by Melissa Good
He heard the klaxon stop blaring and glanced through the glass, as the sound of mechanical motion cranked through the air, and the safety net curled back properly into place. At the top of the net he saw Dev close up the equipment panel and hurry to join her partner, and he had to wonder.
Coincidence?
He triggered his commlink. “Kurok to mech ops.”
“Mech ops here, sir.” The voice was quiet and respectful, not surprising since it was bio alt and knew well who he was.
“CueTee, please give me a report on the malfunction in null space one alpha. It has just occurred, and there was fluctuation in null as well as a release of the safety restraints. Complete diagnostics.”
“Yes, Doctor Dan,” the CueTee responded. “Is there damage? Do you need a mech team? Should we alert medops?”
“No,” Kurok replied. “NM-Dev-1 resolved the problem, all is well. I just want to know what happened.”
“That is excellent, Doctor Dan. I will get the report for you right away. Mech ops out.”
He dodged several running technicians and got to the main airlock at the center of the null area. Without much thought he keyed the door open and went inside, the two techs following him. “Easy there, boys.”
“Hello, Doctor Dan,” the nearer one said. “Is there trouble? We got called down here. They said there was a malfunction.”
“Who sent you, lads?” he asked in a casual tone.
“The security desk,” the DeeDee answered earnestly. “The director’s office called down, I heard them.”
“The security desk?”
“Yes, Doctor Dan. The supervisor there told us to come here right away. Is it correct?” The tech’s voice took on an anxious tone.
“It’s fine. You’re all correct,” Kurok said. “Let’s go.”
The outer door sealed and the mechanical voice sounded, warning of the grav change. Kurok took hold of one of the padded bars near the inner door and exhaled, feeling the shift as weight came off his spine and only his hold kept his feet on the ground.
The inner door opened and he pushed off the bar, drifting into the null and onto the viewing platform just inside.
Above the net, the proctors were gathering in the children, getting them sorted by set and grouped together, the children holding each other hand to wrist in circles.
Jess and Dev were coming across the net to the platform. “Wait here,” he told the techs. “NM-Dev-1 might be able to tell you what the problem was.”
“Oh!” The DeeDee caught hold of the spar next to him. “Excellent!”
Jess came barreling over the rail, flipping over and hitting the glass wall of the airlock with some force. “Hey, Doc. Any idea what that was all about?”
“Not yet.” Kurok eyed her, reaching out a hand to steady Jess as she came around to land. “Waiting for Dev to tell me what she found.”
Dev hitched herself over onto the platform more decorously. “Hello, Doctor Dan,” she said, as she got her feet settled. “The panel went into overload. It was amazing how Jess got the net to stop until I could reset it.”
Jess grinned, then hooked her legs over the top of the support and hung upside down, rocking gently side to side. “You owe me a shoulder massage for that.”
Dev smiled. “Of course.”
“So there was no power inside?” Doctor Dan asked her. “These techs were sent to look at things, but it seems there’s nothing for them to do.”
“No.” Dev looked at them. “It was the retraction hook panel, in the subsection. Completely de-energized. I reset it. But you should inspect it and see if there is something that caused it to go offline.”
“Yes.” The two techs nodded, then started off the platform, using belt hooks to fasten themselves to the net lines as they started across.
The three of them exchanged glances.
“What’s the chance of that happening?” Jess asked, folding her hands over her stomach.
“It happens,” Kurok admitted. “It’s all mechanical systems in there, the net and all that.”
“Doctor Dan, I don’t remember hearing of that happening at the same time grav had an issue,” Dev said. “The children could have really gotten hurt.”
“Mmm.” Doctor Dan drummed his fingers against the rail. “Let’s go get some lunch,” he said. “We can discuss this later.” He triggered the lock door and led the way inside, dodging at the last minute to avoid Jess’s tumbling form. “Jesslyn!” he barked out in mild exasperation.
Jess chuckled as she turned upright and took hold of one of the poles. “Sorry.” She landed next to him. “Gotta take my fun where I find it.”
