by Melissa Good
Another silence and eyes shifted back to Jess.
“Give my regards to Dad.” Jess set herself aside from the emotion of it and drew in a breath, then she started to sing, the first part of a very old hymn taught to everyone who came through the field school.
It had once been a religious song, when there were still religions. It had almost no meaning now, but the force had used it to sing out their dead when there was a chance and they hadn’t just had to keep on moving. She’d only sung it twice in her career, but this was the first time it was hers to lead.
She’d missed singing it at her father’s ceremony, and now here, at this one, she held the notes true on this song they had once called “Taps” and hoped somewhere, in some spectral echo, he’d hear it.
It was difficult, singing. But she bore down and concentrated, closing her eyes as she worked to fill the room with the sound of the song, trying to make sure it was right and perfect.
The last note of the first part faded, and then the rest of the agents and techs joined in for the rest, filling the space with multivoiced harmony that sent its vibration through surface and bodies, reflecting off the stone walls and the plas of the tanks.
Deep male voices and lighter female ones, but all in tune, all knowing their part in the whole.
Dev felt like it was impossible to breathe, the sound behind her made the hair stand up on her skin, and her heart was filled to overflowing. It was so horrible and so beautiful at the same time, and she could see the awe in the faces of the rest of the bio alts standing near her.
She so wished Doctor Dan could hear it. There was so much respect and honor in it, and as she thought that she cried in earnest, tears silently rolling down her face. In all the violence and horror they’d been through, to have to come to this beauty for the worst of reasons broke her heart.
A KayTee put his hand over hers, resting on the glass. He was crying, too, silently, they all were, and shivering from the emotion of the sound that touched them in places they had no programming for as it vibrated through them and marked, in an aural bloodstain, this moment.
And then the last of it faded, the softest of echoes reflected against the glass, and there was silence. Then Jared shifted a little, and lifted his hands to turn off the mechanical systems. As he did, Dev turned to watch him and her eyes flickered over the status panels overhead.
And because she was what she was, and she was programmed how she was, that part of her that had been so painstakingly designed, registered the surface of them with even that passing glance and she gasped in reaction without even really understanding why.
But her sound made Jared stop. He looked where she was looking and his hands went still as he blinked.
The status was mostly still red. Mostly.
Mostly.
But there were flickers there now that had not been before. “Son of a bitch.” The doctor swung around and hit some inputs. “What the hell? He was flatline.”
“Hey.” Jason’s voice sounded more than a little bemused. “We sang him back a little, Jessie. Good job!” He clapped Jess on the back. “Must’ve been your voice. You always had a nice set of pipes.”
Dev turned and looked at Jess, who was still standing there behind her, eyebrows lifted a little, in patent, silent surprise. “Did you do that?” she asked, sniffling back the tears.
Jess turned her hands upmost just a bit and shrugged, then was nearly bowled off her feet as Dev launched herself at her and hugged her fiercely. “Oof.”
“Can it do that?” Elaine asked, glancing at the now very busy Jared. “That was just a quirk, right? We didn’t actually do anything.”
Jared looked up at them. “He still could go. He’s maybe just not ready to yet.” He frowned at them. “And no, your singing, pretty though it was, didn’t do squat. Want to clear out now? Apparenty now I’ve got work to do.”
The KayTee came over, bewildered. “What happened? Is Doctor Dan not going to be made dead?”
“Dunno,” Jason answered him. “Life’s fucked up like that sometimes, y’know? Let’s go eat.”
“Hmm,” Jess grunted. “What a fucking way to end the day.” She looked over everyone’s head at the panel, and at Jared’s frown, and at the figure in the tank that now, wasn’t actually just fish food yet.
Freak chance?
Pure cussedness?
“Oh, Jess, thank you,” Dev whispered, still hugging her.
“No problem,” Jess said. “Anything for you, Dev.”
