Partners - Book 1

by Melissa Good

  So now that she’d talked herself into believing what she really wanted to believe, it was time to get the hell up and work. She unlocked her restraints and stood, stretching her body out, aware at some level of an ironic understanding that there was something a little out of control going on with her.

  It felt good. She’d always been attracted to risk and somehow, this new and uncertain change in her life was flushing out the recent dark memories in a surprising way. If she went back and tried to recapture her gloom of just the week prior, it felt old and faded.

  She didn’t want to feel old and faded anymore. Life had pitched her out back over the cliff edge. “So what do we have here.” Jess went over and leaned against Dev’s console, peering not at the readouts but out the window. “Ah.” She studied the line of clouds racing toward them. “That’s not good.”

  “No,” Dev said. “I didn’t think so, but I wanted to see what you said.” She trimmed the carrier’s flight again, adjusting the side jets to compensate for the stiffening wind. “The autonav’s having a problem keeping level.”

  “Get me a topographical,” Jess said. “Can you kick the speed up a little?”

  “Yes.” Dev keyed the report back to Jess’s station, and rocked her head from side to side to release a little of the stiffness from her concentration. She adjusted the throttles and keyed in the change to the autonav, inhaling in surprise when she felt Jess’s hands come down on her shoulders and start to squeeze them.

  It was a warm and strange feeling and for a moment she went still and wasn’t sure what to do.

  “I’m not hurting you am I?” Jess asked. “You looked a little stiff.”

  Dev thought about that. “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you a massage,” Jess said. “Usually it’s supposed to relax you and make you feel better.”

  “Oh.” Dev felt the squeezing pressure intensify and she focused on it, letting her head rest back against the back of her seat. The pressure worked the tension out of her neck, and she found the sensation really very nice. “I like that.”

  Jess chuckled. “Paybacks for my cushy seat,” she said. “Besides you’ve been working here the whole afternoon while I sacked out.” She finished her massage and gave Dev a pat on the shoulder. “Let me go see if I can find a route for us that doesn’t involve getting this thing blown ass over teakettle.”

  Dev would have been content to have the squeezing go on longer, but she shifted a bit in her seat and retracted the restraints, the gimbaled chair moving forward as she reached out to put her hands on the throttles and Jess retreated back to her station.

  Of the last statement, she had to regretfully discard understanding most of it. She knew what a teakettle was, but that was about it and she seriously doubted actual tea had anything to do with what Jess was talking about. She considered the context, and decided it probably had something to do with the storm.

  “All righty let’s see what we got here,” Jess said. “Oh, Dev, Dev, Dev. This ain’t good.” She sighed. “Damn it. I wanted to get past the big wild before we ran into that storm. Son of a bitches in North skewed the data.”

  “On purpose?” Dev felt a little shocked. “I thought they were on our side?”

  Jess snorted. “They wouldn’t deliberately send us into hell but if they could screw up my pitch or embarrass us they would. It’s not about sides, Dev, it’s about status.” She scanned the limited met they were getting from the carrier’s sensors. “If I had to call for rescue? Get lost? Sure. They’d love it.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.” Dev adjusted the trim again, then took the carrier off autonav as the buffeting became more pronounced. She could feel the engines struggling against the wind, and a fast look at the console made her eyebrows hike up. “We are in force twelve conditions.”

  “So I feel.” Jess tapped at her pad. “Hang on, just keep her steady, Dev.”

  What, again, was she supposed to hang on to? Dev got her boots settled on the thruster pedals and studied her options, noting the winds were driving the carrier off its course to the east. She altered the angle and tuned the jets, flying the craft off its axis to counter the pressure.

  Then something caught her attention. “Jess?”

  “Hm?”

  “It appears a large cone is coming toward us. It looks like it might b...” Dev stopped talking when Jess hit the back of her chair, thumping her forward and nearly sending her into the console. She worked hard to keep control over the carrier as Jess leaned next to her, looking out the front window. “Yes, there.”

