Partners

She knew there was a good and big heart in her partner. No matter what she said about her conscience.

Then the rain started to come down harder, and Dev felt the boat move away from the rocks towards the overhang. She walked along the rail, keeping the bears in sight as long as she could, then waved at them as they pulled past.

The big bear looked up at the motion, and opened her mouth, letting out one of the roars.

Amazing. Dev grinned, shutting the scanner down as she shook the icy rain from her eyes and headed back for shelter. It didn't even matter that she was now wet through and cold, not if it meant she'd gotten to see that. She trotted back up the steps as the boat pulled under the overhang, then she paused as it became evident that the overhang was much more than that.

There was a cave there, and the engines sounded suddenly much louder as Jess steered into it, and then they were out of the storm entirely and in a big, dark space.

Jess turned the boat's lights on as Dev entered the control room, and she looked out in surprise as the cave became visible. There was a very rudimentary dock there, and weatherworn equipment lockers, and she recalled Jess saying they trained in this place. “That was amazing, wasn't it?”

Jess smiled. “That was pretty cool.” She admitted. “You don't get to see cubs very often.”

“Is that what they were? They were really beautiful.” Dev observed the scanner, bringing up a shot of the two smaller animals and showing it to Jess. “See?” It was a closeup of the two, their appealing faces turned towards the scanner, small pink tongues showing along with the dark eyes, and the small curved ears.

“Mm.” Jess idled the engines. “That one.” She put a fingertip on the screen. “Is almost... almost as cute as you are.” She watched Dev blush a little, then she looked up and her expression changed completely. “Now that on the other hand,isn't cute at all.”

The lights had swept to the deeper part of the cave, and now outlined a large, hulking form that was all too familiar to both of their eyes.

“It's a carrier.” Dev said, after a long shocked moment.

“Bet I know which one it is too.” Jess replied grimly.

“The one that attacked this boat? The one with the pirates?” Dev shifted the scanner and started a routine. “Is this where they are?” She paused and looked up. “Are they here?”

Jess's eyes were flicking everywhere, her hands tense on the controls. “All very good questions Devvie.” She muttered. “Let me park this thing and let's find out. At the very least.. we found us a faster ride.”

“I see.” Dev ran her fingers through her damp hair. “We're having a really interesting day, aren't we?”

“Could just be getting way too interesting.”

Part 16

Jess finished tying up the boat, her ears cocked to pick up anyone approaching. So far, the cavern had been silent and was apparently empty, but she was old timer enough not to trust that.

Dev was standing on the dock, scanning the interior of the cavern with her handheld comp. She had her tech jumpsuit on, and her jacket over it, the gusty wind puffing the pale hair on her head in various directions. Jess watched her for a moment, and then she went over to join her, peering over her shoulder. “Anything?”

Dev studied the screen. “Nothing alive.” She said. “Just the carrier and some frozen dead animals.” She shifted the pack on her back, twin to the one Jess was wearing that contained all their gear.

They had left all the stuff they'd bought for the scientists on the boat, and also, a few of the black diamonds. The rest were tucked into Jess's pack along with the few things they'd picked up for themselves.

Jess relaxed a little. “Let's scope the place out. See what we can find before we steal that carrier.” She started across the ice, pausing for a moment to lean a gloved hand against the ice, lifting her boots up one after the other and slapping her steel spikes into place. “Slippery.”

Her partner nodded, having already extended her own boot appliances. She dug her feet into the surface a little as she followed Jess, conscious of the steady stream of vapor coming from her lips in the cold.

The carrier crouching balefully in the end of the cavern stirred in her a very mixed emotion. Certainly that would get them home faster, but Dev felt a sense of profound disappointment that they weren't going to have just a little while to be still and enjoy some time to relax together.

And practice that sex thing. Dev sighed and squared her shoulders, putting thoughts of that aside as she climbed up the slanted ice path that led away from the water.

The cavern didn't look lived in. Aside from the few old crates, and some rusted ladders half buried in the ice there was no sign of human habitation, and as they moved up the slope her scanner confirmed that. There were no residual bio markers, save a few traces she tracked to the carrier itself.

That, she reasoned, was likely the one that had attacked them. It had the same silhouette, and the markings on it matched the pictures she'd taken during the battle. She slowed as Jess did, the agent pulling her blaster from it's holster and holding it ready in her hand.

A motion of her thumb, and the safety was off. Dev could hear the faint sound of the internal power pack spooling up and she glanced down again at the comp, sweeping the area past the carrier to see if anyone was going to try and stop them. “No bio returns.” She commented, in a low utterance.

“Good.” Jess said, as she swept the pad the craft was parked on incessantly, her peripheral vision hunting for any motion past the edges of the iced shelf. Even if Dev's comp didn't pick up anything, she was never really sure until her own senses confirmed it.

Quirk of the brain. She knew the tech could be trusted, and she knew in fact this particular tech's tech could be trusted, but still. There was a place for human instinct in their business and few knew that better than she did. So she cautiously moved forward onto the platform, feeling the bite of her crampons against the ice. “Carrier giving off heat?”

“No.” Dev said. “Exterior temperature is ambient.”

“Good news.” Jess approached the craft and paused, then knelt to pick up a small piece of ice. She stood and considered, then she tossed the ice at the carrier, both of them twitching a little when it hit the hull and dropped with a faint thunking clang.

Dev studied the comp readout, seeing no reaction in any of the electrical spectrums to the intrusion. “No scans” She said, as Jess moved very carefully over to where the entrance door was. “I'm not getting any indication systems are active onboard.”

She slid the comp into it's holder and walked closer to the vehicle, studying the external engine housings that seemed very old and misshapen to her eyes. She ran a cautious hand over the edge of the surface, feeling it flex under her touch. Her eyes lifted to watch Jess, who was studying the entry pad. “Do you think you can open it?”

“I'm sure I can open it. Question is, can I open it and still have it be operational or anything more than a scattering of burned metal bits coated with my blood?” Jess mused “Ah, hell. Life's short.” She pulled her glove off and reached up to put her hand on the pad.

Dev blinked in surprise, her breath catching as she waited for a response from the carrier, knowing what the systems were programmed to do when unauthorized persons tried to enter them. For a second, she thought she sensed a power surge, then the hatch opened with an anticlimactic click and swung outward.

It smelled old inside. Musty air and the scent of burned electronics wafted out, and Dev's nose wrinkled. “Reminds me of some of the old storage chambers in the creche.” She said.

Jess regarded the inside and shrugged. “G”wan in there and see if we can get airborne in this thing. I”m going to hunt around, see if the pirates left anything.” She watched Dev climb cautiously inside and then she picked up a big chunk of dirty ice and put it in the entryway, so the hatch couldn't close all the way if it developed a mind to. “Be back.”

Dev eased inside the carrier and wrinkled her nose. The inside was dirty, the floor caked with mud and bootprints and all of the surfaces scuffed and worn. There was even adhesive tape holding things together, and Dev spent a moment just looking at everything and wondering if it wasn't safer for them to just stay with the boat.

With a sigh, she edged her way up to the pilot's chair and brushed some caked mud off it, then sat down and put her pack down by her boots. She reviewed the controls for a minute or so, then she nodded to herself as programming kicked in and she touched the comp and systems boards, mildly surprised when they responded.

On batts, of course, and they were nearly drained. Dev damped the comp and focused on bringing the engines online, hoping the dirty looking pods outside didn't just either blow up or fall off.

She triggered the startup sequence, drawing enough power to bring the propulsion systems online with a slow, tired whining sound that set her teeth on edge. She watched the readouts anxiously, trimming the power leads when they spiked erratically.

For a moment everything went out, then came back up and engines started generating power, sending a light shudder through the frame of the carrier.

Not normal or good. Dev frowned unhappily at the console and scooted up a little closer, concentrating on coaxing the old components into service. It was all mostly off-balance at the leads, and it was obvious to her that no one had done maintenance on the carrier for a very long time.

Senseless, if they had to fly on it. She clucked her tongue a little and started making adjustments, tweaking the batteries as they started to take on charge. Every few seconds she glanced up through the mud and ice encrusted windows, seeing nothing but crashing waves at the entrance and a solid wall of rain outside.

The boat was rocking at it's dock, and very briefly, she wondered if the bear and her little cubs had gotten under cover before the storm hit.

She hoped so. She was glad she'd gotten to see them, in any case.

At last the consoles started to come online and graphs were settling, as she balanced the incoming power from the engines and gave the batteries enough juice to power up everything else. She regarded the comp as it flickered into focus, unsure of whether to even trust anything it was telling her.

The carrier was totally compromised. She could see tape and cables with ports snaking out of places they didn't belong, and she assumed the systems had been hacked to allow anyone to drive it. In their carrier, the controls were keyed to the chips and the bio scans of herself and Jess – even the techs who serviced it couldn't actually start it up and fly it.

Hence, why she had to perform the commissioning flight when the carrier had been put back together. This craft, on the other hand, didn't even check her identity – she hadn't felt the twitch in the chips at all, and the hatch had opened at just a touch, there was nothing in comp that indicated it knew who had opened the door.

Dev glanced outside, then peered around to the side, where Jess had disappeared. There was no sign of her partner and she found that was making her very unhappy. It took a lot of effort to drag her attention away from that thought, and back to the carrier.

With another sigh, she started a pre flight routine, her hands a little hesitant on the much older controls. Once that had begun, she got up and started examining the interior, checking to see what was inside it that might be useful to them. There was no expendable storage anywhere, everything seemed to have been stripped out to make room for people to ride inside it and it was mostly bare frame and strapping.

The weapons console was so battered, there was no legends on anything anymore. Just a couple of knobs and the grips that would fire the guns. The chair was a bare frame too, and Dev wrinkled her nose as she though about the contrast between this, and the new chair Jess had been so happy with.

She hadn't regarded their craft as either luxurious or comfortable, but compared to this one, it certainly was. Dev checked the water supply and found it empty, then peered into the extremely basic sanitary facility and wished she hadn't. “Hm.” She hoped they wouldn't be in this thing long, just long enough to fly it to the other cavern and pick up their own.

Unless Jess would want to bring it back to the citadel for them to study, of course, or... Dev paused, wondering if her partner might not just want to destroy it, so that no one could use it again.

That seemed likely. Her peripheral vision caught motion, and she turned and peered out of the hatch, hoping to see Jess's familiar form heading her way. Instead, she saw a sleek looking animal jump out of the water onto the ice, making a loud noise that startled the life out of her.

It was far away, on the pier next to the boat, and she watched it in fascination as it galumphed along the ice. It had a small head and it was gray, and as it got closer and she could see it's face, she wondered suddenly if it was a seal.

Wow. She bounded back and got her comp, and brought it back over to scan the animal, hoping it was, since she really wanted to see the creature that had so appealed to Jess.

Dev smiled as it came closer.

**

The cavern was crude and basic, and always had been. Jess made her way along a hand chopped passageway, listening carefully for either cracking ice or pirates. She had her blaster in one hand and her knife in the other, and she was moving with as much grace as she could on ice with crampons on.

She was really glad they'd found the old carrier. It meant she could get back to the citadel a lot faster, find out what the recall was about, and, as a bonus, get props for finding the old thing and a pirate hideout.

Pure dumb luck, of course, but she'd take it.

Now she just had to check the back cavern to make sure she wasn't leaving any of the bastards at her back and she could take off with Dev, go pick up their carrier, and get back home.

As she neared the end of the passageway she slowed, cocking her head forward and listening hard ahead of her. There was nothing but the crackling of ice, but she stopped anyway, opening her mouth and drawing in the air, trying to taste any hint of anything out of place on it.

A puff of air hit her, and she twitched as the smell of death got into her nose. She started forward with more caution, her breathing starting to slow as her focus tightened. After a few moments, she stopped and triggered her comms on shortwave. “Dev, Dev.”

After a pause, the earpiece rustled. “Here.”

“Secure.” Jess uttered. “Tac.”

“Ack.” Her partner responded at once.

With a nod, Jess released the comms and continued forward. As she came around a bend in the passage, she got a lungful of stench, and grimaced. “Ah, this ain't gonna be pretty.” Another bend, and she could see the back cavern ahead of her, a large space she remembered them using for tactical storage and the ice class.

Now as she entered, she stopped and quickly scanned the space, finding both death, and the source of the stench which wasn't it. Sprawled over the ice were large, heavy looking animals she recognized, and that was what smelled, but scattered among them were black forms frozen in the ice splayed out in patches of red stain.

One of the animals spotted her, and barked.

Jess held her ground, hoping the sea lions weren't in the mood to rush her and edged closer to the first of the bodies.

Frozen solid, it's face was stretched into a rictus of pain, one arm and part of it's shoulder blown away by what looked like a blaster. It might have been one of the attackers from the other night – the body was encased in a jumpsuit just like hers, but the face wasn't familiar to her.

It made sense if they were the same. Jess walked over to the second body, which had been cut completely in half. She studied it, then pointed her own blaster at the ice and set it to heat, directing the beam at the frozen form until it separated from the ground.

She turned it over and found herself looking at someone she did know. “Damn.”

A strong prickling tweaked her shoulder blades, and she looked quickly around, seeing the sea lions start to shift around and move. She took a step back and turned slowly in a circle, searching for the source of their disturbance. Across the cavern she spotted a half buried box, and she moved around the open water in the center to examine it.

The sea lions shifted, and one dove in the water, disappearing underneath the surface. Jess remembered there was an undersea entrance to the place, and she was careful where she put her boots as she felt the ice under her shifting. A brief grin touched her lips, remembering the dare she'd won over that narrow, icy cold gap.

Counting the bodies, she nodded as the tally seemed to match the party that attacked them. She got over to the box and kicked it open, surprised when she recognized the contents as Interforce tactical gear.

New. She picked up a kit and looked at it. Brand new, with the current quarter's dates on it.

“Huh.” She could see another passage behind the box, that she didn't remember. She triggered comms. “Dev Dev.” She was reasonably sure the most dangerous thing around her was that bull sea lion who'd been eyeing her, but something inside her tickled her to contact her partner anyway. “You there?”

“Here. Is everything all right?” Dev responded.

“Yeah. The bus up?”

“Yes.” The bio alt answered. “There is a .. I think there is a seal near me.”

Jess grinned briefly. “Sea lion. Found a lot of em back here. Going to check out a hall. Be back over there in two minutes.”

“Excellent.”

Jess clicked off and stepped around the box, ducking past the embedded glow lamp in the ceiling and moving down the passage. As she half suspected, it revealed a crude living space, full of sleeping bags and furs, and the remnants of human garbage.

If nothing else, it confirmed these pirates had stolen the Interforce name, nothing else. She'd expected to find at least one chamber kept in their style, but even the least grungy was still unbearably messy. She walked inside it though, and studied the interior.

Very basic. Just a hole chopped out of the ice, with a single lamp giving a very dim light inside. There was a hammock with both ends pinned into the walls, a plastic box for storage, and in the corner, a round metal pipe with a cover, that was sunk down into the ice.

Jess grimaced in pure human reflex, at the thought of using that very primitive sanitary facility. She shook her head and went to the box, opening the top and looking inside. Her jaw tightened and she reached inside, picking up a set of creds, and a small plastic case she could see the glitter of chips through the top of. She tucked them into a pocket and sorted through the rest, mostly cans of stale looking biscuits and tea.

“And you gave us up for this?” She muttered. “Shithead.” She left the detritus where it was and moved on, going to the end of the chopped corridor and poking her head into what was apparently their main living chamber.

It contained nothing but a mixture of hacked together chairs and a surface frozen into the ice that was probably a table. Everything was strewn everywhere, and it occurred to her that whoever had killed the pirates had probably also taken whatever valuable items they found.

She pulled the case from her pocket and regarded it. Then she put it back and stood still, letting her head swing from left to right, committing the scene to memory. She turned and walked slowly back up the corridor, stopping to look inside all the chambers and duplicating the scan.

Techs had comp. Agents had eidetic memory that was inbred but also trained, to make record of things when comp wasn't available or practical. Jess knew she could have asked Dev to come back here with her scanner, but this would work as well, once she let them put the leads on and replayed her memories.

Not exactly as reliable, when you were up against discipline since there was always a chance you could forcefully misremember something, but in this case, it would do.

Jess left the chambers and went to a small rise of ice, jumping up onto it and repeating her slow review of the bigger cavern. The sea lions watched her curiously, but didn't seem inclined to do anything else and she hopped down after a minute and started towards the back tunnel.

So. Someone had found the pirates, and obliterated them. If that was the case, why not also destroy the carrier? That was a valuable transport despite it's age, and leaving it seemed off kilter to her. On the other hand, the carrier had been left intact, and so had the Interforce credentials – maybe it was a message to them?

To her? But how in the hell would they expect her to happen by here?

The precise blaster fire pretty much fingerprinted the other side. The question foremost in her mind though was, why? The pirates were doing their best to trash Interforce's reputation – so why would the other side object? Why weren't then, in fact, behind the whole scheme?

Wasn't really adding up. Jess picked her way among the bodies and edged around the sea lions, most of whom were sprawled asleep, strangely uncaring of her human presence among them. Motion caught her eye and she turned her head, to see one of the big animals ripping at one of the dead pirates, chewing a chunk of frozen flesh and blinking amiably at her.

Jess shrugged wryly. “Bon appetite.” She got up onto the ledge that led to the boat dock cavern, glad to leave the stench behind her as she entered the narrow passageway and thought about how to phrase her report to base.

Training camp compromised. Jess wondered when the last class had been held there? Probably not anytime in the recent pass, based on what she'd found. It had been a while since the last class graduated, after all. Jess emerged into the cavern and paused, spotting the carrier, now obviously powered, the engine cowling emitting steam into the air. Seated across from it was a big sea lion, watching with intelligent interest as the various control planes moved as Dev tested them. “Hey bubba.” She waved at the sea lion.

It barked at her.

Jess saw Dev's head turn in the window and spot her, and a moment later the hatch creaked open. With a sense of surreal normality she boarded the carrier, glancing around at the decrepit interior with a grimace. “Hey Devvie.”

“I”m glad you returned.” Dev said. “There are others approaching this area.”

“Uh oh.” Jess stripped out of her coat as she sealed the hatch, moving forward to look at the scan. “Maybe they're just looking for shelter. Storms about to come over the top of us.” She studied the readout. “Ident?”

“Not Interforce.” Dev said. “Preliminary comp indicates two RS25007 medium long range transports.”

“Bad guys.” Jess sighed. “Well let's stay put and quiet. See if they pass us by. There are a ton of caves in the area.” She leaned on the back of the chair Dev was sitting in. “They're heavy armed. We could take them out in our rig, but from the looks of this one it'll be enough for us just to fly.”

Dev nodded emphatic agreement. “The power packs are at only 10 percent effective. I don't know how much we can send to the weapons systems.”

“Definitely stay put.” Her partner gently blew in her ear. “Maybe we can find out what they're doing and earn us a bonus.”

Dev regarded the comp, then she turned her head slightly and looked up at Jess's profile. “Right now?”

Jess kissed her. “Not exactly right this minute.”

“Excellent.”

**

The storm finally subsided, and as far as Jess was concerned, that kinda sucked. Her body was all warm and sensually stimulated and she really wanted nothing more than to keep sharing that big, and rickety bare shelf she and Dev were perched on and to hell with the bastards outside.

Jess sighed, convinced she was likely losing her mind.

“Comp shows them moving.” Dev commented.

“Yeah, I know.” Her partner agreed. “Guess we better get our asses going, huh?”

Dev considered that. “Well, do you want to chase after them, or let them get away without seeing us?”

