A Story of Humanity: The Jess and Dev Tales Fiction Page
Part of AUSXIP The Bard's Corner
Written by Melissa Good

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A Story of Humanity: The Jess and Dev Tales

The Story of Humanity: The Jess and Dev Tales is set in the near future post apocalyptic - the earth has been devastated by weather. Human society on the planet is reduced to fighting for survival over seaweed and scraps. Jesslyn (Jess) Drake is a warrior for that time - an agent who works for one of two 'sides' (think cold war) and is sent into conflict to steal scientific secrets or otherwise prevent that 'side' from making advances that would let them prosper. There are no good or bad guys.

Dev is Biological Alternative, set 0202-164812, instance NM-Dev-1 is a type of human being developed on a space station in orbit who can accept direct brain programming to suit them for a specific job and is the first of her kind to be made into an agent to join this side. Has a somewhat slave status and no one really wants them around but is given to Agent Drake who is arm twisted into giving it a try

Partners

by Melissa Good

Part 1

Hands grabbed her and she twisted, pulling against straps that kept her flat on her back, wrenching her arms to pull them free to fight.

It was dark. It was loud. She could hear screams and explosions.  Nearby there was laughter, and then she felt the hot agony as a knife plunged into her side and her back arched as she tried to move away from it.

An ankle came free, and she twisted more violently, lifting her knee up and kicking out against the hands holding her down.

“Jess!”

She heard her name. She tried to open her mouth to answer but there was a gag in it, and she could only growl in anger and frustration.

“Jess!”

The voice was suddenly louder, and she felt a sting on her arm and a breath after that the darkness mottled and faded and the screams muted, and she was out of the dream.

“Jess.”

Hands on her shoulders, shaking her.   Her body free.  Her back laying on a soft, conforming surface.

She opened her eyes, to see the commander over her, a medic just behind him, pulling a injector back away from her. 

The echoes of laughter faded away and the sounds of the den surrounded her and she blinked, finding the familiarity of the base on all sides, and no enemies anywhere to be seen.   “Sorry.”  She rasped, feeling pain in her throat from what she figured were screams.  “Sorry, Stephan.” A pause  “Sir.”

“It’s okay.”  The commander rested his forearms on his knee.  “You all right?” 

She lifted a hand and rubbed her temples. “Fantastic.”  Hiking herself up on the bed, she peered around, seeing the muted activity of late watch past the open door of her quarters.  Slowly the tension left her, and she exhaled, willing herself calm.

“You might want to let Dustin here give you a knockout.”  Stephan said. “Got a while before first watch.”

Jess shook her head.  “I’m all right.” She said. “Just a damn dream.” 

“Okay.”  The commander stood up.  He waved the medic out, then waited for the door to close. “I know it’s tough.”

“Yeah.”  Jess answered briefly. “Too bad they don’t have a program for this.  I”d take it.” She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, resting her elbows on her bare knees.

Stephan sat back down on the padded stool near the bed. “Thought you were against repatterning.” He said. “Weren’t you the one who told me only cowards try to deal with their problems that way?”

Jess wasn’t offended.  “I was.” She said. “Then I was knifed in the back by my partner and watched my whole team be butchered in front of me.  Changes your perspective.”  Her eyes flicked up to his face, fastened on it. “I know what you’re going to tell me, Stephan. Get past it.”

He grunted. “You do need to.” He said. “Not that I don’t… “ He paused. “Jess, I’m not going to sit here and tell you I know how you feel, cause I don’t.  Nothing like that ever happened to me.” He shifted. “Hasn’t happened to anyone before, that I know of.”

“Great. Another first for the Drake family.”  Jess’s face twitched. “Eleven generations in service, always trying to be at the forefront of something.” She straightened up and ran her fingers through the dark , straight hair that fell to her shoulders.

“Well, that’s the point.”  Stephan cleared his throat. “As much as a natural born is bred for anything, you were bred for this. Just like I was. Just like Mike, and Justin, and  Sal were.”  He said. “You’ve got a tough mind.  You can get past it.”

“Sure.”  Jess answered.  “Just take a little time.”

The commander nodded. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” He stood and patted her on the shoulder. “Get some rest.  We’ll talk in the morning.  I’ve got some ideas on getting you repartnered.” He watched the body across from him stiffen.

Jess remained silent, however.  She merely nodded.

“Okay.” Stephan turned and made his way to the door, locking through with a palm press and letting it shut behind him.

The medic was waiting outside. “Okay?”  Destin asked, briefly.

Stephan shrugged. “Have no idea. “ He answered honestly.  “I’m not a doctor and even they aren’t sure what buttons to press to try and fix that.”  He steered the medic towards the door that separated the operations center from the living quarters and they passed through it, moving from dim peace into blue lit subdued tension.

Jess waited until she was sure the door was going to stay shut. Then she pushed herself to her feet and walked across the soft gray carpet into the sanitary unit, ignoring her too pale reflection in the mirror as she let a little icy cold water run in the sink and splashed some on her face.

She was tired, but not sleepy, not having any desire to return to the dream world they’d pulled her out of nor wanting to trigger another visit from the medic.  She leaned her hands on the sink and stared at the gray surface, resisting the urge to throw up.

Primitive.  She pushed away and went back into the space she’d called home for all the years of her adulthood,  a freeform two level room  that had her bed and storage space on one side and a curved workspace on the other with a  comfortable chair behind it. 

On the second level, in the loft was a small space for relaxing and meditation and the cabinets that held her personal gear.

All in shades of gray, blue and sea green, with indirect lighting that lent the pod a sense of calm and peace and an almost luxurious feel she was due as the senior op she was.   Jess went to her desk chair and sat down in it, the surface feeling cool against the back of her thighs and her tank top clad shoulders.

She stared at the door to the left of the exit.  It opened into a mirror image of the pod she was in, where until her last mission Joshua had lived.

Joshua. 

Her outsider partner, with his curly red hair and his bright, friendly smile.  They’d clicked right off, had the same interests, even liked the same music. Jess had often wondered if they’d selected for that when they paired them, but she really hadn’t cared, she’d just been glad they’d bonded and because he’d been carefully selected and undergone the training, she’d trusted him.

Trusted the competence of the board and the professionals whose job it was to carefully pick the teams and vet the outsider applicants so that there was that trust, when you were in a group and were on an emplacement and knew the people at your back were your family and without doubt.

Joshua had fooled everyone.   In his tenth emplacement with Jess, he’d turned and literally knifed her, sounding the alarm and bringing the guards of the detention center they’d penetrated down on top of them.

She’d watched, as they cut the rest of the team to pieces, slowly, knowing a moment of bleak pride at their clench jawed silence before they came for her. 

She would have gone the same way, except they misjudged her strength just a fraction.   Just a little.  Just enough for her to get loose, and free a hand, triggering the embedded recall chip just under her breastbone – just enough to get her hands on a gun and let her bone deep training take over.

The screams had been theirs.  The last being Joshua’s as he came into her sights and she blew his brains right out of his head with the heavy projectiles, scattering bone chips and blood all over the room.

She spent a moment reliving it, now in her conscious mind.  They’d given her a commendation for it, but that hadn’t erased the shame and the horror, and the sense of deep betrayal she wasn’t sure there was any getting over.

There would be no repartnering for her.  No one would live on the other side of that door, standing at her back, ready to put a blade into it.

No.

**

“Doctor?”

Randall Doss looked up, and saw the proctor standing in the doorway. “Yes?”

The tall, brown haired proctor entered. “Here’s the report you asked for.” He handed over a chip.  “And the director of Interforce is here and wishes to speak to you.” 

Doss blinked. “Interforce?  What does he want? Is there some problem with the last set we sent them?”

“I don’t know, sir.” The proctor responded. “He’s waiting in your office.”

The doctor frowned. “Very well.” He got up from the tall chair he’d been huddled in, reviewing the digital scoping system.    “I’ll go talk to him now. I certainly hope there wasn’t any mistake.” He tugged his work tunic straight and hurried out of the lab, turning right and moving along one of the curving, well lit corridors of the crèche.

He passed through a steady stream of similarly clad men and women, most with digital pads strapped to their arms, and comm buds blinking in their ears as they moved in abstract distraction – only honed peripheral vision letting them proceed without collision.

He reached the grav tube and triggered it, waiting for it to open then stepping into the column of gravity, giving the little hop that started him downward along the curve.   He turned and looked out as he dropped, admiring for the nth time the curve of the earth below him, and the deliciously crisp blackness of space beyond.

At the bottom level he triggered the exit and pushed himself into the hallway, regaining normal gravity in the faint bunny hop typical to the crèche and the other stations in orbit.  Another few minutes walking and he was at his office, passing through the outside and giving his attendant a wave as he passed.  “Hear I have a visitor, Gigi.”

“Sir you do.”  The pretty young woman behind the console agreed. She had wavy brown hair and almond colored eyes, along with a delicately circuit traced collar around her neck.  “May I bring you tea?”

“Please, and for my guest as well.”  The doctor tugged his tunic straight again and then palmed his door open, revealing his half circle office with it’s twin bubble windows giving a gorgeous view of the stars.

A tall man in a formal uniform was standing near the first bubble, looking out.

“Director?  They said you wish to see me?” The doctor waved the door closed behind him.  “What can we do for you?”

The director turned to face him.  He had iron gray hair, closely cropped to his head, and a neatly trimmed beard and moustache that didn’t quite hide a plasma scar across one side of his face. “Doctor.” He had a low, burring voice. “I have a problem I need you to solve for me.”

“Oh?”  The doctor felt a little anxiety subside. He went to his desk and sat down behind it. “Anything we can do for Interforce.” He said. “Please do sit down.  My assistant is bringing us some tea.”

The director sat down.  “You provide us with resources.”

Doctor Doss nodded after a pause. “We provide you with biological alternative units.” He agreed.  “For many purposes.  I believe you have our service units and recently we provided you with some higher end samples, for low space jet plane piloting.”

“Yes.”

There was a small silence. “They have been satisfactory?” The doctor finally asked.  “There’s no trouble with them is there?  Our programming schemas are very stringent.”

“They’re fine.”  The director paused, as the door opened and Gigi entered with a tray.  He watched the young woman as she expertly poured the tea, and served them.   She was wearing a sedate sea green station uniform, and space boots and her well formed body was both graceful and assured as she bowed to him.  “Thank you.”

“Sir.” Gigi straightened and picked up the tray, then left, closing the door behind her.

“New model.” The doctor indicated the now closed door. “That’s a G-G 3200.  We are enhancing our basic service module with some entry level tech programming.”

The director nodded. “So you are experimenting with mixing some of the genotypes” He stated. “That’s good. It bears on the problem we want you to solve for us.” He sipped his tea.   “To state it plainly, doctor, we need you to develop an advanced design for us, but we don’t have time for you to do it from scratch.”

“I see.”

“I need a bio alt I can put in the field as a operative agent.”  The director went on. “Military.”

The doctor straightened up, his eyes blinking. “But director.”

The man held a hand up. “I know.” He said. “We’ve told you a dozen times you can’t make a model that will have the independent decision making that’s’ required.   I still believe that.”

“But..”

“But my problem is this.  We had a failure of process.”  The director cut him off.  “I can’t go into the details. But the result is, we do not have confidence in a certain process right now and we have an urgent need for an operative.”

Doss stared at him.  “Director.” He said. “We can do a lot. But this is… these are still biological organisms we’re dealing with. They’re not machines. They’re human beings.”

“Technically, no they aren’t.”

The doctor lifted a hand, much as the director had done a moment ago. “Legally, no. But from a scientific viewpoint, from the view of reality, director, they are. Regardless of what our society considers them.”

“Regardless of how we pretend to ourselves you’re not creating slaves, yes.”  The director assented, in a dry tone.  “Let’s not split hairs.”

The doctor’s shoulders twitched at the blunt rudeness.  “In any case, we don’t snap our fingers and create a program set just like that.”  He said. “There are physical, as well as mental structures to consider.”

“I know that.”

“The models we have in production right now are geared to be assistants, to serve, to provide a helpmate.  They’re not soldiers. They’re certainly not capable of  putting on a uniform and going into battle.”

“Anyone can be taught to kill.” The director replied.  “You may not believe that, but I’ve been in this business a very very long time, doctor, and you’ll just have to take that on faith from me.” He sipped his tea again.  “But as it happens – the operative I need is not required to do that.  They need to be a tech, and above all, they need to be absolutely trusted.”

“A tech.”  The doctor mused.

“Think of it as a possible new line of business.” The tall man said, with an expressionless face. “If this works out, we could perhaps offer you a deal to supply us with this resource ongoing. It would relieve us of a certain responsibility.

The doctor licked his lips.  “Well.” He murmured. “Certainly we would love to be able to continue our business relationship, enhance it, as it were.”

“I have to tell you – this is not a popular decision of mine.” The director said. “Many people think it can’t be done.”

The doctor folded his hands on his desk. “Director, given time, money and talent nothing is impossible. “ he watched the man smile grimly.  “But as it happens, there might be a resource I.. well, perhaps we could do some modifications. “

The director nodded.  “When? The need is urgent, as I said.  There is a risk.”

Oh well,.  Doss was already running the calculations.  If it didn’t work, he could always say he’d told them so. “Two weeks.”  He said. “And I will need to know the exact requirement, including any imprinting.”

The director’s smile widened slightly.  “That can be arranged. “ He lifted his cup. “Got any more of this? We don’t get it much down side.”

The doctor leaned towards his comm unit.  “Gigi?”

“Sir.”

“First, please bring us some more tea.” He said.  “And then, please go to the crèche master and tell him I need to see him. I don’t want to disturb him if he’s programming by calling.”

“Sir.”

“Tell him to come to my office when he’s available, and to bring NM-Dev-1 with him.”

“Yes sir.”

The doctor sat back and took a sip of his own tea, swirling the delicate beverage in his mouth before he swallowed it.  “The programming could be complex.” He commented.  “We’ll have to put a lot of resources into meeting your timeline.”

“We’ll make it worth your while.”  His guest smiled now, with feral completeness. “You can be sure of that, doctor.  Cost isn’t a concern for us at this moment.”

Now the doctor smiled, tapping the toes of his space boots together under the desk.  “Given that, we’ll find the time and talent, director.  You know that’s how that goes.” He lifted his tea cup and the director mimicked the motion, as the station rotation moved them into the light and the windows automatically filtered the glare.

“To success, doctor.  For both of us.”

**

A soft knock came on the top of her helmet.  NM-Dev-1 put the program on hold and ducked out from under it, blinking a little to bring her eyes back into normal focus. “Hello, proctor.”  She said, surprised to see him there.

“Hello, Dev.”  The proctor sat down next to her. “How are you?”

Dev quickly arranged herself on the bench, sitting up straight and tucking her boots under her.  “Doing well, proctor. I finished the first advanced program, and I’m looking at the second one now.” She answered confidently. 

“Great.” The proctor shifted his body a little, and looked at her. “Dev, I came to talk to you because the administrator has asked me to bring you to his office. He wants to speak with you.”

She watched his face, seeing the tension there. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”  The proctor answered immediately. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Dev.  It’s just that some people have come to us, and asked us to do a special job for them and the administrator thinks you can do that job.”

Dev was momentarily silent.   “I’m getting assigned?” She asked, with a small intake of breath. “Really?”

The proctor’s brow tensed.  “Well.” He shifted again, clearly uncomfortable.  “These people.. they want us to give you some special programs, Dev, and then we’ll see if you can do what they want.”

“Oh.” Dev murmured. “Is it hard?”

“It might be.” The proctor admitted. “It’s not like anything you’ve done before.  But we’ve tried to give you things that stretch your abilities, and this will be something like that again.”  He watched the young bio alt in front of him, seeing the thoughtful look on her face.

He had his doubts.   NM-Dev-1, though an experimental prototype that the name indicated, was not a type he would have ever considered for something as radical as this.    She was a little below medium height, and slender, with a pleasant, friendly face and sandy colored hair.  

Though she’d had the usual physical training, she didn’t look anything like what he supposed an Interforce soldier should look like, and the idea of her in those stark, gray surroundings made him truly rather uncomfortable.

He liked Dev.  As much as one could like a bio alt.  She was good natured and relatively clever, able to hold a conversation and even come up with an idea or two of her own once in a while.   She smiled a lot, and was always eager to learn new things.

He just wondered if she’d enjoy learning what she’d have to in order to fill the order.  Would Dev enjoy being set to operate the weapons systems Interforce used?  It seemed very wrong for her type.

“Will I go somewhere” Dev asked, unexpectedly. “I mean.. out of the crèche?”

‘Yes. You’ll need to go downside.” The proctor told her.  “Are you ready to come talk to the administrator?  He’ll tell you more about what you’re going to do.”   He stood up. “When he’s done, I’ll take you to the programming center so they can start giving you the programs you’ll need.”

Dev felt a little apprehensive. “Will you tell me what the programs are?”

The proctor put a hand on her shoulder. “I think it’ll be better for you if you just take them, Dev.  Not think about it too much before you go.”  He released her. “Let’s go now.  The administrator is waiting.”

Dev followed along as he turned and started towards the big central grav stack, at this time of the shift filling with techs and minders heading to quarters, and at the outside edges, bio alts assigned to the station making their way to the dorms. 

Dev saw familiar faces, and she lifted a hand to wave, getting a timid response as the eyes shifted to the proctor next to her, and the little separation between them and the crowd.   She had thought she was going to spend a quiet night in the dorms, after the night meal and maybe have a game of stones with a few of her crechemates before sleep.

Now, who knew where she’d end up sleeping if she did at all.

It had started out such an ordinary day, too.  A new set had come into the dorms, and there was lots of showing around to do before gym, and then the daymeal, and after that her studies. She’d almost been done before the proctor had found her.

Now, she really didn’t know what was going to happen.  The thought of being assigned made her happy, but the look on the proctor’s face, and the way he’d spoken made her think there was something wrong with this assignment, at least to him.

They left the tube and walked along the outside corridor of the station, the transparent walls giving a full view of the earth orbit they were in.  Dev smiled a little at the stars, and let them distract her as she traced their patterns in their endlessly fascinating variations.

It almost made the walk too short.    She followed the proctor though as he turned inside a doorway and put his palm to a lock, waiting for the door to slide open then gesturing her inside.

Restricted zone.  Dev had never been inside it.  She glanced at the silver toned walls as they walked, passing office after office, now darkened for the day.    At the very end, in the corner was a taller more impressive door, and that’s where the proctor led her.

They stood inside the entrance. “Gigi, can you tell the adminstrator we’re here?”  The proctor asked the admin behind the desk.

“Sir.” Gigi pressed a button, looking up  and exchanging the briefest of nods with Dev.

They had something in common, and in fact, Dev was familiar with Gigi from the crèche.  They were both something of an experimental set,  though Dev’s programming had started out from the beginning to be advanced while Gigi’s added skills had been a recent development.

They were both different.  She had daymeal with Gigi sometimes.  The rest of the sets tended to stick together and while no one was unfriendly everyone knew the more skills you were given, the better your chance of getting a really good assignment.

So there was jealousy.  Dev had talked to Gigi about it, and they had thought that maybe this was just a little indication of how parts of them were still like the natural born around them because no one was given a jealous program. You just had it.

Just like the natural borns just had it.  Dev had told Gigi though, that they shouldn’t talk about it.

Gigi had agreed.   She was part of a small set, only six, and Dev.. well, Dev was just one. No sense in upsetting people when you didn’t have a group around you and it wasn’t nice to make a big thing of things you knew or could do that others couldn’t.

The door in front of them opened and she followed the proctor in.   The administrator’s office was very large, and it had pretty white and blue carpet and a lot of clear glass ornaments.   Dev turned around and stared at it for a moment, amazed by the tall ceilings, and the sense of light and air.

“Well, hello there NM-Dev-1.”

Dev turned, and looked at the administrator. “Hello, sir.” She said. He still had his lab overlay on, and with his curly hair in constant disarray he never seemed that threatening.

Another man was there, a tall, gray man and he was watching her. She looked at him, and saw the crease in his face, and the uniform.   He was looking very intently at her and she felt like moving away from him.

Dev felt a little fear.  Was this who she was going to be assigned to?

“This is Commandant Bricker, of Interforce.” Doctor Doss said. “Do you know what that is, Dev? Have you had that program?”

“Yes, sir, I do.” Dev said. 

“Good.” The doctor said. “So you know how important Interforce is, right? They protect us from all the people who are trying to hurt those of us in the Republic, don’t they.”

“Yes, sir.” Dev said. “They’re very brave.” She added, unprompted.

Bricker produced a faint smile.

“That’s right.” Doss agreed. “Well, Dev, we have a wonderful opportunity to help the commandant and all those brave people.  They have a job, a tech job, and they came to us to see if we could help them, if we had someone who could do that job.”

“Sir.”  Dev felt her breathing go a little faster.  She was afraid, and she wasn’t. “I don’t know how to be brave.”

That got another brief, crabbed smile from Bricker.  “We can teach you that.” He said, his low, burring voice tickling her ears.  “If you have the heart for it.”

Dev looked at him, and their eyes met.  Again, she was afraid and not, because she could see something real there, something interesting and complex that reminded her a little of some of her history lessons.

Some of the people she’d seen there.  “Sir.” She murmured.

“We have some programs to give you, Dev, that will help you learn what to do, so you can help the commandant.  So I want you to go with the proctor and get started. We don’t have a lot of time. They need you very badly.”

“Sir.” Dev replied.  “I’ll do the best I can.”

Doss smiled at her, a real smile. “I know you will.” He gave the proctor a nod. “Robin, you know what to do.  Let’s get started.”

“Right away, sir.”  The proctor touched Dev’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Dev.  You’ve got lots to learn.”  He guided her out of the office and the door slid shut behind them.

Doss leaned back against his desk, and watched the director out of the corner of his eye. “I know she’s young, and probably not what you were looking for.” He said.

“No.”  Bricker sat back down. “Frankly, I had no idea what I was looking for. “ He said. “You people give me the creeps and I won’t lie about it.”

“Well, if we had more time..” Doss temporized. “We could breed something up for you, to your specifications but you said..”

“I know. I said I needed them now.”  Bricker cut him off.  “But as it happens, I think this one might be all right.  I didn’t want a soldier.”

“Oh. Well good.”  Doss sat down behind his desk. 

“We don’t’ want programmable soldiers.”  The director said. “Because it’s just as easy for someone else to program them.  After our training they’re damned destructive, and damned expensive for us to maintain.”

“I see.” The doctor murmured, who actually didn’t see. “I’m not really sure, then…”

“You don’t need to be sure.” The director said. “Just give me what I ask for, and I’ll take it from there. “

**

Dev sat in the programming room, her legs dangling over the side of the body shaped couch.  The sensor grid was cocked and in place over the head of it, and across the room the tech was busy setting up the boards.

It was a quiet chamber.  The walls were dimly lit and a soft green color, and the light in the room was a soothing light amber.  She knew it was designed to make her relax, but even knowing that, she felt her stomach in knots and her mouth dry as a paper.

She’d been in here many times before, of course.  Here, or in one of the many chambers like it on this level where she’d gotten her basic, and then advanced skill programming over the years.  It was in this chamber, in fact that she’d gotten her first tech programming skill, waking to a delight of knowledge she’d run right to the sim lab and explored.

This, though, was different. 

“Lay down, please.” The tech instructed.  “The programmer is coming in. “

Dev took a deep breath and swiveled her body, putting her feet up on the gentle slope and her head down under the sensor grid.    She watched as it slowly descended, the nodes settling over her head in familiar spots.

She felt the faint twitch as they synched and she took a breath and released it, forcing her hands to relax on the soft surface as the tech came over and adjusted the couch a little.

He had a digital pad on his arm. “Biological Alternative, set 0202-164812, instance NM-Dev-1?”

“Yes.” Dev agreed. “That’s me.”

The tech nodded. “Okay, just relax for me please. I’m going to test the grid. It might tickle.”

Dev closed her eyes, and immediately felt the faint twitchy/tickling sensation as the grid came live, sending testing pulses through her head.  A flare of colored light behind her eyes, the scent of fruit, the sound of a gong, all without anything audible or truly visible.  “Blue, apple, bell.” She said, after they’d died down.

“Excellent.” The tech patted her arm.  Then he wrapped a sensor around her wrist, and gently tapped the center of her forehead. “Go down for me please.  Let the system take over. Let go.”

And having no choice, Dev did.  She felt a weight lift off her chest, and she focused on the soft echoes of the gong still chiming in her mind, the chimes now coming in the pattern of her heartbeat.

Deeper. Slower.

She was down.

The tech consulted a reading, watching the face under the grid of sensors relax and go still, the slim and toned body easing into compliance, hands uncurling, fingers easing out.

He adjusted a few settings., half turning as the door opened behind him. “She’s down.”

The programmer settled behind the console. “Thanks.” He said, with a sigh. “Damned last minute admin crap.”  He settled his hands on the controls and reviewed the display, eyes flicking back and forth in absorbtion.  “Wow.” He said, after a minute. “Didin’t expect to see this.”

The tech trotted around and looked over his shoulder. “That’s military.” He said, flatly. “I’ve seen stuff like that in the pilot set.”

The programmer nodded. “Yeah, this one’s being sent to Interforce.” He perked up. “Hey, maybe they’re finally figuring out just how useful these guys are to  them.  Could be a big new contract.”

“But on her model?”  The tech pointed. “Gonna cute them to death?”

“Tech.”  The programmer started to work, setting parameters.  “All tech side.  This is a lot though. Hope that thing can handle it.”  He picked up a sensor helmet and put it on, adjusting the leads with expert hands.  “Okay, stand by.”

The tech went to the monitoring station and settled in, adjusting the monitors to watch the steady biological readouts.  “She’s good.”

The programmer glanced briefly at the couch, then went back to his screens, eyes going to deep focus as he put his fingers over the digital sensors and exhaled. 

The room faded out. He activated his helmet display and it flickered to life, a spiderweb of lightning shot tracers forming in his mind’s eye, a digital recreation of the mind under the grid.  From long experience, he navigated through the pulses, knowing where he was by patiently taught instinct as he found the familiar areas of thought and reason.

It was good when they were young like this one. There was plenty of storage for him to set his code into, the pulses were gentle and regular and less of a chance of him screwing something up.

It happened.

He found the spot he wanted, and settled down, calling up the programming codes and feeding them in as that oldest of languages, electrical binary. 

