Title: Rescue Run

Author: Lady Rheena

Genres: Alternate Universe, Action/Adventure, Romance

Rating: R

Disclaimer: If you recognise it from a fandom, I probably don't own it. That includes the world of The Matrix, all its characters and the concepts it entails. The idea of the Fleet and the Planetary Coalition are technically my own, but you'll probably recognise bits and pieces from various sci-fi media.

Chapter notes: Isn't character interaction fun?

Part 10- R and R

That night she was up poring over cockpit plans, assembling the means to accommodate four bodies and all the monitoring screens needed to keep track of a jury-rigged orbital ship when a knock at the heavy door to her quarters, set just below the main dock level, roused her. Without looking around she called for whoever it was to come in and experienced for the umpteenth time a feeling of sincere regret that they didn't have anything even close to coffee in Zion.

'Got those cockpit circuit schematics you wanted,' said a voice that was familiar but that she couldn't be bothered to identify.

She looked up as she took the plasfilms and was surprised to see Sparks.

'Uh, thanks.'

'No problem.' He started for the door and she returned her attention to the plans in front of her, but glanced up at him again when he spoke.

'You know, I feel I owe you an apology.'

She only looked at him so he went on.

'I think we kind of got started off on the wrong foot. In fact, we probably got start off on the wrong limb entirely, if you take my meaning.' He thrust his hands deep into his pockets and examined his boots for a moment, then switched his attention to the ceiling. 'I guess I was a bit pissed off at having to work around a figurehead. You know, the 'spacegirl.' 'Woman from Mars' and all that shit.'

'Actually I'm from Ganymede,' she said. He ceased his perusal of the ceiling and stared at her.

'What?'

'I'm from Ganymede. I just work from Mars.'

'Ganymede?'

'Fourth Jovian satellite.' When he still looked blank she clarified, 'One of Jupiter's moons.'

'Oh, right. Sorry.' He seemed uncomfortable about the lack of knowledge. 'Astronomy not really my strong point. There isn't much call for it around here, what with the, you know, lack of sky and all.'

'That's understandable.' She tried without success to stifle a yawn and then rubbed idly at the back of her neck, attempting in vain to ease the stiffness there.

'We do, however, have this nifty little idea on planet Earth,' Sparks said in an overly helpful tone. 'It's called R and R. Basic idea is, once a day you actually stop working for at least three or four hours to give your brain time to regroup, and during those hours you do something different. Sleep, for instance, that's always a good one.'

She gave a mirthless bark of laughter and leaned back in the chair to stretch her arms up as high as they would go, feeling a satisfying pop as the tendons went taut.

'I haven't got time to sleep, not with the first orbital launch this planet's had in Maker knows how many years looming a mere six months away.'

'I would've thought that'd give you double the reason to get some rest,' he said, folding his arms and regarding her thoughtfully. 'The whole thing's likely to run a lot smoother if our only spaceflight engineer and orbital pilot doesn't collapse from exhaustion.' When she only cocked an eyebrow at him he tilted his head on one side and raised his eyebrows. 'You should take a break, at least. Come on, you been here over a month and all you've seen is the goddamn dock and council chamber. Take a couple of hours off and I'll give you the five cent tour.'

Dena looked down at the sprawl of diagrams and charts which suddenly seemed like one continuous set of unintelligible scribble, and had to admit she was tempted.

'They'll still be here when you get back,' Sparks said. 'Come on, you haven't even laid foot inside the Temple yet- and you're the first tourist we've ever had.'

'Well now I can hardly pass that up, can I?' Without too much reluctance, Dena rose and threw on her jacket, motioning for him to lead the way. After she shut the heavy door they started along one of the walkways that crisscrossed the massive borehole which basically housed the city. When he paused and leaned on the railing to stare downwards she had to ask.

'Why the change of heart?'

'About what?'

'About me.'

'Oh.' He did have the good grace to look embarrassed. 'I guess I started off thinking you had a fine cheek, marching in here and promptly rearranging the entire show, but after seeing you talking to that kid earlier-' he glanced at her but quickly looked away again '-I realised you're just someone trying to get home, so it's not exactly fair to go judging you like some kind of criminal upstart. I mean, the way you were talking about blue sky and that stuff…' This time his gaze remained on her face. 'Zion must be like hell and then some for you, huh?'

'It's…' she searched for words but couldn't find them. 'Yeah.'

He gave a snort of amusement.

'Don't worry, I'm not offended or anything. But you're really serious, aren't you? About getting everyone out, I mean. Totally out.'

She laid her hands on the rail and examined her fingernails for a moment.

'I just don't think it's fair or right that children should have to grow up scared all the time.'

'Scared?' The prospect seemed to vaguely puzzle him. 'I was never scared when I was a kid. Kids don't get scared by the war, or the machines. It's just the way things are. Now adults, adults get scared. A lot. But the kids don't even mind that since that's just a thing adults do. Kids just run around and make a mess. That's what they do.' He shook his head and stared out bleakly.

'Spoken by someone who either has kids or is still greatly in touch with his own inner child,' Dena said in a teasing tone.

'Are you joking?' he exclaimed. 'I hate kids! Yeah, I know I'm going to have to have 'em eventually- everyone does here, kind of a species obligation or something- but I've been putting it off as long as possible by means of being completely offensive to every female I know.' When she laughed he pretended to look thoughtful. 'I think after I have to bite the bullet I'll change ships. To the Neb, maybe, they don't come in to recharge very much.'

'With any luck after we make orbit you can pick a career that involves a very minimal contact with children,' she replied, smiling. 'It's certainly not compulsory to reproduce on any of the colonies.'

'Now that is worth refitting the ship for,' he said with real feeling, then glanced at her as she rolled her sleeve up to reveal a small piece of white plastic embedded at the top of her right shoulder, barely a single millimetre square. 'What in hell is that?'