LUNCH WAS AWKWARD. Dev was aware that Doctor Doss and the people with him were in a lot of discomfort, and the fact that not one but two bio alts were seated at the table in the senior scientists dining room wasn’t helping.
She was glad to see Gigi, though. She was waiting for the general talk to get louder, so they could share a private word or two since Jess had ignored the seating plan and steered her to a seat right next to her friend.
“Ah, ah.” Doss cleared his throat. “Agent Drake, let me first say we owe you a big thank you for being so forward in helping out in the null gymnasium earlier.”
“Yes,” the man sitting next to Doss said. “My name is John Akerson. “I’m one of the financial directors here at Bio Station Two.”
“No problem,” Jess responded. “You all are supposed to be so super scientific up here, it kinda surprised me to have it all go tits up like that.”
“What does that mean?” Gigi asked in a whisper.
“She thinks it was strange the malfunction happened,” Dev whispered back. “It seemed incorrect to have the board lock up at the same time grav was in flux.”
Gigi frowned.
“There was a power surge,” Doctor Dan replied in a careful tone. “Mechanical operations reported that one of the solar arrays over provided the grid.”
Jess looked up and to the right, where one of the arrays was clearly in view. “That?” She watched in some fascination as the array shifted its angle, following the course of the sun they were moving past.
“Not that one, but yes,” Kurok said. “I suppose that must interest you, Jess. Nothing like that downside.”
“It’s useful, like the hydro tunnels are,” Jess said. “Seems to provide you with enough power.”
The scientists relaxed a little, and one of them leaned forward. “I haven’t been downside. Tell me about that. One of my brothers worked on a turbine station in Quebec City.”
The chatter rose a little, and everyone focused on their cups, turning attention away from their unwelcome table guests for the moment as Jess amiably described the tunnels they used for power.
“So, how is it going for you, Dev?” Gigi asked. “Everyone says you have done really excellent work.”
Dev grinned a little and blushed. “That is what they say. I just used the programming they gave me and did the best I could. It was Jess who really did some excellent things and got very good results.” She considered. “But I was glad I could help her in that.”
“They sent a vid up with you flying a vehicle,” Gigi said. “The proctors of the pilots, you know, the KayTees, have been studying it.”
“The carrier. Yes,” Dev said. “I have done quite well with that, actually. It’s a lot of fun to fly, and they have just installed some new and more powerful engines. I like them.”
“Excuse me NM-Dev-1.”
Dev looked over at Akerson. “Yes, sir?”
“I heard you went right to the control panel and fixed it, in the null,” he said, in a somewhat accusatory tone. “Without being instructed to.”
Dev was aware of Jess reacting next to her, and instinctively she reached out and put her hand over her wrist. “Of course, sir. My programming is in tech. The entire point of the advanced level was not to have to wait for instruction.”
He stared at her.
“Dev is correct,” Kur
ok said. “That’s precisely why she received the programming I designed.”
“Do we want bios who make their own decisions?” Akerson asked. “I’m not sure.”
“That’s exactly what was requested, John. Please. You’ve read the contract. Now stop.”
Akerson frowned at him. “That wasn’t what it said.”
“It was,” Doss replied firmly. “Now please stop, or leave. These are our guests.” He turned his attention to Jess. “Now what were we talking about? The turbines, wasn’t it?”
“Do you,” Gigi asked under her breath, “make your own decisions, Dev?”
Dev saw that Jess’s eyes were still narrowed, but her body relaxed a little. Dev waited until she saw her lean back a little, then she settled back herself. “Of course,” she responded to Gigi. “It’s what the work is. We go outside the base and stop bad things from happening. Jess depends on me knowing what to do.”
“She doesn’t tell you?”
“Sometimes. Where to go, and what course to put in, things like that. But the rest of it, no. She expects me to do it on my own.”
“Wow.” Gigi smiled a little. “That’s amazing.” She glanced around then back at Dev. “There are more of us at the Interforce base, isn’t that correct? A lot more? One of the proctors said they were sending two more full sets downworld.”