Jess made a deeply thoughtful noise in her throat. Then she surrendered to duty and got up, running her hands through her hair as she pondered the idea that coincidentally it seemed her bio alt companion was also losing her mind in the same kind of way.

Weird and odd and exciting and completely absorbing to the point she had to wonder if they weren't going to fly themselves right into an iceberg because of it and not even care.

Dev had gotten up and gone to the pilot's seat, perching on it as her hands started their disciplined dance over the controls, pausing only to hitch her jumpsuit back up onto her shoulders and fasten the catches Jess had so recently undone for her. She ignored the comms from the carrier, settling the buds connected to her own portable comp instead.

“This thing going to lift?” Jess went over and sat down on the raw rack provided for the weapons station. It poked her in the back with extreme discomfort and she seriously hoped Dev would not be doing any of her more extreme aerobatics before they could get back to their own carrier and her comfortable new bucket.

“I think so.” Dev looked back over her shoulder. “Should we try?”

Jess sighed and waved her hand. “Go for it. Might as well find out inside the damn cave. If we crash land at least I can swim.”

“I can sort of swim.” Dev settled her hands and feet on the controls and triggered the lifting jets. With a drunken stagger, the craft lifted up off the ice, skewing sideways before she got enough thruster control to steady their flight. “Hm.” She made some adjustments. “I don't remember this device looking so unstable when it attacked us.”

Jess was holding on tight to her seat, peering up at her partner. “That didn't sound good.” She ventured. 'I was only halfway joking about the whole swimming thing. If this is going to take a dive, put it back down.”

“I find it very hard to understand how someone would keep a carrier in this type of condition when they expect it to fly.” Dev's voice took on as much of a disapproving tone as she was capable of. “It's just not correct.” She made another adjustment and the carrier leveled out, the engines producing a more normal rumble. “Hmph.”

“Wrencher.” Jess chuckled softly. “Bet you cant wait to get back to our bus.”

“Absolutely.” Dev said, working hard to keep the carrier going in a correct direction. “Very much looking forward to it.” She aimed the vehicle at the entrance to the docking cavern, watching the scan closely as they emerged into the free air, the rain still coming down and coating the bay in a deep gray mist.

The gray masked them, and against the rough water, the carrier was almost invisible. Dev hovered a moment, getting a feel for the directional jets before she moved cautiously out over the ruffled surface, glancing in the rear scan to find nothing but ice behind them half obscured with rain.

She took a deep breath and settled into her seat, keeping low to the water as the scan picked up the two transports rising on the far side of the bay.

“Jess.” A touch on her back made her twitch a little, but then Jess was leaning on the console next to her. “There they are.”

“There they are.” Jess repeated. “And what they are, is the bad guy's stock transports. What in the hell are they doing up here?” She studied the profiles. Both were about as wide as the old carrier they were in, and twice as long, designed to hold cargo or people on long haul voyages.

Lightly armed. Jess searched the sides of them for mods, and found only the standard guns forward, no unusual profile that might hide the kind of heavy weaponry they had on their own rig.

She checked the nav, pondering the possibility the damn things were just lost. They were in the no man's land, after all, just the wrong side of the continental shelf that marked the start of her side's territory.

Dev eased the carrier forward, using the craggy islands in the middle of the bay and the mist to hide their presence. She suspected the enemy had scan too, but why they hadn't reacted to it by now was a mystery to her. She could see them lifting up cautiously, and then she realized why they hadn't seen them as the side of the forward one cleared the edge of the island and they could fully see them.. “Jess, look.”

Jess was busy looking. “Took a hit.” She studied the hole in the side of the transport. “From one of ours. That's a sigma twelve land based.” She tapped something into the portable comp, and then leaned on the console again. “Wonder which base they came close enough to for that.” She drummed her fingers on the console. “They stray too close to Sidney?”

Dev slid closer, as the two transports hovered, the one that was damaged moving around as though testing stabilizers. Given the gaping hole in the side, she understood that, and now that she was looking for it, the other transport was missing a directional tail fin. “They are both damaged.”

“Sure are.” Jess said. “Now I know why they didn't look for us. They were hiding to save their skins.”

They were both looking at the hole when a flutter of motion turned the gap from black to white to black again, and then they could see bodies struggling.

“What in the hell?” Jess leaned further. “Get that on comp.”

Dev held the carrier steady and directed the portable scanner at the action, as the fight continued for a brief moment, before the transport abruptly heeled over and then pitched skyward, it's engines revving as it sped off. The second craft bolted after it, leaving them in their old, stolen rig behind.

“W.. “ Jess bit down the urge to chase them. “Let's get our bus.” She said. “Something's going on.” She pushed off the boards and headed back to her seat.

Dev nodded. “Yes.” She agreed. “Let me recalibrate this for nav and.. “ She paused, blinking at the screen. Then she made an adjustment and peered at the readout. “Jess.”

Hearing the tension, Jess swerved back towards her and peered over her shoulder, as Dev manipulated the image on the screen and set it to maximum zoom.

The hole in the transport abruptly resolved, and the faint, far off struggling figures sharpened into recognizable forms. Two of the bad guys, one that she knew, and a third that made Dev suck in her breath in shock. “Doctor Dan!”

Then all three disappeared and the transport started moving, the image ending in the comp.

Jess straightened up, for a long moment completely still and silent Then she exhaled. “Bet I know what that recalls' about.” She said, grimly. “They must have gotten to Base 10.”

Dev felt stunned. “They've got Doctor Dan!” She said. “They were hitting him!”

Jess picked up the scan and replayed it. “He was hitting them back.” She remarked dryly “C”mon, Dev. Let's get our rig and get back to base. See what they want to do about it.”

Dev put her hands on the controls again, but slowly. “We're not going to go help him?” She asked, in a soft, distressed voice. “Jess!”

“Not in this thing.” Jess nudged her. “Get moving. We need to get an encrypt and decent guns.” She went back and took her seat as she felt the carrier lift and start to speed up. “Son of a bitch. Did they grab him from Base 10 or was it an inside job?”

Incredible. The first attempt had seemed audacious, but they'd turned it back and she figured they put a bigger guard on.

Or did they? Could it be part of the leak? Jess glanced up at the window and saw Dev's expression, a mixture of anxiety and fear that surprised her a little. “They took him for a reason, Dev. They won't hurt him at least until they get him back.” She offered.

“We should help him.” Dev said, quietly. “He's a good person.”

“We might end up doing that when we get back to base. Bain will tell us what he wants us to do.” Jess said. “We might have been recalled specifically for that.”

Dev's eyes met hers in the reflection of the curved window. “Why do we have to wait, though, if they want us to do that? Wont' that take a lot of time, going back there?” She asked. “Won't they get away? What if they hurt him?”

“What if... Dev, we have to go back because they recalled us.” Jess said. “It's a rule. We don't obey it they'll send someone out to take us down. That won't help him either.”

Her partner was silent for a long moment. “I see.” She nodded faintly. “I understand what that means. I just wish we could talk to them and see if they would let us go.” She paused, then cleared her throat. “Or not ask them and go anyway.”

Jess felt a little dumbfounded. The last thing she expected her biological alternative, born and live by the law partner to be suggesting was a deliberate breaking of the rules. “Um.” She sorted through her options. “I said maybe we could get an encrypt session back on our bus, and maybe.. hey maybe when we call in they'll send us back for him.”

That seemed to cheer Dev up a little. “You think they would do that?” She pushed the throttles forward a little, getting the lumbering craft to speed up. “I”m sure they'd want us to go help Doctor Dan.”

Would they? Jess fastened the bare straps of the seat around her. She'd gotten a sense that Bain and he were friends, but in the corps friends were negotiable currency. Would Bain use him if he had to? Jess guessed that yes, he would. That was one of their skills, after all.

No sentimentality. You just achieved your goals, and there was nothing personal involved. Jess glanced up to find Dev still watching her in the reflection, a look of worried trust on her face.

Yeah. Nothing personal. Jess sighed and rubbed her temples.

**

Hard to say which one of them was more relieved when they came around the last bend of ice in the middle of a sleet storm and saw the iceberg that housed the fisherman's main docking facility. The place was deserted, according to the scanner which picked up only the residual markers of their carrier itself.

Dev set the old carrier down outside on the top of the ice sheet, and shut it down as quickly as she could. The engine pods had almost stopped generating power, and though she hadn't wanted to bother Jess with it, since her partner seemed to be thinking hard, their environmental systems had shut down a short time before.

She released her restraints and put on her jacket, fastening the catches as Jess opened the hatch and ducked a face-full of stinging sleet.

“Put your hood up.” Jess seated her blaster and extended her crampons, turning her back to the wind as she got out of the decrepit vessel and fastened the chest straps on her pack. “Hurry up Dev. Storm's getting worse.”

Freaking storms. Dev was developing a true dislike for them, since they seemed to always be preventing them from getting somewhere they needed to be. She got her pack on and followed Jess, sucking in a shocked breath as the icy wind blasted her.

She grabbed the hatchway and held on, as she was buffeted hard, then felt a grip on her arm and then Jess was pressed up against her. “Wow.”

“Yeah.” Jess locked arms with her and they moved cautiously along the ice, bending over to keep a lower profile against the wind. “Stay down. If it shifts and blows us into the water, we're screwed.”

Dev didn't even bother wondering what that meant. “Okay.” She agreed, as she took a firm hold on her partner and concentrated on keeping on her feet as they inched their way down the ice wall towards the water.

She was disturbed and upset. But she knew concentrating on that and not on climbing would likely end up with her being in extreme discomfort and so somehow she put her upset aside for a while and trusted in Jess to know what was best for them.

She was a natural born, after all.

“Easy.” Jess ducked, as a wave crashed against the wall and doused them both. “Oh crap.”

Brr. Dev found words driven right out of her by the chill. She blinked hard to remove the seawater from her eyes and then grabbed for Jess as another wave caught her and almost pulled her off the wall. She gripped a crack in the ice with one hand, and hauled her partner back with the other, feeling the sting of the sleet against her skin.

Highly discomforting.

“Thanks.” Jess got her grip on the ice back and glanced at her. “Let's get our asses down from here.” She moved faster, hopping over some icicles and starting downward with Dev right behind her. They reached the base of the iceberg just as rumbling peal of thunder vibrated through them and shivered loose a chunk of the ice wall.

“Jess!” Dev caught it out of the corner of her eye and bolted forward, thumping into the taller woman and sending her hopping forward as the ice crashed down behind them and dusted the with sharp, cold particles. “Oh!”

Jess went with the motion, hurdling the last chunks of ice and bolting into the ice cavern hidden by the curve of the burg. “Dev!” She twisted around, trying to catch sight of her tech. “Hey!”

“Right here.” The bio alt skidded in after her, crashing into the wall as they were abruptly protected from the vicious weather. “Wow.”

“Wow.” Jess repeated, shaking herself. She pressed back against the wall and cautiously peered past the curve of it, wary even though the scan had marked it empty. You never could tell, after all. Sometimes the ice made comp crazy, and you could find yourself on the wrong end of a blaster that way.

But there were no boats in the dock, and the inside of the big cavern was, in fact, empty. Jess relaxed a little and moved in further, running her eyes over the carrier parked on the rear deck. “Glad to see that thing.”

“Me too.” Dev said, quietly.

They walked quickly across the frozen floor and up the ramp to the back area, Jess striding ahead quickly and touching the hatch pad on the side of their rig.

The hatch opened and the ramp extended, welcoming them with a scent of fresh new components and silicone. Jess waited for Dev to slip past her and then she closed the hatch, sealing them into a small bit of peace and quiet and safety. She went over and stowed her pack, then went to her seat and dropped into it. “Ugh.”

Dev got her own pack into it's holding position and stripped out of her heavy outside jacket. She hung it on the back of her pilots chair then sat down herself, very glad to feel the seat conform to her and swivel into position. It felt very good to be back in this space, and she took a moment to savor it before she faced the consoles and contemplated starting every thing up. “Should we call the base?”

She looked in the mirror when Jess didn't answer, finding her partner peering up at the ceiling with her hands clasped over her stomach. “Jess? Maybe they'll tell us to go help Doctor Dan.”

Jess got up and walked over, taking a seat on the ground next to Dev's chair. “They won't tell us that.” She said, quietly. “They would already have sent us.” She clasped her hands together, her long fingers twisting slightly. “Dev, we have to go back to base.”

Dev exhaled. “What if they hurt him?” She asked, in a soft voice. “You said he was a friend.. that he was part of Interforce, didn't you? Wouldn’t they want you to help?” She leaned forward and put her hand on Jess's wrist.”Why wouldn’t they tell us to go help him?”

Jess sighed. “It's not that simple, Dev.” She said. “They recalled us. That means they need us there. It might have something to do with them getting him out. They could have really damaged the citadel. People there could need help too.”

Dev fell silent. “I see.” She finally murmured.

“So soon as it stops sleeting and the winds drop, we'll get going.” Jess said. “Maybe... maybe when we get back there, I can talk to Bain. See if he'll let me take a squad out.” She watched Dev's face, seeing the sadness of understanding there. She knew she wasn't fooling her partner .”Or maybe he won't, but we need to go back.” She acknowledged the point.

Dev knew. If they waited even another little while, there would be no tracking the transports and she would never see Doctor Dan again. She knew it, and looking into Jess's pale eyes, she knew her partner knew it too. She also knew Jess didn't owe her any explanation and that her insistence was giving her a lot of discomfort.

It made her very unhappy.

Jess put a hand on her knee. Dev looked up to find an unexpected compassion in her partner's eyes, and that made her feel even more unhappy. “I”m sorry.”

“Sokay.” Jess rubbed her knee with the side of her thumb. “He's a friend. It's tough.”

“Yes.”

“I know.” Jess said, looking away. “After my father retired, he kept low key as hell, but one day.. “ She exhaled “They got him. They took him. My mother called me and I went to ops and..” She stopped talking. “I argued with them and that's what got me four zaps.”

Dev covered Jess's hand with her own, feeling a lot of discomfort both at her own upset and now at her partners. “Oh Jess.”

“They sent his body back in pieces.” Jess concluded. “So it didn't help either of us.”

Dev felt extreme discomfort, unsure of what to say.

“So I get it, Dev.” Jess raised her eyes. “But if we break this rule, I'll get a lot more than four, and you'll end up going back topside.”

Dev felt her heart give a double thump. “What?” She stammered.

“They’ll wash you out.” Jess said. “They won't deal with a tech who breaks ranks.. breaks rules.” She saw Dev's eyes grow round and wide with horror. “They'll cancel your contract.”

Back to the creche? Dev's mouth went dry and she knew a fear of a totally different kind. Back to the creche, and have to leave Jess?

Go back to being just one of the many?

Dev found out right at that moment just how human she actually was as she was flooded with an intense wash of utter self interest that nearly made her faint. . “I see.” She took a breath and released it. “Okay. I understand.” Her eyes lifted to Jess's. “I don't want that to happen.”

“No.”

“I don't want to leave you.” The bio alt added, in a very small voice.

“No.” Jess repeated softly. “No I don't want that either.”

They both looked at each other, and at the same time, sighed. Dev licked her lips and swallowed. “I don't like thinking about this.”

Jess grimaced a little. “Me either.” She got up and went to the dispenser, glancing outside. The sleet was still coming down and she could see huge rollers crashing against the iceberg's entrance. “Let's get something hot into us.”

The blond woman swiveled around back to the controls, and started doing her preflight checks. The first thing she checked was the recorder, scanning it quickly to determine if anyone had approached the carrier.

They hadn't. She was glad. The systems were all as she'd left them, power levels were normal, everything seemed fine. Except for her. Dev spared a hand off the console to rub the bridge of her nose, hoping her stomach upset would go away before it overwhelmed her.

She checked comms, but other than the forwarded recall, there was nothing in storage. Still feeling a lot of discomfort, she started turning up systems, bringing the consoles online and spooling up the engines. Jess's words kept echoing in her head, though, and she felt her breathing tighten every time she thought about going topside.

It felt even worse than thinking about Doctor Dan.

Something in her knew that was selfish, but she was helpless against the chill in her guts even thinking about going back to her sterile little pod, and seeing the looks from everyone up there. Back to being a dev unit. Just another failed idea.

Oh. Ugh. And maybe... without Doctor Dan?

A shiver worked down her back. Dev forced herself to set aside her worry and focus on her work. Her work was important, and she knew Jess was counting on her to get them home.

Home. Dev swallowed hard and got everything online, slipping her ear cups on and tuning comms to listen. The external sensors of the carrier brought her the sound of the storm, and the crackling of ice and she nearly jumped when Jess very gently curled her hand around a warm cup. “Oh!”

“Take it easy.” Jess patted her on the back. “Don't freak out on me, okay?”

Dev took a sip of the hot liquid. “I won't.” She said. “I don't even know what a freak is, much less how to get one out.” She exhaled slowly. “I hope the storm stops soon. I don't want us to get in trouble.”

“It's gonna be fine, Dev.” Jess said. “We'll work it all out when we get back. We don't.. I don't think we have enough information to know what's going on anyway.”

“Okay.”

Jess let her hands drop onto Dev's shoulders, but she remained quiet. She watched the ruffled water as she started up an absent, gentle massage, listening to her partner swallow. As she felt her own breathing come under control, the tension under her fingertips relaxed.

Dev glanced at the comp. “I think met is showing a break.” She said. “Should we go?”

“Go.” Jess said, releasing her and returning to her console, dropping into her seat and fastening the body restraints as she felt the rumble of the engines as the power to them increased. She reached over and picked up her own tea cup, leaning back as the landing jets fired and they started to move.

She had a little time, now. Time for them to fly from where they were to the base, a long flight since they wouldn’t be stopping at Quebec to break it.

Time for her to think, and to consider things. Review all the comp. “Want a snack, Dev? I'll fire something up once we get clear of the ice.”

There was a long moment's silence, then her pilot cleared her throat. “I'm not really hungry, thank you.”

Jess sighed and closed her eyes. Plenty of time to deal with her freaking out tech. “Yeah me either.”

Maybe too much time.

**

It was dark and there was another storm. Dev blinked and rubbed her eyes, focusing hard on the forward scan that filled in details of their path she couldn't see through the window. Her shoulders were tense, and she was tired, but she'd kept quite the last few hours while Jess worked over the comp in her station.

A glance in the mirror showed her partner leaning forward, staring at the comp pad with her elbows resting on her knees and her chin braced on her fists, a perceptible furrow creasing her forehead.

Dev went back to her controls, flexing her hands a little as she checked the course. She had the carrier on autonav, but the weather was shoving them around a lot, and she didn't want to stray too far from the throttles.

Deciding they were on safe course for the moment, though, she triggered the release on her strapping and stood up, stretching her body out as she walked quietly over to the drink dispenser.

“How's met?” Jess asked, after a moment.

“We are going around the edge of a storm.” Dev answered promptly, as she selected a beverage and watched it be assembled. “I think once we get past it our flight will be smoother.”

“Anything on comms?”

“No.” Dev took her cup and turned, leaning against the console and regarding her partner. “Just two nav beacons on autonomous.”

Jess leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head. “That's strange.” She said. “Should be some chatter.” She regarded Dev's slim form, encased in it's lined jumpsuit. “Do an all scan and see if you pick anything up. At the least, Northern should be checking in – we're not far from there.”

Dev nodded, “I will.” She said. “Do you think someone saw or heard the other machine blowing up?”

Jess's lips tensed into a smile. “You'd think, huh? That old training cave is inside Northern's scan range. I should get them on comms and tell them I took care of their pirate problem for them.”

“I think they will be surprised.”

