Her partner. Dev risked a glance over her shoulder at the somnolent form in the hammock. Once Jess had conceded her that title, she hadn't looked back and then the rapidness of her acceptance of Dev had really surprised her. It felt good, and maybe that was why their discussion earlier about Doctor Dan had rattled her.

It had.

She had only lost the stomach ache from it when Jess had wrapped the blanket around her, and then simply stood there for awhile behind her with her arms draped over Dev's shoulders, breathing softly in her ear.

Dev didn't want to think about being different, or made a certain way or something that someone else shaped. It made her feel strange, but thinking about being a bio alt bothered her.

She knew that was incorrect. She knew she wasn't considered a person, not by anyone that was naturally born. And yet...

And yet. Just thinking about failure, about being sent back to the creche and having to go back to being like she was made Dev feel so bad she stopped it, just like that, because she didn't want to get that stomach ache again.

But it kept creeping back. Had Doctor Dan made her like a natural born? Dev caught sight of her profile in the reflection of the glass, a faint, ghostly figure outlined in the dim blue of the controls. She certainly looked like one. But then, they all did. You couldn't tell from the outside a bio from a natural.

What Jess had said was, it was something on her inside that he'd made the same.

The same as Jess. Dev considered that, soberly, acknowledging in her head that she had always felt a little different. Hadn't she? Or had that been wishful thinking? Didn't they all want to think that? Dev exhaled a little, then she picked up her tea and sipped it, enjoying the mellow taste.

Didn't they all want to think they were special? Why else would they compete for the proctor's notice, and that rare, cherised good word from Doctor Dan?

And yet, Dev knew, that in certain ways she was in fact different. She was a dev unit. She was the only produced member of her set. That had given her status in the creche, and she had begun to be aware of that, these last time sections, as she moved through the last of her classes and approached assignment.

Gigi had been so excited, when she'd gotten hers. To be given an assignment as the assistant to the director was about the best thing one of them could hope for, if you weren't specialized and Dev well remembered how jealous the other bios in her class had been when they heard about it.

What would they think about her assignment? Dev adjusted one of the throttles, and had to smile at her reflection. She had hoped for something interesting, and though she'd never mentioned it to him, remembered wishing for an assignment in the lab with Doctor Dan.

Being his assistant? Now that would have been something for them to be jealous of, if she'd stayed topside. The director was the director, but everyone knew the most important person in the creche was Doctor Dan. He was the one who decided everything.

He was the one who made them all, sitting in his quiet office with his big drafting board, sketching out DNA molecules and plotting genetics by hand in complex ways that even the comp couldn't do with any consistency. He didn't of course do everything personally – there were many scientists and doctors under his leadership, but the over all plan?

That was his. And there were a few sets, selected sets, that had literally felt his hand in their creation and no matter what they ended up doing, they always had that little extra status regardless of their level.

Dev had been one of them, and so, given her classes and the programming she'd gotten, she'd secretly hoped that when it came her turn, Doctor Dan would tap her on the shoulder, and become her mentor.

So instead, here she she was, down world, in a fish boat, driving across the water in the dark, in a storm, with a partner who liked killing people and enjoyed practicing sex in dangerous places.

Life could be quite unexpected. Dev smiled briefly. Now that she was here, though, she had a feeling she wouldn't trade this experience for all the status in the world, and even for a place in Doctor Dan's lab. This was something none of them had ever done.

She had done things already that no bio alt ever had, and experienced things she didn't think maybe a lot of natural born had. Though it had been so short at time, she absolutely knew she didn't want that to change. No matter how dangerous, no matter how scary and difficult, she wanted this.

Going back to the creche? “Ugh.” Dev grunted softly, giving her body a little shake.

She heard Jess stir, and she quickly looked back, hoping the small sound hadn't woken her. But her partner was merely shifting in the hammock, it's knotted surface swinging gently in the motion of the boat.

Relieved, she returned her focus to the window, sparing a brief glance to her scanner sitting propped on the console next to her. It had, by far, more intelligence programming than anything on the boat, and she was using it to check the onboard primitive scan.

The route was basic – but the scanner had picked up rocks and escarpments that the ship's system did and Dev was being cautious, aware she was only operating in one plane now, not the three she'd come to anticipate in the carrier. She found herself missing the power of the craft, and the speed of it. Her progress over the waves seemed, in comparison, painfully slow.

The seas were also rough, and it was raining again. She could feel the wind pushing against the boat, shoving it sideways and the engines could only gain so much torque against that and the heavy waves that rocked them.

Not really comfortable. No way to put the thing on auto pilot, which was why she'd stopped it cold when she'd heard the explosion below.

A lot more tiring than piloting the carrier at least in a long haul. Dev took another sip of her tea, and set the cup back in it's swinging holder. Her scanner bleeped, and she quickly looked at it, her hands going to the controls and adjusting the course as the wiremap drew in a rock escarpment the sweep of the ship's radar had missed.

How did they manage? If she hadn't had the compact comp scan she'd have plowed the ship into these unexpected islands of rock at least three times already. The captain must, she reasoned, be a really excellent driver.

A soft sound made her look around again, and she frowned, not entirely sure she'd heard it. As she cocked her ears though, it happened again. At first she thought it was maybe the hooks swinging, but then she saw Jess shift again, and cry out, her body and hands tensing visibly.

Oh! Dev's eyes widened, and she rapidly switched her attention back and forth between the window and the hammock. “Jess?” She called out softly.

Jess cried out again, twisting in the hammock.

Dev pulled the throttles back and slowed the ship, feeling the bow pitch down as it came off plane and they went with the motion of the waves. She glanced anxiously at the scanner and hoped there was enough free water around them as she left the controls and bolted back to where her partner was struggling and gasping. “Jess!”

She grabbed hold the hammock as they pitched and in the next instant found herself gripped in an iron hold around her neck as Jess sinuously twisted around and slammed them both to the ground.

Dev reacted instinctively. She got her hands around Jess's wrists and clamped down on them, tearing the hold off her and shoving herself and Jess off the deck reversing their positions. She landed on her partner and held her down. “JESS!”

For a moment the staring blue eyes bored through her, then they blinked, and she felt the powerful form under her lose it's tension.

Another long silence as they looked at each other. Dev was very surprised to see wetness around Jess's eyes and she shifted to one side and released her, afraid she'd done her some damage. “Are you all right?”

Jess lifted her hand and covered her eyes, breathing hard. “Fuck.”

The hand, Dev noted, was shaking. She cautiously touched Jess's shoulder, feeling a shivering in it as well. “Jess? Are you in discomfort? Is there something I can do to help you?”

“No.” Jess finally answered. “Get the boat moving again. I'm fine.”

Dev didn't think that was true. But she understood that refusing to do what Jess asked would not make her be in less discomfort. She very gently squeezed the shoulder her hand was resting on, then she pushed herself to her feet and went back over to the controls.

She settled into the seat and started up the engines, applying power and steadying the boat's movement as they shifted forward and plowed back into the waves. Once she was up and planing again she looked back over her shoulder, to see Jess sitting with her back braced against the cabinet, her head held in her hands.

Dev almost stopped the engines again, the urge to go do something to help overpowering her. “Jess?”

Her partner's shoulders shifted and she straightened, resting her forearms on her knees before she slowly pulled herself up and walked over to the stool next to Dev, dropping onto it with a grunt. “Shit.”

Her last few offers of help having been rejected, Dev sorted around to figure out what she should try next. “Would you like some tea?” She picked up her mug and moved it closer. “It's still hot.”

Jess rested her hands on the console. “Soon as I think I won't throw it back up sure.” She uttered softly. “Crap I hate that.”

“Throwing up?” Dev asked, cautiously.

“Hallucinations.” Her partner answered shortly. “Dreams.” She paused. “You know.”

Hallucinations and dreams. Dev riffled through her programming quickly, then went over it again. “I'm sorry.” She finally answered. “I really don't know. What are they? They sound uncomfortable.”

Jess turned her head and looked at her. “You don't dream at night?” She asked. “See pictures in your head? Go to different places? While you sleep?”

Pictures in her head. “Well.” Dev mused. “Sometimes, when I got a lot of programming, I saw some pictures when I was waking up.” She admitted. “But they weren't really different places. Just a flash or two, like a person's face, or a smell.”

“Not the same thing.” Jess said. “But if you don't have them you're damned lucky. Wish I was a bio in that case.” She rested her forehead against her wrists.

Dev put a hand on her back, gently rubbing it. She wasn't really sure why she'd done that, or if it was helpful, but under her fingers she could feel, just a little, relaxation in the stiffness of her partner's body. “I was just thinking.” She said. “About how much I wished I wasn't one.”

Jess reacted, turning her head and looking back at her, the faint glow from the controls reflecting off her pale eyes.

“I mean, how much I'm really enjoying getting to do everything.” Dev clarified. “And how much better it is than being in the creche.”

“Ah” Jess grunted, grimacing a little and rubbing her temples with her fingers. “Well, crap right now I'd trade ya.” She exhaled. “Thought I was past them from last time.”

“What does that mean?” Dev asked, softly. “Are you sure you don't want some tea?”

Jess sighed and straightened up a little. “Nevermind. It's a stupid thing and I don't want to talk about it.” She accepted the cup though, and took a sip. “Show me how to drive this thing and you can go get some sleep.” She got up and came close to Dev.

Then she stopped, and put the cup down and put her hands on her hips. “Wait a minute.”

Dev glanced sideways at her. Then she looked back out the window, as the boat twisted under them, and made her grab the controls a little harder. “Yow.”

Jess leaned on the console so she could see Dev's face. “Did you just pick me up and body slam me?” She watched as a flush of color darkened the bio alt's face, visible even in the dim light. “You did.”

“I..” Dev felt nervous and suddenly very anxious. “I didn't mean to cause you discomfort.” She said. “Did I hurt you?”

Jess was more than glad enough to let this distraction drive her recent nightmare out of her thoughts. To have had one at all shocked and infuriated her and she was embarassed that Dev had witnessed it. “No.” She said. “I just didn't think you were that strong. I'm bigger than you are.”

Dev smiled briefly, relieved that her partner really didn't seem upset. “Well, we did work a lot in plus grav.” She reminded her. “So I guess that's why, but I wasn't sure what was going on and I didn't want you to hurt yourself.” She paused. “Or me.”

“You?”

“You were grabbing me by the neck.”

Jess felt a shock go down her entire body. “I did?”

Dev glanced at her for a brief moment, her lips tensing into a faint smile. “I think you were sort of still asleep.”

Well, that wasn't good. Jess frowned. “I...” She stopped speaking, and took a step back, half turning and folding her arms across her chest. Then she sat back down on the stool and studied the deck. “Sorry.” She managed, after a moment. “When you've done all the... “ She paused again. “Sometimes we relive stuff that's happened in our sleep. Agents. Like me.”

“I see.” Dev said, gently.

“And I guess we don't have any really good things to relive.” Jess went on. “So we get all the bad things. All the attacks that went wrong, and the friend's we've seen die and...” She stared at the ground. “Anyway. I'm sorry. I really don't want to do anything to hurt you.”

“It's okay you didn't.” Dev remarked. “I just wanted to hold you still long enough for you come back up.” She adjusted a control, and glanced at the scanner. “Sometimes when we.. when bio alts that is, are down for programming they come up and if things aren't right security has to hold them until they integrate everything.”

“I'm not a bio alt.” Jess stated, flatly.

“No, I know.” Dev said. “But it was the same sort of thing. You weren't really.. um... here.”

“Oh.” Jess sighed. “Thought I was past them from this last clusterfuck.” She rubbed her temples. “I had them after for weeks. Could'nt sleep worth a damn. Anyway, if you see me like that.. just stay the hell away from me. Let me suffer.”

Dev was silent for a long moment. Her hands were resting on the controls, and her breathing was even, but her eyes were slightly unfocused and after a long, silent pause, she turned her head and looked at her partner. “I don't think I can do that.” She said in an apologetic tone. “Seeing you suffering causes me a lot of discomfort.”

Jess blinked. “Does it?” She watched the bio alt release one hand off the controls and extend it, and then felt the warmth of Dev's touch against her cheek. She was unable to look away from those eyes and there was something so compelling and so intense in them, it made her a little short of breath.

“It does.” Dev said. “So I'll try not to get my neck in the way of your hands, but dont' ask me to not try and help you. Please.”

The feeling of shortness of breath intensified. Jess felt a sense of almost lightheaded confusion as her cheek was gently stroked and she had the suddens suspicion that if she had been standing her knees would have buckled under her and she had to wonder seriously what the hell was going on.

Why was she feeling like this? Her stomach felt strange, and she reached up to cover Dev's hand with her own as the memory of the nightmare rippled into shreds and released from her mind. It felt like getting a wash of seawater over her, and her body relaxed. “You're a funny old thing, Devvie.” She finally said. “Just don't be afraid to pick my ass up and toss me if I turn crazy on ya, okay?”

Dev smiled faintly. “Okay.” She agreed. “But you know, Jess, I really hope you get to see some happy pictures in your head sometime.”

The sincerity of the tone got down into Jess's awareness and lightened her heart in a curious way. She got up and came closer, leaning forward and very gently kissing Dev on the lips. “Thank you, my friend.” She said. “I appreciate that.”

It was a pity that the seas were so rough, and they had someplace they had to go. Dev regretfully broke off their intense eye lock and caught sight of a huge wave heading their way. “Yike!” She grabbed the steering controls as Jess grabbed the chair and gunned the engines to full power just as the wall of water bowled over them.

“Shit!” Jess yelped, wrapping her arm around Dev and around the seat as the boat pitched over and for a very long moment, threatened to flip.

“Oh my gosh.” Dev's eyes were big as she saw the sea crashing down on them.

The boat creaked and groaned, and alarms started going off, as they were shoved sideways and tipped up onto one side, and Jess would have crashed against the wall if she hadn't had both arms and both long legs wrapped around Dev.

Jess's eyes popped open wide as the tip turned into a roll and she waited for the boat to turn turtle, her mind already spinning with what nexts, marking the door position and sucking in deep breaths as she anticipated the cold, stunning rush of the water entering.

But Dev had a death grip on the throttles and she shoved them forward, twisting the steering controls as she plowed the bow through the wave and they emerged on the other side with a thunder of water cascading over the top of the boat. They rocked back and forth and then she got them moving forward again, as they both let out a long exhale at the same time.

“Some bitch!” Then Jess started laughing. “Nice move!!”

Dev had no idea on earth what was funny, but she chuckled as well, and all of the strange tension in her body relaxed and she wanted to lay down all of a sudden. “Ah, thanks. I think.”

“You think?” Jess shifted her grip and wrapped her arms around Dev from behind, giving her a squeeze. “I don't think there's anything you can't drive.”

Ah. Dev savored the contact, liking very much how it made her body feel. “Thank you.” Really, she wanted to lay down with Jess. Not to practice sex, but just to be near her. The whole driving the boat thing, and how far they had to go were abruptly annoying and she really wished they could just stop, and park in some cave or something.

That surprised her, and yet it didn't. “That was amazing.”

It occurred to her that there was a certain lack of dedication to the mission that was rising and she wondered a lot about that. She knew she had a job to do.

Jess knew they had a job to do, certainly.

“That was suicidal.” Her partner disagreed. “We could have rolled over and you don't swim that good.”

“That's true.” The bio alt agreed placidly. “But you'd take are of me.”

And that, Jess acknowledged, was true. “I would.” She draped her arm over her partner. “I never want anything bad to happen to you if I can help it.” She added. “I .. um... “ She paused for a long moment. “That would make me nuts.”

Dev digested that. “What's a nut?” She asked, after a pause.

Jess pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know something? I don't have a fucking clue what a nut is.” She admitted. “But I know what that means is, I'd be very upset.”

It occurred to Dev that it wasn't really regular to have a natural born feel that way about a bio alt. It made her feel strange, though in a good way. “You would?”

“Yeah.”

Maybe Jess really didn't think of her as just a bio after all. She hoped that was true. With a smile, she went back to the controls, finding a course through the waves as the weather came down harder, the rain going sideways in front of the console window. “Wow.”

Her partner regarded the storm, and smiled. “Ah crap.” Jess leaned against her. “Show me how to run this thing.” She said. “One of us should get some rest.” Her shoulders shifted and she exhaled. “Least the damn weather will keep me distracted.”

“All right” Dev said. “These are the engine controls.”

Jess rested her chin on Dev's shoulder. “Engines.” She agreed. “Hey you know something, Dev?”

It was all Dev could do to keep the boat going forward, her hands clenching lightly on the throttles as she felt Jess's cheek press against hers. “What?”

“Thanks for waking me up out of my nightmare.” Her partner said, in a quiet voice. “And for caring what happens to me.”

The soft echo of plaintive wistfulness in that voice went right through her. Dev felt at once happy and at the same time sad. “I think you're my favorite person ever. “ She said. “Even more than Doctor Dan.” She added, feeling the motion as Jess smiled. “Thanks for making me feel real.”

“You are.”

Dev tasted salt on her lips as she licked them. “Am I?”

“Oh yes. There's no going back for you now”

Part 14

It turned out that driving the boat wasn't that difficult at all. Jess sat in the control chair, glad of the restraints as they crashed through the waves in the darkness of pre dawn. Behind her, tucked in the hammock and wrapped in her new sharkskin jacket Dev was sleeping peacefully undisturbed by the motion.

Jess envied her. Her own eyes felt red and sore, and her body felt achy and tired, nightmares or no nightmares wanting to join Dev in the hammock in a huddle of warm comfort. But instead, she dutifully scanned the darkness, and worked to keep them on course as they followed a track through open seas now with no land in sight.

They were in no man's waters. Vast stretches of mostly dead ocean where the bottom was so far down nothing they had left could plumb it. Far too deep for fishing, home to once again unknown life on this side of the mid atlantic ridge left alone to repopulate after almost being fished to extinction.

Funny, how that was. Just before the change happened, they had come to a crisis point. The oceans had been raped to the extent that if the orbiting labs hadn't been functional, a huge human die off had been looming.

Chaos! Politics! Jess faintly shook her head, remembering the texts she'd scanned in school They had been heading for a melt down right up until the planet itself had taken control, wiping out ninety percent of it's problems in one long, horrific descent into death and starvation.

She remembered films of the time, watching as cities drowned and the flood waters rose and rose and rose, eventually washing clean to rock everything it touched.

Only the tough and the lucky had survived. Jess remembered, vaguely, her father saying that the harrowing had helped the species in some ways, but narrowed their biological choices to almost disaster in other ways. They had to be careful, now who bred with who, since they'd seen what happened when the genes got too close.

Humans adapted at an almost frightening rate. Far more and far faster than the other species left on the planet, that being the one true advantage they'd had. Already the families who farmed the seas for a few generations, down by the shoreline had developed webbing between their fingers and toes, and oily skins to protect them against the seawater they spent so much time in.

Jess herself had some of it. She regarded her hand, and stretched the fingers out, then curled them into a light fist. She'd grown up with the sea wind in her face, and her body in the water for as long as she could remember and now that she was here, in this seat, her hands on the controls there was some ancient familiarity about it that echoed softly inside her.

She took a sip of tea and shifted a little. Soon they would be crossing over into enemy territory and she sorted through her memory of radio codes, planning out the ones she'd need to use once they caught her on scan and contacted them.

Always a danger. Always the chance that some bored controller would decide to hunt them through the comp, and realize something wasn't quite right about this incoming fisher with only two crew onboard.

If they got past that, to the fishery itself, they were home free.

A soft sound behind her made her turn her head, to see Dev stretching her body out and peering over the edge of the hammock at her. “Hey there.”

“Hello.” Dev rolled out of the hammock and stood up, keeping one hand on the edge of it to steady herself. “That was very nice.”

“The hammock?” Jess asked.

“Yes. It felt like our sleep pods in the creche.” Dev explained, coming over and peering out the window. She looked down at the nav console and raked the fingers of one hand through her hair. “It's darker.”

“We're almost to the edge of their waters.” Jess said. “Why don't you grab a cup of something downstairs, then let me get out of this chair for a while.”

Dev studied her for a moment. “Okay.” She put her jacket hood up and bumped the outer hatch open, disappearing into the howling wind and shutting the door behind her.

The blast of cold air made Jess sit up straight, driving out the sleepiness that had started to overtake her. She could see ice lining the outside of the boat in the dim phosphorescence from the rail lights and briefly she felt homesick for the citadel and the warm blast of her own shower.

Ah well. She flexed her hands and leaned forward, watching the spray come up over the deck. Suck it up, Jesslyn. You're the one who told everyone how tough you were. Don't blow your rep now.

**

Dev looked around the gathering area, rubbing her hands together in the chill air. She was waiting for some water to heat up to make tea, having found a big carafe that would hold more than enough for both her and Jess. She'd gone inside and used the sanitary unit, and retrieved her kit and used that as well, and now she felt as reasonably awake, though her body was craving food and she was still chilled.

While she waited, she decided to explore a little, and almost hesitantly she started opening cabinets and peering at what was inside. Mostly supplies, all clamped down. Plates and things to prepare food with, none of which held any programming charge for her.

There was plenty of tea though, and she knew what to do with that since one of the prized events in the creche was being asked to tea by one of the proctors, or by an administrator. She had been so honored twice by Doctor Dan, and though the leaf shreds here on the boat were seaweed and not real tea, the process was the same.

One cabinet had odd belts and closed containers, and she studied one for a while, then realized that it must be for the people who worked the fishing things when they were outside for a long time. Experimentally, she put one around her and studied the result in the piece of metal hammered to the wall nearby.

It was far too big for her, but she could see how useful it could be, having a cup to drink from that was sealed, and a container that could fit maybe a fishroll, or something like it. That way they could keep working outside and in fact it wasn't that different from the kit she had for the carrier.

With a grunt, she took it off and put it back away, closing the cabinet after it. Then she went over to the warming unit and removed the water, pouring it carefully over the pile of shredded seaweed in the big carafe. The steam came up at once, and she blinked as it bathed her face with faintly spicy heat.

She actually really liked the seaweed tea. It was less pungent than the real tea she'd had, and didn't have the sometimes bitter aftertaste. She glanced at the countertop while the tea steeped, cocking her head a little as she spotted a big, brown pot with a spoon sticking out of it.

Experimentally, she lifted the cover, and her nose twitched as she caught a sweet scent. She put the tip of her finger in the substance inside, and brought it back to her lips, cautiously tasting the gummy stuff on the tip of her tongue. “Oh.” She went back for a second try and sucked the end of her thumb that came back covered in it.

It tasted like the mead. She wondered if this could be honey. It reminded her of the mead. The pot seemed to have a place there, and she remembered Jess saying that the honey came from the other side. So that fit with notion her partner had that these fisher people would go wherever they needed to sell their catch.

She nodded, then she picked up the spoon and scooped up some of the substance, bringing it over and letting it drizzle into the still steeping tea. After it all went inside, she stirred it, then she put the top on the carafe and the spoon back where it belonged, picking up the tea and heading back to the control center with it.

**

Jess paused in mid sip, turning around to look at Dev who was taking over the control station. “What's in this?”

Dev smiled, as she tucked the comm bud from her scanner into her ear. “They have a big jar downstairs. I think it's honey.” She said. “I thought you might like some in the tea. It tastes nice, doesn't it?”

“Big jar?” Jess savored the sweetness. “Those bastards.”

“Well, if they could get it, why shouldn't they?” Dev asked. “You got that bottle, right?” She put her own cup in the holder and adjusted the throttles, examining the board and pausing, then moving a switch into a new position.

Jess came over and leaned her back against the console, hooking one arm around a bracing bar and crossing her ankles. “Yeah I guess me taking that as a prize of war and then being pissed off at these guys for buying it legit is pretty hypocritical, huh?”

Dev gave her a sideways glance, then went back to her controls. “It looks like we're crossing into long range scan. I can see beams.”

Jess turned and looked at the readout. “Yep.” She sat down on the stool. “If they contact us, let me answer.”

Dev nodded, tuning in the scanner a little more tightly and watching the screen. She could see the sine waves of the enemy scanners and the pattern they were running, a comprehensive sweep that would surely, eventually, go over them. She studied the scan output and typed in a request.

Jess stood up and went over to the grub she'd scrounged earlier, sorting amongst it and putting together a meal of sorts for them. She braced against the wall as the boat lunged and rocked, and managed to make it back over to where the big chair was with everything clutched in her arms.

Waves were coming up. She peered out the window, checking the chrono. “Should get a little lighter in a bit.” Jess commented as she handed over a packet of boiled fish. “Sounds like the weather's going to crap again though.”

Dev pointed at the scanner. “That's the same kind of line we were avoiding the other day isn't it?”

Jess looked and exhaled. “Shit.”

“I don't think it will affect the systems on this boat like it does the carrier.” Dev said, placidly. She unwrapped her portion of fish and took a bite of it, surprised at the firm texture, and tasty flavor. Outside, as if in counterpoint, a blast of lightning showed in the distance, outlining the peaking waves in silver precision.

Jess got up and circled around her, putting her hands on the back of the control chair and looking past Dev, then moving over to the navigation station and studying the map “Storm could help us.”

“Keep them from seeing us you mean?” Dev noted the waves getting larger, and she brought the throttles down a little, easing into one of the larger ones.

“Uh huh. Fast learner.” Jess glanced over her shoulder and gave her partner a rakish grin. “I do like that about you, Devvie.'

Dev finished her fish and neatly folded the bit of dried seaweed it had been wrapped in and put it back in the package. She could, she supposed, eat the covering but she'd found them to be dry and somewhat bitter, and not really appealing.

There was another package though. She opened that one, then took a step back, leaving it on the console. “Jess?”

“Huh?”

“What is this?”

Jess craned her neck to look. “Crab.”

Dev stared at the creature, a hard shelled animal the size of her hand. “Are we supposed to eat this?”

Her partner snickered. “Yes. You wanna bet me you'll like it?”

Dev eyed her with what could only be described as excessively polite skepticism. “Would you like it? I”m going to finish my seaweed.” She edged away from the crab and went back to her tea, sipping it and trying to ignore the mischevious grin she was getting from across the room.

“Nah, nah nah, none of that.” Jess left the map and came over, removing the big, heavy knife from it's sheath and reversing it. With a casual motion, she brought the hilt down on the crab and cracked it, then picked it up and wrenched it's legs off, putting them down and smacking them as well.

Bits of shell went everywhere, nearly nailing Dev who ducked at the last minute as one piece sailed past her ear.

“Now.” Jess ignored the chaos she was causing. She pulled apart the shell and removed a chunk of white substance from it and handed it over to Dev. “Try it.”

Dev regarded it for a moment, then she reached out and took the offering. It felt in her hand not that different from the fish, and she tentatively bit into it, extremely surprised at the rich taste. “Oh.” She said, in a surprised tone. “That is good.”

Jess took a piece for herself and popped it into her mouth. “Not too different from the shrimp at Quebec. Not as spicy though.” She said. “These cost more creds than I have in the bank usually.”

“Really.”

“Really.” Jess took a leg and went back to the weather map. “Damn these guys live good.”

Dev investigated the shattered creature remains, pairing bits of the white flesh with her tea as she returned her concentration to the waves. “Jess?”

“Huh?”

“What's a bet?”

“Ahhh. I'll teach you all about that, my friend.” Jess chuckled. “But first, let's find a way to drive through this mess and keep away from the bad guys. I don't think we'll stand up to a really descent scan.”

**

Dev finally sat back and took a breath, her entire body stiff and aching from the tension caused by having to navigate the boat through the storm. The rough weather had kept them hidden, but the boat had almost rolled again several times, and Jess had gone below the deck to make sure nothing was broken.

For now, the rain had stopped and the winds had died down, and she was beginning to see structures on comp coming up that she understood were the enemy's. They were just wiremaps for now, but she set the scanner up to passive and turned up the volume on the old style radio, right now just issuing a soft, hissing static.

It seemed a moment of calm for them. The waves had settled, and the water had changed from a dark and angry black to a lighter color, her scanner confirming the depth decreasing as they continued on.

She heard the sound of boots on the stairs outside and glanced behind her as the hatch opened and Jess appeared, well wrapped and gloved. Her partner swept the hood off her head and shook herself, rubbing her hands together as she crossed the deck.

“Looks good.” Jess said. “I can hear those fish swimming around in there too. How far are we from.. ah.” She came to stand next to Dev, peering at the tracking map. “Nice. Good job.” She touched her finger on the screen, pointing out a block on the wiremap. “There it is.”

Dev stood by her chair and stretched her body out, pausing as she felt Jess's hands on her. They brought a warmth, and as she felt her partner's fingers kneading her back, a happy grin appeared on her face. “That really feels nice.”

“I know.” Jess smiled with her, moving her hands up the bio alt's spine as she rested her hands on the console, feeling the knots under her fingers. “Remind me to teach you this when we get back so you can return the favor.”

“Absolutely.” Dev agreed. “That seat is not really comfortable for a long time. Not like the carrier.” She straightened and turned as Jess finished, looking up at her with a grateful expression. “Thank you.”

Jess let her wrists rest on her partners shoulders and met those eyes, in a breath losing track of what they were doing and letting herself get a little lost in that gentle regard.

Dev waited for a moment, then she cocked her head slightly. “Jess?”

“Yes?” Jess kept looking into her eyes, her face shifting to a mild introspection.

“Do we have to do something?”

“I”m sure we do.”

Dev let her hand rest on Jess's hip and in the next breath they were moving together, and kissing. Jess's hand cupped her cheek and she wished that her partner didn't have her heavy jacket on as an intense craving erupted inside her.

It seemed crazy. They were in the middle of a mission.

Jess backed off a little, just enough to look at her. “Know something?” She said. “You're the first person who's made me want to forget about my job. Why is that, Devvie?”

Dev definitely wanted to go back to that whole kissing thing. “I don't know.” She exhaled, after a pause. “But when you start doing that I don't really care about whats going on either.”

“That bother you?”

“Does it bother you?”

Jess tilted her head and they kissed again, in a silence that lengthened quite a bit. Then she took a breath and let her head rest against Dev's. “Feels too good to bother me. “ She admitted. “That's never happened before.”

“Well.” Dev sighed. “Pretty much everything's never happened to me before so it's difficult to say.”

Jess smiled. Then she looked past Dev to the comm console, which started crackling. “I think I hear my blaster calling my trigger finger.” She growled.

Dev gave her a brief hug. “Did you want to talk to them?” She indicated the radio. “I'm going to take a walk downstairs.”

“No I didn't.” Jess returned the hug, startled by the jolt of positive emotion it gave her. “But I will.” Reluctantly she released Dev, and eased into the chair. “I'm going to tell them we're pulling in with a full load, and bargain a little.”

“Won't they know you're not the fisher people?” Dev asked, resting a hand on the chair arm. “You said they went to this place before.”

“Its automated.” Jess explained. “We swing the boat in and they hook up to the back of it and the fish go out that way. Nothing face to face. “ A faint smile appeared. “Too dangerous for both sides. They don't want to be able to identify the fishermen, and the reverse is true too. Everyone knows trade crosses the lines.”

“I see.”

“Market's like that too. I've been there.” Jess said. “It's all barter for chits, no record of anything. No one wants to know, they just want your money.”

“Maybe they'll have that honey mead.” Dev said, with a slight grin. “That happened up on station too. Sometimes a shuttle would.. um.. 'get lost' or come in dock for repair from the other side. Doctor Dan has some things in his office that came that way. You weren't supposed to talk about it.”

“We aren't either.” Her partner told her. “It's against the rules. Everyone knows it. No one cares.” She gave Dev's arm a squeeze. “G'wan and stretch your legs. Let me figure out what story I”m gonna tell them.”

Dev tugged her hood up and trotted off, feeling oddly buoyant as she went out the hatch and rambled down the steps. Though it was cold outside, the spray had diminished and they were traveling relatively smoothly over the calming seas. Dev went over to the rail and looked out, blinking a little but sucking in a deep lungful of the salt misty air.

She felt a little strange. She felt like she wanted to jump up and down and laugh, which would be very inappropriate. It would also be very inappropriate for her to go back into the control center and pull Jess out of her chair and into the hammock.

She suspected, however, that Jess wouldn't mind it at all.

This was something she didn't have any programming for. Sex she understood, at least, she understood a lot more now than when she'd had classes about it. The class hadn't mentioned anything at all about this wild, warm, happy feeling that made her want to run around and laugh.

What did it mean? Was it correct?

Did she care?

Dev smiled into the wind, reveling in the rush as it pushed her hair back and moistened her skin. Then she turned and rambled towards the inner hatch, bouncing a little as she laughed, if only to herself.

**

“Vessel Northern Star, come about to starboard, slip 6 Decca.” The radio voice was rough, and harsh sounding. “Cut engines standby to offload.”

“Check.” Jess answered. “Put the chits on the deck when you're done. Crew's sleepin.”

“Got it.” The voice answered, then cut off with a burst of static.

The fishery was enormous. Dev was almost glued to the window as they approached, peering up and up and up at the structure that towered over the waves almost as tall as the citadel.

This wasn't rock however. This was steel, long and very heavy pylons going down into the ocean with spaces between them for boats, and huge hatches with solid doors just above the waves.

Above that was platform after platform, layered one atop the other with weather stained steel stretching up higher than she could see. “Wow.”

“Big, huh?” Jess was standing next to her, hands tucked into her hip pockets. “Know what that used to be?”

“I have no idea.” Dev trimmed the throttles, aiming for the slot they'd been directed to by the gruff voice on the radio. There weren't any people in sight, just the docks, and grapples, though she could see a shielded, glassed area mid way up that might hide a control center.

“That used to be an oil rig, Devvie.” Jess said. “Way way back in the day, when we pumped petroleum from everything we could to power combustion engines.”

“Ah.” Dev regarded the structure. “That really is old then.”

“It is.” Her partner agreed. “Swing around and back us in. I”m going to watch the grapples.” She moved to put her hood up, then frowned and carefully tucked her dark hair into it. “Hope no one's close enough to get a shot of my mug.” She muttered.

There was an actual note of discomfort in her voice. Dev noticed. “Would you like to park this vessel?” She offered. “I could go watch. If they see me, they'll think I belong to the boat.”

Jess stopped in mid motion. “Are you reading my mind?” She accused. “Can they teach you to do that?”

Dev merely looked puzzled at the question.

“Never mind.” Jess pushed the hood back. “Good idea. These guys are pretty well known here from the response I got on comms. You do look like them. More than I do anyway.” She traded places with Dev and watched as the bio alt shrug into her jacket and fasten it. “Be careful.”

Dev cocked her head. “I'll try to.” She said. “I'm going to go back in that area just behind where this is. It has that metal wall.” She went to the hatch and ducked through it, moving quickly down the steps as she heard the engines change their timbre.

The fishery was in a calm area, and the winds had dropped to almost nothing, so the boat was comfortable to walk around as she went across the deck and squeezed back between the walls so she had a view of the back. Jess swung the bow around and then reversed the drive, moving them slowly back into their assigned dock.

It was still very cold, but not the bitter cold of the white. Dev pushed her hood down after a few minutes, and watched the approaching dock, seeing the worn chains and bumpers meant to cradle them as they moved in. The sense of the age of the structure increased as she got a better look, the metal stained with weather and age and dented in many places.

A thing from before the change. Dev had once seen the genesis of the station she'd been hatched on, a small, old, worn set of chambers locked together that had been the first station section boosted, where the workers had lived who built the rest of it, almost hidden except for the small brass plaque affixed to one rounded wall, that Doctor Dan had shown them.

It had the same sense of age. Dev found it very interesting that they had reused the structure, and made a mental note to look up the petroleum thing when they got back.

As the boat closed into it's positon, she saw the grapples start to move, and she watched in mild apprehension as they shifted around the boat, one of them with a big hook aiming fro the hatch in the back.

“Station keeping.” A loud, oddly accented voice sounded out suddenly. “Lock on.”

Dev heard a set of thunks and then the grapples were all over the back of the boat, pulling open the hatch as a boom came sweeping down with scan on it and dove into the big tank where the animals were.

She watched it for a minute, before she realized there was another figure on the dockside, watching her.

What should she do? Dev looked at the figure, who was slowly walking down the edge of the platform, with an unhurried motion. He seemed to be searching for something, so she climbed casually up onto the platform where the fishing controls were and perched on the wood topped steel seat, letting her hands rest on the knobs.

He paused as the boat settled into idle, it's back end fitting neatly between the bumpers as they came to a halt. He studied her intently then, after a moment, he lifted a hand and waved.

Dev immediately waved back, leaning forward on her elbows after she let her hand drop. She was hoping that would be enough, but a moment later, the man made a motioning forward gesture to her, and seemed to expect that she'd obey it.

Well then. She got up and climbed down to the deck, moving out behind the wall and keeping near the rail to stay out of the way of all the grapples opening the hatches and starting to unload the fish, hooking up a chute to the rear of the ship making a path for them to swim out.

There was a space of water between the side of the ship and the dock, and Dev was glad of it as she came to the rail across from him. “Hello.”

He leaned on the bumper. “Old man there?”

“He's sleeping.” Dev said the first thing she could think of. “I could go wake him up if you want me to.” She looked behind her.

He held a hand up. “No no.” He shook his head to emphasize the thought. “Just wanted to know if you got any word about some renegades we heard about, stealing fish.”

“Yes.” Dev said. “They tried that on us. They came over and dropped people on the deck and tried to take us over, but we fought them off.”

“Yeah?” The man's brows lifted. “You got guns oboard?”

“Yes.” Dev didn't see any point in denying it.

He shook his head. “Careful with that, lass. You get caught with them, you'll end up bait.” He glanced at the chutes. “Nice catch.”

“It was hard work.” Dev felt an eerie sensation, as though someone were standing behind her watching her back. She kept herself from turning though, reasoning that with the water between them, and the steel wall of the ship she was relatively safe.

He nodded. “Betcha.” He straightened up. “Thanks for the news.” Then he looked intently at her. “Know who they were?”

Dev shook her head.

He stared at her for a brief moment, then he merely nodded and turned and walked away. “Later.” He lifted a hand, but didn't look back.

“Goodbye.” Dev waved back even though he wasn't watching. Then she turned and crossed the deck, coming back inside the metal wall only to be startled nearly out of her wits when she came face to face with Jess, fully armed, with her big blaster in her hands and an extremely serious look on her face “Oh.”

“Nice.” Jess complimented her. “You have any idea who that was?”

“No.” Dev shook her head. “Um.” She gently eased the muzzle of the blaster to one side. “Were you going to shoot him?”

“If he'd taken one step towards you, sure.” Jess informed her. “And then since the back of this thing is hitched to the wall we'd have both died together in one big ass flameball but there you go. “ She put the blaster back into it's side mount and sighed. “That was Davog Stern. He's one of the other side's big shot hot shot agents.”