  Jess stared at the cone, then looked forward. “See those mountains?” She indicated the range they were heading for. “If you don’t get to them before that cone catches us we’re going to splat.” She pointed at the nearest of the cliffs. “If we can duck in there we might be okay.”

  “I see.” Dev uncapped the triggers for the engine afterburners and adjusted the power to send all of it to the drive systems. “You might want to sit down.”

  “I’m fine, g’wan,” Jess said.

  Dev threw the throttles forward and hit the burners, dumping everything into the engines as a roar built around them and they slammed ahead at full speed. The force drove her back into her chair and detached Jess from the console, sending her tumbling back in a roll of long arms and legs.

  “Okay, so maybe I wasn’t.” Jess grabbed the base of her chair and hung on as the gravitational force increased against her, flattening her against the deck of the carrier as it picked up speed.

  “Sorry about that,” Dev said.

  “You did tell me to sit my ass down,” Jess said mournfully. “Let me know when it’s safe to get up.”

  Dev felt the air changing around them and she focused on the screen, checking the power levels and adding the side jets in a bit as she felt the carrier start to pitch. The outside sensors were bringing her the sound of the wind now and it was a rising roar.

  Frightening. Dev saw the fold in the mountain that Jess had pointed out and she laid in a course directly for it, hearing thumps and bangs as debris started hitting the craft and she saw a huge chunk of ice flash past them from behind. “I would stay down there for now.” She advised Jess. “I’m not sure we’re going to make it in time.”

  Jess untangled herself from her chair and squirmed around to face forward, moving toward Dev with a powerful, sinuous motion. She ended up next to her boots, and wrapped her arms around Dev’s seat base, turning over onto her back so she could watch Dev pilot. “In that case, we’ll go to Hell together.”

  The distraction was almost lethal. Dev yanked the steering back as the carrier almost turned on its side, following her body motion as she found herself attracted to the tall form now practically hugging her feet. “Whoa,” she muttered. “What’s hell? Is that where we’re heading?”

  Jess snickered. “In ancient mythology, it was a place you went when you died if you were an amoral bum like me.”

  Dev focused on holding the carrier steady, feeling it jerk through the air as it was buffeted from behind. “Is that sort of like the incinerator?” She asked, distracted. “Why would it matter—wait, what’s a bum?”

  Jess patted her calf, not helping matters any. “Relax. We can talk about it later once you make it to that canyon. If we don’t, maybe you’ll find out the hard way.” She took a tighter hold on the chair and relaxed otherwise, crossing her ankles as she looked up past Dev’s knee at her face.

  What a nice clean profile she had. “C’mon, Dev. I know you can do it.” She saw a faint line of color work its way up Dev’s neck, and a faint smile appear on her face. She took a hold with her free hand on the catch bar bolted to the console and reveled in the feeling of uncontrolled motion as the carrier was suddenly thrown sideways.

  Dev was working hard. She could see the lines of fine tension in her body and the narrowing of her eyes as she leaned forward as if it would help them go faster. She had both throttles gripped in her left hand, and she was trimming the
side jets with her right hand, and both boots were controlling the thrusters with a frantic intensity.

  Jess could drive the carrier. She’d done it on more than one occasion, for a number of different reasons, but watching Dev, she had to admit this was a kind of skill she really didn’t have. Josh had always mocked her a little about that, and she’d always had the sense that he felt himself to be a more complete agent than she was.

  “I’m going to have to go high G,” Dev said, apologetically. “Really, really hang on.”

  Jess did, then her eyes nearly came out of her head as the carrier banked hard right and went on its side and the only thing that kept her in place was her dual grip. She muffled a curse as her back protested, her recently healed injury sending a bolt of pain down her spine into her lower thighs.

  Then she was slammed back to the ground and the craft arced upward, the G force holding her in place until Dev crested something, then dove down abruptly just as something hit the carrier with tremendous violence from behind. Then they righted just as abruptly, and the speed cut to almost nothing, the roar of the engines reducing to a low rumble.