“I think you're right.” Jess pulled a pad over and synced comms to her station. She put her headset on and tapped out a code, setting the comms channel to scan the local bandwidths. “Let's see if they have a beacon out.”

Dev went back to her seat, but didn't take it. She stood by her chair watching the consoles, giving her back a chance to straighten and lose it's stiffness. She could feel the rumble of the carrier's engines through the soles of her boots, and she resisted the urge to close her eyes.

She was still upset, and still worried about Doctor Dan. But she was also tired, and looking forward to getting back to the citadel. Maybe Jess was right, and they had more information about what had happened, and then they could figure out what to do about it.

Maybe they were already doing something about it – she thought maybe the man Bain might have sent someone out already, to try and help, or at least find out where they were taking him.

She hoped so. Maybe by the time they got back to the citadel, it would be over and Doctor Dan would be safe. Dev leaned against the front console and looked out into the darkness. It would be nice to get just some time to rest and sleep, she reasoned, in the comfortable bed in her quarters.

“Huh.”

Dev turned, and saw the frown on Jess's face. “What's wrong?”

“Not getting anything on scan.” Jess muttered. “Not even a listening beacon.”

'What does that mean?”

Jess folded her arms over her chest. “I'm not sure.” She admitted. “It could just be met interference. Happens sometimes, or maybe the rig at Northern got knocked offline. That happens sometimes too.” Her eyes flicked over the pad. “I don't want to send a squirt out – it'll ident us.”

Dev set her cup into it's holder and walked back over to where her partner was sitting, coming round the side of the weapons console and looking at the comms display Jess had up. The spectrum was empty, that she could see herself, without even the background scatter she was used to flickering once in a while. “That is quiet.”

“Too quiet.” Jess said. Then she exhaled and pulled the pad over, bringing up the control surface and keying in an encrypted data channel. “I didn't really want to do this.”

Dev just watched quietly, one hand on the back of Jess's seat, as she finished setting up the call request and initiated it. She pressed her ear cup a little more firmly and concentrated, as they waited for a response.

For a very long moment there was nothing. Then a soft burble sounded and the comms link went from pulsing to green. “Ten, ten.” Jess said.

“Ack.” The response came back.

“Inbound, passed North. No sig.” Jess reported.

“Ack.” The response repeated. “Standby.”

Jess settled back in her seat. “Least we got a response.” She remarked. “I wonder if they heard something.”

“Drake.”

The voice coming back startled both of them, and made Jess lean forward. “Here, sir.” She started moving her knee in a nervous motion.

“Don't bother with North.” Bain said. “Where the hell have you been?”

“As far as Market Island, sir. Had to transfer back via boat, steal a pirate's old carrier, blow that up, get my bus back, and now we're inbound.” Jess said, succinctly. “Situation?”

“Just get here as soon as you can, Drake.” Bain said. “We've got trouble.”

Jess felt a mixture of excitement and pleasure, along with a tinge of apprehension. “Ack.” She fell back into battle speech.

“Tell him about Doctor Dan?” Dev whispered, anxiously watching her face.

Jess hesitated, then triggered the comms again. “Sir.”

“Drake?”

“We spotted two black trans outbound with battle damage.”

Now the silence was on the other end. “Ah.” Bain finally said. “Interesting coincidence.”

Jess and Dev exchanged looks. “I'll squirt the comp.” Jess said, when the silence continued. “We saw activity.”

“Do not bother, Drake. Just get here.” Bain said. “Out.”

Jess studied the closed channel for a moment, then she reached up and canceled the subcarrier. “So.”

Dev went back to her area and sat down in her pilot's chair, triggering the restraints. She leaned forward into flight position, and ran her eyes over the controls, trying hard not to throw up her recently drunk tea. “So I guess you were correct.” She said, after a minute. “They wouldn’t send us.”

“No I figured they wouldn't” Jess answered quietly. “They knew what my vector was. They'd have rerouted us when they sent the recall.”

“I see.”

“Sorry, Dev.”

“It's all right.” Dev said, after a bit.

Jess got up and came over, sitting down on the carrier deck next to her chair and leaning back against the console. She extended her long legs out and sighed. “Let's wait until we get back there and find out what happened.” She said. “I know I keep saying that, but I don't know what else to tell you.”

Dev glanced down at her. “It really is okay.” She said. “I just remembered something that Doctor Dan once told me. He said it was so important to get all the facts first, before you do something because, for example, if you're thinking of walking out a door, it would be very helpful to know first if there was vacuum outside.”

Her partner chuckled softly. “Yeah.” She acknowledged. “It's a hoary old saying in the corps. Know what teeth are in the mouth you're sticking your hand into.” She reached over and put her hand on Dev's calf. “Glad you get that.”

Dev did get it. She wasn't entirely sure she agreed with it, but she understood that she had very few options to do anything else. One of the other things she'd learned from Doctor Dan was patience, and now she knew she had to be patient and wait to see what would happen.

“Want some rations?” Her partner asked. “We've got another twelve to the base.”

“Yes.” Dev said. “But maybe we could get some rest. My eyes are bothering me.” She admitted. “We're past the storm now and met's clear the rest of the way.”

Jess smiled more easily. “In that case, let me get the bunks set up. Chances are we don't get any downtime when we get back so we'll take advantage of some good weather now.” She got up and patted Dev's shoulder, heading back to the rear of the carrier to put the sleep platform in place.

She wasn't sure if she should feel anxious or not. The fact they'd gotten Bain on the wire as soon as she called in seemed like it was a good thing, but he'd sounded pissed off about her taking so much time to get back. She pulled the shelf down into place, and popped the doors on the sleep bag storage, tugging the two plush bags out and sliding them into place.

Well, she'd been halfway across the planet on a mission. Jess patted the two bags and turned to rummage in the ration case when she stopped, staring into it as her mind registered what she was doing. She looked over at Dev, who was taking readings and adjusting knobs, pretty much what a tech was supposed to do, but here she was not only catering to her partner but enjoying doing so.

What the hell?

“Thank you.” Dev had joined her. “Should I get you some tea?”

“Um.” Jess pulled out two ration kits and handed her one. “Yeah, sure.. ah. Thanks.” She sat down on one of the fold out stools and opened her meal. It was fish rolls and mushroom cakes, and just looking at it felt like being back in the citadel. “That stuff on the boat was better than most of this.”

Dev was seated next to her, busy with her own box. “Do you not like it?” She took a bite of the fish roll. “I think it's fine. A lot better that some of the things we had in the creche.” She felt a sense of anxiety thinking about that suddenly, a mental image of being back there, at those tables, looking at those sterile trays coming up into her mind. “The food on the boat was good too, but the best thing was those shrimps. “

“In Quebec?”

“Yes.”

It seemed so long ago. Jess smiled, and bit into her fish roll. “We'll get back there again.” She said. “Y'know they have a winter festival in a month or two. We can go for that. Most of the citadel does.”

“Is that like a party?”

“A little.” Jess felt herself relaxing. “But it's more fun.”

Dev remained quiet for a while while she ate. “I think I'd like that very much.” She finally said, when they were almost finished. “I hope we get a chance to do it.”

“We will. I promise.” Jess put her wrapping away in the recycling bin and unzipped her jumpsuit, stripping it off and letting it hang from her waist. She sat down on the edge of the sleeping platform and pulled the aid kit from the drawer underneath it, removing a cleaning pad and wiping off the almost healed wound on her shoulder.

Dev put her wrappings away and finished her tea, setting the cup into the holder and walking over to the sleeping shelf. She pulled the catches down on her lined over-suit and took it off, feeling a sense of slight chill as she folded it up and tucked it neatly into one of the two lockers built into the carrier wall.

That left her in her under-suit, and she sat down on the shelf, letting her legs dangle as she waited for Jess to finish. “Your cut is almost gone.”

“Yeah.” Jess had smeared some antiseptic cream on the jagged line. “Just don't like to take chances, specially after that damn stab in the back.”

Dev reached out and stroked her arm, tracing the burned in patterns. “Jess, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Jess eyed her partner.

“Can I get one of these, when we get back?”

Jess stopped moving. “One of what.. one of these?” She pointed at her markings, watching her partner nod. “You don't have to do that, Dev. Techs don't.”

“I know. You said that.” Dev said, in a calm voice “But... if they do end up sending me back I would like to have one, so I can remember it.” She looked away. “And remember you.”

Jess merely sat there, stunned. Both by the bio alt's words and by the gut wrenching upset they stirred in her. She opened her mouth to deny the possibility and then stopped, finding herself unwilling to lie to her partner. Or to herself for that matter.

She let her hand fall and exhaled. “Yeah, okay. If you really want one I'll do it for you.” She said. “Give you one for the last run we did, and this one even though we didn't finish it out.”

Dev nodded in what looked like relief. “Thank you.” She said. “I'm sorry if that caused you discomfort.”

Jess finished her tending. “Yeah well it's gonna cause me a lot more discomfort if they try to send you back because they're going to have to go through me to do it.” She pulled up her under-suit and stripped out of the jumpsuit, draping it over the bars and hoisting herself up onto the sleeping platform next to Dev. “Discomfort to the point of blowing my head off. Lay down. Let's get some rest.”

The lights dimmed as they both settled down next to each other, the soft rumble of the engines sending a rhythmic vibration through them. Jess folded her hands over her stomach and looked up at the overhead, visible in the dim lighting as a blur of gray dark weave.

After a few minutes she turned her head, to see Dev curled up on her side, head resting on her arm, eyes closed. As she watched the bio alt's face, those eyes opened and met hers. She felt like a physical thing the sadness there, and she reached out to put her hand on Dev's arm. “We'll be okay, Dev.”

Dev smiled, and put her fingers over Jess's, letting her eyes close again.

Jess closed her own eyes and let her mind go still, only to be nudged by a memory that surprised her. Her father, in one of the few, last meetings they'd had before he'd been taken by the other side when he'd joined her for an unexpected dinner, at the citadel.

She hadn't even know he was visiting. He had just shown up t the entrance to her quarters that night and she'd been so happy to see him she hadn't thought to ask him why.

Plain dinner, just talk about home, and family, and her progress in the corps. She'd said something about them, and us, and her father had swirled his drink in his cup and sipped it, watching her over it's rim.

“Jesslyn. Those are powerful words, us and them.” He'd told her. “Be careful. One day you might find yourself to be the us, and this.. “ He'd circled his finger to include the citadel. “Might be them.”

She hadn't understood then. But now, lying here in the dim light, she suddenly did because when she'd just said 'We'll be okay.” Her and Dev had been we, and Interforce had somehow, become them.

Jess wished, now, that she'd asked him if he'd ever had that happen. She knew he hadn't met their mother until after he retired, but something somehow, now in her memory told her there had been a personal knowledge there

Hm.

**

Dev took the controls as they came within range of the citadel. From the outside, the huge cliffside looked unharmed, and in the pale gray light of midday there was little action to be seen around it. “Control, this is BR27006, inbound.” She enunciated carefully into the comms, once short range beam had come up.

“BR27006, acknowledge.” Control came back in response. “Stand by for deck open.”

“Sounds normal.” Jess commented, from her fully strapped down and activated position. She had her hands on the weapons controls and the guns had power, but were for the moment quiescent.

Having little to compare it against, Dev just nodded. She curved the carrier around the craggy peak and then slowed to hover, as the hanger roof started to peel back.

She felt well, and rested. They had slept almost all the way back, and she'd woken to find herself tucked into Jess's arms which had surprised her but in a very good way.

It wasn't even raining. Hadn't been for several hours, and Dev wondered if they might have a minute or two to go to that little shelf and look out at the sea.

The roof finished retracting, and Dev tipped the carrier forward a little, inspecting her path before she settled lower and engaged the landing jets. “We're entering the bay.”

She saw the weapons active indicators switch off, as she gently moved lower into the cavern, descending through the rings of lights. “Control, this is BR27006 requesting a landing pad.”

“Stand by, BR27006.”

Dev could see a lot of activity around the cavern, there were at least ten carriers on pads, and four more in tech prep, more than she'd seen there before.

“BR27006, please land pad 67, stay to taxi path.”

“Acknowledged.” The bio alt located the slot and boosted a little, sliding over and then descending to the pad where she could see a tech team waiting for them. She let the carrier down lightly and then cut the jets, shunting power back from the engines to the battery store.

Despite how discomfiting it all was, she was glad to be back in the citadel. There was a safety there that made certain parts of her relax having the solid walls around them. “Landed.”

“Felt it.” Jess shut down her station and released her restraints. “Send the logs and let's get our gear off.”

Dev waited for the hookup to latch on, and the lights went out briefly as they switched to ground power. She ran through the shutdown process and saw from the corner of her eye the bio alt crew coming in to service them. No foam spray this time, just quiet, serious faces intent on the external ports and the engine servicing.

“Bet they're glad we brought it back in one piece this time.” Jess chuckled.

“Almost. There is some damage to the rear, and one side.” Dev said, mournfully. “But not like last time.” She saw the incoming log request and set up the sync, then shut the comp down. “Done.”

Jess was standing in the rear, stuffing things in her pack. “Busy outside.”

“Very.” Dev had carefully finished putting her things away and swung her pack to her back, cinching the straps tight and walking back to join her partner. “Okay to open the hatch?”

“Sure.” Jess got her pack closed and ran one final check on the weapons rack, making sure all the portables were shut down. She got behind Dev as the hatch opened, blinking a little at the flood of mechanical chaos that flooded in. “Wow.”

A speaker clicked on overhead. “Drake, NM-Dev-1, to debrief, urgent.”

“Ah.” Jess felt paradoxically relieved. “Let's go, Devvie.” She followed the bio alt down the ramp and onto the walkway, lifting a hand to return the greeting of some of the senior mechs. “Let's find out what the hell's going on.”

Dev paused and stepped a little to the side to let Jess get ahead of her, and then she followed down the hall and through the gateway into the security passage that led to the debrief rooms. There was no one else heading that way, and they didn't meet anyone.

Jess paused before the door and put her hand on the pad. “Drake, NM-Dev-1 for debrief.”

The door slid open immediately and they went inside. A fraction of a second later, Stephen Bock and Bain entered from the other door, both looking harried and upset.

“Stephen.” Jess greeted their supervisor. “Sir.” She gave Bain a nod, as she sat down in one of the comfortable chairs. “Sorry it took us so long to get back here. We were far outland.”

“So you said.” Bain leaned against the table. “Glad you are finally back.” He turned his attention to Dev. “And you too, my dear.”

“Sir.” Dev replied briefly, folding her hands on the table.

Bock sat down and rubbed his temples. “Where do I start.”

“Agent Drake already knows part of the matter.” Bain said. “Since she saw the transports, and I assume by the way she said it, the unwilling passenger aboard.”

“It's in the comp.” Jess said. “But yes, we saw Doctor Kurok.”

Bain studied her. “And you didn't go after them?”

Jess leaned back in her seat. “We weren't in our carrier at the time.” She said. “We were in an old rig being used by ice pirates to give Interforce a bad name. Wouldn't have lasted five minutes in chasing them.”

Both men blinked at her.

“Ice pirates?” Stephen Bock repeated. “We got a squirt about that from Northern. Said you'd gone crazy looking for ice pirates in the Northlands.”

“So crazy I found them.” Jess said, in a mild voice. “More to the point, they found me, attacking a fishing craft halfway through no man's land.”

They both blinked again.

“I added the information to the comp transfer.” Dev spoke up for the first time. “I got it on the portable scanner.”

Bain and Bock looked at each other. “This rather changes matters.” Bain said cryptically. “Drake, how close did you get to target?”

“We'd just left Market Island when we were recalled.” Jess said. “So probably.. six hours?”

“Shit.” Bock cursed. “It was a double cross.”

Jess looked from him to Bain. “Mind telling us what's going on?” She asked. “We were damn close to terminus on this.” She indicated the screen. “Roll comp. See for yourself.”

Bain grunted and sat down. “As Bock here said, where to start.”

“I don't even think the beginning will help.” Bock covered his eyes with one hand. “Shit.”

**

Dev regarded the stone wall in her shower, the slate dark from the water she was standing in the path of. It felt wonderful, hot and mineral scented as it warmed her body and rinsed all the travel stains off her. She soaped herself clean and rinsed off, then shut the water down and got out to dry herself.

She put on fresh underthings and a clean off-shift jumpsuit and settled behind her workspace, regarding her quarters and thinking about everything she'd just learned.

The transports had been an envoy from the other side coming to talk – a truce, caused by the destruction she and Jess had caused. Scientists, they had met with Bain, and Doctor Dan too, and Doctor Dan had agreed to go with them, along with some other Interforce people to a place to sit and talk, in a neutral area.

So Jess had been right. Exactly right when she had said they didn't know everything.

They had been recalled along with all the other teams so that nothing bad would happen while they were talking. Dev understood that well, and Jess had nodded, too. That would have put the people talking in danger, and if they had reacted then maybe Doctor Dan and the others would have been killed.

So Jess had been doubly right.

But then they had gotten a message, short and desperate, saying it was all wrong, and Doctor Dan and the others were being taken back to the bad guys place.

And then the people at North Base had tried to stop them.

They didn't know what happened there, but no communication had been had from that base since.

Jess had been very angry at all of them, asking how they could have believed the other side wanted a truce? Bain had just said sometimes you have to take a chance.

Take a chance? Dev exhaled. So now Doctor Dan, and the people from Interforce were somewhere being held and they couldn't do anything about it because everyone thought they would be hurt if they tried to get them back.

So they were trying to figure out what to do, and that's also why they hadn't just sent them after the transports.

It would have been very wrong for them to chase the transports. Dev felt a little humble, remembering what she'd thought about letting them go, and why they hadn't just gone to help.

But all the teams were here now and surely, they would make a plan, and just as surely, that plan would include her and Jess because Bain had even said they had been waiting for the to get back to decide what they were going to do about it. The man Bock had said it was a shame they'd recalled them in fact, because if they had finished their mission, they would have something to bargain with them with and now they really didn't.

Bain said he thought the whole thing was to get them to stop Jess from her mission, and that Jess should be very flattered because they had turned over half the earth in the assumption that she'd have been successful.

Jess did seem happy about that, in a reserved kind of way. Dev had just found herself wondering why Doctor Dan had decided to go with them. He was smart. Wouldn't he have realized how unusual the request was?

Dev left off thinking for a while and got up, going to her dispenser and retrieving some kack and a package of the small seaweed crackers. She took them up to her relaxation area and lay down on the couch, very glad to have a few minutes just to sit quietly and what was it Jess had called it? Decompress.

Which was really strange because where she came from, decompression was definitely not something anyone would find relaxing.

She sipped her drink and opened her crackers, nibbling on them and stretching her body out along the comfortable couch with a sense of contentment. Jess had told her she had some time before they would be expected to do anything else – she was doing something, and said maybe when she finished they would go get some rad.

But right now, she could just lay back and have her crackers and be glad she wasn't having to drive something. She paused as she heard sounds in the next room, the door closing and two voices.

Jess's, of course, and she thought the other one might be Jason.

Maybe Jess was getting her mark. Dev considered that, and hoped her partner would remember that she'd asked to get one too. She wasn't sure Jess really approved of it, but the more she thought about it, the more she really wanted one. If nothing, nothing else, if she ended up going back to the creche for sure she'd be the only one there with one.

Unique. Dev regarded the ceiling. Unique even if they made another of her set, because that other Dev wouldn't have this mark. Only she would have it and she wanted that.

She faintly heard Jess laugh, and the male voice raise in exasperation. Then she pulled her book from her jumpsuit pocket and opened it up, bracing it against one upraised knee as she sipped her drink and started to read.

