Partners - Book 1

by Melissa Good

  “It is,” Jess said. “One of the few places you can get it out here.” Reluctantly, she sat up and started taking her clothes off. “Might as well take advantage of it.”

  “What do the fisher people do?” Dev undid the suspenders on her outfit and slipped out of the pants, then sat down to unlace her boots. “Scan didn’t pick up anything on the boat that could do that.”

  “They don’t.” Jess left her borrowed clothing folded neatly on the couch and went to the pool, walking slowly in and then rolling over with a deep, heartfelt sigh. “Damn that feels good.” She relaxed in the hot water, grimacing a little when it touched the puncture wound she’d paid scant attention to since their arrival. “Ow.”

  Dev joined her a minute later, holding her hand up over the pool’s surface as steam gathered against her skin. Then she moved closer and examined the wound. “It seems to be all right.”

  Jess regarded her from half closed eyes. “Like the pool?”

  Dev sat down next to her, thinking about that. The heat did feel good. She’d been so cold for so long on this mission, just sitting here in this hot water was letting her body fully relax for the first time in days. The rough rock felt a little abrasive against her bare skin, but the buoyancy of the water kept it from being uncomfortable. “So this is from the volcano?”

  “The heat is.” Jess let her head rest against the rock. “The water comes from the ocean.”

  “So, people come here, and they give them credits so they can sit in the water?”

  “Yup.”

  Dev pondered that. “So all you get for that is feeling nice?”

  “Yup.”

  “That seems odd.”

  Jess chuckled. “Yeah I guess it does. But I guess it’s a little piece of how it used to be. Kind of like the stuff we do, the dinner thing in the citadel. Things people remember their grandparents remembering about the old days.

  Like the place Doctor Dan had taken her, Dev realized. The place where they had eaten, up in the top of the station The scientists could easily have had that served in their offices, or in the natural born eating place but they chose to put a table and chairs up where you could see the stars and have it given to you that way. “I get it.”

  “You do?”

  Dev nodded. She stretched her legs out and crossed them, leaning her elbows on the little shelf they were sitting against. “It’s nice.”

  “It is nice.” Jess picked up a piece of sea sponge resting on the shelf and half turned. “Here, see if you like this.” She dunked the sponge and started rubbing it along Dev’s arm, not missing the slight jerk as Dev reacted. “That’s supposed to make your skin feel good. I never really was much for it myself since I always came here by myself and you can’t reach everywhere.”

  “That feels very interesting,” Dev said. “It reminds me of the flash rad cleaning we did in the mornings in the crèche. It took layers of skin off.”

  Jess stopped and eyed her. “Is that good or bad?”

  Dev smiled and held her hand out. “Let me see if you like it.” She moved around and got behind Jess, applying the sponge to her back. She could see the old injury there, still red and a little swollen and she carefully avoided the spot. There were other scars there too, one that went right across her spine from right to left, old and tense. “You were hurt a lot.”

  “Yes.” Jess leaned against the wall, savoring the sensation of the sponge scouring her skin. “I take too many chances, they tell me.”

  “Why?” Dev was actually enjoying herself, exploring the storied skin in front of her.

  “Why did they tell me that, or why do I do it?” Jess put her head down on her folded arms. “I don’t know why I do it. I just get into things and what happens to me doesn’t matter, I guess. Jason once told me that’s why I was as successful as I’ve been because I always go all in. I don’t hold back.”

  “But you get hurt.” Dev started down the backs of her legs. “I hope that doesn’t happen too much. I don’t like to see you in discomfort.”

  Jess remained silent for a bit, the water of the pool lapping gently at her back. “You really care about what happens to me?” She asked suddenly, turning her head and looking back over her shoulder.

  “Of course,” Dev answered placidly, as she scrubbed her way back up Jess’s back and over her the tops of her arms. “I’ve never cared about anyone as much as I do about you.”

  The matter of fact honesty of it surprised Jess. She had no doubt at all that what Dev was saying was true, or as true as she knew it to be but it touched her unexpectedly in a deep way. Did she feel the same way? She could scarcely remember what caring about someone meant, after that last visit home.

