Partners - Book 1

by Melissa Good

  “Ah, can’t be that different than the bus.” Jess found the door locked. “Stand back.” She took a step back and drew her gun out, pointing it at the lock and triggering the weapon. A bolt of energy smacked into the metal, turning it bright red, and producing an odd, spicy hot smell.

  It clicked, and she kicked it, shoving the hatch inward and stepping over the verge. “C’mon.”

  Dev followed, finding herself in a space that held control surfaces on every inch, reminding her suddenly of the crèche’s sim lab.

  Her eyes went to the controls and much to her surprise, she felt programming kick in.

  “Let’s see.” Jess went over to the main console. “Wonder if we can turn the juice back on. At least we could go down and steal breakfast.”

  “Not there.” Dev went to a side panel. “Here.” She ran her fingers over the controls and then, after a moment, she nodded and started pressing them as a programming overlay made the shapes and positions make sense to her. “I think, yes.” She flipped a cover off and pressed a button, and the deck started faintly vibrating. “Yes.”

  She turned to find Jess looking at her.

  “I guess you do know how to do this,” Jess said, dryly. “Got any other surprises?”

  Dev let her hand fall to her side. “I don’t know,” she said. “They are surprises to me sometimes too.”

  Jess nodded. “Okay.” She gestured to the controls. “Get this thing powered up and see if you can retract the anchor.” She went to stand near the front of the bridge. “Let’s get out of here and do some of our own hunting.”

  “Those people will be in great discomfort if we do that.”

  “Yes, they will.” Jess smiled. “Hope they’ve got supplies.”

  With a soft grunt, Dev went to the main console and sat down, letting her eyes scan the surface before she started triggering things and bringing up power. “This should be interesting.”

  Jess chuckled.

  IT WAS INTERESTING, and also hard. Dev flexed her hands, glad at least the control center was closed, and warm. She checked the power settings, hesitating a little before she engaged the heater that would warm the anchor line and get it to release. “Is this correct?” she asked Jess.

  “Is what correct?” Jess was examining one of the old style comp readouts.

  “Taking this ship?”

  Jess glanced over her shoulder. “Was it correct for them to leave us here alone on it? Don’t get sentimental because that old salt liked you.”

  Dev thought about that for a minute. She checked the readings, then triggered the anchor chain retraction, hearing the rumble as it engaged. “We don’t know why they left us,” she said, after a long pause. “They might not have meant to cause us discomfort.”

  Jess snorted. “Just get us out of here,” she said. “I don’t like that ice.”

  Dev settled into the operator’s chair. They could always bring the boat back, after all. If the fisher folks had been somewhere off in the ice all this time, they were probably okay. She confirmed that the anchor was seated back on the boat, and then she engaged the engines, her hands moving the throttles with uncertain motions.

  She glanced at scan, surprised that the noise of the boat coming active hadn’t attracted any attention. “I would have thought they’d come if we were leaving with it,” she said.

  Jess leaned against the console and regarded the ice. “Yeah, you’d think.”

  They were drifting away from the ice wall now, and Dev turned on the sonar, seeing the faint return from the ice all around her. She looked over at the uneven opening in the wall again, expecting to see at least Sigurd come running, but the opening stayed stubbornly empty and she frowned, still not feeling right about all of it. “Jess...”

  Jess’s hand came down on hers. “Sh.”

  Dev closed her mouth, and waited. She watched Jess’s face, which was tense and twitching a little. She had turned her head to one side, and Dev could see the muscles around her ears moving.

  For a minute, they were both silent. Then Jess drew in a breath and straightened. “Get us out of here,” she said. “Fast.”

  Dev shunted aside all her questions and responded to the urgency in her partner’s voice. She laid her hands on the throttles and moved them forward, aiming the front of the boat for the opening in the ice.

  “Faster,” Jess said. “Hurry!”