Chapter Sixteen
THE OPS MESS was busy. Everyone in the room had found a reason to come over and talk, however briefly, with Jess as she sat at one of the back tables.
She was in a fresh uniform. She and Dev had shared a shower, and though they could have eaten in quarters, both had elected not to.
They were still jointly freaked out about what had happened in med. Dev sat with a withdrawn expression, her hands folded on the table in front of her as Jess poked around in her tray’s contents, letting the sound in the room go by them.
No messages from HQ. Arp and his cronies had returned to the West. She felt like a whole years worth of the other boots were going to drop on her any minute. But for right now, she had a tray of fishrolls and seaweed in front of her and a tall glass of kack, and it was okay.
“Hey, Jess.” Elaine put a tray down next to her. “Jase finally got through to HQ.”
“And?” Jess swirled her drink in its cup and sipped from it.
“And nothing. Jase said it was like no one knew what the hell to do now.” Elaine chewed her seaweed salad and swallowed. “Probably that’s exactly what’s up.”
“Probably,” Jess said. “Hope they put Jason in charge and just leave us the hell alone. There’s no win in anything else. Even those idiots have to realize that.”
Elaine regarded her in some surprise. “You don’t want the bump?”
“No,” Jess said, in a definite tone. “I’ve had enough of being in charge of crap. It sucks.” She forked up a bit of seaweed and chewed it. “Way overrated.”
Elaine bit the end off her fishroll. “I thought you had all these ambitions,” she remarked in a mild tone. “Didn’t you want Bricker’s job? Or Stephen’s?”
Had she? Jess considered that as she chewed. “Aren’t we supposed to?” she responded. “Everyone wants to be in charge sometime I guess. Mostly just so you can be in a space where no one tells you what the hell to do.”
Elaine pointed a fork at her. “Point.”
“But I don’t know. I’d rather be in charge of myself. Not other people,” Jess added after a long pause. “Too much bull.”
Elaine chuckled dryly. “You going back to the Bay?”
“Not tonight.” Jess felt herself relax. “I’m going to go bunk out.” She glanced at Dev. “Sound good to you?”
“Yes,” Dev answered at once. “I’m really tired. I’m going to fall asleep right here if we don’t go elsewhere soon.”
“Let’s go.” Jess abandoned what was left on her tray and stood. “Let tomorrow be whatever it is.” She lifted a hand in Elaine’s direction as they headed for the mess door, and Elaine returned the wave with a faint smile.
The lighting was dimmed for night shift, and it was a relief to approach the curve in the corridor that held their quarters, and even more so when the doors to Jess’s closed after them.
It was quiet and dim in there. The lights came up a little as Dev headed across the floor toward the inner doors that led to her own space. “Hey, Dev?” Jess called out, feeling surprisingly hesitant.
At the door, Dev turned and looked back. “I hope you are not going to suggest surfing,” she said, in a wry, plaintive tone. “Please.”
Jess smiled. “No.” She walked forward and joined Dev at the portal. “You doing okay?”
“I have no idea,” Dev said, honestly. “I’m so tired I can’t even think.” She leaned against the metal. “It’s just so much to think about, and I don’t want to think about any o
f it.”
Jess understood that at a gut level. “Okay if I share your bunk?”
The thought of cuddling up to Jess in bed almost made Dev cry again. “Yes.” She managed to get out. “That would be really excellent.”
Jess patted her gently on the cheek. “Go change. I’ll be in there in a second.” She stepped back to let the door close and then turned and went over to her dressing cabinet, opening it to expose her gear locker. “Yeah, that sure would be excellent, huh?”
It felt like it had been a week since she’d slept. She could hardly even remember being on station or what had led up to it. She remembered the null, a little.
Space, a little. The sun, blazing in and hitting her.
She took off her uniform and hung it up, then got into her sleep clothes, avoiding looking at herself in the mirror so she wouldn’t bum herself out. She could feel all the hurts.