Yes or no.  On or off.  Building blocks of data that would slowly be made more complex but started out in a very basic way, changing thoughts and patterns.  Changing what would be perceived as instinct to a different bias.

As basic as changing whether one flew, or fought,  if that was needed.

This one, he noted, didn’t need that change at least.

He would give her the data and tech first, he decided.  Build up that knowledge base and confidence and then, then just before they were ready to send her out, he’d give her that last set.

The brutal truth set.

**

“Are you out of your cotton picking mind?”   Stephan Bock stared at the commandant seated in the big chair at the head of the table.  “John? Are you nuts?”

Bricker let his hands rest on the table, folded together.  “You never really lost that archaic language, did you?” He mused. “Nuts. Cotton.”  He flexed his fingers. “I guess hydroponic pod and tartex don’t have the same ring.”

“John.”

The commandant leaned back and studied his old friend.  “Stephan,  the options here are very limited. We have a problem.”

“Yes, we have a problem, but solving a problem with pointless insanity ‘s never been your game play.”  Bock said.  “A bio alt?  Why don’t you just suggest we put a lab rat in as a field partner.  It’s be cuter, and probably have a better chance at making an independent decision.”

“You told me you have a trust problem.” Bricker said, in a calm voice. “You told me you not only have a senior op refusing to accept a new tech,  you have an entire ops group having issues with emplacements since they don’t trust the people with them.”

“Yes, but..”

“Yes, but nothing. “ The commandant stood up. “You know how it is with us, Stephan.   How small the pool of ops agents is.  What do we have, a thousand, tops?  In the whole territory?”

“Nine hundred ninety seven.”  Bock stated quietly.  “That gene combo doesn’t come up much.”

“Exactly. So – they need to be teamed with a different skill set, and the only place that comes from is outside.”  Bricker said.  “We take what applicants we have, and we vet them hard.”

“Not hard enough.” Bocks voice was bitter.  “We got lucky nature slaughtered nurture that time. “

The commandant sighed.  “So my point is, we have to take what we can get.  You can’t force someone into the corps.  Much as everyone believes otherwise.”

Bock grunted.   “Pool’s getting shallower.” He admitted. “Not enough diversity.”

“So there it is.” Bricker stood up and paced. “We have a gene pool that’s pathetically restricted, and no resources to support unrestricted breeding – we might even be past the point of no return anyway. We agreed?”

Bock grunted again.

“So.” Bricker turned and leaned his knuckles on the table. “We can’t afford to lose the gene sets we do have, Stephen. They have to be able to trust the people at their back, if we want to continue this long, painful fight of ours.”

“But bio alts?”  Stephan said. “John, they’re just big collections of cell structures with basic instructions added.  How can you seriously think one of them can even be able to do the most mundane tech tasks in the field?”

“The pilots fly.”

Bock waved that off with an impatient hand. “Sure.” He said. “They fly, they get from point A to point B, they can land and take care of their machines… but if they run into a drone high up in the gray, they freeze. You know it. We’ve lost a dozen.”

“Training’s too basic.”

“Their brains are plastic bags full of pixie dust.” 

“Stephen.”

“John, they are.  Just because I’m ops, doesn’t mean I havent’ done the research. I took the classes, remember? So I could direct them?”  He stood up now and did his own pacing.  “Look, I’m not saying bio alts aren’t useful. They are. I don’t know what we’d do without them, since they take care of pretty much everything in this place except for operational activities. But they just take instructions, and carry out the basics. They don’t think for themselves.”

“Well.”  Bricker sighed and sat down. “I want to try and see if we can make one think.”

“John.”

“Your ops agent, the one that wont’ take a partner?  What happens to them if they can’t be convinced?”

Bock dropped into his seat with a grunt. 

“Worth a try?”

“Jess won’t agree to this.”  Bock said.  “She has no use for bio alts.”

“We have no use for lone ops agents who refuse orders.”

Stephen frowned. “John, that’s harsh.”

“Life is harsh, Stephen. In case you hadn’t noticed.”  Bricker retorted, dryly.  “We’re the fine, thin edge trying to prevent complete collapse of our remaining society and frankly, I don’t have time for rebels. So either your prima donna decides to help us with this project, or they can go and spend their days harvesting seaweed. “

“What if I don’t want to help you. You sending me to rake the beds too?”  Bock countered.  “What if I think trying to send a bio alt out with Jess is the same thing as putting her up in front of a lead cannon.”

Bricker studied him.  “Put your jackassery away for a minute and think about one thing. What if it works?”

“It won’t.”

“What if it does?” Bricker insisted.  “What if we prove we can have bio alts made that can fill those roles, Stephen?  If we take them to another level?  If we don’t have to rely on the recruiters?  What if this crazy idea turns out to mean we survive?”

Bock was silent for a few minutes. “You’re serious.”

“I am.” The director agreed quietly. “Look this first trial – I know it won’t probably work. We took an existing model and threw some heavy tech into it. But I want to see the potential, if we can have one made to order, to our spec, you understand?”

Bock grunted.

“If this one even gets a few baby steps, we can see what the long term could be for us. “ 

“And if it doesn’t?”

Bricker shrugged. “Then it’s just a failed experiment, we send it back and get it wiped, and we look elsewhere. But at least it gives you something to toss at this ops agent of yours. Maybe it’ll be a challenge.”

Stephen sighed.  Then he lifted a hand and let it fall. “What the hell. Sure.”   He said. “Worst can happen is it wont’ work.  I don’t think we can put Jess in the field right now anyway.  Psych says she’s not fit for it.”

Bricker nodded. “That’s the spirit.” He said.  “Did a good clean up job in all that mess I hear.”

Bock nodded. “Took out a whole cell. Killed two dozen including the infiltrator and ID’d the locale for the strike team.  Made a very big hole in the ground.”

“Hm.”  Bricker grunted. “Impressive.” He said. “I can see why you want to keep the op around.”

“I do. I really do.”

**

Jess felt the steady patter of rain against her skin as she stood out in the sentryway, leaning her elbows on the armored rail and looking out.

The sky, as always, was dark gray, filled with layered clouds and allowing only the filtered, muted light to reach the surface that spread out ahead of her.

Gray, and gray, and dark greens, and ochres.   The cold wind blew against her face, bringing the smell of brine and damp rock to her nose and she exhaled, absorbing the surroundings of home.

The citadel she called home was built into a granite cliff, protected by the hard, basement rock that surrounded it.  At the base of the cliff on one side was the endless span of the sea, it’s surge flowing through cut tunnels that generated power, and into caverns where they harvested what the tide brought them.

On the other side, rocky ground interspersed with gravel, and the odd patch of lichen spread as far as the eye could see.

There were no trees, and no plants, though once there had been.  There were no people.  It had been generations since homes and buildings had been seen anywhere and now you had to look hard to even discern the faint outlines of what had been roads.

It was bleak. But it had been this bleak for her whole life, and rather than find it depressing Jess instead always felt a sense of peace looking out over this vastness of solitude.

Once upon  a time, she reflected, this had been a place of life and plenty.  Back in the day when everyone had argued over the impact of humanity on the planet, and how they could somehow fix the effect they were having on it.

Back in the day, when there had been lifestyles, and money, and religion to argue over.  Back when they’d thought humanity ruled the world and it was humanity’s decisions that would chart the course of the future.

Everyone had thought a disaster would come someday.  Almost no one had predicted that when it did, humanity had no part in it, and no control over the results.

One after another, six big volcanos had erupted, along a crack in the planet’s crust.  It was simply a matter of physics after that – debris in the air that turned into clouds, that blocked the sun, and in turn spawned more clouds,  and acid rain they couldn’t escape, or block, or do anything about.

Horrifically, frighteningly fast, how a food chain can collapse.  Plants, and forests, and animals and cultures, and civilization vanished in the blink of a planetary eye, reducing a fertile world to an almost barren bleakness.

Almost.

The ten percent of humanity that had survived had done so because the one great strength of their race was the ability to adapt, and adapt, and adapt again, finding new ways to live, new resources to exploit, and new patterns to fall into.

And so they had survived, and learned to live again in a hard world where needs were boiled down to stark essentials.

But they were still human, and conflict was so written into the species that even when so few were left, still, there were sides to be taken.   Now, the conflict wasn’t over ideology or trade, it was over raw resources in a world where access to them meant life or death.

Was there a mind on the other side that had data they needed? They’d go take them.  An invention they could exploit?  Jess or someone like her would be assigned to find a way to locate and retrieve it.  Was there someone who, though not useful to them, would give the other side an advantage?

Jess had killed her share of them. There was no sentiment. No compassion.  Survival was as raw a master as humanity had ever known.  

There could be no open warfare. There wasn’t enough of them for that. They just fought step by step, in close rooms, or dark tunnels,  infiltrating labs, and invading systems.  Their lives depended on the sea, and on the hydroponic stations high above, circling the world.

Jess licked a bit of the rain off her lips.   It had stopped being deadly to them generations back, as their biology adapted to the new conditions and to her it tasted sweet.  It dampened her hair, and the workout suit she was wearing, cooling her body down from the session she’d just completed.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and she took heed of the warning, ducking back inside the armored door and keying it shut behind her. It closed with a compressed thump, and she walked along the corridor towards the enviro center. 

She passed the occasional steadily moving figure in the hall, giving the brief nod of acknowledgement the contact required.  Just past the major corridor that held the dining hall and rec area, she turned into one of many half rounded doorways.

It opened as her presence registered and closed behind her as she entered, the light inside altering from neutral to a soft twilight that outlined her as she stripped off her workout suit and set it on the cleaning shelf.

Naked, she moved into the rad room and it switched on, bathing her in a deep ultraviolet glow.  She sprawled on a transparent chair, letting the artificial sunlight cover her skin as she touched the work pad on the arm of the chair, and called up the ops report.

The one thing they hadn’t evolved out of, that need for the touch of the sun they no longer saw.  Jess rested her elbow on the chair and propped her chin up with it, relaxing in the glow as she caught up on the events of the day.

Her dream of two days past was finally fading.  She’d spent a good, restful night last night, and was almost to where she was starting to feel almost normal again.  The details of the failed raid were fading, along with the scar on her back from the knife.

The trust hadn’t returned though, and Jess had been silently gratified when the other senior ops had gone to the top and registered big concerns of their own as to how far they themselves could trust the tech partners they’d been given.

She knew Stephen thought she’d egged them on, and she would have, if they hadn’t come up with it on their own. If it happened to her, they reasoned, it could happen to any of them.

And that was true.  The techs were all very uncomfortable, sitting together in the dining hall as the ops in residence gathered at their own, and getting faintly concerned and maybe a little suspicious looks from the rest of the citadel staff.

Not fair.  Jess readily conceded. Joshua had been the first turned in as far back as anyone knew, and there was no real reason to suspect any of the other techs but they were suspected anyway.

Tough luck for them.  Tougher luck for Stephen, who was now having to deal with far more than just her problem.

It was time for him, and for his boss to put the thumb down on the council, since it was their process that screwed up. Someone should pay for it.

But even as she thought it, Jess knew in her guts the finger pointing would eventually deflect fault to the four winds likely right back to them, and their group, and her.

Humanity hadn’t changed all THAT much.

A soft knock sounded at the door, an anachronistic touch that almost made her smile. “Come.”  She called out, hearing the soft click as the vocal systems analyzed her response and acted on it.

The outer door opened and she saw a shadowy form enter, crossing in front of the dim light long enough for her to recognized Stephen’s tall, solid, bulk.  “In here.”

He crossed into the sun chamber and sat down on the bench. He was dressed in a workout suit much as she’d been, and his hair was plastered to his head with sweat. “You up for dinner?”

Hm. “Sure.” Jess agreed, wondering what the pitch was going to be. “What’s up?”

“I’ve just had a crap filled day ad I’d like to sit across a plastic table from a good looking woman and talk about trigger ratios and forget it was a crap filled day.” He answered, with surprising bluntness.
“That’s all.”

Jess looked up from her pad, watching him. He was sprawled on the bench and she read honest exhaustion in his body set.  She knew Bricker had been with him most of the morning, and she knew she was probably one of the subjects of the meeting, but she read no dissembling in his face and that surprised her.

Stephan was a friend. But first and foremost, he was her superior and even though they’d grown up together, been schooled together, and been in service together for years she had no illusion of where his loyalties lay.

Ah. There were those trust issues again.  She smiled briefly.  “Sounds good.” She replied. “I’ve got backed up rations, want to share a liter of grog?”

His face creased into a responding smile.  “You’re starting to sound like your old self.”

Jess considered that.  “Im’ not sure that old self still lives in here.” She answered. “But I got a decent night sleep last night so who knows.”

He nodded. “Know how that feels.”  He indicated the light. “Mind if I share your glow? Mine’s being serviced.”

“Feel  free.”  Jess went back to her pad as he stripped out of his suit and went to the transparent lounge, dropping down onto it and stretching out.    The floor and walls were reflective, so every inch of them got some of it and though a necessity, she had always found it oddly relaxing.

She and Stephen were relatively alike in looks. They were both tall, and they both had spare, well muscled bodies with well developed arms and shoulders and powerful legs.  The same training had stamped them, and though the biological differences were still obvious they didn’t obscure the fact that here were two people who had come out of the same mold.

Might even have been sibs, once up on a time.

Jess wondered how long it would take for him to corner her into whatever it was Bricker wanted.

She’d already decided to refuse.   What would the threat be?  What would the price be?

Did she really even care?

**

Dev woke to the soft chime of her scheduler, opening her eyes to find the soft neutral colored interior of her sleeping pod surrounding her.     The sedate glow that accompanied the chime intensified a little and she stretched, waiting expectantly until the latch triggered and the pod opened.

She sat up and swung her legs over the side, leaning her hands on the edge and peering out to see the normal, placid activity of the early dayshift in the crèche.    

All around there were people emerging from sleep pods, some entering them as well who had worked the night through,  groups of her crèche mates briefly chatting nearby.   Overhead the walls curved to meet a dome, and beams of sunlight arched through to hit solar panels, moving from one to the other in a stately dance as the station that held the crèche rotated.

To either side of her, a line of sleeping pods extended around the curved wall, layered one over the other on sliding tracks that positioned the units for exit at the right time and place.  Once a pod was evacuated, it slid up and out of the way, allowing the next one to use the landing space.

And speaking of that, her own pod was gently beeping, warning her of imminent motion.

She stood up on the platform outside, and moved away from the pod, hearing it close behind her as she walked down the sloping ramp and joined a line of bodies heading into the bathing and changing center., all in light sleepsuits, all with bare feet, all with faintly lit collars around their necks.

Like hers.  Dev never thought much about it, since she couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t worn one.  It was light and fitted very well to her skin, never chafing or causing her any trouble and with the delicate tracery of the electronics on it, she actually found them rather attractive.

Or at least, that’s what she told herself.

“Morning , Dev.”  Aybe 285 was in front of her, flexing his hands and stifling a yawn.  There were five or six of his set in front of him, and behind her were some Ceebees, and she spotted Gigi and another of her set as well.

“Morning.” Dev responded. She could hear the soft hum of conversation around her, and behind the edge of the crèche she spotted a splash of the sun coursing through the station walls and it brought to mind the fact that she was due in the lab right after she broke the night’s fast.

She had new skills. She could feel them, a tickly sensation in the back of her skull that almost made her want to scratch her head there as she wondered what the scope of the new knowledge was. 

It was tech, that she knew, and a lot of it. She’d spent an evening and the following day in programming, and she’d seen the rings of dark fatigue under the eyes of the programmer when they’d finally let her come up, in a hazy mixture of adrenaline and euphoria that had her breathing hard and shaking.

A little dizzy, and ravenous.  One of the meds had walked her to the dining hall and sat with her as she’d consumed her tray, her head finally clearing by the time she drained her second cup of cinnamon tea as her body adjusted back to something close to normal.

The med had gotten her a second sandwich, giving her a pat on the shoulder before he left her there to finish up.  It wasn’t unusual, he’d told her, but she’d never taken that much programming at one time, and she had to admit it had unsettled her.

She was next in line, and went to an open cleaning station, stepping inside and ducking her head a little as the air blasted away the set of paper clothing she’d been wearing to sleep in, the warm pressure feeling good against her skin.

A quick flash of irradiated light cleaned her, and then she was stepping out, turning to the right and going to the line of cabinets that ringed the outer wall.   Twenty third in the row to the right of the door, on lower level A, was hers.

She opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for it to close after her.  The inside light came on and the sound around her faded and she was in the only piece of privacy she’d ever known, given to her when she’d graduated from basic instruction.

Her crib, as they called it.  Barely big enough for her to stretch her arms out twice, it held a cabinet, a padded bench and a counter,  her workspace and the narrow, shallow drawer she kept her few personal possessions in.

Not everyone got one.  Only those destined for higher skill programs were issued one of the limited cribs and it was a definite mark of status in the crèche along with the ability that went with it to manage the small amount of unregulated time in their day.

She could come here, and study, or watch a lecture from the library or just sit and think for a few minutes by herself.  It was nice to have a place of quiet and peace in the crowded crèche, and the padded bench was even long enough for her to lay down and relax if she wanted to though she seldom did.

 Dev went over to the closet and opened it, sliding into an undertunic, then pulling on a snug jumpsuit over that.   The fabric was soft, and a soft blue green in color,  the gears patches on either shoulder indicating her assignment to tech and a change for her from the neutral beige of the unassigned.

It felt good.  She liked the color.  It contrasted with her pale hair much better than the other ones had and it made her feel happy to be getting new skills and the opportunity to be a part of something that the director had told her was so important.

 She was still a little apprehensive about the programs, but so far nothing felt strange or out of sorts – she’d had some bad programs that had left her sick to her stomach and once had come up with such a headache they’d had to put her back down again and adjust something.

This was nothing like that.  She remembered a brief dream in her sleep last night which she sometimes would have after a long session, but it had been nothing more than a few images, a gray space, a cliff,  a face, and the smell of brine but they were new and different and she found them intriguing because they weren’t skills.

They were something that was intended to get her ready, programs that would let her know what to do when she got to wherever they were sending her and give her enough information for her to know the proper way to respond and interact with the people she’d meet there.

It wasn’t knowledge, precisely, it wasn’t facts she could call up and examine. This was deep stuff.

She picked up her ident badge and clipped it to her front pocket then she went to the small mirror and picked up her comb, raking her thick, short hair into some kind of order.  She peered at her reflection,  nodding a little at it as she put the comb back down.

She checked the chrono over the door, then she pulled back the simple chair in front of the equally spare desk and sat down to review her notes before the time she was due in the dining hall.  After a minute, though, she pushed the monitor pad on it’s arm aside and opened the drawer to her right hand, removing a tattered square object and setting in on the desktop.

With a faint smile, she opened the cover of the book and read the first page, as she had so many times before, savoring the images the words brought to her and in the simple luxury of reading – a skill not always programmed in her crèche mates.

A teacher had given it to her when she’d left basic, on the day her birth group had sat in the speaking hall for the last time, before they were sent through processing and given their programming track when they’d learned what level they were being sent to.

It was an old favorite of his, he’d told her, the book given to him by his grandfather, and passed down through his family.  Dev wasn’t sure why he’d given it to her, aside from him saying he thought she would enjoy it, but she was very happy she had it and she often took minutes like this to read a few pages of it.

It was a long story, full of fantastic creatures and places.  

She spent a quarter hour immersed in the book, then she closed it and put it away, getting up and heading for the door.   The lights dimmed as she left, trading the quiet dimness for the bright lit common space of the crèche and all of it’s inhabitants.

“Hello, Dev.” Gigi had appeared from her own crib, several down to the left of Dev’s.  “How are you? I missed seeing you at daymeal yesterday.”

“Very well.” Dev matched strides with her.  “I was down.” She said, briefly.  “I made it up for late serving.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Gigi nodded. “Was it a good program set?”

“I think so. I haven’t worked with it yet.” Dev joined the line in the dining hall, walking along the line and accepting the tray that was handed to her. “Thank you.” She addressed the server, a tall, quiet man with black curly hair and pretty hazel eyes.

He was an Eren, she thought.  Eren or a Erem, one of the more common sets with lots of members.  They were nice, and they liked music, she recalled.  They got programmed for a lot of different admin things but of course took their turn in the service line just as she did sometimes though Dev usually ended up back in the prep area rather than the front.

She pushed her tray down the line as Gigi picked up hers, and they both walked across the huge room and took a seat at one of the blue tables on the left hand side.

“What are these?”  Gigi poked one of two round white objects on her tray.

“Eggs.”  Dev answered knowledgably.  “You cut them open. They’re good.  I guess they finished some experiment on them or something. I had them once.  I like them.”

Gigi cut one in half and examined it. “Oh. It’s pretty.” She displayed the inside, which had a perflectly round yellow ball inside the white outer part.

Dev put a little jam from the tiny paper cup on the tray onto her wafer and bit into it, adding a slice of her own egg on top for the next chew.  

“So, you’re going downside, right?” Gigi looked over at her. “I heard the director say that.”

Dev nodded. “I think so.” She said, taking a sip of tea to wash down her wafer.  “I wonder what it will be like.”

One of the tall, lanky Befes slid down the bench towards her. He was also dressed in a tech jumpsuit and he gave her a small grin. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Dev smiled back.

“Befe 512.” The newcomer introduced himself.  “I think we’re going to the same place.”   He said. “My subset’s going to be mechanics at Interforce.” He offered a hand in greeting.

Dev took it and returned the clasp. “That’s good.” She said. “it’s good to know people if you’er going to a different place.  My name’s Dev.” She turned and indicated Gigi. “And this is Gigi.  She’s admin for the director.”

“Hi.”  Befe offered a hand. “Nice to meet you.”  He turned back to Dev. “My set mate heard you were going to be a real tech for them  Not just fixing things like we do.  In ops. “

Dev blinked at him. “He did?”

“Wow.” Gigi looked at her. “That’s big.  We don’t do that.”

Dev tried to recall everything the director had said to her. A special job, wasn’t that what he’d said?  Something to help them with a problem?  She was sure he hadn’t said anything about her being an ops tech.   “Gigi’s right. We don’t do that.”  She objected.   “They won’t let us do that.  It’s too hard to program. “ She added. “I don’t think it can be that. Maybe something with the admin systems.”

 

 

Befe shrugged. “That’s what he heard. In any case, I’m glad you’’re going with us. It’s good to know people.” He slid back down the bench to where some of his setmates were sitting, along with three or four others in blue green jumpsuits.

Gigi made a face. “That sounded strange.” She said. “I don’t think people are supposed to be talking about this.”

Dev finished her egg and wafer, and drank her tea. “You know how things get around.” She said, putting the cup down.  “Do you remember that story about Proctor Joan and the head chef?”

Gigi chuckled, covering her mouth hastily with her hand.   “Bananas!” She whispered.

Dev laughed.  “Exactly.” She got up and picked up her tray. “I’m off to the lab.  See you at daymeal.”  She put the tray in the disposal and walked quickly out of the dining hall, joining the flood of bodies moving along the walkway.

The sun speared through the station walls, and Dev walked through slices of filtered light, lifting her hand a little to intercept a bit of it and watching as it gilded her skin.  It made her smile, and she kept smiling as she turned down the hallway and entered the big cross tunnel that led to the techlab.

The walls slanted into the entrance, which had a bio reader and a screen.  Dev stepped up to it, and waited for the soft glow to appear overhead.  She felt that little tickle on her skin, then the screen lit up.

“Ident.” It said, briefly.

“NM-Dev-1” Dev answered.

The door slid open, and she continued inside, moving directly across the big entrance to the processing desk that squatted directly in the center.   She went to the processing agent and unclipped her badge, handing it to him and waiting as he keyed it in.

He studied the screen, then handed her badge back. “Lab 26, first corridor, third door, eight hours. Reset when done.”

“Thank you.” Dev clipped her badge back on and then circled the desk and headed for the lab.   She didn’t pass anyone on the way there, the halls were quieter than usual, and most of the labs were dark and empty, their doors gaping open into the hall.

Lab 26 illuminated as she entered, and the door closed behind her.   Dev paused and looked around, seeing floor to ceiling gray consoles packed into every square inch of the room, leaving only a half octagon desk with a chair behind it.

It smelled just faintly of silicon.  She circled the lab first, examining the consoles, but found nothing on them to indicate their purpose which was intimidating in and of itself.  Usually tech rigs had plates and decals, but these were blank and somehow seemed a little scary to her.

Maybe it was the flat gray color.  

With a sigh, Dev went to the console and sat down in the chair, feeling the surface of it warm to her body, and conform to her figure a little. She adjusted it to her height, then she put her hands down on the tablet surface and heard the almost soundless click and hum of electronics starting up.

A panel slid aside, revealing a headset.  Dev took it out and put it on, smelling the newness of the plastic and steel as the contacts settled over her head and she felt the ear piece snuggle into her ear.  For another moment here was silence, then the boards all lit up.

She jerked, a little, surprised at all the activity.  The half octagon suddenly came alive with sensors and readout panels, the banks lining the walls showed a thousand or more systems and she waited, just letting her eyes roam, for the programming to kick in.

It took a little while, sometimes.  The instruction sets were all in there, but it was sometimes like having a book and it being just out of focus.  You knew the words were there, but you couldn’t quite see them until you brought them closer or a little further and your mind pulled them into clarity.

Until then, it was just a blast of lights and gauges. She looked ahead of her, feeling the slightly crawling sensation on the back of her neck just before the flickering kaleidoscope abruptly shifted and took on meaning as a blast of comprehension overcame her.

A machine voice started whispering into her ear as she found herself short of breath, her body jerking a little as she tried to sync with the program, let it take over and show her what she needed to know.

She knew what the gauges were now, what that screen was, and this screen was, and why that set of readouts was so important.

A wash of tingling dismay made her lean forward, as she took in the  whole of it, and understood what the assignment was they had given her.  She sucked in a breath hard, feeling her heart beating like thunder as the lights dimmed and went to blue and a scenario started.

The consoles shifted and the two nearest to her changed to show controls her hands jerked back from as the voice whispered about metrics, and targets and the three dimensional spatial understanding  that now flooded up into her conscious mind.

She felt like throwing up.  This was wrong. This was dark, and cold and implacable.

But the program had her good and no matter how much she tried to pull her mind back from it the insidious comprehension pushed aside her doubts,  spurring her body to obey the  insistently whispered instructions as her hands moved, and her breathing slowly steadied and she lost herself to the rush of it.