  Dev had no idea what the problem was, but obeyed, moving closer to the console and standing up, leaning against steel and adding power to the engines. The boat surged forward, and as it did, she squinted at the opening. “Is that getting smaller?”

  “Yes.” Jess bolted for the other side of the control space. “Hurry!”

  Now the urgency made sense. “Hold on.” Dev braced herself and shoved the throttles full forward. The boat responded immediately and lunged toward the crack, not feeling at all like a carrier or anything else she’d ever sim’d. This was new, and strange, and she fought the controls to keep the boat straight as she felt the water crashing against the hull.

  The walls were moving closer. Dev’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure what exactly was happening but a very quick look to her right showed her Jess’s face looking as alarmed as she felt. She pushed the throttles forward as much as she could, and heard a crash and heavy, scary crunching noise as a huge chunk of ice tumbled past her and thumped into the water next to them.

  The boat rocked, but she kept it under control. Another chunk of ice struck the bow, but bounced off and then they were at the wall and rocketing between the edges of the opening which was closing against them as they squirted through. Then they were outside, and in higher surf, and she was grabbing everything she could to keep the boat on course as it bounced across the waves.

  Dawn had broken, and the sea was alive with white froth, with a mist gray sky glowering overhead. Waves were crashing up against the ice and sending spray high up in the air.

  “Whoa!” Jess grabbed the console and thumped into the wall as she stretched to look behind them. “Nice driving, Devvie!”

  Dev got the boat under control, panting a little. “Thank you.” She moved them away from the ice wall, turning the bow around so she could see the crack. “Are the...” She paused, looking at the now solid wall behind them, the only sign of an opening the newly floating bergs of ice bobbing near the center. “Oh.”

  “Yeah.” Jess moved behind her and put both hands on the control chair to hold herself steady. “That would’a been ugly. I’m not much for being squash frozen.”

  Dev stared at the wall. “Did you know that was going to happen?” she asked. “Did they?”

  Jess drummed her thumbs against the chair back. “Good question,” she said. “Did I know? I had a gut feeling something was wrong,” she admitted. “Did they know? Who knows?”

  An iceberg floated past, its white and gray exterior bobbing in the deep green blue ocean. “Are they dead now?” Dev asked, after a moment of silence.

  “Don’t know, don’t care.” Jess slapped her on the shoulder. “Let’s get moving toward the bad guys. This makes it easier for me, anyway. Don’t have to screw around talking Sigurd into taking us there. And we’ve got a ride back.”

  Dev settled into the chair and hooked her boots on the foot rest of it. She studied the controls, then she keyed up the navigation comp. “Do you have coordinates? To where you want to go?”

  Thinking about the fishermen bothered her. She wasn’t sure she was sentimental about it. Actually she wasn’t really sure what sentimental was, but Sigurd had been friendly to her, and it disturbed her to imagine him and his family crushed to death in the ice behind them.

  Especially the little children.

  “Ah, yeah, let me get ‘em.” Jess was busy at the navigation comp. “Basically east, then southeast from here. Gimme a minute.”

  Jess wasn’t disturbed at all about them. Was that what she’d meant when she said she had no conscience? That she really didn’t care if other people died? But she�
�d helped that fisherman, hadn’t she?

  “Okay, here.” Jess was at her side, with a tablet. “There.” She pointed at a set of coordinates. “That’s their deep sea fishery. We can pull in there.”

  Dev plotted the course, hesitating a little over the unfamiliar, then familiar comp. “Won’t they recognize you?” She asked, after she finished. “You said a scan would find you.”

  “Not the fishery,” Jess said, with a note of quiet confidence. “Or, if they do, I’m not sure they’d care. What they want is the fish. Takes a lot of ‘em to feed everyone.”

  “I see.”

  “Then we’ll take the credits we get for the fish, and pick up luxuries in the black market there.” Jess rested her arm on Dev’s shoulder. “And that, my friend, is what will get us into the science compound. No one likes fancies like eggheads do.”

  Dev turned and looked at her.

