Christa looked down at the soundly sleeping Beth, not quite sure
what to think. What had started out as a simple plan to entrap a police
officer had begun to change. Nyara lay on the other side, looking down
at Beth with an unreadable emotion in her eyes.
Nyara sighed softly, "I like her." The tawny haired sexaroid
reached out to run her fingers gently through Beth's short red hair.
"So do I," Christa admitted. She smiled slightly, "I liked her
the first time we met, but when she offered you a chair..."
"Indeed," Nyara agreed softly. She felt a slight increase in
Beth's heart beat and whispered to her lover, "She's waking up."
Beth's eyes slowly opened, and she blinked seeing both of their
gazes upon her. Christa smiled slightly, "Why is it you keep falling
asleep on us?"
"Because you two keep tiring me out," Beth answered softly.
Christa chuckled softly, and Nyara's lips twitched slightly.
The soft sound of a beeper went off, and Beth swore violently.
The redhead all but fell out of the bed, giving her two companions an
excellent view of her bottom. Beth peered muzzily at the tiny readout,
then groaned, "I've got to go."
Christa helped the shorter redhead sort out the clothes piled on
the floor, and even offered her a hand dressing. "Are you going to be
all right?" she asked, smiling.
"I'll manage," Beth waved cheerfully, staggering over to the
door.
"Good luck," Nyara murmured softly.
Beth stopped a moment to look over at the sexaroid oddly, then
continued on.
Several levels up and over in the city, and Kate felt rather
nervous as she carefully made her way up the hallway. It wasn't the
emergency, an android running amok, it was who was backing her up that
was making her more anxious than normal.
Gwen followed her silently, scanning the hallway ahead of them
coolly. They and Julie had been on duty when the call came in. Normally,
Julie would have gone out with Kate, but it was a potential homicide,
and the tech was just too green for something like that. Jen and Beth
hadn't answered their pagers yet, which left just her and Gwen.
"How do you manage like this," Gwen murmured to Kate softly,
"going in with so little information?" They had only gotten an
incomplete report on what was going on, the investigating officer having
decided not to stick around.
Kate shrugged slightly, "You learn to improvise, I guess." She
closed her eyes, listening to the near silence around them. "You hear
anything?" she asked Gwen.
"No," the Asian woman shook her head.
Kate activated her communicator, "Julie?"
Back at base the black haired young woman pushed her glasses up
nervously, "Yes?"
"Any luck with the city sensor grid? We could really use a hand
out here," Kate said to her as gently as she could.
Julie bit her bottom lip, working the various controls, becoming
more upset as the seconds ticked on past. Sounding like she was near
tears she finally said, "I'm really sorry, Kate. Beth's got these
systems rigged up oddly. I'm pretty sure that they'll work better this
way, but I have no idea how to use 'em."
Kate raised her eyebrows, looking over at her boss
questioningly.
Gwen sighed softly and answered, "I knew Beth had modified the
system, but I didn't know quite how much."
"Guess we'll just have to cope," Kate sighed, then winced as a
yell came over her ear-piece. "Julie, what?" she asked testily.
"Beth's here!" Julie sounded really relieved.
Kate could hear moving around in the background, then Beth's
voice came on. "How can I help, fearless leader?" she asked.
"Get the sensors going and see if you can get a fix on the
androids in the building," Kate said, adding, "and our fearless leader
is standing right here, looking irritable."
Beth gulped loudly, "Right."
Kate cut the connection, looking across at her boss. Gwen had a
little smile on her face as she said, "I do not look irritable.
They fell into line, moving up the hall again, carefully.
"There's not very many things that can put the fear of God into that
little tech- head," Kate noted, "and one of them is you."
"Thank you," Gwen chuckled softly, cradling her gun in her
hands, "I think." She looked over at Kate, "And do I put the fear of God
into you?"
"Occasionally," Kate admitted. She felt a bit comforted at how
competently Gwen hefted her gun, but still felt compelled to ask, "You
remember how to use one of those?"
"I'm pretty sure I remember which end to point, yes," Gwen
answered her dryly.
They moved on, the halls silent. They had received the report, a
partial hysterical call about a murder, and something about an android.
But other than that, they had almost nothing to go on as they performed
their sweep of the level.
A soft crackle in Kate's ear-piece signified that Beth was back
on- line, "Jen just got in, looking her perfectly neat self. The android
is on your level, I'm narrowing it down now."
Jen's voice came over next, "Do you want me to grab Julie, head
over there to back you up?"
Kate looked over at Gwen, who shook her head no. "Get your gear
together, but wait there," Kate said, "we'll call if you're needed."
Beth came on the line again, "The android is three suites ahead
of you on your left. I'm picking up two human life signs, one fading."
"Damn," Gwen swore mildly.
Kate didn't think about it, she simply moved, leaving Gwen
behind her as she ran forward to the third suite, then slammed the door
open. The android was working frantically, trying to hold the bloody gut
wound shut with her bare hands.
"Help me!" the android demanded.
Kate took in the room in a glance, the man laying there
unconscious nearby, the blood splatter on him, the slim knife still
clenched in his hand. The lack of blood on the android, other than
around her pale hands.
Swearing loudly Kate put her gun away, kneeling beside the girl
even as she shrugged her jacket off. She used the synthetic leather to
try to bind the wound, wincing a bit at the stains it would likely get.
Gwen followed in a moment later and Kate, fully in her command mode,
ordered, "Call an ambulance, and keep your gun on the man."
"Right," Gwen put the request in to Beth even as she kept an eye
on the unconcious man.
The medical teams rushed the girl out, the android insisting on
coming along. A medic protested, and Kate said, "Let her go along. She
kept her alive, I think."
The regular police grabbed the murderer, and the two of them
were soon in their cruiser riding back to headquarters. "Not bad," Gwen
said softly, sitting limply in the passenger seat while she watched Kate
drive.
"Sould have been worse," Kate agreed. She frowned, "But I'm
going to talk to Beth about those system modifications she's made."
"And?" Gwen raised an elegant eyebrow.
"Have her teach us all how to use them," Kate shrugged. "I don't
like having this super-system that none of us but her knows how to use,"
she growled.
"Sounds like a good idea," Gwen said mildly, an odd little smile
on her face.
Kate blinked, realizing she had just been doing Gwen's job,
"Sorry, I..."
Gwen sounded quite amused, "You really should let me promote
you, you know. You're really suited to command."
"No, thank you," Kate said firmly, "I have an aversion to desk
jobs."
Gwen gave a frustrated sigh, "You know I'm going to keep
asking."
Kate ignored that, concentrating on the road ahead.
Back to Chasers 2075 Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction