Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

Skylar said leaning in. Devonte felt his face begin to warm as she drew closer to him. Her arm brushed against him as she took control of the computer mouse. She hummed intently as she read. “This would still mean that continued exertion would eventually cause discomfort and potential exacerbation of the injury.”

“Uh…yeah,” Devonte said, closing the schematics. “It looks like it’s actually the foundational research for something else, but whatever it is, it’s locked behind so much security even I’m struggling to access it.”

Skylar’s eyes widened. “That’s exciting!”

“That’s what I thought as well,” he said, his face reflecting her enthusiasm.

They shared their theories on what the full research might be for a few minutes, with the ideas growing wilder and more insane. When Devonte suggested that it might be geared towards realistic sex robots for soldiers on deployment, the two of them agreed that obviously that was the only possible answer.

Devonte was the one to change the subject “By the way, Gunner left a trunk for you in the lab.”

Skylar nodded. “Did anyone see it besides you?”

“No. Why?”

She leaned in and whispered what she did.

“You what?”

“Hush!” she said, covering his mouth with her hands.

“Did you tell Greenwood?”

“Of course not. She’d lose her shit.”

He nodded. “True.”

Skylar swung her legs off the side of the bed and sat up. “I want to get started with it now,” she said. “You can join me if you like.”

“You probably need to go talk to Raymond and the general, first,” Devonte said. “I’ll head over to the hangar and get everything prepped.”

Skylar smiled with a nod and a bob of her crimson curls. “Okay.”

#

“Absolutely not.”

Skylar stood stock still next to Lieutenant Greenwood as the general shot down their request. Raymond looked over the conversation with great interest. Skylar noticed that his face didn’t show as much adversity to her suggestion as the general’s did.

“He says he wants to help us,” Skylar continued. “We could use his resources.”

“Forty-seven.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Forty-seven of my men. My soldiers. My family. That’s how many his raid on our base killed. And you think I would ever let him in here in anything short of a body bag…”

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind,” Skylar quoted.

“Don’t you quote that shit at me,” the general snapped. “My people are dead, and if I have my way, he will be too.”

“Captain Dehane. Raymond. You see what I’m saying, right?” Skylar said. “Detectives have informants. You work with bad guys to take down bigger bad guys all the time, right?”

Raymond rubbed his stubble, which now threatened to be almost a full beard. He said, “All the time is certainly an overstatement propagated by movies, but we do on occasion use resources outside our purview.”

“And would you ever pass up a resource this valuable?”

Raymond cast a cautious glance at the general. “I would not. However, this is not an Interpol led mission anymore.” He raised an eyebrow. “Is it, General MacPherson?”

The general sighed and rolled her eyes. “No. It isn’t.”

“Then I suppose we will have to pick apart Tempest from the outside, without the potential help of Mr. Wagner.”

“But—”

Raymond cut her off. “We’ll work hard, and though we may accomplish nothing without inside knowledge, we can say we did our best.” He ended with a smirk and a sage head nod.

“I know exactly what you’re doing,” the general said.

“Yes, but you also know that what I just said is true. We won’t find them without help.”

Lieutenant Greenwood stepped in. “Ma’am, if I may. Skylar is suggesting that we use his help and resources. She is in no way implying that we trust him or give him free reign. We bring him in as a prisoner, he gives us intel, and then…”

“He goes away with the rest of them,” Raymond concluded. He scanned Skylar’s face for a reaction, but she gave none. “That is what happens to informants. They are still criminals, after all.”

“That’s fair,” Skylar said, and she meant it.

General MacPherson mulled it over. She huffed. “He is on full lockdown from the moment he sets foot on this campus until someone comes along to throw him into the deepest pit the American government can dig.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t. We’ll lock him up, but he’s your problem while he’s here. We’re not wasting a single resource on him.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is there anything else we should know?” Raymond asked.

“Actually yes, the chick who’s doing all this…she seems to be out for revenge, for the death of her sister. Do you know anything about that?”

“I knew she looked familiar,” Raymond said. “I thought I was seeing a ghost back then.”

“The woman on the oil rig,” Greenwood said.

“The one I failed to save.”

“She attacked you. It was her own fault that she fell.”

“Her twin doesn’t seem to see it that way.”

“And as we just learned,” Greenwood said, “she’s crazy.”

“She has a point,” Skylar confirmed.

“Yes, I know,” Raymond said, “I just can’t help feeling like I failed in my duties…to serve and protect. With her, the monster, and all.”

“You’re doing fine,” the general said. “Even better once we catch these people and stop that monster.”

Raymond inhaled sharply. “Right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry.”

Greenwood put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which he clasped in his own. “Things are rough right now,” she said softly. “Sometimes the world feels like it’s burning down around us, monsters on the streets, evil, cruelty, and god knows what else.” She paused, and their eyes locked. “But we’ve got to keep our heads up. The second we lose hope and give up, everything will spiral straight to hell.”

“You’re always there for me, Ashleigh,” Raymond said. “I mean, Lieutenant Greenwood.”

“Ashleigh is fine. And I’ll always be there for you…Raymond.” She leaned in and kissed him, and he kissed her back.

Skylar couldn’t help but smile. Even the general didn’t interrupt with a bitter or condescending remark. She looked at Skylar and mouthed, “It’s about time,” with a roll of her eyes.

Awareness of where they were flooded back into the two new lovebirds, and