“There are.” Dev forked up some of the protein cubes. “Ten or twelve different sets.”
“Do you stay with them?” Gigi asked, in a curious tone.
“No.” Dev smiled. “I live next to Jess. I have to be ready to work at all times with her.” She took a sip of the tea they’d been served. “All of the techs and agents live in one area.”
“But they’re natural born, the rest of them?”
“Yes.”
“Is that difficult?” Gigi asked. “I can’t imagine having to live with all natural borns around me. It would be uncomfortable I think.”
Dev considered that. “It isn’t difficult at all.” She was suddenly aware of the slight twitching of Jess’s ear and knew her partner was listening. “It was a little uncomfortable at first, but after we did a few missions, it was fine. The other techs are mostly very nice. They call me Rocket.”
Gigi paused uncertainly, but then she smiled a little. “Do they? Is that good? Why do they call you that?”
Jess leaned past her, addressing Gigi directly. “Because she’s the best pilot we’ve got, and the queen of the wrenchers.” She reached a hand over. “Hi. I’m Jess.”
Gigi took her hand and then released it. “Hello.” She paused, then smiled a little timdly when Jess did. “Agent Drake,” Doss distracted her. “Excuse me, but is it true? I mean, are you from the Drake’s Bay homestead?” “What clued you into that?” Jess asked with a deadpan expression. “Well....” He frowned. “Someone said it.” He looked accusingly at one of the other scientists. Jess leaned back in her chair and regarded Doss. “Yes, as my name might indicate, I am in fact from Drake’s Bay. Why?”
Doss nodded. “It’s quite strange that you’re visiting us here, and we’ve heard from Interforce that there seems to be some issue with product from here at that location.”
Jess folded her arms over her chest. “Someone sold my brother a bunch of stuff from here, yeah. What of it?”
“How do you know it was from here?” Akerson asked sharply.
“The seed lots had designations from here, sir,” Dev said. “I recognized them.”
Akerson looked like he was thinking of being mean to her, Dev thought, but after a quick look at Jess he decided not to, which wasn’t surprising since Jess was glowering at him, and even sitting down she was taller than he was.
Taller than everyone was actually.
“It could have been stolen,” Akerson muttered.
“Yes, that’s possible,” Dev said. “But regardless of how it arrived downworld, it came from here. There were twelve to fourteens species, including fruit plants, grasses, mint and sage, corn, peas, and some beans.”
“And peaches,” Jess said.
“They were grown using a bioluminescent mineral based photochemical reaction,” Doctor Dan said. “Dev was kind enough to bring me a sample of the phosphine bearing mineral,” he added with a faint smile.
There was a little silence. “Daniel,” Doss said, after a moment. “That’s very unusual.”
“Yes,” Kurok agreed, shortly. “We need to send a team there to review it. The implications, if the mineral is producible, are somewhat profound.”
Akerson leaned forward. “They grew seed with it? You’re sure?”
Jess leaned forward as well. “I ate the peaches. Didn’t much care for the peas. However it worked, it did.”
“How could they think this wasn’t of great importance?” Doss sat back in his seat. “My stars.”
The bio alt servers came over and removed their plates, and a second set of servers came in with small dishes with a ball of frozen confection in their centers.
Dev’s eyes widened a little, and she got a poke from Gigi, who indicated the plate. They gave each other a thumbs up and quickly started in on the treat.
Jess watched Akerson. “Sure someone from here didn’t do a deal with Jimmy?” she drawled a little. “That was my brother’s name. James Drake.” She watched the faces, senses made sharp from years of playing this game, alert to twitches around the lip, the shift of shoulders, the sudden motion of hands washing each other.
Doss looked the most uncomfortable. “We’ll check the records, certainly, but there was no transaction in these goods that I knew of,” he said, stiffly.
“Nor I,” Akerson said. “But I won’t lie and say we wouldn’t be interested in working with you on that kind of project. But of course,” he drew back a little, “you’re Interforce. You can’t speak for them.”