Dev sorted through all that. “Like you?” She hazarded a guess.

Her partner smiled briefly. “He's got ten years on me, but yeah, sort of.” She acknowledged. “Maybe if I live that long I might get as nasty a rep as he has. Hard to tell.” She edged over and peeked across the deck. Now that the other side's big bastard had left, the place was deserted again but that itch was surfacing between her shoulderblades and she wanted out of the shackles. “Good thing you were on deck. If he'd caught me he'd have probably gutted me with the laser knife he had in his right hand.”

Dev blinked. “He did?”

Jess regarded her with a bemused expression. “Did they give you programming to fight?”

Had they? “You mean like you do?” Dev watched her partner nod. “Well, you sometimes don't know what you get but I don't think so.” She admitted. “Is that incorrect?” She asked, hesitantly. “I remember in the hallway, when the base was attacked that Brent didn't have anything to fight with.. is that usual?”

“Ah.” Jess exhaled. “No, well, it's fine.” She stepped back into the shadows. “Most of the time techs don't. That's not their gig. That's our job. But they know how.”

“I see.”

“Let's get under cover.” Jess nudged her towards the stairs, tugging her hood up and tightening the catches so it hid her face. “Hope they hurry up.”

**

It took a while to get the fish out. Dev was aware of her partner's growing impatience as she paced around behind the console, stopping to watch the vid that showed the back deck being worked. No more people had appeared, but now that the dull gray light had brightened a trifle, she could see shadows behind the glass walls that were probably people watching them as they were watching the work.

“What in the hell's taking them so long?” Jess growled. “How many damned fish were in that thing?”

Dev consulted her scan. “The tank is almost empty of animals.” She reported. “I don't think it can count them though.”

Jess snorted softly. “What did you tell him when he first walked up?” She asked abruptly. “I missed that when I was falling down t.. I mean, getting to the back of the deck.”

“He asked for the captain. I told him he was sleeping. “ Dev said. “Then he asked me about the attack.”

“And?”

“And I told him about the pirates.” The bio alt replied. “I said they tried to get our fish, but we fought them off, and they went away.”

Jess had her arms folded over her chest, and she was thinking hard, her eyes slightly narrowed. “You tell them who they were?”

“No, I said I didn't know.” Dev said. “He warned me not to get caught with weapons.”

“That's where I came in.” Her partner said. “I heard the rest. Bastard.” She paced across the deck again, her body language restless and almost jerky. “What's his angle... what's he looking for?”

Dev regarded her mildly, but didn't answer since she really didn't have anything to add.

“Now he's wondering if you knew who they were and didn't want to squeal, or what.” Jess went to the vid and studied it. “What's he doing here, Dev? I didn't expect to see one of them out here, they usually steer clear of the fisheries. Too many uncertain loyalties for it to be safe for them.”

“He didn't seem to be in any discomfort.” Dev offered. “He did seem very interested in who the attackers were, but.. “ She cocked her head. “It almost seemed like he was expecting me to say something different.”

“He expected you to ID the bad guys as Interforce. Most any fisherman would have.” Jess said, quietly. 'So now he's wondering – was it because you' didn't know, or because you didn't say that for a reason.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Dev frowned.

“It could be.” Jess leaned on the console. “C'mon, bastards. Get that tank empty before he decides to find out more about us.”

Dev sat down in the control chair and watched the waves go by the front of the boat. They were low and just slightly ruffled on top, and as she watched a seagull drifted by, outlined against the clouds. She watched, enchanted, as it floated, angling it's wings as it made a lazy circle in the air. Looking this way, it seemed quiet and peaceful, and she spared a moment to check the scanner before she settled herself in the seat and let her hands rest on the throttles.

It seemed a way to get ready to do something since she was pretty sure that Jess was pretty sure that something was going to happen that would require her to do something.

Or something.

Dev ran that thought over in her head again, and then reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“C'mon.. c'mon.” Jess was repeating behind her, shifting restlessly. She already had all her weapons on her, and her jacket was unfastened over her armored jumpsuit.

“Where do you want to go when they finish?” Dev asked, rubbing her thumb over one of the gauges, where the glass over it had gotten a bit cloudy.

“What?”

Dev half turned in the seat to face her. “When they're done. Which way do you want to go from here?” She was fascinated by the almost ceaseless motion of Jess' s body, now channeled into a slightly rocking pacing stride. “Are you in distress? Should we do something?”

Jess went to the vid and stared at it. “I feel like a sitting duck.”

Duck. Dev's brow furrowed. She'd heard people say that word but it had something to do with crouching down, which she supposed could be related to sitting. Was a sitting duck different than a standing one? “All right.”

“I think they know something, Dev.” Jess said. “I think they're planning on coming at us.” She flexed her hands.

Dev got up and walked to where she was standing, looking up at the vid. It showed the back of the boat, where the grapples and arms were still busy, a heavy flow of water rushing down the chute and into the fishery's lower level. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, and yet, she could feel Jess twitching next to her.

It made her breathe a little faster. She wondered if she would be turning to the controls next, shoving the engines forward and trying to wrench them free of the fishery.

The radio crackled, making them both jump. “Northern Star, attention.”

Jess went over and sat down, picking up the commset and slipping it onto her head. “Star.” She said, in a brief, clipped voice.

Dev continued to watch the vid, seeing the water flow start to reduce.

Static sounded for a moment. Jess felt the tension in her ratchet up a few notches and she glanced quickly behind her to ensure her partner's position. “Dev, you might want to come over here and hold onto something.”

The bio alt obediently left the display and came over, settling next to Jess and wrapping her hands around Jess's arm.

“Okay”

It made Jess smile, despite everything, and after a moment her body relaxed a little. She clicked the comms a few times. “This is Star, who called?” She cocked her ears, and watched the vid, her body waiting for the sight of armored figures pouring down the dock.

Another crackle, then the voice came back. “Stand by for weighting. Check 98 percent live. Good stock.”

Jess stared at the speaker. “Thanks.” She said, belatedly. “200 fathoms.”

“Ice pack?”

“Not far.” Jess kept to the clipped tone.

“Weighting 7.5K, 2.5 chits per. Stand by for delivery.”

Wow. Jess did the math in her head and her eyes popped wide open. No wonder they had full jars of honey onboard. And that was for one load. “Holy shit.” Her eyes tracked to the deck, seeing a grapple coming over with a large can dangling from it. “That's our payoff, Dev.”

“Payoff?”

“That's what they get for delivering the fish. Trade spots. With any luck they'll let us loose and I won't have to start shooting.”

Dev hopped into the seat her partner vacated, and got ready to start the engines up, not really understanding what was going on. Behind her, Jess went to the hatch and drew her blaster, inching the door open and watching the dock intently.

The grapple descended, and then they heard the loud, hollow sound as the can hit the deck. Then the grapple arm released and lifted clear, and the next moment the locks and shackles surged into motion, making Jess lurch against the door and start forward before she paused and relaxed. “Damn.”

“Is there something wrong?” Dev asked.

“Plan worked.” Jess admitted. “I wasn't really expecting that.” She put her gun back in it's holster and dogged the hatch shut, feeling the boat float free as the last of the grapples let loose of them.

“Northern Star, egress to starboard, keep to your lane.” The voice warned. “Stay clear of station.”

Jess got back to the console and grabbed the comms. “Acknowledged, out.” She answered. “Dev, take us out and to the right. Don't go anywhere outside those markers. They've got the waters mined.”

“What does that mean?” Dev got the engines started, and gently nudged the throttles forward. “What's a mine?”

“Big boom.” Jess turned and watched the vid, her trigger finger still itchy. It didn't quite feel right, the normalness of the transaction. It was hard for her to believe that the fishery, greedy as it was for take wouldnt question a thirty crew boat where only one crewmember was visible, and a unfamiliar voice on the comms.

Not after seeing Davog. Her guts clenched a little, thinking of him. Remembering the first few missions of her career, when she'd run full into him and nearly got her rookie head blown right off her body. She'd gotten lucky and gotten out, but she'd never forgotten his canny, icy precision and how his almost black eyes had bored through hers.

Davog there and they just let them go? A thougth occurred to her, and she turned back to Dev. “Trade a minute. Run a scan on that barrel they dumped on the deck. See what's in there.” She took over the throttles as Dev stepped to one side, feeling the vibration of the engines through the palms of her hands.

Dev turned and adjusted the scanner, opening up it's field and walking to the back of the control room, watching the analyzer finish it's sweep. She hoped it ended up finding what it was supposed to, because Jess's agitation was starting to get her nervous and she wished her partner would relax a little.

The scanner focused in on the barrel and she adjusted it, running first a bio sweep, which was negative. Then she went on for a threat portfolio, watching intently as it went through the various possibilities that included destructive things.

Also negative. “Clean so far.” She called over her shoulder. “What am I supposed to see in there?”

“Gold.”

“Ah.” Dev nodded. “Atomic element 79, isn't it?”

Jess sighed, as she took the boat out and into the carefully lined lane. “I feel like such a dipshit around you sometimes.”

Dev straightened. “What?”

“Never mind.”

The bio alt came over and showed her the display. “The barrel is, in fact, filled with that element.” She said. “So that is a good thing?”

'That's a freaking amazing thing.” Jess said. “It makes me not trust it. Davog should have stopped us. We didn't look right.” She increased speed a little and resisted the urge to look behind her, the spot between her shoulderblades itching fiercely. “We didn't look or act right and they should have held us.”

“But they didn't.” Dev commented.

“No.”

“Do you think they will?” Dev set the scan down and watched the waves come at them. They were heading away from the fishery and back into open water, and the motion made itself evident as they moved further away.

“Damned if I know.” Jess admitted. “I'd be very surprised if we weren't followed. Even though we turned over legit catch, and they paid us in legit chits, I know we were out of spec.” She slid out of the way. “Here you take it.”

Dev took the controls. “Maybe they didn't notice.” She suggested.

Jess went back to the hatch and opened it, keeping her hood up and tucked around her head in case long range scan was focusing on them. She watched the rapidly retreating docks, spotting another boat heading in behind them, but saw no sign of the being chased.

Was Dev right? She scanned the huge structure, looking for a flash of motion or a reflection where there should not be any. But the stained and battered metal remained just that, as they came around the side of the facility and went past the processing stations.

On this side, prepared product was loading onto trundles, the short haul delivery boats that would make the trip across the water to the isolated communities on the islands all around them.

As she watched one of the trawlers started out from the bay, two men on the deck watching them idly. Was it really a trawler? Jess watched it closely, her fingers closing on the blaster at her side. But the other boat curved away to the south, while their route was north, and in a minute they had left them far behind.

So they were out. She had what she wanted, and they could head to the Highland Island market and pick up the tempting delicacies that would gain them entrance to the secure space they needed to get into.

It was all working great. Jess gazed unhappily at the empty sea. Wasn't it?

**

Dev watched the approaching sea station with a sense of bemusement. It was a little like the fish place, but this was two of them, smaller, between a set of rocky escarpments so they formed a sort of gate. The boat would have to go between then, and she could see that there was something strung there blocking the way.

She was dressed in some of the fisher people's clothes that Jess had found belowdecks, a high necked thick fabric shirt and a pair of somewhat funny pants that had straps that went over her shoulders and held them up. It was all quite comfortable, and she had her sharkskin jacket to wear over it when they got to the market.

Dev slowed the engines as another boat ahead of her did the same, coming close enough now for her to see men on the little towers, holding guns.

That was confusing. She turned her head as Jess entered the control space, her partner's body also encased in borrowed clothing. “They seem in some discomfort ahead.” She pointed at the gates.

“Nah.” Jess came up to stand next to her. “That's normal. They don't like people to make trouble in the market.” She rested her hands on the console. “I've been here about a dozen times. None of them as myself.”

“I see.”

Jess studied the boat ahead of them, which was longer but narrower than theirs, and had a haphazard pile of fishing equipment on the back of it. “Crabber.” She indicated the boxes on the back, which were stacked up high all over. “Those guys make credit like crazy.”

“That crab was good.” Dev admitted. “Do you think they'll have some more of them here?”

Jess laughed. “That's the least of what they'll have here.” She draped her arm over Dev's shoulder. “Market's sort of a no man's land in a way. The other side knows we come here, we know they come here, everyone pretends they don't know anyone but everyone's trying to get goodies to take home.”

“Its something you have in common.” Dev ventured.

Jess looked thoughtful, then she shrugged. “It's what all humans have in common I guess. We all like to get stuff. Get luxuries.. know that we can take a few chits and get some comfort.”

“I like that too.” The bio alt adjusted the throttles again, backing them down as the boat ahead of them went to idle speed. “So I guess you're right, if even bio alts do it.”

“Even?” Jess bumped her. “You're a great barterer. I heard you in Quebec.”

Dev smiled.

“Now. Keep it nice and steady as we're going through.” Jess instructed as the boat ahead of them passed through the gates and they were coming up on them themselves. “This boat's known here.”

Dev nodded, watching the men on the towers. They were examining them closely, but as Jess had said, they apparently knew the ship because the gate drifted open and the man on the right hand tower waved at them. She waved back, just as the radio crackled to life.

“Northern Star, over.”

“Answer it.” Jess said quietly.

“This is Northern Star.” Dev keyed comms. “Go ahead.”

“Welcome. Third dock, inside jetty, first space, the usual. Compliments to Sig.”

“Oh ho. They really really do know them here.” Jess murmured. “Bouncy little bastard. This could be trickier than I thought.”

“Acknowledged.” Dev said. “The captain sends his regards.” She added, pausing slightly then going on. “He says he hopes you have something worth buying this time.”

Jess turned her head and stared, round eyed, at her partner.

The radio erupted in laughter. “Tell him I hope he's actually got chits this time not polished fish scales.” The voice called back. “Over.”

“I will, thank you.” Dev unkeyed the comm. “I hope that was not really incorrect.”

“How in the hell did you know to say that?” Jess said, after a long moment's silence. “Where did that all come from?”

How did she know? Dev piloted the boat carefully through the gate and regarded the space past it. To her surprise, it was a very big but enclosed stretch of water, with jagged pieces of rock sticking up on the edges in a strange kind of way. Ahead of them was a mound of land that was covered in structures with docks sticking out from all sides of it. “I thought about what he might have said to that, and that's what it was.” She finally answered. “Was it incorrect?”

“No.” Her partner said. “I think it's pretty much exactly what he would have said. But how did you know that? You only just met the guy.”

“I don't know.” Dev admitted. “Can we talk about this after I finish piloting? I don't want to hit anything.”

Jess chuckled wryly. “That's the nicest way anyone's ever told me to shut the hell up.” She gave Dev a light scratch on the back with her fingertips. “Sure. Third dock's that way, portside. One's up at the top, that's the ritzy harbor. Then three's on the east side.”

Obediently, Dev steered toward the right, as the other boat puttered off to the left. She could see the many docks clustering around the edge of the island and it seemed rather busy with traffic. Very different. Very interesting.

Jess was watching everything with a look of intense alertness. Her eyes were sweeping all the other ships and searched diligently for outlines she might recognize, or people she knew. Highland Market was a fun but dangerous place, and having seen Davog at the fishery, she suspected she would find more of his ilk here.

It happened. Sometimes, between the escalations and insertions, she'd even shared a cup of grog with one or the other of them here, since it was recognized as a truce area. No nasty business allowed, or you ended up in the Highland lock down and what she'd heard of that...

Wasn't something she wanted to experience. No one wanted to be outed, which they would be, and have their organization embarassed, which they would be, and end up being punked and demoted which they definitely would be as she'd seen it happen to others including Jason.

So all of them kept up the facsade and pretended not to be who they were, and ignored old grudges while they were there on the island. Jess, however, suspected that regardless of that, and of the unofficial rules, if she was spotted and recognized the rules would go out the window.

Not after blowing up half a damned mountain.

They motored around the edge of the island and Jess pointed at the entrance to the harbor they'd been assigned to. This one was about half full, and most of the boats were empty and bobbing quietly at rest. They passed between them and found the slip they were to park in, up near the front and handy to the long ramp leading up.

Dev managed to park without much trouble, and the side grapples clamped onto the dockside rings with a sound of brassy solidity. The boat stopped moving, only bobbing lightly on the surface as she shut down the engines and the vibration of the deck stilled to nothing.

“Okay.” Jess put her hands on her hips. “We're peace bonded here.”

Dev's blond eyebrow inched up.

“No weapons.”

“I see.”

“We're going to go out there and browse the market. You're gonna be the moneybags.”

Dev's other eyebrow crept up to join it's mate.

“You're the one who looks like Sigurd.” The agent explained. “So you'll carry the chit record. I'm just along to protect you.” Jess went on. “I'm not going to pretend to be someone else this time. I'm just gonna be an Interforce agent Sigurd hooked into protecting his patch.”

“All right.” Dev actually managed to follow that. “What about.. I'm here by myself because I .. um.. “ She frowned. “Remember that bet thing you mentioned? I looked it up in comp. What if I bet the rest of the fisher people that I couldn't take this boat here by myself?”

Jess grinned wholeheartedly. “Oh I like that.”

“So he agreed but he sent you along to make sure I didn't get into trouble.” Dev concluded “Does that work?”

Jess leaned forward and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips. “You're the bomb.”

“I am?” Dev felt confused. “So that was incorrect?”

“No.”

“I see. So in this case, bombs are good?”

“Yes.” Jess wrapped her arms around her pilot and hugged her. “I don't know what Bricker was thinking when he asked for you but I”m damn glad he did.”

Dev smiled in relief, returning the hug. “I'm glad too.”

They shut down the control center and dogged the hatch, and Jess led the way down the steps to the side of the ship that was close to the walkway.

“Here.” Jess handed Dev an embossed card. “That's the value of that can. They'll lift that up and bank it, see?” She pointed at the shoreside grapple latching on to the can and picking it up. It was placed in a weatherworn casing right next to the dock marked with the same number as the ship had. “You can't carry all that around with you.”

The container bong'd softly, and a number registered on the side of it. Jess grunted. “They also take a percent off for the service, but that's okay.”

Dev merely nodded.

“So now you can use the card to get stuff. When they deliver it to the ship, they put their cards in that slot, and register chits to it. Then they pick up the chits before they leave.” Jess continued her explanation. “It's totally local to this island. Not worth anything anywhere else but it keeps people from being hit over the head in the market and getting their chits stolen.”

“I see.”

“Its anonymous in that, the card is only matched to that dock number.” Jess concluded. “So let's go shop.”

They crossed over onto the dock and walked up the ramp. It was late afternoon and the walkways were mostly empty, only two or three people strolling in the opposite direction.

It was cold, but not the icy chill of the white, Dev noticed. Her jacket kept her reasonably warm, and she stuck her hands in her pockets as they reached a set of chiseled steps and started walking up them. The there was some moss on the rocks, but otherwise it was clean, and as they got to the top she almost stopped at the view below them.

She had thought Quebec was chaotic? It had nothing on this place. The whole inside of the hill was full of stone shelters, lines and lines of them in concentric circles around a big tower in the center. Between the shelters were aisles full of people, and she could hear noise and the sound of people talking brushing against her in waves that matched the confusion of smells and colors. “Wow.”

Jess chuckled and led the way down the steps. “C'mon.”

As they walked, the cold wind was cut off and it became a lot more comfortable. Dev pushed her hood back and drew in a breath full of strange scents and her ears caught the sound she now recognized as music somewhere in the mix. She followed Jess down the carved steps into one of the aisles, and as the stone walls rose up next to her she put her hand out and touched one. “Oh.” She looked at it. “It's warm.”

