Of Sea and Stars (Partners Book 3)

by Melissa Good

  The door opened and the rest of her family entered, most looking like they’d been sprayed with seagull splat from the expressions on their faces.

  Jess went over to one of the chairs and sat down. “Siddown,” she told them all. “Let’s get this over with.”

  THE FIGURE THAT emerged into the open space was dressed in overalls and a thick woven sweater in blues and greens. His face was covered in a black and white haired beard and gray liberally laced his dark, straight hair.

  He paused and regarded her. “You the thing?”

  Dev cleared her throat gently. “If by that you mean, am I Jess Drake’s tech, who is a biological alternative, the answer is yes. My name is Dev.” She looked to one side. “We have some fresh seaweed tea here, would you like some?”

  “No.” The man sat down in a chair across from her. “I got some questions.”

  Possibly excellent, possibly not. “I will try to answer them if I can,” Dev responded politely.

  “If you can I’ll eat my boots,” the man said. “What’s the rating of a thirty centimeter intake socket?”

  Completely unexpected question. Dev blinked at him.

  “Twenty seven and six fifteenths, but the thrust is dependent on the velocity of throughput. And it can be torqued.”

  “Resistance per meter of twenty gauge?”

  “Fourteen point seven per meter, with standard attenuation,” Dev supplied.

  He studied her. “What’s the exchange rate of battery to online systems?”

  “Eighty two percent for ours,” Dev said. “I cannot say for sure for yours here, but scans indicate they are either eighty percent, or seventy five point four.” She was finding this very unusual inquisition agreeable, based on her expectations. “Though I think I did see one at suboptimal sixty percent near the entrance to this facility.”

  “I just replaced it.” The man regarded her. “You actually know some of this shit.” His tone was surprised.

  “I actually do,” Dev agreed. “I know that biological alternatives are not liked here, and it’s difficult. I’m sorry about that,” she added. “Would you like to continue? I have some time until Jess returns from her meeting.” She smiled a little. “It’s enjoyable.”

  He took a breath then they both looked up as the lighting changed color, from a standard yellow white to red. “Not now.” He got up swiftly, as there was a deep bonging sound overhead.

  Dev also got up. “Is there something wrong?”

  A deep voice emerged from the overhead speakers. “Attention, attention, defence groups six and eight, report to the perimeter west gates. Incoming fire in progress.”

  Dev closed up her scanner and swung it to her back, moving toward the small space assigned to her. “Excuse me.” She put her palm on the lock and the door opened. She ducked inside and picked up her pack and Jess’s.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the man asked, watching her. “Probably just some scavengers.”

  Dev headed down the passage before he could get in her way. “Landing bay, actually. Chances are Jess will want to observe whatever that is.” She touched her comms. “Ack ack.”

  “Bay six,” Jess’s deep voice came back at once. “Tac.”

  “Ack, en route.” Dev broke into a run, turning and heading up the stairs, dodging bodies moving in a hurry the other direction. She realized at the entrance to the landing bay that the man had kept up with her and was at her heels.

  No real time to analyze that. She triggered the remote unlock for the carrier and it responded as she raced across the stone floor.

  There was noise all around and the slow bonging sound was pervasive. Dev tossed both their packs in the open hatch then went to the power intake and manually disconnected it, throwing it clear as she doubled back and bolted up the ramp.

  The man was inside. “You really can’t be in here,” Dev told him. She slipped past and went to her seat and started the boards. “Jess will be onboard in a moment.”

  “S’okay.” He was perched on the back shelf. “She wont mind if I take a ride,” he said confidently. “We’re cousins.”

  “I see.” Dev dismissed him as she heard the distinctive sound of Jess’s running bootsteps coming across the stone floor, the carrier coming into status around her as the boards powered up and she brought the engines online and balanced the leads.

  She got her comms helm in place and strapped in, testing the landing jets as Jess entered and closed the hatch. “Jess, there is an intruder inside,” she said. “A relative of yours apparently.”

  “Chris what the hell are you doing here?” Jess yelled, as she got into her position.