After a few pages, her comms beeped. Surprised, Dev regarded the small, embedded unit, then she put her cup down and reached over to trigger it. “Hello.”

“Ah, hello, is that Dev?”

“Yes.” Dev responded. “Clint?”

“Yeah, yea, it's Clint. I heard you guys got back and just wanted to know if there was anything special you needed checked on the bus.”

Dev considered that thoughtfully. “The port side took a pretty big hit and the rear panel.” She said. “We escaped a cone and ended up in an ice cave for shelter.”

“.. a cone?” Clint sounded confused.

“Yes, a big round thing in the storm, that made a lot of wind?”

“Oh. A tornado.” Clint replied. “Got it, we'll check. Glad you'er back safe and sound.”

Dev smiled. “Me too. It was a very exciting trip.” She mentally marked down the tornado word, so she could call the cone the right thing the next time. “Thank you.”

“Okay, well, later!” Clint said. “Bye.”

“Bye” Dev closed the comms and nodded to herself. “He is a nice man.” She decided, and the went back to her book, smiling when she came to one of her favorite parts.

**

“Jason, don't start with me.” Jess dropped into her chair and indicated the one across from her. “It's not my damn fault I was halfway across the planet when this all went down.”

“It was crazy.” Jason sprawled across from her. “I thought the whole friggen base had chewed weed. Peace talks? Truces? I mean, what the fuck?”

Jess lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Maybe they thought they could game them.” She said. “Bain didn't say why he did it. Just threw the facts at me.”

“Crazy” Jason shook his head. “I hear maybe they went for North?”

“I passed North on the way in. No comms, no scan, no nothing.” Jess said. “Dev couldn’t even pick up a sideband.”

Jason shook his head again. Then he eyed Jess. “How's the kid doing?” He asked. “See she brought your bus in right side up this time.”

“She's fucking brilliant.” Jess said bluntly. “Best tech I've ever seen.”

“You shitting me?” Jason leaned forward. “She's been here two weeks.”

“Drives the bus.” Jess ticked off her fingers. “Drove an antique bus probably older than I am neither of us could have started up. Drove a damn fishing boat. Rigged the damn portable scanner to penetrate the water and find a god damned school of fish big enough to fill their whole tank.”

“No shit.”

“No shit.” Jess picked up her steaming cup of grog and sipped it. “Started off thinking this was bullshit but no more. Wouldn't trade her for nothing.”

“Huh.” Jason grunted. “At least the whole tech thing's settled down. No one thinks they're going to get a knife in the back so much. Everyone figured he was turned and that's it.”

Jess considered that. “Or that's what everyone wants to believe, either to avoid getting another bio alt or just because that's what they want to believe.”

Jason shrugged. “We're working again. “ He said. “The other newbs are settling down.” He studied Jess. “Sandy didn't respond to recall.”

Jess straightened up. “What?”

“Was out on a recon south. Got a positive accept on the recall, but no response. No one's heard from her for two days.” Jason watched her face. “Comp lost contact with her signal after the recall. Bock's going to send a team out to see if they see any thing at her last coordinates.”

“Damn.” Jess frowned. “I saw a couple of the regulars at Quebec. Couple more at Market Island, and the old shark was at the fishery. No one came after me though. Market boys made me, and I offed Brenegan.”

“Yeah?” Jason looked surprised. “Didn't hear that on the recap in ops.”

“Just filed.” She indicated the pad. “Wanted to make sure Dev got all her props. She handled being in the out lands like an old timer.”

Jason smiled a little. “You like her.”

Jess looked away, then back at him. “Yeah, I really do.” She said in a straightforward tone. “Never worked with another female before. A lot less of that competitive crap.” She opened the desk storage and removed a bag, opening it and pulling something out. She tossed it to him. “Here. Fell all over the deck of the boat when Dev got us out of that damn volcano going off on Market.”

Jason whistled, and his eyes widened. “Wow. Nice one!” He held the black diamond up to the light. “Clean!”

“Big blast.”

He glanced at her. “For me?” He held the stone up, grinning when she nodded. “Sweet! Thanks bud.” He tucked the diamond away. “You give one to Dev?” He asked, with a teasing tone to his voice.

“She's got her own bag.” Jess responded dryly. “I split the take with her. Only fair since I'd be fish food if she hadn't figured out how to out power two long guns heading out after us.”

“She' allowed to own that stuff? She is a jelly bag, remember.” Jason remarked. “I don’t' think they own stuff.”

“She's a field tech and they do own stuff.” Jess said. “Let em argue with me about it. Can't have it both ways, Jase – if she's got her life on the line for us, and doing the job – you can't come back and say she's just a bio.”

“Huh.” He grunted. “Well, anyway.. you want your mark? I figure we're all gonna be headed outbound real soon so might as well do it now.” He removed the heat gun that had been holstered at his hip. “Too bad you didn't get to go all the way on it, Jess. I heard talk in the mess it would have been a real big score.”

Jess stood up and came around the side of the workspace, unfastening her jumpsuit and pulling it down. “Yeah.” She took the seat next to Jason and braced her arm. “So give me two kills, and two levels. Leave the third level blank – who knows? Maybe I'll get to go back.”

“No med for you this time though.”

Jess smiled. “No, just this hit.” She touched her chest, and the fading wound. “And that was my own stupidity, on the boat. That's where the first kill was.”

“Guy you asked for ident on?”

“Yeah. He was with the pirates. Led the attack on the boat.” She indicated the bag. “I brought back his tags. Was he active? Name wasn't familiar.”

“Disappeared. Used to be one of Sydney's boys.” Jason heated up the gun and put his hand on Jess's arm, picturing the pattern he was going to burn into her skin. “Way I heard it there was some kind of three way action going between this guy, and Sydney and his tech.”

“Huh.” Now it was Jess's turn to grunt, and she did, taking a deep breath as she heard the gun trigger. “They were working the Northlands.. maybe he was doing it to trash old Syd's rep. “

“Ready.”

“Go.” Jess closed her eyes, as the heat and pain started. “Maybe that's why he shut down when I asked him about the pirates.”

“And why he sent that squirt.” The soft sizzle of burning flesh was loud between them. Jason carefully traced the outline of the mark. “Bastard's always had it in for you.”

“I screwed him over.” Jess kept her breathing even. “He has reason.”

“Does he? Way I heard it he brought it on himself.” Jason said. “Color.”

The buzz changed slightly and the burn became more intense. Jess kept her head down, the pain bothering her more than usual. Maybe she was still tired. “Yeah maybe.” She exhaled. “Dev wants me to give her one of these.”

The buzz stopped and Jason leaned forward to look her in the eye. “What?”

Jess blinked at him. “What part of that didn’t you get?” She asked. “Finish the damn thing so I can stop sweating.”

The buzz resumed and she closed her eyes again, and the silence extended until it was finally over. Jess straightened up and ran her fingers through her hair, glancing at the red raw burn on her arm “Thanks.”

Jason put the gun down. “Did I hear you right? Your rag doll wants a mark?”

Jess erupted up out of her seat so fast it startled both of them and the loud crack as her fist hit his face echoed harshly against the walls. “Don't fucking call her that!” She lunged at him and took them both to the floor, seeing red in her vision as growl emerged from her throat.

“Jess! Jess!” Jason rolled onto his back and put his hands flat on the floor. “Jess! Hold it! Stop! I'm sorry!” He kept his breathing steady as he saw the ice cold eyes bore right through him. “I'm down. I'm sorry Jess. Sorry.”

For a moment the mask didn't change – and then Jess's eyes blinked and she released him, rocking back to take the weight of her knee off his chest. “That's my partner.” Jess rasped. “Don't you say crap about her like that.”

“Okay.” He held his hands up. “Sorry, Jess. Didn't mean to trigger you.”

Jess half stood and dropped back into the chair. “Yeah, been a long couple of days.” She rested her elbows on her knees and exhaled. “Just don't be an asshole, okay?”

“Hey.” He got up can cautiously sat down in the other chair. “Maybe I'm jealous.” He watched the tremors in her hands, wound up until they started to ease. “I'm not used to them being more than custodials, Jess. You've worked with her I haven't.”

“Yeah I know.” She slowly leaned back, feeling exhausted. “If we go out together, you'll see.” She glanced at him, then got up and went to the sanitary unit, grabbing a cloth and wetting it, then bringing it back over “Here.”

He wiped his face, studying the blood that stained it. “You always had a truly kick ass punch.” He stated mournfully. “She must be good cause you never hit me for dissing a tech before no matter where they came from.”

A soft knock came at the inner door, and after a pause it opened and Dev poked her head inside. “Everything correct in here?” She asked. “I heard a noise.”

“You heard your partner breaking my nose.” Jason told her. “And I'll be on my way to med to get a reduction kit and plas.” He got up and reached for the burn gun, but Jess put her hand over it. “Right. See you folks later.” He kept the cloth against his face as he left, and the door slid shut behind him.

Dev crossed the floor with a diffident expression, sliding her book into her thigh pocket. “Are you all right?”

Jess gestured her towards the other chair. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just got ticked off at something he said.” She propped her arm upon the desk. “He just finished giving me this.”

Dev leaned closer to examine the mark. “Oh.” She clasped her hands. “Can I get that one?”

Jess grimaced. “You really want one?” She asked. “It hurts. Really hurts.”

“Yes, I do.” Dev responded at once. “Will you do it? I'd rather if you would.” She reached over and put her hands over Jess's. 'That would make it very special.”

Jess felt her heart rate settle, and her body relax as she looked into Dev's eyes. The anger finally leached out, and with it went the twitching and the urge to hurt something. It had surprised her, that reaction but now seeing the look of somber affection bathing her, it didn't surprise her any more.

She was caught. A faint smile appeared on her face. “I'll do it.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips against Dev's. “And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll get a night at home tonight.”

Dev's eyes brightened, and she grinned. “I”d like that.”

“Me too.” Jess picked up the burn gun and adjusted it. “Take your suit down, partner. Let's make you a marked one.”

Dev felt a sense of crazy pride erupt in her. She undid the catches on her jumpsuit and pulled it down to her waist like Jess's was, straightening in the chair and tucking her boots under it. “Go ahead.”

Jess put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “It's really going to hurt.” She warned her. “A point of pride with us is, you don't scream.”

“Okay.” Dev agreed. “I”m ready.”

“I hope I am.” Her partner muttered, as she got the gun into position. “Hang on, here we go.”

Dev heard the buzz a brief instant before it touched her arm, and then she blinked, as a searing pain lanced into her skin. It built faster than she'd expected, and she only barely had time to focus past it before her body reacted. She concentrated on her own heartbeat, hearing the hammering in her inner ear as the buzz grew and faded, and then grew again.

It did, as Jess had warned, really hurt. But she'd learned how to deal with that in the creche, in the long hours and days of various tests and trials and the brief training on what it would be like if they did wrong and had to face discipline. So she thought of other things, of the things she'd shared with Jess, and their missions so far, and the cones, and the shrimps at Quebec and...

The buzz stopped. The pain didn't, but now Jess was putting her hand on Dev's knee and she knew it was over. She opened her eyes and looked at her partner. “Did I do okay?”

Jess's lips tensed into a smile, one that warmed her eyes as well. “Like you'd been taking them for years.” She said. “Let me get some cream for ya, and for mine too.” She got up and went to the sanitary area, disappearing for a moment.

Dev took that time to look at her arm, which now had two areas of horribly reddened, burned skin visible. The pain was vivid, but it was now a throbbing ache rather than being on fire and she examined the pattern with a sense of lightheaded fascination.

They started at the tip of her left shoulder, one set with some colored balls and bars, and then the second, with only two colored balls and an empty bar on the bottom. It was fuzzy and indistinct looking, due to the swelling but she could see when it healed it would look like the brown marks that patterned Jess's arms.

That made her very happy, happy enough not to mind the pain. She looked up at Jess as her partner returned, and studied her new marks. “It's almost the same except for this bit.” She indicated a small area on her skin.

“Uh huh.” Jess carefully smeared some healing cream on herself, then turned her attention to Dev. “That little bit is mine. It means you are.”

Dev felt lightheaded again. “I'm.. yours?”

“Yes.” Jess gently treated the burns she'd made on Dev's arm. “You are my partner, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Jess finished putting a light gauze bandage on her, and handed her a small jar of the cream. “Put it on often. It'll help it heal.” She said. “Hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Let's go get some chow.” She eased the jumpsuit up over Dev's shoulders and fastened it. “Know what?”

Dev flexed her hands a little, and gave a small nod. “No, what?”

“Glad you did that.” Jess leaned forward and kissed her again and this time it went on for a while and she felt her breathing shorten as Dev's hands fit themselves along her ribs making her nape hairs prickle. It felt insanely good and it was very hard not to unfasten her partner's suit and move over to the bed.

So hard. Dev's breath tickled her collarbone and then their lips met again and she knew she either had to pull back or take it forward and finally the newly scorched skin on her arm tipped the balance. Jess let her head rest against her partners and savored the moment, as Dev very gently put her arms around her and gave her a hug.

That made her smile. She exhaled regretfully and stepped back, fastening her own suit and running her fingers through her hair. “I sure hope we won't be heading out until tomorrow.

Dev produced a rakish grin. “I hope so too.” She admitted. “But I think it would be good to hurt a little less first.” She regarded her arm. “You were right.”

Jess ruffled her hair.

The bio alt shifted her gaze back to Jess. “You were also right about going after Doctor Dan. I'm sorry I gave you discomfort over that.”

Jess rested her arms on her shoulders. “Trust me, Dev. I learned the hard way so you maybe won't have to.” She grinned briefly. “C'mon. Let's go to the mess, then you can come back here and help me unpack this stuff of my father's my brother had sent here.”

Dev regarded the bags and containers tucked against the wall. “Sure.” She followed Jess out of the door. “What is it?”

“What was left in the house.” Jess evaded the moving bodies in the busy hallway. “Maybe you'll get lucky and get to see a picture of me as a kid.”

Dev smiled and put the ache of her arm aside. “Excellent.”

Part 17

It was late. Dev had put the cream on her arm, and was settled back on her relaxation couch in her tank top and short pants, after another shower, and dinner with Jess.

They were expecting some information. No one knew when that would happen for sure, and Jess was in the control place trying to figure it all out. There were two teams investigating, one that had gone north, and one south, and everyone was waiting for them to report.

The techs, herself, and the others, were sent to get some rest, so here she was, very comfortable and relaxed, glad to get some time to just be quiet.

Instead of reading, she had her headset on and she was listening to a comp report, items that had happened while she and Jess had been gone. Updates to schedules, maintenance notes... a running inventory of detail she was glad to absorb and digest.

She'd gotten through one report, and halfway through another when the door between her quarters and Jess's opened and her partner stuck her head in. Dev waved at her and a moment later, Jess was trotting up the steps to join her in her space. She took her headset off and stopped the report. “Hello.”

“Hey.” Jess took a seat on the floor. “They got some real senior guys involved in talking to the other side. Trying to work out a deal.”

“For Doctor Dan?” Dev felt heartened.

“For all of them.” Jess said. “There were six of them that went.”

“I see.”

“So in the meantime we're just cleaning stuff up. They don't want me to leave the citadel, don't want a chance of the other side either grabbing me, or me causing a situation.” Jess said, with a brief grin. “So I guess we get some downtime.”

Dev smiled back.

“They found Sandy.” Jess went on, her face sobering. “Looks like they ran their carrier into an EMF swipe. Nothing much left of it.”

Dev studied her. “They died?”

Jess nodded. “Both of them.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Carrier was fizzled to nothing. Both of them inside. They're bringing the bodies back for ident and disposal.”

That took a bit of thinking. “You said flying in that was dangerous.”

“It is.” Her partner agreed. “Sandy knew that. Not sure what happened there.” Which wasn't exactly true. She suspected Sandy decided to respond to the recall regardless of the danger and pushed it, figuring to get back first and pull whatever prime slot the emergency offered.

She, on the other hand, had stopped to rescue drowning polar bears. What, really, did that say about both of them?”

“Wow. That's very sad.” Dev eventually remarked.

Jess grunted softly. “Anyway, wanna come over to my place?” She gave Dev a somewhat rakish grin. “Help me unpack those trunks?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Have a cup of grog?”

“Sure.” Dev removed her headset and swung her legs off her couch. “That sounds excellent.”

They crossed into Jess's quarters, which were lit with a quiet cool light around her workspace. There were the boxes that had been delivered earlier, and Jess pulled one closer to the chairs, gesturing Dev to take a seat while she diverted her own attention to a pair of mugs and a bottle.

“What are all these things, Jess?” Dev asked, regarding the dull gray cases. “You said they were from your family?”

“Not exactly.” Jess poured out, then handed Dev a cup as she took a seat next to the box. “My mother decided she didn't want all the reminders of my father around the house. So she had my brother send them here. He figured I'd appreciate them or something like that.”

“Oh.”

Jess took a sip from her cup then put it down. “So let's see what we got. I figure most of this is from his office in the house. He used to keep all his souvenirs there.” She touched the panel on the box, which glowed briefly and then retracted, and the top of the case slid open.

A puff of air emerged, full of the smell of paper, and steel. Jess peered inside, and lifted out the first thing in it. She put it on the worktable and went back for a second. “That's a fishing award he got from the compound we lived at.”

Dev picked it up and looked at it. It was a piece of stone or rock, carved into the shape of a fish half curved around. “An award?”

“Yeah.” Jess studied a worn blaster, side mount and very old, covered in rakes and scars. “Every year they had a competition who could free-dive and catch the most. He won that time. I remember it, sorta.

Dev put the item down. “Is that like the fisher people on the boat?”

“No.” Jess put the blaster down and dug for something else. “That's with nets and mech and stuff. For this, you just dive into the sea and catch the fish with your hands.”

Dev's eyes opened very wide. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Jess opened a folio, stiff and aged. “He was good at that. Could stay down forever.” She leafed through a few pages of notes, handwritten, and almost illegible. Just common stuff, things they had to do around the house, stuff he had to pay off. “Ah.” She opened the other side and saw color and images. “Here ya go.”

She handed one of them over to her partner. “That's me, on leave, around fifteen I guess.”

“Ah!” Dev examined the image. It was her partner, but a slighter version of her in a gray jumpsuit like the ones the new people had arrived in. She had close cropped hair and a grudging smile in the picture, outside a structure. “You appear attractive.”

Jess chuckled. “I look like a goon.” She was sorting through the pictures. “Here, I was four in this one. You'd never know it was me.”

Dev looked at the square, seeing a child with wild, curly dark hair dressed in a brief outfit that appeared wet. “What is that you have in your hand?”

“Conch shell.” Jess answered absently. She opened a folder tucked away in a back pocket of the case, finding a couple of very old plas images inside. “Here's one of my father at field school grad.” She found herself smiling a little at the tall figure, standing with his hands clasped behind him with three other classmates.

Dev craned her head around to see it. “Oh.” She observed. “You look like him.” The man in the picture had Jess's height and her dark hair and their faces were shaped alike. “You smile the same.”

“I do.” Jess acknowledged. “He had gray eyes though, not these funny blue marbles.” She put the picture down and went on to the next one.

Citadel, this one. “Must have been the intaking here.” She mused. “Looks so different. That was before they rigged up that deck on top.”

Her eyes tracked to the next picture in the stack, her eyes fastening first on her father's tall, relaxed form leaning against an old style carrier and then drifting up to look at the second person in the picture.

She blinked.

She blinked again, a chill running down her back as she studied the shorter man who was standing with arms folded, leaning next to him, dressed in a tech's green piped jumpsuit with her father's elbow resting casually on his shoulder.