Then she closed the cabinet and walked back to the doors, palming them open without a glance behind her.
DEV CHANGED INTO her tank top and shorts and then went into her sanitary unit, pausing as she caught sight of herself in the reflector there.
A faint shock jerked her upright.
In reflex she lifted her hand to her throat and traced the skin across the front of her neck, then around to the back where she still felt the faintest bits of scab where the wires had been removed.
She heard the inner door open, and a moment later Jess was in the doorway, arms braced against it. “I forgot about this.” She touched her throat. “I didn’t remember until right now.”
Jess entered the unit and gently touched the side of her neck. Then she removed her hand and put her lips there instead, nibbling the skin softly. After a moment she peeked up at Dev. “That make you forget it again?”
Dev had to smile. “Yes. But I think I’m too tired to practice sex right now.”
“Me too.” Jess held her hand out. “Let’s just go to bed.” She led the way into the main chamber of Dev’s quarters. They both paused when they spotted Doctor Dan’s gift sitting on the desk.
“Oh,” Dev murmured. “I wanted to ask him about that.” She looked pensively at Jess. “Do you think I’ll be able to? I didn’t really understand what happened before.”
Jess sighed. “What happened in med? Me either. That was really weird.” They tumbled into the big, soft bed, tangling together as they relaxed on its surface. “Usually when someone is flatline like that, it’s kinda permanent. But you know...Doc’s a fighter.”
Dev nodded. “He used to tell us in class that a bad result was just a reason to find another way to a good result.” She snuggled up to Jess and knew a moment of absolute bliss at the full body contact. “But do you think he’s going to be okay?”
“Dunno,” Jess answered honestly. “Last thing I am is a medic. Jared’s a good one though, and the tank’s pretty good tech. Saved my ass after that last insert. No one thought I’d make it.”
Dev couldn’t keep her eyes from closing, she was that tired. “That thing you did was so pretty,” she murmured. “I never heard anything like that.”
“Mmm.” Jess sighed a little. “One class we all hated in school. Choir. You’d come out of the field covered in turtle guts and grime, wash down, put on a smock, then sit and sing. Used to be for morale, now it’s just for processing out.”
“But it was beautiful.” Dev touched her side and moved closer. “Your sound especially.”
“Thanks.” Jess smiled into the dimness and let her eyes close. “Someone once told me I could break glass with it. Who knows? Maybe the doc heard it, and it juiced his noggin.”
“That’s really good.” Dev gave her a little hug. “I hope it works out.”
Jess pressed her lips against the top of her head. “Me too. I sure as hell don’t want to have to do that again.”
THE FAINT ILLUMINTION that indicated dawn woke Jess up. She opened her eyes to see the gentle outlines of the walls of Dev’s quarters around them.
It was very quiet. She was grateful to have gotten some rest in a place her body instinctively trusted.
But should it have? Jess pondered that. She really had no idea what the hell her status was, what Base Ten’s status was, or what the future held.
And yet, she felt secure inside this place, where she hadn’t either on station, or in the Bay. Safe as she often felt inside the carrier. What did that mean? Just indoctrination? Jess glanced down at her still sleeping companion. Programming?
Peh. She rolled out of the bed in the other direction and stood up, stretching and feeling renewed energy from her rest. She quietly went to the doors and paused to let them slide open, then stepped through and continued across her own quarters.
She used the sanitary unit and then made herself a cup of hot seaweed tea. She brought it with her to her workspace and sat down behind it.
The display was dark. She reached out and put her hand on the input pad to activate it. It flickered and brightened, bringing up her dashboard and all of its metrics.
There were messages waiting, but they were old and she ignored them. She tapped on the latest ops reports and after looking at the first one, pushed it aside and drank her tea instead.
A moment later, her comms chimed. She looked at the incoming, then accepted. “Hey, Jase.”
“Morning.” Jason rested his chin on his fist. “HQ came in overnight. Want to talk to you. I told them it had to wait for you to wake up.”
