by Melissa Good
“I guess they just thought we’d figure it out,” Dev said, finally. “But I really don’t know where to start.”
Jess gently drew Dev closer. “We’ll figure it out,” she said. Then she looked briefly down at Dev’s hand. “And you’ve already got a pretty good idea where to start.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Chapter Eighteen
DEV ALMOST DIDN’T hear the signal. She was very engaged in that kissing thing, with Jess’s tongue doing something weird and heart stopping that was making the blood hammer in her ears and it was only on a raggedly indrawn breath that the sound of the alerter penetrated her consciousness.
Alert?
She really wanted to ignore it. Her hands were gently exploring Jess’s strong body and she didn’t really care much about what the sound was, except that there was a tiny part of her brain that was telling her to pay attention to it. Then Jess’s hand brushed her breast and that brought a whole new distraction to her attention.
The alert sounded again. “J...Iess,” she managed to stutter.
“S’matter? Am I hurting you?” Jess lifted up a little and focused on her.
“Comms.” Dev said. “I can hear it.”
“Comms?” Jess’s pale eyes stared into hers for a long uncomprehending moment before she cursed and shoved back, slamming her head into the decking covering their bed space. “Ouch. Shit!”
She dropped back down onto the padded surface, but twisted to one side. “Get it!”
Dev squirmed out past her, tumbling out of the alcove and nearly tripping over her partly unfastened undersuit on her way to her console. Her knees felt rubbery and she had to work very hard to get enough coordination in place for her to hit the keys on comp and get an ear cup in place. “BR27006, echo twelve.”
She licked her lips, tasting Jess on them, and peered at the console, seeing the comm signal flashing there without really looking at it.
She was sweating and breathing hard, and she blinked a few droplets from her eyes as she waited for the response. The deck felt very cold against her bare feet and she lifted them up, resting them on the thruster pedals as she flexed her toes. The cup returned nothing but a slightly static filled silence, and she rested her head against her hand as she continued to wait.
She felt very shook up, but not in a bad way.
“Who the fuck is calling us on mission?” Jess growled. “Should have shut that stupid thing down.” She felt the top of her head gingerly. “Ow. Gonna have a lump from that damn overhead.”
“Sorry about that.” Dev glanced over her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Jess was in her under suit, the top half undone and hanging down at the waist and her hair was in total disarray. With most of her upper body exposed, and the stark overhead lights shining down on her, she was an odd and almost scary figure that Dev found amazingly attractive.
“Glad it didn’t break skin.” Jess grinned briefly at her. “That’d been an embarrassing scar to explain.” Her eyes flicked past Dev. “Call em again.”
“Okay.” Dev was catching her breath, her heartbeat finally slowing down. “Comms, BR27006 copy,” she said into the mic, keying it manually. “Re trans ident please.” She was very grateful to her programming now. The codes and processes came to her automatically, undeterred by her internal chaotic state.
A soft crackling echoed into her ear. “BR27006, squirt, endit,” a low, mechanical voice sounded, then clicked off.
“Confirm.” Dev hit the buttons that would capture the encoded transmission then she eased the ear cup off, glancing down as a gust of chill wind came in through the outer vent and made tiny bumps go across her exposed skin. “It’s an automatic broadcast.” She fastened the catches on her under suit with one hand, her other still holding the commslink.
“Even worse.” Jess poked her head around the edge of Dev’s chair. “If that’s just a rules squirt or some other piece of shit, I’m going to find and kick whatever automated ass that sent it.”
Dev felt that she probably agreed with whatever that was. Her body was wanting very much to go back to exploring this whole sex thing, which had just started to become really, really interesting. “I’ll decode it.” The carrier’s comp ingested the message and chewed over, as Jess leaned against her chair back and watched.
“So whatdja think?”
Dev stared at the comp, then turned her head and regarded Jess in some bewilderment. “It’s not done yet. I don’t think anything about it.”