“Yeah.” Jess paused to scan the aisle, and then moved forward again. “This is what's left of one of the smaller volcanos that went off back in the day. That outside ring was the crater, and this island's what's left of the cone that got drowned when the seas all came up.”

Dev wasn't sure she liked the idea of being inside a volcano, but she did enjoy the warmth and she was able to open up her jacket as they entered the area where all the stone shelters were.

Like in Quebec, there were people inside the shelters with all kinds of different things. It seemed more organized though, and the people around them were dressed both more richly and far more strangely to her eyes. Some had seashells decorating them, she noted, and others had colored marking on their skin that was a little like what Jess had.

“Hey there kid! What'cha looking for? Want some of this?” A male voice sounded just ahead of them. Dev realized belatedly he was addressing her, and she peered into his little shelter. It had some of the strange clothing, strips of one color intertwined with a second, looking more like undergarments than anything else.

“No, she doesn't.” Jess answered, steering her past. “She likes to wear things more than once.”

Dev wasn't sure what that meant, but she saw the man glare at Jess until he saw the insignia she'd pinned to the collar of the fishermans overall she was wearing and then he turned away and turned their back on them.

He was afraid. She saw it in his face before he turned. “What are those?” She whispered to Jess as they moved past. “I like the colors.”

“Women wear them and dance in them to let people know they want sex.” Jess responded straightforwardly. “I”d rather we keep that private between us, if you don't mind.”

Dev felt her face warm as the blood rose to her cheeks. “I see.”

“Besides, that's not something the science boys would like. Now..” Jess led her down a cross alley and into the next ring. “This is more like it.” She slowed down as they came even to a bigger shelter that was full of steel barrels and rows and rows of drink dispensers. “Ice wine.”

Dev had absolutely no idea what that was, but she went with it and found herself face to face with a ginger haired woman in a deep purple one piece outfit that ended at her knees and left most of her arms exposed. Dev felt chilly just watching her. “Hello.” She said, as the woman focused on her.

“Top of the day to ya.” The woman amiably responded. “Looking for a bottle or two?”

Dev waited to see if Jess was going to intervene, but when she remained silent, she figured just being straightforward would be the best. “I don't know. What is it?”

“Ahh.” The woman didn't even look at Jess. She picked up a small glass and uncapped a bottle, pouring a bit into the glass and offering it to Dev. “Taste for yourself.”

Dev took the glass and sipped it gingerly. It tasted like... well, nothing she'd ever tasted was like it. There was a clean sweetness to it that was very appealing, and it seemed to evaporate on the back of her tongue. “Oh. Wow.”

The woman grinned.

“How do you make this?” Dev asked, curious. “It tastes excellent.”

There were two other men in the shelter, and they were watching, but kept their distance, and looked for other people walking by to pitch their product to. Everyone ignored Jess.

“Family secret.” The woman winked at her. “Let's just way we've got some family upside and we provide the ice. Like it?”

Dev nodded. She felt Jess lay her hand on her back, and her fingers tightened twice. “I think I would like two bottles. How much are they?”

The woman sat down on a box and they settled in to bargain.

Jess was content to listen. She was aware of all the eyeballs on them, but she'd put her insignia on for a reason and there was a bit of gratification on seeing the wariness. The crowd was light, she noted, far lighter than the last time she'd been on the island and the merchants around looked more than a little discouraged.

Was it the weather?

“You're a hard bargainer, shippy.” The woman was sighing.

“We work very hard for our chits.” Dev said. “So we don't like to give them up.”

“And well you're known for it. All right.” Two bottles were marked off, and Dev handed over the card. She waited for it to be recorded, and then she took it back. “Delivery's first bell.”

“Thanks.” Jess spoke for the first time. “We'll see you then.”

The woman nodded briefly at her. “Agent.”

Jess smiled at her, and they moved on. This ring seemed to be mostly edible and drinkable items, and they moved further in stopping here and there to taste. “Haven't seen most of this stuff in a long time.” Jess admitted, after they tried some small crackers with fish eggs on them. “See that? It's made from octopus.” She sampled a bit of the meat and watched Dev try some. “See if you can get a couple packages of that, and some of the snails.”

Dev wasn't sure about the snails, but the octopus tasted nice, slightly briny with a chewy texture she liked. They had stacks of cryopacked product, and she met the eye of the man selling them, giving him a little smile that drew him over at once.

So far things seemed to be going well. She glanced up at Jess, who was searching for more things to nibble on, but who was also sweeping the area every few steps looking for trouble. Her insignia flashed briefly in the light and Dev wished she'd been allowed to put hers on as well.

Octopus secured, they continued further on towards the center of the ring, where it seemed it was busier, and the narrow path they were on got crowded with other shoppers. These shelters were full of more exotic things, and Dev found herself pressing closer to Jess as they had to slow way down.

Jess put her hand on her shoulder, keeping herself between Dev and most of the crowd. So far she hadn't seen anyone she knew in a bad way, though she had spotted a few people who she had a slight acquaintance of and many more who recognized her collar bug and kept their distance.

That was fine. When she'd decided to wear it she knew she was going to be advertising what she was and though they were peace bonded everyone knew that didn't make it safe. Didn't make them safe, either her, or her counterpoints on the other side.

“Oh, Jess.” Dev stopped, and frowned. Her stomach turned at what she was looking at, and she felt a sense of muted horror fill her.

What? Jess peered around her and spotted a stall with furry animal skins on it. White fur, and big. Had to be bear. “Bear skins.” She agreed, distracted by the distressed look on her pilot's face. “We should get a few. Great for some bigwig's office.”

Dev went over and peered at the skin, which had the bear's head attached with it's glassy eyes and lurid, poking tongue. She turned back to Jess and put a hand on her arm. “Do we have to?” She asked. “I don't like this.”

Jess studied her, intrigued by the fact that her partner had rolled over dead humans without a flinch but freaked out about a dead bear. “You're wearing a shark skin.” She commented.

“I know. But.. “ Dev looked behind her.

“But your jacket doesn't have eyes.” Jess gave her a tolerant grin. “No problem. Let's move on.” She guided Dev further, starting towards the stall she saw had golden jars prominantly displayed across from what looked like a shop stocked with more stuff from upside.

Halfway there, they heard a loud commotion ahead, and Jess felt her instincts prickle. She immediately got ahead of Dev and looked quickly ahead, where an open space between the ring made a crossroads. There were shouts and laughter, and she flexed her hands, wishing not for the first time that she'd chanced the peace bond.

They reached the edge of the crossroads and stopped, as the crowd closed in and made it impossible to go further. Jess straightened to her full height and got a look at what the fuss was about, seeing two men in expensive looking clothing kicking a third man, who was dressed in a threadbare jumper.

The man sprawled on the ground, covering his head with both arms.

An older man, also in worn clothes darted into the opening, going over to the man on the floor and kneeling down next to him. “Leave him alone you bastards.” He yelled at the two attackers. “He didn't do nothing to you.”

“Why are they harming that man?” Dev asked in a very low tone.

“People are assholes.” Jess responded promptly. “They don't really need a reason.”

“Yeah? Shut your mouth!” One of the men kicked the older man in the side. “Your kind should go back where you came from we don't need you here.”

“Are you going to assist him?”

Jess sighed. “I shouldn't.”

Dev remained silent for a moment, then she exhaled. “I wish you would.” She said mournfully. “Doctor Dan always would do that for us.”

“That's not a bio alt.” Jess objected. “He's just a scrub.”

“Would they treat one of us any different?”

Hm. Jess studied the two fancy pants, realizing why one of them seemed familiar to her.

He kicked the man again, and the in a quiet flicker of motion Jess moved, bumping her way through the crowd and getting across the open space before he could try a third time. “Stop.” She said, in a quiet yet firm tone. “No place for this.”

The man whirled and lifted a hand, then stopped, his eyes fastening on her neck, then darting away. “You've got no influence here. “ He said, as the second man came over, watching Jess warily.

“Neither do you.” Jess had her hands clasped behind her back and she merely looked at him. “But making noise in the middle of the market is never a good idea.” She stared him in the eye. “No one wants a bad rep, right?”

Both men glowered at her, then the shorter of the two slapped the other on the arm. “Let's go. It stinks around here.”

Jess waited for them to leave, then she went over and extended a hand down to the older man. “I'd get out of here if I were you.”

The man took her hand and let her pull him up. Then he squeezed her fingers. “Thanks, agent.” He said. “My son ddn't mean to cause trouble. He's just a little clumsy.” He tapped the boy on the head. “Get up, Jeso.”

The huddled figure got to his feet, blinking painfully. He kept his shoulders hunched, blood running from a cut on his head. The older man ducked his head in respect to Jess, then led the boy off down the crossroad away from the center as the crowd started milling around again, the entertainment seemingly over.

Dev ducked between them and arrived at her side. “That was excellent.”

“That was idiotic, since everyone in the place now knows I'm here especially the two agents I just pissed off. ” Jess sighed. “C'mon. Let's get some tea and honey and get out of here before someone decides to make trouble. She pulled Dev back into the side aisle in the direction they came from, aware now of all the eyes sticking on her, and the whispers following her through the crowd.

**

They were halfway around the ring before Jess sensed the presence and turned, tucking Dev behind her in a single fluid motion. Facing here were two men, in plain woven clothes made of sea plants and the only sign on them was the metal bracelet on their right wrists. “What?”

“Man wants to see you.” The one nearer her said. “Says with his compliments, would you please come up the hill.”

Jess sorted through the invitation and relaxed a little, realizing it was an invitation and not an order. “Sure.” She said. “Lead on.” She motioned Dev to go ahead of her.

“Just you.” The man said, not moving.

“No.” Jess answered, and then stopped talking.

“The man just wants to see you.” He replied, still in a quiet and calm voice.

“I don't leave my partner behind.” Jess replied. “So you get us both, or neither, your choice.”

The man reacted with some surprise, looking intently at Dev, and then tilting his head to one side. “Wasn't indentified. That's fine. Let's go.” He turned and started down the aisle, turning at the next crossroads and heading up the hill with his companion and the two of them at his heels.

Jess remained silent as they walked, one hand resting lightly on her pilot's shoulder. They quickly rose up out of the market and then were passing through the circles of stone houses that spread out right and left.

Dev wasn't sure what was going on but she was sure it wasn't the time to ask about it. She glanced to either side as they walked, noting small signs of people living in the stone huts, strings of clothing drifting in the breeze, and once a small child running down the stone path, and darting into one of the buildings.

It was quieter up here, and she could hear the sound of the surf crashing gently up against the harbors down below.

There was a gate up at the top, and it swung open as they approached. Dev glanced up at Jess's face, but her expression was calm, and so she walked obediently through it and only flinched a little as the gate closed behind them. They walked to a door, and paused.

Jess took advantage of the pause and fished something out of her pocket, reaching over and fastening it to Dev's high collar. “There.”

Dev reached up and touched it, unsurprised to feel her tech's insignia there. It made her feel a lot better to have it and she supressed a grin as the door opened and they moved through it. They walked down a long stone hallway, passing several roughly cut doorways leading to rooms with people in them doing various things.

It smelled like rock, and salt, but it had a faint scent behind it that was oddly spicy and different. They entered through a doorway and crossed a big, busy room until they came to a table that had a half dozen people around it, and one man sitting at the head.

“Drake.” The man stood up and came around the table, extending his hand. “Good to see you.”

Jess took his hand and exchanged grips. “Hello, Charles. Same back.” She half turned. “This is my partner, Dev.”

“Tech.” The man ducked his head towards her in respect. “This was very unexpected.” He returned his attention to Jess. “I sure didn't expect to see you in these parts after what we heard.” He said. “Josan told me what happened down the hill. I'm glad you kept it quiet.”

“They complain?” Jess asked, as they moved a few steps away from the group.

“No.” Charles shook his head. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and tightly curled gray hair and a roughly weathered face. “And that in itself should be a warning.”

Jess nodded. “I won't be here long.” She said. “I don't want any trouble.”

“Nor do I.” Charles agreed. “So I would advise you to keep to your plan and leave as soon as possible. There are odd rumblings and I don't want anything to disrupt the market, Jess. Times are hard and as you know, we don't take sides.”

“I know.”

Charles turned and regarded Dev. “So this is your new partner.” He said. “Somehow we heard it was one of Sigurd's pups.”

“Intentionally since we borrowed his boat.” Jess said, straightforwardly. “We're shopping.”

“Using fisherman chits?” His eyebrows lifted. “Dangerous.”

Jess shrugged lightly.

“No, that wouldn't matter to you would it.” The man smiled briefly. “Don't tell me anything. But I'm reasonably glad to see the rumors of your demise were somewhat exaggerated.” He lifted a hand. “As long as you're spreading someone else's credit around, don't forget to stop at the spa. We've got some new treatments I think you'd like.”

“Maybe we'll go there now.” Jess said. “Seems like a good time for it.”

“Excellent idea.” Charles said. “Miklos, will you guide our friends here to the private door? Enjoy.” He shook Jess's hand, nodded at Dev, and went back to the table where he sat down and picked up a pad he'd been looking at.

Miklos, the taller of the two men who had sought her out, gestured in a different direction than the one they'd entered from. “Please to come with me.”

“Lead on.” Jess put her hand on Dev's back and they followed Miklos through the back door to the room and into a set of quiet hallways that were lined with woven pads and had inset lights spaced evenly on the walls. After a minute or two of even walking, they started downward again and the passed dozens and dozens of closed doors on either side.

A door opened and a man started to emerge, then he spotted them and ducked back inside, shutting the portal as they came even with them. Miklos didn't say anything, and when Dev looked up at Jess, her partner put a finger up to her lips and then let it drop.

It was all very strange. Dev felt that there was danger there, and that Jess was unsettled, but she just kept walking with a calm look on her face.

They reached another door, and Miklos opened it, then stepped back and indicated they should go through. “Enjoy.” He said, waiting for them to move past and then closing the door behind them.

Dev blinked. They were in yet another hallway, but this one was round, and there was light coming in from the ceiling. She glanced up to see slanted holes going up through the rock. She looked at Jess, who was frowning.

Was it okay to talk? She watched her partner's face, and after a moment, Jess looked back at her.

“Okay.” Jess said. “So, let's go see what they have.” She pointed towards an opening that showed a larger room behind it, and they walked through.

It was a big space, with a high, arched ceiling and there were quite a lot of people inside. Dev looked around and stuck close to Jess, following her across the space to a rock desk with three or four women behind it. She paused, and almost jerked when she saw the collars around their necks, not expecting at all to find fellow bio alts here.

“Good day.” One of the women greeted them. “What do you wish?”

It wasn't a set she knew well, Dev realized. They were perhaps ten standard years older than she was, slim and tall with uniformly pretty faces. They reminded her just a little of Gigi.

“Private bath.” Jess said. “With the works.” She pulled out two big chits and set them down.

“This way.” The girl picked up two large, folded pieces of fabric and bowed in their direction then walked behind the desk to one of a set of doors behind it. They followed her, and she opened the door to one of the rooms and offered them the fabric. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks.” Jess ducked inside, and waited for Dev to join her, then straightened up as the door closed behind them leaving them alone.

Dev wasn't sure where to look first. The initial thing she realized was that the air was very warm, and moist. It bathed her face and she blinked into it, smelling a rich, mineral scent as it entered her lungs. “Um.”

“Um.” Jess went over to one of the four stone beds and put the towel down on it. Across from them was a big misshapen pool with steps cut into it, full of water that had steam rising off the top. “Wasn't going to indulge in this but what the hell.”

“What is it?” Dev went over to a second couch and put her own wrap down, jerking back as she touched the top. “Oh.It's hot.”

“Yeah.” Jess sat down on hers, then lay back letting out a small groan as the heat penetrated her body. “Good a place as any to hide for a little while.”

“Are we doing that?” Dev sat down on the stone, pleasantly surprised when the warmth penetrated the pants she was wearing.

“Uh huh. When Charles gives you advice, it's a good idea to take it.” Jess said. “I'm not really sure what he was trying to tell me but it's clear he doesn't want trouble.”

“I see.” Dev got up and went to the pool, kneeling down and putting her hand in it. “Oh.. this is really warm.”

“I sure hope so given what I just paid them for it.” Her partner remarked dryly. “At least we can enjoy ourselves before we go out side and probably have to fight our way to the boat and escape.

Dev came over and sat down on the edge of her stone bed. “Is that what's going to happen?”

“Probably.” Jess let her hand rest on Dev's thigh. “Someone's hunting me. That's why Charles sent us down here. He doesn't want trouble and he knows if whoever's hunting me finds me there'll be lots of that.”

“I see.”

“So he's got local info, but not current intel from our side, since he didn't know about you.” Jess said. “So we'll get our splurge and then get back to the boat. With what you ordered so far, we can get into the science center.” She studied Dev's concerned expression. “Don't worry, Dev. We'll get out of this.”

“I didn't expect to find those of my kind here.” Dev said. “I thought Doctor Dan said the people over here didn't have them, but I know that set.”

Jess looked at her. “This place is different.” She said. “A lot of cred comes through here, most of it out of spec for both sides. You got enough cred, you can have anything you want.” Her hand warmed suddenly as Dev's dropped on top of it. “It's the old story of humanity, Dev. The haves and the have nots. Charles and his family have plenty – they've run this place for generations.”

“I dont think I understand.” Dev said, apologetically.

“Your bio station is on our side.” Jess said. “But Charles offered them enough to get them to give him what he wants.”

“He's not on our side.” Dev clarified.

“He's not really on any side.” Her partner said. “He's glad to suck in all of us ready to spend money on stuff we can't get anywhere but here, legally.”

Dev frowned. “I really don't think I really understand.”

“Don't worry about it.” Jess stretched herself out, savoring the feel of the heated stone leeching into her body. “Just enjoy yourself, Dev. We don't get this kind of treatment often. Give e a little bit to warm these old bones and we'll go in the pool.” She went on. “Then we can get some steam, and a rub and get our hair cut.”

That all sounded very strange. Not unpleasant, but strange. Dev looked around. “It's nice to be warm.” She concluded. “Is that why the walls were hot?”

“The walls were hot because we're in a volcanic cone.” Her partner said, placidly. “Charles' family led a bunch of renegades from the other side and found this place a long way back. They built it up.. word has it that they catered to pirates and outlaws first, then after the market built up, word got out and anyone with chits came here”

“I see.”

“We always thought it was funny, on our side. Perfect capitalism.” She patted the stone bench at her side. “Lay down. Enjoy the heat.”

Dev did, settling on her back next to her partner, feeling the heat from the stone but also from Jess as she felt her body relax. “That does feel good.” She regarded the lamps in the ceiling, which had come on and were bathing them. “Is that sunlight replacement?”

“It is.” Jess said. “One of the few places out here you can get it out here.” Reluctantly, she sat up and started taking her clothes off “Might as well take advantage of it.”

“What do the fisher people do?” Dev undid the suspenders on her outfit and slipped out of the pants, then sat down to unlace her boots. “Scan didin't pick up anything on the boat that could do that.”

“They don't.” Jess left her borrowed clothing folded neatly on the couch and went to the pool, walking slowly in and then rolling over with a deep, heartfelt sigh. “Damn that feels good.” She relaxed in the hot water, grimacing a little when it touched the puncture wound she'd paid scant attention to since their arrival. “Ow.”

Dev joined her a minute later, holding her hand up over the pool's surface as steam gathered against her skin. Then she moved closer and examined the wound. “It seems to be all right.”