Jess leaned back and sipped at her tea. “Do I want to talk to them?”
“Probably,” Jason said. “They came in humble. Asked nicely.”
“Ah.”
“Surprised the crap out of me.” He smiled a little. “We’ve seen so much jacktardness I figured it would go on, but no.”
“Okay,” Jess said. “Let me put a suit on, and I’ll come down to ops. I assume that’s where they are?”
Jason shook his head. “I refused to let them in.” His eyes twinkled a little. “I said they weren’t being jackasses. Didn’t say I wouldn’t be one. They’re in the conference center, level six. After you’re done look me up and we can talk.”
“Sounds good.” Jess signed off and finished her cup, enjoying the pungent astringency that seemed to clear her head. She got up and went to the closet, trading her sleep clothes for an offduty suit and a pair of indoor boots.
About to head for the door, she paused and went back to the workspace and sat down. After a brief hesitation, she reached out and activated comms. “Med. Jared, you there?”
He answered after a few moments. “You think everyone here wakes up when you do, Drake?” He glared blearily at her. “What?”
Jess smiled. “Sorry. Just wondering how Kurok was. If it’s bad news, I’d like to give it to my partner first myself.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, his expression mollified. “Hang on.” He clicked off and Jess waited patiently, tapping the sides of her thumbs against the desk’s plas surface in idle rhythm.
Abruptly Jared was back. “Fucking bag of miracles,” he muttered. “He’s level two.”
Jess exhaled in relief. “Glad to hear it.”
“Can I go back to bed now? I was thrashing the tanks all night.”
“Yeah, thanks, Jared,” Jess said in a sincere tone. “We’ll be by later.” She disconnected and stood up, detouring to the sanitary unit to wash her face and run a brush through her hair, twisting it back into a tail and regarding her reflection for a long moment. “Peh.”
She shook her head and headed for the door and her meeting with HQ.
DEV WOKE UP and looked around in confusion before she recognized her surroundings. She rolled over onto her back, listened for Jess’s nearby presence, and found nothing but silence.
It was morning, and she felt better for the long sleep, but all the things that had happened in the last while came flooding back to her, and she hopped right out of bed with a sense of anxiety over it.
Also, that Jess was missing. She went around t
o the work surface in her unit and peered at it, checking comms for messages. There were three. She sat down to consume them, finding one from Jess from just that morning. It was short, but the first words made Dev almost slide down out of her seat with relief.
Doc’s okay. Having a meet with the big shots. See you for breakfast.
“Excellent.” Dev sighed. “Just really excellent.” She tapped the others, finding one note from Cliff about some new mods, and an older one from general ops about the construction.
The disruption and the test flights seemed a lifetime ago. She sat back in her chair and looked around at her space, finding a curious sense of comfort being here in these quarters she’d come to feel as home.
They weren’t, really. No more than the small closet she’d been assigned to on station, that tiny bit of privacy that had marked her advanced status, but always with a sense that it could be taken away at any moment. But here it felt different because...
Well, she wasn’t sure why it felt different. Maybe because this was her assignment and she’d proven value to it. Dev turned her chair a little and regarded the little piece of space that had come from station, resting on the surface of the desk.
A view of space from station. It had charmed her, but now that she’d had a chance to see it again for real, she was glad to be downside, rumbles of thunder overhead, with downside’s consistent gravity around her.
She spent a moment looking at Doctor Dan’s gift, then she got up and went up into her recreation area, sitting down on the couch. She picked up her book, left lying on the surface nearby. Dev regarded it and wondered if she could one day have the chance to maybe write a story.
Could she put down the things she’d seen and done? After a period of time, perhaps years, where she could use her and Jess’s experiences to make a story that she could tell other people?
She put the book down. Probably not. She leaned back in the couch and touched the controls of the screen overhead, calling up the outside views of the Citadel, noting that it was once again raining.
