Of Sea and Stars (Partners Book 3)

by Melissa Good

  They stood together drinking for a moment. “I had to get away from the people who were chasing me and, also, to find Jess,” Dev said. “I think I did some damage to the vessels there however.”

  “They blew up that other one,” the guard said. “Jerks. Take forever to get that bay cleaned out.”

  “Yes, I felt the explosion as I was exiting,” Dev said. “It seemed somewhat pointless to me.”

  “They was trying to get you,” the guard said. “That old jerk, yeah? He said they should blow you up, and the Drake went and broke his neck for it.”

  “Commander Alters?”

  He nodded. “Broke it like a stick. Pissed her off.” He took a swallow of the water. “I’m Bruce. They call you Dev, right?”

  Dev nodded. “Right. Yes, I think that would have made Jess very upset. I know if someone said that to me I would have been really mad.”

  Bruce looked around and made a small grunt under his breath. “Cleared out a lot here. Things”˜ll be diff now I betcha.”

  The sound of footsteps made them both look to the right, to see Kurok emerging from a side hallway, pulling his bay shirt over his head as he walked over to join them. “Hello, Doctor Dan,” Dev said.

  “Hello, you two,” Kurok responded. “I see it’s still raining outside.”

  “Like crazy,” Bruce agreed. “Ops said another two, three.” He crushed the water bottle in one hand and tucked it into a pocket on his rough Bay garb. “They got all the boards back up. Ready if those bastards come back at us.”

  Kurok got his shirt settled and gave himself a little shake. “Never thought I’d be so glad to see weather,” he said. “Seems like they cleaned up in here, too. Now it just smells like fish and the sea.”

  “Yup.” Bruce leaned against the wall. “Finished chewing ’em all out ’bout two hours ago. They got Jake and the kid from the shuttle, too.” He pointed to one of the hallways. “Got the mess back up.”

  Dev’s ears perked up. “I could bring a snack back for Jess. Would you like a meal, Doctor Dan?” She started off in the direction Bruce pointed. A moment later Kurok caught up with her. They walked together in silence until they were some lengths down the hall.

  The lights were back on, and all the way down the tunnel-like passage the inset lamps were glowing with a steady golden illumination. Now they could hear sounds of mechanicals echoing softly through the rock and a few voices from the mess ahead.

  “I’m sure you realize this whole thing isn’t over,” Kurok said.

  “I had, yes,” Dev said. “But Jess has taught me to appreciate the current moment because you really never know what’s going to happen next.”

  “In her type of life, that’s very true, Kurok said. “Come to think of it, in my life lately that’s pretty true as well.”

  They entered the mess, and the few people inside looked up at them. One of them was the security chief, Mike. He waved them over to a table where April was also seated with a very sleepy looking Doug.

  Doug brightened when he spotted Dev, however. “Rocket!”

  “Hello.” Dev sat down next to him while Doctor Dan took a seat across from her at the table. “Did you get any rest?”

  “About ten minutes.” Doug gave April a dour look.

  “Suck it up, buttercup,” April replied with a droll expression. “And you got more than that. We just got up here.” She leaned on the table as one of the mess workers came over with a tray of fishrolls and steaming cups of sea grape tea.

  Dev took two rolls and a cup of the tea. Two more she set to one side. The tea was richly pungent, almost spicy, and it cleared her head as she sipped it. Very different than the leaf tea they drank on station, and she thought it was better.

  The fishrolls were fresh and full of water grains along with the tiny fish. She munched it appreciatively, enjoying the taste. “Have there been any comms?”

  “Nothing,” April responded. “Nothing from Ten, nothing from any other homestead. It’s like the bands are just shut down. I was in ops, and they didn’t even hear any weather squirts from Quebec City.”

  Kurok grunted under his breath.

  “Could be weather,” Doug suggested. “The spectrum is off the charts. Almost like it was when we were up against that stuff from the other side.”

  “That was shut down,” Kurok said. “I wonder if this is people not responding because they can’t or because they just don’t want to. Interforce attacking a settled homestead, especially this one, is a political situation to say the least.”