Jess regarded her from half closed eyes. “Like the pool?”

Dev sat down next to her, thinking about that. The heat did feel good. She'd been so cold for so long on this mission, just sititng here in this hot water was letting her body fully relax for the first time in days. The rough rock felt a little abrasive against her bare skin, but the bouyancy of the water kept it from being uncomfortable. “So this is from the volcano?”

“The heat is.” Jess let her head rest against the rock. “The water comes from the ocean and they pipe it through the rock. They couldn't afford to mechanically do it, well.. “ She lifted a hand. “Maybe Charles could, now. I don't know.”

“So, people come here, and they give them credits so they can sit in the water?”

“Yup.”

Dev pondered that. 'So all you get for that is feeling nice?”

“Yup.”

“That seems odd.”

Jess chuckled. “Yeah I guess it does. But I guess... too.. it's a little piece of how it used to be. Kind of like the stuff we do, the dinner thing in the citadel. Things people remember their grandparents remembering about the old days.

Like the place Doctor Dan had taken her, Dev realized. The place where they had eaten, up in the top of the station The scientists could easily have had that served in their offices, or in the natural born eating place but they chose to put a table and chairs up where you could see the stars and have it given to you that way. “I get it.”

“You do?”

Dev nodded. She stretched her legs out and crossed them, leaning her elbows on the little shelf they were sitting against. “It's nice.”

“It is nice.” Jess picked up a piece of sea sponge resting on the shelf and half turned. “Here, see if you like this.” She dunked the sponge and started rubbing it along her pilot's arm, not missing the slight jerk as Dev reacted. “That's supposed to make your skin feel good. I never really was much for it myself since I always came here by myself and you can't reach everywhere.”

“That feels very interesting.” Dev said. “It reminds me of the flash rad cleaning we did in the mornings in the creche. It took layers of skin off.”

Jess stopped and eyed her. “Is that good or bad?”

Dev smiled and held her hand out. “Let me see if you like it.” She moved around and got behind Jess, applying the sponge to her partners' back. She could see the old injury there, still red and little swollen and she carefully avoided the spot. There were other scars there too, one that went right across her spine from right to left, old and tense. “You were hurt a lot.”

Jess exhaled. “Yes.” She leaned against the wall, savoring the sensation of the sponge scouring her skin. “I take too many chances, they tell me.”

“Why?” Dev was actually enjoying herself, exploring the storied skin in front of her.

“Why did they tell me that or why do I do it?” Jess put her head down on her folded arms. “I don't know why I do it. I just get into things and what happens to me doesn't matter, I guess. Jason once told me that's why I was as successful as I've been because I always go all in. I don't hold back.”

“But you get hurt.” Dev started down the backs of her legs. “I hope that doesn't happen too much. I don't like to see you in discomfort.”

Jess remained silent for a bit, the water of the pool lapping gently at her back. “You really care about what happens to me?” She asked suddenly, turning her head and looking back over her shoulder.

“Of course.” Dev answered placidly, as she scrubbed her way back up Jess's back and over her the tops of her arms. “I”ve never cared about anyone as much as I do about you.”

The matter of fact honesty of it surprised Jess. She had no doubt at all that what Dev was saying was true, or as true as she knew it to be but it touched her unexpectedly in a deep way. Did she feel the same way? She could scarcely remember what caring about someone meant, after that last visit home.

How did she feel about Dev?

“Does that cause you discomfort?” Dev asked. “I hope not.”

“No.” Jess finally answered, with a faint smile. “It makes me feel good because I think I care about you a lot too.” She rolled over and put her hands on Dev's knees, studying the compact profile outlined in the dim golden light of rad. “I don't think I've ever felt like this about anyone else before.”

Dev regarded her with a pleased, if puzzled expression. “Is that good or bad?” She reflected Jess's earlier question back at her.

“I don't know.” Jess responded in a soft voice. “I don't think I”m suppose to care about anyone. At least, that's what my mother told me.” It still stung, that last meeting. That back turned, that door closed. There hadn't been any animosity in it, no dislike, just a kindly worded dismissal of her as something no longer part of the core of what was left of their family.

“We can't care about you, Jess. You're lost to us. You belong to them now.”

Surprising, how much that had hurt. She remembered the tears, and the terrible constriction in her throat, as she'd turned and walked away, heading back to the transport center. Back to the citadel.

Her brothers had always kept in touch though. Paid to have an in with Interforce, after all.

“Well.” Dev put her hands on Jess's shoulders. “They never told me that. So I do care about you. I want to care about you. It makes me feel really good.”

Jess felt a smile forming on her face. So she did want to care about Dev. Maybe it was wrong and maybe it was dangerous, like they'd told her, but she hadn't gotten to where she was by listening to anyone, now had she? “C'mere.” She reached out and took hold of Dev's waist and pulled her forward.

Pressing body to body she wrapped her arms around Dev and hugged her wholeheartedly, letting herself indulge in a rare happiness. “It's good, Dev. It's very good.”

Dev was aware of a pungent moment of delight. She returned the hug with enthusiasm, and then as Jess released her, she backed off so she could look at her partner's face.

It was so nice, to see that smile.

She felt like she could look at it for a long time and not get tired of seeing it. She smiled back and saw a distinct twinkle appear in Jess's pale eyes. As she exhaled, she could sense a shift inside her, just a bit of settling that made her less of a stranger in a strange land and giving her a sense of belonging.

Strange and odd and endearing. The beginnings of a partnership in truth instead of just in a name.

Jess stood and held her hand out. “Let's go finish our pampering. Put that towel around your neck so we don't freak anyone out, and I'll show you what a steam bath is.”

Dev had almost forgotten about her collar. She followed Jess out of the pool and took the smaller piece of fabric, wrapping it around her throat before she followed Jess through a small hallway at the back of the chamber into another one that smelled more strongly of the smokey scent and was full of vapor.

It was dark. She felt sweat break out on her skin in a sensation both interesting and slightly uncomfortable. She felt short of breath. “Wow.”

“Hot, huh?”

“Very.”

“Want it to get hotter?”

Dev thought about that. “Not really. It's a bit hard to breathe now.”

Jess chuckled, and took her hand, both their skins slippery with sweat. She led her further, past a heat source that almost made it unbearable, then on to another hallway where it cooled down.

Dev exhaled in relief. “That was interesting.” She commented in a neutral tone.

“Didn't like it, huh?”

“I liked the pool better.”

They moved into another chamber, this one with set of pipes in the ceiling. Jess waved her hand and a moment later they were drenched in cold water, making Dev inhale so sharply she nearly bit her tongue. “Yipes!” She got her hands up to protect her head just as the water turned off, and the sound of it was replaced by Jess's chuckling.

“Better?” The agent asked. “You said you were hot.”

“Brr.” Dev shook herself hard, spattering droplets from her body. “I didn't expect that!”

Jess started laughing. “It's supposed to be like that. You get hot, then you cool off.” She regarded her pilot, who was standing there next to her, dripping with cold seawater, drenched hair half in her eyes. She reached out and pushed the damp blond locks back and watched an abashed grin appear.

So adorable.

Jess leaned forward and kissed her, tasting the saltwater on her lips. And she's all mine. She pulled back and lightly rubbed noses with Dev, then straightened up. “Okay, let's go dry off. Feel like getting your hair cut?”

Dev ran her hand through hers as she followed Jess through yet another hallway. “I don't know. In the creche we just had to let the sets who were being trained for that work on us.”

“Oh. That's sounds like fun.”

“Not really. There's not much programming for that they just have to figure it out.”

“Oh.”

“I don't really look that good with most of it shorn.”

Jess put her arm around Dev and laughed. “Me either. But I dont' have teaching to blame for it, we all get scalped for basic.”

“Oh. Well.”

“I'll show you pictures when we get home.”

Part 15

“Is this length all right?”

Jess glanced in the three part mirror in the tight alcove she was sitting in. “Sure.” She said, after a moment. Her hair tended to be unruly at the best of times. “Try and get it shorter here.” She tugged the lengths near her ears, then leaned back and let the bio alt work, as she turned her attention back to her partner.

Dev was sitting quietly on an stool nearby, having finished with her turn under the scissors. Dressed in her fisherman's overalls and sweater, her burnished blond hair neatly trimmed and layered, she was just so appealing to Jess's eyes it was hard to look away from her.

The overalls fit snugly around her slim form, and the sweater with it's high collar framed her face neatly. The new cut seemed to lengthen her jaw a little and the light in the parlor they were in brought out the highlights in her hair and the intensity of the color of her eyes.

So damn cute. Jess watched her lift her head and meet her eyes, a grin appearing and compounding the adorable factor. She grinned back, idly wondering how Dev felt being here, being catered to by these other bio alts, who had fluttered around her so attentively.

Was it strange? Certainly Dev seemed relaxed, one boot hiked up on a brace of the stool, her elbow resting on her knee. She was watching the bio alt work on Jess, but every few seconds, her eyes would drift back to Jess's face, and that little twinkle would show, and damn it, she felt like melting into a puddle.

Weirdest ass feeling of her life. “What in the hell is wrong with me?”

“Ma'am?” The little bio alt snipping her hair paused and drew back. “Is it wrong?” She asked anxiously.

“Nah, fine. I'm just talking to myself.” Jess waved her on, shifting a little in the chair. “G'wan.”

The girl went back to her work. “Almost finished.” She said, softly. “Soon soon.”

Soon soon. Jess was getting restless, her instincts now starting to drive her on from their hiding place and she had to force herself not to fidget when the old style, hammered scissors tickled her temple. Her mind started to shuffle through routes to the docks, wondering if they had any space at all to pick up anything else before the got off the island.

“Okay?” The bio alt asked, stepping back. “Good?”

Jess turned in the chair and and studied her head, outlined in white lights. “What do you think, Dev?”

“I think you look beautiful.” Dev responded straightforwardly. “Is that what you were asking?”

Jess felt herself blush, the heat on her cheeks surprising her. She found she couldn't either meet her own eyes in the mirror, nor Dev's eyes in her reflection and so she just cleared her throat. “Something like that.” She muttered. “Yeah that's fine.” She added, glancing at the bio alt. “It's good.”

The girl looked relieved.

Dev regarded her reflection in the mirror thoughtfully, as she waited for Jess to get up from the low chair behind her. She rather liked the way the bio alt had trimmed her hair, neatly layering it back from her face and making it a bit shorter. It fell around the high collar of her sweater, and she found herself smiling a little as she watched the blush fade from Jess's cheeks.

She really was beautiful. Even the stark lines of her agent's blacks didn't take away from that.

“Nice work.” Jess complimented the hair cutter. “Takes some talent to make this mop look like something.”

Dev turned, watching the bio alt next to Jess blush and stammer. She really had done a nice job on her partner too, Dev decided, Jess's long, dark hair was cut back off her face, the slight wave in it now framing her angular features and shortened to just past her shoulders. “It's very nice.” She agreed. “I like it.”

Jess stood up and ran her fingers through her hair, then fished a chit from her pocket and handed it to the cutter. “Here. Go get you and your buddies a treat.”

The cutter grinned, her hazel eyes lighting up as she tucked the chit away. “Agent.” She bowed respectfully at Jess. “Tech, it was a great honor.” She ducked her head at Dev. “Have a profitable day.”

“We'll try.” Jess put her hand on Dev's back and guided her towards a ramp leading to a large door. “I think we've wasted enough time to let the goons wander off. Let's try and get back to the boat.”

“Okay.” Dev willingly trailed along after her, fastening her jacket as the door slid open, bringing a gust of wet, cold air against them. They were let out into a small alleyway, which was lined with beautifully carved stone walls, stained with old green patches. “Did you want to say goodbye to your friend?”

Jess glanced at her. “Who? Oh Charles you mean.” She lifted a hand and let it drop. “He's not a friend. All he was doing was making sure I was out of the way for a while so the market didn't get messed up.”

“I see.”

Jess led the way to a small metal gate and paused, cocking her head and listening. Then she turned and lifted her hand to Dev's collar only to stop in mid motion.

“I took it off.” Dev pulled her hand out of her pocket and displayed her insignia, then put it back in its hiding spot.

Jess patted her on the cheek, then she gently sorted Dev's newly cut hair. “I like this.” She said. “What did you think of that place?”

Dev considered that briefly. “It was interesting.”

“In a good or bad way?” Jess went to the gate again, and cautiously examined the area. “Okay, now stick by me, Devvie. I've got a feeling we're not out of trouble yet.” She eased the metal open and stepped down the cut in stone stairwell to a lower alleyway that was equally empty and equally silent with Dev practically latched onto her coat.

“I liked parts of it.” Dev said, in a quiet voice. “Not the cold part so much.”

Jess chuckled. “Sorry.” She led the way down the aisle, her ears focused forward since the slot alleys were blind and she wasn't sure she wasn't going to be ambushed out here.

“The hot couch was nice, and the pool.”

Jess in general agreed with that. Though she'd been known to plunge into the cold sea water under the citadel and never complained about it. She reached up and touched the wall she was walking near, feeling the heat in it penetrate her skin.

Still empty. She felt more than a little conspicuous. A soft rumble of thunder sounded over head, and she tugged her jacket neck a touch closer, very aware of the lack of weapons on her as the maze of stone passageways stretched out in front of them.

The directions were easy. You headed down from the hill. She knew if she continued down the ripples of lava lined with coral she would eventually get back to the market but there was no easy way to run if a team came at them and it was easy to get lost in the maze.

She heard a buzz echo softly up to her, and slowed, coming to a crossroads and pausing before she went through it. She stood just shy of the opening, and went to tight focus, holding her hands out to stop Dev from passing her.

Dev had no intention of passing her, however. She tucked herself behind Jess's tall profile and waited, watching in fascination as her partner's ears twitched and moved, the edges cupping a little as her eyes closed in concentration.

What was she listening to? Dev could hear the soft sound of voices down the way a little, but it was just a formless noise, without any distinguishing characteristics.

“Okay.” Jess lead them forward, through the crossroads and down a slanted pathway, whose steps were cut with the slant. “Careful.” She indicated the path. “Gets slippery in the rain, and it's all downhill from here. You slide, you end up on your ass in the middle of the market.”

“I see.”

“Hope you don't.” Her partner responded. “Not looking to be the life of the party this time around.”

Dev followed her in silence briefly, as they neared the lower levels and the walls started to get wider. “Does that mean you experienced this ass thing?” She ventured, as they went around a slight curve and could see the market below.

Jess cleared her throat. “Let's just say I'm glad I was undercover.” She let her awareness sweep over the row they were exiting into, waiting to see if her senses picked up anything dangerous. Dangerous outside the obvious, obviously. But the row was clothing, not very exciting and the straggle of people browsing didn't make her twitch.

She fastened her new jacket up as the slight fog turned to a fine mist, blinking a little in reflex as the moisture impacted her eyeballs. The garment mostly covered her jumpsuit, and she attracted little attention as they moved through the stalls, surrounded by a sparse crowd of mostly lookers.

There was, she detected, a hint of desperation in the sellers. They watched her and Dev wander by with hungry eyes, and she tried not to linger anywhere suspecting the merchants would mob them if they slowed down. The stalls were covered with stone roofs, but the mist drove in a little sideways, dampening everything inside them.

Dev let her eyes drift from side to side, absorbing everything. Most of the merchants focused their attention on Jess, her taller, more striking profile drawing their eyes, and that left her free to watch them watch Jess, seeing the disappointment when her partner passed them by.

That made sense to her. She knew she would not be happy if Jess was ignoring her.

Dev paused, and reran that in her head. What? As a bio alt, what in the world was she doing going around thinking things like that? Jess had no obligation to pay attention to her. With a frown, she looked a passing stall, finding herself facing a booth full of colorful jumpsuits that had a soft plush lining to them. She slowed down and studied the nearest, imagining how it would feel to have that warmth next to her skin. “Ah.”

Jess had gotten a few steps ahead, but apparently heard her soft grunt and stopped, turning to see what she was looking at, then retracing her path back. “Like those?” She glanced at the merchant, who was watching them with wary hopefulness. The jumpers were cute, not her style, but she could readily picture Dev's adorableness tucked into one.

She reached out and felt the sleeve, which was tough but soft to the touch. “Whats this made of?” She asked the seller.

“Silk from topside.” The man responded. “Inside's synth wool. Kelp mix.”

Dev felt the garment, and gave the lining a wistful look. “It appears warm.” She said. “Do you like this color?” She studied the fabric, which seemed to shimmer from red to purple as the light hit it.

“On you, absolutely.” Jess removed a small, square piece of metal from her pocket and handed it to the vendor. “Wrap it up.”

The man glanced at it, then at her. “Want to know the price?”

“No.” Jess smiled faintly. “I don't.”

“Wait.” Dev held up her card. “What about this?”

“Put it away.” Jess told her in a quiet voice. “I'll explain later.”

Obediently, Dev did stuck the card back in her pocket, vaguely aware of discomfort she didn't quite know the source of.

The merchant touched his forehead and took the square, turning to put it into a battered old comp next to the back shelf. Then after it made a small booping sound, he handed it back to her. “Agent.” He said. “Pleasure.”

“All mine.” Jess watched him fold the garment up and make a bundle of it, which he then handed to Dev with a slight bow. Then she clapped her partner on the back. “Let's go.”

They got to the end of the row and turned right, going down the cross aisle until they reached the last row, the outer ring of the market that would bring them back to the docking area. Jess walked a little more slowly now, letting her senses extend out as they passed the ratty stalls at the shoreline, smaller and ruder, full of scroungers who were just trying to sell anything they found.

Hard life. Jess didn't pause at any of them. But not any harder than the seaweed harvesting that her family members did. She was just distracting Dev from seeing the seal skulls on sale when her warning senses tingled and she reacted instinctively, pulling her partner to one side and going flat against the wall between two stalls, half turning and putting her arms around her.

Dev found her view blocked but didn't mind. Jess's body also blocked the misty rain, and it was nice to be pressed against her. “What's wrong?”

“Just hold still.” Jess said, in a low mutter “Some guys coming past us I don't want to see.” She kept her back turned to the passing crowd, resting her head against Dev's as they regarded each other at close quarters. After a moment's pause, Jess ducked her head a little and they kissed.

It was like the whole damn island faded out for a minute. Jess felt her situational awareness slip, as her body reacted and Dev's hand slid up to gently touch her face. She literally forgot where she was, focusing intently on the tingle in her guts and how intoxicating it felt to hear the soft sound of passion that escaped her partner.

Then the wind picked up, and the surroundings faded back in and she lifted her head a little, rubbing noses with Dev as she gazed half lidded into her eyes. “Look behind me.”

Dev shifted a little, and straightened enough to be able to see over Jess's shoulder.

“Anyone standing at those stalls, just browsing?”

Dev blinked a few times. “No.” She answered after a pause. “It's raining harder. People are going under shelter.”

“No one sitting on a crate, just loitering?”

“No.”

“Good.” Jess leaned in and kissed her again, this time at least listening behind her. She heard only the faint scuff of boots and the low voices of the merchants, no hint of a government issued heel among them. “Okay.” She finally paused and exhaled. “Let's move on.”

“Do we have to?” Dev asked, in a straightforward way. “We have a covering over us.”

Jess glanced up and smiled. “Much as I'd love to just stand here and kiss you until dark, we need to get outta here.” She said, regretfully. She casually put her arm over Dev's shoulders and made a natural turn to the left, her eyes flickering quickly over their surroundings but finding them as innocuous as Dev described them to be. With a faint sigh of relief, she started slowly down the path, keeping her arm around her partner.