  Jess looked up. “Are we dead?”

  Dev looked at her for a brief fraction of a second, then went back to her piloting. “I don’t think so, since we’re in the canyon,” she said. “Unless this is Hell. You’ll have to tell me.”

  Cautiously Jess rolled over and eased up to her knees, peering over the console top. They were between two rock walls, moving at just over idle, over a covering of ice covered in blue streaked crevices. It seemed very cold, and very desolate, but at the same time heartstoppingly welcome in its shelter. “Good job.”

  “We probably need to look at the back of the carrier,” Dev said, with a plaintive sigh. “I’m getting all kinds of damage alerts from there.”

  “Okay.” Jess pointed at a looming darkness ahead and to their left. “We’re going to have to squeeze through that pass there between the walls, then scoot into that cave.”

  Dev regarded the gap. “Is that an ice cave?”

  “Real good work, Dev. Not only is that an ice cave, but it’s one of our ice caves, and it’s safe.” Jess paused. “I hope.”

  “Me too.” Dev was nursing the engines. “Please hold on. We need to go sideways to get through there.”

  Jess felt the craft move and let her body move with it, ending up wedged against Dev’s chair with her ear just within reach. She blew in it and heard Dev laugh lightly as she got through the narrow spot and righted the attitude. Then they were sinking down and entering the cavern, a wide, open space that featured a floor of solid ice.

  It was dark. Dev switched on the running lights and turned the carrier around in a complete circle to give them a chance to see what else was inside. It seemed to be empty, but she spotted a ledge halfway in that was chipped clear of ice and was ringed with tech casements. “Oh.”

  “Set ‘er down.” Jess exhaled in relief, since a glimpse outside had shown her a heavy wall of snow falling. “We made it.” She pushed herself to her feet and went back into the back of the carrier, going right for her service locker and opening it. She removed a small bottle of painkillers and shook four of them into her hand, closing the bottle and putting it back.

  Back in her seat, she swallowed the pills with a swig from her drink container and waited, feeling the gentle bump as the carrier seated itself on the pad and Dev cut the engines.

  Dev was peering outside. “Is there service tech here?”

  “Basic,” Jess said. “And an emergency stock of food and water. This area isn’t really owned by anyone. It’s wild, and getting caught out is dangerous. We’ve got ten or so of these caverns scattered around up in the ice fields just in case.” She waited a minute for the pills to start kicking in then got up and went to the equipment locker. “I’m going to check it out. Can’t be too careful.”

  Dev privately didn’t think Jess was careful at all, but she nodded and released her straps, glad she’d been able to get them away from the cone. She joined Jess at the locker, and copied her in donning the heavy jacket and gloves. “How long will we stay here?”

  “Long as we have to. Storm’s got to go past, for one thing and you need to fix your burners, and...” Jess leaned against the locker and regarded her. “We can relax and talk about our plan.” She smiled faintly. “Or just talk.”

  Dev felt a pleasant mixture of anticipation and confusion fill her belly. “Okay. I like talking to you.” She leaned next to Jess and looked up at her. “Sorry the ride was so rough. Did it give you any discomfort?” She asked. “I thought I heard you...um...” Yell? Scream? Grunt? “Make a noise before,” she said.

  Jess’s eyes dropped and then lifted again. “Bumped my back. Maybe you can look at it when we get back inside.”

  “Of course,” Dev said gravely. “Maybe you can show me how to do that massage thing.”

  “Of course.” Jess winked. “So let’s go and get this over with so we can get all this personal investigation done all the sooner.” She turned and keyed the hatch open, nudging it all the way when it was reluctant to fully retract.

  A blast of icy cold air hit them, and at once their breath became visible as the environment inside the craft released outside and crystallized on the edge of the door. “Brr.” Jess blinked her eyes. “Don’t lick your lips, and keep your tongue away from any of the metal.”

