, rubbing her arms through the heavy stretchy fabric covering them. “But it’s interesting.”
“Okay, so grab that board.” Jess pointed at the second one. “And just follow me.”
Dev obeyed, lifting the oblong object, a little surprised at how light it was. “Oh.” She hefted it. “I thought it would weigh more.”
“Hollow.” Jess headed for the surf. “This beach used to be three times the size.” She lamented. “Then the water rose. Made for better waves, but all the erosion’s knocking part of that wall down.”
Dev waded into the water after her, towing the board. “Didn’t that man at the North base say something about the water level dropping? Was this the beach he meant?”
“Sure is.” Jess paused as they got into water deep enough to start pulling her off her feet. “Okay, so now lay down on the board and just start paddling with your hands. Watch me.”
Usually, watching Jess was a pleasure. In this case, however, Dev had her hands full just keeping herself upright and it was actually something of a relief when she managed to get on top of the board and the water stopped pulling at her. She lay down on her stomach on it, and copied Jess as best as she was able.
The water kept coming over the edge of the board and hitting her in the face. Dev sneezed and shook her wet hair out of her eyes, arching her back a little to keep her head up.
They neared the outer wall, and she got a glimpse of the outside, a roil of whitecaps that flashed before her eyes before the surge came in and the view was blocked.
“Okay, now watch,” Jess yelled, as they turned around. She pressed herself up and got her feet under her, standing up on the board as the wave started to gather speed. “Stand up and just go with it!”
That seemed to be very easy for her to say. Dev was struggling just to hold on to her board, but gamely, she pushed up and nearly fell off, before she managed to get her feet under her in a weird sort of crouch.
“Stand up!” Jess called back. “Or you’ll end up tipping over!”
Uncertainly, Dev released her grip and felt the board slide around as the water came up under her. She remained in a crouch though, holding her arms out for balance as she tried to adjust to the erratic motion. “Okay.” She took a breath. “I think I can—”
A cross wave smacked into her, and the next thing she knew she was flying off the board and into the water, plunging under the surface as the shifting forces pulled her under.
It was dark, and frightening. She struggled to get herself moving in the right direction, not entirely sure what that direction was. She felt a smack on the back of her head and waved her arms around to find the source of the attack, then was pulled in a circle as she fell into a whirl of surf.
She fought to not breathe, feeling a burn in her chest as she kicked with her legs, trying to get to the surface she didn’t know the exact location of. The desire to suck in air was overwhelming, and just as she started to give into it, she felt something grab her and yank her upward.
Her head broke the surface and she gasped, feeling Jess’s iron grip on her upper arm. “Ugh!”
“Easy!” Jess had a good hold on her now. “I forgot you don’t god-damned float. Even with this thing on.” She stroked sideways through the water, pulling them both toward the shore. “Sorry about that.”
Dev saved her breath for fighting the water, doing the best she could to aid the effort as they both ended up being shoved ashore by the surf, covered in sand.
“Buh.” Jess sat up, her long legs sprawled on the beach as the continuous waves washed over them. “That was kinda stupid.”
Dev coughed, spitting out a mouthful of sand. She rolled over and pushed herself up to a seated position. “That was interesting,” she said. “I’m not sure I would be good at it.” She glanced behind them at the churning surf. “I do like this place though. And I liked the little bit over there to swim in.”
Jess chuckled wryly. “Did they program you for optimism, Dev?” She examined a scrape on the back of her hand. “Yeah, I come down here and swim a lot. It reminds me of the bay near where I grew up, I guess.” She hiked her knees up and circled them with both arms. “Not as rough though.”
Dev leaned back against the stone wall that bordered the small beach. Here, out of the wind, the cold wasn’t so bad, and she could imagine Jess here in the dim light of the phosphorescent blocks, reliving earlier memories here in the water she seemed to be very much attracted to.
Which she wanted Dev to share, apparently. “I would like to try this again,” Dev said, catching Jess’s eyes as they lifted to her face in some surprise. “I will try to float better next time.”
Jess glanced around, then back at her. “You sure?”
“Yes.” Dev felt the whole thing was worth it, seeing the sudden, big grin on Jess’s face. “Should we go find the flat things?”
Jess stood up and held her hand out. “Let’s go,” she said. “Don’t know when we’ll get another chance with all that’s going on.”
Dev let herself be hauled to her feet, and sloshed back into the water, spitting a little bit of extra sand, and what she suspected was some small animal, out of her mouth, determined to collect yet another thing that would mark her as unique.
Just in case.
THE SHOWER ITSELF felt amazing. Dev stood quietly under the hot water, feeling her body slowly thaw. But even more amazing was Jess’s presence behind her in it, scrubbing her skin with the clean smelling soap. “I think I swallowed some seaweed.”
She hoped it was seaweed. She tried not to think about the vaguely wiggling sensation it had provided her, going down. It was a little unsettling to think about that whole swallowing live animals thing.
“Happens.” Jess was humming softly under her breath, as she worked. “Glad you got something out of it, Devvie. Ya did good, those last two runs.”
Dev supposed she had, somehow remaining standing long enough to get to the shore, in a flail of waving arms and wavering legs that nevertheless still stayed upright. “I liked it.”
“Did you? Or are ya just humoring me?” Jess brought her arms around and soaped the front of Dev’s body, making her completely forget about what she’d just been asked. “Hmm?”
It felt so amazing. “I’m sorry. What?” Dev finally asked. “Did you ask me something?”
Jess chuckled, and kept up her soaping.
After a moment, Dev turned around in the circle of her arms and started reciprocating. “I like this also,” she said as Jess ducked her head down and they kissed.