She'd been damn sure she'd seen a pair of spooks. They'd popped into her peripheral vision a little behind them on the path, but now there was no sign of the bastards either before or behind them. Had she been mistaken?

Might have. Jess exhaled, resisting the urge to reach up and rub her neck to ease the headache that had started to throb in her skull. She was looking forward to getting back on the boat, and back on the water, away from the island, and the other side.

Just her and Dev for a while again.

Jess felt the slight jar through her boots and she paused, pulling Dev to a halt as well. She made a complete turn, then she started forward again, moving faster. “C'mon Devvie. Didn't like that noise.”

“Was it a big boom?” Dev hazarded a guess.

“Something like that.” Jess muttered as they reached the dock road and headed for their berth. The rain started coming down harder, almost seeming like it was chasing them as they moved quickly across the lava rock path.

Halfway across the dock, Jess felt the vibration under her feet again and she saw the chop in the harbor pick up. “Uh oh.” She grabbed Dev's arm and sped up into a lope. “Move move move.”

Dev wasn't sure what was going on, but she heard the urgency in Jess's voice and she picked up her pace and ended up running next to Jess down the dock towards their boat just as the boom of footsteps behind them and a deep, rolling vibration rattled them both.

Jess risked a glance behind them as they reached the boat and she vaulted onboard, snaking one foot out to kick the retaining clasp. The dock behind them was full of running figures, all heading for different boats as a long, low howl started to rise from the market.

“What is that?” Dev asked as she scrambled up the ladder to the control space.

“Warning.” Jess ignored the stairs and jumped upward, grabbing the railing and pulling herself up and over it to trigger the hatch a hair before Dev got up to the top steps. She hauled ass inside and went to the comms unit, as Dev tossed her package onto the shelf near the door and slid into the captain's seat.

“Dock dock.” Jess barked into the comms.

Dev flipped the caps off the engine controls and started them, studying the readouts as she felt the rumble start underfoot. She scanned comp, reading the logs since they'd left. “The things arrived, Jess.”

“Doesn't matter right now.” Jess clicked the comms. “Dock!”

“Standby!” The comms answered harshly. “All undock, standby for underway, release release.”

Dev felt the boat start to drift and she confirmed they were loose from the pier, as were lots of other boats around them. She could hear the alert going off louder now, and she sensed a vibration in the air, that tickled her ears uncomfortably.

“Get us outta here, Dev. Get clear of the island north and go as far as you can without losing visual.” Jess got away from the comms and headed for the door. “I'll secure the goodies. Try not to tilt up too much I don't want to slide my ass into the water.”

“Okay.” Dev said, leaning forward a little as she started to take the engines online. “I would hate to be responsible for your ass getting wet.” She added, as her partner left the room and headed down to the deck. “Except then you would probably take your clothes off, and that's always interesting.”

She pointed the boat towards the entrance to the docks, trying hard to steer clear of the other boats doing likewise. It appeared everyone was trying hard to get away from the island but she had the advantage of bigger engines and she scooted the boat up to the front and headed for the gap.

A brief glance at the console showed her views of the back deck, and she spotted Jess working amongst the stacks of boxes that had appeared in the cleared area. She reassured herself that her partner was safe, then she focused on the route, giving the engines more power as she cleared the entrance and was heading out towards the two big gates.

The waves had come up and she felt the boat being shoved back and forth as she fought the steering, trying to keep the bow on course as she felt the surge of the water. The rain was coming down even harder now, and she heard a series of booms behind her that she wondered were thunder.

It sounded too regular though, so she looked up at comp, searching for Jess and stopping in motion as she spotted a deep, black cloud rolling down from the island towards the water.

Towards them. Dev's eyebrows shot up, and she reacted instinctively – shoving the throttles to full forward and triggering the alarm for the deck. The boat dug through the water and picked up speed, coming up to plane just as they approached the gatehouse.

It was open, and the guards were no where in sight as she powered through, hearing the roar of engines behind her and then something else. It was a deep, uneven rumble, reminding her just a bit of the sound of the space shuttle's engines when it had landed her downside.

She didn't think it was a shuttle though. The gates flashed by her and she took the course Jess had told her to, north and as she curved that way, she saw other boats flashing by, and going the other direction.

A moment later the hatch burst open and Jess bounded inside, slamming the metal door behind her. “Son of a bitch!”

Dev evaluated the statement, and decided based on what she knew about the words, that it wasn't addressed to her. “Did you see that cloud”

“Did I see it?” Jess came into her field of vision, her skin smudged with black. “You got me out from under it just in time. Get to the outer buoy and slow down, then bring her around so we can see the show.”

Dev had no idea what that meant. But she aimed for the buoy, the outer marker of the carefully drawn lanes and once they'd passed it she brought the nose around in a turn, facing back the way they'd come.

And then her jaw dropped in astonishment. The island was covered in a deep black cloud, and as she watched, it was bisected with a loud, sudden blast that shot debris far up into the air. “Oh!”

Jess came to stand next to her. “Look at that sucker go.”

“What is that?” Dev asked, almost breathless. “It's amazing!”

“It's the volcano.” Her partner responded promptly. “Goes off sometimes. They never know when.” She shook her head. “Hope they got everyone under cover.... ah, let's get moving before that ejecta gets here.” Jess pointed at the roiling cloud heading their way.

Dev gunned the engines and moved them into a turn, checking comp as she did so. “Jess? Should be move away from those too?”

Jess leaned over and saw what she was looking at. Three big boats were heading their way, making a beeline for them, and looking like the bad end of a piece of business. “Oh yea.” She said. “Finally figured out who I was, huh boys?”

“Are they bad?” Dev got them back up into plane and moving.

“Oh yeah.”

The cloud caught them, and Dev winced at the thunder of rattling crashes she heard all around her. “Wow.”

“Faster.”

“I don't think it goes any faster, Jess.” Dev said, apologetically.

“Make it.”

“Um.”

“Or find someplace to hide us.”

**

“They still there?” Jess stuck her head out of the hatch and felt the wind from their passage buffet her with startling impact. “Damn it.” The three chasers were plowing through the mixed waves behind them, inching up closer from when she'd looked a minute or two before. “Dev, they're catching up to us.”

Dev studied her console. The throttles for the engines were pushed as forward as they went. “The wind is too strong.” She told her partner. “It's making us slow.”

“Yeah but they have the same problem.”

“Not exactly.” The bio alt commented. “This vessel is higher then those are above the water.”

“And?” Jess came to her side.

“It's a higher profile against the wind. More for it to push against.”

Jess considered that, then made a face. “I don't see that changing anytime soon.”

“No.” Dev agreed.

Her partner sighed. “Okay, let me get the guns out.” She said. “Be right back.”

Dev nodded, then she turned back to the controls, settling herself into the chair and searching the scan intently. There wasn't anything on the horizon for them to hide behind, and her portable comp showed very deep and very cold water beneath them.

The boat was performing as well as it could. It was a fishing boat after all, she reasoned, and not something designed for running away from things. A glance at comp showed the three boats starting to split apart a little, two of them moving out and starting to aim on either side of them.

They would try to get around them, Dev thought, and maybe make them stop. She wished again that they were in the carrier, with it's much greater abilities and she suspected probably Jess did as well. But the carrier was far behind them, so she had to find a way to make this thing work better.

Difficult, since she wasn't entirely sure of how it worked at all. The programming only went so far.

She went back to her scanner, setting it to search for obstructions. Then she curled her hands around the rudder controls and hunched forward a little, as though her posture could make the boat go faster. The waves were getting rougher, and she winced as the bow slammed into one, jarring her entire body.

Even her ears hurt. “Wow.” Dev hoped Jess had been somewhere safe when that had happened. She glanced in reflex at scan, but the back deck was empty. Frowning, she reset her scanner for internal and bio and relaxed a little once it showed her partner's wiremap in the common space.

Then she spotted a second wiremap, in the hallway heading for her and her heart jumped into her throat as she scrambled for comms. “Jess!” She got the comms open. “Someone is approaching you.”

“Tac.” Jess uttered back. “Secure.”

Dev got up and went to the hatch, hesitating before she locked the wheel on it, shoving the metal bar Jess had left next to it into the mechanism. Then she bolted back to the controls and put her hands on them, giving a cursory glance at the waves as she focused on the scanner instead.

She could see Jess now in outline, the attitude on her body completely changed as she moved across the chamber and approached the inner door, the scanner picking up the weapons on her body and the big blaster she had in her hands. The other wiremap was approaching with equal caution, and...

“Tac.” Dev triggered the comms. “Armed.”

“Ack.” Jess responded immediately. “Secure?”

“Ack.” Dev confirmed. She wrenched her attention from scan and looked out at the water, noting a line of darker clouds on the horizon. It was already raining hard, but she reasoned maybe the storm front might afford some kind of distraction and she angled the bow slightly to the right and headed for it.

A quick look told her the other boats were now really gaining, though, and she felt like she was being torn in pieces, one part of her demanding a tight focus on Jess, and another part searching through the boat's controls to see if there was something she could do to speed it up.

It was uncomfortable. Dev watched anxiously as she saw Jess on scan take up a position behind the common room's table, then she saw the hatch opening and the intruder emerge. The scan picked up an energy flare then, and there was more motion than it could resolve.

Dev felt like bolting for the door. Only the programming hammered into her kept her at the controls, and the knowledge that Jess knew far better how to handle the threat below than she had any hope to. She swept the console again, then focused on the small section that showed the condition of the big tanks as their readings were flashing.

Hm.

A shudder caught her attention, and she looked quickly outside to find the enemy boats even with them, and one of them shooting projectiles.

Oh, that was not good. She angled the rudders, sending the boat carreening towards the boat shooting at them, feeling the stresses on her body as it listed over, blaster fire boiling the water just past her bow. She cut back in the other direction as the other boat moved to avoid them, wishing she had more speed to work with.

If only the boat were more agile. She paused, then her eyes tracked up to the console again. Without overthinking it too much she reached up and uncapped two switches, putting her fingers on them and then depressing them firmly.

At once, the boat nearly ripped itself out of her hands as she heard a rumbling sound that vibrated through the hull and nearly sent her vision blurry. The engines churned and she felt the boat buck under her, as she tried to get it back under control.

On the bright side, the crazed motion made both sets of blasters misfire and the two chase boats closest to her peeled off, arcing around to try and come at them again. Dev didn't dare look at the scanner as she turned the boat in a tight circle, then powered the engines back up and put them into plane heading for the storm.

But this time, the boat surged forward with a good deal more speed, and rode higher on the waves, unburdened by the water in the fishtanks at the aft. The gauges showed them going faster, and after a few minutes, the other boats started to fall behind.

Dev made sure they were going to hold course, then she turned her attention to the scanner.

Both wiremaps were gone. Her heart started pounding hard and she reset the scan, widening it out.

Nothing. She felt panic start to take her, and she got up from the chair, about to shut the engines down when she heard a knock at the hatch.

A knock. At the hatch.

For a moment, she froze, Then she responded to the drive of her programming and grabbed the scanner, tight focusing it and pointing it at the entrance, waiting for it to resolve. “Hurry.” She instructed the device.

“Hey. It's cold out here!” A voice penetrated the steel. “Open up!”

Dev put the scanner down and scooted over, pulling the bar out and working the latch. It popped open and Jess ducked inside, dripping wet and breathing hard.

She took a step back and cleared space, as her partner shut the door and leaned back against it, her face a little pale.

“Are you okay?” They both asked at the same time.

Jess smiled briefly, and exhaled. “Drive.” She indicated the console.

Dev got back in the chair and put her hands back on the controls. “I let the water out of the animal tank.” She said. “It seems to have made us faster.”

“Oh.” Jess trudged over and sat down on the stool next to her. “Is that what that was.”

“Those other boats are behind us now.” Dev confirmed. “They were shooting at us. Trying to stop us I think.”

“Yeah, they were.” Jess agreed. “Not for the reason you'd think though.” She flexed one hand which now in the light showed dark bruises. “So you want the good news or the bad news?”

Dev eyed her doubtfully. “I don't know. The bad thing I guess, if we have to do something about it.”

“Ah.” Jess pushed her hood down and ruffled her hair. “Bad news is, I just offed one of the other side in a pretty ugly way.”

“Oh.”

“That's why those boats were chasing us.” Jess said. “They were his buddies. Pain in the ass part is, I did it by accident. Boat tipped and I went flying into him and he went flying into the water outflow. Ripped him to pieces.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. So that was a cock up. Didn't even get to ask him what he was looking for.” Jess sighed. “On the other hand he was about to blow my head off so I guess it worked out.”

“You guess?”

Jess gave her a wry smile. “He was good.” She admitted. “He was kicking my ass. I was flat on my back for too damn long after that last botched cluster.” She rested her elbows on her thighs and rocked her head from side to side to loosen tense muscles there.

Dev glanced at scan, and sure enough the other boats were nothing more than a spot on the horizon, though they were still being chased.. “I see.” She said. “So what is the good part?”

Jess extended her hand and opened it. “Deck's full of black diamonds.” She said.

Dev took the item and inspected it. A crystal the size of half her hand rested in her palm, glittering and reflecting the light in the control room inside it. She blinked. “Wow. That is interesting.” She admitted. “But why is it good?”

“It's good because I'm gonna have them cut something pretty from this one.” Jess said. “And because we can use the rest to buy anything we want from those scientists. We're home free.” She got up and stripped out of her drenched jacket, grimacing a little as it shed water everywhere. “So to speak.”

Dev looked at the floor, then back at her. “I see.”

“So that's the good thing.” Jess came up next to her and leaned against the console, studying the view out the window. “Good idea to head for the storm line. Once we're up there, we'll see if we can find an ice field we can dodge around and maybe we'll lose em.”

Dev put the pretty rock down and reached over to close her fingers around Jess's hand, feeling the chill in it. “Should you get dry?” She said. “It will be a while to get to the storm.”

Jess straightened up and nodded. “Yeah and I need some kack. Want some?” She waited for Dev to nod, then she stood up and patted her on the shoulder. “Good job, Dev. I wouldn't have thought to dump the water.”

“Thank you.”

Jess went to the back of the control area, where she'd stored their gear. She unsnapped the catches on her jumpsuit and stripped it down to her waist, picking up a piece of cloth from her pack and drying her skin with it. The rain hadn't penetrated the fabric, but the thunderous wash of tank water had, and she felt rubbed raw from the power of it.

Too damn close. She examined her shoulder, but it seemed to be healing and by some odd luck she hadn't taken any more serious damage to anything but her ego when by rights she should have been fish bait herself halfway down to the bottom by now.

She peeled off her jumpsuit and traded it for a dry one, very glad to get out of the half water filled boots she was squishing around in. It felt good to be dry, and the warmth of the control room was slowly seeping into her, their sojourn in the spa already just a half misty memory in her mind.

She went to the portable kack dispenser she'd brought up to the control room and started it brewing, resting her hands on the counter and listening to the drone of the engines. “They gaining on us?”

“No, it doesn't appear so.” Dev responded.

“Good.” Jess considered their options. They would have to lose the chase boats before she could even think about turning east, maybe in the ice pack. She'd make them think she was on a run home, and then maybe..

“Jess?” Dev called softly. “We're being hailed.”

Jess rolled her eyes and walked over. “Assholes think we're going to answer?” She said. “Give me a break.”

'It's not them.” Dev handed her the ear cup. “It's Base 10.” She said. “It's being relayed through the carrier.”

Jess felt a shock jerk through her. She fumbled with the cup and got it set in her ear, then touched the receive node. “Copy. Copy Tac Base 10?”

“Ops.” The voice answered. “Recall. Urgent. Ack.”

Jess blinked. “Repeat?”

“Ack. Recall urgent. Copy acknowledge.” The voice returned, with an edge. “Code 12.”

“Acknowledge, in work.” Jess responded, then she released the trigger. “Shit.” She looked at Dev. “Something bad must happened. They're recalling us.” She removed the ear cup and handed it back. “Plot a course back to that iceberg, Dev. Looks like this mission's scrubbed.”

That, at least was easy. Dev pulled the coordinates off her comp and plugged them in, not sure whether she should be disappointed or relieved.

Disappointed, she supposed, for not being able to finish the mission, but also relieved that with the enemy already chasing them that they would not get into more trouble trying to get into the enemy lab. There seemed to be a lot of opportunity for discomfort in that, and she didn't want to see Jess getting hurt.

Jess set a cup down for her and took her seat on the stool again. “So.”

“What do you think happened?” Dev asked.

“No idea.” Her partner said. “Never been recalled like that before. I just know the codes.” She cradled her cup between her hands and took a sip from it. “Now I wish we weren't so far. Bain wouldn't have pulled us for something trivial. When we get back to the carrier, you can do an encrypted session and maybe we'll find out what's going on.”

The light was fading outside, and the rain was falling harder. Dev propped her scanner up and set it to probe their path, the she took a moment to take a drink from the cup, wishing they'd stopped for a daymeal while they were on the island. “Okay, I'll remember to do that.” She said. “But it's going to take a long time to get there.”

Jess sighed. “I know.” She put her cup down and got up. “Nothing we can do about that unless we pass those pirates again and steal their carrier.” She rooted in the carrysack and pulled out some fish packets, bringing them back to the console and plopping them down. “Damn it.”

Dev reviewed the rear scanner, noting the ships were still chasing them. But their speed now was enough to keep them ahead, and as they plowed into the increasing swells, she hoped it would stay that way.

**

The ice pack loomed in the darkness, it's incessant crackling and popping sounding over the waves. Jess pulled herself back inside and came back to study the comp, peering at the rearward facing scan intently. “Did we lose them?”

Dev was finishing up some data. Then she turned and studied the scanner, her shoulder coming to rest against Jess's. “We haven't gotten pingbacks on anything in about two hours.” She commented. “Since we saw that cone.”

“Sometimes I hate weather, sometimes I love it.” Jess agreed. “Okay let's run along the ice. At least we've got some cover if something comes at us.” She let her eyes slide to Dev's outline. “I like that suit.”

Dev glanced down at herself, her body encased in her new lined jumper It was very warm, and very comfortable, and she was really happy with it herself. “Me too.” She said. “Maybe we can go back and get you one sometime?”

Jess sighed. “Not for a good long while Devvie.” She sat down on the stool next to the captains chair and leaned her elbow on the arm of it. “I have no idea if they popped lava on that one. Might have taken out the whole place, since the place where we were? Inside? Those are tubes.”

“Tubes.” Dev repeated slowly.

“Lava tubes.” Her partner responded. “Charles could be flash fried by now if he didn't get out in time. Happens.” She shrugged. “They know the risk.”

Dev didn't speak for a moment, then she turned and looked at Jess. “Do you mean all those people might be dead?”

“Might be.”

Wow. The bio alt felt a chill down her back. All those people, even the girl who'd cut their hair. She watched Jess's face, seeing nothing other than vague interest there. “You knew what was going on.”

“Sure.” Jess said. “I've been near one of em a couple times. I caught the bumps. They did too, set the alarms off. So some people would have gotten off. Rushed the boats, that's why I wanted to get ours off first.”

“Should we have helped the others?” Dev asked, hesitantly.

“No. That's not our gig.”

“I see.” The bio alt said. “Interesting.”

“Anyway.” Jess gently blew in her ear. “Enjoy your duds. They've got a backdoor link to grab creds from us, and from the other guys for stuff. Long as you don't get contraband no one cares. This isn't.” She touched the sleeve. “Some of us don't care. I do. I always use my own cred for them.”