  How did she feel about Dev?

  “Does that cause you discomfort?” Dev asked. “I hope not.”

  “No,” Jess finally answered, with a faint smile. “It makes me feel good because I think I care about you a lot too.” She rolled over and put her hands on Dev’s knees, studying the compact profile outlined in the dim golden light of rad. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this about anyone else before.”

  Dev regarded her with a pleased, if puzzled expression. “Is that good or bad?” She reflected Jess’s earlier question back at her.

  “I don’t know,” Jess said in a soft voice. “I don’t think I’m supposed to care about anyone. At least, that’s what my mother told me.” It still stung, that last meeting. That back turned, that door closed. There hadn’t been any animosity in it, no dislike, just a kindly worded dismissal of her as something no longer part of the core of what was left of their family.

  “We can’t care about you, Jess. You’re lost to us. You belong to them now.”

  Surprising, how much that had hurt. She remembered the tears, and the terrible constriction in her throat, as she’d turned and walked away, heading back to the transport center. Back to the citadel.

  Her brothers had always kept in touch though. Paid to have an in with Interforce, after all.

  “Well.” Dev put her hands on Jess’s shoulders. “They never told me that. So I do care about you. I want to care about you. It makes me feel really good.”

  Jess felt a smile forming on her face. She did want to care about Dev. Maybe it was wrong and maybe it was dangerous, like they’d told her, but she hadn’t gotten to where she was by listening to anyone, now had she? “C’mere.” She reached out and took hold of Dev’s waist and pulled her forward.

  Pressing body to body she wrapped her arms around Dev and hugged her wholeheartedly, letting herself indulge in a rare happiness. “It’s good, Dev. It’s very good.”

  Dev was aware of a pungent moment of delight. She returned the hug with enthusiasm, and then as Jess released her, she backed off so she could look at her face.

  It was so nice to see that smile.

  She felt like she could look at it for a long time and not get tired of seeing it. She smiled back and saw a distinct twinkle appear in Jess’s pale eyes. She could sense a shift inside her, just a bit of settling that made her less of a stranger in a strange land and giving her a sense of belonging.

  Strange and odd and endearing. The beginnings of a partnership in truth instead of just in a name.

  Jess stood and held her hand out. “Let’s go finish our pampering.”

  They moved into another chamber, this one with set of pipes in the ceiling. Jess waved her hand and a moment later they were drenched in cold water, making Dev inhale so sharply she nearly bit her tongue. “Yipes!” She got her hands up to protect her head just as the water turned off, and the sound of it was replaced by Jess’s chuckling.

  “Brr.” Dev shook herself hard, spattering droplets from her body. “I didn’t expect that!”

  Jess started laughing. “It’s supposed to be like that. You get hot, then you cool off.” She regarded Dev, who was standing there next to her, dripping with cold seawater, drenched hair half in her eyes. She reached out and pushed the damp blonde locks back and watched an abashed
grin appear.

  So adorable.

  Jess leaned forward and kissed her, tasting the saltwater on her lips. And she’s all mine. She pulled back and lightly rubbed noses with Dev, then straightened up. “Okay, let’s go dry off. Feel like getting your hair cut?”

  Dev ran her hand through hers as she followed Jess through yet another hallway. “I don’t know. In the crèche we just had to let the sets who were being trained for that work on us.”

  “Oh. That sounds like fun.”

  “Not really. There’s not much programming for that they just have to figure it out.”

  “Oh.”

  “I don’t really look that good with most of it shorn.”

  Jess put her arm around Dev and laughed. “Me either. But I don’t have teaching to blame for it, we all got scalped for basic.”

  “Oh. Well.”

  “I’ll show you pictures when we get home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “IS THIS LENGTH all right?” Jess glanced in the three part mirror in the tight alcove she was sitting in. Her hair tended to be unruly at the best of times. “Try and get it shorter here.” She tugged the lengths near her ears, then leaned back and let the bio alt work, as she turned her attention back to Dev.

