Partners - Book 1

by Melissa Good

The pale green eyes took on the faintest hint of a twinkle. “It was hard, sometimes,” she said. “But...being the only one in my set made me think maybe I would get to do something special. And I guess I will.”

  Kurok rested his chin on his fist, his face creasing into a grin.

  “So even if it turns out to be scary, and maybe really hard and not a lot of fun, I’ll still have gotten to do it.”

  Part of that he’d programmed into her. He’d selected the genes carefully, moving toward a half imagined, not quite all the way designed, different step—maybe forwards, maybe sideways.

  A developmental unit. That was what the Dev stood for, but the NM designation also meant new model. His new model. He’d rolled the genetic dice and only now was he getting to see what numbers those dice were returning to him, almost impossible to know before the set reached maturity and a full realization of all the synaptic growth.

  Now a thousand questions were poppping up in his head and he felt a sense of regret that his investigation of his project was about to be cut off.

  Dev put her fork down and looked earnestly at him. “Doctor Dan, can I ask you for something?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Dev’s gaze went to her plate, then lifted up to him. “If it’s too hard.” She paused. “And it doesn’t work out, could you make it so I don’t have to forget all this?”

  Pinned by that soulful look, Kurok bit the inside of his lip and had to pause to let the tension in his throat relax before he answered. “I promise you, Dev. I’ll only let that happen if you ask me to do it.”

  Dev smiled in relief and returned her attention to her plate. “Thank you. And thank you for letting me come here. This is really good.” She indicated the plates rapidly depleting content. “Or maybe I was just really hungry.”

  Kurok patted her shoulder. “It is good. And it was my pleasure, Dev. I’m glad we got a chance to talk.” He put his mind to his plate as well, his thoughts already racing far ahead. “I really am.” He glanced back at her. “Would you like another portion?”

  Dev’s brows hiked up a little and she swallowed hastily. “Yes I would. Is that correct?”

  He chuckled. “Sure.” He signalled at the Ceebee. “No problem at all.”

  DEV WAS AWARE of how quiet it was in the crèche when she returned. A proctor caught sight of her and approached, with a pad strapped to her arm. “Hello, proctor.”

  “NM-Dev-1?”

  “Yes.”

  “You are late back.”

  Dev regarded the proctor thoughtfully. “Doctor Dan required my presence,” she said. “He just sent me back here.”

  “Doctor Kurok? He didn’t log his request with us.”

  Dev didn’t respond to that, having no control over what Doctor Dan did and knowing the proctor knew that.

  The proctor tapped on the pad. “We’ve been told you’re being transferred out tomorrow on the first transport, hour ten.”

  “Yes, they told me.”

  “You may take one size small pack bag with you. Everything else you need will be provided by your assigned contractor. You have no schedule tomorrow. After breakfast report to the transfer station no later than hour nine. Understood?”

  “Yes.” Dev hoped the proctor was done. She was tired, and after the evening of being treated to the attention of Doctor Dan, the impersonal and rote instruction felt a little grating.

  Just a little.

  The proctor nodded. “Very well. The pods are already programmed for this sequence. Since you’re late, you’ll need to overnight in transit quarters.” She consulted the pad. “B32, section 2 in the outer ring has been cleared for you.”

  “Thank you,” Dev said. “Good night.”

  The proctor glanced up at her in some surprise. She pointed to the outer ring and left, taking her pad with her.

  Dev exhaled. Then she headed toward the corridor, glancing back to see the night pods making their slow, gentle transit and realizing she wouldn’t be feeling that comforting motion again, at least for a while.

  Change was happening. The unknown was pouring down on her far faster than she’d expected. By tomorrow she’d be in her assignment and tonight she stood on the cusp of having her life move to a completely different mold.

  Good? Bad?

  Or just different?

  DEV FELT THE rumble as the transport inserted into the atmosphere and wished they had a view outside. She hitched her body forward a little in it’s strapping and looked around, seeing most everyone else sitting with their eyes closed and their bodies pressed back into their seats.