  “Enjoying the show,” he responded. “Relax, Jessie. I ain’t hurting nothing.”

  “You’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t get strapped down,” Jess said. “Dev, go.”

  Instantly the carrier shifted and rotated on it’s skids, boosting up on it’s landing jets. Dev tuned the forward sensors as she spotted April and Doug shove people out of their way as they rushed to their carrier.

  Chris grabbed at the struts on either side of him. “I got a grip, g’wan. See if you can fly this thing, ya thing.”

  Jess took comms and hit external. “Get that door open!” but the big external door was already opening, and they could hear the alarms ringing. “I mean it, Chris, get in the jump kit.”

  Dev was already heading for the opening, as people dove out of her way in all directions.

  “You’re going to hit the wall, you idiot!” Chris yelled, then let out a yelp of shock as the carrier suddenly inverted sideways as it went through the opening gap. “Shit!” He frantically grabbed hold of the internal spars as he slid sideways.

  “Toldja.” Jess got her boards in sync and pulled down the two handed triggers. “Dev go around to the right and down between that ridge and the next one. Someone’s shooting.”

  “Yes.” Dev leveled the carrier and cut in the mains, shoving them both into their chairs and Chris against the back wall. She turned on the external sensors and the rain shield. She powered through a blast of wind and got through the gap.

  She could see plasma fire, and she sent the sensor output to Jess’s station as she picked up speed and started to level. She felt a pleasant chill as the carrier systems responded, preparing for battle.

  “Gimme a run right up that path there, Devvie,” Jess said. “See that white line?”

  “Yes.” Dev let the carrier lose altitude rapidly and lined up with the line that seemed to lead to a cavern on the next ridge. The outside sensors shielded the glare as Jess’s plasma guns let loose.

  “Want to put one right in that cave,” Jess called up. “Then come up and around, mkay?”

  “Yes.” Dev increased power as she felt smaller blasters come up against the bottom of the carrier, none large enough to damage their shields. She held course, almost at ground level, their engines blasting sand in every direction until she was out of space and out of time, and she felt Jess release the big forward guns.

  “Go!”

  Dev cut the mains and flared the upper jets to shove them upright, then cut the mains in again as they missed the cliff face by inches and she had them going straight up, feeling the new power of the engines with some satisfaction.

  Excellent.

  Dev inverted, and they flew upside down for a moment as they got distance from the cliff. She then rolled them upright and they headed back toward the homestead again.

  Sensors showed the energy blasts were gone, and she slowed, turning on the forward floodlights and tipping the carrier nose down a little to direct the light on the place where the attack had been.

  The path was gone, replaced by huge holes, and as she checked the aft sensors, she saw smoke pouring out of the cavern Jess had blasted into.

  Doug’s voice erupted into the cup on Dev’s ear. “Check check,” he said, as the sideband came up between them. “Rocket, you there?”

  “Yes,” Dev responded. She ran a set of ro
utines to see if they’d taken any damage. “Is everything all right there?”

  “Booyah,” Doug answered. “April got one of the guys who were shooting. We got him tied up here. She thought Jess might want to talk to him.”

  “Excellent.” Dev saw Jess’s thumbs up in her reflector. “Please return to the landing area,” she added, interpreting the next hand gesture, as Jess circled her hand. She secured the console and put the carrier into a gentle turn, boosting their altitude to pass through the crags on either side.

  “Holy shit,” Chris said. “I think I broke a rib.” He clutched his side. “You were not, by Neptune’s left testicle, lying.”

  “I warned you.” Jess secured the weapons boards and pushed her triggers up over her head. “Dev doesn’t mess around.” She pulled down her own comms. “Let me tell med to meet us.”

  Chris eased carefully upright, his legs braced against the carrier floor. “Tell them to stop and pick up a pair of my damned boots,” he said, with a wry grimace. “And some hot sauce.”

  Dev smiled, but didn’t turn as she prepared to put the carrier back into the landing bay. Doug and April hovered off to the left, waiting their turn.