  Dev was sitting quietly on a stool nearby, having finished with her turn under the scissors. Dressed in her fisherman’s overalls and sweater, her burnished blonde hair neatly trimmed and layered, she was just so appealing to Jess’s eyes it was hard to look away from her.

  The overalls fit snugly around her slim form, and the sweater with its high collar framed her face neatly. The new cut seemed to lengthen her jaw a little and the light in the parlor they were in brought out the highlights in her hair and the intensity of the color of her eyes.

  So damn cute. Jess watched her lift her head and meet her eyes, a grin appearing and compounding the adorable factor. She grinned back, idly wondering how Dev felt being here, being catered to by these other bio alts, who had fluttered around her so attentively.

  Was it strange? Certainly Dev seemed relaxed, one boot hiked up on a brace of the stool, her elbow resting on her knee. She was watching the bio alt work on Jess, but every few seconds, her eyes would drift back to Jess’s face, and that little twinkle would show, and damn it, she felt like melting into a puddle.

  Weirdest ass feeling of her life. “What in the hell is wrong with me?”

  “Ma’am?” The little bio alt snipping her hair paused and drew back. “Is it wrong?” She asked anxiously.

  “Nah, fine. I’m just talking to myself.” Jess waved her on, shifting a little in the chair. “G’wan.”

  The girl went back to her work. “Almost finished,” she said, softly. “Soon, soon.”

  Soon, soon. Jess was getting restless, her instincts starting to drive her on from their hiding place and she had to force herself not to fidget when the old style, hammered scissors tickled her temple. Her mind started to shuffle through routes to the docks, wondering if they had any space at all to pick up anything else before they got off the island.

  “Okay?” The bio alt asked, stepping back. “Good?”

  Jess turned in the chair and studied her head, outlined in white lights. “What do you think, Dev?”

  “I think you look beautiful,” Dev responded straightforwardly. “Is that what you were asking?”

  Jess blushed, the heat on her cheeks surprising her. She found she couldn’t either meet her own eyes in the mirror, nor Dev’s eyes in her reflection and so she just cleared her throat. “Something like that,” she muttered. “Yeah, that’s fine,” she said, glancing at the bio alt. “It’s good.”

  The girl looked relieved.

  Dev regarded her reflection in the mirror thoughtfully, as she waited for Jess to get up from the low chair behind her. She rather liked the way the bio alt had trimmed her hair, neatly layering it back from her face and making it a bit shorter. It fell around the high collar of her sweater, and she found herself smiling a little as she watched the blush fade from Jess’s cheeks.

  She really was beautiful.

  “Nice work,” Jess said to the hair cutter. “Takes some talent to make this mop look like something.”

  Dev turned, watching the bio alt next to Jess blush and stammer. “It’s very nice.” She agreed. “I like it.” Jess’s long, dark hair was cut back off her face, the slight wave in it now framing her angular features and shortened to just past her shoulders.

  Jess stood up and ran her fingers through her hair, then fished a chit from her pocket and handed it to the cutter. “Here. Go get you and your buddies a treat.”

  The cutter grinned, her hazel eyes lighting up as she tucked the chit away. “Agent.” She bowed respectfully at Jess. “Tech, it was a great honor.” She ducked her head at Dev. “Have a profitable day.”

  “We’ll try.” Jess put her hand on Dev’s back and guided her toward a ramp leading to a large door. “I think we’ve wasted enough time to let the goons wander off. Let’s try and get back to the boat.”

  “Okay.” Dev willingly trailed along after her, fastening her jacket as the door slid open, bringing a gust of wet, cold air against them. They were let out into a small alleyway, which was lined with beautifully carved stone walls, stained with old green patches. “Did you want to say goodbye to your friend?”

  Jess glanced at her. “Who? Oh, Charles you mean.” She lifted a hand and let it drop. “He’s not a friend. All he was doing was making sure I was out of the way for a while so the market didn’t get messed up.”