  Her heart was racing. She wasn’t entirely sure why, since the process they were performing seemed ordinary to the people there. But the stresses around her were changing, and she was starting to feel gravity again, tugs that settled her feet on the ground and as the rumble deepened she imagined the fire outside as the shuttle’s shields shed the increasing atmosphere to either side.

  It was quiet otherwise in the cabin. There hadn’t been much talk during the undock and orbit, the rest of the passengers apparently being used to the travel.

  Dev flexed her hands a little as the rumble eased and then they were back in full grav, only it was planet grav, not artificial, and the feeling was curiously different. She couldn’t really quantify what the difference was, but shifted in her seat a little, moving around to get used to it.

  Kurok opened his eyes and looked over at her. “Feel strange?”

  “A little.”

  “It’s more consistent,” Kurok said. “On station, the gravity is generated by machine and it’s not always exactly the same. You get used to that.” He indicated the inside of the cabin. “Downside, it never changes.”

  “Oh.” Dev considered that. “Is that good or bad?”

  “Neither,” he said. “Just different.”

  A soft chime sounded. “Atmosphere insertion complete. Please remain in your seats.”

  Dev settled back in her seat to experience the rest of the trip. She had come to the transport station early and had gotten to see the shuttle dock, watching in fascination as it drifted in, maneuvering jets firing gently as it matched station rotation and locked on.

  It had come from a ring of other stations down-orbit from them, and they had been the last stop before it left space and returned planet side to deliver it’s cargo and passengers. From the crèche, some bio alts had joined them, Beeaye machine techs and two Kaytee pilots.

  No one had spoken, though they’d watched Doctor Dan escort her and she could almost feel them wishing they had his attention too as a physical thing.

  Kurok ignored them though, using the time in the vessel to take a nap.

  Now they were heading to their destination and she was starting to get nervous. Until they landed, she could just experience everything in sort of a neutral way, as a new thing. Once they got to where they were going it would start to get a lot more real, and the hard part would begin.

  She was really glad Doctor Dan was going too. He seemed very relaxed. “Do you go on these very much?” She asked him.

  “Oh, I’ve done my share,” he said. “When I was younger, I did a lot of different things. But I haven’t in a while. I don’t think it’s changed much though. There are only so many ways you can enter a planetary atmosphere, you know.”

  Dev’s ears popped and she reached up to rub them.

  “Almost there,” Kurok said. “Interforce’s Base Ten is on the east coast of what was originally referred to as the North American continent.”

  Dev nodded. “I remember that from basics class,” she said. “Now it’s just Atlantia.” She added. “It’s much smaller now too.”

  “Under water,” Kurok said. “Only the highlands survived.” He tightened his straps a little. “Okay, Dev, we’re gong to land now so sit back.”

  Dev did and took a breath as she felt the stresses change. The rumble suddenly got a lot louder. The craft altered it’s trajectory, and she felt it tipping upward, the vibration of the
engines making the cabin shake, jostling it’s passengers in their seats.

  “Retros.” Kurok said, over the noise. “That’s normal.”

  Then the rumbling died down and she felt a thump under them, and they were still.

  “Please remain seated.” The PA voice came over. “Vessel is being secured. Do not attempt to stand.”

  Dev could hear bangs and thumps outside. After what seemed a very long time, she heard the clash of locks being released, and a sudden change of pressure that seemed to thrum against her ears.

  The inside hatch opened, and one of the flight attendants appeared. “We have arrived. Please prepare to debark,” he said, pressing a button on the wall. The straps around them all slacked, and they were free to stand up.

  Dev did, as the others did, and she paused to stretch her body out after the ride. Moving felt a little strange and she glanced at Doctor Dan as he likewise manipulated his body. She took a breath and found a strange scent hitting her nose, rough and chemical smelling.

  “Ah, the smell of rocket fuel,” Kurok muttered. “How I haven’t missed that.” He indicated the row. “Go on, Dev. Let’s get outside.”