Slowly, she turned the plas over, searching the back intently and finding a small, scrawled, handwritten note on it. Me and DJ, too young to know better. “Oh.” She exhaled.

“Jess?”

Jess looked up, to find Dev watching her, brows knit a little. “Yeah?”

“Are you in discomfort?”

“Am I in discomfort.” Jess repeated. She turned the plas back over and looked at it, then, with a little sigh she put it down on the table between them. “No. But I just figured out why your friend Doctor Dan just reminded me of someone I thought I knew.”

Dev gave her a puzzled look, then she glanced down at the image and her eyebrows hiked almost to her hairline. Next to the man she now recognized as Jess's father was a much younger but definitely recognizable Doctor Dan himself. “Wow!” She blurted. “It's him!”

“It's him.” Jess agreed in a quiet voice. “Must have been the first or second year after my dad came out of field.” She touched the plas. “He was a tech, like you are.” She added. “I knew he was one of us but I didn't... “ She fell silent. “Why the hell didn't Bain say something?”

“It was a long time ago.” Dev was staring in fascination at the image. In it, Doctor Dan didn't look any older that she herself was, but she could see that look that was so familiar to her on his face, that half smile – she could almost see the twinkle in his eyes.

“Explains why you're so damn good at what you do.” Jess said. “It wasn't some random programming. He knew what to give you because he gut knew it.”

Yes, of course. Dev suddenly felt a mixture of emotion, relief and gratitude chief among them. “He was confident I could do this.”

Jess studied her profile. “This wasn't a last minute project I bet. “ She said “He had this in mind.”

Dev blinked, then she nodded slightly. “Maybe.” She answered in a quiet voice. “I hope they get him back. I'd like to ask him.”

“Yeah me too.” Jess sat back, still a little stunned. Not that Kurok had turned out to be Interforce – that she'd known for a while. But she hadn't expected him to come in that close.

Her father's partner.

His first partner, not the one who'd been with him when he retired. Jess remembered Janie – she'd retired herself two years after Jess had become an agent and she'd never liked the woman. Kurok had been his first, the one he'd rarely spoke of, but when he had, he'd always smiled.

Digger, he'd called him, the very few times he'd called him anything at all.

She looked back at the plas. “Let's see what other surprises I can find in here.” She went back to the images, but her mind lingered on the previous one, questions starting to surface she really wanted to ask.

**

In the end, Dev carried the conch shell they'd found buried in the bottom of the last trunk back to her quarters with her, while Jess got the rest of the contents squared away. The big structure amazed her, and she spent a moment studying it before she set it down on her desk.

It was all shades of pink, and it had spikes on the outside and a hard, polished surface on the inside, and she could put her whole hand inside it where it opened up. Jess had told her she'd found it in the water near their home and that it was rare to find one all in one piece.

It was beautiful.

She traced one of the spikes with her finger, and wondered what she should do next. Jess had seemed a little down, looking at all the stuff and she thought maybe she'd just want to go to sleep and get some rest. It had been a long day after a few other long days, after all, and even she had to admit she was looking forward to curling up in bed herself.

They would have time, she reasoned, to practice the sex thing since they would be staying around the citadel for a while, so she stretched and went over to her bed and sat down on it.

It was very quiet in her room, and she lay down on her back and put her hands behind her head, just absorbing that. In the creche, and when they were out in the carrier there was noise all around her but here, inside the stone walls at the end of the operations corridors it was silent and peaceful.

She let her mind drift to Doctor Dan, thinking about him being in the citadel, and doing the job she was doing. Remembering that picture of him, in his black suit, made her smile and knowing she was doing the work he had made her smile even more.

Now his praise of her work meant even more, and she thought about that look of pride he'd given her when she'd gotten back from her first mission. He'd been so happy because she'd done the right things, because he'd taught her, he'd programmed her, and because he knew how important the work was.

It was so excellent.

She really really hoped the man Bain would make sure Doctor Dan was safe and get him back fast. She really wanted to talk to him now about the work, and find out how he changed from being a tech, to being the scientist she knew.

With a little sigh, she closed her eyes and felt the light dim around her and with a squiggle she got under the covers. Her body relaxed immediately, and she curled her arm around her pillow.

**

Jess leaned back in her chair, finally finished sorting. On her workspace, she had the folder full of pictures, the blaster, a small hide pouch of old style coins and a crypto locked recorder awaiting her attention.

It had been a somewhat weird, slightly uncomfortable ramble through her father's past. Aside from the surprise of the pictures, she'd found things he'd brought back from the field from sketches on pieces of slate to a heavy knit pullover she knew had come from the other side.

Now there was the recording. Jess picked up the small device and touched it to her hand, feeling the faint twitch as it accessed the chips embedded under her skin and with a tiny click an interface appeared.

Amiably, Jess attached it to her comp and waited as it spooled. It was keyed to her, but it could be anything from his recipes for fish to field notes and after a minute or two, the screen flickered on and presented her with a page full of text.

That surprised her, a little. It was not only text, but handwritten text, scanned in and cropped. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees to read it, feeling a touch of unexpected anticipation.

Her relationship with her father had always been complicated, but maybe he'd left her a.. Jess blinked and focused.

Jesslyn.

Well, no doubt it was for her.

There's so much we'll never talk about that we should have. I hope this gets to you soon after I'm gone, but whenever it does, it does. It's the coward's way out, in any case since I'll write things here I'd never have the courage to say to your face.

Jess felt uncomfortable. This didn't sound like it was going to be fun and she almost reached up to turn the comp off before her conscience got the better of her and she clenched her hands instead. Her eyes lifted and went to the door between her quarters and Dev's, and she suddenly wished her partner was there next to her.

And then she was embarrassed to even think that. She forced her attention back to the screen and picked up her grog cup to take a sip from it.

You had no choice in what you became, Jess. Your mother and I bred knowing there was a good chance one or more of you would take my genes – but I know it hurt her when it was you because you were her little girl. She always figured it would be one of your brothers, but I knew from the start it would be you.

I had an inside look, after all. So if you're sorry it ended up like this, then I'm sorry because I knew it would. Luck of the genetic dice and all that. You never knew your grandfather, but I remember him showing up at my field school graduation and he gave me a piece of advice I'm going to pass along to you.

He told me to take life one day at a time, and enjoy it to the fullest you can because the bad times are a lot more frequent than the good ones.

That's true, Jess. I never realized it until it was too late. I was always too busy looking out for the next op, working the next angle to look life in the face and savor it. Don't make that mistake. I couldn't tell you that when I was still around, because the hypocrisy woulda killed me. Maybe you know what I mean by now.

Jess read and reread that, thinking hard about it.

You never took my path though, so maybe not. When I last saw you, you were going your own way through the corps and I think I figured out that it was at least your way, and you were showing signs of an independent mind. I can't tell you how sad and proud that made me.

She stood up and went to the dispenser, punching the code for some tea and waiting for it to come out. The message was more confusing and painful than she'd figured it would be, though she took some solace from the last little bit of it. She'd been so sure he'd thought she'd disgraced him.

Jess took the cup and sipped from it, waiting for her breathing to settle before she went back to the desk and settled into her chair behind it.

Anyway. I don't really have that much to say to you besides that. I don't know what got me in the end, or how it happened, or why, except I know it's them, that they finally got their revenge, that all those missions came home to me and I probably went in a room full of hateful sorts in a hell of a lot of pain.

Mark of my doing a good job for them, all those years, Jess, and with any luck, you'll have the same fate. I don't say that to be mean, kid, it's just what we are.

It was just what they were. Jess felt a little sad, reading that and she remembered, sometimes, seeing that look of sadness in his eyes too.

But I wanted to tell you this. If you're as much like me as I think you are, you'll never need to use it – but if you ever decide to go dark, and get lost, and you realize there's no place deep enough to hide you then find an outpost and steal enough coin for a squirt up to bio station 2. Ask for Dan Kurok. Tell him who you are

You'll be something to him. He'll help you. He's smart as hell and one of the best people I've ever known. He was a tech, and my first partner – and if I'm honest, he was also my last. Maybe I was just young, or maybe it was just one of those things but I trusted DJ like no one else and if I'd had as much courage as he did, my life would have been very different and you might never have been born.

Jess sat back and thought about that, not really sure what her father had been trying to tell her. On the one hand, he would probably be amused to know that far from having to find Kurok, the man had actually come and found her. On the other, she wondered about trust and courage, and what all that really meant.

At any rate – don't regret anything you've done, or will do, Jesslyn. You are who you are and you're from a long line of hell raisers and ass kickers so do your best to fight like a devil and make no apologies. Maybe you and I can have a drink together wherever it is people like us end up.

Dad.

Jess read the whole thing through again, and then she disconnected the reader and set it to one side. She picked up her cup and leaned back in her chair, and dimmed the lights a little, taking some time to just sit, and think.

**

Dev woke to find herself in warm comfort, but a little surprised to find herself not alone in bed. She was on her side, but pressed up against her back was a still sleeping Jess, one of her long arms curled around Dev's body. It felt nice, and she remained still, enjoying the sensation.

It was just before dawn. The lighting in her quarters showed that, the faint hint of pale light reflecting what she would see outside and it reminded her again to ask Jess if they could maybe have a sandwich together out on the little ledge where they could see the water.

Or maybe.. Dev considered their options. Maybe they could go swimming in the gym, after they got some rad.

Maybe they would hear some news about Doctor Dan.

Jess stirred behind her and then Dev felt a gentle pinch in the skin of her neck, putting a prickle up and down it. She lifted her head and peered behind her, to see her partner's eyes open, glinting softly in the dim light. “Hello.”

“Hi there.” Jess rumbled back. “You mind me stealing half your bed?”

“No.” Dev responded definitively. “Not at all.”

“Good.” Jess pulled her closer, and closed her eyes again. “Dev.”

“Yes?”

“I”m going to try and talk Bain into letting us try to go and get your buddy back.” Jess said. “I think we're the ones who can do it.”

Dev's ears perked up, and she turned onto her back, so she could see Jess better. “You do?”

“Sure. Don't you?” Jess propped her head up on her fist, leaving her other arm draped over Dev's stomach. “You want to see him back?”

“Absolutely!” Dev said immediately. “But I thought they said you should stay here, that we could cause trouble.”

Jess nodded slowly. “Oh I'm sure we can cause trouble.” She grinned briefly. “Anyway I'm going to ask him later. See what kind of mood he's in.” She put her head back down on the pillow. “Worth a try anyway. If' he'd send us out there, and we make good.. that's a lot of props.”

“I see.” Dev mused. “That would be a good mission, wouldn't it.” She fell briefly silent. “But I really don’t want us to get in trouble, Jess.”

“We won't.” Jess tightened her grip. “Not if he sends us, right?” She added. “I”m sure he wants to get him back. I just have to think of some good plan to get Bain interested.” Her eyes studied her partner's profile. “You scared of having to go back up to station?”

Dev nodded silently.

“Didn't sound that bad when you talked about it.” Jess said.

Dev wasn't really sure what to say about that. She felt bad about how she felt, and she didn't want to disappoint Jess. “I just like it here better.” She said, in a quiet voice.

Jess studied her profile. “You like being a natural born better.” She said, smiling faintly, watching the furrow appear between her tech's eyes. “Who wouldn't? I don't blame ya.” She reached over and very gently traced one of Dev's fine, pale eyebrows. “Besides, I don't know what I'd do without ya anymore.”

That felt nice. Dev felt her heartbeat, which had gone up, settle down. “We're not supposed to feel like that.” She admitted. “We're not supposed to want to be like you.”

“Dev.” Jess touched her chin and turned her face so they were eye to eye. “You are like me.”

It was wonderful, and it hurt. Wonderful because to have Jess there, so close, looking at her with such a beautiful expression and saying those things was wonderful – and it hurt because Dev knew it wasn't true. She reached up and touched the collar around her neck. “Not really.”

“Tell me the difference between that, and these.” Jess pointed at her arm. “At that, or this.” She indicated the room around them. “You any more owned than I am?”

They were both silent for a while. Then Dev's expression shifted a little and she shook her head slightly. “That is an interesting question.” She said. “But I still think we're different, Jess. I don't feel like I'm natural born.”

Jess exhaled a little. “Then maybe I don't either.” She felt strangely adrift, her mind still disturbed by her father's notes from the night before. “Maybe I always felt a little different.”

Dev regarded her gravely.

“Or maybe I'm just being an asshole this morning.” Jess acknowledged. “Let's get up and go mess around. I need some rad. Maybe that'll knock the gloom off me.”

And so they did. An hour later Dev found herself dressed in an off-shift jumpsuit standing behind Jess in line in the mess. It was mostly empty this early and they claimed a small table on one of the upper levels, facing a tray full of processor provided items and hot kack filled mugs.

They were halfway through when Jason and Brent entered, waving casually at them as they went through the line and picked up their own breakfast. They came over carrying the trays and sat down at the table next to them. “Hey.” Jason said, briefly.

“Hey.” Jess answered. “What's the word?”

Jason shrugged. “Haven't been in ops today yet. You taking a turn?”

“Might as well.”

Brent cleared his throat gently, and turned his head towards Dev. “Tech depot delivered yesterday.” He said. “They got new mods in.”

“Really?” Dev's ears perked. “Did any navigation comp boards come in, do you know? We need to replace ours.”

Brent nodded. “Heard they did, and some gun systems tie ins. Gonna go scrounge after this. Interested?”

Jess's dark brow lifted sharply, and she gave Jason a look. He returned it with a mild expression and a half shrug.

“Sure.” Dev readily agreed. “I wanted to run some system tests anyway, after our mission.” She observed her now empty tray to make sure she hadn't missed any edibles, then she sipped her drink, as the room started to fill.

Working on the carrier seemed like a good way to spend the morning. She could make sure their machine was optimal, in case Jess's plan worked out and they ended up going out again and then, after that, she thought she might get some rad in herself, and do a sim.

Elaine and Tucker entered, and plopped down next to them. “Well that sucked.” Elaine said. “Just got off-shift in ops. I got the honor of doing the comms to Sandy's family.”

Jason grimaced.

“Shuttle inbound.” Tucker commented. “Got some big shots coming about the swipe.”

“Oh yeah like we need more of them around.” Jason grumbled. “I can't believe they haven't pulled together a response yet. I thought they'd be on it like sea lice when you got back, Jess, not put you in the can and sit around waiting for some gold suit to show up and tell us what to do.”

“Huh.” Jess grunted softly. “Bain must have something in mind.”

“How did Sandy's folks take it?” Brent asked, after a small silence. “Heard her talking about them. Never seemed liked she cared a crap or them her.”

Elaine shrugged. “Acted like I was bothering them to give em the news. So I guess you're right. I woke em up, wished I hadn't.”

Jason glanced up as the door opened, and four of the new agents and techs entered, still a little shy, and unsure of themselves. “You know how it is, Lain.” He said. “Once you're in, family's a lost cause. Mine always was. My mother told me to not bother even calling after I went to field school.”

“Mine too.” Tucker said, in a quiet voice. “They were really angry at me for enlisting as a tech.” He added. “They run a barnacle collection co-op and my dad thought I'd take it over from him.”

“Barnacle collection.” Jess repeated. “Kill me now.”

Tucker smiled slightly. “Exactly.”

“Your family's waterside, isn't it, Jess?” Jason asked. “I thought you said that before.”

Jess nodded. “Homestead's in Drake's Bay.” She leaned back and sipped from her mug. “My brothers are work in the processing plants, my mother's the northeast sector processing administrator. We grew up in the shoals scavenging – so trust me I know all about barnacles.”

“Drake's Bay... that's down near the base of old Mount Mitchell, yeah?” Brent asked. “Appalachian archipelago?”

“Yep.” Jess glanced at Dev. “Have to take you there sometime. You'd get a kick out of the seabirds.” She stood up and picked up her tray. “I'm going to ops. Meet you in rad later, Dev?”

Dev nodded, her eyes following her partner as she got rid of her tray and left the room. Since she was done herself, she gathered her things, and looked over at Brent. “Would you like to go to the hangar?”

Brent nodded, and stood up, following her as they made their way across the getting crowded mess and headed out the corridor towards the hangar. As they cleared intersection they heard boot steps hurrying after them and Brent paused and looked behind him. “Ah.”

“Hi” Doug, one of the new techs caught up with them. “You all headed to the carrier bay? Mind if I tag along? Still trying to find my way around here.”

“C'mon.” Brent answered gruffly and continued on his way.

Doug fell in next to Dev as they walked along. “So.. uh.. Dev.. I heard you all were over on the other side. See anything interesting?”

“Yes.” Dev answered promptly. “We saw polar bears, and sea lions, and some dolphins.” She said. “I thought they were amazing.” She glanced sideways at Brent, who had almost soundlessly chuckled.

“You did?” Doug looked at her with an quizzical expression. “What was so special about them?”

“I'd never seen any before.” Dev said. “So it was a very interesting experience for me.”

“Ah hah.” Doug nodded. “So that was all?”

“Everything else is in the comp log.” Dev said. “My programming instructed me to refrain from relating details outside that.”

Doug studied her. “It did?”

“Yours did too.” Brent told him. “Don't run your mouth off in the halls. Not everyone's field ops here.” He paused and looked at Dev. “Maybe they should send the next class up in space for a while.”

Dev assumed that was a compliment, and smiled in response. She reached up and palmed the latch to the hanger, pausing to let the other two techs go ahead of her as they entered the huge space. Even this early, it was very busy inside and the noise nearly made her cover her ears.

“Nice to have everyone busy again.” Brent commented, as he observed the activity. “Hey, move over. They're opening the roof.”

They all moved to one side and continued walking as the huge hatch ground it's way open above them. They were halfway to the service bay when a klaxon blared out, and after a frozen second everyone blurred into motion. Techs on the floor dove for the protection of the service bays and anyone near an already open hatch jumped into it.

Dev found herself close enough to her own carrier to bolt for it, palming the hatch open and turning to wave Doug and Brent in. “This way!”

The two techs didn't hesitate an instant. They scrambled in and Dev followed, sealing the hatch as they heard a set of loud rumbling bangs.

“What the fuck!?” Brent hopped forward to the front, so he could see out the wraparound windows, with Doug close behind him.

Dev went to her pilot's seat and sat down, powering up the carrier with automatic motions, bringing up comp quickly and starting an all scan. “What's going on?”

“ Can't see.” Brent flipped upside down so he could look up. “Get the screens on.”

“Yes.” Dev shunted power to the display systems and started her preflight check. “You should sit down.” She told Doug. “In case we have to move.”

Doug blinked at her, then he scrambled back to the gunner's seat and half fell into it, just as all the screens came live with a full view of the cavern around them. “Wow!”

Hovering over head, limping down, was a carrier so battered and blackened it was hard to distinguish it's outline. There were erratic flares emitting from it's engine pods, and the landing jets were only partially firing. It was listing to one side sharply, and drifting erratically.

“Oh crap.” Brent went flat on his back on the floor of the carrier, watching the screens. “If that thing blows it'll take half the cavern out.”

“Can't even see the body number.” Doug was peering intently at the screen at Jess's station.

Dev put her ear buds in and retracted her seat restraints. “BR27006, central operations.”

“Standby” The response came at once.

“What are you doing?” Brent asked. “You going to lift?”

“BR27006, centops. Status?”

Dev cleared her throat, programming kicking in strongly. “Centops, ready to fly if required.”

“Standby.”