  Jess patted her on the back. “It’s all good, Dev. We’re back on track.” She paused. “So, you said you didn’t know how to drive this thing, then you did. What’s the deal?”

  “I didn’t think I did.” Dev put aside her disturbing thoughts with some effort. “I don’t know why they would give me that, but when I saw the controls, I felt it kick in. It wasn’t something I sim’d or anything. They must have given it to me on the second long session.”

  “So you don’t know all of what they put in your head?”

  “No. Not until I need it. I really didn’t expect to need this.” She set the course and activated it, feeling the keel come around as the engines engaged and they started off toward the east. She waited for the boat to settle into its motion before she turned again to Jess. “Does it bother you?”

  Jess studied her. “Every time I think I’ve got you squared, you change it up. I’m not sure how the Hell I should feel about that.”

  Dev was briefly silent. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.” Her brow creased in a worried little expression.

  “No, me either,” Jess said. “But at least all the surprises have been pleasant ones so far.” She grinned a bit rakishly. “Time it would have taken me to figure this thing out we’d be bloody popsicles right now.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No.” Jess leaned against the chair. “Would have been a painful way to die.” She peered through the heavy leaded glass over Dev’s shoulder. “Looks like the weather settled.”

  Dev had to take her word for that. The overcast clouds, and the fractious seas looked the same to her, except that the water washing over the control center was splashing from the waves, not rain from the sky. Now that the boat was at speed though, it plowed through the surf stolidly, and she started to relax a little.

  “Power on downstairs?” Jess asked. “I could use a cup of something hot. You?”

  Dev glanced at her, and smiled. “That would be very nice, yes.”

  Jess winked. “Be right back.” She went to the door and slipped through it, turning to climb down the ladder to the deck.

  The engine roar was subdued and far off, the bulk of the ship blocking out most of the sound. Dev took a deep breath and released it, relaxing into the chair as she studied the controls.

  It was a relatively cramped space, with consoles on three sides, the chair in the middle, and lockers behind her. On one side of the workspace was a big book, and she turned her chair to get closer to it, opening it up and peering inside curiously. There were many pages, and a lot of scribbled lines and it took her quite some minutes until her eyes were able to translate the squiggles into actual letters.

  It still didn’t let her read it though. The letters made words, but the words were unknown to her and she decided they were in some kind of code. That she had programming for, but only very basic kinds, and she closed the book and left it for later perusal.

  So. Dev put her elbows on the chair arms and settled back. They were on their way again. She left the whole subject of the fisher people alone for now, and focused on the mission, as she knew Jess was.

  The door bumped open and Jess entered, carrying a box tucked under one arm leaving her other free to help her climb up the ladder. She closed the door behind her, locking the chill outside and set the box down on the side console. “Found some wraps too.” She opened the box and started sorting things out. “Damn good thing, because I have no idea how to use that food machinery downstairs.”

  Dev kept her eyes on the seas, and her hands on the controls. “I don’t think I do either.”

  “You said that about this boat.”

  Dev chuckled softly. “Yes I know I did, but I really don’t think I have any programming at all about food. Everything in the crèche was constructed by the processors. We never even really looked at what was on our trays.”

  Jess brought over a cup and a roll, and handed it over. “Well, I’ve got something on ya then but not with machines,” she said. “One of the things we used to do in the citadel when we went swimming is bring up some grub. I can actually make that taste like something.”

  “Really?”

  “Really,” Jess said, seemingly in a good mood. “The Drakes have lived in a stone house by the sea for a lot of generations. I got my share of fresh seafood.” She paused. “Well, six years of it anyway.” She glanced out the window. “After that, it was spotty, in school.”

  Dev took a sip of the seaweed tea, once again enjoying the taste. “Did it bother you to leave your family and go away?” she asked. “One of the proctors in the crèche did that. Left their family behind and came up to station.”

  Jess went and got her own meal and took a seat on one of the stools. “It was a really long time ago. I don’t think I remember how I felt.”