  April nodded as she chewed.

  “Got that right,” Mike agreed. “The fuck were they thinking?”

  April swallowed thoughtfully. “Possible Alters was rogue? Hell, the old man was.” She glanced at Kurok. “How deep did that scam go?”

  Kurok’s eyes narrowed a little, and his face twitched.

  “Most of the ones who came here were from the west,” Doug said. “Not from Base Ten. But Jess said Jason didn’t warn her off, so...”

  “Yes.” Doctor Dan swallowed. “So maybe people didn’t think this was right, but no one wanted to stop it. I bet there are homesteads out there waiting to see what they can scavenge after this is done.”

  Mike eyed him, his head moving up and down. “No one’s friends. Everyone wants a piece of this.” He lifted a hand and circled his finger to indicate the Bay in general. “They ain’t getting nothing. Don’t care what they think they got to throw against us.”

  April chuckled without much humor. “I’m sure plenty of reports went back to HQ to support that,” she said. “We going to send those westies out of here after it stops raining? Or keep them for barter?”

  A little silence fell after that. “So, you us now, too?” Mike asked in a quizzical tone. “Seems like that induction doesn’t mean much these days.”

  Doug covered his eyes with one hand, but April just regarded him benignly. “That goes both ways,” she said. “Right’s right, wrong’s wrong. I wasn’t raised to follow anyone without knowing what’s best for me.” She winked at Mike.

  Dev started on her second roll. A few more people entered, and she saw a color difference and focused past the wandering guards to see a space suited figure peering inside hesitantly. “Doctor Dan.” She indicated the door. “I think the sets may be hungry.”

  “Bet they are.” Kurok waved the bio alts forward. “Hope I don’t have to fight the wolves for some food for them.” He stood at his place as the group came timidly toward him, four AyeBees and two KayTees, with Cathy, his lab assistant, trailing behind them.

  The Bay people all stared at them. But they didn’t do anything to prevent their passage, and the mess worker, after a glance at Mike, brought over a tray of rolls.

  It was a tipping point. Kurok knew it, even if his table companions didn’t. “Thank you,” he told the mess worker. “It’s as strange for them to be here as it is for you all to have them.” He gestured for them to sit at the table next to them. “I appreciate the courtesy.”

  Some of the Bay people eased around them, with curious expressions, and sat down nearby. “These are real ones,” one of them said. “Not like her.” He pointed at Dev.

  Kurok didn’t bother to argue. “These are AyeBees, and KayTees, service workers and pilots from the space station.” He was glad to see a tray of hot tea added to the table. “That’s sea grape tea, lads. And the items on the plate there are fishrolls. Try them.”

  Cathy came to his side. “I didn’t want to bring all of them,” she said in a low tone. “Someone told me...they said the sets weren’t really welcome here.”

  Kurok sighed. “It’s complicated.” He pointed her to a seat next to Dev, who had taken the opportunity to consume another of the fishrolls. “Cathy is one of my lab assistants from station.”

  Mike gave her a brief smile. “Welcome to the nuthouse,” he said in a cordial tone. “What’s it like living in space?” He offered her a mug. “Cathy’s your name? I’m Mike.”

  She nodded and to
ok the mug. “Thank you.” She sipped it gingerly then her brows lifted a little. “That’s really good,” she said. “What’s it made of?”

  “That’s sea grape. It’s a type of seaweed that grows off the coast nearby. The fishermen bring it in with the catch,” Kurok said. “They boil it to make tea then they eat the sea grapes as a vegetable.”

  Mike studied him intently. “You do know.”

  “I do.” Kurok sat down and picked up his mug. “I came here a few times with Justin on the odd day off or so.” He leaned back a little and looked around the mess. “Enough to know the drill.”

  Mike tilted his head a little. “Justin Drake?”

  “Yes. He and I were partnered in Interforce together. So now that we’ve done with history, has anything happened while we’ve napped?” he asked. “Should be getting light soon.”

