Page 38 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
Sesi nodded.“So, you’re okay with bringing her in?”
“Not really,” Talia admitted.“You’re competition now.”
“You know it’ll feed your ego if she chooses you though, right?”Sesi kicked Talia’s boot.
Talia rolled her eyes.“You promised.”
“I promised not to pursue her.”Sesi stared from under her eyelashes.
Talia narrowed her eyes, but conceded.
“Speaking of Callie,” She plopped the ream of Hexcel on the desk.“Look what she gave me.It’s doing exactly what you thought it was.”
“Fuck.”Sesi breathed.
Talia bit her lip and nodded.
“You’re sure Model 2 is bigger?”Sesi looked up at Talia to confirm.
“One hundred percent.Model 21 doesn’t have the capacity to grow beyond that space and there’s no way to enlarge it without bulldozing half a dozen buildings.
“And the latency?”
“It’s going to depend on the tech, but even if it transmits at half the speed it’s purported to, it’ll work.”Talia put her hand on Sesi’s.The gesture was both comforting and uncomfortably familiar.“We’ve been over the numbers a hundred times.”
“Okay.”Sesi gave a curt nod and stood.“Who’s available tomorrow?”
“For that sort of operation?Just you and Siku, I think.Unless you want to pull some people from The Cars.”
Sesi shook her head.“We’ve had too many Tethys motherfuckers looking to traffic there lately.I’ll take Freckles.”
“Freckles?”Talia’s eyebrows drew together.
“Your new toy.”
“What the fuck, Sesi?She doesn’t know what she’s doing!”Talia’s shoulders hunched.
“That’s not what you’re worried about.I promised, didn’t I?She needs to learn how to use the tech anyway.And it’ll give me time to explain things.”
“Sure, but she hasn’t even agreed to do anything”
“No, but she still went out with you, didn’t she?”Sesi grinned.“She’ll come around.”
“You know she’s going to fuck up the mission, right?”Talia was obviously trying to cover up the fact that she didn’t want Callie and Sesi alone together.
“Probably,” Sesi said brightly as she stood.This conversation was over.
Talia scowled.God she was infuriating sometimes.
“I still need to take a shower.”Sesi kissed the top of Talia’s head, careful to avoid messing up her hair, “make sure Freckles forgets her own name and she won’t have mine on her lips.”
Talia stood and brought Sesi into her lanky arms.“Fuck you, Sesi.”She could never see her as anything but competition now, but at least she knew Sesi wouldn’t be trying to actively sabotage her.Sesi kept her word.
Sesi laughed and squeezed back.
After she left, Sesi stripped and got under the spray, grateful that at least desalination tech had been a top priority when they built the place.
The truth was that Sesididwant Callie but she would deny herself for now.It was restraint and discipline that had kept her, Siku and Qimmiq alive for as long as they were.It had also brought her this far in her new life in the city.