Just lost her grip.   Like the knowledge was water, flowing fast as it had in the old story she read, carrying her along to a destination of it’s own choosing.

There was no fighting it.  The seduction of the knowledge pulled her forward after her brief struggle, as she could sense the opening up of corridor after corridor of new skills she knew were waiting for her. 

As good as a narcotic to one of her kind.   The one thing they all craved at least those who comprehended that much.   To be given the skills that took the beyond a superficial mediocrity.   This was that kind of program, she now understood.

It was tech. Deep tech.  Really knowing things that mattered.   Knowing people that mattered.  Being a part of something truly important with the opportunity to do more than she’d ever dreamed of.

Did it really matter if it was dark?  If she sensed it was going to be scary?

The whispered voice wound around her and took hold, and she felt her heartbeat settle as her body translated the understanding to a sensual level, as a trigger inside her released a jolt of pleasure into her awareness.

It felt good.  The more she relaxed, and thought about the skills, the better it felt.  The fear faded, and the sense of nausea with it, replaced instead with a tingling in her guts and a feeling of anticipation.

She drew in a breath and refocused her eyes on the screens, now nodding just a little as the voice started reporting what she was seeing, and her reflexes woke up, responding to the prompts as the scenario progressed.

She was sure it would turn out all right.

**

Part 2

Stephen waited until they were halfway through dinner, with a half a liter down before he told her.   Public space, he figured, with all the rest of ops around them would keep her from at least punching him in the face. “So that’s the deal.”

Jess leaned back and twirled the glass in her fingertips, watching him with an expressionless face.  “Let me make sure I understand.” She said. “Some idiot decided it was a good idea to try making a bio alt into a tech ops agent?”  She had kept her voice down. “Really?”

“Really.” Stephan said, encouraged by the calm response. “Frankly, Jess, I told him I thought it was crazy.”

“I see.”

“It’s become really political.” Stephan said. “The rest of the ops group lodging protests like that…  so it got them embarrassed. You know how dangerous that is.’

Jess studied the liquid in the glass. “Despite what you think, I didn’t kickstart that.”  She said. “Everyone’s just watching me and saying that could be them.” She looked up at him. “So their answer is to come up with the equivalent of me walking in front of a laser cannon? Cause that’s what it is. Never mind not trusting my back – the poor stupid critter will probably shoot me in it accidentally.”

Stephen frowned. “Jess, they said they were programming it to be able to do this.”

Jess rolled her eyes.

“Look, what do you want me to tell you? Tell them?”

“That they’re liars.”  Jess said. “Because they are. They’re just looking to save face.  Put that thing in here, we both get offed, everyone turns around and says, well, I guess the council knew better all the time, and should go on picking they way they always have. But look! We listed to them. We tried!” Her voice dripped with raspy sarcasm.  “Rest of the group’s just relieved it wasn’t them.”

Stephen exhaled, an unhappy expression on his face.   He’d known Jess for all the years of his life, had sat across a table from that tall, rangy form with it’s dark hair, and those light blue eyes many times, had fought many fights with her, and of all the agents in the group he trusted her the most.

Not because Jess was nice.  She wasn’t.  But she was honest and her focus was true and it killed him that it was her that Joshua had knifed because there were others who deserved it more. “It’s a political thing.” He repeated. “Not really a whole lot of choice in it, Jess.”

“What does that mean?”

They were both keeping their voices down, ostensibly just enjoying dinner together, in the uncrowded ops dining hall on level 3.   There were six other people in the place, three pairs of two at the small tables and everyone else was making a show of pretending to ignore them.

“What does that mean, Stephan?” Jess repeated, slightly louder. “You know I’m not going to agree to this.”

He leaned forward. “Not sure you have a choice.”

Jess’s face went very still.

“Look.” He glanced around. “I told you this is political.  Bricker has a lot on the line. He has debts to pay to the council. So it’s either we cooperate, or..”

“Or?” Jess repeated.

“Or he said there’s no place in the organization for people who didn’t.”

Jess’s expression got even more still. ‘So, let me see.” She said. “Either I agree to walk into fire, or I get booted out into the streets, since I don’t have enough years in to retire. Is that right?”

He couldn’t even look at her. “It’s political.” He muttered. “This whole thing got bigger than us.”

“Are those my choices, Stephen?”

He finally looked up. “That’s what Bricker said.  Either you cooperate with the plan, or you’re out.” He said. “But Jess, listen, give it a chance, for Pete’s sake.  You don’t know, maybe it’ll work.”

“It wont’ work.” Jess said, in a remote tone. “I’m not going to go out on a failure that also kills some poor beast that has no choice in the matter.  Tell Bricker he can take his political ass and trash compact himself.”

“Jess, think about what you’re doing. “ Stephen urged her, keeping his voice low.

Jess put her glass down. “Screw yourself..” S he said, standing abruptly. “Process my outpapers.  I’ll go pack. Not that I‘ve got a lot to.”  She tossed a chit down on the tray and turned, heading for the door to the hall.

Stephan was far too stunned to react until it was too late and she was gone. He stood up and started after her, aware of all the eyes on his back as he got to the door and went through it, looking quickly right and left.

The hallway beyond was empty however, only two cleaning staff were carefully vacuuming along the wall, their gray coveralls almost blending into it.   Of Jess there was no sign, and he debated whether he should go ot her quarters.

Go and try to talk her down? Stephen frowned.  He started towards the bunkhouse but his comm unit chirped and he stopped as the soft bing and central comms voice sounded in his ear.  “Commander Bock, to central ops, priority.”

He paused, then reluctantly headed down a slightly different corridor, a sinking sensation already in his stomach.

**

Jess kept her pace relaxed until she’d entered her living space, waiting until the door slid shut behind her before she let herself react, spinning her body and slamming her fist into the wall with enough force to dent it.

Then she dropped into one of the chairs and stared at the ceiling, her eyes staring at the Interforce shield above the workspace.  “Mother fucking bastards.”

Her voice sounded loud in the room.  There was no echo. The fabric on the walls absorbed everything, even the crack of her fist against the surface underneath.   

Her stomach was in turmoil.  The meal she’d just eaten was lodged somewhere up near her breastbone, and suspected it wouldn’t be long before she ejected it.  ‘Damn them.” She whispered. “Spend your whole life giving it all to them and what does it mean? Jack nothing.”

Jack nothing.  Jess rested her head against her hand.  Two hundred emplacements, countless liters of blood shed, more successful missions than any other agent and on top of it, this last damn cluster and what?

Nothing.  “What have you done for me lately? Wasn’t that the old saying?”  Jess felt the anger draining out of her, leaving her mostly just depressed.  “Come cover our asses or get lost. Yeah well…” She glanced around. “Guess I’ll go get lost.”

Literally, she would get nothing.  Her last pay transfer, any supply chits she had on record, and a ride out to the nearest shelter.  They wouldn’t even give her a transfer home.

Not that home had any meaning for her, anymore.  Jess half closed her eyes. She’d been submitted to the corps when she’d been old enough to walk, and entered for school and training.  The cost was covered by the agency, and she was guaranteed a job for life, as long as that life lasted, given what they did.

She’d been back home maybe a half dozen times in all, strange, awkward visits with her mother and two brothers,  the one hardly knowing what to say to her and the two boys resentful they didn’t get to go where she had.

Her father, of course, had died in service, the same service she’d given her all to, all her life because that’s what Drakes did.  Ten generations. She was the eleventh.  To now find out just what that was worth – it hurt.

Maybe she’d just tear into central command and go after Bricker.  They’d gun her down, and at least she wouldn’t have to suffer living in a crate, and scraping seaweed from the rocks downstairs.  Be a fast exit, wouldn’t it?

She was glad Dad wasn’t around to see it.   Even more glad he hadn’t been around to see Joshua’s defection. Close as he’d been to his tech partner, he’d have lost his mind with it.

With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and went over to her workspace. She sat down in the big, comfortable chair and keyed in the pad.   Would Stephan have already processed her?   She waited for a lockout, but the pad logged in and gave her access with no complaints.

She keyed in her own profile and watched it form on the pad, sliding at her command to the section where her service status was and pausing.  She reached over to tag herself inactive, when a soft chime indicated some incoming event.

Maybe Stephan was just a step behind her.  She keyed over to the input and opened it, finding instead an info packet there. 

“That makes no sense.” Irritated, she was about to flip back and effectively kill herself in the system when she caught the sending entity and paused, realizing it was from the district assignments group.   Reluctantly, she keyed it and watched it open, reading the first few words before she realized this had to be part of the insanity Stephan had told her about.

“Screw that.” She closed the file and went back to the status, resetting the field to voluntary dismissal, and applying it before she could talk herself out of it and into a compromising honor suck.  “Done.”

The screen went blank immediately, and she heard a soft whir and clack from upstairs as the weapons locker sealed itself.  A glance to the door showed a red light next to it as well, and she got up, feeling an irrational sense of loss hit her unexpectedly.

Even though she’d made the choice.  Even though she thought it was the right choice, and that it would at the very least save the bio alt they’d picked a gory, terrifying sacrifice.  Knowing she was now no longer a part of this place, of these people, of this world she’d been given to was hard to accept.

Hard to fathom. But she could hear the echo of the weapons lock in her mind and she knew if she tried to go outside she’d be met with an armed guard, denied access to anything except the lockdown if she persisted.

She could stay here, until they processed her.  Then she’d be taken to the service exit and the door would shut behind her, and she would never enter it again.

Done.  Over.   She doubted any of the others would even come to say goodbye.  You didn’t, when someone walked out.  She certainly had never, though she’d seen a half dozen agents do it, some she’d considered friends.

Quitters.  She remembered feeling embarrassed about them, unable to understand why they would just walk out.

Well now she knew.

Jess walked over to the bed and lay down on it, half curling up in a ball and wrapping her arms around the pillow.  She felt an odd sensation in her throat, and a tense pain around her heart, and she closed her eyes tightly, focusing on letting it all go past her.

**

Stephan entered central comms just as the big screen was fizzling to gray. He walked over to where Bricker was leaning against the main console and looked at him in question.

“Took you long enough.” Bricker said, in a crisp tone.

“I was in the dining hall.” 

Bricker turned and put his hands on his hips. “Danao just transmitted a burst report.  They got word through some scientist who just transferred up to Garden Station there’s been a breakthrough.”

“Yes?” Bock tried to focus on it, his mind distracted by recent events.

“Light amplification screen. They got photosynthesis working on a twelve by twelve meter platform.”  Bricker informed him. “We need that tech.  Council’s told me to get that tech.” He put hand on the planning board.  “So let’s get going on it.”

“Commander.”  One of the ops monitors came over and handed Bock a pad. “This just activated.”

Stephen looked at it, and cursed under his breath.

“What?”  Bricker said.

“I presented your idea to Jess Drake.” He said, handing the pad over. “She elected to shift out instead of going along with it.”

Bricker took the pad and stared at it. “Are you kidding me?” He looked up at Bock. ‘What kind of idiot is this?”

“No kind of idiot, sir.” Stephen responded, quietly. 

Bricker handed the pad back. “We don’t have time for this crap.  Agent wants out? Fine.  Get someone else to be part of the project.  I’m sure you can find someone.” He looked at Bock’s face. “What’s the problem? You need a visit to psych too?”

“Maybe.”  Stephen said. “Maybe I just got Jess’s point.”

“What?”

“John, you reminded me how few our resources are.  So now you tell me to throw one of them away?” Stephen said, slowly.  “We’re not machines.”

Bricker looked exasperated. “We don’t have time for this.” He said. “Do you not get it? Do you not understand what that breakthrough means?  That they’ve found a way to grow plants again, here, on the surface?”

 “I get it.” Bock replied. “So now you want me to send people… People, John? Our people? Into enemy space to try and get that technology and bring it back.   People who are here, who don’t trust us, who don’t trust the people that back them now.”

“Maybe we should go all bio alt.” Bricker said. “At least then they’d do what we told them to do, instead of wringing and crying and being pansy assed pieces of crap.  I told you. I don’t have time for this. The Council wants a plan, by tonight, to get someone in there.”

“I’ll see if I can find anyone willing.”  Bock turned and started to leave.

“If?”

Bock turned. “Unfortunately, sir, until you make good your plan to replace us with biddable robots, we still have a choice. We don’t force our people to go. We ask them.” He swiveled and left the comm. Center, heading for his office in the back section of the stronghold.

Word was already spreading. He could see ops agents loitering in the hall, watching his approach, gathered in groups.   He remembered being one of them, wondering what ‘they’ were going to ask now, viewing ‘them’ as the Brickers of the world who never really cared about what the cost was, only saw results.

Well, he was a them now. Stephen grimaced uncomfortably.  At least, that’s what his title said.

“Stephen.”  Jason Anders cut in front of his path, with Elaine Cruz next to him. “Can we speak with you?”  Both were seniors. Both veterans.  Apparently they’d been elected spokespeople.

Bock regarded them, then sighed. “Sure.” He waved a hand towards his door. “C’mon.” 

“He doesn’t get it.” Bricker said to the closed door, and then swiveled around to look at the rest of the people in the comms center.

They were all looking back at him, with closed, silent faces.  He could sense the anger in the room.  “I can replace all of you with them too.” He warned.  ‘We have a mission here, people.   That’s bigger than any of us.”

He turned back to the console and started keying in requests.

**

Dev was seated on a plastic bench, her elbows braced on her knees, sweat dripping off her as she tried to catch her breath.  Her whole body was shaking with her just ended effort, and she blinked salty droplets out of her eyes that landed on the gym floor.

She had never been so tired.   She flexed her hands, rough and sore from the climbing system and felt a blister forming just at the pad between her fingers and palms.  She was dressed in the light singlet they used in the gym and there were bruises on her knees and arms from all the work.

“NM-Dev-1?”

Dev looked up, to find a phys proctor there.  “Yes.”

“You have completed group A and group B tasks. Well done.” The proctor said.  “You are complete for the day.”   The woman gave her a sympathetic look.. “I know it’s been a long session.” 

“Yes.” Dev responded, direly grateful for the news.

“The rest of the day is scheduled clear for you, to review previous classes. Okay?”

“Yes.” Dev said. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome.” The proctor gave her a smile, then she shut her pad down and walked away, leaving Dev alone in the preparation area.

She straightened up and ran her hands through her damp hair, knowing from the ache in her arms she would be experiencing this class for quite some time.  At least she had some space to relax now, and a night meal to look forward to. 

It was cycle end today. That usually meant the dining hall would give them something a little different,  or two cakes, or maybe even some protein bars and she was glad of it since her body was craving replenishment from the past while.

Footsteps made her look up again, and she blinked as a familiar figure entered the gym and came over to where she was sitting. “Hello Doctor Dan.”

“Hello, Dev.”  Daniel  Kurok took a seat next to her.  “How are you?”

“Tired, right now.” Dev answered honestly.

You could always answer Doctor Dan straight.  He was the first doctor she remembered, and the one who always had the time to talk, and explain things.  He was a man of middling height, with straight, blond hair the same shade as hers, and a calm, appealing personality

 She had always liked him.  All the sets did. Doctor Dan was one of the very few who would talk to you as if you were actually a person. Not talk at you.

“I can imagine.” The doctor’s gentle grayish blue eyes regarded her. “I know you’ve been very busy preparing for your new assignment.  Are you excited about it?

Dev thought about that. “I am.” She said, eventually.  “It’s hard, but knowing so much is good.”

Doctor Dan smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear that.” He said. “I came to find you, because something has happened, and they need you to go to your assignment sooner than we thought.   I’d like to talk to you about it before you start getting ready.”

“How soon?” Dev asked. “I still have programming to get.”

“Tomorrow.” Doctor Dan put a hand on her shoulder as she stiffened. “But don’t be scared. You have what you need. The rest of the programming is just information, not skills and we’ll send it with you.” He reassured her. “Can you come with me? We can have dinner, and talk.”

It was like getting a buzz.  Dev wasn’t sure what to say. She’d never been invited to go to a meal with anyone except one of her crèche mates. “Yes.” She finally answered.  “I need to change first.”

“No problem.” The doctor patted her bare shoulder. “Go on, and I’ll wait for you outside in the lobby. “ He watched her walk off towards the changing space and sighed, glancing up as someone else walked up. “This makes me very unhappy, Randall.”

“I know.” Doss sat down on the bench just vacated.  “I know you had plans for this one.”

“It’s not just that.” The chief geneticist sighed. “I know you think I’m probably against the assignment, but I’m not. I think it’s a damn good idea, matter of fact.”

“You do?”  Doss seemed astonished.

“Yes, I do.” 

Doss scratched his head. “So you think this might work?” He asked. “Do you really think one of our products can do this?”

Doctor Dan looked at him with an oddly wry expression. “Yes, I do.” He repeated. “I just wanted to be prepared for it. Send the right set, properly trained and programmed. “ He frowned. “Not something jury rigged like this is. I have suspicions about their success motives.”

Doss shifted uncomfortably. “What do you mean??”

Kurok stood up. “Never mind.  I could be wrong.” He said. “But I’ll be escorting Dev down there.  I have our flight assignments already.”

“Oh, but Daniel!” Doss protested. “You have so much in work here!”

“I know. It will need to wait.”  The geneticist replied.  “I want to find out what this emergency is.  My sources in Interforce have told me the situation downside is not good.” He frowned. “I don’t want us to end up a scapegoat.”

“But they wanted us. They came and asked us, Daniel.”  Doss looked troubled.

“Mm. Yes, they did.”  Doctor Dan frowned. “And you should have brought me in when Bricker was here.  I know them better than you do.” He turned and headed for the entrance.

“Oh.”  Doss got up and followed him out the door and into the quiet lobby. “But there wasn’t time, really!”  There were three bio alts sitting on a bench near the door, waiting for their classes to start, but otherwise it was empty.  “Daniel, please don’t cause us trouble. I was hoping this order was the start of something big for the company. A breakthrough”

Doctor Dan looked at him.  “I’m afraid you’ll just have to trust me,  Randall.  I’ll do what I think is best for all of us.”  He responded. “And if not I’ll try to warn you in advance.”  His face tensed into a faint grin.

“Yes, well, all right.” Doss sighed. “Please keep me advised on the progress.” He hurried off, leaving his colleague to take a seat in the lobby to wait.

Kurok did, dropping into a chair and idly studying the three men seated waiting.   Aybes, he mused, his mind running over the DNA he’d encoded in them, laying down a biological structure suited for the role they were meant to fill.

One of them noticed him, and waved. He waved back, and all three smiled a little, glad to be paid attention to by a doctor they knew held high status in the crèche.   “Have a good session, lads.”

“Thank you , Doctor Dan.” The one who had waved spoke up. He stood then, and led the other two into the gym as the door opened and chimed green, leaving him alone in the hall.

Dan sighed.  Then he caught motion in his peripheral vision and turned his head to see Dev emerging from the gym, fastening her badge to her coverall pocket.   He smiled in reaction, proud of his work that was so evident in Dev’s attractive features and well made body. 

He supervised many sets. But Dev had been one of his personal efforts.  “That was fast.” He stood up. “Let’s go get something to eat. I bet you’re hungry.”

Dev smiled, a little bashfully. “They worked me hard in the gym today.” She admitted. “And it’s cycle end. I think we were going to get some extra tonight.”

“Well, don’t worry about it.”  Doctor Dan led the way through the halls. “We’re going to the little place we working scientists eat, so you will get fed, absolutely.” He triggered the door to the grav lift and stepped in, waiting for Dev to join him before he pointed up with his thumb, and they both kicked off.

The tubes were pretty empty, and they drifted upward through the clear glass, as the stations rotation brought then to aphelion, and they were faced with a vast starfield overhead.

Dev enjoyed the sight immensely.  She didn’t usually get the opportunity, since most of the crèche areas she was accustomed to were down lift.  “They’re so pretty.”

Dan had been looking up also. “They are, aren’t they?” He said. “Savor them, Dev. You won’t get to see them downside.”

“That’s what they said.”  Dev agreed, as they reached the top and she followed the doctor through the hatch.   They were now in one of the upper residential areas, and she turned her head from side to side looking at the plush carpet, and woven tile walls.  “Only clouds.”

“Only clouds.”  Dan led the way to an entrance, where a bio alt was standing, manning a small desk. “Hello, Ceebee 245.”

The bio alt, dressed in a black jumper with silver piping, looked up. “Oh! Hello Doctor Dan.” He glanced at Dev, but didn’t address her. “Would you like a table?”

“Yes.” Dan said. “For two, please. My friend Dev here is joining me.”

Ceebee 245 looked briefly at Dev, then he half bowed, and indicated the door behind him. “Of course Doctor. Please come this way.”

Dev felt very out of place.  She followed Doctor Dan inside, and found herself in a bubble that held several dozen tables,  about a dozen of which were occupied.   She knew the people in the room were all looking at her, and she had some idea that her kind weren’t allowed.

Doctor Dan, though, seemed oblivious to this. He pulled out a chair for her at the table they were led to, and sat down himself. “Ceebee, please bring us two fruit punches to start with.”

Ceebee 245 nodded in acknowledgement, and disappeared, heading towards the service area.

Doctor Dan leaned on his forearms. “Dev, I know this seems very strange to you. But I’m doing it for a reason. “

Dev looked around. “I’ve never been here before.” She agreed. “It’s very pretty.”

The doctor smiled. “Yes, it is.” He said. “You know, the assignment we’re sending you on, I think sometimes you might end up in places like this, with your natural born partner.” He added. “And you might even be wearing clothing that will make people think you’re not a biological alternative.”

Dev remained silent, listening to him intently. 

“So I wanted you to just see what this was like, before you went downside.”  Doctor Dan looked at the pad on the table. “But I think I’ll order for both of us, if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay.”  Dev agreed. 

He keyed in an order, then turned his attention back to her. “They’ve given you a lot of programming this week, haven’t they?”

“Yes.” Dev was relieved to be talking about something familiar to her.  “I had two sessions. The first one was very long. It was all tech, really hard.” She said. “Then I had lab.”

“I saw your lab results.  You did very well.”  The doctor said  “The programmers were really pleased with how you took the program, too.”

Dev grinned in response.  “Thank you.”

Doctor Dan smiled.  “I’ve seen the programming.  What did they actually tell you about this assignment, Dev?  What did they say you were going to do?”

Dev was a little confused.  Wouldn’t Doctor Dan know that?  “Well.” She said. “Doctor Doss explained there was some problem that they wanted me to try and help with.  He took me to meet a man called Bricker, who said I would be working with them to try and solve the problem.”   She paused. “They didn’t say exactly what I would do, but the programming was a lot of tech, so I guessed I would be working with that, and with something to do with security.”

Long speech.  Doctor Dan regarded the young, serious face across from him.  “Does that worry you?”

Dev considered the question. “I don’t know.” She answered, finally.  “Should it?”

Ah.  Doctor Dan waited as two plates were delivered to them, and the server silently left.    He watched his dinner companion study the contents, then pick up the implements on one side and put them neatly to use. 

That, at least, they’d given her.   “They must have told you what Interforce does, didn’t they?” He sliced up his protein and took a sip of the fruit juice.

Dev shook her head, chewing thoughtfully.

Figures.  “Well, Dev, you’re right that you’ll be doing something with security.”  Doctor Dan said. “Interforce sends people to do things that make the lives of people who are on our side better, and prevent people who aren’t on our side from hurting us.”

Dev swallowed.  “That doesn’t sound so bad.” She hesitantly offered.

“Well, it doesn’t, if you just look at the surface of those words.” Doctor Dan said. “What that really means,  Dev, is that you will be doing some dangerous things, and it’s possible you could get hurt doing them. You could see other people hurt. “

“Oh.”  Somehow, though, Dev had known that. Something in the programming had told her, she reasoned, since she felt no prickle of surprise at the words, nor dread hearing them.  “I”ll do my best to be safe.” She said.

Doctor Dan smiled again. “I know you will.” He said. “When I put you together, Dev, I tried to give you the ability to adapt, and to handle difficult things.  This assignment is going to be difficult, but I think you can do it.”

Dev produced another tentative smile at the compliment.   “Thank you.”

“What I am going to warn you about though, is about how people downside will feel about you, about what you are.” Doctor Dan’s voice gentled. “There are other bio alts in Interforce. But none of them will be doing what you will.  Some people might not like it.”

Dev nodded. “Like here, when they don’t like it when someone else gets higher skills.” She said. “They want it too.  Or they think they should get it.”

Impressed, Doctor Dan regarded this product of his making.  The insight was more than he expected, and showed a self awareness he hadn’t quite anticipated. “Yes, that’s it exactly.” He said. “Have you had trouble like that much here?”

Dev shrugged.  “A little.” She admitted. “I think its also mostly because I’m .. “ She hesitated. “There’s no one else in my set.” She explained. “So everyone else has someone else who is just like them, and it makes them stick out less.”

Doctor Dan put his fork down and touched her hand. “You should have come and talked to me about that, Dev.  I could have explained it better for you.”

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

Doctor Dan 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.” Dev continued. “I’ll still have gotten to do it. “

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

A developmental unit. That’s what the Dev stood for. 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.

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

“Absolutely.”  He responded, still a bit bemused.

Dev’s eyes 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, Doctor Dan 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.”  She said. “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.” 

Doctor Dan patted her shoulder. “It is good.” He said. “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.”

**

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 their arm.  “Hello, proctor.” She greeted the woman.

“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?” The proctor said.  “He didn’t log his request.”

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 have been told you are being transferred out tomorrow on the first transport, hour ten.”

“Yes.” Dev agreed. “They told me.”

“You may take one size small pack bag with you.” The proctor said. “Everything else you need will be provided by your assigned contractor.  You have no schedule tomorrow, after break fast 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 will 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.  The she pointed to the outer ring and left, taking her pad with her.

Dev exhaled. Then she headed towards 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 realized, 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?

**

It was Stephen 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 with 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 alone 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, and Stephen 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, he said.”

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

Stephan nodded.  “I just didn’t want you to think no one gave a damn.”  He said. ‘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 had 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 Stephen, 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, and 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.”

Stephen 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 down 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.

Stephen sat down next to her, resting his elbows on his knees, watching the gasses from the jet lifts evaporate.   “I’m sorry.” He said, after a long moment.

“For what?” Jess leaned back and rested her head against the rock wall.  “None of this was your fault, Stephan.”

“I know.” He agreed. “I’m just sorry.  I don’t’ want you to leave. I’ll miss you.”

