Clint clasped his hands dramatically to his chest. “I’m in love.”
Jess rolled her eyes.
Dev grinned, a little uncertainly. “Is that good or bad?”
“Seriously.” Clint smiled back at her. “It’s really great when one of you all take a true interest in the old buses. We work hard to keep them flying.”
“And we take them out and wreck them.” But Jess’s voice was mild and indulgent. “Be careful, Clint. She kicked my ass as a pilot her first run. She’ll take your job away if you don’t watch out.”
“I didn’t kick you.” Dev objected. “I would never do that.”
“I saw the log.” Clint said. “So they figured out how to make the real deal, huh? Crazy.” He studied Dev with curious eyes. “Oh well. At least they made her cute.”
Dev gave him a slightly startled look.
‘Yes, they did.” Jess found herself agreeing, somewhat to her own surprise, enhanced when she caught Dev blushing at the words.
That made her blush, suddenly, the unfamiliar sensation making her swallow. “Hey.” She redirected all the attention to the carrier. “So what’s the deal with the engines.”
Clint hesitated, then he cleared his throat and went with the subject change, moving around to the far side of the carrier where the huge engines were cradled, waiting for installation into the frame. “Y’know I heard rumors we were getting some new gear, but I don’t know if the new stuff’ll hold up like these babies did.”
“They.. um..” Dev felt a little confused, and a little lightheaded, but she wasn’t sure why. “They had a lot of power.” She rallied on. “More than the sims. I was surprised.”
Clint beamed, fully restored to good humor. “Why thank you, kind lady.” He made a half bow. “I tuned them myself. Let me take the cover off the cowling here and show you some of the tunings.” He pulled a tool from his coveralls and started wrenching the engine cover, turning his back to them.
Jess tilted her head and regarded her companion. Dev was studying the ground, a faint smile on her face, and after a second, she looked up and met Jess’s eyes.
For a moment, the hangar faded out a little and then they both looked away and Dev was shaking her head a little as she stepped forward and joined Clint at the side of the engine.
Jess put her hand on one of the bare struts and just stood there watching. She was aware, vaguely that something a little odd was going on, but she wasn’t sure what it was, so she leaned against the carrier and listened to Clint’s monologue as Dev circled the engine and peered inside, the bright lights of the work bay gilding her pale hair.
Slowly her mind returned to the plan, and she straightened carefully, moving past the carrier and approaching the engine. “Clint, the old man wants me to buzz out probably plus 2. This thing going to be ready?”
Clint looked up at her. “Plus 2?” He exhaled, and looked around. “Crap, Jess. Most of my mechs are working on the retaining wall at the bay. We gotta get that done before tomorrow night.”
Jess lifted both hands slightly and let them drop. “Not my schedule.”
“No, I know.” The master mechanic sighed. “Well, Dev, you up to help out for real? I could use a pair of hands.”
“Yes.” Dev said. “That would be excellent.”
“We’ll do our best.” Clint said. “but Jess, I’m not guaranteeing anything. You may need to take a loaner if you have to go out plus 2.”
Jess frowned. The last thing she wanted to do was go out with a strange vehicle. It wasn’t as if Clint’s team didn’t take equal care of them, but you spent a lot of time learning the quirks of what you were… Her thoughts stopped, and she focused on Dev.
Dev, who had stepped into this carrier for the first time, and flown it with no familiarity at all. “We’ll cope.” Jess said. “I’d rather have ours, but Dev can handle it.”
Dev looked up and grinned at her over the top of the engine, a smudge of silicone grease on her nose. “Thank you.” She said. “I am not sure that’s really true, but I’m glad you think so.”
“Ah, and modest as well.” Clint leaned next to her and pointed out a bit of machinery. “See that? Regs say the noz has to be ten inches, but I found a way to put a throttle inside there that really boosts the exhaust.”
“Oh yes!” Dev straightened, holding her hands up as though they were around throttles. “I remember that, how much faster it seemed when I was changing direction, and heading up.”
“Yeah, I can still feel it.” Jess rubbed her own shoulder. “Knocked my ass out of my chair twice.”
Clint chuckled.
“I did?” Dev seemed amazed. “Really?”
“My fault. Forgot to tighten my harness.” Jess eased over and peered inside the engine. The internal mechanics of the technology she’d mastered never really much interested her. She knew how it all worked, of course. Every agent did, it was part of the training. You never knew when you might get caught outside and need to make repairs, for example.
But still. That’s what the techs were for, after all, to pilot the carriers, sure, but also to know how they worked, and be up on all the systems so they could keep everything moving at the rate the agents needed to get their goals met.
And Dev, apparently, was going to be one of those kind of techs who slobbered over the gears. Jess gave her pilot a tolerant look, as she dug into a gyro.
Without warning, Dev hopped up onto the engine and lowered herself head down into the inside of the big blast chamber, both arms braced on either side easily bearing her weight.
Clint gave her a surprised look, then cocked his head and glanced over at Jess. “Drake.” His face scrunched into a wry grin. “I think you may have gotten more than you bargained for in this new driver of yours.”
Jess gave him a wry look of agreement. “Had occurred to me.”
“Is that the plasma ignitor?” Dev asked, lowering herself a little more. “Wow. I didn’t know it looked like that.”
Jess walked over and poked her head inside the engine.
“Yes, that’s it.” Clint agreed, directing his hand flash over the object. “It’s one of the few things on the old crate that’s direct drive. That cabling system routes right into the throttles. Real old school.”
“Wow.” Dev pulled herself up and sprawled over the top of the engine, flexing her fingers a little. “I didn’t know that.”
“Wow.” Jess echoed. “I didn’t know that either.”
“Hey Jess.” Clint lowered his voice. “Are you going to trial that new weapons rig? The one they hook up to your head?”
Jess looked quickly around, but they were alone. She gave Clint a warning glare.
“Everyone knows.” He interpreted the look. “You know how this place is. I heard it in the lunchroom last week.”
Jess did know. She exhaled. “Not until they get the bugs out of it.” She said. “Since you heard that, you heard about what it did to Don”
Clint frowned, and nodded. Dev remained quiet, looking from one of them to the other.
“Not the way I’d choose to go.” Jess said with a note of finality.
“Gotcha.” Clint said. “So, anyway, once we get these chambers in here rebuilt, we can remount the engines.”
“I would love to help.” Dev reiterated. “This is great.”
Clint smiled. “You want to help too, Jess?” He asked.
“No.” Jess patted the engine. “I’m going to go run the tactics boards and see what’s out there. Catch up with you later, Dev.”
“Okay.”
Jess gave a light wave, and walked off, wondering why in the world she suddenly had an urge to learn about plasma injection.
And get her hands dirty.
**
It was late by the time Dev got back to her quarters, her head buzzing with all the stimulation from the day and her hands and arms covered in silica gel.