“Yeah me too.” Jess slid her hands up to cradle the back of Dev’s head, feeling the gently exploring touch across her body make her breathing shorten. “Let’s dry off and continue this in a more comfortable spot,” she said, but found herself not budging, as Dev traced a curious path down the centerline of her torso.
Her skin felt sensitized, and the shower pounding against it only made it worse. She had to force herself to shut the water off and reach for the towel, all the while touching and nibbling Dev, the surroundings starting to fade out.
Somehow, they made it over to the bed. Jess was glad to feel the cool, soft surface under her and started to return Dev’s attentions in earnest.
Hard to remember, really, that Dev had so little experience. Jess felt a thigh slide between hers, and was glad they were in the citadel, where security was someone else’s problem for a while. She said that, stifling a sound as Dev’s curious touch fastened on a nipple.
And then Dev went suddenly still. “Jess,” she said, on an irregular breath. “I found something in the carrier bay.”
Jess felt her chest heaving. “What?”
“I brought it to the big place to show you. Before.”
Jess opened her eyes to find Dev’s pale ones looking back at her. She could see the flush on her face, and she was on the razor’s edge of just telling her to forget about it.
That it could wait for later.
But training, deep as bone, paused that. “You have damned inconvenient memory, NM-Dev-1.” She rolled over and scrubbed her face. “Oh, boy.”
“Sorry.” Dev cleared her throat. “The whole thing with the water made me forget. I remembered when you said that about security.” She got up out of the bed and walked over to the door between their quarters. “Let me get it and show you.”
Jess rolled flat onto her back and glared at the ceiling.
A moment later Dev came back with her portable comp, climbing back into bed with it, still completely naked. She focused on the screen, reaching up with one hand to push the still damp hair out of her eyes. “I was doing a reading on the new people’s carrier, then I was in the damaged one, and look.” She held the comp up so Jess could see it. “This was present in both of them.”
Jess rolled onto her side and looked at the screen. “What is that?”
“It’s the recall beacon,” Dev said. “Except its polarity’s reversed. It’s sending out a signal on that sine wave. Not receiving one.”
Jess slowly straightened up, lifting her body up on one elbow. She reached for the comp and pulled it closer, the readings standing out with a surreal clarity in the dimness of the room. “You said this was in April and Doug’s bus, and the one Syd was driving?”
“Yes.”
“What the hell?” Jess’s brow creased. “That old bus they’re driving wasn’t...” She paused. “Check the comp. When was it last used?”
Dev got up and retrieved her under jumpsuit, slipping it on before she sat down behind Jess’s workstation and pulled a pad over to her.
It was a shame, of course, that the sex practice had to be interrupted. They had been well on their way to feeling excellent, but after all, they did have their job to do. She typed in the request and waited. Of course, she was hoping the question could be answered quickly.
“If they went out like that, they’d be a target a walrus could have hit with a hairball.” Jess was studying the portable unit. “Did you check ours?”
“Yes,” Dev answered. “That unit was last in service six standard, seven day weeks ago. Assigned to Mr. Bock, and someone called Callie.”
Jess got up and walked over, coming around the back of the chair and leaned on the desk with one hand. “Is that so?” she mused. “Now where were you going, Stephen? Pull the nav on that.” She triggered comms. “Mech ops, Drake.”
A crackle. “Mech, this is Clint.” The tech supervisor sounded wary. “What can I do for you, Jess?”
“Dev found a glitch on April’s bus, in the beacon. You hear about it?”
Clint sighed. “Yeah, that new tech was bugging me for a new one. I told him to get out the soldering iron. Why?”
“Run a scan on every carrier in the bay for that glitch, Clint,” Jess said, in a quiet, and serious tone. “Now.”
He was briefly silent. “Ack,” he answered shortly.
“Let me know what you find.”
“Ack.” He triggered off.
Jess exhaled. “Sure hope he doesn’t find anything,” she said. “Got nav back?”
“It was unregistered, according to this,” Dev responded. “Is this all incorrect?”
“Two teams went out this afternoon,” Jess said. “If they had this same alteration, they’re flying wide open.” She exhaled. “Glad you remembered this.”
Dev felt bad. “I should have thought of it earlier,” she said. “I got distracted.”
Jess kissed her on the top of her head. “Another sign of your humanity, Devvie. C’mon.” She reached over and unzipped the zipper on her under-suit. “Let’s finish what we started.”
Ignoring your duty wasn’t good. Dev could feel that intensity starting again and she stood, letting Jess peel the suit off her. But she wanted this and Doctor Dan had been right about that too.
She hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed if he ended up finding out.
DEV SETTLED INTO the tech seat, hitching it forward and bringing up the boards that would activate the carrier’s systems. She was dressed in her flight suit, her formal one stashed in one of the cabinets at her left hand side. The carrier hatch was propped open, waiting for its second occupant and all around her things were in motion as the busy bay carried on.
It was early. Dawn was just cracking outside, and above her, the hatch was already open, revealing a dull gray sky that was thankfully still rain free.
Over to the right she could see bio alts scurrying around April and Doug’s carrier, their freshly painted names clear and sharp against the machine’s mottled skin. As she watched, she saw Doug enter, and knew he’d be shortly performing the same checks as she was, having worked all night to get his systems ready for flight.
She’d helped, after she and Jess had gotten a late meal in the mess. With all the swimming and everything else though, she’d only been able to help him for so long before she was tired enough to wish Jess would come and retrieve her.
Doug had gotten far enough with her help that she thought he might finish, and she had only felt a little guilty about leaving with Jess and crawling into bed with her to get some sleep.
So now she felt good, having gotten sufficient rest, and she ran through the preflight checks with confidence.
Everyone seemed a bit somber. No one made jokes with Jess in the mess during breakfast, and one or two of the other agents had come up to offer her condolences, or wish them a safe flight.