Jess was so surprised she nearly fell off the bench.  She turned her head and looked at Stephen, but he was staring ahead, his shoulders hunched.  “Well.” She said. “I’ll miss you too.” She waited for him to look at her, and their eyes met. “I’ll miss this place. It’s the only home I’ve ever known.”

“Stupid mother fuckers.”  Stephen said, clipping the words, and clamping his jaw shut. “If Elias was still here…”

“Well, she’s not.” Jess sighed. “But she would have kicked Bricker’s ass, that’s true, and put a shut on his damn crazy ideas.”

The transport door opened, and moved down to form a ramp,  and after a brief pause, several people came out.  Most were in Interforce uniform, and didn’t really give them a glance on passing.   The last two were a man and a women, both blond and in civilian dress.

The woman had a bio alt collar, and as she cleared the ramp she looked over and her eyes met Jess’s.

It was an almost physical impact. Jess felt her nape hairs lift a little, bringing a chill to the back of her neck  as her heart did a funny little thump in her chest. She watched the blond woman almost trip on the edge of the ramp, and then she looked away as the man next to her put a hand on her shoulder and urged her towards the entrance.

Jess saw the door close behind them and she jerked her attention back to the transport.   Was that Bricker’s damn crazy project?   “Bricker keeping that bio alt idea going?” She asked, clearing her throat a little as she heard the rasp in her voice.

Stephen had been obvious to the drama, apparently.  “Yeah.” He stood up. “Told them he wanted to start early, matter of fact.” He looked at Jess. “Lets get you settled onboard.”

It must have been the bio alt.  Jess stood up, resisting the urge to look behind her, at the closed door.  She’d never seen that set before, and she’d come in with what looked like a proctor.  

Huh.   She followed Stephen up the ramp, then exhaled, and dismissed the unlikely newcomer, since  she was heading in the wrong direction to care.   “That’s too bad.” She said. “I was hoping they’d at least kill that idea, and save that poor bastard pain and trouble.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have any unpaired agents so I don’t know why he wanted them now.” Stephen stopped abruptly, almost making Jess crash into him. “Oh.” He took a step back. “Sir.”

Jess looked up quickly, and edged to one side. Standing at the top of the ramp was an older man, with silver white hair and a long, saturnine face.  He had a hooked nose, and bushy eyebrows, and she felt her own eyes open wide as her brain identified him.

The Old Man.  That’s what every one she’d ever known called him, but never to his face, and she was careful to school her tongue not to utter that description rather than his name.  Alexander Bain, the man who ran Interforce, though she had no idea what his actual title was, or whether he really did own the vast organization or just operated it for some moneyed consortium.

“Commander Bock.” The man rumbled.  “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“No sir.” Stephen inclined his head a little. “It’s a great honor.” 

“Hm.”  The man mused. “And this is Agent Drake, I assume?”

“No.” Jess replied quietly. “Not anymore, sir.”  

“Hm.” The old man studied her, making a little beak with his lips, and knitting his brows.  “I see. Well, perhaps you could join me inside for a moment, so we can have a chat.  I would hate to lose this opportunity to exchange a few words with someone who has tendered my organization such excellent service.”

Jess felt very offbalance, and not only because she was standing on a ramp.  “Yes, sure.” She managed to mutter. 

“I didn’t know you were arriving sir.” Stephan said, meekly.  “We would have made arrangements.”

“You didn’t know I was arriving because I took some pains to make sure you didn’t know I was arriving.” Bain informed him. “What’s the fun of being the Old Man if I can’t show up unannounced and scare the living daylights out of everyone?”

“Sir.” Stephen responded.

“Please go take a seat there, Commander.”  Bain pointed at the bench. “Do not contact anyone, do not move until we come back. Understood?”

“Sir.”

Bain turned and went back into the transport, clearly expecting Jess to follow him. She did, shifting her duffel a little to allow it to clear the door frame as she went inside, moving off the metal ramp onto the solid steel of the airframe.

They went down the port passageway, past the general seating section with it’s rows of cramped bucket seats and belt ins.   The lights were dim, and there were three bio alts there vacuuming the interior with the intent, single minded purpose of their kind.

Bain led the way through a second passageway, and then down into the aft of the transport, opening a door and passing through into a smaller, more comfortable section.

He took a seat on one of the large, plush chairs and indicated the other with a wave of his hand.  “Please sit down.”

Jess unloaded her duffel and put it neatly against the wall. Then she sat down in the chair and put her hands on the arms, facing him and waiting.

He could be there for many reasons.  She was not quite vain enough to think she was one of them. Jess knew she could be forgiven if she immediately started explaining her part and viewpoint in the whole situation but she was savvy enough to know sometimes it was just better to shut your mouth and wait.

So she did.

Bain studied her.  “You have a reputation for many things. “ He said. “For stubbornness and arrogance, for courage and perseverance, for strategic brilliance and occasional criminal insubordination.”

Jess pondered that. “That’s pretty accurate.” She said.  “I trust my own judgment, and have learned painfully not to trust pretty much anyone elses.”

“Hm.” The Old Man burred. “You know, I learned much the same lessons myself.” He said. “However, I never quit over any of it.”

Jess waited, not really offended by the accusation as it was, in essence, true.

The silence lengthened.  Eventually, the Old Man smiled a trifle.  “It occurs to me that perhaps what I was told regarding this entire event was not entirely accurate.” He said. “Would you like to enlighten me further?”

Perfect opening.  The tantalizingly offered leverage made her tongue itch.   Jess watched the Old Man’s body language, and evaluated him as she’d had to so many others over the years. “The official report is the official report. Sir.”  She said.  “I’m sure the director had reason for the report he tendered to you.”

Bain steepled his fingers and regarded her.  “Come now.” He said. “I’m sure you have a side to this event to tell.  There’s always more than one.”

‘That’s true, sir.” Jess said. “But my view is my view, not the corps view. That’s what is relevant to you.”

Now Bain smiled more easily.  “Ah.” He leaned back. “Eleven generations, hasn’t it been?  Given at birth, taught and trained by the corps, loyalty bred in the gut for years. Even if the corps just turned its back on you regardless of your service at the whim of a single minded chimp with a view so narrow it’s  a wonder he does not trip on his own focus.”

Jess remained silent for a few moments, as she watched him watch her.  Then she exhaled a little, deciding on honesty. “Only home I’ve ever known.’ She admitted. “But I’d be damned if I was going to walk the corps into an embarrassing disaster just to serve the purpose of being the scapegoat for the Council.”

“Hm.”  Bain mused. “Is that what you think this is?”

“Don’t you?” Jess responded bluntly. “Or why are you here?”

“Why am I here.” The Old Man tapped his fingertips together. “Now, that’s a very good question, isn’t it. “ He said. “Before I get into that, let me express to you how personally grateful I am that you concluded the ambush you got into the way that you did. I think you must know that  the results of that incident turned out badly for the group who planned it on the other side.”

Jess wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “We lost good people.”

“We did.” Bain agreed. “But they lost more good people, and it seriously pains me to think our final consequence of that situation will be losing you.”

That could only be a compliment.  For no apparent reason, Jess suddenly recalled a pair of pale green eyes looking into hers and she let herself have a moment of possibly wondering if there was a way back.  “Thank you, sir.” She answered. “It hurts me to separate myself.” She paused. “I had hoped by taking myself out of the situation, it might stop the Directors plans. But it seems not to be so.”

“No.”  Bain shook his head. “But consider this.” He said. “It might well be the idea of replacing a tech with a bio alt is a pitch to deflect the investigation of the Council.”

Jess nodded.

“However, it’s equally possible that this idea, as unlikely as it seems to you, might succeed.” Bain said. “And in which case, almost certainly we will achieve a sea change that might alter the way the corps operates in a good way.”

“All due respect sir, I don’t really think so.”  Jess said.  “It takes months to train a tech.  They’ve had only a couple of days to prepare and even with the knowledge, the instincts aren’t there.”

“Hm.”  The Old Man leaned forward. “Jess Drake.” He said. “Do you truly wish to leave?”

There was a long silence.

“Do you truly wish to become a harvester? Live in a stone box? Sleep on the floor?  Scrape moss and seaweed for two meals a day?”

“No.”  Jess finally admitted. “But I don’t want to lose my honor either.”

“Ah.”  Bain said. “That I do understand, as I too put a great stake on my honor.” He looked intently at her.  “Let me ask you this. Would you put your honor to one side just long enough to accompany me back inside that rock pile? There is something I believe I would like to show you. This might or.. might not allow you to bend your principals enough to consider remaining.”

It was so tempting to immediately agree.  Jess knew she wanted to – the surge of emotion at the offer was undeniable.    Catching  Bains eyes on her, she realized abruptly that he knew that, he was reading her just as clearly as she often read others, and so – she just smiled. “I can do that.” She agreed.  “Gladly.’ She added.

Bain smiled.  “I imagined you might say that.” He stood up. “Let’s go then.  Before your Commander Bock cannot sit on his instincts any longer and rushes inside to ruin my surprise.”  He waited for Jess to get her duffle, then led the way back out.

He paused, just before they were about to exit, and turned.  “Drake.” He said in a completely  different, lower, and more serious tone. “I do understand what you experienced.  I understand why you have lost trust.”

Jess studied him. “I’ll carry the memory of his laughter as he cut me to my grave.” She said. “That takes a lot of getting over. I’m not sure I can.”

Bain nodded. “Consider helping me resolve this crisis, as you did the last one, and I will put you in a position that will not require that of you.”   He watched her eyes intently. “Think on it.” He turned and descended the ramp, now in pristine condition from it’s cleaning.

Jess took a deep breath and released it. She followed him down the ramp and across the landing pad, seeing a group of bio alts, and several security troops waiting there to board.   Stephan saw them and stood up, approaching quickly.

“Bock.”  The Old Man waved him forward. “Glad you didn’t go with your base instincts. Join us.”

Stephen just nodded and fell in next to Jess. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she raised her shoulders at him, and they walked on in silence.

The troops braced to attention as they recognized Bain. The bio alts just looked confused. 

Jess kept her head down as she caught up to the Old Man at the stronghold entrance, watching him key open the door and step inside. “Sir.”

“Hm?” Bain turned and looked at her.

“They’ll need to reset.” She pointed at the scanner. “I’m not much in the mood to be crisped to death right now.”

“Ah. “ Bain turned and pointed at one of the guards. “Deactivate that.” He indicated the scanner, squatting mutely over the entrance.

“Sir, we can’t.” The guard looked distressed. 

“You can.”  Bain said. “Or did you mean to tell me you don’t know how?”

The guard went to the console. “No, sir, I do know, but…”

“Come along, lad.” Bain said. “Just tell them I said to do it.  I am the last court of appeals. The final judge., as it were.”  He glanced at Stephen, and smiled.  “Has a nice ring, doesn’t it?”

“Sir.”  Stephen murmured.

Jess stood quietly waiting, not exactly sure what emotion it was that was stirring up her guts.  As the faint hum ceased, and the light went out over the scanner,  she had to force herself to cross under it, wondering if she really hadn’t just gone from bad to infinitely worse.

“Well done.”  Bain started forward with her. “Now don’t you worry, Drake. We’ll get this all sorted out Tally ho.”

**

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 shuttles 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 being used to the travel, apparently.  

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 al iittle, moving around to get used to it.

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

“A little.” Dev admitted.

“It’s more consistent.”  Doctor Dan 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.” Doctor Dan 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 downorbit 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, machine techs and two pilots, including the ones she’d met in the dining hall.

No one had spoken though.    

Now they were heading to their destination and she was starting to get nervous about it.  Until they landed, she could just experience everything in sort of a neutral way, as a new thing, but 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.”  Doctor Dan said. “When I was younger, I did a lot of different things.”  He added. “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.”  Doctor Dan remarked.  “Interforce’s Base Ten is on the northeast 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.” Doctor Dan 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, and 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 and jostling it’s passengers in their seats.

“Retros.”  Doctor Dan commented, 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, and then 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 debark.”  The man 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 rockets.” Doctor Dan 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 found herself 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, and 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 landing bay, she realized.  Ahead of her was a tall uneven rock wall, 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 that 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 was catching her, and 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 and 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 towards an orange painted corridor.

They passed through a gateway on the way, and she could see 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 she was being guided forward by Doctor Dan and it was her turn to go through the gate.  “What is this?” She asked him softly.

“It records who you are.” Doctor Dan 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.

Doctor Dan 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 Doctor Dan. “The director asked me to bring her to the ready center.” He said. “He didn’t say anything about you.”

“Well, let’s just go ask him, shall we?” Doctor Dan put a hand on Dev’s back.  “I have the transfer authority for my friend Dev here, so I’m sure the director 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 towards the men with the weapons. “The exit event went without issue.”  He said.  “Return to barracks.”

The soldiers safed their weapons and shouldered them, then started back towards 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 Doctor Dan.

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

“Mmhm.”  Doctor Dan agreed.  “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.

Doctor Dan chuckled a little. “Some things never change.” He sighed. “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.”  She said. “The ones in dark suits.”

“Ah.” Doctor Dan cast his memory back a short while, running through their arrival in mental pictoral 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. 

“Please come with me.” The man in green had returned, and was gesturing towards the furthest corridor, sealed tightly with a metal door. “The director asked me to bring you both to the ops center.”

They followed him in silence.  Doctor Dan’s brow was now creased with worry, and Dev was too busy looking at everything to talk.

It was very, very strange.  Dev tilted her head back and looked up at the high ceiling, it’s irregular surface seeming odd and out of place.   She followed the two men through the now open steel door, and down a corridor that seemed very long, and very bisected by many other steel doors blocking their way until they were keyed through.

Security?  Dev felt the sensation of the space they were in closing in on her, aware suddenly of how much solid material was around them as they moved further inside the facility.   There were no other people around until they entered the last door in the corridor, which opened up into a huge central space, with yet more corridors leading off in all directions.

Here, there were people. Lots of them.  Dev felt their eyes on her as they passed, and she moved closer to Doctor Dan in reflex at the borderline hostility directed at her. 

The man in green led them to a door set in stone with a rotating red light over it. He scanned through, and then held the door open for them to enter.  

“Thank you.” Doctor Dan gave him a brief smile, and then he guided Dev inside a round cavern of a room, with consoles around every available edge, and lined up in the center around a big lit screen and table where four people were standing.

One, she recognized immediately as the director who’d visited them. Bricker, his name was. The other three were unknown to her, not even a memory flash indicating they’d been programmed.  She followed Doctor Dan down three steps, then across a ramp up to the central table.

Bricker was juggling a light pen. “I thought they were sending her alone.” He said. “I don’t need anything that needs an escort.”

Doctor Dan stepped up onto the platform and took a seat on one of the stools, folding his arms across his chest in a typical pose. “I don’t need to turn over one of my projects to ignorant gits.” He said. “You cut short the programming cycle. I want to know why.”

His voice was casual, and unafraid, and Dev felt a certain awe of him.  Even though she knew he was important, at least to her kind, she knew from her programming they were in a dangerous space.

The other people in the room were staring at Doctor Dan. Bricker had stopped juggling his pen and was also staring as though unable to believe what he was hearing.

“You have any idea where you are,. Buddy?”  Bricker finally said.

“Yes.” Doctor Dan replied. “Station 10, Central Design level 4, commspace Alpha, control central, datastore prime.”  He said. “Now please answer my question. If you can’t, then I will be more than glad to take my friend Dev here, and go back where we came from.”

Dev merely stood very still, having no referents. 

“As the chief geneticist of the Human Sciences station, whom youv’e asked to provide you with this resource, I need to know why you have truncated an already insufficient release cycle.” Doctor Dan restated his question.  “I have no intention of providing you with either a scapegoat or an excuse for failure.”

Bricker started juggling his pen again. “So that’s who you are.” He said. “Figures why we didn’t have an ident on you. Made sure no one could look at your insides too close. Huh?”

Doctor Dan didn’t answer, here merely sat there, head cocked a little to one side, waiting.

Bricker turned to the display table.  “Well, you’er gonna have to wait, buddy, since I’ve got an activity in work. If it completes, maybe you can just take this jelly bag with you and go back to that crystal palace you got up there after all.”

The door opened behind them, and Bricker glanced over his shoulder as three people entered. “What ..” He straightened and started to reach for a pad, then stopped. “Sir.”

Alexander Bain strolled up the ramp. “Bricker.” He glanced at the rest of them. “I found these two outside. Seems a terrible place to leave agents, seeing as you’ve lost so many lately.”

Dev backed up a little as the two other people emerged from the shadows, revealing the two from the outside bench.  Now they looked wary and uncomfortable, and she held her breath as they both looked around and she found herself once again meeting the woman’s gaze.

Doctor Dan had gotten up off his stool and taken a step back, putting himself between Dev and the table and the tension in the room ratcheted up to a higher level.  “Well now. This is getting interesting.”

Bain’s eyes swept over and pinned him, one grizzled gray brow lifting sharply. “You.”

“You asked for a bio alt.”  Doctor Dan’s lips twitched.

“Did we.”  Bain mused. “Bricker, what’s going on here?”

Bricker recovered. “Sir, that person requested dismissal, we followed procedure and processed the request. “ He pointed at Jess.  “She was supposed to leave on the shuttle.”

“I see.” Bain regarded him. “And you allowed this without intervention?”

Bricker shrugged. “I don’t need quitters or  lone wolves.” He said. “I saw no reason to intervene or even ask.”

“I see. Hm.” Bain half turned and regarded Dev, who was standing as far back as she could on the platform. “And you, my dear?”  

“This is ah….”  Doctor Dan said.  “The resource requested.”

“Ah..”  Bain strolled over and regarded Dev. “What a charming young lady.” He said. “My name is Alexander Bain, my dear.”

“NM-Dev-1.” Dev answered quietly, extending a hand in greeting. “Its’ very nice to meet you.”

“And I, you.” Bain shook her hand.   “Now. He released her and turned back to Bricker.  “I received reports your other agents refused assignment. Is that true?”

“They tried.” Bricker answered grimly. “I persuaded them otherwise. I have two team out now, about to make a grab for the new photo synth technology.” He tried, somewhat unsuccessfully to keep the triumph out of his voice. He turned and pointed at jess, who was waiting silently in the shadows. “She tried to make the whole team a bunch of refusers. But I put them against the wall and told them they’d end up in point Alaska without envirosuits if they tried.”

Jess took a half step forward, and stiffened. Bock put a hand on her arm.

“I see.” Bain nodded. “So you felt this was the best way to motivate them?”

“It worked.” Bricker turned back to the display. “Excuse me.  Team Beta, report.”

“Sir, I tracked them they’re in shadow right now.” One of the techs standing at console spoke up. “Due in position one hundred ninety seconds.”

“Sir.” Jess spoke, her low voice echoing softly in the chamber. She fell silent when Bain held a hand up in her direction.

“Director Bricker, please turn around and face me. “Alexander Bain said.

“Sir, I’m sorry, I’m in the middle of something here.” Bricker glanced up. “Can it wait?”

“No, I am afraid it cannot.”

Bricker straightened up and turned. “Yes?”

The room swirled into motion, as Bain lifted his hand from his side and there was a hand weapon in it, and both Stephen and Jess stiffened, then Jess made a sign and they both froze, and Doctor Dan spun Dev around and put his body between her and Bain and…

The projectile caught Bricker in the throat, and exploded, sending blood and skin out to either side with a  splattering sound as it hit the consoles to the right and left of him. His head lolled and dropped off to the floor, and his body collapsed to the ground, thumping and twitching as the techs jumped out of the way.

Absolute shocked silence fell, until Bain replaced the weapon into it’s hidden holster and dusted his hands off. “I never have approved of shooting anyone in the back.” He commented.  “Now.” He turned. “Bock, please take charge, and have this unpleasantness cleaned up.”

He looked at all of them.  “Any questions for me?” He glanced at Jess. “Drake, I suggest you take a look at what those colleagues of yours are into. I suspect it’s not good.”

Jess stirred out of her shock and jumped up onto the platform, shoving aside the tech as she stepped over Brickers body, muttering curses under her breath.

Bain clapped his hands. “Come on, people. We’re in some trouble here. Let’s think our way out of it, shall we? Start moving.”

Bock went to the comms panel, and started speaking into it, as the other men on the platform went to consoles.

Dev stood as still as she could, her mind on overload trying to absorb all the data she’d just been given.  She tried to make sense of it, but found her focus irresistibly turning to the ops console, where the woman Bain had called Drake was sitting finding it much easier to think about her than about the man she’d just seen killed.

She no longer looked sad, or depressed.   There was energy crackling from every inch of her, as her eyes flicked through the screens with intense concentration.

She was so interesting.

“Dev.”  Doctor Dan stirred her from her focus.  “Are you doing okay?”

Dev looked at him.  “I’m all right.” She said. “I just don’t know really what’s going on.”

Doctor Dan looked around, then shook his head a little. “I’m not really sure either. But we’ll find out, don’t you worry.” He did, in fact, look worried himself. “I wont’ leave you here otherwise.”

Dev nodded. Then she glanced past Doctor Dan to the platform, to find the woman Drake looking back at her, with wary curiosity. 

“We’ll find out.” Doctor Dan patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry.”

Dev looked down at the ground, surprised to see spatters of blood on the steel only a few inches from her boots.  “I’m sure we will.”  She murmured, thoughtfully.  “Yes.”

**

Part 3

Jess was aware of the security team behind her, and the medical techs bundling up Bricker’s body. She could hear their breathing, a little faster than normal, and sense the insecurity around her as everyone tried to adjust to what had just happened.

She focused past that. She had her elbows on the console and her eyes flicking from status readout to predictors, listening for the incoming bursts from the two teams out there. 

Two teams of two people, agent and tech,  in armored personnel carriers whose flight characteristics were roughly those of the ancient and mythic sperm whale.   Only thing going for them were two engines powerful enough to launch the damn things into space and a lot of strap webbing that kept you from killing yourself inside one.

Jess sighed, and flicked a few settings.

Running the boards wasn’t her favorite task.  She hated being here, and not there, able only to react to what was going on, but she’d done her share of this.  Every agent had, in training and in the times they couldn’t be out in the field for any number of reasons.

But she was glad she was here now, and able to concentrate on those signals because otherwise she’d have to think about how her life had gone into a radical tailspin in the last hour, and what the hell she was going to do next.

Less time to think about the quiet figure seated near the far wall, hands clasped, eyes absorbing everything around her.   NM-Dev-1 wasn’t anything like what she’d expected.  She’d figured they’d taken one of the pilot duffs, and tweaked him for this gig

This wasn’t a pilot. This wasn’t any of the types they’d gotten before.    She glanced to one side, watching the bio alt’s serious face as she studied the console next to her.  This was unknown.

A bleep caught her attention, and she looked back at the screens.

Bricker had screwed it.   Jess checked the position of the two teams, seeing them on the very edge of the dark side  “Six one, six one base.” She uttered into the comms.  He’d sent the two in without full intel and they’d gotten their asses chomped by a big armed patrol with long range guns.

There was only crackling for answer  The two teams, in their armored carriers had gone in over sea and tried to penetrate a small research station but they were caught now on the flats, the edgy crosslines of laser cannons pinning them down.

“What’s the game?” Stephen slid into the seat next to her. “This is crazy.”

“I can’t get to them.” Jess pointed at the scan link.  “They’re blocking comms.  Only thing I can tell is they’re intact. I can see the outline.”

“Shit.”

A blast of antiseptic made them both turn, to see a medic with a tank on his back washing down the floor. He glanced at them, then went back to his task.

Jess glanced at Stephen. “Wasn’t how I figured this day to go.”

Stephen snorted and shook his head.  Then he leaned a little closer. “Glad?”

Jess’s face tensed into a faint smile.

“All right, people.”  Alexander Bain came back into the comms center. “Report.”

Stephen swiveled in his seat.  “No new status sir. The two carriers are pinned down under tracer fire, no comms.”

“Well.” Bain strolled over. “Then suppose you go to the briefing center and join me for a strategy meeting. I think we need some strategy. Been sadly lacking here for a while, I believe.” He considered. “Drake, please take our new recruit here and have them kit her out.  Get her creds. My orders.”

Jess stood. “Do I have creds?” She asked.  “Hate to walk into security and get shot.”

Bain’s face shifted into a somewhat piratical smile. “I appreciate a sense of humor, Drake.” He said. “I believe my presence has been advertised sufficiently that you should be safe walking the halls. Once that’s settled, join us in the briefing center.”  He glanced at Doctor Dan, then crooked a finger at him. “You come with me.”

Doctor Dan regarded him. Then he got up and patted Dev on the shoulder. “Go with the agent, Dev.  I’ll see you shortly.”

They all shifted and moved.  Jess walked over to where the bio alt was standing, and gestured. “This way.”  She waited for the silent figure to join her and they walked down the ramp and out the door. 

The halls were very quiet.  Jess was glad, not wanting to run into a hundred people all asking her questions.   She hadn’t decided yet what to tell anyone, so it was good to just walk down the familiar floors passing from the enforcement area into the circling boundaries of security.

She’d passed through the first scan gate before she realized it, her body jerking in reaction at the tickle then relaxing as only a sedate bong reacted to her presence.   “Guess he was right.”  She muttered.

“Pardon?” The bio alt asked.

Jess looked at her.  She was relatively short, her head only reaching to Jess’s shoulder, and she had a slim body presently encased in a green tech jumpsuit.  “Talking to myself.” She said. “That scanner we just passed could have boiled my brain.”

Dev looked behind them, a startled expression on her face. “Oh.”

Jess paused as they reached the security center. “Sorry.” She eyed the bio alt. “My name’s Jess.”  She extended a hand. “I won’t say welcome.  You probably don’t really want to be here.”

Dev reached over and took the offered hand, closing her fingers around Jess’s and giving them a firm pressure.  “Thank you.” She said. “I don’t really have much say in it.”   She remarked. “But so far it’s been really interesting”

Jess cocked her head a little, not expecting so self aware a response.  “Right.” She turned and keyed the door open.  “Let’s see how much more interesting it’s going to be.”  She walked inside the center and went to the ops desk. “Jackson.”

The security captain had straightened when she entered, and was now waiting for them, his hands resting on the desk.  He was big, taller than Jess and about twice her weight, with a very muscular body and the typical security buzz cut.   “Drake.”

“Bain sent me down.” Jess said, briefly. “She needs creds.”  She indicated Dev. “And I guess I need reissued ones.”

“We heard.”  Jackson said. “He really plug Bricker?”