  Which was a lie, she realized, even as she said it. She did remember, being that five year old child and coming back into the house soaking wet, to see mom and dad standing there watching her with that strange, stomach twisting look.

  She remembered her mother turning away, and her father taking a deep breath, and kneeling down to talk to her, telling her she’d done so well on the tests that she’d earned her place at the school.

  At his school, the one daddy had gone to. He’d seemed so proud, but so sad.

  She remembered the transport picking her up, and that sudden spurt of fear as she waved goodbye, not truly understanding that home, and life, and family would all change its meaning for her as fast as it had.

  “Jess?” Dev touched her arm.

  She looked up to find Dev studying her with a quiet, serious expression. “It was fun at school,” she said. “I met a lot of other kids there and we had a pretty good time.” Her pale eyes shifted, then went back to Dev’s face. “Until they start teaching you the business.” She smiled briefly. “You know, how to break necks and use blasters.”

  Dev sucked in a tiny breath. “That’s something they didn’t program me for.”

  “Sure?”

  “Yes.” Dev glanced at her. “I knew that when I saw you do it. When I saw Bain do it.” She paused thoughtfully. “I think they wanted to, but we ran out of time.”

  Jess nodded. “It wasn’t in your script. I looked through it,” she said, in a casual voice. “You know they teach us. They make us kill a seal first. They take us out on the ice, up in the back of beyond in the north and they find one, and you have to slit its throat.”

  Dev frowned. “But it didn’t do anything to you. Why did they make you do that?”

  “That’s the point. Sometimes you kill things just because.” Jess leaned her elbows on the console. “They’re sort of cute, seals. They have pointy faces and whiskers, and big dark eyes.”

  Dev adjusted the throttles a little, turning the bow so they were cutting through the waves. “I see.”

  “Mm.” Jess picked up her roll and took a bite of it. “I killed the instructor instead.” She munched the fish and seaweed inside. “I should go find that seal. He owes me one.”

  Dev had gone
quite still, and now she turned her head to stare at Jess.

  “Completely stupid. Got me tossed in lockup for two months.” Jess took a swallow of tea to wash the mouthful down. “Everyone thought I was on the crazy side after that. Not sure if it helped my career or hurt it.”

  “Why did you do that?” Dev finally asked.

  Jess pondered briefly, using the time to ingest more of her roll. “I liked the seal more than the teacher,” she finally said. “Guy was ugly as hell and he’d tried to bugger me in the shower. I figured he had it coming anyway.”

  “Well.” Dev turned her eyes back to the console. “I’m really glad you like me then.”

  Jess chuckled. “That seal would have been stew if it’d been him or you. You know, I did miss my family. I missed home. I think we all did for a long time. Just no one said anything because you weren’t supposed to. They didn’t like it when kids acted like kids.”

  “I don’t think I know what that’s like.”

  “No loss to ya,” Jess said. “Just makes your guts hurt. Not worth it.”

  Looking at Jess’s face, though, made Dev think that wasn’t entirely the truth. There was a sadness there that she could see plainly, a look of melancholy that was really very unlike her. She reached out and touched her arm again, closing her fingers around it and gently squeezing.

  She didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything.

  Jess looked up at her, her eyes half hidden by thick, dark hair.

  For a moment, she felt a pang in her chest, odd and strange and discomfiting.

  Then Jess winked, and bumped her. “Let’s stop being sad sacks,” she said. “Past’s the past. Can’t change it.” She straightened up and started eating again. “This thing going what, ten knots?”

  Dev put her hands back on the controls. “Twelve,” she said “A lot slower than the carrier. This will take us a long time to get to those coordinates.”

  “We can trade off driving,” Jess said. “Doesn’t look that hard. Got most of it on auto, right?”

  “Right,” Dev said. “It’s a lot simpler than the carrier. Just these engine controls, and this one, that steers.” She indicated the rudder control. “You have excellent reflexes. I’m sure you could easily handle this.”