Jess chuckled, and blew gently into her ear. “I didn’t mean the message.”
“Oh.” Dev blushed, which felt warm and strange. “It was good.”
“Good?”
“I really liked it,” Dev said, in a soft voice. “Though I really don’t know what it’s all about yet.”
“You will.” Jess leaned over and kissed her neck, then gently caught a fold of skin in her teeth. She released her, then tilted her head, watching her with a mischievous look.
“Oh.” Dev felt a prickle of desire run up and down her spine, ending up as a teasing ache in her groin. “I really hope so.”
Jess chuckled.
The comp finished its run and displayed the message. Dev tore her attention from those twinkling eyes and studied it, letting her mind run over it at least twice before the words made any sense. “It’s weather,” she said, after a long pause. “But I’m not sure what it means.”
Jess obligingly leaned over her to look at the screen. After a moment, she came all the way around the chair and braced her hands against the console as her eyes flicked over the information. “Wow. Storm that came over us is slamming the ice pack. They picked up distress signals from the fishing fleet. Must be driving the seas up.”
Dev looked at the wire line map, filled with bumps and arrows. She saw two white crosses on the edge of the map, and they were slowly blinking. She reached out and put her finger on one. “Is that who we were going to see?”
“Maybe,” Jess said. “The fleet’s pretty big. Might not be the boats we’re looking for.” She checked the chrono on the console. “They’re expecting it to last another twelve hours. We maybe could get out in ten and chase it.”
“Like we did on the last mission?”
Jess nodded. “Get behind it and come in as it passes. Might make up some time.”
Dev studied the map, seeing the lines of weather clustered close and tightly packed over where they were. “I see,” she said. “Will we go help them?”
Jess leaned back against the console. “No. That’s not what we do,” she said. “We get the squirt so we don’t fly into it. Interforce isn’t the coast guard. They go help them. That’s their job.”
“I see.” Dev digested that. “So they’ll get this information too?”
“Yes,” Jess said. “Well, they’ll get something like it. Our met tends to be a little better than theirs.” Her lips twitched a little. “Not that they’ll admit it. They lost a lot when the government collapsed and they had to depend on regional bosses for money.”
“I see,” Dev said, who really didn’t.
“We’ll go see what their status is, the ones we’re looking for, after the storm passes,” Jess went on. “If they can’t help us, I’ll have to come up with another approach. Happens sometimes.” She regarded the report. “On the other hand, if they need help we could use it as leverage to get what we want from them.” She looked thoughtful. “They can be hard assed bastards.”
“But we can’t go until the storm is over?” Dev asked. “It could be too late to help anyway.”
“Yeah, we’re stuck here.” Now Jess turned her entire attention back to Dev. “What a shame, huh?”
Dev managed a mild, rakish grin. Her skin prickled as Jess reached over and removed the ear piece from her head, tracing the edge of her ear with one finger. It made that sense of wanting erupt in her again, and she closed her eyes as the touch continued.
But the message dist
urbed her a little. She opened her eyes again and glanced at it. “What will happen to them?”
“To who?” Jess tilted her head, then followed Dev’s eyes. “The fishermen? I don’t know. Depends where they were I guess. Might have gotten caught in a cracked flow and trashed or been washed overboard.”
Dev’s brow creased. “That will hurt them?”
“Kill ‘em, most likely,” Jess said, offering her a hand. “C’mon, let’s get back to our investigation.”
Dev tried to imagine what it might be like for the fishermen, but found she didn’t have enough information to even make a picture in her head about it. So, regretfully, she closed the message and stood up. “It’s too bad we can’t help. I think it would be a good thing for us to do that.”
“Why?” Jess asked.
Dev looked at her, but there was honest interest in her expression. That made her stop and think about the question. “They teach us it’s good to help people,” she finally said. “Everyone does, in the crèche. It makes you feel good.”
Jess folded her arms over her chest and regarded her for a minute in silence. “People you know,” she clarified. “Not just anyone.”