“Yup.”  Jess nodded.

“Good. Jackass.”  Jackson turned and motioned to a sergeant.  “Open up Drake’s access.” He ordered, then turned to Jess. “What level is this one?” He indicated Dev.  “Staff?  Support?”

“Enforcement ops tech.” Jess replied, dryly.

Jackson’s jaw dropped a little, and he stared openly at Dev.  “Thought that was bullshit rumor.”

“Apparently not.” Jess said. “Since here she is.”

Jackson shook his head. “Jackass.” He muttered. “Place is going to hell.”  He keyed in something, continually shaking his head as he worked. “Go stand in that.” He pointed to the genetiscan, waiting for Dev to comply before he continued coding.

Jess didn’t respond to the muttering.   She nodded at the sergeant when the woman came over to her,  running a hand wand over her. She held out her left hand, and the wand touched it, making her flinch a little as she felt the chips embedded there react.  “Thanks.”

“Agent.”  The sergeant responded.  “All clear.”

Jess flexed her hand, glancing over to see Dev standing quietly in the scanner, traces blinking in the collar she wore around her neck.  Their eyes met, and she managed a brief smile she hoped was reassuring.

It was something. The bio alt smiled back.

“They assigned her quarters yet?”  Jackson asked. “None coded here.”

“Heading to supply next.”  Jess said. “I guess they’ll do that there.”  She looked up, her face going a little blank. “We’ve got plenty of space at the moment.”

Jackson nodded. “Heard that.”  He said.  “All right, done.” He motioned the sergeant forward.  “Cred for ops.”

The sergeant went over to Dev, and scanned her.  They were more or less the same height, but the sergeant had the powerful muscularity typical of security and would have had dark red curly hair if it hadn’t been shorn close to her skull.  “Done.”  She handed Dev a set of clip on creds.  “Wear that for the biology based systems. The mechanicals don’t need it.”

“Thank you.”  Dev took the creds and applied them to her jumpsuit.   

“Good luck.” The woman said, unexpectedly, extending a hand. “I’m Boston.”

Dev returned the shake.  “Thank you.” She said, again.

The sergeant turned and made her way back behind the desk, and Jess motioned to the door.  “Next.” She let Dev go ahead of her, and they exited the security center.     “You can expect that kind of reaction.” Jess said, after a moments walking. “Pretty much everyone thinks your being here is asinine.”

Dev gave her a sideways look. “Do you?” She asked, in a mild tone.

Jess took a breath to answer, then paused.

“It doesn’t offend me.” Dev said. “There’s not much I can do about it since I’m here.”

Well, that was true, wasn’t it?  Jess felt very offbalance. This bio alt was turning out to be more of a surprise than she needed at the moment. “I don’t know.” She finally answered. “I thought it was a bad idea when I heard about it.”

“Why?”

Why.  Jess was glad to see the supply hallway at her left. She turned and swiped the door controls, leading Dev inside to the big processing center. 

Here there were more bio alts.   She watched them catch sight of Dev and react, then go back to their tasks, a little distracted and intrigued by the wary expressions on their faces.   She stepped up to the counter, manned by an older man with a scar across his face and through one destroyed eye.  “Hey Buddy.”

The man gazed gravely at her. “Jess. Welcome back.” He said. “That was the shortest outprocess in the history of Interforce, I’m guessing.  I heard the Old Man himself talked you down, then blew Bricker’s head off.  Been quite the morning.”  He glanced to one side. “Who’s this?”

Jess nodded. “Been quite the morning.” She agreed. “This is Dev.”  She said. “She’s Bricker’s experiment.”  She exchanged glances with the supply master.  “Bain asked me to get her kitted out. He wants to continue it, I guess.”

Dev regarded the man and noted he had a somewhat kinder eye than most she’d encountered so far in this new place.  She also noted he and her escort called each other by common names, and that Jess also seemed more relaxed here.

The security place had been stern and a little hostile, even though the people there had done what they’d been asked to.   “Hello.” Dev said. 

“Hello, Dev.” Buddy replied.  “So we need to give you all the crank you need to be a tech, huh?” He keyed in something on the console.  “Sure hope they know what they’re doing.”  He looked up. “Plenty of berths available., unfortunately.  Preference?” He directed the question at Jess.

Jess took a mental step back and thought about the question.  There were a lot of empty berths. Aside from the recent deaths, they’d already been six teams short.  Dev could be given any of them, since all of the bunks were more or less the same.

She looked up and found Dev watching her.  She’d known what Bricker’s intent was, and felt the truth in her own rejection of that.   Nothing really had changed and yet, in the small space of the morning, everything had changed.

Had she changed?  “Put her in Joshua’s berth.” She heard herself saying.  “Bain asked me to get her settled.”

Buddy didn’t blink an eye. “Done.” He said. “I’ll have the bulk of it sent there.” He glanced at Dev. “Could you please go stand on that other platform there?”  He pointed to the outfitting console.  “Thanks.”

Dev obediently went over and stood in the box, which scanned her with a completely different type of signal.  It felt a little warm, and not at all tickly and it took only a moment. Then she stepped out and returned to Jess’s side.

Buddy turned and removed a green sack, which he handed over to her. “Basics.” He said, as she took it. “Everything else will be sent. Okay?”

Having once again no choice in the matter, Dev nodded.

“Let’s go.” Jess said, briefly. “I’ll drop you at your bunk, then go see what the bad news is.”  She glanced at Buddy. “I guess I need resupply too.”

“Already done.” Buddy waved her off. “We saw it come active again from security.”

“Thanks.” Jess led the way again.  They went through the doors and turned right. “You got kit on the shuttle?”

Dev touched the small bag hanging at her belt. “Just this.”  She said. “They told me I would get everything here.”

“Well, at least they got something right.”  Jess produced a brief smile.  They continued down the hall and then into the centrum, passing through two scanners, then a third as they entered a blue shaded hallway.

A few turns later and they were at a door.   “Scan it.” Jess stood back. “Might as well find out if they actually did what they were supposed to do.”

Dev put her hand on the keypad, and the door slid obediently open.  She glanced back at Jess for instruction, then walked inside at the slight gesture she received. 

Jess entered behind her. “Listen.” She said. “I have no idea how this is going to work out.  You could just be in here for an hour, then be packed back upstairs.”

Dev nodded.  “You don’t think I can do what was requested.”

Jess let the door shut behind them and then she turned, studying the bio alt in silence for a bit.  “They train people for a half year to do the job.  You’ve had a week.  So no,  I don’t think so.” She said. “Actually I think a lot of people don’t want to think so, because if you could…”

“If I could, we could replace you.” Dev concurred. “And we’re cheap and expendable. That’s what they say.” She watched Jess’s face, taking a breath as she suddenly saw an intent personality become present there, as Jess abruptly looked at her, not through her and she saw more intelligence and emotion in that one glance than she’d ever experienced before.  “So you know, I don’t know if I can help either.  I just have what programming I have, and I’ll do the best I can if they want me to try.”

Jess exhaled. “Yeah well.” She glanced past the bio alt to the rest of the room. “Lately we’ve been sort of expendable too.” She indicated the room. “Until they figure it all out, you bunk here. “

Dev looked around at the space.  “By myself?” She asked, in a surprised tone.

Jess twitched a little and looked at her. “What?”

The bio alt, for the first time, looked a little offbalance. “Sorry.” She peered around. “It’s a big room.” She explained. “It wasn’t ‘like this in the crèche.”

“No, I guess not.” Jess felt faintly amused.  “Okay, well, that’s the sanitary station.” She pointed, then paused. “You know what that is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Shower and lav in there, you can put your kit in the cabinet.”  Jess swiveled around. “Sleep.” She pointed at the bed. “Relax.” She pointed to the left hand side loft. “And work.” She pointed at the right hand side loft.  “I’ll leave you to explore.   We’ll call you if we want you to come to the comms center. Otherwise, stick around here. It’s easy to get lost in this place.”

Dev nodded. “Okay.”

Jess turned to go.  At the door, she paused and looked back.  Then she turned and left, without speaking.

Dev drew in a deep, deep breath, then she let it out.  There was so much to absorb, she was really glad she had a few minutes at least to just do that.   She set the green bag down , then she sat down in the chair behind the workspace on the lower level, which was soft and comfortable and reminded her just a little of her sleeping pod back in the crèche.

She sat back in it and turned it around, regarding this huge space with more than a little bemusement.  So here she was.  Things were not going according to plan, but she’d ended up in this place anyway with all this incredible strangeness around her.

At the very very least, she’d have a cycles worth of stories to tell them back in the crèche if they did send her back.   Dev pondered that idea, and decided she really hoped they didn’t.

Really.

**

Jess detoured past the caffeine station on her way back to the strategy center.  She put her palm down on the dispenser plate and the system produced a vacuum bottle full of her preference.  She uncapped it and took a sip, turning around and leaning against the counter.

What could have been.  She studied the bottle.  By this time she should have been in a scavenger station, trading her jumpsuit for an exposure kit, and if she’d been lucky, assigned to a work battalion down in the caverns harvesting seaweed.

And at  that she would have been one of the lucky, with basic but functional housing and the promise of a meal so long as the quotas were upheld.

She knew what it was.  She had two siblings out there somewhere doing the work, since they hadn’t qualified for anything better, and their family’s tenure in service guaranteed them at least that.

Those that had neither family connection or needed skills ended up in the outlands, the only shelter there what they built themselves, and as for what they lived on? 

Jess’s face tensed into a grimace. They lived on what they could steal, and being caught out in the outlands was as dangerous to someone like her as taking a trip to the other side.

So here she was instead, her whole intent reversed, and she’d have been lying if she’d said she was sad about it. It was one thing to stand on your honor. It was another to actually like the consequences of that and Jess was self aware enough to know she’d lead a relatively priveliged life and she liked it that way.

It was nice to know she’d likely be lying down in her bunk tonight rather than on cold stone, or in a rough worn hammock, and she could have caffeine when she wanted, and a meal in the senior mess.  She felt a bit guilty over how glad she was Bain had showed up, brought her back in, then blew Bricker away like he’d been no more than a sea rat caught in the storage silo.

Very unexpected She’d thought maybe Bain would come in and take charge, make plans, maybe make some changes.. hell she’d hoped he  would do that but outright kill Bricker?”

Ah, no.  More than a little scary.   Jess capped her drink and took it with her, heading with no further delay towards the strategy planning center.  Outside the door she met up with two of her remaining peers and they all looked at each in silence for a long moment.

“Jason.”  Jess murmured. “Glad you two weren’t the ones out there.”

“Jess.”  Jason Anders finally said. “What in the Hell’s going on?” He was a tall man, with thick brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Crap all, from what I hear.” The woman next to him said. “Is it true? Bricker’s dead?”

“They didn’t’ send a squirt out?” Jess frowned. “Public as it was? Bain splatted him in the middle of central comms for craps sake.  In front of some doctor from the bio station no less.”

“No, nothing.”  Jason shook his head. “Elaine? You get anything on comms?”

“Not a damn thing.” Elaine Cruz shook her head.  “I just heard something from one of the med techs they sent in there to clean the mess up.” She put her hands on her hips, her rust red hair making her fair skin and green eyes stand out.

Jess glanced at the door. “Well, you got the baseline of it.  I was humping up onto the shuttle when I ran into Bain. He knew everything.  Asked me to come back with him, and about two minutes after we got to central he pulled a blaster out and took Bricker’s head off.”

“Damn.”  Jason said. “Just like that? For nothing?”

“Bain could do it for nothing.” Elaine said. “Who’d stop him?”

“I didn’t.” Jess said. “I got the feeling it wasn’t just one thing that caused it.” She studied the both of them. “They call you in there?”

Elaine nodded. “Tucker and Brent are in their quarters.  Scared to death.” She said. “Afraid Bain’s going to do the same to them.”

Jess turned and palmed the door. “Let’s find out how screwed we are.”

“Jess?” Jason said, just as the door started opening. “Glad you’re back.”

“Ditto.” Elaine said.

The door was open and Jess didn’t answer. She led the way into the strategy center past the outer chamber with it’s scattering of austere chairs and to the second portal, which was guarded by two members of the security group. 

Jess half expected to be challenged, but the guards merely drew aside and triggered the door for them, and the three enforcement agents proceeded inside.

It was quiet.  Stephen was seated near one end of the large plotting table, and Bain was in the big leader’s chair at the very end.  The table was lit with statistics, and the curved wall behind the table was brilliant with readouts and scans. 

“Ah. There you all are.” Bain said. “Did you get your new colleague settled, Drake?”

“Yes.” Jess sat down mid table, and Elaine and Jason took seats next to her, on the side away from Bain.   

“New colleague?”  Jason asked, in a low tone.   “What’s that about?”

“Did you say something, Anders?” Bain asked.  “We don’t really have time for idle chit chat you know. Not if we’re going to find some way of getting those two teams back.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Sorry sir.” He said. “I was just wondering what new colleague we have.” He returned Bain’s look steadily. “It’s been a sore subject here lately.”

“So I have heard.”  Bain stood up and leaned on the table.  “Perhaps I should explain. “

**

Dev stuck her head into the sanitary facility, entering after a moment and putting her small personal kit down.  The space was clean and austere, the stone lined walls with faint flecks of reflectivity in their depths described a roughly rectangular space with inset cabinets on both long sides.

A half wall concealed a lavatory.   Dev studied it curiously, reaching forward to press one of the buttons on the top and jumping back a little as she was rewarded with a faint roaring sound.  She peeked inside the bowl and saw a moving substance, not the vacuum system she was used to. "Ah."

Well, she'd figure that out soon enough. 

With a faint shrug, she went on to the counter, which held a neatly folded set of assorted fabric. She touched the surface of one, finding it soft and nubbly. It was too small to wear, and she picked one of them up, unfolding it and releasing a faint, to her unrecognizable scent into the air.

Another puzzle.  Dev examined the inset bowl next to them, which had a hole in the bottom, and mechanisms at the top. She reached out and touched one, and leaped back as something rushed out of the pipe at the top and splashed into the bowl with a thick, almost musical sound.

Urgently, she searched her programming, and found nothing regarding it, but then a deeper memory triggered, and she relaxed, recalling something from her basics programming.

She stepped forward again and hesitantly put her hand under the flow, inhaling a little as it chilled her skin.  Her other hand joined it, and she rubbed them both together, then she touched the mechanism again. She stood with her hands dripping into the sink for a moment, then with a satisfied grunt, she picked up one of the pieces of fabric and used it to dry her hands off.   So this was water, freely running water, which she'd never experienced before. "Interesting."

She continued her exploration, opening the cabinets and finding more fabric, larger pieces, again neatly folded.  At the end of the room was another half wall, and she peeked behind it to find a square space with a drain in the floor, and a pipe extruded out with a round, flat head.   Curiously, she reached in and touched the controls, letting out a yip of surprise when a blast of water came out of the head and drenched her.

She batted at the controls and turned the water off, then stood, dripping, her arms held out away from her body a little. She blinked, and then shook her head, scattering droplets everywhere. "Ah hah." She licked her lips, finding that the water tasted a little sweet, and then she decided staying in the wet jumpsuit in the cool air of the chamber probably was not a good idea.

She unbuckled and slipped out of it, laying it across the counter and then turning to the cabinets and removing one of the large, square fabrics. She wrapped it around her as she bent over to unbuckle and remove her boots, setting them down under the counter as well.   Going to her small kit, she removed her comb and ran it through her wet hair and setting it to order.

Glad to be free of the cold wetness, she used another fabric to dry herself off, then she went back into the main part of the room.   This left her in a quandary though, as she could hardly respond to any of the requests that might be made of her without clothes on.   She started towards one of the cabinets in the main part of the room when she heard rumbling behind it, a set of bangs and slams that sent her back to the sanitary facility, unsure of what was going on.

A soft chime sounded. "Main stores, provisioning complete." 

Dev regarded the speaker, then she glanced towards the big cabinet again. The doors in it - previously solid and dark gray, were now turning translucent, backlit with a gentle golden glow  Cautiously, she approached it, opening the front to find a line of dark jumpsuits hanging there, and a set of shelves below.  She opened the first one, gratified to find at least familiar looking underwear there.  "At least I know what this is."  She muttered. “There’s a lot of stuff they forgot to program about this place.”

She traded her fabric for the garments, which fit neatly, then she removed one of the jumpsuits and slipped it on.  It too, fit her perfectly, but the fabric was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It was soft and a little stretchy, conforming to her body and very comfortable.

It had a collar that extended up covering the back of her neck, and was gathered at her wrists and ankles with many pockets and rip strips to hold things.

She liked that.  The color was dark green with black trims and it had a deep blue ring around the neckline, but no other insignia to it.  Almost the same as the one Jess had been wearing, save hers was all black, except that same blue ring.

She glanced at her reflection in the door mirror, blinking a little at the unexpected outline. She'd pulled the front catch all the way up, and the fabric had sealed around her neck, completely covering her collar and a part of her felt a little strange, looking at herself and not seeing that.

Thoughtfully, she studied herself, wondering how long she would get to wear the new clothes.  Then she shrugged, finding several pairs of boots on the floor of the cabinet and selecting one of them to take  back with her to the comfortable chair near the desk.

She sat down, and set the boots down next to her. Then she looked around, wondering if.. ah.  She got back up and went to the counter on the other side of the sanitary room, where she'd spotted a refrigerated dispenser.  

That, in it’s essential form, she knew.  In the common spaces of the crèche there were always stations you could get a drink from and they looked pretty much like this one.

She opened it, and was cheered to find sealed containers of liquid and solids. She removed one of each and brought them back to the desk, feeling a luxury all out of proportion as she opened the liquid, finding it clear and clean and apparently water, and unwrapping the solids to discover crispy little crackers that smelled faintly of brine and were sprinkled with tiny seeds and salt.

Dev bit into one cautiously.  It had an interesting taste, and after a few nibbles she decided she liked it.

She sat in her chair, munching her crackers and sipping from the water, looking around at this inconceivably huge space they'd assigned to her.   She could see the upper level on one side had consoles, and she brightened, realizing she might be able to practice some of her programming. On the other side, she could see a couch, and what appeared to be a big console, with some shelves and mats. Jess had said something about relaxing up there, and Dev considered that maybe she could use it like she had her little cubicle back in the creche - as a place to sit quietly, and maybe read some of her book.

Everything was so different here, but different in a way she didn't mind, Dev decided.  She finished her crackers and set her water aside, then she climbed up to the second level with her book in her hand, and sat down on the couch.  It had an overhead light and she lay down bathed in it, opening the book and settling herself down to enjoy a page.

After a moment, she looked up, and looked around, then smiled, and shook her head.

**

"Are you kidding me?" Jason stared at Jess, aghast.  "That's real?"

Jess glanced across at Bain, who merely tapped his fingers against his lips in silence. "Well." She said. "In that they brought a bio alt here, yes."

Jason looked at Bain. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Are you advocating this, sir?"

Bain regarded him. "You would not?"

Jason and Elaine exchanged glances. "Sir." He said, in a respectful tone. "We..." Then he paused, and a frown appeared on his long face.

"Caught in a connundrum?"  Bain said. "I believe you were just about to inform me that you have to place great trust in your technical assistants, hmm? "  He observed them. "And yet, we do indeed have a trust issue here.  You do not trust your colleagues, you do not trust your leadership, and quite likely, you do not trust that I will not blow your heads off as I did the director's this morning. Hmm?"

The door slid open, and Dan Kurok came in. He gave them all a cursory glance, then took a seat near on the opposite side of the table from Jess. "Your central records store is a mess." He told Bain. "I have a query running but likely it wont' turn up much more than a recipe for chocolate cupcakes."

Jess's eyebrows jerked up at his casual address. She was beginning to wonder who this man was, aside from some gene doctor from topside. 

"And what do you think, Drake?"  Bain turned to her. "Do you still disagree with this experiment of ours having met it's subject?"

Jess felt all the eyes on her and she hunched her shoulders a bit in reaction. "Why don't we talk about what the plan is before we go into that" She said. "We've got four people out there pinned down and in terminal danger - I think  that's more important than how I feel about  bio alts."

"And yet." Bain watched her. a faint smile on his lips. "You had her put in agents quarters adjoining yours. Interesting?"

"Statement stands." Jess responded dryly.

"Very well."  Bain left off prodding her. "As I was discussing with Bock here, it seems the issue was that your colleagues were attempting an insertion here." He pointed at a mapping coordinate. "Where they were expecting to find an exhaust station." He stood and juggled the laser guide in his hand. "What they found was a half dozen armored carriers."

"Trap?" Jason asked.

"Or did they get skunked?" Jess quietly disagreed. "Someone tipped them."

Bain pursed his lips. "I think their plans were known." He said. "As there is indeed an exhaust station at that locale" He brought up another overlay. "Just as the last mission was compromised - but we thought we knew the information vector there."

"They were waiting for us.." Jess agreed. "I heard the hatches clamp just before Joshua turned on me." She studied her hands. "He hadn't had a chance to send comms before we got there. I would have heard it."

Bain nodded. "So. it was my conclusion that someone else within Interforce was compromised."

"Is that why you shot him?" Elaine spoke up.

"No." Bain regarded her. "I shot him because he was a blithering idiot." He said, then paused. "Although." He went on. "That could possibly have been the reason for the compromise."   He cleared his throat. "The problem is, he was put in place by someone at a high level, who was put in place by someone else at a high level, who was put in place by me." 

"Ah." Jess nodded.

"You run out of magnesium slugs after awhile of that."  Bain said. "So the truth is, people, we don't know where the hole is."

Kurok snorted softly, and shook his head.

Jess looked at her two fellow agents.  "So someone is leaking our ops to the other side." She said. "And it could be all the way up."

"Yes."

"So.. Josh was probably turned from this side. From the inside."  Jason said, slowly. "We've been trying to figure out when he was nicked, and no one could." He looked at Jess. "Maybe he never was. Maybe someone was just talking him into it over dinner, here."

"Huh." Jess grunted.

"So we have a another quandary."  Bain said. "Obviously we need to go and assist the two teams who are now trapped under fire. However, outside this room I cannot tell you that the very plans we make might not be sent ahead."

"Outside this room?" Stephen queried. "So you consider this group secure."

"Yes." Bain said. "Congratulations. No one else is going to die here today."

Everyone flinched a little, except Kurok.    He cleared his throat.  "So the issue is, you can't trust the outsiders. That includes your techs, and most of the staff inside this facility."  He looked at Jess. "That was why Bricker came and asked us to design a set that could be programmed for the job. We know what's in their minds. You can't say that about anyone else."

Jess returned his look.  "Doesn't do me any good if they can't do the job."

"HOw do you know they can't?" Kurok countered.  "LIsten, I know you people think what we do is just create amiable rag dolls for slave labor, but I wouldn't be here with Dev if i didn't think she could be of value to you. Regardless of what Doss promised.  He doesn't own me."

Bain chuckled softly. "No one ever did."

Kurok glanced sideways at him, then returned his attention to Jess.  "You've met her.  You tell me. Mindless?"

Jess was aware of the silence in the room, and very aware of the intent looks focused on her.  She thought about her few minutes with the bio alt, running back in her mind their conversations. "No" She answered, in a somewhat surprised tone. "More complex than I expected." She admitted. "But that doesn't mean she can be a tech."

"Drake." Bain leaned on the table again. "This is the bottom line.  For this plan here.. " He pointed at the screen. "We will send your colleagues there to stand by, to cover for the two trapped teams. But to get them out, we need to distract, and for that we need you,and you need someone with you that you have to trust since you will be putting yourself in the wolves mouth."

"Why me?" Jess asked. 'Send someone else. "

"Because they want you."  Bain answered, with a thin smile.  "You were stabbed, and we lost four good agents, all because they were intent on keeping you - and they would have if you hadn't been just that muchh better than they had anticipated."

Jess felt cold. "Me?"

"Crap." Jason uttered.

"You." Bain said. "And before you ask, no, I don't know why.  Likely you made some enemy on the other side who has now gained high level there."

"So you're going to throw Jess into the fire?"  Elaine asked. "Since you know they want her?"

Bain straightened up and paced around at the head of the table. "Yes." He said. "Because we know they want her. It will provide the distraction we need, as they send all their assets after her, to set the other teams free."

"Wait a minute.." Stephen stood up. "Sir.."

"Stephen, sit." Jess waved him down. "I'll do it." She said. "We'll give this experiment a try. Worst I can end up is dead."  She pointed at the displays. "Send a burst to my account. I want to study the layout. I'll do the setup."

"Jess, c'mon." Stephen said. "I thought you said this was asinine! Isn't this the very same thing you were quitting about this damn morning????"

Jess nodded. "It was." She said. "But I didn't have all the intel I needed to make that choice. All I had was your pitch of what Bricker said.  Bricker's dead.  The story's changed."

Bain gazed at her with surprising fondness. "You are a throwback, aren't you?"  He said. "So you will accept Kurok's little project, hmm?"

Jess found herself nodding.

"Jess!"

Was she crazy?  Maybe.  Jess felt a sudden and surprising shame over walking out and figured maybe this was just her ego's way of erasing that.  Right? Wrong? Who the hell knew.  She looked up at Kurok, who was studying her with quiet, intent eyes. "Can she drive a carrier?"

"Yes." He answered, in a quiet tone. "She's been programmed to."

Jess stood. "Give me the dump." She said. "Stephen can you plot the weather? I thought I heard a storm coming in."  She glanced around the table. "Are we done here? I've got gear to settle."

"So you don't wish us to go over the plan, Drake?"  Bain asked.  "All of us together?"

"No."  Jess said. "It just became not your plan." She gestured to Jason and Elaine. "We'll meet later. Prep to go less 24."

Silently, the other two agents rose and followed her and she left the conferencing center, the door sliding shut behind them with a soft metallic thump.

"Hm." Bain grunted.

'You wanted her to participate."  Kurok leaned back, a faint grin on his face. "Someone used to tell me to be careful what I asked for, as I recall."

Bain gave him a dour look.

"Would you excuse me, Sir?" Stephen got up. "I've got things to do."  He waited until Bain nodded, then he turned and left the room from a different door, heading back up the secure hallway to central comms.

Bain sat down and swiveled his seat to face Kurok. "Not a good situation, DJ."

"No." Kurok agreed. "And I"m not sure we're going in the right direction in solving it."

"Hm."

The doctor glanced up at him. “Been a damn long time since the last time I was called that.”

Bain smiled briefly.