  Dev moved slowly along the seats, watching the rest of the passengers get in line in front of her. She was at the tail end and used the wait to get used to how different the gravity felt. It wasn’t bad feeling, just strange, and she flexed her hands as they reached the exit of the craft and she found herself at the top of an outside ramp.

  Outside. Dev felt a prickle of shock as a gust of air blew against her. She could taste and smell all kinds of things on it, from machine oil to salt. It felt wet to her and she licked her lips a little as she started down the ramp after the others.

  They were in a kind of bay, she realized. Ahead of her was a tall uneven rock wall she remembered from programing and a sealed opening dug into the bottom of it, with some lockers and benches outside and a loading platform full of sealed containers.

  Seated on the benches were two people dressed in charcoal jumpsuits and as Dev looked at them, the closer of the two looked up and met her eyes.

  It was a woman, with dark hair and a planed, angular face. She looked tired and defeated and sad and Dev’s heart gave a thump as she felt a surge of empathy for her without having the least idea why.

  Then her foot caught on the ramp and she missed her step and Doctor Dan caught her. When she looked back over, the woman had looked away and it was over.

  They were down the ramp and past the benches, and the big door was sliding open to reveal a group of men with weapons, dressed in steel gray armored suits. She had to set aside the strange encounter and focus on this new thing instead.

  Everything was strange. The smell of the air was almost overwhelming and she was almost glad when the door behind them slid shut and the movement of it was blocked out. She stood back as three men came forward and took charge of the other bio alts, pointing them toward an orange painted corridor.

  They passed through a gateway on the way and she saw the pale blue light as it coursed over each one of them, the gateway softly chiming and data flickering on the console as they passed.

  The armed men ignored all of them. Dev wondered what they were there for, then Doctor Dan guided her forward and it was her turn to go through the gate. “What is this?” She asked him softly.

  “It records who you are,” he said. “Don’t worry. They’re expecting you. We sent them your scan ahead of time.”

  Reassured, Dev entered the gateway and felt a sharp tickle against her skin as the beam passed over her. It felt a little bit like being connected to a programming cradle, and it wasn’t entirely comfortable. She stepped out of it at the chime and waited for Doctor Dan to join her.

  A man in a green jumpsuit approached. “You the new experiment?” he asked Dev.

  Kurok quickly came up next to her. “This is NM-Dev-1,” he said. “I believe she’s expected.” He gazed steadily at the men. “Although I probably am not.”

  The man in green studied something on the pad strapped to his arm, then he looked up sharply at Kurok. “Director Bricker asked me to bring her to the ready center. He didn’t say anything about you.”

  “Well, let’s just go ask him, shall we?” Kurok put a hand on Dev’s back. “I have the transfer authority for my friend Dev here, so I’m sure Commander Bricker will be happy to talk to me about it.”

  Dev felt very unsettled. She could sense the hostility all around and the man was looking at Doctor Dan in a very wrong way.

  The man in green entered something on the pad. “One minute,” he said. “Detail, stand down,” he ordered, directing his voice toward the men with the weapons. “The exit event went without issue. Return to barracks.”

  The soldiers safed their weapons and shouldered them, then started back toward the inside of the building, heading down a blue colored corridor without any comment. That left the man in green alone in the entryway with Dev and Kurok.

  “The genetiscan won’t positive ident you,” the man said to Kurok. “It just passes your scan and given name as secure.”

  “Mmhm,” Kurok said. “That’d be about right.”

  “Please wait here.” The man in green went over to a console on the wall and started typing into it.

  Kurok chuckled a little. “Some things never change,” he said. “Well, Dev, this is your new home. What do you think about it?”

  Dev looked at him in apprehension. “Everyone seems angry here. Or upset,” she said. “Doctor Dan, who were those people outside?”

  “Which people?”

  “The ones on the bench. The ones in dark suits.”