“No, anyone,” Dev said. “Even sets we didn’t know.”
“Huh.”
“So I think about those people in the storm and it makes me feel bad we can’t do anything to help them,” Dev said. “Even though I know we can’t, because of the weather.” She watched Jess’s face intently. “Is that disturbing?”
Jess uncrossed her arms and let them drop. She eased into Dev’s chair and hiked one knee up, resting her elbow on it. “I don’t know. I never thought about it before.” She tentatively did just that, imagining the boats out in the ice, and how cold it would be for them.
She’d spent a few days out there when she was much younger. She remembered the sting of the wind against her face as she’d watched them steer into it and remembered her once removed uncle slitting the throat of the first fish they’d caught and letting the wind take the blood as a superstitious offering to whatever ruled the winds and waves.
Grisly, she supposed. But it hadn’t bothered her and now, thinking of them out there possibly being killed by the storm didn’t bother her either. The fact that Dev was bothered baffled her. “I’m not sure what the hell that is.”
“I didn’t mean to cause you discomfort.” Dev was at her side, putting a hand on her arm. “I’m sure you know the right thing to do.”
“Do I?” Jess mused. “Depends on how you look at it I guess.” She sighed. “They don’t care about us, so I don’t know why you’d care about them. But the weather’s the weather so it’s a moot point anyway.”
“Okay.” Dev rubbed her arm gently. “Just my programming I guess.”
Jess studied her. “Well.” She got up from the chair and put her arm around Dev’s shoulders. “Let’s get some horizontal time while we can.” She guided them both back to the crude sleeping platform and eased onto it, watching the overhead as she scooted back.
Dev hitched herself back, leaning against the wall of the carrier as she lifted her drink canister out of its holder and took a swallow from it. Then she set the canister back and laid down flat again, as Jess adjusted the lights and settled down beside her, not without giving the overhead an evil look. “Did you really hurt your head?” Dev reached over and touched Jess’s hair, feeling a faint lump under her fingers. “Oh. You did!”
“My pride more. My head’s like a rock,” Jess said. “I’m fine. Just not used to having a ledge over my pillow.” She slapped the overhead. “Now.” She shifted into a more comfortable position. “Where was I?”
She watched Dev turn to look at her, that faint, half embarrassed smile appearing on her face. “Is this freaking you out?”
“No,” Dev answered instantly, then she paused. “Well.” She made a face. “Yes, but it’s okay. I like it.”
Jess chuckled. “You’re so damn funny.”
“I’m not trying to be,” Dev said. “There’s just so much happening.” She relaxed onto the padding, watching the dim lights make shadows over Jess’s body. “It’s a little confusing.”
“Confusing. Well I’ll try not to confuse you any more.” Jess casually undid the top fastening on Dev’s under suit, peeling it back to reveal bare skin. “Want me to stop?” She paused at the second fastening, and raised an eyebrow.
“No.” Dev eased over onto her side and leaned forward for a kiss, hearing the soft sound as the second catch was undone and she felt the light puff of air as the suit was gently pulled down off her shoulders. “I don’t.”
“Good answer.” Jess moved closer, keeping her lips engaged as she slipped her hand around Dev’s back. She undid the catches on her underwear, feeling them come loose as Dev shyly did the same for hers. She relaxed, as they brushed against each other skin on skin.
Oh that did feel nice. Jess continued her exploration. She found Dev’s body sexy and interesting, a mixture of delicacy and power that continually surprised her. Her short stature and relatively slight form were very deceptive, and as she ran her fingers along Dev’s side she could feel muscles contracting under her touch.
Nice.
She felt a sudden electric warmth as Dev somewhat hesitantly touched her breasts. She returned the attention, feeling the tiny intake of breath through Dev’s lips as she teased her nipples, getting an immediate reaction from them. “Like that?”