**

Jess steered her slightly rabid sounding followers into the caffeine station.  “Look.” She held a hand up. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.”

“Jess, how can you even consider going out with one of them?” Elaine asked. “Why not just find a cat outside and let them drive? You’re going to get your self killed. No one wants that.”

“Maybe I do.”

Utter silence fell for a long and uncomfortable moment.  Jess fell back to lean against the wall.  She rain her hand through her dark hair, avoiding their eyes. “It’ll be fine.” She said. “Worse comes to worse I can drive the damn thing.”

“What if they catch you?”  Jason asked. “You heard what he said, they want you, Jess.  Why put yourself in their hands? Tell these guys no. You can. I’ve heard you.”

Jess studied them both. “Because it’s not the right thing to do.” She said. “We’ve got four people trapped there.”

“Who could give a crap about you. They went. We didn’t.” Elaine said, bluntly.

“Doesn’t matter if they give a crap about me.” Jess said.  “Doesn’t even matter if someone dumps the plan.  I’m not going to sit here in my ass while four people are out there getting shot. If you two don’t want to go out – don’t. I’ll be the decoy then figure out how to get over to them and get them out.”

“Jess.”

“So I’m an asshole and its impossible.” She shrugged. “Who cares?”  She pushed off the wall. “Now I’ve got to go prep.  Hell if I know what’s secure around here… if you’re interested, I’ll let you know when I’m ready and we can meet in my quarters.”

Jason sighed.  “Do we bring Tucker and Brent?” He didn’t even look at Elaine, obviously sure of her answer. The two had been in training together, were several years older than Jess was, and were frequently paired in the field. 

“Do you?” Jess turned the question back at him. “They’re your partners.”

Elaine went to the dispenser, and requested a bottle. “I hate this.” She turned around, holding the bottle between both hands as though warming them. “How in hell do we know what’s safe and what’s not?”

“Tucker and I have worked together for ten years.” Jason said. “Brent’s been part of the team for twelve. “

“And Joshua was for nine.”  Jess shrugged. “But if what you said in there was right, Jace, and he was turned recently then time in service doesn’t matter.”

Both senior agents looked disturbed. Then Jason scratched his scalp at the back of his neck and looked at Jess. “Shit. Maybe your damn bio alt makes sense after all.”

Elaine snorted softly. “Until it drives you into a cliff wall.” She studied her bottle. “I say you and I meet with Jess, Jace.  We can fill them in later.  This sounds more like an in and out anyway, no hard tech.”

Jess nodded. “Deal.” She reached around Elaine and requested her own bottle.  “Let’s hope the weather clears and we can get this done.”

“Let’s hope the weather clears regardless.” Jason followed them out and down the hallway, heading back towards the residential corridors. “We don’t need any more floods.”

**

Jess cleared into her quarters, glancing around as she entered and spotting the evidence she’d been reprovisioned in her absence.  She could see the uniform module in service, and her duffel had been delivered back and was sitting next to her bed.

She dropped into the chair at the workspace and swung the pad around, reaching over to trigger her console and freezing as she heard a slight noise beyond the sliding portal to her right.

For a moment, she’d forgotten.  “Ah.”   She studied the door with a frown.  Then she got up and went to the inner door, pressing the annunciator chime and waiting.

After a very long pause, the door opened, and she was facing the bio alt.

Dev had changed, she noted, into the dark green field service kit.  “You get settled in?” She asked.

“Yes.” Dev said. “They brought everything I needed.”

“Good.” Jess said. “Okay, so.. “ She held her hand against the door so it wouldn’t close.  “Um.”

Dev tilted her head a little to one side. “Is this where you live?” She pointed behind Jess.

Jess turned, then turned back. “Ah, yes.” She said. “It is.” She watched Dev nod thoughtfully. “We’re going to have a planning session later on in here. We have to go and get some people out of some trouble.”

Dev’s body posture altered, as she straightened up a little and her chin lifted. “We?”

‘That’s what you came here for, right?”  Jess asked.  “Wasn’t it?” She looked curiously at Dev. “They did program you to do this, didn’t they?”

“Yes” The bio alt responded.  “They did.”

“Okay.” Jess said. “So I’ll call you when we’re having the session. “ She watched the woman nod again. “Did you get a meal?”

Dev turned and pointed at the refrigerator. “They left water and crackers there. I had some.”

Jess winced.

“I liked them.” Dev went on. “Were they not for eating?”

“Let me show you where the mess is.”  Jess exhaled. “C’mon.” She motioned the bio alt forward.  Once Dev cleared the door she let it shut, then she led the way to her own outer door.  “You can eat those. Not sure why you’d want to, but they’re survival rations.”

“Oh.”

Jess led the way down the corridor and around the bend towards where the communal area was. She passed a number of people, most of whom did a double take on seeing her, and then a second on seeing her companion.

Mild entertainment.   They crossed the large central hall and paused, as Stephen caught sight of them and hurried over.

“Jess, here’s the weather.” Stephen glanced at Dev, then at the film.  “Nothing good. Don’t think you can.”

He stopped talking as Jess put her hands over the report and stared at him.  “Thanks.” She said. “I appreciate your checking.” She folded the film and put it in a pocket.  “We’re going to the mess.”

Stephen glanced again at Dev. “Oh.”

Jess circled around him and continued on down the corridor, moving past the operations desk and down the left hand turn that would take them into the operations dining hall.   “Only field ops in here.” She commented briefly, scanning the door open and motioning Dev to precede her.

Dev stepped inside, and looked around. The room was large, with many different levels to it, the same dark gray at the rest of the facility but with somber splashes of color in the fabric of the chairs arranged around the small tables.

In the back, on the highest platform, there were several large tables arranged near the wall, with seats behind them. They were empty.   Two of the smaller tables were occupied, and the people at them had turned to stare at her and Jess when they entered.

Dev was used to being stared at. It didn’t bother her. She returned there gaze with a mild neutral expression, waiting for Jess to instruct her further on what they needed to do.

“C’mon.” Jess indicated a food line in the back.  “We line up for everything but dinner when we come in here. That they serve.”

“All right.” Dev followed her willingly as they passed through the tables.  She watched what the other woman did, and picked up a tray, putting it down on the railings as they moved down them.  “We had facilities like this in the crèche.”

Jess glanced at her. “Did you?”

Dev studied the now incomprehensible things facing her.  There were dispensers and trays of what she assumed were edibles, but the smells and sights were completely unfamiliar. “Yes. But there was only one thing. They just gave it to us.” She looked back. “What do you do now?”

“You pick what you want.”  Jess frowned. “You know how to do that?  I didn’t figure lunch was a challenge.”

Dev’s face twitched a little. “I don’t know what any of this is.” She admitted.

Jess rubbed the bridge of her nose.   Then she turned and punched in a set of numbers, waiting as the dispenser rumbled and clattered, then opened to reveal a divided tray of steaming food. She put it down on her own tray, then coded in the same set again. “Well, this has never killed me so it probably won’t kill you either.” She took the second portion and gave it to Dev.

Dev studied it, as she followed Jess down the line, finding a glass of something added to her selection before they picked up the trays and walked over to a small table.    She  sat down, glad now  that Doctor Dan had brought her to the fancy place to prepare her.

People were still staring at her.  She retrieved the utensils, reaching over and taking a sip from the glass to give her a moment to study what was on the plate.

The taste in the glass made her pause though, and she pulled it back and looked at it. “What is this?”

Jess looked up from cutting her food. “What?”

Dev lifted the glass. “This?”

“Kack.”  Jess said. “Generic caffeinated grog with vitamins.”

It was very odd.  Dev took another sip, trying to decide if she liked it or not. It was faintly spicy, and a bit sweet, with a hint of effervescence.    Then she put the glass down and took a bit of one of things on the tray and put it in her mouth.

It had a mildly chewy texture, and a nice taste.  “And this?” Dev asked. “It’s good.”

Jess swallowed a mouthful of it. “Fish stew.”  She said. “Most of what we eat here is fish based.” She pointed down and to the left. “Locally got.”

“Fish.”  Dev spoke the word thoughtfully.

“Yeah.” Jess pointed at the rest of the tray. “That’s fish, and this is seaweed, but they make it taste like something.  This is mushroom.”  She pointed at the last section. “They grow it in caverns near the bottom of the cliff.”

“Oh.”  Dev tasted a bit of of the seaweed.  It seemed to be in a creamy substance, and she found she liked it as well. The mushrooms were dense and rich, and reminded her very faintly of the protein cakes from the crèche.

All good.  She dug in with a sense of relief.  Doctor Dan had warned her there would be very different things to contend with downside, but she was very glad to see not all of them were different in a bad way.

“That all right for you?” Jess asked, after a moment of silence. 

Dev nodded. “It’s very good.” She said, after a swallow. “Thank you.”

Jess was silent for a few minutes more, then she looked up again. “What did you have upside?” She asked. “Plastic pellets or something? Must have been if you could eat those crackers.”

“Well.” Dev took a sip of the beverage. “Tea mostly, to drink.” She indicated the cup. “And they just made a cake for the main thing, I think it had beans or soy, with greens and maybe some fruit.  It depended on what the test facility was working on.”

‘Fruit.”  Jess mused.  “Maybe Bain knows what that’s like.” She went back to her plate. “None of us could afford it.”

Dev paused and studied her for a moment. Despite the words, there didn’t seem to be any resentment in her table companion’s voice, just a matter of fact commentary.   “You know, only the really important people in the crèche would get to have something like this.” She pointed at her plate. “So I guess it’s relative?”

Jess glanced up, a look of dark humor in her eyes. “You think?”

Dev wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  She felt a little bit confused as those pale eyes watched her, almost glad when a throat clearing at her right hand side made them both look up.   A woman was standing there, dressed as Jess was.

“Elaine.”  Jess half turned. “What’s up?”

The woman cocked her head slightly. ‘You going to introduce me, Jess?”

Jess looked at her, then at Dev. “Sure.” She said.  Her eyes went to Dev. “What do you want people to call you?”

Dev was caught flatfooted. “Excuse me?”

“You’re asking a bio alt what they want?” Elaine’s eyebrows hiked. “C’mon, Jess.”

Jess glanced at her. “This isn’t a pod tech.” She said. “I don’t invite them to lunch.” She turned back around. “What is it you want people here to call you? I know what your label is.” She said. “My name is Jesslyn Drake. But people call me Jess.” She paused. “When they don’t’ call me bastard, or jackass, or asshole.”

Elaine chuckled reflexively.

“Oh.”  Dev nodded. “Okay, I get it..” She looked up at Elaine. “My designation is Biological Alternative, set 0202-164812, instance NM-Dev-1.” She said. “But you can call me Dev.”

 Elaine stared at her. “That doesn’t sound like a regular bio alt set name.”

“It isn’t.” Dev agreed. “I’m a developmental special set.” She blinked placidly at the other woman.  “Experimental.”

“Oh.” Elaine said. “Well, I’m Elaine.” She somewhat hesitantly extended a hand in greeting. “I think we’ll be working together.”

Dev clasped it and released. 

“Elaine’s an agent, like I am.” Jess said. “She works with an outsider tech named Brent. He’s over at that table afraid to come here and meet you.” She indicated a tall, blond haired man seated nearby.

“He’s not afraid.” Elaine frowned.  “He’s just not comfortable with all of this.’

Dev looked at Jess, seeing a clearly defined expression of scepticism there.  The man Brent was dressed exactly like she herself was and as she watched he glanced over at them, then looked quickly away.

So was he doing what she would be?  Did he think she wasn’t capable?

Things were getting very, very interesting.

**

Jess and Dev walked back to their quarters through very quiet corridors.  “Everyone’s keeping their head down.” Jess commented.

 “I see.”  Dev murmured, after a slight pause .”They afraid the man with the gun is going to take them off?”

Muffling a snort, Jess stopped in mid stride and looked at her.

Dev stopped as well, and stood there, head tilted slightly in question.

“Did you…”  Jess said, then paused, shaping the air with her hands. “Was that a joke?”

“Did you think it was funny?” Dev inquired.

“Yes, I did.”

“Then it was a joke.”  The bio alt commented. “If you didn’t think so it would still have been a joke, but an unsuccessful one I wouldn’t use again.”

Jess’s lips twitched. “Did they program you for that?” She started walking again.   “For jokes?”

“No.” Dev replied. “Most of us have a sense of humor. “ She followed Jess around the corner into the residential hall. “It varies.”

“I can see you have the dry variety.” Jess said.  “Good. So do I.  It’ll make it easier to work together.” She reached up and tightened the knot of hair at the back of her head. “I don’t like stand up yuck men.”

Dev’s ears perked up.   She really didn’t know what that was, but it sounded like the agent had accepted her and that bode well for her not being immediately returned to the crèche. She had no illusions that she would be eventually, after this experiment was over, but the longer she stayed, the more experience she’d be able to get, and that might mean something later on for her.

If she didn’t get hurt doing this, as Doctor Dan had warned.  She wondered if Jess had ever gotten hurt doing her job. It sounded dangerous, even more than the tasks she’d been programmed for.

There was a man standing in front of Jess’s door, one that she remembered from the communications hall. 

“Hey Jason.”  Jess greeted him.  “Reports not ready yet.”

“I guessed.” He held his hand up, with had a small, gun like device in it.  “Ready for this?”

Jess stopped, and looked at him.   Dev thought she might be angry, and she wasn’t sure what was going on.  But after a minute,  the tall woman relaxed, and waved a hand at the plate on her door for it to open.

Dev started to walk around her, to go to the other side of the hall around the corner where her own door was. 

“Wait.”

Dev turned, to find both of them looking at her.  “I was going to work on some sims.” She said. “I found some in the catalog in that room.”

“You can come in this way.” Jess indicated her quarters. “I wanted to introduce you to Jason here anyway.”

The man didn’t like her. Dev could tell.  But she nodded in agreement and followed them inside, standing quietly as Jess walked over to her workspace chair and then turned,  releasing the catches on her jumpsuit and pulling it half down to expose her upper body before she sat down. 

Dev blinked a few times as she found herself handling a slew of inputs all at once, some really unexpected.   Jess’s body was a rich, golden color and she could see a few faint scars, which answered her earlier question. But the most striking thing was the intricate designs on her arms, start at the tips of her shoulders and going down.  There were black lines and color, and small dots in an uneven pattern between them, and she realized one whole limb was complete down to the wrist, and the other halfway.

Wow. She had nothing at all in programming for this.  What was going on?  She knew no one in the crèche had markings like that.

“Jason, this is Dev.” Jess said, putting her forearms down on the chair and leaning back.  “She’s going to drive my bus for me.”

The man looked at Dev. “Yeah?”

“Dev, this is Jason. He’s also an agent.” Jess said. “He’s about to carve me for my last gig.”

‘Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”  Dev addressed the man politely.

He stared at her. “Charmed.” He said briefly, then turned his attention back to the gun like device, which he triggered, producing a vivid blue light at the tip.   “Don’t you have some cleaning to do or something?”
Jess abruptly lashed out with one leg, slamming her booted foot against the man’s knee and sending him careening to the floor, juggling the gun frantically as he fell.  “Don’t be a jackass, Jason.” She warned. “It’s not her fault she’s here. “

“Son of  a bitch are you crazy!” Jason managed to get hold of the device and rolled over. “I could have shot the whole fucking room out!”

“We have plenty.”  Jess didn’t look either alarmed or sorry.  “Bain wants this project to succeed. I’m not going to be the one who prevents that, and if you have a brain cell left in your head you won’t either.”

Jason paused in the midst of getting to his knees and stared at her, his eyes narrowing as Jess’s brows hiked meaningfully.  “Oh”

“Sit.”  Jess waved Dev to one of the chairs near the workspace. “Not many people get to see one of us get marked.”

Dev had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Okay.” She managed to answer. “What does that mean?”  She sat down and tried to assimilate everything that had just happened, but her thoughts wouldn’t settle properly and she gave it up after a minute.

Jason got up and pulled a chair over, settling himself next to where Jess was. “I get you.” He said, making some adjustements.  “It’s just really damn hard.”  He looked over at Dev. “No offense meant, kid.” He said. “I’ve just been at this a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of people kicked downstairs for your kind.”

Dev still had no idea what was going on, or what downstairs was.  “I’m sorry.” She replied.  “I can tell you none of us wants to harm anyone.”

“Of course they don’t. They’ve got no more choice about being here than you and I did, Jase.”  Jess said. “If you want to be mad, be mad at the bastards at the top. They made the decision.”  She flexed her arm and turned it slightly.  “Put it there.”

Jason grunted.  

“Being marked.”  Jess turned to Dev. “They don’t let us put patches on these suits anymore like in the old days. You could get a patch or a mark for all your achievements.  We can’t do that now so we do this.”  She pointd at her arm. “For every gig, for every mission, we tell the story here.”

Dev stared in fascination at the designs. 

“Where it was, what it did… “ A high pitched buzz sounded and Jess licked her lips, setting her feet squarely on the floor as Jason leaned close with the device in his hand.  “Who we lost.”  She took a breath. “Who we killed.”

“Ready.” Jason braced the hand holding the gun with his other hand.  He waited for Jess to nod, then he carefully pulled the trigger, and the blue light jumped from the gun to Jess’s skin, with a high keening sound and a faint sizzle.

Dev felt a shiver go down her spine.  She could see Jess’s body stiffen and her eyes closed, though her breathing remained steady.

“Didn’t think I was going to get this mark.” Jess said after a  minute or two.

“Yeah.” Jason murmured softly.  “Lot of dots for this one.”

“Thirteen black. Don’t short em.”  Jess said, in a clipped tone.  “Twelve of them there and Joshua.”

“Hm.” Jason grunted.

Dev felt very out of depth. She could smell the faint scent of burned flesh, and she could see the muscles in Jess’s legs jumping and she realized whatever this was probably hurt a lot.  There were a lot of marks on her arms, and the whole thing seemed just a little insane to her.

“Green or no?”

Jess was silent for a while. “ Can a complete failure be a green?” She asked.  “No. Leave it clear.”

“Okay.”  Jason made another adjustment. “Color.” He warned, leaning close again, and the high buzz returned.

“Joshua’s the reason you’re here. “ Jess looked over at Dev.   “He was my partner. My tech.” She said. “The other side bought him and he led us into a trap and knifed me in the gut.”

Dev’s eyes widened.

“Bastard.” Jason muttered.

“So you’re going to be my bus driver.” Jess said. “You’re never going to be my partner. You understand? No offense.”

Dev lifted her head a little and their eyes met.  “I do understand.”  She said. “Doctor Dan told me what happened.  I’m really sorry for you. It must have been terrible.”  Her eyes never left Jess’s and as the silence lengthened,  the buzz faded.

Finally Jason cleared his throat. “Sucks it took one of them to say that.” He said. “None of us did.”

Jess’s gaze dropped, and she sat there just breathing for a minute. “You done?” She said. “I’ve got weather to look at.”

Jason decommissioned the gun and clipped it to his jumpsuit, getting up from his chair and dusting his hands off. “Yeah.” He said. “Put some rub on it when you get a chance. I’m going to get some grub.”  He turned and left, and the door slid shut behind him with a faint thump.

It was awkwardly quiet for a minute. “May I look at it?” Dev asked.

“Sure.”  Jess murmured.

Dev got up and went to the chair Jason had used, settling down on it and studying the red raw design now carved in Jess’s skin.  “Wow.”

“Stupid tradition.” Jess sighed. “But once you start you can’t stop it.” She looked at her arm, then at Dev past it. “I always promised myself I’d retire out before I got both sleeves.”  She pushed herself to her feet. “Now I really do have weather to study. “ She indicated the inner door between their quarters. “Get some rest.  I’ll call you in when it’s time to talk about the mission.”

“Okay.”  Dev got up and went to the door, then she turned. “Thanks for letting me help you.” She said. “And thank you for showing me the dining hall.”

Jess settled behind her desk and leaned on it, gazing at Dev thoughtfully.  “If nothing else, we’ll learn something.”  She said. “You’re interesting.”

Dev paused with her hand on the touchplate for the door.  “I think you’re interesting too.” She replied, with a faint smile, before she triggered the latch and went through it, letting it close behind her.

Jess sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers lightly on the arms.   Then she exhaled and pulled the sheets Stephen had given her over, unfolding them and reaching out to touch the console pad. “Ouch.” She grimaced, as she pulled at the newly raw skin on her arm.  “Maybe it wasn’t smart to do that when we’re flying tonight.”

She adjusted the light and studied the report, touching a finger on the dotted lines and sweeps, grimacing as she analyzed the information. “Or maybe not.”

**

Dev stood for a minute in her chamber, just listening to her own heartbeat slow and settle.  Once it had, she went over and got a bottle of liquid from the dispenser, opening it and drinking it down in a draught. 

Then she went and sat in her chair, trying to decide what to do.   Jess had told her to get some rest, but Jess had also inferred that they might be going out on a mission tonight so she realized her tech skills would be put to a very real test very real soon.

She’d been in the sims for the carriers, of course.  She’d known she would have to pilot them, that was part of the programming and she’d done a whole shift in the lab for that.  But sims were sims, and she decided she’d set up a session and review everything just to be sure.

That decided, she went in the sanitary facility and used it, still bemused by the swirling water.   Then she came back into the main part of the chamber and went over to the bed, sitting down on it curiously and then laying down on her back.

Very different from the crèche and it’s snug, rotating pods that cradled you and rocked you through the night. 

This was cool, though yielding, the surface conforming to her body in a comfortable way, but wide and spacious giving her room to spread out as much as she wanted.

The pillows were also mild and yielding, and they cradled her head, making it easy to relax.  She did so for a few minutes, watching the lights adjust themselves as the pressure of the bed was detected an analyzed.

The illumination softened and darkened, and she found herself thinking about everything she’d seen in the long day.

Her leaving from the crèche. The arrival at Interforce.  The killing of the director.  Being given her things. Being given this space.  Lunch.

Jess.

She thought about the design she’d seen cut into Jess’s arm, and how sad it seemed to her that these people, these soldiers seemed to have so hard a life, that they had to carve their accomplishments into their own flesh and get no thanks otherwise.

And what had Jess meant when she said she hadn’t had a choice to be here either?  Dev looked at the faint glints of mica in the rough cut ceiling.  That she didn’t really understand, nor what she’d meant when she referred to Elaine’s tech as an outsider.

What did that mean, really? And, what had Jason meant by knowing people who were kicked downstairs, as he had said, because of her kind?

Did he mean they’d lost their place here, because of bio alts?  Dev frowned.   What was downstairs?  Could it really be that natural born people had been displaced like that? She’d always thought that bio alts did tasks no natural born would want to, and they would have gone on to do something more interesting or rewarding in its place.

Surely that was true. Surely they didn’t just throw those natural born out.  Dev got up and walked around, feeling a burst of nervous energy.   That’s how it was in the crèche.  The natural born people did the important jobs, and the bio alts did the rest.

She climbed up the steps to the training area, and seated herself at the console. 

But.  She put her hands on the pads and keyed them.  But here she was, doing a natural born person’s job.  This had been Joshua’s job.

His job, and his rooms and Jess, his partner.

But she wasn’t to be Jess’s partner.  Jess didn’t want that.  Joshua had betrayed her.  She was just here to help.

She wanted to help.  She wanted to do well for these people. 

She wanted to do her best, certainly, for Jess who had defended her, and been nice to her, and who apparently wanted her to succeed.

Who found her interesting.  Dev studied her reflection in the console.  

Interesting.

**

Part 4

Jess took a sip of her kack, her eyes flicking from one screen to the other studying her options.  The weather had put a halt on an immediate leave and now it looked like she was going to have to wait for daylight to go.

Sucked.  She scanned the metrics again. It really was a fairly simple plan. She’d target the laboratory she knew they had the new growth tech in, aiming for a supply station entrance halfway up the hill the place was built into.

No doubt she’d draw a crowd.   They’d cut off trying to communicate with the two teams, hopefully giving the impression they’ considered them destroyed and were no longer interested in them.  Wouldn’t b the first time, both sides knew it. 

You cut your losses. Made no sense wasting precious resources chasing after a lost cause.   Jess knew if she hadn’t made her own way out in her last gig chances were no rescue would have been attempted for her.

She didn’t resent that.  It was just the way it was – they were valuable resources, sure, but they were, as she’d told Dev, expendable when there were other things at stake. 

Her comm buzzed, and she tapped it. “Drake.”

“We meeting?” Jason asked. “Weather tanked.”

“Yeah. Bring Elaine over.”  Jess said. “We’ll be plus eight to go, but might as well go over the  outline.”

“Be there.”  Jason cut the comm off.

Jess leaned over and tapped another button. “Dev?” She waited. After a pause, she tapped again. “Dev?”

With a soft crackle the circuit opened “Yes.”  The bio alt’s voice responded. “My apologies. I was investigating the wet space.”

“The what?” Jess stared in puzzlement at the comm..

“There is a space in the sanitary facility with a pipe over it.”

“Oh. The shower.”  Jess said. “You were taking one.”  She listened to the faint sound of breathing coming over the comm., as her new next door neighbor considered what she’d said. That was one thing she’d noticed about Dev – she waited to talk until she knew what she wanted to say.

“Yes.” Dev finally concluded.  “If you mean, I went under the pipe and got very wet.” She added.  “That was unusual.”

“You don’t have showers upside?”  Jess found herself weirdly distracted by this odd conversation.

“We do.”  Dev said. “But they don’t involve getting wet.”

“Oh.’ Jess said. “Well, dry off and come over. We’re going to run the plan.” 

“All right.”  The bio alt replied.  “Thank you.”

The comm cut off.  Jess gazed at it in bemusement for a minute, then she went back to the console screen and started assembling the information she would need to lay out the statistics and the routes to her colleagues.

Two minutes, and a knock on the inner door sounded. Jess pressed the ingress key and the door slid open, revealing  Dev’s slim figure.    The bio alt’s hair was damp, slicked back off her forehead and giving her finely etched features a slightly tougher cast.   “So water’s a novelty for ya, huh?”

Dev sat down in one of the chairs across from Jess’s workspace.  “Running water, yes.” She agreed. “They made all the water in the crèche. They told us it was expensive.  The natural borns had it, I think, in their quarters but we used flash rad to clean our skins.”

Jess leaned on her elbows. “Radiation?”

Dev nodded. “It would burn off our sleepclothes and the first layer or so of skin.” She said. “Effective way to get rid of dirt and any bacteria.” She inspected her hand. “I think I like water better.”