All of a sudden Brent let out a yell as the half destroyed carrier near the ceiling pitched and rolled and headed ground ward. Dev reacted instinctively, jettisoning the umbilicals and punching the landing jets hard, the carrier lunging off the deck and heading skyward at a steep angle.

Brent latched on to the console he was lying near and Doug snapped restraints in place as they took on multiple G, then Dev was leveling out and pointing the nose of her craft in a line bound to intercept the falling carrier.

There was barely even a moment to react, or be afraid before the impact. Dev flinched, but sent power to the jets as they both started ground ward, feeling her carrier strain as a low rumble turned to a body shaking roar.

“Holy shit!” Brent curled himself around the console and covered his head. “You are nuts!”

Dev wasn't worried about that. She had her hands more than full with the carrier, fighting to keep control of it as the blaring horns out side rose to fever pitch and the shaking of the craft was making it hard for her to see as her eyeballs shivered from it.

She wasn't even sure what she was doing. She could feel the weight of the fractured craft above her forcing them down, and she knew she had only moments to decide what to do before they both crashed down onto the stone floor or worse, onto another carrier.

She needed more power. There were voices clammering around her but she stopped, in her head, and bore down hard for a second, just thinking. Then she ramped the forward jets up and killed the rear ones, the carrier nose tipping up for just long enough for her to kick in the mains.

“Holy shit.” Brent whispered.

Now she had power. Dev concentrated hard, as their floor ward drop stopped, and she let them hover briefly, playing the side jets with a careful touch as she moved them both over a clear spot and started to drop again.

Power increase here, decrease there, adjusting the thrusters and main engines in a delicate dance in three dimensions. She heard the klaxon cut off abruptly, then the low bong of the huge transport cranes in motion.

“They're gonna grab them off you!” Doug yelled, in excitement. “Stripe of a skunk!”

“BR27006” The comms bawled suddenly. “Hold in position! Hold! Hold!”

“Never heard ops do that before.” Brent said, his eyes wide.

“Holding.” Dev answered calmly, though she was panting a little, her own eyes big and round, her hands making adjustments almost every second as she watched the big crane swing over, it's grapples dropping through the air with frightening speed.

A moment later, and they heard the clang as the grapples caught on, and Dev had just barely enough time to throttle back as the weight came off them and they nearly rocketed skyward. She tipped the carrier on it's side and then rolled it over as she cut off the main engines and got the landing jets back in control.

“Ahh!” Brent yelped, as he was spun in the air, his arms suspending him from the console as they inverted, then returned to standard orientation.

“Sorry about that.” They were up near the ceiling now, and Dev tipped them forward a little so they could see the grapples moving the rescued carrier over to one of the service bays, where emergency teams were racing towards. “They got them!”

“Holy shit that was crazy making” Brent blurted. “How in the hell did you learn to drive like that?”

Dev waited a bit for her hands to stop shaking and then she let out a breath. “That was interesting.” She muttered, before she triggered comms. “BR270006 to central operations, cleared to return to pad?”

There was a bit of silence before comms answered. “BR27006 cleared.” They finally answered, with a roar of sound in the background, of voices and alerts.

“Thank you.” Dev shut down the engines and adjusted the jets, lowering them back to their landing pad as quickly as she could and feeling the intense tension in her body relax as they touched down and she could power down. She let her hands rest on the chair arms for a moment, then she started her shut down procedures. “That.” She half turned to face Doug and Brent. “Isn't programming.”

“That's crazy.” Brent sat up and rubbed his elbow. “You mean you didn't learn it?”

Dev shook her head. “Programming.. that lets me know what buttons to push and how to make things work but when I'm doing this.. “ She looked at her hands. “I just do it.”

Doug released the restraints on the chair and leaned forward. “You know what?” He eyed her. “That's hot.”

Dev swung around in her chair and regarded him, her head cocking to one side. “What?”

“That's hot.” He repeated. “You are the bomb.”

There was no real time to answer, because motion caught her eye and Dev turned her head to see Jess barreling toward them at top speed, leaping over bays and tools in a powerful flow of motion that immediately focused her attention. She released her restraints and stood up, her legs feeling a bit shaky as she moved across the floor of the carrier and triggered the hatch.

Jess bounded inside a breath later. “Are you all right?”

Dev looked around, then at her, then she nodded. “Yes.” She replied. “I think Brent bumped his head though when we inverted.”

“That was crazy.” Doug had hastily vacated Jess' s station.

Brent got up off the floor and dusted himself off. “No, that wasn't crazy.” He said. “That was just skills. She's got them.” He gave Jess a brief nod, then he slipped past her, with Doug at his heels leaving Jess and Dev alone together in the carrier, the hatch sliding shut behind them.

Jess put her hands on her hips. “I think everyone in this place now knows you have skills.” She told her partner wryly. “Whole ops center nearly went out of their minds when you lit off the rockets.”

Dev wasn't sure if this was all good or bad. “I had to.” She said. “The jets weren't enough to keep us from crashing.”

“I know.” Jess grinned. “But pretty much no one would have had the guts to do that because you could have just sent yourself into the cavern wall.”

“I wouldn't have done that.” Dev told her, seriously. “Really.” She looked past Jess. “Who was that? What was wrong with that machine?”

Jess turned “Let's go find out.” She paused, then turned back again, putting her arms around Dev and giving her a hug. “Glad you're okay.” She muttered. “You kind of freaked me out a little.”

Dev happily returned the embrace, reasoning it probably meant she did more or less the right things. “I didn't mean to.” She said. “I just wanted to help that carrier.”

“If anyone's still alive in that thing, you saved them.” Jess turned and triggered the hatch. “Let's go see.” She walked out with Dev right behind her. “You put a dent in the roof?”

“I hope not.” Dev said.

They cleared the pad, and as they did, Dev realized they were the center of attention. Then she paused in her mind, and realized actually that she was the center of attention. All the bio alts had been climbing up out of the pits and they were staring at her with wide eyes.

The other techs were. Even the maintenance supervisors were standing there, watching them walk by.

“Was that incorrect?” She asked Jess, a little embarrassed by the focus. “What I did?”

Jess put her hand on her shoulder as they walked. “No.” She answered after a long silence. “You did the right thing. Everyone is just sort of surprised that you decided to do it.”

“They are?”

Jess nodded. “But I wasn't.” She added. “Let's find out what's going on then we can talk about it.”

Dev felt better about that. She didn't think she was going to get in trouble, or that Jess was upset with her. But she hadn't really thought about that before she acted, and that did bother her.

Think and then act. That was what Doctor Dan had always taught them.

The bio alt safety teams were spraying down the damaged carrier and as they arrived at the work pad Jason and Elaine joined them, along with two of the new agent teams. Doug's partner April was there, and Mike Arias came trotting up with his partner Chester as they all came to a halt beyond the safety zone.

“Holy crap.” Jason said, after a brief pause. “Looks like that thing flew through a volcano.”

A medical team raced past, ignoring the potential danger as they set up a triage point. Stephen Bock was following them, but paused at the group of agents on the ramp, stopping right in front of Dev. “They program you for flights into insanity?”

Jess bristled.

Dev took the question at face value though. “No I don't think so.” She responded. “Just a lot about how to fly a carrier, and a little bit about parabolic dynamics.” She paused. “And physics.”

Bock looked at her, then he looked at Jess, taking a half step back at the expression he found on her face. Then he shook his head and went up to the med point. “Let's just hope it was worth it.” He called back over his shoulder. “And there's something still alive in this thing.”

“He is in discomfort.” Dev said, mournfully.

Jess relaxed, and chuckled softly under her breath. “All along, they've said you can't use bio alts in the force because they can't make a decision, Dev.” She turned her head and eyed her partner. “And you just proved that wrong. He's not in discomfort. He's scared shitless.”

Dev frowned, but remained silent as Jess draped her arm over her shoulders not sure if she'd done that at all.

**

Alexander Bain sat at the head of the ops table, elbows leaning on it, chin resting on his fists. The other chairs were filled with agents and ops management, with Stephen Bock taking an uneasy seat to his right.

Jess was in her usual seat at the other end, and she had her hands clasped on the table in front of her, her eyes fixed soberly on her folded thumbs.

The doors sealed, compressing the air in the room a little, and Bain cleared his throat. “Well, people.” He said. “Every day seems to bring us new challenges doesn't it?” He glanced at Bock and lifted an eyebrow.

“Five dead, two alive, both critically injured.” Stephen said. “Med thinks Syd will make it. The other one, not sure.”

“Hm.” Bain grunted thoughtfully. “Let's hope we get some information from one or the other., hmm? I am told the carrier systems are non functional.”

“That's true.” Stephen agreed. “Everything gave out just as they cleared the bay roof.”

“So I hear.” Bain looked over at Jess. “I hear your charming companion intervened to assist, saving us from a good deal more messiness.”

Jess nodded. “Dev launched and caught them as they dropped, kept them up long enough for the grapples to take hold.” She said, in a matter of fact voice. “Good piece of flying.”

“Never saw anyone do anything like that before.” Elaine said. “Not inside a space that small.”

Nods and murmurs. “Dev says, she got used to dealing with three dimensional movement up in space.” Jess said. “So maybe that has something to do with it. She's not oriented the same way, I don't think.”

“Hm.” Bain considered that. “I wonder if we could contract time on station, perhaps? As part of training.”

“Why not just get all our techs from there from now on?” Jason spoke up, in a mild voice. “I'm sold. I like Brent but holy crap.”

Bain smiled thinly, and exchanged looks with Jess. “That's for the future.” He said. “Right now, it seems we have a great deal of destruction to account for at Northern.” He glanced to his right. “Mr. Bock, please assemble a recovery team, and start there at once. Find out what you can.”

“Sir.” Stephen nodded.

Jess drew breath to protest, then stopped, when Bain's eyes swiveled back to her, and his eyebrow hiked. She kept her tongue still, rewarded with a brief smile from him.

“If the damage is as I expect.” Bain said. “It will not go uncountered.”

Jess relaxed, and settled back in her chair, sure in her own mind who'd be picked to execute that plan. She had no love lost for Syd, or any of his people but the corps was the corps and she'd take vengeance on them as readily as if they'd been part of Base 10.

“In the meantime, find out what you can from the condition of that vehicle.” Bain said. “The damage seems.. ah... more extensive that I would expect from the armament we saw on the transports.” He waved his hand. “Go.” His eyes drifted over. “Ah, Drake, stay behind a moment.”

Jess felt no apprehension about the summons. She waited for the room to empty then she got up and went around the table, settling into a seat nearer to him, but not in the front row. “So.”

“So.” He echoed. “We begin to see the potential of your biological alternative team mate.”

Jess smiled briefly. “Didn't surprise me.” She said. “I don't think Bricker had any clue what he was introducing in here but it works.”

Bain nodded. “She does indeed.” He said. “Which could put her in some danger.”

“I'll watch out for her.”

“I suspect you will.” He studied her. “I have received communication from our friends on the other side. A message arrived on the shuttle that recently landed.” He folded his hands over his stomach and leaned back. “To send back the four men from science sector and Doctor Kurok their price is you.”

“Me?”

“You.” Bain agreed. “They've agreed to a midpoint exchange tomorrow night, they will hand over their captives, we will hand over you, and they will take you and likely to horrible things to you before you die a slow, and no doubt very painful death.”

Jess considered this thoughtfully. Then she looked up and into Bain's eyes. “Shoot me.”

After a second, his face split into a smile.

“Or let me go, and see if they can take me down or if I'll take them out.” Jess said. “They tried that the last time. Didn't work out so well for them.”

“Ah, my dear.” Bain looked affectionately at her. “You did, indeed, breed true. No we can't do that, as one of the conditions would be to turn you over immobilized, and they would then inject you I am sure with something to keep you that way. They are taking no chances.”

“Then?” Jess watched his face closely.

“I have sent back an answer rejecting their request.” Bain said. “I told them to go ahead and grind them up for fish. That they weren't worth the price to me.”

Jess felt a little lightheaded. She took a few breaths, trying to absorb the words. “Hard on them.” She finally said. “Our guys that went.”

“Yes.” Bain agreed. “But that's why they pay me the big bucks. I get to make those kind of decisions.'

They were both quiet for a bit. “Kurok's a good guy.” Jess said.

“He most certainly is.”

“He's one of us.” She looked at Bain. “He was a tech.”

“Mm. Yes. He was actually much more than that.” He stood up and paced a little “He was as revolutionary in his own way as your charming companion is.” He said. “But going was his choice. Not mine, and not yours, and he knew there was a chance this would be the outcome.”

“Hm.” Jess grunted softly.

“I think he believed if he went, his presence would give some kind of safety to the rest.” Bain said. “He always was an idiot that way.”

Jess considered that. “Do they know who he is?” She asked. “Aside from a scientist from the bio station?”

“That's a very good question.” Bain responded “I suspect they are most interested in his current persona. They might know of his earlier one, but one never knows. I have not revealed that to anyone. Have you?”

Now it was Jess's turn to get up and pace. “Everyone who saw him in the shuttle bay knows he's got something to do with us. But I haven't told anyone but Dev who he was because I didn't know myself until last night.”

Bain turned. “Last night?”

Jess nodded. “My family sent me a few trunks of my father's things. There were some plas vid in there.” She leaned her weight on the back of a chair. “He and my dad.”

“I see.” Bain sat down again. “Well, it's irrelevant in any case. I regret abandoning him, and them, but we don't make bargains and we don't sell our people.” He watched Jess's reaction sharply. “Do you agree, Agent Drake?”

“I do.” Jess said, after a brief pause. “You start there, where does it end? No deals, no quarter. It's always been that way.”

Bain looked both relieved, and pleased. “Excellent. Now.” He shifted a little. “Let's discuss the future, shall we?”

Jess sat back down and rested her elbows on the table. “Sure.”

**

It seemed like a very long walk from the ops hall to rad. Jess felt like the stone walls were endless, though it gave her time to think as she made her way through the crowd.

She felt confused. Being told she'd be taking Bricker's place should have made her bounce like a crazy person. It was everything she'd ever wanted, or desired, though shed' felt sorry for Stephen who Bricker was going to send to rebuild Northern.

Awesome, right? She'd be in charge of the whole base, never have to put her ass out on the line, never have to sit in pain as yet another mark was burned into her arm, never end up in med for months or have to argue with the other agents.

The hitch, of course, was Dev. She'd be assigned of course to another agent, and Bain seemed to think she'd excel and not to worry about it. He was pleased with her, pleased with the program, and had already sent communication up to LifeForce for them to proceed with producing more.

So yeah, it had all worked out great, for her, and for Dev, right? Bain had sure seemed to think she should think so, and she'd done her best to respond like he expected.

But.

Jess reached her rad station and entered, acknowledging comp and stripping off her jumpsuit. She winced a little as the fabric rubbed against her new mark but then she was free of it, and she walked into the open area, feeling the warmth as the system came on and bathed her in it's calming glow.

She sat down and exhaled. She didn't feel right about it. She just wasn't really sure why.

After a moment, she got back up and went to comms, pulling a pad over and requesting Dev's whereabouts. Not unexpectedly, her tech was in the mechanical store and she hesitated, then she entered the key for that area. “Let me talk to Dev.” She said, when it was answered.

A moment later, Dev's voice echoed softly down the link. “Hello?”

“Hey, it's Jess. You done down there? C'mon over to my rad.”

“Absolutely.” Dev responded, then clicked off.

Jess let her hand fall, and then she went back over to the couch and sat down on it. Dev deserved to hear it all from her, didn't she? At least she could reassure her that she wasn't going to head back up to the creche. Jess was pretty sure her partner...

Her partner.

Jess sighed. “I knew I shouldn't have done that.” She chastised herself. “Screwed myself over. Now I ...” She thought about Dev partnering with someone else, going out in the field with someone else, and to her surprise it made her really, really angry.

That was just wrong. Dev was a tech, and she was a really good tech, so why not want her to be successful?

Why not?

Jess stared at her hands, a brief flash of memory filling her mind's eye with waking up that morning in Dev's bed. Why not? Because she wanted Dev to be with her, not out in the field with someone else, someone who might want to share a sleep sack with her and then what would Dev do?

Her stomach hurt. Jess could not remember feeling this confused and in mental turmoil for a very very long time. It was unpleasant and she thought she might even throw up.

A soft knock came at the door, and she ran out of time for that. “Come.”

The panel slid open and Dev ducked inside, a smudge of silicon grease across the bridge of her nose. “Did you need something? It sounded urgent.”

Jess took a breath. “Yeah, c'mon in.” She said. “Let's talk.”

Dev shed her work suit and joined her in the rad area. “Some excellent parts came in. I got some of them for our carrier, and I'm going to see about getting them installed.”

Something abruptly crystalized in Jess. She realized just how important to her that one word our meant, and as she did, she felt the tension in her relax. “So let me tell you what's going on.” She said. “First off, Bain's really happy with you.”

Dev smiled immediately.

“He's happy with me, too, so happy he offered me a promotion.” Jess said. “He wants me to be in charge of this place. Take Bricker's job.”

Dev's eyes opened wide. “That's excellent!” She said. “Oh Jess!”

Jess smiled at her partner's delight in her good fortune. “Yeah, except I”m gonna turn him down.”

“You are?”

“I don't want to be in charge of this place.”

“You don't?”

Jess shook her head, feeling an odd, disjoined peace in herself. “Means I have to come in from the field.” She said. “Means I have to sit at a desk, and get a poof head.” She hesitated. “Means I have to give you up to someone else.” She caught Dev's quickly indrawn breath. “I'm not going to do that.”

Dev eased down on one knee and put a hand on her arm, her bare body almost glowing in the light from the rad. “But Jess... isn't it what you wanted?”

“I thought it was.” Her partner admitted. “I mean.. “ She shifted and rested her elbow on her bare knee. “It's what we're all supposed to want, you know? You can only be in the field for so long. You get too old for it. Then what? If we didn't want to be directors, or heads... what would they do with us?”

Dev felt highly unsettled. She realized rather quickly though that she was far more unsettled thinking about becoming someone else's partner than she was about anything else, even leaving the citadel. Nevertheless, she sorted through her thoughts trying to find something to respond with. “I don't know.” She confessed. “When we get to where we aren't useful anymore they put us down.”

Jess studied her. “Really.”

Dev nodded. “What else are they going to do?” She asked, in a quiet voice. “There's only so much room up in station, unless they move a lot of sets out. I've... I remember when it got crowded once.” She looked down at her hands, turning one over and studying the fingers of it. “It was just.. one night it was really packed in the dining hall and then the next morning it wasn't.”

Jess felt a chill go up and down her spine. “Wow.”

“So you should be in charge if you can, Jess.” The bio alt gave her an intense look. “Because only the people in charge can say what's going to happen. The rest of us just have to wait to be told.”

Oh, wow. It had come around the corner and surprised her. She hadn't expected Dev to.. “You want to go out with someone else”? Jess asked, cautiously. “Tired of me already?”

Dev's jaw actually dropped. She reached out and grasped Jess's arm. “No.” She managed to get out after a brief, shocked pause. “I don't want to be with anyone else. For anything.” She clarified. “But I also know it's good to be able to tell everyone else what to do.”

Jess exhaled. “I'm really confused.” She admitted. “I don't know what the hell to do now.” She felt both better and worse at the same time, a sensation that almost made her hiccup. “I don't want to give you up but I don't want someone else to take over and tell me what to do.”

Dev smiled faintly. “I think I should say I'm very flattered.” She murmured. “Anyway, please think about things, Jess. If this is an excellent opportunity it's important for you, isn't it?”

Her partner gazed thoughtfully at the ground. After a moment of silence her head lifted. “Is it?”