  “Thought you looked a little familiar,” Mike said. “Justin had a still vid of you in his office before he bought it.” He stood up and drained the contents of his mug. “Rain is all that happened. I’m going to ops to see if anything’s on scan.”

  One of the KayTee’s looked up. “This is good.” He held up the fishroll.

  Dev stood up and gathered up a cup and the fishrolls she’d set aside. “They are,” she agreed. “I like them and so does Jess, so I will bring her some now.” She stepped around the table and started for the door, confident that Doctor Dan would make sure things were all correct.

  A moment later April caught up with her and Doug belatedly followed.

  IT WAS DARK in the room. Not even a shadow preceded the figure slipping through the door, and there was no sound when it was pushed closed behind it.

  The figure paused and slowly scanned the space, eyes hidden behind night glasses that outlined everything in shades of blue and gray. The bed only held one occupant, and that was a clearly defined heat map, burning an almost white against the silvery surface.

  Long and lean, arms outflung, one palm turned upright and relaxed.

  After a moment the figure moved forward silently, lifting a blaster and releasing the safety with equal lack of sound. Took position, and a breath, ready to level, aim, and fire. One more look at the body on the bed revealed only a gentle regular rhythm of breathing.

  Easier than planned.

  Brought the blaster down and aimed and only then realized there were eyes looking back at him, with a smile. “Oh shit.”

  Jess moved with the speed of a long lost species of snake, rolling off the bed and lunging forward to slam into the figure with a solid sound of bodies impacting.

  One hand to the wrist of the hand holding the blaster, breaking that with a snap and boxing the gun away with a quick motion to hear it impact the wall across the room and drop to the ground.

  The smell of steel. Jess unlocked her elbows and dropped to the ground as she felt the pass of a knife near her ear. She came up under it and butted the attacker’s chin with the top of her head, as her knee snaked up and pinned the arm wielding the weapon to the floor.

  She lifted up and let her eyes focus as the room came into clear vision in silver and gray. “Stop.” She caught the other arm swinging across and shoved it back down onto the ground, putting her other knee across the attacker’s torso. “Enough of us haven’t died?”

  The soft thunk of a head falling back to land on the floor. “Fuck.” Her brother let out an exasperated breath. “Finish it then.”

  “No,” Jess responded. “Believe it or not, I don’t randomly kill people, even if they’re stupid enough to try to kill me.” She got up and lifted him with her, shoving him into one of the chairs, then went to put her hand on the light plate.

  She walked back and yanked the night glasses off his head and tossed them into the corner. “What was that for? Don’t tell me you were taking revenge for Jimmy.” She glanced briefly around the room. “He was no friend of yours.”

  Jake cradled his broken wrist in one hand, blood dripping from his nose where he’d impacted his sister’s head. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit with a hoodie. “No. I don’t want anything for him. I just want all that’s left of this place for me.”

  Jess sat down on the bed and rested her hands on her knees. “You know something? I’m going to have to castrate you because you really are too stupid to be allowed to breed. It’s one thing to want that Drake heritage, Jake. It’s a completely other thing to try and take it from someone like me.”

  “At least me they’d all treat with,” Jake said. “You? This won’t stop until this place is nothing but sand and dead bodies. Tell me that’s not true.”

  “Probably,” Jess said. “Doesn’t change me not letting you take it.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Absolutely,” she said. “Alpha bitch, get of an alpha dog, who didn’t want you to have it either.” Jess smiled humorlessly at him. “This is mine until they splatter my insides all over it, Jake. Don’t try that again.”

  “Whole place die with you not matter?”

  “No.” Jess folded her hands and tapped her thumbs together. “I don’t care. That’s the whole point of being an amoral sociopath. You really, truly do not give a fuck in the slightest.”

  The door opened and at once the room was rather full of agitated techs and a nomad with a gun. Dev quickly emptied her hands of her supplies and came over to Jess while April drew a bead on Jake with very little humor in her expression.