  With a cautious look, she stepped out and down onto the pad, since the small ramp didn’t want to extend either. One look at the outside of the carrier explained why. “Wow.” She put her hands on her hips. “What the hell hit us?”

  Dev hopped out and joined her, eyes going wide at the dent in the side of the craft. “Oh, no,” she said. “We just fixed it!”

  Jess draped her arm over Dev’s shoulders. There was a long crumpled crease in the outer skin and part of the engine guard was completely missing. “Nothing we can’t make better,” she said. “But it’ll take a little while so it looks like we’re stuck here for now. Interesting, huh?”

  Jess released her and went over to the other side of the pad, down a set of steps that had been chiseled into the rock. She drew her blaster and started around in a circle, searching the shadows cast by the carrier’s outside lights.

  Dev watched her for a moment, then she stuck her hands in her pockets and wiggled her rapidly chilling nose. “Getting more interesting every minute, actually. But I better close that door or where to put my tongue is going to be a much bigger problem than it is right now.”

  JESS GOT TO the edge of the cavern in time to see the storm redouble, sending a mixture of heavy snow and ice pellets rattling against the stone all around her. She checked the entrance carefully though, finding nothing much to interest her save the fading light and the worsening weather.

  Behind her she could hear the steady, light hammering as Dev banged the creases out of the carrier’s alloy skin, and as the snow fell harder, and the wind started to whistle through the ice canyon she fell back, content that no one had used the place at least very recently.

  There were a million slot canyons and a million caves and crevices in the wild ice, she knew about this one only because of its mapped coordinates and the chances of someone happening on it by accident were extremely limited. She hadn’t told anyone at Base Ten she was intending on landing here, except for Dev, and therefore she hadn’t expected the information to have gotten out to anyone else.

  It was bone chilling cold. Even with her heavy coat, and the thermal gloves on her hands she could feel herself shivering a little and she pulled her lined hood up, fastening the throat flap. She walked across the ice surface, her boots crunching and the tough steel spikes she’d extended on the bottoms preventing her from slipping.

  She detoured around the edge of the cleared platform and unlatched the storage shed, the temperature making any automated system impossible to maintain. Instead, you had to know how to unlatch the catches, a metal puzzle system designed to frustrate anyone who d
idn’t know the sequence to unfasten them.

  This was her fifth or sixth time using the ice cave, so Jess was well aware of the puzzles answer. She bumped the door open and pushed her way inside as it scraped over the layer of ice on the floor. Inside were neatly packed and labeled rations, spare parts, ammunition, and other supplies, all quietly waiting for use. She made a mental note of the stock, then she backed out and closed the door, turning as she heard a thump and a latch coming home.

  Dev had just re-seated the engine cowling and was stepping back to survey her work. She had her hood up and her collar sealed and now she tucked her hands back inside her gloves then tucked her hands under her arms.

  Jess promptly trotted over. “How’s it going?”

  “I think that’s all right now,” Dev said, her breath visible in a steady stream. “But I think I need to get warm before I start working on the back. My hands are really cold.”

  Jess could see the blue tinge on the skin of her face. “More than your hands.” She triggered the carrier hatch. “Let’s get some hot stuff in us.”

  They got inside and Jess sealed the hatch, reaching over to her own console to start up the internal environmental systems. “Guess you didn’t have cold like that up there, huh?”

  Dev kept her arms wrapped around her, her entire body shivering. “Actually, we did,” she said, after a moment to make sure her teeth weren’t going to chatter. “Space is a lot colder than this, and you could feel it, through the airlock glass sometimes. But never for a long time.”

  Jess walked over and opened her arms. “C’mere.” She folded Dev in them, pulling her close as she felt the shivers working through her body. “Let me give ya a hug. We’ll put our thermal under suits on before we go back out there again.” She rubbed Dev’s back. “But it’s getting dark outside, so we should set up camp in here anyway.”