“So I could have done that too? I have my card.”

“You could have.” Jess agreed. “But I.. “ She paused, and made a small face. “I didn't mind doing it. I know you get cold. Better to keep you warm so you don't drive us into a berg.”

“I see.” Dev considered that. “Thank you, Jess. It's very comfortable. I feel a lot better now wearing it.”

A relaxed and happy smile appeared on Jess's face. “You're welcome.” She responded. “I never had a tech I wanted to buy stuff for before. It's a kick.” She admitted. “Besides, I can't wait to see you wear that thing in the citadel. There are a ton of us who never made it out to the market much less on their first month.”

“And now they might not get a chance.” Dev commented mildly. “Isn't that what you said before?”

“Oh, Charles'll survive. He's an old salt.” Jess got up an stretched. “He'll just dig out and start over. I don't think for a minute he didn't get out probably has a tunnel dug down to water and a boat waiting.” She turned and studied the hammock. “Mind if I sack out for a while?”

“Absolutely not.” Dev said. “If anything unusual happens, I will wake you up.”

Jess rolled into the swinging bed and exhaled, allowing her body to relax for the first time in a day. She was disappointed that the mission had been cut short – and yet – based on her near ass kicking she now had to wonder if she really had been ready for it.

Was this just fate's way of covering her ass? Maybe she could figure out another plan and after they got back to the citadel, talk Bain into letting her take another team with her. It wouldn't be as status as if she'd done it herself, but she had a legit med marker after all.

Wasn't her fault the mission got called, was it? She wondered what the emergency was, and then, she wondered if it wasn't a status call on her part for Bain to recall her specifically for it. Could even be a better chance with less risk for advancement, that Code 12.

Good opportunity maybe, for her. For them, she corrected herself in her mind, glancing over to where Dev was seated, busy checking controls. The pale light from the console outlined her body and Jess wished briefly that they could tuck into a safe spot in the ice and she could take the time to peel her partner out of that sexy number.

Jess sighed, and closed her eyes, folding her hands over her stomach and letting her body accept the rhythm of the waves. She was almost asleep when she sensed motion close by, and then the added warmth of a blanket being tucked around her, then the gentle touch of Dev's fingers closing on hers.

It made her feel happy. She returned the squeeze and opened one eye, to find the bio alt gazing down at her with what could only be a look of affection, something Jess only barely remembered from her childhood.

Then Dev tucked the blanket in a bit more and smiled, moving past her to refill her cup from the dispenser.

Jess smiled back, letting her eyes close and her mind release itself into sleep. Fate. Her last conscious thoughts mused. It had to be fate.

**

Dev was glad to see dawn light appearing in the sky, giving outline to the ice pack to her right, and the choppy ruffled waters beneath them. It had been a long dark night, and she was tired, both from struggling to keep the boat on course and the strain of picking her way through the stormy weather and not crash into anything.

Jess had remained peacefully asleep this time, and Dev was going to give it a little while before she woke her partner up. She was looking forward to it, imagining how good it would feel to curl up in the hammock herself and close her eyes and she took a deep breath and released it as she peered along the ice outside.

It was white in all the grayness, the clouds overhead roiling and moving though the rain had stopped for now. White, with glimpses of beautiful blue in the cracks, the edge of the flow here high above the boat's level.

It was interesting, and it gave her tired eyes something to look at while they rolled along. She'd gotten used to the motion now, and it was starting to feel natural to her – she was standing at the controls and swaying with the waves and had been for some time.

Suddenly, motion caught her eye and she looked to the left, seeing something in the water. Surprised, she blinked and stood a little taller, reaching over to code the scanner and direct it forward. As the boat got closer, she could resolve the movement and realized it was an animal swimming.

The animal turned it's head towards her and she let out a tiny gasp of surprise. “Oh!” She hopped a time or two. “I think thats a bear!” Its fur was white, though plastered from the water, and it had dark eyes and a big dark nose. Dev cut the engines and felt the boat slow, not wanting to risk hitting the animal.

The motion change woke Jess. “Whoa.” The agent said, groggily. “Don't tell me I slept all the way back. Devvie you didn't let me do that didja?”

“No. no.. “ Dev raptly watched as the animal got to the wall of ice, then stopped swimming and stuck a paw out of the water, scraping at the surface. “Oh, Jess. Look. It's a bear, isn't it?”

Her partner obligingly rolled out of the hammock and joined her, leaning on the console. After a minute of study, she grunted. “Yeah it is.” She patted Dev on the back. “Congrats! Ya found one.”

“What's it doing?” Dev put the engines in idle, watching the animal.

Jess studied the bear. It was clawing at the ice, it's head tipped up looking at the ridge high above it's head. “I think it's screwed.” She said. “Musta fallen off the top there, and can't get back out of the water.” She pointed at the high edge of the flow, where there was a visible chunk taken out.

“Oh.” Dev felt her elation fade. “What will happen to it?” She looked up at Jess.

The agent shrugged. “Eventually it'll get tired and then drown.” She said. “Nowhere for it to go.”

“Oh.” Dev repeated, softly. “Wow. That's terrible.”

“It's just a bear.”

The bio alt turned to regard her seriously. “Wasn't it just a seal, that time?”

Jess remained quiet for a long minute, her eyes blinking gently as she watched the bear. Then she turned her head and looked at her partner. “Why do you always want to go around helping people and things?” She asked. “People and things you dont even know?”

Dev accepted the question at face value. “Because that's how I made.” She responded. “I'm supposed to help people if I can. Take care of people. Like people. You're supposed to expect that of me.”

Jess nodded slowly. “Techs aren't like that.” She said. “Agents aren't. We all sort of hate each other most of the time.” She straightened. “But you are different, huh?”

“Yes.” Dev seemed sad about that.

“Maybe I am too sometimes.” Jess scrubbed her hands through her hair. “Let me throw my jacket on and see what the hell I can do for that damned bear. Keep the boat steady.” She went to the door, grabbing her coat on the way as she shook her head. “Please come save me if the damn thing starts to eat my head.”

Dev put her hands back on the controls and trimmed the engines, waiting for Jess to appear on the bow. She kept her partner in view, watching her go to the front of the ship and peer over the side as the boat edged towards the animal.

She was glad Jess was going to try and help it, even though it had seemed that the idea put her into some discomfort and the thought of that sent a surge of energy through her that pushed back the exhaustion.

If for no other reason than she had to figure out what to do about the bear if it started eating Jess's head.

**

Jess put her hands on the rail and peered at the bear, who was paddling in circles next to the ice flow. The animal was beginning to tire, and it only eyed her warily as it tried to pull itself up onto the wall.

“Why am I doing this?” She wondered aloud. “Hey bear! C'mere.”

The bear continued paddling.

She watched it try to climb up again, and then an idea occurred. The bear would be trying ot pull itself up onto a berg, whose edge was much closer to the water. Problem was, there were no bergs around, nothing low enough for the animal to scramble onto.


With a grunt, she went around the side of the boat, down the channels on either side of the control chamber and through the tunnel to the rear deck.

Emerging onto it, she went to the very back of the fishing area, to the rear where the big wheel was that pulled the nets onboard. Behind it was a hatch, and she remembered the hatch being open when the nets were being reeled and the water pouring onto the deck.

“Hm.” Jess went to the elevated section where the controls were and climbed up, still a bit foggy from sleep. She sat down on the seat and studied the knobs and switches. She pressed the one for comms and leaned closer. “Hey Dev?”

Silence for a moment, then the comms crackled back at her. “Yes, I”m here.”

“Turn the boat around so the back's facing the ice.” Jess said. “I”m gonna try something.”

She felt the shift under her immediately, and as she explored the knobs, the view around her changed from gray mist and open sea to the white of the ice flow. She could hear the bear splashing and as the boat stopped moving, she found the the controls for the back hatch and triggered them.

A large section of the back deck folded down, and the water flowed across the deck towards her. “Dev.” She triggered comms. “Back up.” But as she did, she could feel the engines shift into reverse as her partner realized what she'd done. A faint smiled appeared, as they started to move slowly in reverse, heading forward the paddling animal.

Jess leaned on the console and waited, as the engines cut out and they were drifting towards the ice. After a moment she could see the bear through the gap, and as she watched, she saw the animals head turn towards her and then it's body changed direction and headed towards the half sunken deck.

Instinct? Jess observed in fascination as the bear reached the boat, and half climbed, half sprawled onto the open deck, panting hard. “Hey bear.” She waved at it, hoping like hell it wouldn't decide to attack her.

But the animal just lay there breathing hard, staring at her.

Triggering the hatch, Jess closed the back of the boat up and leaned on the comms key. “Get moving, Devvie. Let's find someplace ot let this thing off before it recovers and decides to have us for lunch.” She tapped her fingers on the console as the engines re-engaged, noting the movement was not really much to the bears liking. “Take it easy, buddy.”

The bear pushed iteslf up into a sitting position, it's tongue hanging out. It was a startling pink color, vivid against the yellowish white fur, and the black nose. As the speed picked up, it looked around in some alarm, shaking itself and sending a shower of water over the deck.

It was bigger than she'd imagined. It's body was twice the length of hers, and it's feet were gigantic, and as it turned its head towards her and opened it's mouth, she spotted fangs as wide as her hand.

“And I brought your fuzzy white ass up on the boat with us.” Jess mused. “Damn I'm an idiot.”

Despite that, it seemed sort of cute to her, and she noted it's small, cupped ears and appealing expression. “You got lucky, buddy.” She informed the bear. “If the owner of this thing were here you'd be a rug already.”

The bear regarded her, then it lay back down on the deck, apparently not quite recovered from it's swim. It seemed content to accept it's ride at least for the moment, so Jess decided she'd leave it there and go back upstairs and get herself properly woken up.

She suspected Dev was hopping up and down waiting for her turn to look at the bear anyway. Jess smiled, as she climbed down from the control stand and ducked into the tunnel, heading back to the control center.

**

“Oh my goodness.” Dev felt her eyes widen, the chill hitting the sides of her eyeballs as she climbed up onto the control platform and peeked over the console. There, sitting in the middle of the deck was the bear, looking huge and furry and more amazing than anything she'd ever seen.

“Don't go near it.” Jess's voice warned in her ear cup. “You'd make one mouthful for it.”

“I won't.” Dev promised, leaning her arms on the surface and avidly watching the animal. It was looking around, blinking it's eyes as the wind blew over the deck and ruffled it's now drying fur.

It was gigantic. Dev thought it hadn't looked so big when it was in the water, but now on the deck it sure did. “Hey there.” She called out to the bear, holding her breath as it's head swung around and it looked at her. Hesitantly, she waved at it. “Don't worry. Jess is going to find a nice iceberg for you to climb up on. Okay?”

She wasn't sure if the bear understood language. Doctor Dan had once told her about something called a dog, which understood some words, and another called a monkey that could use symbols to communicate but she wasn't sure where the bear fell on that bell curve.

It's head was roundish, and she wished she could get closer to see it better – and just as she thought that it did.

It got up, and walked around in a circle. It's front legs were a little shorter than it's back ones, so it looked sort of funny when it walked, but then Dev got back behind the console when it reached the wall and stood up, stretching it's front feet up over it's head.

“Wow! You're tall!” She peeked cautiously out at it. It's feet had big black nails on the ends of it's toes, and as she watched, it scratched long, deep grooves into the metal of the ship. “Oh no! Dont' do that! The fisherman won't like it!”

The bear looked at her, and now, closer she could see that it's eyes were a deep brown, not black as she'd first thought. They were deep set, and they watched her with what she thought surely was some intelligence. After a moment, it dropped back down to all four legs and sauntered over to where she was, sitting down on the deck and opening it's mouth.

The teeth were equally gigantic. Dev wondered what the bear ate. “Hey Jess?”

“Yes? He's not doing anything is he? I can't see him.” Jess's voice answered, sharp and intense.

“No, just sitting here.” Dev said. “Should we give him some food?”

“Like what, your leg?”

“I was thinking more like the bait, like what we gave the dolphins.” Dev responded, grinning a little as Jess's dark humor. 'Can we give it a name?”

“No.” Jess's tone lightened. “Please don't give it a name.”

Well ,that wasn't a no to the fish. Dev climbed down from the control room and went to the locker, opening it and peering inside. There were buckets of half frozen fish bait inside, and she picked one up, taking it with her and bringing it back to the control console.

She climbed back up and peered out, finding the bear now rolling on it's back on the deck, waving it's legs in the air. This exposed the animal's belly and she got a better look at it's underneath parts. “Hey Jess? I think it's a girl.”

“Really?”

“I think so.” Dev removed a chunk of frozen fish from the pail and tossed it onto the deck, waiting to see what the bear was going to do about it.

Hearing the thunk, the bear turned it's head and then turned over, sliding across the wet surface and sniffing at the chunk. It opened it's mouth and sank it's teeth into it, then shook it's head and ripped off a piece, chewing it with evident enthusiasm.

“I guess it eats fish.” Dev commented, tossing the animal another chunk from the pail. “Cool.” She pronounced the word carefully. “That's cool, right?”

The bear sat down on the deck and grasped the second fish between it's feet, holding it so that it could chew at it. The act was so people like, it made Dev grin. “Can you see it, Jess?” She called into the comms. “It's sitting here eating fish.”

“Stop making me hungry.” Jess responded “Aren't you for that matter?”

“Yes.” Dev tossed another fish out to the bear. “Sorry about that. Would you like some of this frozen fish?”

A low snicker sounded in the comms. “Not unless you're changing your name to frozen fish.”

Dev cocked her head in a puzzlement, as she threw more chunks out. “Why would I do that?” She finally asked. “Do you not like my name?” She watched the bear get up and fetch the last piece, then without warning, it came over and stood up, putting it's feet agianst the outside of the control platform and peering in at her. “Oh!”

“What?” Jess answered instantly. “Dev?”

Dev stared at the bear, now only an arms length from her. She could smell the fish on it's fur, and the musky pungency of the fur itself, and see the nostrils on the big black nose flaring. Without really thinking about it, she held out a last piece of fish to the bear.

It sniffed it then opened it's mouth and very gently took it from her, before it sat down again to finish it's meal

“DEV!”

Dev nearly jumped out of her skin “Yes!” She blurted. “Yes, I'm fine! Sorry!” She leaned against the console and stared the bear, her heart beating fast. “I was just giving her the last part of the fish.” She watched the bear lick her lips with satisfaction and yawn, exposing those huge teeth.

It was so amazing.

The animal got up and walked back over, jumping up to put her paws against the metal of the console. She poked her head inside and snuffled at Dev and before she could think better of it, the bio alt extended her palm out to the moist looking nostrils.

The bear sniffed her fingers, then the pink tongue appeared and licked them, feeling warm and rough in an explosion of sensation that made Dev's eyes open up wide. “Oh. Wow” She whispered, extending her hand just a little and touching the fur under the bear's jaw.

It was soft, and oily feeling. For a moment, the bear regarded her, then she pushed off the console and went back to the middle of the deck, sitting down and yawning.

Dev bounced silently in place, then she scrambled down from the platform and bolted for the steps to the control center, eager to tell Jess about the bear, and's cold, wiggly nose, and it's fur.

**

Jess blinked. “You touched it?”

“Yes.” Dev nodded. “Just a little. It licked my fingers.” She held up her hand, displaying all five digits. “Then I touched it here.” She reached over and touched Jess under her chin. “It was amazing!!!”

“It's amazing you still have your arm.” Her partner told her wryly. “You're a nut, you know that?” She gazed at Dev with what actually seemed like a touch of envy though. “I've seen one of those things rip a man apart.”

“I think she was glad I gave her the fish.” Dev said. Then she grinned. “I'm glad I got a chance to do that.”

“Crazy.” Jess ruffled her hair.

Dev came over and threw her arms around Jess, hugging her fiercely. “Thank you for saving her, Jess. That was so awesome.”

That had been so terribly pointless and stupid.. Jess enjoyed the hug anyway, and the enthusiasm that came along with it. “Anything for you, Devvie.” She replied simply. “You make me want to be a complete idiot. Good thing for both of us for some reason I'm really liking that.”

“Um. I don't mean to.” Dev muttered. “At least, I dont' think I don't mean to.”

Jess took her hands off the controls of the ship and put her arms around Dev, savoring the tingle as their bodies pressed against each other. She took a deep breath, feeling an ache in her chest that shortened her breathing and nearly made her lightheaded.

“Wow.” Dev reluctantly released her. “So should I get some of the rations? And I'll make hot tea, okay?” She felt Jess's arms tighten, and the pressure of her lips against the top of her head, before she was released in return, to let the chill of the steel chamber once again brush her skin.

That was somewhat uncomfortable. Hugging Jess was definitely nicer. Evaluating the frown on Jess's face, Dev decided Jess maybe thought that also.

She lifted her eyes and met Jess's, as her partner took back hold of the controls, and exhaled. “It would be nice to find an ice cave at this time, wouldn't it?” Dev asked in a serious tone.

Jess smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. “If we weren't under recall, we'd already be in one.” She said. “I already broke the rules messing around with that bear, and if they find out at base I'll be under discipline, so do me a favor, huh? Don't tell anyone.”

Dev went over and started preparing the tea. “What does that mean?” She said, after a pause, glancing over her shoulder. “Helping the bear was incorrect?”

Jess settled herself in the command chair and pushed the hair off her forehead with one hand. “What does that mean.” She repeated, with a sigh. “When you get a recall like that, you're supposed to do an immediate return to base. No stopping, no side tracking, nothing.”

“It didn't take very long.” Dev commented.

“It's the idea of it.” Jess said. “I'd get about... probably six zaps for it.” She flexed her hands, her body twitching a little. “Most I ever had before now was four.”

Dev brought over some hot tea and honey, and set it down in the little swinging holder that kept it steady with the motion of the boat. She leaned on the chair arm. “I don't think I understand.” She admitted. “I don't have any programming for that.”

“No you wouldn't. Techs don't get zapped. They don't make the decisions.” Jess responded. “That's my job.”

“Ah.” Dev touched Jess's wrist, running her thumb over the prominent bone on the edge of it. “It's a bad thing, then.”

“It hurts. A lot.” Her partner agreed “Doesn't leave any marks, but it's like touching a power port. You ever do that? Makes your whole body go stiff, and then it hurts.” She picked up the tea and sipped it. “That's what being zapped is like. They do it up in the assembly hall, where we had the induction ceremony.”

“I see.” Dev said, though she really didn't.

“They don't want us to break the rules.” Jess flexed her hand again, with a small grimace. “You get zapped enough times, you stop wanting to.”

Dev considered that for a while. “But you helped the bear.”

“Yeah I did. Because you wanted me to.” Her partner sighed. “I don't know what's wrong with me. I know better.”

“Jess, I would feel a lot of discomfort if you got in trouble and got hurt because you did that.” Dev said. “Just for helping a bear.”

Jess leaned back and studied her, dark lashes fluttering a little over her pale eyes. “I didn't do it for the bear.” She smiled briefly. “Dont worry about it, Devvie. They won't know unless we tell em. No recorder on this thing.” She reached over and traced the fine, pale brow over the bio alt's right eye. “You got nice lines.”

Dev felt a slight sense of confusion, caught in that intense gaze. Then she nodded and smiled, reasoning that her partner must know what she was doing, after all. She squeezed Jess's wrist, and then she went back to the preparation area and investigated their supplies.

Now that the excitement was mostly over, she could feel tired again and she did. “Jess?”

“Hm?”