'That is a Fleet standard issue contraceptive implant,' she told him. 'Takes away all the inconveniences of being female including the ability to have babies.'

He let out a long whistle of approval.

'So your get the recreation without the follow through? I'm starting to like the sound of these colonies of yours.'

'With any luck you'll get to do more than like the sound of them in a few months.'

'You're damned gritty, aren't you? Probably the most optimistic person on the planet right now.'

'Well there are plenty more where I came from.'

'That's…comforting.' He fell silent for a moment. 'So do you have anyone to get home to? Some dashing soldier-type with a liking for really fast ships with big guns?'

'Not as such. I prefer leaving a trail of broken hearts behind me in the various star systems I visit.'

'Somehow that doesn't surprise me.'

'Oh?'

'You just strike me as the sort of person who knows what she wants and doesn't mince words getting it, that's all.' He straightened and gestured to the elevator. 'Come on, I owe you a tour.'

Sparks was true to his word and Dena didn't think there was a single nook or cranny of Zion she hadn't seen by the time they came up from the maintenance level. For whatever reason he'd left the famous Temple until last and the moment they entered it (for some reason he insisted they both remove their boots first) she could see why. It was probably the largest natural cavern she'd ever seen, riddled with hanging stalactites and stalagmites, and about three times the temperature of the rest of the city.

'Sheesh, it's warm in here.' Then she spotted what was, for lack of any other description, an open magma pit, and glanced at him in astonishment. 'But then I can see why.'

'Gets even warmer with quarter of a million bodies in here for the gatherings,' he said, and then motioned at a long ledge running along one wall. 'Ship crews tend not to get caught in the crush, we usually stand up there apart from everyone else. Speaker stands up on that platform there and shouts. Usually one of the council, since Deadbolt doesn't hold with this kind of thing.'

'I knew there was a reason I liked that man,' Dena muttered under her breath.

'Another consummate sceptic, huh?' he remarked, making her jump.

'How in the hell did you hear me?'

'I got good ears. And when you have to put up with Ghost whispering down a phone line half the time he's trying to give you tactical data you soon learn to stay sharp. So you like Deadbolt, eh?'

'I think he's a damn good soldier, if that's what you mean. And a damn fine man too, since we're splitting hairs.'

'No argument about the soldiering part, but he's not all that popular.'

'So I gathered.' Dena rounded on him and planted her hands on her hips, not in the least intimidated by the fact that she had to tilt her head up quite a way to look him in the eye. 'How come?'

'Oh don't get me wrong, guy's good at what he does, but he's got this drive to him that the council doesn't like all that much. He keeps command since they know they haven't got anyone better, but put him outside a situation involving large amounts of violence, bloodshed or military organisation and he's pretty much screwed. And I know for a fact he holds a great dislike for non-military personnel.'

'He'd make a good Fleet officer. I've yet to meet one who holds an opinion about civvies different from mine.'

'Which is?'

'They're like plagues- very occasionally useful but best avoided if at all possible.'

He laughed.

'I see why Deadbolt likes you, now I come to think of it. Well…we've been to the maintenance level, the gardens, reservoir, armoury, I think you know the dock better than I do by now, and the Temple. So that's Zion. What do you think, now you've seen the full article?'

'It's growing on me,' she allowed. 'But you've never seen Phobos Orbital.'

'That floating base you hail from?'

'The very same. Where the Gormenghast is docked.' Then she sighed.

'Home, huh?' he said, surprising her.

'I tend to think of her as home more than any fixed place like Ganymede, or even Phobos.'

'How many crew?' he asked as they turned to walk back to the entrance.

'About ten thousand, all told.' At his look of utter disbelief she winked. 'They don't call her a supership for nothing. If you saw the size of her you'd understand.'

'Gees, you people must live in each other's pockets up there.'

'Actually my quarters on-ship are bigger than the room I'm in now. But the main cargo deck, I'd say that's about three times the size of that.' She nodded back to the Temple as they strapped their boots back on outside.

'That is big. But then they do say size isn't everything.'

'Considering the Logos I'd agree,' she said as they stepped into the elevator. 'How long you served on her?'

'Nearly three years. So as far as Niobe and Ghost are concerned I'm still the irritating newbie, of course.'

'What happened to the old operator?'

'They had a run in with some sentinels near the surface. Ended up with a hull breach and one inside, who took umbrage at his attempting to shoot it and pulled his heart out through his ribcage before Niobe could hit the EMP.' He glanced at her in time to see her grimace and close her eyes. 'Not much of that on Phobos, huh?'

She shook her head and forced herself to look at him.

'Hell. Most of what Fleet deals with in the big operations are accidents- mining accidents, accidents on dome colonies, emergencies on gas harvesters or asteroid trawlers, sometimes the occasional privateer on some stolen ship or maybe an illegal smuggling run. I've seen some messy stuff in my time, especially on the mining colonies, but the thought of something deliberately setting out to kill a human being is…pretty foreign to me, I admit. And being in a war with something that hates you just because you are human…facing that kind of thing every single day…' she had to stop and shake her head again. 'I don't know how you do it.'

For a moment he didn't reply, walking with her to the door of her quarters, then he assumed an expression of exaggerated disbelief.

'Did you just compliment me?'

'Yeah, I think I did. Sorry.'

'Forget it.' He motioned to the door before turning to leave. 'If I were you I'd get at least a couple of hours sleep after that little hike. Then if you really insist on it those schematics should still be on the table.'

'Thanks for the tour,' she called after him.

'No problem. I'll see you in the morning, Captain,' he tossed back over his shoulder. She hid a smile and opened the door to go inside, where the bed seemed suddenly very welcoming indeed.