  Jess eyed them. “Is that food?” She got up and went to the desk Dev had dropped her burden onto. “Nice.” She picked up a fishroll and turned, leaning against the furniture. “Thanks, Devvie.” She munched contentedly on it. “My brother thought he’d grease the skids of Bay ownership.”

  “When you see the whole region coming at us at light, you’ll wish I’d succeeded,” Jake said. “Hope you enjoy croaking, Sis. I’ll enjoy watching.”

  Jess continued chewing. “You really think you won’t die first?”

  “How about now?” April asked with a brief smile. “We might be busy later. Scan picked up bio readings coming in.”

  Jess picked up the second roll. “Party time,” she said. “Tie him up. Don’t want a rotting corpse in my bedroom.” She winked at Dev and took a bite. “Then let’s go do what we do.”

  THE STORM STILL raged outside, but central ops had been cleaned out and re-manned. When Jess got there, she smelled the astringent scent of antiseptic sea foam soap that was used to scrub up pretty much everything at the Bay.

  The smell was imprinted in her brain, and a brief flicker of memory inserted itself into her mind’s eye as she brushed past the broken door into the large room.

  Morning. Early. The family kitchen still bearing that smell after being cleaned the night before. Herself stealing fishrolls from the night hearth meant for the guard.

  Jess smiled briefly and straightened then looked quickly around the room to evaluate the attitudes of the ops watch.

  “Hey, Drake,” the captain of the watch greeted her casually. “Good fight.”

  Eyes looked up to see her, faint smiles flickered over faces before they went back to the screens and pads, looking closely at metrics since the big screens on the wall had been blasted into carbon charred bits.

  “Good fight,” Jess agreed. “Got another coming?”

  “Got something.” The captain turned a screen to face her. “Bio readings all up and down the ridgeline here near the caves.”

  Jess put her hands on the console and studied the readout. “Jake said the whole region’d be coming down on us. Guess he was right.”

  “Smarmy little gitwad,” the chief said. “No offense, Drake, but you had a skank family.”

  “No offense taken. Had no control over it.” Jess straightened as a flicker of motion caught her attention, and she half turned to watch Dev enter, her flight pack on her back. “What do you think you’re up to, Rocket?”

  Dev smiled. “I am going to try and get the carrier out of where I landed it,” she said. “I think it will be more useful i
f I do that.” She moved aside as April and Doug entered behind her, both of them carrying packs and April armed to the teeth.

  “Looks like the neighbors have come calling.” Jess indicated the screens. “I’m going to go out to the back fence and see if they’ll talk.”

  “Us too,” April stated flatly. “In case the stupidity gets to crazy level.”

  “They know you don’t got much to bargain with, Drake,” the captain said, but in a commiserating tone. “Everyone around knows we got thumped.”

  “Did we?” Jess eyed him. “I don’t see Interforce in charge here.”

  A little silence fell as the ops team regarded her in some silent surprise.

  Jess got that. She was in Interforce colors, with a tech, and another team at her side, and Interforce had arrived at her request. They had no actual reason to trust her, save that she’d come back, walked the gauntlet and thrown herself at the unlock code that would allow the Bay to defend itself.

  These ops watchers knew that. They’d been here. The one near the back wall was the one who’d grabbed her arm and hauled her forward across the console and fired over her head in her defense.

  But still, she was Interforce.

  Wasn’t she?

  “What’s the scan on the Bay side?” Jess asked after the silence had gotten awkward. “Empty?”

  “Empty,” the ops watch replied. “No one’s stupid enough to come in there with ships.”

  Jess drew breath then exhaled, finding herself in a very odd moment of indecision. She was trying to tell everyone to get going to the back entrance, send Dev to get the carrier, and in that moment, she realized she couldn’t.

  Could not. Could not send Dev off by herself. Even though it was the right decision. To have Dev get that carrier out and go herself to distract what seemed like an oncoming mob.

  She was aware everyone was watching her.

  Fuck.

  “Carrier’ll be a better negotiating platform,” she finally said. “Let’s go use that.” She pointed at the door and was relieved when she saw not only April, but Doug nod in agreement. “If Dev can fly it out of there.”