A soft chime came at the outer door.  Jess pressed the release button, then sat back as Jason and Elaine entered. “C’mon in” She swiveled both displays around and slid them back so everyone could see them as they approached warily and took the seats next to Dev.

“Okay.” Jess sorted out the sheets.  “Weather cranked us.”

“Heard that.” Jason said. “Shaking the roof upstairs.”

Jess nodded. “Big e-stat storm coming overhead.  Met figures it’ll clear by oh six.”   She touched a control, and displayed a map on the screen.  “Here’s the frontal boundary.”

“Big one.” Elaine commented.  “Wouldn’t want to be out in that.  Is it going to reach the other side?”

“That’s our cover.”  Jess ran the scan forward. “See that? It’s scheduled over the drop site just before twelve hundred. We come in behind it. “

Both Jason and Elaine nodded.

“Then we…” Jess motioned between herself and Dev. “Split off, and head for the front door of the lab there.” She pointed. “You two come around the side here, and tuck in behind the cliffs.”

“You’re not going to drop in there, Jess.” Jason said. “That’s suicide.”

Jess shook her head. “Not in my plans but I want them to think I am. “ She said. “I’ll take out the outer post here.. “She pointed at a lonely outcropping surrounded by sea.  “With the guns and then come in at wave level. “

“Freak them out.” Elaine said. “And with the chop they can’t be sure you’re alone.” 

Jess nodded.

“So then we wait for the plugs to rush off to grab you, and we go get Dirk and Patrick.”  Jason said. “We get out. You get out, you join us, we run for home.”

Jess nodded again. “Real basic. Nothing fancy.  We just want to get them back.” She pushed two slips of film at them. “Here’s the plotting coordinates. If I were you, I’d wait until we’re underway to program em in.”

Both agents looked very uncomfortable.  “Brents gonna freak.”

Jess shrugged.  “Fact is, Bain said he thought someone was still talking from inside.” She said. “You want to risk it?”

“Jess.” Elaine leaned back and crossed her legs at the ankles. “I was thinking about that.  Doesn’t make sense they’d use the same vector twice. They don’t, y’know?”

Jess grunted.

“How do we know it’s not …  I mean, maybe it was Bricker.”  Jason said.  “I remember taking classes with him a year ago or so – he didn’t seem like such a hothead jerk back then. I liked him.” He went on. “So maybe he was turned, and he turned Josh?”

“Jase’s right. He has changed… or he did change, anyway.” Elaine agreed. “When he was a group leader, I always thought you could trust him. Hell – he was given just like we were.”

It was tempting.  Jess studied her colleagues, and the silently watching bio alt. Tempting to think it was all Bricker, and now that he was dead, they could relax and be safe again.  “Josh liked Bricker.” She allowed. “He used to have dinner and drinks with him.”

Elaine eyed her. “Rumor said more.”

Jess put it all aside. “Maybe.” She lifted a hand. “But right now, we  don’t’ have time to look at that.  Let’s get the teams back, then we can regroup.  If we’re lucky, you’re right, and it was him but if you don’t tell your techs, and the plan gets spilled we know two things – one, you were wrong and it wasn’t him, and two, there’s still someone out there.”

“Damn I hope it was.”  Jason groused. “I hate walking around with clouds over my head, and we’ve got the new group coming in next month on top of it.  That’s twelve more unknown vectors. “

Six new agents, six new techs, fresh from the ops academy. “I know.”  Jess agreed. “But it’ll be good to get some of those empty bays back in action. I ‘m starting to feel like a really dying breed here.”

They were all silent after that.

“So, flight deck at oh four?” Jason finally said.  “I’m going to get some bunk time. My head’s exploding.”   He stood up, stretching his body out. “Meet you all for breakfast?”

Jess and Elaine nodded, and Elaine stood to join him in leaving.   They stood in awkward silence, then they turned and went to the door, leaving Jess and Dev alone behind them.

Jess studied the door somberly for a moment, before she turned her attention back to the bio alt. “You ready to do this?” She asked bluntly.

Dev considered the question.  “I have done all the reviews I can on the sims.” She said. “I am as prepared to execute your request as I can be, given the circumstances.”

“Sims aren’t the real thing.”

“I know.” Dev said. “I’ll do the best I can.”

They were both quiet for a minute. “So you figured out the shower, huh?”  Jess said. “I never thought about that whole water thing upside.  We have so much of it.”  She paused. “Want to see a lot more than that shower?”

Dev’s eyes searched her face with interest. “Sure.”

“C’mon.” Jess got up.  “It’s close to dark, but we can still see it.”  She led the way out of her quarters and went along the corridor, turning left at the central corridor and heading down a dark gray painted hall. 

They passed three section scans, then she turned right and went into a longer corridor with low, green tinted lights.   It was empty except for the two of them, and as they continued, the air became a little thicker and wetter.

“We can only stay out a few minutes. Storm’s coming overhead.”  Jess turned a final corner and faced a thick metal door, with a prominent palm scan. Letters stenciled in black on it were clearly visible.

“Exernal Access. This is an airlock.”  Dev read them.  ‘What does that mean?”

Jess grinned, and keyed the door.  It opened with a grinding, sucking sound revealing a square metal box. She stepped inside, and waited as Dev joined her with a somewhat cautious look at the stark walls. 

Then she keyed the outer door, and processed the lock. The inner door sealed, and then the outer released, with a  pressure change that made their ears pop.   At once, the box was filled with the intense smell of salt and a damp wind buffeted them with a roar.

Jess stepped forward onto a small rocky outcropping, and leaned her arms on the rough stone wall.  After a moment’s hesitation, Dev joined her, the bio alt’s hair and her own lashed back by the ferocious wind.

Dev put her hands on the stone, the surface feeling cold and damp under her touch as the airlock door closed behind them. 

It was strange.  She was looking out over a wild, white ruffled surface under a cap of solid, multilayered dark and light gray, and in the distance she could hear a heavy, almost continuous rumble.  “W.. .what is this?” She asked, raising her voice above the sound.

“It’s the ocean.”   Jess replied. “This is what used to be called the Atlantic Ocean, matter of fact. “ She glanced around at the high cliffs, weather worn and stark.   “It’s water.”

Dev looked out over the wild scene, breathing in the rich, mineral scented air.  The water was only about a hundred feet below them, crashing against the wall of rock sending spray up so high it almost reached them.

It was amazing.  Dev could only stare at it in wonder, it was so unlike anything she’d ever experienced or thought she would experience.  “It’s big.”

Jess chuckled. “It’s very big.” She agreed. “We’ll be flying over it tomorrow. “ She touched the wall. “These cliffs this old place is tunneled into used to have a huge waterfall coming over it.  Now the water’s taken over. “ She looked down at the surging waves.  “It’s our life now. We generate power by it, take food from it, and it’s why you have a water shower.  We’ve got plenty of it. About the only thing in the world we have plenty of.”

Dev could feel the rumble move through her, and she looked out over the surface of the water, seeing a seething motion that seemed never ending.  She edged forward and looked down over the wall, seeing the white foam at the base of the cliff washing over the rocks and rushing in and out of holes she caught a brief glimpse of.

They were standing on a small niche, with room for probably a dozen people on it. “What is this for?” She asked Jess. “This little place?”

“Just for us to look.” Jess answered. “To see storms coming in.” She pointed a a line of gray. “That’s what’s keeping us here tonight instead of going out. See those flashes?”

“Yes.”

“Electromagnetic surges.  They’ll knock a carrier right out of the sky. Shorts the systems out.”

“Oh.”  Dev could see the crackling bolts, and the flashes in the far off clouds.  “That sounds difficult.”

“We have a cavern downstairs.”  Jess said. “Sometimes we go down there, when it’s calmer, and swim.”

“Swim?”

“We jump in the water. In the ocean.”

Dev looked at her with unabashed wide eyed astonishment.

The rumble got a lot louder, and Jess turned and keyed the door. “Time to go in.  Storms too close.”  She waited for the panel to enter, then ducked inside and closed the door as soon as Dev cleared it.  When it shut, the sudden lack of sound was almost ear ringing.

Dev ran her fingers through her hair, straightening the wind blown disarray.  “That was amazing. Thank you for showing it to me.”  She licked her lips a little. “It’s salty.”

“Yes.” Jess agreed. “Ocean’s full of salt.  We scrub it to make it drinkable and then the salt’s used for cooking with the rest of the stuff they scrape out of it.” 

They walked along in silence for a few minutes.   “Do the colors mean something?” Dev asked as they crossed from the gray back into the dark blue, heading for the lighter blue of the residential corridor.

“Sort of.  They say they used to all be the same color, and everyone spent all their time getting lost so they changed them up so at least you can see if you’re in ops.. that’s the blue tones, or med, that’s yellow, or security, that’s red, and so on. There’s a chart in the docs in the system. You can look it up.” 

Dev thought about that. “They did that upside too.” She said. “You could tell where you were, what level, and that kind of thing by the walls.”  She paused. “But it wasn’t as big as this and there was nothing like what you just showed me. The only thing a little bit like that was the null grav gym.”

Jess keyed her door open. “The what?” She waved Dev forward. 

“Null gravity gym.  It was a big padded place they turned off grav in, and you got to play catch me, and ball, and do exercises.” Dev said.  “It was in the top of the crèche, and it had a clear ceiling, You could float for a minute, sometimes, and just watch the stars.”

“Stars.” Jess paused in the center of her quarters. “I’ve read about those.”

Dev stopped at the internal door between their quarters and looked back. “If you ever come to the crèche, I’ll show them to you.” She offered. “I think they’re really nice but not nearly as exciting as the ocean is.”

Jess met her eyes, then looked away with the faintest of smiles. “Get some rest.” She ordered. “The alarm will go off at 0300.  Then we’ll get to see if Bricker and Bain were right, and you’re worth something to the job or not.”

Dev nodded, then passed through into her own bunk, letting the door shut behind her.

Jess looked at the door briefly. Then she started towards her workspace, but midway there changed her mind and went back to her bed instead. She lay down on it and put her hands behind her head, looking up at the mica infested ceiling of the chamber.

“Stars.”  She murmured. “Huh.”

**

Dev went to the wardrobe module and examined the drawers again. In the crèche, she’d slept in the soft paper garments they all changed into before getting into the sleep pods, which would be sucked off and recycled the following morning.

Here she wasn’t really sure what to do.   After a few moments thought, she stripped out of the jumpsuit and hung it up, leaving her in her underwear.  Then she put on a light undershirt she’d found on the shelves, that came down to her mid thigh, and had half sleeves.

That seemed all right.  She went over and pulled the covers down on the bed, climbing into it and pulling them back over her.   The surface of the bed conformed to her at once, and the lights dimmed, and she felt the covers warm to her skin.

She was tired.  With the time alteration and the early start to her day,  the tension and the activity had kept her on edge since they’d left the crèche and now she was glad to relax her body, and know she had some time to rest before her first big trial.

It was exhausting, she’d discovered, to be in such a strange place, with all strange people, all disliking her for various different reasons. 

No one really wanted her to be there. She was a little sad about that, because having a placement here had been so exciting for her, despite how hard and strange the programming had been.  She had been looking forward to being able to use that training, and it made her feel bad to know that so many people here were against that.

Only the man with the gun seemed to be for it, and Doctor Dan.  The agents didn’t seem to trust her, and the other techs definitely didn’t want her around.

Then there was Jess.

Dev thought about Jess.  She wasn’t really sure what Jess’s view on her was.   She’d gotten the impression, in fact, Jess had said outright that she was working with her just because the ma with the gun wanted her to.

She had said, also, that she didn’t consider Dev a real part of her team, just a driver. 

It seemed quite clear. 

But really, Jess had been the only one in the place so far who had a friendly word for her, and who had offered to help her find her way.

Was that because the man with the gun wanted it that way?  Dev rolled onto her side and settled her head comfortably on the pillow.  If so, she was glad. At least there was someone who was willing to talk to her like she was a real person.

She wanted to do well for Jess.  She’d gone through the sim a dozen times, and hoped it would be enough to let her drive the carrier for real.

She trusted her programming.  She only hoped Jess would trust her.

**

The alarm bonged softly at 0300.   Jess blinked, as the lights inside adjusted and produced a quiet glow that gently illuminated her quarters.   With automatic motions, she got out of bed and shook herself, letting the last shreds of sleep fall away.

Wisps of her last dream faded with them and she didn’t’ try to recall what it was. There was an aching tension in her shoulders that meant it was a bad one and she was just glad it hadn’t gone on long enough to wake her screaming.

She retrieved a mug of kack from the dispenser and opened it, taking a long swallow as she walked into the sanitary unit as the lights helpfully came up inside.  She used the facility, then she started the shower running, pausing before she entered to go back into the main area and trigger comms to the overhead speaker on listen.

The familiar drone of the ops center filled the air and she listened for a minute, hearing nothing alarming, and then went back and took off her sleepware and stepped into the steaming water.

It felt good and she stood for a bit, letting the water pound against her. She pulled in a breath full of steam, the flat metallic scent of the water so very familiar to her.  She took a handful of scrub and burnished her skin with it, then used another handful and washed her hair. 

Old custom.   Most people in the world now used dry scrub or didn’t bother.   The rain came almost every day, and everyone got caught out in it.  To deliberately wet yourself was something that had come to be seen as wasteful and strange, but here in the fortress they all did.

They had the hydro power to run the desals, and the scrub was made from throwaway elements, so why not?   Jess rinsed her hair out again, and stood for another moment, letting the hot water relax her muscles.  It was one of the marks of Interforce, that neatly cropped, clean shaven look that was a long ago holdover from the national forces they’d all descended from.

She got out and shut the water down, then toweled herself dry and made her way thorugh the main chamber to the dressing station, popping it open and taking out a set of underwear and putting them on. Then she opened the second part of her cabinet and removed a drop suit, slipping into it and snapping the catches on.

Unlike the jumpsuit they all typically wore in the facility, this was different. It was far heavier and had lightweight body armor built into it protecting her most vital areas.   There were integrated comms and leads for the carrier systems and buckles and clips for her weapons.

She picked up her boots and carried them to the workstation, leaning a finger on the comms. “Dev?”

“Yes.” The answer came back immediately.

“Ready?” Jess asked.

“Yes.”

“C’mon in here.”  Jess released the button and sat down to pull her boots on.   A moment later the inner door opened and her tech entered.   She briefly scanned her slight form, noting she had found and put on the carrier ops rig and was holding her own boots in her hand. “Sit.”

Dev did,  putting down one boot and putting on the other. 

“You sleep okay?” Jess asked.  “I can imagine most of this is pretty strange.”

Dev glanced up at her. “Really well, thank you.” She said. “It’s very comfortable.” She put on her other boot.  “I really like the wet thing.  It makes my skin feel good.”

“The shower?” Jess smiled briefly.  “Yeah, I like it too.” She stood up, and after Dev did also, she scrutinized the bio alt’s gear with a critical eye. “They give you programming for this?” She pointed at the suit.

“Yes.” Dev said. “But also, there are some things that are left to natural sense.” She said. “Like putting underwear on, and that sort of thing. We don’t need programming for that.”

Jess started chuckling.  “You are really different from the rest of the bio’s we have here.” She admitted. “Are there many like you topside?”

Dev straightened her cuff a little. “I’m the only one they’ve produced in my set so far.” She said. “So I guess no.”

“Ah.” Jess pulled her hair back in a tail and quickly braided it, then tucked it into her collar.  “So you’re one of a kind, eh?”

“Yes.”

Well, that was interesting.  Jess climbed the steps up to her weapons locker. “Let me just get rigged, and we’ll grab some chow.”  She opened up the case and took out the stun knives, sliding them into their sheaths and added her sidearm into it’s holster.

Her heavy weapons were in the carrier, but she took the time to clip on a utility flash and a multitool then she trotted down the steps and waved Dev towards the door. “Let’s go, kid.” She said. “Time to make the doughnuts.”

Dev followed her willingly, but had a slightly perplexed expression on her face. “What’s a doughnut?” She asked. “And how do you make them?”

“They’re mythological.”  Jess said.

“Oh.”

**

Dev had to stop a moment just to stare when they entered the carrier hanger.  It was a huge cavern, larger than any space she’d ever seen inside before, and it was full of parked vehicles, most huddling in the dark.

Three were lit, however, and several bio alt mechanics were moving around them with pads and tools.   Jess headed towards the one furthest on the left and she quickly trotted to catch up with her  as Elaine and Jason split off and went to their own crafts.

Overhead were giant panels in the roof, on tracks that apparently opened to let the carriers out.   The whole place smelled of organics and synth oil, and echoed with the sounds of latches engaging and bangs of tools.

Dev’s eyes took in the carrier Jess was nearing.   Her programming kicked in, and the outline of the squat, powerful vehicle hit familiar chords as information about it poured in.   The outside color was mottled gray, except for the identification code stenciled outside the hatch, and Jess’s last name printed underneath it.

Jess palmed the hatch lock and ducked inside as it opened and Dev followed her, trying to take everything in as quickly as she could.

Programming gave her the inside before she saw it, and she nodded as she moved past the strapped down bucket seat Jess would ride in and went up into the nose of the carrier, where a second station was waiting for her.

The inside of the carrier was packed with gear.  Mostly electronic, monitoring and scanning systems, gyros, and positioning rigs.  To one side a rack was lashed that held long muzzled laser rifles and one heavy projectile cannon, and the drop pack with it’s jet systems.

Dev went to the pilot’s seat and settled into it, feeling the gimbals shift as it took her weight.  She took a breath and looked around at the console, comforted when a mental image of the sim settled over the reality of the controls and they started making sense to her.

“Run the checklist.” Jess’s voice was cool and a little distracted. 

“Yes.”  Dev flexed her hands, and settled back into the seat, waiting a moment until the programming kicked in and her fingers reached out to start the sequence. ‘Systems coming live.”  She warned, as the console came to life and in rapid succession, the equipment packs to her right and left followed.

Jess slowly sat down and watched in bemusement as the carrier came alive around her, as the slim hand of the bio alt went through touches and settings as though she’d done it many times before.

Dev activated the leads and hooked them into her suit, sliding the comm rig over her head and tucking the ear cups into place.  She flicked her eyes to the registration number and then keyed in a command.  “Carrier BR27006 systems check.”

“Stand by.” A mechanical voice answered.  “Stand by BR27006.”

“Standing by.” Dev said.  She looked at the console readouts, and pulled a pad over, keying in the various settings and supplies they reported.   She saw an incoming request, and reviewed it. “They are asking to setup an intercom.”

“Go ahead.” Jess said. “That’s Jason.  It’s so we can talk to each other.”

“Intercom set to channel 4500, sideband 2.”  Dev spoke into the comms.  “Read back?”

“Confirmed.”  A male voice answered. “Channel 4500, sideband 2.  Brent out.”

Jess quickly checked the heavy arms, then she reached over and punched the door seal, closing out the sounds of the carrier bay.  At once, the internal sounds of the vehicle, the click and whir of the life support, and the low hum of the pre start engines became obvious.  

She could see Dev making adjustments, and she pulled her own pad over, and scanned the system readouts.  After a moment, she looked at the back of the pilot’s chair and let out a small, surprised breath. “Damn.”

“BR27006, systems check complete.” A voice called quietly in Dev’s ear. “Stand by for switch to internal systems.”

“Standing by.” Dev watched the readouts, as the umbilicals were removed and they were on internal power.   She could see the spool ups for the two big engines and the launch jets and she triggered the restraint system that closed around her holding her snugly to her seat.

Her feet in the boots found the side jet controls, the chair gimbal moving to adjust for her height.  Now that the internal systems were online, whispered voices started in her ear as systems came up to flight ready and reported to her.  “I think we’re set.” She reported to Jess.   “Everything’s online and green.”

Jess was seated in her chair, with her arms folded.  “You actually know how to do this.”

Dev turned in her seat and looked back at Jess. “Yes.”

“Unreal.”  Jess settled a comm set over her own head and triggered it. “Blue group 1, Blue group controller.”

“One, Tac 1.”

“One, Tac 2.” 

The answers came back in clipped tones.   “Report ready.” Jess said. “We are ready and standing by to launch.”

Bare hesitation.  “Tac 1 ready.”  Jason answered. “Standing by.”

“Tac 2 ready’ Elaine followed a beat later. “Standing by.”

“Ask control to open the gates.” Jess told Dev. “We’ll launch first, you all follow.  When we get to the first set of coordinates, I’ll split right you split left. Copy?”

“Understood.”  Jason reported.

“Gotcha.” Elaine said.

“Control,  this is BR27006. Requesting access for flight please.” Dev spoke into the comms. 

Even through the hull of the carrier, they could hear the roof opening, the huge metal panels grinding apart and allowing a thunder of water into the bay, drops falling and slamming into the carrier roof with a muted roar.

Dev settled herself and put her hands on the engine throttle controls,  her mind going over her next few steps.  She was glad she had the programming so solid for this, everything seemed familiar to her and the readouts all clicked in her mind.

“BR27006 this is control.” The voice said. “Access is granted. Launch when ready.”

“Go.”  Jess said.  “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Dev took a deep breath, and let it out, then she thumbed the launch jet controls and felt the carrier shift under her.  In the next moment, they were rising past the carriers on either side, and she gently puffed the side jets to position them under the wide opening.

It was like the sim, and not.  The rumbling and the sensation was the same, but there was a spatial difference she realized immediately and she gave the launch jets a little more power to get them up and out of the cavern. 

Below her, she spotted the two other carriers lifting to follow, and then she was above the hatches and into the steady rain still falling around them.   She shifted sideways again, and rotated the carrier 360 degrees on the horizon, looking at the endless expanse of craggy lifeless land and then the equally endless expanse of ocean.

The two other carriers emerged from the cavern, and hovered, as the big panels slid shut.   Dev programmed into the coordinates Jess had given her, and then she turned. “Ready to fly.”

Jess was still watching her, with her arms crossed, and a bemused smile on her face. “Let’s go, then.” She said. “So far, you’re doing fine.”

Dev smiled back, then she turned and settled herself again.  She opened the controls for the propulsion engines and triggered them, waiting for them to engage forward motion before she shut down the launch jets and they started forward.

The rumble of the carrier grew and the engines spooled up,  increasing their speed as they left the cliffs behind and headed out over open water.    It was very dark, but the multiband sensors in her forward display let Dev see in front of her as though it were daylight.

She increased the speed, and then settled down to watch the readouts, tweaking the trim on the carrier until the outer rumble slowed, then faded, as they went through the speed of sound. 

“Jess.” The intercom crackled.

“Yes, Jason?” Jess leaned back in her chair. 

“You driving that thing?”

Jess chuckled. “Nope. I’m sitting in the back, about to start checking my guns.”

“Shit.”

Dev glanced behind her.  “I’m sorry if I’m causing him disturbance.” She returned her attention to the readouts, making a slight adjustment to their trim. 

“That was a compliment. Don’t’ worry about it.” Jess said.  “Okay, I’m going to check out the weapons systems. Don’t make any loud noise. I’ve got a jumpy trigger finger and I don’t want to shoot Jason’s butt from under him.”

Dev’s eyes widened a little, and she turned around again to look at Jess.

Jess grinned, and winked. “Keep your eyes on the road, kid.  We’re going to have us some fun.”

**

The long trip had given Dev ample opportunity to explore all the controls on the carrier and she was now reasonably comfortable with them, settled back in her chair as the water skimmed under them for mile after mile of ruffled white gray surface.

Jess had tuned the weapons systems that were rooted in her console, laser cannons mounted on all sides of the carrier along with two racks of flash bombs in eject tubes.  Now she was working with the pad at her station, keying in trims on the cannons and keeping an eye on their progress.

She hadn’t spoken much.  Dev occasionally glanced back at her, noting the absorbed expression as s she went about her tasks.  “Sixty minutes to edge of the storm.” She said, as Jess looked up and met her eyes.

“Good.”  Jess said. “Okay, here’s the plan.” She got up and came over to where Dev was sitting, kneeling at her side with her pad in her hand. “This is the layout of the base.”  She leaned her forearm on the arm of Dev’s chair and indicated a wiremap diagram.

Dev looked at it attentively.  There was a triangular block in the center, with a tracing over it outlining entrances and a landing field.  “Okay.”

“We go past the Gibralter outpost.”  Jess pointed at the wedge.  “That’s where they should pick us up and start chasing us from.” She moved the pad image along and pointed at a set of scattered islands. “That’s the Spanish Archipelego where most of the experimentation happens, and this is the control center at Andorra.” She indicated another large wedge.   “That’s our target.”

Dev nodded.

“The service port those other teams were going for is here.”  Jess swiped at the pad, enlarging the wedge and pointing out a ruggedly cut square depression just below the summit, obviously a landing pad.  “They’re pinned down here.” She swiveled the diagram and pointed to an uneven overhang in a narrow part of  a V shaped crack in the rock.

“Okay.” Dev agreed.

“So the tricky part is, we need to keep this thing in one piece while they chase us.” Jess said. “It’s got halfway decent shielding but it won’t take more than a couple direct hits, and being blown to molecules would ruin my day.”

“Yes.” Dev nodded. “Mine too.”

“So you need to let them get close enough to think they’re going to catch us, but not close enough for them to nail us. “ Jess said. “You can use these ridges here, and the edge of the cliffs  - they have to think we’re going for the service port.”

“Okay.” 

“So then we are.”  Jess said. “You’re going to put me down in that entrance and I’m going to leave them a calling card just for what they did to me the last time.”

Dev looked at her.  “I don’t remember you going over that in the plan.”

Jess smiled. “What I didn’t tell everyone they can’t tell anyone else.”  She said. “If Bain’s right, and there’s another leak inside Interforce, then they’ll expect me to just try and draw them off from the others, which means, they won’t really chase me. “

“Okay.” Dev nodded slowly.

“So then I can get into the service port, and give them something to really worry about. That will draw them off.”

“But they’ll come after you.”

“You’ll have to draw them off, then come back and pick me up.” Jess agreed. “It’ll be tight.”

“I’m sorry, you did realize I’ve never actually done this before.” Dev reminded her. “That wasn’t anything I ever even sim’d.”

Jess studied her face, at fairly close range. “So we’ll find out for sure if you’ve got the chops for it. Otherwise, chances are we’ll both croak.”

Dev studied her somberly. ‘That seems like a non optimal plan.”  She commented. “Are you sure you want to do it?”