The questioning in her voice made Dev pause.

“Anyway.” Jess went on. “The other part of the news is they heard from the other side.” She said. “The price on your friend's head is my life.”

Dev actually stopped breathing. Then she started again with a choked gasp. “What?”

“They wanted me delivered to them in order to let the rest of them go.” Jess explained. “As a price.. I guess. For what we did over there.” She touched Dev's hand and stroked the top of her knuckles. “Bain told them no. We don't bargain.” She looked up into Dev's eyes. “Sorry.”

Dev let out her breath. “What will they do?” She said. “Will they hurt Doctor Dan and the rest of them?”

“They'll kill them.”

Dev felt like someone had hit her hard on the chest. “Oh.” She murmured softly. “Why?” She asked, in a distressed voice. “Why would they do that?”

Jess exhaled and lay down on her back on the couch. “Because we didn't give them what they asked for.” She let her eyes close, feeling the warmth of the rad on their lids. “Don't even know why they asked. They know better.”

There was a very long silence. Eventually, Jess cracked her eyes open and turned her head, watching Dev's still, silent face. “Sorry about your friend.”

Dev blinked. “Yes, me too.” She whispered. “Is it all right if I go back to my space?”

“Sure.” Jess touched her knee. “Go chill.”

Without a word, the bio alt got up and went to the locker, slipping into her jumpsuit and picking up the toolkit she'd been carrying. She left the rad chamber, the door sliding shut after her with a sense of metallic finality.

Jess folded her arms over her chest, at a loss to what to do with all the churning emotion going on inside her. She thought she'd settled on a course of action, and found peace with it only to be shaken out of her comfort by Dev's unexpected reaction – and – her stolid common sense about what it meant to be in charge of something.

Of course, a bio alt would understand that at a gut level. Dev had lived her whole, young life with the knowledge that anyone and everyone around her held power over her – of course she'd look at Jess's opportunity as a good thing.

Even if it didn't seem like a good thing for her. Even if it meant she would end up being a part of someone else's life instead of Jess's.

Surprising, really, how much that thought hurt her. Jess rubbed her chest. Literally hurt her. Here she thought she was being so noble and self sacrificing, turning the job down to stay with Dev when the bio alt had turned out to be more mercenary than she'd expected.

Ow.

Well, maybe it would turn out for the best for both of them. If she was in charge, Jess pondered, she could make sure Dev got a good partner, and good assignments, and she could look out for her, right? Maybe that was Dev's point after all. Maybe she saw a good opportunity to make a place for herself, getting close to Jess.

Its what Jess would have done, right? What she had done, in a way, in sucking up to Bain?

Jess suddenly found herself feeling very sad. It was a dull melancholy that she remembered from her recent convalescence, and rather than give in to it, she got up and shook herself, going over to the console and punching out.

“Session not complete.” The comp complained.

“Later.” Jess got into her suit and pulled her boots on. It felt better to be up and moving, and she headed out in a determined march into the hallway. Maybe she would go to ops, and get a head start on a getting that high level view Bain had spoken of.

Maybe she'd go to the gym, and get the kinks out. The memory of that goon wiping the deck with her rankled, and she figured at the least she should end her time in the field by being in good shape. Otherwise all that chair duty was gonna catch up fast with her.

So the gym, and then ops, and then maybe the other half of rad.

Jess nodded her head decisively, then looked up to find herself standing out side her own quarters, as surprised as anyone that her steps had taken her here despite her best intentions.

With a shake of her head she entered, and looked around, trying to keep her eyes from being drawn to the door that connected her quarters with Dev's

At least for now it did, until Bain put the change through, and she moved from this area, from the agents compound, up a level to where there was thicker carpet on the floor, and carefully inlaid tile on the walls. Where everything was plusher, and more comfortable.

She'd leave her blacks behind, and the heavy blasters, and use her mind more. Get hurt less. Not have to put it on the line every other day.

Great. Jess sat down in her work chair and rested her elbows on her knees, feeling sick to her stomach and with an ache inside she scarcely understood.

“Why in the hell do I feel like this?” She muttered “What in the hell's wrong with me?”

With a sigh, she leaned back and pulled over the bound case that had been her fathers. She opened it and leafed through the plas, the irony of knowing the position she'd just been given had been so coveted by him and yet one he'd never quite reached.

She flipped through the images at the end, slowing and stopping when she came to the one of him and Kurok.

A fragment of memory. Just a moment of time that had captured an image of two people in harmony with each other, body language relaxed and comfortable, secure and confident.

Comfortable like she and Dev were.

Jess regarded the plas in silence for a while, then she slowly closed it, got up, and walked over to the door between her and Dev, watching the door shiver into motion as she reached it and moving past into the darkness beyond.

**

There were too much emotions happening for her to cope with them. Dev was seated on the ground in the back of her quarters, her back to the wall. She had her arms folded around around her upraised knees, and she was fighting hard to keep herself from throwing up.

What a contrast. She had left the service bay in very good spirits, having spent her time discussing the new mods with Brent and Doug and feeling a sense of acceptance from them that made her feel very good. The summons from Jess had even made her feel better, and she'd been looking forward to joining her partner in rad and maybe telling her about the new gear.

Now she felt horrible. Just really horrible.

Thinking about Doctor Dan was making her cry. The thought of never seeing him again hurt so bad she couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.

Not only that, she knew the bad guys who had him would hurt him. Jess hadn't said that, but she could see it in the taller woman's eyes and it was heartbreaking to think of him suffering.

She didn't want to think about it.

It was hard to think about anything else though. Dev exhaled. She understood why Interforce didn't want to make a deal for him, and there was nothing in her heart that would allow the thought of trading Jess even to get Doctor Dan back.

There was no good at all in it. There wasn't any good even in Jess's opportunity for her, save that maybe it would mean Jess might make sure she could stay at the citadel.

Working with someone else.

The tears kept coming, and Dev rested her head against her forearm, feeling her chest heave in silent sobs.

Bio alts weren't supposed to cry. They were taught that in school, from the very earliest that showing natural born emotions was a bad thing. It made them uncomfortable, and Dev remembered clearly that grip on her face, and finger to the lips of the proctor when she'd slipped once after a hard fall.

But none of them ever really stopped feeling things, you just learned how to hide it, to keep it inside until you were alone, or in your sleep pod and no one could hear you.

She quieted after a few minutes and took a breath, releasing it as the hiccups eased and she felt the throbbing in her head lessen.

The door opening startled her, and she jerked up right, her shoulders hitting the wall as a tall figure entered and stopped, looking around. “Jess?”

“There you are.” Jess came over to where she was crouched. “You sitting in the dark for a reason?”

Dev wiped her eyes, and sniffled. “I was just thinking.”

Jess sat down and leaned on the wall next to her. “You okay?”

“I don't think so.”

Jess sat there quietly next to her for a while, not saying anything. Then she cleared her throat a little. “You feel bad about your friend?”

Dev nodded, her throat aching too much to speak.

“He's pretty sharp. He probably knew what happened to them could happen.”

“I know.” Dev whispered. “I just feel bad about it.” She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. “I'm sorry.”

“Why?” Jess's voice held a note of gentle inquisitiveness.

Dev had to think about that before she answered. “Why do I feel bad or why am I sorry?”

“Both.”

Ah. “I feel bad because I like Doctor Dan a lot, and it.. it bothers me to think of him getting hurt or killed.” Dev said, after a long pause. “And I”m sorry because I don't want to cause you discomfort.” She concluded. “Or think less of me for it.”

Jess reached up and rubbed the side of her nose. “Well.” She leaned against Dev a little. “I don't really understand it all. But I know it bothers me that you're upset.”

Dev sniffled.

“I know this guy was a friend, and all that, but you can't really do anything about it.” Jess said. “It's not your fault what happened, so try not to freak out about it.” She patted her thigh in an attempt to comfort her distressed friend. “Take it easy.”

“Jess?” Dev interrupted her softly.

“Hm?”

“How would you feel if it was me?”

There was a long moment of absolute silence. “If it was you what?” Jess asked, cautiously.

“If it were me, being captured.” Dev said. “Would it bother you?”

She waited for Jess to answer, but a very long time seemed to go by and her partner didn't. She looked up at her and saw her profile, very still and quiet, and intense, and after a second, Jess turned and returned her gaze.

“Would it bother me.” Jess mused. “Boy that puts it in perspective don't it?” She went on, in a slightly wondering tone. “I wouldn't have let you go. It was stupid of Bain to let him go, or the rest of them. Anyone wet out of field school would have known there was something off.”

“Oh.”

“But if you had I'd...” Jess paused. “I think I'd have to do something about it.” She sounded surprised. “Even if it meant our trading places and me croaking.” She regarded Dev. “So all right, maybe I do get how you feel about it. A little.”

Dev thought about that, in silence.

“It would bother me a lot if they took you.” Jess added, after a while. “I like you a lot.” She hesitantly put her arm around Dev's shoulders. “Kinda sucks they made me the price of his ticket. Does that freak you out?”

Dev shook her head.

“It freaks me out, a little.” Jess confessed. “That's a pretty big target on my back. Makes going out in the field pretty risky. Job's hard enough without half the planet gunning for ya.”

“You should take that new job, Jess.” Dev murmured. “I don't want you to get hurt.”

“Yeah, I should.” The taller woman agreed. “Better for me, maybe better for this place. Better not to piss Bain off with his itchy trigger finger.”

Dev felt a sense of additional sadness “I'll do my best to do good with the other person you put me with, Jess. I want to perform excellently for you.”

Jess exhaled, feeling a cascading torrent of conflicting emotions she had really very little experience with. It felt gut wrenching and cleansing at the same time and it made her body tingle from it. “I bet you'd perform excellently no matter what happened to you, Dev. You're just that kind of person.”

Dev smiled briefly, and looked away. “It's the way I was made.” She commented quietly “I don't really have a choice about it.”

“But I'm not ready to give you up.” Jess concluded. “And I'm not ready to join the powers that be.” She drew in a deep breath. “Leaving those guys out there to croak just to save my damn skin is wrong, Dev. No matter what Bain says, I can't just sit here and let them die.”

Dev turned her head and stared at her, a little open mouthed. “But, Jess!”

“But Jess what?” The pale blue eyes twinkled a little. “Life's short, Dev. You can't hold onto it. But I want you to know you've got a choice now to make. You get involved in a rogue op with me, you're done. “ Her face turned serious. “If you don't croak with me doing it, that is. You don't have to. I don't have to tell you anything else. I'll just disappear, and you wont' know anything so you can't admit to anything. They'll keep you. You're good.”

Dev gazed steadily at her.

“You've got a lot more to lose than I do.” Jess pressed her. “Dying has always been on my horizon. You've got a chance to make a new life for yourself here.” She paused a moment. “Listen, I know you don't want to go back topside. I don't want you to screw yourself up just because I am.”

Dev's eyes shifted and looked off into the darkness, then moved back to Jess's face again. “Are you saying you are going to go and try to help Doctor Dan?”

“If I can figure out a way, I might.” Jess admitted. “I might just do that despite what Bain wants.”

Then she waited, watching the dimly seen face next to her, faint illumination from the room's controls outlining Dev's gentle profile as she looked intently at her.

“Then take me with you.” Dev said, into a small, charged silence that had fallen between them. “If you go to do that, I want to go too.”

“Even if it means you get in trouble?” Jess asked. “Or end up back up on station, or dead?”

“Yes.”

Jess nodded slowly. “This could be a big mistake for both of us.” She said. “But you know - I don't give a damn. I'm not going to end up like my father did, toeing the line all his life and ending up with what? A blaster up his ass and a long, hard death.” She stared off into the dark shadows of the room, understanding that the instinct driving her was that same one she'd felt in the field, that she knew was perilous to ignore.

Insane as it often seemed. She felt that peace inside that had always guided her choices, and now, it seemed, Dev's choices as well because hearing her partner's words had brought a relaxation across her frame that she felt the twin of in the bio alts shoulders under her arm.

Take me with you. Jess grinned a little, thinking of how shocked anyone would have been to hear a bio say that. She felt the warmth as Dev's cheek pressed against her and just like that, the whole us and them thing came home to her again.

They sat there quietly together in silence, the sounds of the citadel penetrating dimly through the walls. Jess remembered the long weeks recovering from her injury not that far in the past, and how that same remote echo had made her guts clench and now, now she only felt a sense of anticipation.

“Okay.” She finally said. “So the first thing we need to do is go back to what we were doing. Act normal.”

“Okay.” Dev replied. “What is acting normal?”

Jess chuckled wryly. “I'll go back to rad. You go back to wrenching.” She said. “Then I'm going to go to ops and get some intel.” She paused. “See what you can get out of your buddies in the pits down there. Details about what went on.”

Dev nodded.

“Find out everything. What rig they took, who went, what they loaded.” Jess told her. “What I want to really find out is, was this a real deal, or just a game?”

“A game?”

Jess nodded slowly, and lowered her voice, even though they were alone, in the back of the quarters furthest from anything in the whole citadel. “Something's behind this. Maybe we can figure out what it is and whatever that is, will keep us alive.”

“I see.”

“Maybe it is on the level, and legit. Just a bad choice. Maybe it isn't.” Jess got up and extended her hand to Dev. “Let's go see what we can find out.”

“I think I should wash a little first.” Dev said. “This being sad thing is messy.”

Jess pulled her up and wrapped an arm around Dev's shoulders, guiding her towards the sanitary chamber. “Do my best to limit that being sad thing then.”

“Thank you.”

“Sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.”

**

Dev felt a lot better. She slipped back under the carrier's open engine, settling onto her back as she brought the portable comp around to take readings on the new mods.

Though there now seemed to be a much greater possibility of something bad happening to her, at least there was a hope that something better might happen to Doctor Dan, and she knew if Jess could make it all come right, she would.

Her head hurt, from all the discomfort and sadness. But her heart hurt less, and she was able to concentrate on the comp, studying the results of the tweaking she'd done.

“Hey Dev!”

Dev turned her head, to find Doug trotting up. “Hello.”

“Hey listen.” He flopped onto the ground on his belly, extending a handheld monitor. “Do you know what this is? I'm trying to tune that rust bucket they assigned us and I've never seen it before.”

Dev put her own comp down and half rolled onto her side to look. The small screen was displaying a diagnostic readout and after a blank moment, she felt programming kick in for it. “Oh.” She leaned closer. “That's very strange. It's the homing sensor but...”

“But it's pointed in the wrong direction, right?” Doug said. “It's transmitting somewhere else not locking on here.”

“Yes.” Dev nodded. “That's exactly right.” She looked at Doug, who was frowning at the device. “That doesn't make sense. Does it?”

“Nah. Ah, well, now that I know I'm reading this right, maybe it was just screwed up and needs to be reset.” He got up onto his feet. “They told me that carrier hasn't been used in forever. Who knows how long that thing's been bleeping.”

“Let's go look at it.” Dev grabbed on to the engine cowling and pulled herself up to her feet, pausing to grab her comp. “Maybe there are other things incorrect.”

Doug seemed quite happy for the company and they crossed the busy cavern over to the service bay the new team had been assigned. A carrier perched atop it, it's sides battered and scorch marks evident on most of it's skin surface. It was the same model as her own though, and had what appeared to be updated engine pods.

“Inside's a mess.” Doug worked the hatch and ducked inside. “They told us maybe they've got some new ones coming sometime but April figures we'll be stuck with this one for a while.”

The inside was a wreck. Not as bad as the old carrier they'd seen on their last mission, but it was evidently neglected and most of the racks and stations were being replaced. Dev crossed over to the open pilot's console and set her comp down, configuring it to read the mechanics inside. “It seems this needs all new boards.”

“Yeah.” Doug came and peered over her shoulder. “Thanks for taking the time to check it out with me. The rest of those guys act like they're doing a favor to answer a question.” He grumbled. “I know we're newbies but sheesh.”

“Well, “ Dev studied the readouts. “It took a few days for me to get settled as well.”

“I bet.”

Dev glanced at him, one eyebrow lifted.

“I mean, I'm just new.” Doug said. “But I came in the regular way. I know those guys must have freaked out about you, right?”

“A bit.” Dev went back to her comp. “But after a few days things got better. There was less discomfort.” She looked at the console log, and her brow creased. The last entries were dated prior to her arrival, and she noted the irregularities as she copied the contents into her portable mem.

“We heard about you.” Doug seemed content to watch her. “We heard rumors, and then, before we went for grad, they pulled us in and told us about you.”

“Really?” Dev considered that. “Why?”

“Well, us, the ones that were coming here, I guess because they knew we'd meet you.” The young tech promptly answered. “I guess so we wouldn't freak out. They said you were just an experiment they were trying out.” He watched Dev's profile. “Everyone at field school thought it was a gag, or something. Or some rig for a mission, to try and fake out the other side or whatever, No one really thought it was real.”

Dev closed her comp and turned, facing him. “So what do you think now?”

He grinned. “After that flight you took us on? I got no questions. “ He held a hand up. “I don't know how they did it, but I'm all right with you.”

“That's very nice of you.” Dev smiled briefly. “Since I have no control over what I am or how they taught me, it's good that some people think that's not so bad.” She indicated the comp. “if I were you, I would replace this unit, not just reset it. It seems to have a lot of old data in it that might disrupt your systems if you keep it on there.”

Doug grinned. “Glad to have the second opinion. I told Clint that, and he told me when he wanted my opinion he'd give it to me. If I tell him you said it, he'll hand over the part.” He winked. “So thanks, Dev! I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Dev returned the smile, and slipped out the door, pausing a moment to decide what to do next. There was a lot of activity in the bay, and instead of heading back to her own pad, she detoured by where the damaged carrier she'd rescued was being held.

There were groups of bio alt techs around it, all of them working on salvage. The carrier was in such poor shape it was hard for them to find things to save, but they kept at the task and didn't look up as Dev paused to study the rig.

Only two persons had survived. But they had told her that even those two would not have even had a chance if it hadn't been for what she'd done. Looking at the carrier now, it was hard to believe it had survived long enough to get as far as their bay, and Dev was very cautious in her approach as she moved towards the open hatch.

One of the bio alts looked up, and hastily got out of her way as she eased inside. “Take care, tech.” He said, in a soft voice. “It's very unstable.”

Dev paused. “Thanks, Kaytee.” She replied. “I just want to look inside. I will take care.”

The bio alt smiled at her. “It was a big thing you did, NM-Dev-1.” He answered “Everyone was talking about it, downstairs.”

Downstairs, in the compound all the bio alts lived in, except her. Dev nodded. “It was an unusual thing.” She said. “I am glad it didn't put any of you in danger, and it assisted the injured people inside.”

“It was good.” The Kaytee stated. “Many were surprised. I think it game some of the natural born discomfort.” He kept his voice very low.

Dev nodded. “I think so too. However, I am not going to perform with less than excellence because of that.”

“No.” Kaytee smiled again. “That's not your programming.” He lifted a hand and moved off, as two of Clint's supervisors approached. “Have a good day, tech.”

“You too, Kaytee.” Dev murmured, watching him leave before she turned and stepped very carefully up into the carrier. The Kaytee set were the most advanced set, she remembered, before they had sent her. They had a lot of specialized programming for mech, and she remembered some of them talking before they left the creche, proud of their advanced status.

Well, so was she. Dev paused and examined the inside. The smell of blood was strongly evident, and she could see the stain of it on the floor and on the weapons console. There were panels hanging from the walls, and mixing with the bio scent was the smell of fried electronics that made her nose wrinkle.

With so many people, it must have been terrible inside. Dev triggered her comp and did a scan, most of the systems dead and unresponsive. The only board that showed any readings at all were the main engines, and the damage to them had been extensive.