  They had, she thought, done well. Perhaps it would help Jess with her family.

  Perhaps the Chris person would tell everyone about her answering with excellence and that might also help.

  “What did that boy call you?” Chris asked. “Rocket? Holy fishcakes.”

  DEV LANDED BACK on the ground in the bay, noting that it seemed a lot more crowded than when they’d left. There were lots of men and women in thick clothing. They carried hand weapons and waved their arms around, making quite a lot of sound.

  Jess was on comms with April, so she quietly shut things down. She opened the power port as one of the techs ran forward to reconnect them. Once the boards were secured she released her restraints and got up, looking back at Jess in question. “Should we open the door?”

  Jess glanced out the window then straightened in some surprise. “Half the damn Bay’s out there.” She frowned. “Something happen? They get hit inside?”

  Since Dev had the answer to none of those questions, she remained silent with a quizzical expression.

  “Yeah, it’d be easier to just go ask them, wouldn’t it?” Jess hit the unlock. “Let me let med in.”

  “Much obliged,” Chris grunted. “Holy crap that was stupid.” He edged out the ramp first, as several men in dark red came forward. “Easy there, vampires. Just cracked a rib.” He waved them back and then joined them at the foot of the ramp. “Worth it though!”

  Jess went out after him, intending on heading for April’s carrier but stopping short when sight of her was greeted by a booming roar from the crowd in the cavern.

  Dev came bopping out behind her, eyes wide in alarm. “Jess! What’s going on?”

  “No it’s okay. That’s a good noise.” Jess lifted her hand in acknowledgment. “We just fought for the old home team, Devvie. Don’t worry.” She waited for Jimmy to push his way forward and for the yelling to stop. “It’s fine.”

  Dev eyed all the fist pumping. “All right if you say so.”

  “Nice one, Jess,” Jimmy said, with a wry smile. “If there’s any left of them they’re still running out through the lower pass.”

  “That’s how we do what we do,” Jess said. “I’ve got to interview one of the skanks before we resume our family fun.” She pointed to the other carrier. “Want to witness?”

  He nodded. “You kick Chris in the gut?” he asked, as the meds lead the bearded man away. “Didn’t think he had a beef with you.”

  “No. He didn’t strap in when he was told. Devvie has no respect for gravity and he was in free fall when we went upside down.” Jess waved Dev forward. “Get your recorder ready.”

  “I saw that,” Jimmy said, slowly. “That was her? Really?”

  Jess nodded. “Oh, yeah. I sure can’t drive that bus like that. She’s an animal. Right, Dev?”

  An animal. Her blonde eyebrow lifted. “Well,” Dev said. “If I have to be an animal, can I be a bear? They were more attractive than the seals or dolphins.” She looked around and realized a lot of the crowd were looking at her. “Did we do something incorrect?” she muttered to Jess under her breath.

  Jess looked out over the milling crowd of bay residents and sensed the excitement. She noted their admiring glances at the carriers that were still offgassing a little on their pads. “No. They liked it.” She put her hand on Dev’s back and gave her a little scratch between the shoulder blades. “All good.”

  Jake caught up with them. “That was kickass,” he said. “That’s what reg Interforce can do. Little bastards deserved being blown to hell.”

  Jess caught the slight flinch on Jimmy’s face. “Well, let’s go talk to one of them and find out what made them so suicidal today.” She started through the crowd for the now open hatch on the other carrier.

  April stood in the opening, her blaster casually cradled along one forearm. “Good run,” she said. “”˜Specially that dive up the cliff. My toes curled just watching.”

  Dev smiled, following Jess up the ramp and into Doug’s carrier. He was seated in his pilot’s station out of the way, but he waved at her when she entered. She waved back, went over to him and claimed his jumpseat, and got her scanner ready to record.

  “That was nutso,” Doug said. “Did you know how close you were to that rock?”

  “Yes.” Dev gave him a mild look. “Our sensors are functional.” She glanced at the weapons station, where a scruffy looking man was seated, his hands and legs secured to the chair. He had a cut on his head and was covered in sweat and dirt and scrapes everywhere.