  “I see.”

  Jess led the way to a small metal gate and paused, cocking her head and listening. Then she turned and lifted her hand to Dev’s collar only to stop in mid motion.

  “I took it off.” Dev pulled her hand out of her pocket and displayed her insignia, then put it back in its hiding spot.

  Jess patted her on the cheek, then she gently sorted Dev’s newly cut hair. “I like this,” she said. “What did you think of that place?”

  Dev considered that briefly. “It was interesting.”

  “In a good or bad way?”

  “I liked parts of it,” Dev said, in a quiet voice. “Not the cold part so much.”

  Jess chuckled. “Sorry.”

  “The hot couch was nice, and the pool.”

  Jess in general agreed with that. Though she’d been known to plunge into the cold sea water under the citadel and never complained about it.

  Jess went to the gate again, and cautiously examined the area. “Okay, now stick by me, Devvie. I’ve got a feeling we’re not out of trouble yet.” She eased the metal open and stepped down the stone stairwell to a lower alleyway that was equally empty and equally silent with Dev practically latched on to her coat. She felt more than a little conspicuous. A soft rumble of thunder sounded overhead, and she tugged her jacket neck a touch closer, very aware of the lack of weapons on her as the maze of stone passageways stretched out in front of them. She led the way down the aisle, her ears focused forward since the slot alleys were blind and she wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to be ambushed out here.

  She knew if she continued down the ripples of lava lined with coral she would eventually get back to the market, but there was no easy way to run if a team came at them and it was easy to get lost in the maze.

  She heard a buzz echo softly up to her, and slowed, coming to a crossroads and pausing before she went through it. She stood just shy of the opening, and went to tight focus, holding her hands out to stop Dev from passing her.

  Dev had no intention of passing her, however. She tucked herself behind Jess and waited, watching in fascination as her partner’s ears twitched and moved, the edges cupping a little as her eyes closed in concentration.

  What was she listening to? Dev could hear the soft sound of voices down the way a little, but it was just a formless noise, without any distinguishing characteristics.

  “Okay.” Jess led them forward, through the crossroads and down a slanted path
way. “Careful.” She indicated the path. “Gets slippery in the rain, and it’s all downhill from here. You slide, you end up on your ass in the middle of the market.”

  “I see.”

  “Hope you don’t,” Jess said. “Not looking to be the life of the party this time around.”

  They neared the lower levels and the walls started to get wider. “Does that mean you experienced this ass thing?” Dev asked, as they went around a slight curve and could see the market below.

  Jess cleared her throat. “Let’s just say I’m glad I was undercover.” She let her awareness sweep over the row they were exiting into, waiting to see if her senses picked up anything dangerous. Dangerous outside the obvious. But the row was clothing, not very exciting, and the straggle of people browsing didn’t make her twitch.

  She fastened her jacket up as the slight fog turned to a fine mist, blinking a little in reflex as the moisture impacted her eyeballs. The garment mostly covered her jumpsuit, and she attracted little attention as they moved through the stalls.

  Dev looked at a stall as she passed, finding a booth full of colorful jumpsuits that had a soft plush lining to them. She slowed down and studied the nearest, imagining how it would feel to have that warmth next to her skin. “Ah.”

  Jess had gotten a few steps ahead, but apparently heard her soft grunt and stopped, turning to see what she was looking at, then retracing her path back. “Like those?” She glanced at the merchant, who was watching them with wary hopefulness. The jumpers were cute, not her style, but she could readily picture Dev’s slight frame tucked into one.

  She reached out and felt the sleeve, which was tough but soft to the touch. “What’s this made of?” She asked the seller.

  “Silk from topside,” the man responded. “Inside’s synth wool. Kelp mix.”

  Dev felt the garment, and gave the lining a wistful look. “It appears warm,” she said. “Do you like this color?” She studied the fabric, which seemed to shimmer from red to purple as the light hit it.

  “On you, absolutely.” Jess removed a small, square piece of metal from her pocket and handed it to the vendor. “Wrap it up.”