But what had made it? Dev adjusted the comp. The outside had shown huge fire scores, but not from any of the known blaster types. It was more as if they'd flown the carrier through one f the big electrical storms, it had that kind of disruption pattern to it.

Would they have done that? Dev remembered very clearly how cautious Jess had been about flying in the storms, preferring to take shelter no matter how much of a rush she'd been in. Maybe they had little choice though, with all the trouble, and those other people dead, or dying.

A signal caught her attention and she turned, moving over to the pilots station and dipping the comp down. She observed the results and frowned, checking the settings twice, before she ran the test again.

Then she flipped back to the readings she'd gotten from Doug's carrier and compared them. “This is unusual.” She muttered, saving the data and tucking the comp under her arm. Then she went over to the console and knelt, working the dead control panel off the side of the carrier, and setting it to one side.

She drew a small light from her pocket and turned it on, peering inside and then, sticking her whole head in the panel. The stench was awful, but she studied the burned boards intently, before drawing herself back out and resting her elbow on her knee.

Hm. Dev tapped her thumb against the side of the light. Was this something like what Jess had been talking about? Finding out what had happened? This wasn't really part of Doctor Dan's problem... or was it? She glanced up at the pilot's seat, it's surface stained with a coating of blood and the backbone of it snapped in two places.

“Hello, my dear.”

Dev nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to find Alexander Bain in the hatchway, regarding her with those cold, sharp eyes. “Hello, sir.” She replied politely, feeling more than a little apprehension as the old man climbed into the carrier and approached her.

He sat down on the half destroyed weapons station though, and folded his arms over his chest. “What brings you here, hm? Was there not enough to do on your own machine?”

Dev settled on the floor, crossing her legs under her. “Well, sir.” She said. “I was just wondering about this one.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I want to understand what happened to it.” She went on slowly. “I don't want anything like that to happen to ours.” She explained. “It seems to be very damaged.”

Bain nodded. “It is indeed, my dear.” He said. “What do you think happened to it?”

Dev looked around the inside of the carrier. “It appears to have passed through a high degree of electrical disruption.” She said. “I think they flew through a storm.”

Bain smiled. 'They did indeed, young Dev. They had little choice, it seems.” He straightened up. “If either of the two survivors regains consciousness, we can ask them why. Until then – why is a mystery. These were all old timers. Certainly they knew better.”

Dev nodded.

“Thank you, by the way, for your very brave, and hm... expeditious action.” Bain commented. “It was most appreciated, especially by me.”

“I'm glad it helped.” Dev responded. “I hope we find out what happened to them.” She paused, and then stood up, tucking her comp into the big leg pocket designed for it. “Please excuse me, sir. I have to calibrate a new module for my system.”

“Certainly, my dear.” Bain stood and moved out of her way. “By the way, did Agent Drake tell you about the deal I turned down on her behalf?”

Dev paused. “Yes.” She said, in quiet tone.

“Do you, perhaps, think I should have proceeded with it? To get your friend Doctor Kurok back with us? He seems an innocent victim of our machinations, no?”

Dev looked him right in the eyes. “I don’t think that, no.” She said, honestly. “It just makes me sad.”

Bain studied her for a long moment. Then he nodded. “It makes me sad too, Dev.” He said. “I am quite glad you understand the situation. Gratified, in fact.” He gestured her to precede him from the carrier. “These things happen in our business, you know. Can't be helped.”

Dev watched him walk off towards the control center, everyone scrambling to get out of his way. Then she turned and instead of heading back to the carrier, went to the inner corridor and started up the hall towards central operations. Hopefully, she would find Jess there.

Hopefully.

Part 18

Jess entered ops and took a seat at one of the big consoles, lifting her hand in brief greeting to the board runners and exchanging a brief grin with Jason. “Hey.” He grunted.

“Hey.” Jess pulled a pad over and keyed in a request. “Anything interesting?”

“After that whole thing earlier? What could compete with that?” Jason remarked. “Stephen almost pissed himself, y'know.” He added. “Did not like it all one bit.”

Jess shrugged. “Would he have liked that thing coming down on top of everyone more?” She asked. “Dev did what she had to.” She studied the reports on the boards, and leaned on her elbows. “Any word on Syd?”

“He's in the tank. Broken back, both legs, dislocated shoulder, and neural disruption.” Jason recited. “No idea how he flew that thing in. Dom's pretty close to flatline.”

“Huh.” Jess read through the ops logs, recalling the ones from days prior. “He was a jackass to me when I was out there, but no one deserves that much med.”

“He's always a jackass to you.” Jason got up and came over to the console she was seated at, taking the chair next to her. “So.”

“So.” Jess kept her eyes on the screen.

“I hear Bain's going to put Stephen out at North on a permanent basis.”

“Someone has to do it.” Jess muttered. “Don't envy him. That place is a pit. Was a pit.” She corrected herself. “ Wonder if the damage estimates were as bad as they think.” He didn't answer, and she looked over to see him watching her, one eyebrow lifted. “What?”

“What?” He echoed back. “You and Bain talk?”

“Sure” Jess went back to her screen.

“And?”

Jess glanced at him. “I'm not stupid enough to flap my jaws about his business. If he wants everyone to know, he'll put out a bulletin.”

Jason grinned. “He has.” He slid a bit of plas over to her. “Congrats.”

Shit. Jess glanced at the plas, which had about six lines of text on it, and Bain's creds. “I hadn't formally accepted yet. Bastard.”

Jason chuckled, but kept his voice down. “Only went out to upper grade field ops and at that, just to need to know so they'd hike your creds in here. You're still under cover to everyone else, so you've got a little time before the shit hits the intake tunnel.” He bumped her shoulder as she let out an aggrieved sigh. “C'mon, Jess. Who else would he pick? You know he likes you.”

“And that's the reason you should pick a director?” Jess kept her voice low also. “Because you like someone? Best I was hoping for was Stephen's gig, Jase. I wasn't looking for that much crap this fast.” She glanced around. “Maybe I don't think I”m ready for that or even want it.”

He grunted. “Good thing Sandy croaked. She'd have split a lung right in the mess if she'd lived and gotten this note.” He tapped the plas . “We all figured he had an eye on you when he talked you down at the shuttle. Otherwise, why care?”

Now it was Jess's turn to grunt.

'Most of the old timers are gone. Syd was the last of them anywhere near us. Seriously, Jess, who else? The active agents here are either from our class, or the kids who just came in. We lost a whole damn generation the last couple months.”

Something about the words stirred something in the back of her mind. “Huh.”

“Anyway, consider my sucking up to start right now.” Jason drummed his fingertips on the console. “Just like everyone else, except what I want is your driver.” He nodded a little, giving her a sideways look. “Please don't hit me again. I'm still aching like crap from the last time.”

Jess studied him in silence for a minute. “I won't. What made you change your mind?”

“You hitting me when I dissed her.” Jason replied in a straightforward way. “Something you value like that – one thing about you, Jess. You don't bullshit. I trust your gun at my back and your likes and dislikes.”

“Except Josh.”

“Really?” Her fellow agent cocked his head. “You trusted him? Or even liked him? For real?”

Jess remained silent, but her nose twitched a little.

“That's what I thought.” Jason drummed on the table again. “Well I'm just the first to ask. Won't be the last, but at least you know me.”

“I know you.” Jess agreed. “But I'll take my time making that decision. I like the kid.”

Jason chuckled. “Yeah, we guessed.” He nudged her. “I always said you had good taste. Glad the whole jel... bio alt thing didn't inhibit stuff.”

Jess frowned, “It's not like that.”

“It's not?” Her companion seemed astonished. “You've been hanging all over her.. you didn't take her in the sack?”

“Jason.” Jess shifted, and looked up as the outer door opened – surprised and then relieved when she recognized Dev's slight form entering. “Hey Dev. Over here.”

Dev crossed over to them at once, her eyes flicking to Jason before they settled on Jess's face. “May I show you something?”

Jess nodded, but put a hand on Dev's wrist. “Excuse us a minute, Jase.”

“Ssssuuure.” The tall, muscular man stood up and meandered off, winking at Jess before he disappeared behind the main console.

Jess sighed.

“Is there something not correct?” Dev asked, softly.

“No.” Jess said, gruffly. “Well, yes... maybe.” She amended. “Anyway, what's up?”

Dev pulled her portable comp from her leg pocket and turned it on. “I saw something interesting and I thought you might want to see it too.” She set the machine down and moved a little closer. “I was taking readings on the new mods and one of the new techs came to ask me a question.”

“Them too, huh?” Jess rested her elbow on the console and her chin on her fist.

“Excuse me?”

“Go on.”

A soft bong interrupted them. “Stand by.” Jason's voice echoed softly. “This is Base 10, copy.” He paused. “Ack, standby.” He stepped back and looked over at them. “Jess?”

Jess felt a jolt of surprise. “Here.” She answered. “What is it?”

“Call, for you.”

For her? “Put it here.” Jess grabbed a set of ear cups and slid them in place, as a tracer lit up on the board. She triggered it and leaned closer. “Drake.”

“Jess, this is Jake..”

Her youngest brother. “Yeah, what's up JJ??” Jess felt a chill, and she sucked in a breath, feeling a warmth on her arm as Dev put her hand there. “Everything all right?”

“Not so much.” Her brother replied. “Mom's air bike slammed into the rock face in a storm. She's gone.”

Jess felt her mind go blank with shock. Of all the things she'd expected to hear, that was the last of them.”Damn.” She finally said. “When?”

“Two hours ago. They just finished clearing the paperwork.” Tom said. “Jimmy's making arrangments. He wanted me to call you, let you know they'll process her out tomorrow morning.” He cleared his throat. “In case you wanted to show up.”

Hard to fathom. Hard to accept. The last time she'd even seen her mother had been two years back. Quick visit home, on the way out to the west coast. “Yeah. Thanks Jake.” She said, softly. “I”ll see if I can get out there.”

“Right. I'll tell him. Bye.” The comms cut off, and she closed the channel out.

“Jess?”

The room suddenly sounded too loud around her. Jess turned her head to find Dev watching her with a concerned expression on her face. “Yeah, sorry.” She muttered. “Got some bad news.”

“What's up?” Jason had come back over, and was leaning on the console. “You okay? Trace said that came from the Bay.”

“It did. Family stuff.” Jess nodded. “I have to go talk to Bain.” She stood up. “Dev, meet you back at our place.” She patted the bio alt on the shoulder. “You can show me your comp then.” She ducked around Jason and headed for the door, leaving him and her partner gazing at each other in silent puzzlement.

Dev finally shook her head and put her scanner back in her pocket. “Excuse me.”

“Wonder what that was all about.” Jason said. “I haven't seen Jess get that pale since she lost a drinking match with me and barely made it back to her rig in time.”

Dev didn't even have any intention of wondering what that bit of strange language was all about. She felt that something bad had happened, and she was anxious to get back to her quarters, and wait for Jess to tell her about it.

Her quarters. Their quarters. Their place? Dev counted the hallways as she walked along, Something was going on.

**

Jess stood braced, with her hands clasped behind her back as she regarded the man behind the desk. “My brother just made the call.”

Bain pursed his lips. “You put me in something of a quandary, Drake. Experience tells me that putting yourself out there as a target at this time is a mistake.”

“Probably true.” Jess admitted. “But I missed my father's. Family doesn't mean that much to us, but you only have one set of parents.”

“That is a fact.” Bain sighed. “I know you have your rights to ask this, you know. It just concerns me. Have you considered this might be a trap?”

“Yes.” Jess said, in a quiet voice. “That did occur to me on the walk over here.”

Bain nodded. “It just seems too much of a coincidence. But sometimes things are.” He leaned forward and rested his hands on the desk. “You will not take transport. You will go in a carrier, with an escort.” He said. “The escort will stand off armed until the processing's done, then I expect you straight back here”

Jess nodded. “Agreed.”

Bain nodded back. “Take care, Drake. We need you.”

“I will.” She turned and left, heading right out of Bain's inner office and making her way out to the main hall. Her mind was still tight focused, and it took a full minute of walking before her surroundings started to take on color and the sounds around her filtered into her consciousness.

Another minute or two and she found herself outside the airlock, and then cycling through it, not bothering to check the weather before she triggered the external door and then was outside.

It was windy, but not raining. Jess let the stiff breeze blow her hair back as she leaned against the damp wall, her eyes staring almost unseeingly across the ruffled dark sea.

She wasn't really sure how to feel. Now that the shock was wearing off, she kept hearing Bain's voice in her head, warning of traps and she had to wonder if that had, in fact, been why her mother had died.

The other side was as unfeeling as they were. Killing a family member to draw her out? Trivial. She'd done it herself, to them. But it made her angry anyway and she was caught between hoping it wasn't true to save her the guilt and hoping it was to bring on the vengeance.

So she'd go and see. Put herself out there, on the ledge, and see what happened.

Jess exhaled. She hadn't been close to her mother, not for a very very long time. Not since she'd been taken, and their last conversation, after her father had died, hadn't been either cordial or friendly. So did she care, if this random, somewhat selfish old woman had died?

Jess let her hands rest on the wall, and had to admit she really didn't care. The only reason she was going to the processing was to make a presence for the family and if it was a trap, then she'd take the opportunity to turn it around on them. She had to concentrate hard to even remember what her face had looked like.

She stared out at the sea. And if not a trap, then she'd be out there, with a carrier, and Dev. That opened up all sorts of possibilities, once they lost their escort.

Jess smiled faintly. Or maybe talked them into joining her.

**

Dev found herself pacing. She was walking up and down in her quarters, her ears cocked for the sounds of Jess's return next door as anxious and stressed out as she could remember being for quite some time.

She couldn't even sit down and do a sim.

It was a very strange and very unsettling feeling. She really wished she could ask Doctor Dan about it, about why she felt so strange about someone else's problem and why it was causing her a deep sense of anxiety that wasn't at all excellent.

With a sigh, she detoured to her workspace and forced herself to take a seat and pick up her comp. She set it into the dock and synched it, bringing up on the bigger screen above her desk and studying the results. She was halfway through it when the inner door opened and she looked quickly up to find Jess leaning there against the sill. “Jess!”

She stood up, but Jess waved her back and came over to join her, perching on the edge of her workspace and reaching over to ruffle her hair as she sat back down.

“Jason was right. I do hang all over you.” Jess commented mildly. “Does that freak you out?”

Dev studied her. “No.” She said, after a pause. “Not at all.”

Jess brushed her fingers across Dev's cheekbone. “Good.” She pronounced. “We're going out tomorrow.” She changed the subject abruptly. “We're going to my family's home.”

“We are?”

The agent nodded. “There was an accident, and my mother died in it.” She explained. “Tomorrow morning, they'll process her body out into the sea, and we'll be there to watch that.”

“Oh.” Dev studied her partner's face, but she didn't seem to be very upset about the news.. “I'm sorry about that, Jess.”

Jess sighed. “Yeah, me too.” She said. “I was never close to her, but a mother's a mother, you know how it is.” She paused, watching Dev's expression alter a little. “Oh, wait no, I guess you don't.”

“No. I can't even imagine that.” The bio alt said. She tried to think about what it would feel like to hear someone had died that you were close to, and all she could think about was the proctor she'd seen once, getting that news. Maybe it felt a little like she had felt, hearing about what could be Doctor Dan's fate.

That had felt very sad. But Jess didn't seem to feel sad at all about it, so it was strange. “We'll go see that, and come back?” She looked up into Jess's eyes, and slowly, the right one winked at her.

“Yep.” Jess said. “And we get an escort, to make sure nothing happens to us.” She got off the desk and sat down in the chair across from Dev. “I was going to ask Jason, but he'd be better off staying here. You like that Doug guy?”

Dev considered that thoughtfully. “He seems functional.” She said. “I only spoke to him a little. “

“Be good to take out a set of newbies.” Jess leaned back and laced her fingers behind her head. “Pretty tame run, get to see how he flies a bus. Good opportunity.”

There really didn't seem anything to say to that, so Dev kept silent.

“So it's good. You'll get to see where I came from.” Jess went on. “We'll leave at dawn, if the weather cooperates. Bring our formals with us.” She studied the ceiling. “Interested in chow? After that I can show you the caverns down below.”

“Yes.” Her partner agreed. “I would like both things very much.”

Jess stood up and stretched, and jerked her head towards the door. “Let's go.” She waited for Dev to join her and then casually draped an arm over her shoulders, leaving it there even when they exited into the central corridor and headed towards the mess.

People noticed, and Dev noticed them noticing. She wondered if there was something incorrect about it, seeing the natural born's eyebrows lifting but Jess ignored them and just steered her into the dining hall before she released her.

Dev picked up a tray and studied her choices, tapping in a selection and waiting for it to be dispensed. She could hear the hum of conversation behind her, and as she turned around to find a table, she noticed everyone's eyes moving away to find something else to look at.

Hm.

“Over here.” Jess nudged her towards one of the tables on the upper level, settling her tray next to Dev's and sliding into the seat next to her. “Notice anything?” She asked in a near whisper.

“Everyone's looking at you.” Dev answered promptly. “Did you do something?”

“Not yet.” Her partner smiled briefly. “Everyone knows Bain's been talking to me. He sent a note out to the senior agents, so they know about my job offer, but nothing's official.”

Dev studied the faces near them without looking directly. “There seems to be some discomfort.” She observed.

“I bet.” Jess dug up a forkful of stringy seaweed and munched it. Then she glanced up briefly. “Call your buddy Doug and his partner over here.”

Her what? Dev lifted her eyes and caught the attention of the new tech, making a little gesture with her hand to the empty seats at their table.

Visibly pleased, Doug bumped his partner with his elbow and they made their way over and sat down. “Hey, rocket star. Thanks for the invite.”

“Doug.” April gave him a look. She was a serious looking woman a little taller than Dev, with curly light brown hair and somber hazel eyes. Next to Doug, who was tall and muscular she seemed slight, but the body beneath the jumpsuit had that elastic strength developed in field school and tucked along her hip was a blade with a carved, old style hilt that was worn and visibly well used.

“Its a compliment!” The tech protested. “You weren't in that bus when she turned it upside down were you!”

Jess chuckled. “I've been there.” She commiserated. “When she says sit down, she means it.”

April relaxed. “I saw that from the simulation room.” She said, glancing at Dev. “It was pretty amazing.”

“Thank you.” Dev replied, turning her focus on her tray. “I'm sorry if I caused any discomfort to anyone. I was just trying to help the other carrier.”

Jess used the distraction to study the surrounding tables. The mixture of attitudes made her smile, and she picked up her cup of kack and took a swallow of it. “You get that carrier of yours running?” She asked Doug, abruptly.

“Um. Almost.” Doug admitted. “Have to replace most of it. Dev saw.”

Dev nodded, her mouth full of fish.

“Finish it in time, you can go out with us tomorrow.” Jess caught the intense, eager gleam in Aprils eyes. “Nothing exotic, I just need an escort team on a trip home. Up for it?

“We will be.” April said, forestalling Doug's response. “It'll be an honor.”

Jess smiled and lifted her cup in her direction. “Hope that's all it'll be.”

**

Dev could feel and hear the ocean as they made their way down a long, slippery rock staircase in the very bowels of the citadel. The air was full of salty moisture and she licked her lips as she followed Jess closely on the steps, lit by the odd phosphorescent block set deep in the stone.

“Long way down, huh?” Jess commented.

“In the creche, the upper levels were where the natural born lived.” Dev responded. “The very lower levels were where the space workers stayed, and it was like this a little, when you had to climb down through the core to there.”