“Will you wake me up when you let the bear go?”

Jess chuckled softly. “Sure.” She looked up as Dev brought over two portions of fish, poached in some kind of spicy liquid. “Feel like sacking out? You look tanked.”

Sacks. Tanks. Dev put a piece of the fish in her mouth while puzzling this out and then her eyes popped open wide. “Wow!” She spit the fish out and stared at it. “Ouch!” She went over and got her tea, sucking down a mouthful. “What is that?”

“Fish.” Jess snickered. “Not used to those spices, huh?” She broke off a piece of her own and chewed it “I like it. Reminds me of mudbug boils we sometimes do back home.”

Dev stared doubtfully at the chunk of regurgitated fish in her hand, then sighed, and closing her eyes, popped it back in her mouth. She chewed it stolidly, then swallowed with an obvious effort, chasing it down with another long swallow of tea. The fish burned her mouth, and the scent of it got back up into her nose and made her sneeze violently.

Very discomforting. Dev looked unhappily at her meal. “I don't think I can eat this.” She admitted. “Would you like the rest?”

“Give it here. Go get something else.” Jess held a hand out. “At least I found one thing I can do that you can't.” She took possession of the offending food. “What a relief!”

Dev handed it over without delay. “I think I'll just get some rest.” She said “I can have something later, after we let the bear go.” She added. “And you know, Jess, there are lots and lots of things you can do that I can't.” She added seriously. “All I can do is drive the carrier and make tea.”

“And you're modest too.” Her partner said. “I think that's what I love the most about you, Devvie.” She shifted in her chair and studied their course, as the boat plowed stolidly through the waves. “You don't talk about how good you are, you just do it.”

Dev climbed into the hammock, curling up with a soft ball of fabric for a pillow, and a piece of the same to cover her that still carried Jess's scent on it. She lay there quietly with her partner's words turning over and over in her head, feeling the impact of them as they thrummed deeper and deeper into her consciousness.

They touched something inside her, something she realized went deeper than programming. “Hey Jess?”

“You talking in your sleep?”

“No.” Dev smiled, a little. “You know what I love the most about you?”

“Uh oh.” Jess chuckled. “What?”

“You.

**

Jess watched the wall of ice go by, her eyes blinking a little, her thoughts a million miles away.

Or more precisely, about arm's length away focused on the soundly sleeping figure in the hammock just behind her.

She didn't grudge her partner the rest. After all, Dev had piloted the boat through the night, letting Jess get a whole shift's worth of sleep herself. But she wished the bio alt was awake so she could talk to her and hear her voice.

There was something odd and weird about that. Jess swung sideways in the chair so she could study Dev's quiet breathing. She knew it was out of the ordinary for her to be so fixated on something other than her job. She knew it wasn't right that it was impossible for her to focus her attention on the mission, or even the operation of the boat when her thoughts kept drifting back to Dev's smile.

Jess lifted one hand and pinched the bridge of her nose, aware of how unsettled her body felt, and how her breathing was uneven. Was she sick, maybe? Maybe she'd picked up a case of coastal flu, she reasoned. There was a sense of dislocation in her head, that she remembered from the last time she'd gotten it.

Or she thought she remembered it. Certainly it hadn't been accompanied by the almost irresistable urge she had to get up and join Dev in the hammock, craving the feel of her body and the warmth of the skin on skin contact though, now had it?

With an unhappy sigh, she forced her attention back to the water, feeling a sense of intense aggravation at the never ending white ruffled surface, and the glacial slowness of their progress. Though even getting to the carrier woudln't do much, because they'd have to go right back to the citadel.

Right back to the citadel, to whatever problem it was waiting for them. No time probably to relax, and tumble into that nice, soft bed together, able to focus on the pleasure of being together and not having to worry about some damn wave turning them turtle.

Her breathing shortened, as she thought about what that moment would think about, finding her eyes closing, and her heart starting to pound.

“Shit.” Jess shifted and stood up, picking up her now cold tea and taking a swallow. “Drive the fucking boat.” She muttered, glancing at the vid and knowing a moment of deep envy as she spotted the bear curled up fast asleep on the deck of the damn thing, the wind coming over the railing ruffling it's fur.

But a moment later, she half turned again, leaning against the console as she watched Dev sleep, curled up on her side, the faintest of smiles visible on her face.

“So, what is it about you, huh, Devvie?” Jess whispered. “Are you making me crazy?”

She thought about that for a few minutes, and grinned wryly. “More crazy?” She sighed and sat back down, resting her head on her fist as she adjusted the throttles, her eyes tracking out over the water searching for the slightest sign of a berg. The first one, she decided, she'd head for so she could get rid of the bear.

The fact that Dev had asked her to wake her up when she did really didn't factor into it at all. She was content to let her partner get what rest she could before that, wasn't she?

Sure.

Her thoughts circled back around, and she carefully let those last words Dev had spoken sound in her head again. “So.” She muttered. “The thing she loves most about me is me.” She gazed soberly through the big glass windows “What in the hell does that mean?”

A low rumble of thunder attracted her attention, and she immediately turned to the scan, checking the radar and peering past it out the window. Along the horizon, she spotted a dark, almost black cloud and knew the exactly opposing emotions of exasperation at the weather and elation at the knowledge she'd need to find shelter from it. “Hot damn!”

“What?” Dev was half out of the hammock before she was properly awake, blinking her eyes. “Is something wrong? Are you all right?” She put her hands on the back of the chair as Jess muffled a laugh. “ Is the bear okay?”

Jess resisted the urge to turn around and hug her. “Yeah, sorry about that.” She said. “Storm's up ahead. I'll need to find some shelter in a while. Didn't mean to wake you up – gwan back to sleep.”

Dev was peeking past her at scan, watching the bear stretch out on the deck, flexing it's feet in contentment. “Okay.” She agreed, rubbing her eyes. “Does that mean we'll have to stop?” She asked, after a pause

“Yep”

“I see.” Dev pondered. “Won't that break the rule?” She countered. “I don't want you to get in trouble, Jess.”

“Can't control the weather and they know it.” Jess said. “Don't worry about it. Just get some rest. It might even bypass us.” She told her partner. “I'll try to keep my yap shut now.”

Dev gently put her hands on Jess's shoulders and briefly leaned against her. Then she climbed back into the hammock and curled back up, closing her eyes as she waited for her heart to settle back down. Waking that suddenly was uncomfortable, and she relaxed her muscles, her ears pricking a little as she caught the sound of Jess shifting.

She really didn't want Jess to get into trouble. The whole zapping thing sounded profoundly discomforting and yet.. Dev exhaled slowly. And yet, she wanted nothing more than for them to stop and find shelter, and be able to lay down in the hammock and practice that sex thing together.

After they made sure the bear was safe, of course.

Dev rubbed her fingertips together, where they'd touched the animal, remembering the softness of it's fur. Maybe she'd get a chance to touch it one more time before Jess got it to safety.

She hoped so. There was something about the bear, about those deep, interesting eyes that made her care about what happened to it.

To her. Just like there was something about Jess that made her care, almost to the point of it getting her crazy. Dev squirmed around a little in the hammock so she could keep Jess in her line of vision, watching her partner's shoulders shift as she moved in her chair.

It was hard to keep her eyes open but she wanted to. She saw Jess lean her elbows on the chair arms and rest her head against her fist and the motion almost made Dev climb back out of the hammock and go and hug her again. There was a visible discomfort about the posture and it made her breathing catch.

She didn't want anything to be wrong with Jess.

With a light sigh she closed her eyes and started the process of putting herself down for a while, making a picture in her head about setting the bear free and letting that play behind her closed eyelids as she let the motion of the boat rock her to sleep.

Jess exhaled, slumping to one side and leaning on her elbow as she rested her head against her fist. The chair moved with the ships motion, for which she was grateful since other wise she'd have nailed herself in the temple twice already. She studied the horizon, noting the curve of the ice field and picking up the portable scanner.

She laborously pecked out a request, keying in the coordinates with one finger as she looked up to check the location finder before she submitted the order. The scanner percolated through it's routines in electronic silence and she set the device down, going back to watching the view through the windows, tired half to death of the neverending waves.

“How in the hell do they do this?” She muttered under her breath. Months at sea, only stopping now and then on a berg, or in a cave, or on the market island.

No rad, no relief from the motion... Jess realized she was developing a lot more respect for the fisher folk than she had in the past, remote relations or not. It would be hard, she thought, to be stuck on this ship with all those people, no matter they were family, having to work the way they did, and risk what they risked out on the sea.

There was a self sufficience about it that appealed to her, but as she sat here in the captains chair, she knew she wouldn't trade her life for one like this. It was too raw, no matter how many jars of honey you ended up with.

The scanner beeped, and she picked it up and reviewed the results, her eyebrows edging up a little. She traced a path with one finger on the screen, then she set it down and turned to the nav console, looking back and forth from it to the screen as she carefully entered the settings. The boat's nav system was rudimentary, but once she'd finished and keyed in the complete, she reviewed the plotted course with satisfaction, as she shoved the throttles forward a little more and hoped for a cup more speed from the old tug.

**

As shelters went it wasn't going to be much. Jess leaned forward and peered through the worsening weather, the gale force wind shoving the bow of the boat to one side as she searched for the inlet.

Hours had passed, long ones in which she'd crouched in the command chair and worked to keep the boat from turning turtle in the waves. A glance at the monitor screens showed her the back deck, where her somewhat unwelcome passenger was now huddled against the inner wall to escape the wash of surf rolling across.

Trip from hell. Jess sighed, then nearly catapulted out of the chair when she felt a touch against her back. “Yeoop!” She jerked her head around to find Dev standing behind her, a bemused expression on her face. “Oh it's you.”

Dev looked around her then back at her partner. “Were you expecting someone else?” She asked, in a serious tone. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you.” She peered out the window. “Wow.”

Jess felt her heart start to settle, and she unlocked her muscles, returning her attention to the storm. “Yeah, piece of shit weather.” She said. “I'm trying to make for an archipelego we can hide in – see?” She squinted and pointed through a break in the squall at a smudge of slightly darker gray against the gray of the sky and the gray of the water. “We get in there, we can let our friend out back off and tie up.”

Dev studied the nav comp. “Oh. This is not so far from where we got on this boat.” She pointed out. “Wouldn't it be better to try to get there? It seemed like good shelter.”

“Sure, if you want them to shoot your buddy on the back.” Jess said. “Not to mention, shoot us. We made better time back then I thought we would figured we had another day of this to get back that far.”

“Oh.” Dev frowned “So then how are we going to get back to the carrier?”

“Let me get back to you on that. One potential life threatening disaster at a time.” Jess fought the controls, as the seas rose suddenly and rocked the boat.

“Want me to take this now?” Dev asked, diffidently. “You look cold.”

Jess wasn't going to argue. She slipped out f the chair and let Dev take her place, noting the bio alt seemed freshly scrubbed and had a fresh jumpsuit on, with her lined one over it with the top part draped down behind her unfastened “Wait a minute. How long have you been awake?”

“About a half hour.” Dev got herself settled and adjusted the throttles. “I didn't want to bother you when you were concentrating.”

Holy crap. Jess stared at her partner's slim back in shock. Had she really been that oblivious? “Well.” She grunted. “Least you got some rest.”

“I did.” Dev agreed in a cheerful tone. “It was nice. I liked how the motion felt. It reminded me of sleep back on station.”

Holy crap. Jess went to the back of the control center where they'd brought their things and got herself sorted out. She could see where Dev had changed and repacked her carrysack neatly, and the carefully folded packet that had contained some fish she'd apparently consumed.

The blanket on the hammock was also neatly folded, and, as Jess regarded the station, she saw her own meal had been set out for her, with a covered cup of tea next to it. She touched the cup with her fingertips and smiled. “Thanks.” She called up to the front.

“You're welcome.” Dev answered, as she turned the bow a little and headed closer in to the ice.

Jess undid the catches on her suit and stripped out of it, ignoring the chill of the air as it hit her now bare body though it made her start shivering. She took a sanitary kit out and wiped her skin down, giving her shoulder a cursory glance before she changed. The injury was almost healed as she'd expected, and she pulled the sleeves up over her arms and fastened the suit over her.

It brought immediate warmth and she exhaled in relief as the mild shivers abated. Braced where she was between the console and the wall, the motion of the ship was no more than annoying, and it felt good to be standing after all the hours crouched over in the chair.

She felt stiff, and a little achy though.

Cautiously, she flexed her arms and twisted to either side, relieved to only feel mild discomfort from her back. Maybe that one, too, was finally healing. “About fucking time.” She muttered under her breath.

Med had told her, matter of factly, that the toxins on the knife had almost killed her far more surely than the six inch cut it made but even knowing all that didn't ease the frustration of dealing with how long it was taking her usually robust body to recover from it.

Ah well. Jess uncapped the tea and sipped it while she opened the food packet with her other hand, bracing her body against the wall. “You're so nice to me, Devvie.” She commented. “I notice you left me the spicy one though.”

Dev smiled, visible in the reflection from the windows. “I'm sorry. I really just can't eat that.” She admitted. “I've never encountered anything like that before.”

Jess chewed the fish with a sense of melancholy appreciation. “My mother used to cook with these kind of spices.” She said. “Reminds me of her fish gumbo. Most of the time the citadel doesn't use anything more exciting than sea salt. Wonder where these bastards got this from? I didn't see any at the market.”

“I don't know.” Dev said. “We didn't have anything like that in the creche. I am sure they would have tried that on us if there had been, they tried everything else.”

“Don't feel bad. Same for us when we were in school. I ate seaweed so many ways I thought for sure I took on a green skin tone there for a while.” Jess commiserated. “My favorite thing back then was pizza.”

“Pizza?” Dev carefully piloted the boat through a pair of back to back waves. “I don't think I've ever heard of that.”

“It's kind of a flatbread thing, with soy cheese and little sardines. They used to get rid of the crap from the nets that way but I liked it.” Jess finished one packet, and started on a second, aware of being really hungry. “Wish I had one now. There's just so much of this cold crap I can handle at one time.”

'That sounds interesting.” Dev acknowledged. “They don't have that at the base?”

“No. They consider it junk. Don't want to give it to us. We're supposed to put stuff in our bodies that makes them work better. That's the theory anyway.” She swallowed the last of the second packet and started rooting around for more. “That's why those parties are so damn popular. We get stuff we don't usually get.”

“Like those brown things.”

“Exactly.”

“Those were really good.”

Jess chuckled. “I knew we were two of a kind when I saw you scarfing those..” She drained her tea and put the cup in one of the holders, then she went over and joined Dev at the controls. She studied the cloud pattern, and put her hand on Dev's back. “Can we go any faster?”

The slightly darker lump on the horizon was now visible as a gray, craggy outline, rising from the surging sea. She could hear the surf roaring as it broke against the stone, and around the edges a thick roiling fog was drifting. “See if you can get between those shoals.”

Obediently, Dev pushed the throttles forward, and aimed the boat for the looming rocks, as the storm rolled over them with increasing fury. She'd been through so many storms by now though, that the lack of sight and the wind didn't disturb her that much and she was able to concentrate on properly steering the boat.

The rocks looked dangerous. “I don't remember seeing before.” Dev said. “We were further to the south going the other direction.”

“We were.” Jess agreed. “We're up into the Greenland Archipelago. Should be safe though, never had much population.” She draped her arm over her partner's shoulders as they eased between two tall, jagged spires and as they did, the winds dropped, and the seas got calmer.

“Wow.” Dev noted. “That's much better.”

It was still raining almost sideways, but the boat now made better headway as they threaded their way through half hidden rocks outlined in white and green froth as the stone walls rose up on either side of them. Past the rocks there were further gray lumps and over all a mist was rising.

“Yeah, that is much better.” Jess studied the landscape. “Haven't been here in years. There's just this small southern bit that's not under ice. See the glacier picks up there.” She pointed. “Mostly seals live here.”

Dev brightened. “Really?”

“Mm.” Jess pointed at a rock escarpment. “That's where I killed my instructor. We use this as a training base.”

“Oh.” Dev watched the water calm as they moved further inside the waterway, where bare stone rose on either side of them. They were protected from the wind, and the waves, and as she throttled down the engines, they both heard a loud sound from behind them.

Jess responded instantly, bounding over and grabbing her blaster from it's holster, getting to the door and through it before Dev could even open her mouth.

The hatch slammed.

“I think that was the bear.” She said, to the empty room.

A moment later, the hatch slammed open and Jess popped inside. “Bear.” She explained briefly. “I think it wants to go home.” She closed the hatch and rejoined Dev, dripping rainwater all over the deck. “See that inlet there?”

“Yes.” Dev turned the bow towards it. “Is this where the bear lives? How did you know that?” She peered at her partner in bewilderment

“Bears live here.” Jess said. “I don't know if this one does, but we can let it off there.” She pointed at an outcropping of rock that overhung the water just barely. “It can figure out what to do after that.”

They heard the loud noise again, a rough, barking roaring sound that made the metal vibrate under Dev's fingertips. “Is the bear mad?”

“Bored. Sounds like me when I'm stuck inside too long.” Jess replied.

Dev didn't really think the bear was bored, but she merely nodded and continued to edge towards the sheltered area, seeing a rock overhang just past it where they could probably let the boat sit for a while while the storm passed. She watched through the window intently, looking for evidence of the seals Jess had mentioned, highly entertained with the idea of seeing both animals here on one trip.

“You know what it sounds like?” She said, after the bear made the noise again. “It sounds like she's calling out to someone.”

Jess regarded her with a tolerant grin.

“Maybe there's another bear here.” Dev didn't catch the look. “Maybe she has a friend.” She put the engines into idle as they neared the rocks, and drew in a quick breath as she saw something moving “Oh! Look!”

Jess thumped lightly against the console and peered out the window, blinking a little as she saw two fast moving off white forms galloping towards the boat. “What in the hell?”

Dev's eyes lit up. “They're little bears!” She hopped up and down a few times. “Oh! Look at them!” She grabbed the scanner and flicked through it's programming, selecting the record function and focusing it on the animals. Then she set the scanner down and swung the boat sideways a bit, putting the back of it up against the rocks. “Jess, look. She knows them!”

Jess sighed. “She does.” She admitted, watching the bear scramble up onto the side of the boat and then jump to the rocks, where the two smaller animals met her. “Gimme those controls. Go look at it. Chances are you'll never get to see this again.”

Dev didn't hesitate for an instant. She grabbed the scanner and went to the door, working the hatch and popping through it. She scrambled down the steps and forward onto the bow, going around to the side against the rocks where she could get a good look at the bears.

The big bear was greeting the the little ones with every evidence of happiness, licking them as they stood up on their back legs and patted her with their front ones, making small, cawing sounds.

Dev got it on the scanner, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. The little bears didn't seem to mind either the rain or the noisy boat idling next to the rocks, and she got a good shot of them as they raced around the bigger bear in circles.

The bear sat down and let them climb over her, and then rolled on her back and patted them with her front feet.

It was amazing. How had Jess known to bring her exactly here? Dev felt a sense of awe at her partner's intuition. She had known! Of all the places in the whole wide ocean, to bring the boat here, right where the two little bears were waiting for her?

Amazing! She turned and looked up into the control center, seeing her partner leaning on the console and watching the bears with a big grin on her face.

Even if she pretended not to care, she did. Dev nodded a little to herself. Sometimes the proctors were like that. Sometimes, even Doctor Dan was. But the truth of them would shine out at times, like it was with Jess right now. She could see her face, and see the unguarded happiness in it and she knew.

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