“Ah, yes.” Dev copied her motion, and seemed a little surprised at the growl of approval Jess uttered. “Is that okay?”
“Very okay.” Jess forced herself to go slowly, remembering that Dev had no experience at any of it, not wanting to scare her or creep her out. “If you don’t like something say so,” she whispered into Dev’s ear. “Okay?”
“Y...yes.”
Thus encouraged, Jess nudged her over onto her back, rolling over herself and getting her weight up onto one elbow as she started to work her way down Dev’s body, nibbling and tasting as she went.
So far, so good. She could feel Dev’s breathing increasing as she let her fingers trail down the centerline of her navel, and come to the last set of catches on her under suit.
She undid them, unsurprised when her own came loose around her hips. She could feel a touch at her ribs, and then lower and she went ahead, sure now of her reception. It didn’t seem like Dev was going to freak out, and from what she could tell, her partner was enjoying her attentions.
She’d never been anyone’s first before. Definitely was an odd sensation. She hoped she’d do right by Dev and she’d come out the other side liking it, because she suspected she was going to enjoy the process and she wanted the first time not to be the last. “Here we go.”
Dev hardly knew what to do with herself. She tried to copy what Jess was doing, but what Jess was doing was so distracting it was really hard to concentrate. The gentle touches and snips sent sparks of pleasure up and down her body and as Jess kept up her attentions she had to keep clenching her jaw to keep from crying out.
Her body had never felt like this before. There was a growing craving in her guts that made her want more and more of it, every touch making the sensation deeper and stronger.
She wanted to touch Jess back, and somehow she managed to keep focused long enough to undo the stays on her suit, feeling warm skin under her fingertips and the motion as Jess drew in a deep breath.
A bit of cooler air hit her hips as she felt her under wraps come free. That was replaced by heat as Jess’s touch slid over her lower stomach and gently eased between her legs.
It was an explosion of wanting then. Dev forgot completely about where they were and what they were there for, her entire attention focusing on the fingers that touched her and teased her, making her own hands nerveless as they rested against Jess’s belly unable to move.
A pressure was growing inside her, an aching, building pressure that made her short of breath and sent pulses of red against the back of her eyelids. She clamp
ed her jaw shut as the sensation got stronger, and then Jess changed the pressure, and did something else that sent her rapidly into a whirl of pleasure, making her hold her breath and open her eyes in surprise as it crashed over her in a long, rolling wave.
It was wonderful, and scary, and overwhelming. Dev could feel sweat dripping off her and her entire body was shaking, her eyes wide and amazed as she stared over Jess’s shoulder.
It took at least a minute more, with Jess gently stroking her, for her to be able to catch her breath, her body relaxing back onto the padding with a tiny thump.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Jess cleared her throat softly. “You okay?”
For another moment, Dev stared at her mutely.
“Hello?” Jess reached up and gently tapped her on the forehead. “You there?”
Dev exhaled. “Okay,” she said. “I now understand why this is such a big deal to you natural borns. I get it.”
Jess started silently laughing.
“But wow, did they ever leave a lot out,” Dev said, in mournful tone. “That sure would have made class a lot more interesting.”
Jess continued to laugh, rolling over onto her back and holding her stomach.
“Wow.”
Dev blew the damp hair out of her eyes and studied the bulkhead over them. Her body was still tingling, and she slowly shook her head back and forth as she went over what had just happened.
It felt amazingly good. Her body felt like it was humming to itself and she now had an insight into why the natural borns were so interested in this. She was glad that Jess seemed to like it too, and now she really wanted to learn what it was that Jess had done, so she could do it back.
The thought of making Jess feel this good was very, very attractive. It was exciting and absorbing, and now she was glad the storm was going to take as long as it was, so she could find out more about this before they had to go off and do their mission.
Doctor Dan had been right. This feeling was rich and overwhelming and it made her want to do it more. Very distracting. “Jess?” She turned her head toward her. “I want to do that to you.”