  He was angry and desperate looking, and he ignored her and Doug, staring instead at Jess and her brothers who leaned against the outer skin of the carrier. “Bastards.”

  “Unfortunately for you, no. Legitimate Drakes.” Jess crossed her arms and regarded him. “What were you looking for?”

  The man jerked his head toward Jimmy. “He knows. Little fucking liar. Made a deal then broke it. We was just looking for what we was owed!” He looked at Jimmy. “You sic them on us?”

  Jess turned her head and looked steadily at her brother, who refused to meet her eyes. “Want to talk about the deal?”

  “No. Not here,” Jimmy muttered.

  Jess turned to the man. “What was the deal?” she asked, as he just glared at her. “Cough it up, or I’ll break your arm.”

  His expression shifted a little, darting between Jimmy and Jess. “Who’re you?”

  “Jess Drake,” she answered.

  Jimmy cleared his throat. “My sister is the majority stakeholder of Drake’s Bay,” he said, succinctly. “I’d answer her if I were you. One more body’s not going to matter.”

  The man stared at him for a long moment. “You lied.”

  Jimmy shrugged. “You took the deal.”

  “We was to bring all our scrounging here for food,” the man said. “Took all we had, didn’t give us nothing. That’s why we came. Take what was ours.”

  Dev saw Jess was getting angry. Her fingers twitched a little and her nostril flared.

  April caught it, and shifted to bring her blaster around, her eyes going to Jess’s face as she waited for signals and Jake seemed to realize it, too, as he took a step back away from his brother, closer to the ramp to outside.

  It was quiet for a moment, save for the raucous noises from outside drifting in. Jess finally drew in a breath. “Did you make a deal with him, Jimmy?” she asked, in a gentle, mild tone. “What were they scavenging that you wanted?”

  Dev stood up to get a better angle with her scanner.

  Jimmy sighed and rolled his eyes. “The processing center wanted pea gravel and slate,” he said. “I decided what we got wasn’t worth the food we offered to them.”

  “I see.”

  Dev sensed what was going to happen. A moment later Jess turned and grabbed Jimmy’s cloak f
ront, yanking him toward her, slamming her elbow into his jaw with so much force it snapped his neck.

  He dropped without a sound at her feet.

  “Fuck, Jess,” Jake whispered.

  “You get that on scan?” The rasp in Jess’s voice was very audible.

  “I did,” Dev said, quietly.

  Jess turned and looked at Jake. “The only currency we have worth anything is our honor. Ever hear that saying?”

  Jake had no idea where to look, his eyes flicking from his brother’s body to the visibly furious operations agent standing brace legged in the carrier. He obviously realized he could be the next victim and lifted his hands up in reflex, palms out, chest high. “Heard it,” he muttered.

  “Our contracts and agreements are based on our bond, which is dependent on the trustworthiness of our promises. Do you know what he did to us, Jake?” Jess could barely speak she was so angry. “He made that worthless.”

  April nodded to herself. Doug just watched, wide eyed.

  Jake looked briefly at Jess. “They were just scavengers.”

  “He made a deal. He spoke for us.” Jess bit out the words. “Didn’t daddy teach either of you anything?”

  “No. Not really,” Jake answered with bleak honesty. “He never thought either of us were worth much. That’s why he did what he did with you. I guess.”

  Jess exhaled. She turned and went to the door of the carrier and glanced around. “Brion.” She found their domestic ops chief nearby. “Got something for you.”

  Brion eyed her warily as he came to the door of the carrier and looked inside. He looked at the limp body on the floor then exhaled. “Okay.” He pulled his body back. “Let me get a med stretcher.” He had gone a little white, but his voice was steady.

  “Thanks,” Jess said. “You know we’re always a double edged sword.”

  “Both sides are razor sharp,” Brion acknowledged. “I’ll get the details squared.” He disappeared and Jess went back to her interrogation.

  Her target now watched her, wide eyed. “Y’killed him.” He stated the obvious. “Fuck.”