“Of course.” Jess smiled at him without any humor.
“That’s not quite true,” Kurok said in a mild tone. He was busy finishing his meal and kept his eyes on it. “Jesslyn is, in fact, the current Drake of Drake’s Bay, due to an odd confluence of intent and happenstance.”
Awkward silence. Kurok waited a moment, then looked up in mock innocence. “Sorry.” He eyed Jess. “Was that a secret?”
“Not downworld it ain’t.” Jess’s eyes twinkled at him in somber appreciation. “Just an uncomfortable truth.” She let her eyes lift up and pin Doss. “But that’s why Interforce is there, at the Bay, poking around in your seed beds. I called them in.”
Akerson put one hand on the table, fingers curled into his palm. “The rest of these white coats may not know about downside, but I do. Active Interforce can’t be a stakeholder.”
“Mmm.” Kurok wiped his lips. “Drakes don’t always go by the rules. Jess’s father often didn’t.” He let the waiting bio alt take his plate. “Thank you, AyeBee.”
Jess’s eyebrow twitched. She’d never heard any rumors of Justin being a rule breaker. The opposite, in fact. She took a breath to protest, then paused as Kurok gave her a swift, sideways glance, along with the faintest twitch of his lips.
Huh.
“You’re welcome, Doctor Dan,” the AyeBee said. “Can I bring you a tea?”
“Yes, please, along with some of that ice cream.” He put the napkin down. “Jess is in fact the controlling stakeholder. More importantly, she was the controlling stakeholder when those seed lots were delivered over. I checked the lot dates. That means whoever did the deal really did it with Interforce and now they’re very, very interested.” He looked around the table. “So if anyone here does know about this, you might want to speak up.”
Akerson glanced at Dev and Gigi. “We should discuss this in private,” he said. “As I told Doss, I don’t know squat about this. But I can see profit in it, just like Interforce can.” He got up and shoved his chair into place. “Doss, your office, ten standard.” He walked quickly out of the dining hall.
Doctor Doss sighed in exasperation. “Daniel!”
“Yes
, Randall?” Kurok gave him one of his kinder smiles. “Please don’t be stressed. The man is an ass, and the whole station knows it.”
Doss got up. “That’s not the point. Must you prod him like that? The council is upset enough already.” He pushed his chair in. “He can cause us a lot of trouble.” Doss started off to follow Akerson.
After an awkward pause, the rest of the scientists got up and left the table, muttering half hearted goodbyes.
Kurok watched them leave then he edged his chair around to the side. “Now, you lot.” He lowered his voice. “Gigi, it probably would be best if you pretend you never heard any of this.”
“Of course, Doctor Dan,” Gigi answered promptly. “I pretend I never hear anything in the Director’s office.”
Jess chuckled. She prodded and then tasted the ball of ice on her plate. “Hey. Finally something I like.” She mouthed the substance. “Your kids are smarter than you are, Doc. They’re clued.”
“Mmm.” He grinned. “You have no idea.”
Gigi looked around “But...could you come down to the crèche for a moment? Everyone really wants to say hello to Dev,” she said. “They asked me to ask you because they knew I was going to have a meal with you today.”
Doctor Dan smiled. “Is that okay by you, Dev?”
“Yes,” Dev said, after a moment. “As long as Jess goes with us,” she added unexpectedly.
“Like I wouldn’t?” Jess said. “C’mon. I still want to see your baby pictures.” She got up and waited for them to join her. “Let’s go see how the other half lives.”
“Quite more than half.”
THE TRIP TO the crèche involved another grav tube, which made Jess happy. She resisted the urge to tumble in space as they drifted down, slowly shedding the proctors and staff of the station as they gathered isolated bio alts along the way.
It was obvious to Jess that all the bio alts both knew who Dev was and had their attention glued on Dan Kurok. She saw them watching him, waiting for him to look their way, hoping for the recognition that indicated.
Dev had her noncommittal expression on, and Jess casually rested her hand on her shoulder, feeling the tension under her fingertips. “Relax, Devvie.”