  “Ah.” Kurok cast his memory back a short while, running through their arrival in mental pictorial shorthand. He called up a shot of the wall, and the bench, and two figures—Ah. “Those were enforcement agents, Dev.”

  “Oh.”

  He half shut his eyes and focused on one of the two faces, and then his body stiffened a little as he put the presence, and the security troop together.

  The man in green returned and gestured toward the furthest corridor, sealed tightly with a metal door. “Please come with me. Commander Bricker asked me to bring you both to the ops center.”

  Kurok looked at the door, then shook his head and motioned Dev to follow as they left the entrance and headed further into the complex. “Something’s not right here. Just hope we find out what it is before it’s too late.”

  Chapter Four

  IT WAS STEPHAN who came to escort her.

  Jess was sitting in the chair near the door to her quarters, her neatly packed duffel at her feet. The room was bare and clean, the workspace cleared, everything tucked into place ready for whoever was going to live in it next.

  She’d come to terms with two things. First, regret for making a snap decision and acting on it before thinking it all the way through. Second, that she was sticking to the decision anyway, even though she knew it was mostly due to ego and not the best choice for her at this stage in her life.

  She was stubborn and proud, and she knew it. She knew everyone else knew that also, and given the choice of breaking down and asking for a reneg, or sticking to her pride and doing something stupid, she’d pick doing something stupid every time.

  Family trait. Jess was studying the scars on the back of her right hand when the door unlocked and slid open. Stephan walked inside and faced her. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” Jess stood up and shouldered the duffel. The sudden reality of the moment made her breath catch, but she waited for Stephan to turn and lead the way out, gazing quietly at the floor.

  “Jess.”

  She looked up at him, a little surprised at the expression on his face and the distinct shadows under his eyes. “Yeah?”

  Stephan took a breath, and then released it. “Everyone wanted to come with me. Wanted to come see you the past couple days. Bricker blocked it off. Didn’t want them getting any ideas.”

  “Fuck him,” Jess said, in a mild t
one. “I hope he walks off the edge of that cliff out there and ends up fish food.”

  Stephan nodded. “I just didn’t want you to think no one gave a damn. They did. I do.”

  Jess wasn’t sure if it made it worse or better to hear that. “Let’s go,” she said. “I’d like to have time to find a place to crash before dark.” She appreciated what he’d said, but in her heart she knew if anyone had truly wanted to come and say good bye—they would have.

  No one wanted to rock the boat, though. Jess had no illusions about the relationship with the rest of the ops battalion she was leaving. They were colleagues. They occasionally crossed paths during emplacements. They’d step in front of a laser cannon for each other in the field, but there was no one here, save perhaps Stephan, she could have characterized as a true friend.

  She’d thought Joshua was a friend. He sure acted like one. She followed Stephan’s silent form down the empty hall, memories chasing her footsteps. She remembered the easy companionship, the casual dinners and games of cards in their quarters in the infrequent intervals they’d been in them.

  She still wanted to throw up every time she thought about him. With a sigh, she shifted the strap of her duffel on her shoulder as they crossed the central corridor and turned into the series of blast shields that led to the transport entrance.

  Doors slid shut after them as they went, each one putting her more on the outside until they got to the last one. She could smell a transport off gassing nearby. Just before the door was a lock clearance, and first Stephan, and then Jess stepped into it, enduring the electric blue tickle of the genetiscan that was the final determination of identity.

  Jess heard the soft chimes and burbles. “Ident complete.” The calm voice of the system announced. “Final exit confirmed. Do not attempt reentry.”

  Stephan keyed open the external entrance and the smell of the transport got a lot stronger. He led the way outside onto the landing pad and waited for Jess to join him.

  The door slid shut behind her and Jess felt a sudden sense of deep loss that made her jaw clench. Even the sight of the transport, usually an interest of hers, didn’t dull it. She moved to one side and sat on the bench to wait, as the big jet’s hatch was still sealed shut and the techs were still bringing out umbilicals and cooling to it.