Jess felt a prickle of surprise.  One thing Joshua had never done was question her.  Techs didn’t. They weren’t the strategic part of the deal.  What did this bio alt know about risk anyway? She looked back at Dev, taking a breath to tell her off when she was caught by the expression on her face.

Serious.  Intent.

Concerned.

She re-sounded the question in her head.  “Why wouldn’t I want to do it?” She countered.

“Well.” Dev glanced at her consoles, then back at jess. “If something happens and it doesn’t work, then both the other teams, and two with us, and you and I might not return.  Does this achieve your goals?”

Jess revised her anger.  “I’m gambling on the fact that theyre more interested in me than the others.  If I focus them on me, the rest of the teams have a much better chance of getting out of here in one piece.”

Dev considered that, and they sat in silence studying each other. “I will do the best I can to do what you ask then.” She finally said. “It would be a good thing if we all got out in one piece.” She swiveled around and put a hand to one ear. “BR27006.”

“Long range scan, one inbound.”  The soft speech sounded in her ear.   

“What is it?” Jess asked, since she’d left her commset back on her station.

“They say they are picking up a single signal inbound to us.” Dev said.  “Directly ahead.”

‘Interesting.” Jess scuttled back to her station and slid into her chair, swinging the commset up and onto her head.  She pulled the pad around and started tapping on it, her eyes flicking to the various screens and readouts on her own console.

Dev focused on the air ahead of them, still full of rain, and wisps of cloud they were traveling through.  She adjusted her scans and after a minute, they picked up the inbound signal also, a quick pan showing no identifying squirts that would mark them friend or otherwise.

It was coming fast, though.  The comp quickly tabulated a vector and she heard Jess behind her starting to activate the weapons systems.

Her harness snugged down and the inside lights, already fairly dim, went to ice blue. She saw two panels come active and she adjusted the power leads from the engines as they shunted energy to the weapons systems  Jess was now spooling up.

Dev took hold of the throttles and keyed off auto gen, holding the course by hand as she adjusted the side jets.  The incoming object was heading right for them, and now the scan was warning  distance. “Five minutes out.”

“Do you have an ident?”

“No.” Dev flexed her hands on the throttles. “Do you want me to evade it?”

“Hang on.” Jess got her hands into the triggering gloves and activated the targeting system.  At once, she had a heads up display of what Dev was seeing through the front windows, and side panels that showed her the sensors on the outside of the carrier.   “Let it come close enough for visual, then turn to port and come up over it.”

“Okay.”  Dev reviewed what she’d have to do, and nodded to herself.   She put the scan up on one monitor and watched it, seeing the blip getting larger and larger on the display. 

“Tac 1, Tac2.” Jess’s voice sounded over the intercom.   “We’re going to engage the incoming. Stand clear of my zenith please.”

“Done.”

“Clear.”

The male voices answering almost sounded alike, except one was a little deeper than the other.  Dev had met the other two techs at the dining hall and their reaction to her had been so unfriendly that Jess had felt she needed to say something to them about it.

Dev wasn’t sure that was a good thing.  She understood why they felt the way they did.  Certainly, she thought the two men and also the other agents had resented Jess’s words.   But she had to admit to herself she had gotten a certain odd sensation when it had happened that she still hadnt’ figured out.

“Okay, here it comes.”  Jess said. “Get ready.”

“Ready.” Dev replied.  She focused her attention on the forward window, trading the scans for realtime.  Ahead of her, she could see the heavy cloud bank they were flying under and she searched the edges of it for the first sight of the oncoming craft.

A faint flicker, then there it was. “Visual.” Dev said.  “Evading.” She took the craft into a bowing turn to the left, then hit the bottom jets and the starboard side ones, boosting the carrier up and over the intruder.

“Circle back.” Jess yelled.

Dev held the turn, then rotated the throttles and blended the jets to bring the carrier around in a tight turn, half on it’s side . She spotted the craft and dropped down to come alongside it, close enough now to see it clearly. “It’s another one of these.” She said in surprise.

“Fuckers.”  Jess slid around in her station. “Tac 1, Tac 2 loose empty, probably rigged. I’m going to take it out clear standby.”

“Clear!”

“Clear!” 

“Hold her steady.” Jess told Dev, as she brought the guns to bear and and fired at point blank range. As a stitching of fire creased the other carrier a bright pinprick of fire erupted near the engines. “Crap! Take her up! Hurry!”

Dev reacted instantly, kicking in the bottom jets and hauling the throttles up  at full power, booting the starboard thrusters and peeling the carrier off at a high G high speed arc that took them up into the clouds.

An explosion behind them rocked the air, rumbling through the carrier walls as they punched through the lower cloud layer, and they were between that and the upper one.  Dev hit the scan and located the other two carriers, and completed the turn, pitching down through the clouds again and sending out a location burst ahead of them on shortwave before she hauled the carrier into a tight turn to bring them back on course.

Her heart was hammering, a little.  She was almost at the point where she was overrunning the programming, the sims not quite up to replicating the events she found herself a part of. 
“Okay.”

“Erf.”

Dev glanced quickly back over her shoulder, spotting Jess righting herself in her chair.  “Are you all right?”

“Peachy.”  Jess put her commset back on. “Tac 1, Tac 2.  Stable?”

“Stable, confirmed kill.” Jason answered. “Nice. Sent a squirt.”

“Stable.” Elaine echoed.  “Close in scan showed that to be BR24004.”

Jess exhaled. “Crap.”

“Got that.” Jason replied. “So we know.”

“Damn it.” Jess muttered, clicking off comm and staring at the readouts.  “Damn it, damn it. They’re probably both gone. This is a goose chase. That was one of the two carriers that we’re after.”

Dev adjusted her controls again and put the carrier back on auto nav.  She half turned again in her seat and looked back at Jess.  “I’m sorry, but does that mean the people we’re going to try and retrieve are not as expected?”

Jess gazed quietly into nothing for a moment.  “They’re probably either dead or wish they were.”  She said. “It’s hard to get into one of these carriers if the people inside it don’t’ want you to.”  She glanced at the hatch. “There’s an integrity sensor and when it’s breached the gun systems implode.”

“Oh.”

“That carrier looked untouched.” Jess felt sad. “So they must have been let in, to tamper with it, and given codes.”

“Oh.” Dev’s voice took on a completely different tone. “You’re… “ She paused. “We’re not supposed to do that.” She corrected herself.  ‘Programming told me.”

“No, Dev. We’re not supposed to do that.”  Jess sighed.

“So are we continuing on this course?” Dev asked after a long moment’s silence.

Jess sat back in her seat. “Let me think about that for a bit, kid.” She let her head rest against the back of the chair. “Just keep us on track for now.”

Dev turned back around and ran her eye over her settings, then she peered out the forward window, seeing the bulky outline of the clouds overhead in the eerie glow of the infrared.  She checked the clock, and snugged her straps a bit tighter, wishing she had a drink of water somewhere around.

She heard Jess unstrapping and moving around, but she kept her eyes forward, watching the horizon for the first sign of land, wondering how this latest development was going to change the plan.

After about five minutes, Jess appeared at her elbow, handing over a sealed vacuum container and opening one of her own.  “If it were two carriers I just blew up, we’d have turned back already.” 

Dev examined the container, and opened it, finding a cold, slightly fizzy beverage inside. She took a sip of it, wondering if Jess had somehow heard what she was thinking. 

“But there’s still a team there.” Jess went on.  “And  I can’t just go back and leave them and not know.”

“Okay.” Dev nodded. “I’m sorry something happened to that other one.  I hope it isn’t as bad as you think it is.” She lifted the container. “Thank you for the drink. I needed one.”

Their eyes met briefly. “There’s a dispenser there, behind the scan console. It’s tucked in back, you can barely see it.”  Jess said. “Sorry. Should have told you when we came in. It’s not standard.” She was perched on the edge of the console, running the edge of her finger against the container.

Dev wasn’t sure what to do. She sipped her drink, watching her readouts and from the corner of her eye, watching the silent figure at her left hand side.

“Anyway.”  Jess straightened abruptly.  “So maybe we won’t drop.  At this point, I don’t know what to expect when we get there.” She went back to her station and sat down, setting the container in a swinging holder as she went back to looking at scan.

Dev put her own cup down and ran over the engine settings, making sure the power levels were where they needed to be and everything looked normal.

Normal.  Dev had to rub the bridge of her nose for a moment.  Normal?  She had gone from her classes in the crèche to driving a half strange transport into a big fight in just a sun’s complete turn.  Her life could not possibly have changed more than it had in the last day.

Could not possibly.

“Thirty minutes to the edge of the storm. “ She told Jess. 

Jess put her pad away and drained her drink.  She got up and went to the drop pack, checking the harness carefully and running the device thorugh its diagnostic checks.  Little more than a set of small, tightly controlled air jets it was designed to let a person wearing it fall out of the lower hatch of a carrier and land without killing themselves.

Or that was the theory anyway.  Jess had several long healed bone breaks from using the thing, but it was safer and more controlled than either gliders or chutes and in an area like they were going into, full of cliffs and rocks, at least it would give her a chance at an upright landing.

She opened the harness up and got it clipped, ready for her to step into if the time came. Then she set up one of the big laser rifles in it’s holder on one side, and a grenade launcher on the other, balancing out the weight.

She made sure they were secured, then she sat back down in her seat and powered up the weapons systems again.

So what was the plan now?  Jess glanced up at the pilots seat.  Joshua would have asked a dozen times already, nervously messing with switches and toggles up there.   In contrast, Dev was quietly running her checks, and getting ready to take the ship off auto nav, her eyes never ceasing to move over the readouts watching them closely.

Very surprisingly competent.  Jess was uncomfortably stunned at the level of knowledge the crèche had given this kid in a week, aware of just how long it would have taken a natural born person to get to this level.

On the one hand, at least she knew the kid probably wasn’t going to drive the bus into a cliff.  At least, not more so than any of the other techs.  ON the other hand, if they could do this with just one week’s lead time…

Holy shit.  Maybe that’s what Bain really wanted. Get rid of all the troublesome, stubborn artifacts in the company and replace them with cute, competent, smart kids.

Who he could trust.

Who he could order by the dozens if he wanted and not have to pay the family tender rights.

Jess stared at the back of Dev’s head.  Should she let that happen?  “Did you say you were the only one of you?” She asked, suddenly. 

Dev turned and looked back. “Yes.” She said. “I always sort of envied my crechemates who were part of a set group.  They always had people to talk to.”

Jess managed a brief smile. No,  there would be no instant conversion.  Even bio alts took the same years to grow up and mature as natural born did.   So even if Dev did work out, it would be… “How old are you?”

Dev’s nose wrinkled a little. “Seventeen and a half standard years.”  She admitted. “We’re not supposed to be assigned before eighteen, but this was a special request.”

A kid indeed.  Jess did the math.  Even if it did work out, she’d be either retired to a watchman’s role, or dead by then.  So what the hell.  “I wont’ tell anyone.” She said. “Let’s get in there, and see what we see.  Play it by ear.  I’d like to find out at least what happened to our four.”

Dev nodded.  “I”ll do my best.”

“I bet you will.” 

**

They were moments from the edge of the storm, and Dev throttled back to match the carrier’s speed with with the energy shot edge of clouds she could now clearly see on the horizon.  She checked the positioning estimate and saw the edge of the Gibraltar outpost on the far position on the grid.

That was where Jess said they would start chasing them.  She rechecked the sensors, moving from one view to another until she was sure they had a good view all around the shuttle so she could see things coming at them.

The scan would tell her positioning, but she knew enough about the systems to know that sometimes they weren’t one hundred percent correct.  It was good to be able to see for yourself too.  The sims did that  - more than once she’d requested a perimeter view and found obstacles, or once even a stalled shuttle that the scan hadn’t reported.

So she checked and rechecked, feeling a nervous ball start to form in her stomach as they crept closer. 

This was hard.  Dev wasn’t sure she was up to this task, it’s demands overrunning the amount of programming she had for it.   She knew what to do, but she also knew things would start happening so fast she would have no time to think about it.

“Okay.” Jess exhaled, bringing her systems live. “Let’s get ready to run the gauntlet, kid.”

Dev had no idea what a gauntlet was or why they would want to run one, but she settled her hands on the controls, put her boots on the thruster pedals and hit the toggle that would flood her comms with all the inputs of the carrier.

Instantly, the sound of the wind outside trickled in, and she could hear the thunder and crackle of the storm. The screens over her seat came alive with views around the carrier and she focused on the forward screen, where she knew the storm would roll over their target any minute.

Behind it, they were hidden. There was so much disruption in the atmosphere in the leading edge no scans could see past it.  They were coming in hard behind it, the two other carriers to their left and right, a few thousand feet to their rear.

Dev’s heart started beating faster.  She felt uncomfortable, her mouth was dry, and her hands felt shaky.   Her forward display was showing the nearby flashes and behind her, she heard Jess hitting contacts, making a strange low noise as she did so.

Disconcerting.

“Dev?”

“Yes?”

“Good luck.” Jess said, in a quiet tone.  “Just go with it.”

Dev had no idea what that meant. “Okay.” She agreed.  “Storm is over Gibralter, standy by for clearance.”

“Here we go.”  Jess brought the targeting systems online and started hunting.  “Tac 1, Tac 2. Soon as we clear for scan, split left. We meet at the drop zone.   Look for the remaining carrier, and report.”

“Understood.”  Jason said. “Meet you on the flip side.”

“Go.” Elaine added. “Luck.”

“Thanks.” Jess said, clicking off just as the storm cleared the rocky promontory and her scan came alive with signals. “They can see us.”

Dev sorted the incoming signals, almost feeling the scans bounce off the hull of the carrier as the storm rolled over the big rock and exposed it’s raw, rugged flank to them.  She could see lights peppered across it’s surface, and then a beacon flared out, heading towards them.

Instinctively, she pitched the carrier forward and nosed down,  and the beacon flashed past them. Dev saw lights start to flash on the rock face and then scan told her multiple targets were moving towards them and she hauled the throttles up and hit the engines to full.

Two dart shaped forms came whipping towards them.  Dev pitched the carrier to bring the nose right between the attackers,  trying not to flinch as a barrage of laser fire came right at them.

A bare second later, return fire flashed past in her peripheral vision and the two darts split to either side, and she arched between them, seeing another line of darts now heading their way.

“Draw them to the right.” Jess said. “Get behind the rock then go down to the deck. The waves’ll confuse em.”

Dev waited for the line to come into range, then she pitched down, then hard right as a hail of hard point missiles rattled against the hull.

“Bastards.”  Jess twitched her fingers, keeping on scope as the carrier turned half on it’s side, and the projectiles thumped against the well shielded bottom.  The gyros kept pace with the motion though and she let loose a burst of laser pulses that streaked against the gray sky and wrote a stitching of fire across one of the darts.

It blossomed into fire and the machine headed for the water, a small ball heading the other direction marking the pilot’s ejection.

Jess tracked the ball, and squeezed off a shot just as her world turned up side down as the carrier did, before it just as quickly rolled around right side up and then she was under at least five G’s as they went into a steep climb.

Targets, targets.  Warning bells chimed in her ears and she focused on her task, firing long, ripping bursts at the dozens now of ships heading toward them.

Laser fire was everywhere, blossoming to the right and to the left, and blanking scan briefly  as the carrier dodged the shots. 

She was heartened, by the reaction. The defenders hadn’t been there waiting for her, she’d had a good ten minutes inbound before they reacted. That could only be a good sign.  She now capped off the comms, putting the intercom between her and the other two carriers on battle silence., knowing they would be doing the same.  “Go go go.”

Dev didn’t take a second to look back. She was fully engaged in figuring out how to get out of the way of the dozens of ships chasing them, and keeping the carrier in constant erratic motion to dodge the bolts headed their way.

It was scary.   She tried to keep them all in view, her heart thumping hard, seeing a group of six heading her way that triggered, suddenly a burst of programming.   Something told her about that group, and about that formation and as she pitched away from them she saw them split apart.

She knew, somehow, that they were going to encircle her.   She focused on the six, and saw them curving around, and she saw the two heading for the waves to cut off an escape that way.   She rolled the carrior and dodged a blinding flash of laser fire then she caught sight of three of the darts closing in on her.

A blast hit them on the left side. She felt the shudder and two red alerts started flashing on the board.  Another flash went to portside, and then she twisted the throttles, kicking the side thrusters hard as she slid under one of the darts and the screens momentarily blacked out, as the rumble of counterfire hit at such close quarters it nearly fried the scans.

Another alarm went off as she turned in the other direction, then she pitched the nose down and skimmed past one of the lower guards so close the dart peeled off and dropped into a spiral to avoid hitting them.

Fire erupted all around them. Dev was totally unsure if it was against them or from them, the flares were so vivid it was causing sparkles in her own eyes.   She pushed the throttles forward and dove for the waves, seeing them white and stark against the rock as the gray light grew around them.

 She saw one of the darts cross her path, and she turned the carrier onto it’s side as the dart fired at point blank range, their bottom armor rumbling as it absorbed the energy, and the vessel shuddered again as their own guns cut loose.

There was an explosion so close to them they lurched sideways in midflight, and she righted their flying angle and looked frantically around.  For a moment, they were in the clear and she saw a ledge projecting out from the big rock and she aimed for it, intending to duck under it and curve along the  rock.

She could see a sudden flare of lights along the granite surface, and scan erupted as the darts who had been diving  at them diverted and streaked for the wall to get between her and it.

She heard Jess laugh behind her, but she wasn’t really sure why.   She dodged a spinning dart heading for the waves and reached the ledge moments before the rest of them, turning alongside it and increasing speed as she felt Jess let loose with the guns in a long, continuous, rumbling barrage.

The rumble was replaced with a larger one and all of a sudden the darts were heading away from her, and the rock and she had a clear shot around the edge of the promontory. 

“Faster.”  Jess commented. “Got a boom coming behind us.”

A what?  Dev obediently pushed the throttles forward and kpt as close to the rock as she could, sensing a motion in the air behind them. She checked the rear sensors and her eyes nearly came out of her head when she saw a fireball exploding out from under the ledge.

She hauled up on the controls and shoved the throttles forward again to full speed, hearing the imminent collision alerts and feeling the buffeting as the advance wave of the explosion caught them and she felt the carrier start to tumble.

She went with the motion shoving hard on the side thrusters to keep them away from the rocks as she fought to regain control over the carrier.     The two big engines flared, and she was almost deaf from the alarms and the sound of impacts against the hull.  

No control.  She abruptly cut the engines and felt the carrier drop out of the rampaging explosion and plummet for the surface of the water as the energy flared over their heads.

“Dev?”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t mean to show you the ocean this soon.”  Jess’s voice sounded concerned.

“Oh.”

Dev was aware of the approaching surface, and she flared the side and bottom jets, evening out the flight of the carrier before she cut the mains in again so close to the waves they washed the bottom hull.

Then they were past Gibralter, and in free air again.  Dev gained altitude and started running checks, watching the scan reports for attackers.  “Where are they?”

“Keep moving!” Jess called out. “Head for Alterra.”

Dev started to respond to all the alarms, seeing clear scan for the moment.  She shut off all the emergency alerts, starting some of the programs that would repair what could be repaired inflight.  The systems started shunting power, whispers in her ear reporting damage and status.

They had taken damage in the rear shielding, and three of the external sensors were gone giving her little view on the port side.  The forward sensors cleared after a repair, and she looked out to see a gray lit day and a stretch of ruffled white gray water with a few  lumps of island rising in the mist.

Her heartbeat settled a little, as she realized she’d gotten through her very first air battle.   “Wow.”

She heard Jess release her harness behind her and after a moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder.  With a start, she half turned and looked up, blinking a little sweat out of her eyes.  “Yes?”

Jess smiled at her. “Good job.”

Dev smiled tentatively back.

Jess reset some triggers and then retrieved another two of the drink containers, handing one over to Dev before she returned to her own chair.  

Dev set the container into it’s swivel and wiped her damp hair back off her brow.   She could imagine she still felt the pressure against her shoulder of Jess’s fingers and gave herself a moment, just a small one, to savor this bit of accomplishment.

Then she went back to the boards, continuing the process of resetting alarms and assessing damage. They were running at top speed a thousand feet over the waves and she could see fog rising from the water everywhere, swirling behind them as their exhaust stirred it.

It was eerie, and a little beautiful. 

“They’ll be waiting for us at Alterra.”  Jess said.  “We need to make this fast.  I’m feeding you up the coordinates to the science center.  Head right for it.”  She keyed something into her pad.  “Make em believe we’re going to ram this thing right into entrance.”

“Okay.” Dev said. “Are we actually going to do that?”

“No, Dev. Dying’s not on my schedule today.”  Jess chuckled a little. “Just make them think we are. Then go somewhere else.”

Go somewhere else.  Dev turned and shook her head a little.  She saw the coordinates plot on her navigation grid and she flexed her hands, putting them back on the controls and taking off the auto nav. 

At the edge of the grid she could see the Alterra escarpment, and as she did, she saw a set of blinking lights erupt from it. “Is that them?”

“Yes,”  Jess slammed back into her seat and pulled her controls around.  “Looks like they spotted us.”

The lights multiplied and doubled, tripled, filling the screen with alerts and causing the scan to erupt.  “There’s a lot of them.”

“Yup.”

Dev could see them coming in from all directions.   “This is going to be difficult.”

“Only hard things are worth doing, kid.”  Jess said. “Remember that.”

Dev stared at the oncoming armada.  “Okay.” She shifted her hands on the controls. “I will try to remember that.”

“Good.” Jess tightened her harness and took a deep breath.   She got herself set and made live the guns, checking the power reserves and finding them acceptable.  

She hoped her diversion would let Elaine and Jason check the place where they’d last seen the other two teams.  She had no idea what they would find given the carrier she’d blown up.  But they knew where to look and they knew what to do with what they found.

She checked the time, and checked her plan grid.   Then she started the targeting systems and let the targets flood her consciousness. 

There were a lot.   She lined up the first six and launched a blast on alternating forward guns, glad the carrier’s weapon systems had a slightly longer range than their enemy’s.  She could see them forming into attack circles and one of them dove right for them.

In a heartbeat, they were in the center of a circle of death.  The enemy ships matched synch with them and started firing, and Jess fired back, then found herself inverting as the carrier did a barrel roll and the lasers rotated with the ship, nailing at least part of all of the enemy fighters.

Then they were through that bunch and going nose on to a second, when two of that group dove right at them.

Jess fired the forward guns and as they flashed by she grabbed a breath as she inverted again and went under heavy G as the carrier turned on it’s tail and her fire went right up the tailpipes of the retreating enemy ships and blew them out of the sky.

Holy crap.  

Still upside down, Jess found herself  launching a plasma bomb towards a cluster of fighters and then just before she started getting lightheaded they were right way up and she was holding her triggers down on the forward guns as they went full speed through enemy lines.

Dev was concentrating as hard as she could.   She was aware of the strain on the engines under her control,  but she used all the power she had to keep the carrier on a constantly shifting course as the air around her was filled with enemy fire.

Some was hitting the carrier.  She had alarms going off again.   The forward screen was almost constantly whitewashed with their own return guns as Jess blasted a path for them through the enemy ships.

The carrier was larger than the defenders, and better armored.  The defenders were more agile and faster. 

Dev spotted the entrance to the science center, a flat platform halfway up the escarpment with thick  barracades in front of it.  The door looked like it was big, and metal, and pretty much the same as the ones in the Interforce facility.

She spotted another wheel of figures fit themselves around her and she did another barrel roll, then her eyes widened as she came out of the inversion right into the path of a larger, more well armored craft.

She could see the laser cannons on top of it so she sent the carrier almost straight down, flinching a little as two of the enemy crashed into each other over her head.   She pulled up in a high G arc with all her engines firing, gritting her teeth against the pressure as she came up just under the bigger craft, hearing Jess let loose with the upper guns on it.

‘Nice!” Jess yelled.

Dev managed a brief grin as she dove for the waves again, seeing huge breaking waves below her.  She could feel the impacts on the hull of fire and a quick glance at the monitors showed a dozen darts coming after her all shooting  continuously.

Alarms blared.

Dev aimed right for the sea, hearing the mounting damage in her commsat. She knew she had to get out of range of them before the lasers blew the carrier apart.

Jess was firing the rear guns.  “Not much juice left!” She yelled.

Dev pulled the nose up just as they reached sea level as a huge breaker rolled up right into her path. She shot down the center of it, taking the carrier right through the huge phosphorescent tube of water as Jess let out a shout of surprise.

They shot out the other end of the tube and Dev blinked as the salt wash cleared and they were moments away from the escarpment.

She heard a huge disruption behind her.   But there was no time to wonder what it was as she fought to control her craft and get the nose up before they went headlong into the rock face.

By a whisper they didn’t.  She shot up the face of the cliff as Jess launched plasma bombs in a thumping salvo against it.   She held the carrier in it’s straight up climb until they shot up over the top of it and right into the cloud layer just above.

A blue light was flashing hard on the comms console.  Dev didn’t have time to look at it though. She arched the carrier over as they reached an altitude almost too high for the jets and curved back over into level flight.

Her heart was absolutely racing.  She could feel shivers going up and down her spine and she was alternately feeling flushed and chilled, panting through her open mouth as she caught her breath.

“Keep going!”  Jess yelled. “Go go go! They got them! We did it!!”

Dev stared in confusion at the console. “What?”

“The light.” Jess pointed. “That’s an ultraviolet squirt from Jason. They got them.  Get out of here! We did it!”

Dev looked around, and checked the scan, and found only fading targets, blips they were leaving behind as they raced between the cloud layers back in the direction they came.  “W.. why aren’t they chasing us” She asked.  “Where did they go?”

Jess laughed. “Don’t look a gift horse in the ass, Dev. Just fly.”

Dev wiped her brow and let out a long exhale, chills still running up and down her spine.  “Wow.”  She said. “That was crazy.”

Jess chuckled again.

“But I liked it.” Dev said, unexpectedly.  “I really did.” She half turned in her chair and looked at Jess. “It was fun.”

Jess peered at her from behind her targeting console, seeing the intense sparkle in her pilot’s eyes. “Hm.’ She grunted softly. “We may just have to keep you.”

“Excuse me?” Dev leaned towards her. “Did you say something?”

Jess smiled. “Take us home, Dev.” She said. “Before this thing falls apart.” She leaned back as the battered craft rumbled through the thick, moist air.  “There’s a lot more work to do.”

**

Continued in Part 5

 

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