Wings of Saturn

Part 1

Jenny Thain was in a bad mood. As anyone who knew her would have told you, this was her usual state. Jenny was not a trusting soul, and the universe had been kind enough to provide ample examples that she was right not to be.

Take the current situation she found herself in. Most people would probably have agreed with her that if you had your arms wrapped around a genetically-engineered angeloid while you and the angel were plunging unprotected through Saturn's atmosphere, that things were not going well. If you then added that both you and the angel were hoping you would hit a floating dome before you traveled so deep you were crushed by the heat and pressure, then even the saints might forgive a little cursing.

Then again, most folks would probably not have leaped from the open lock of an abandoned dome without taking a couple minutes first to see what other options might be there. Given Jenny and her angel were being pursued at that moment by an AI battle unit, her lack of preparation could probably be forgiven.

The angel yelled, trying to reach Jenny's ears above the rush of the air around them. "What did you say, Terri?" Jenny yelled back.

"I said I need you to get that damned blonde hair of yours out of my face if we have any hope for me to find something." Terri's red hair was in a pixie cut, which was much more functional for flying even if angels were usually depicted with the kind of flowing blonde hair that Jenny sported. The current situation highlighted why artists shouldn't be trusted in such matters. Terri was muscular and rather aerodynamically shaped, particularly compared to Jenny's somewhat softer and rounder features. Given Jenny had just spent six months in cryo-sleep, she could be forgiven for a certain lack of muscle tone.

Jenny tried rubbing her head against Terri to adjust her hair to fly in some other direction. Eventually Jenny was able to convince it to trail against Terri's back, where it almost reached the base of her wings. Jenny expected to hear any minute now that her hair was tickling Terri, and why didn't she just get it cut sometime. To which Jenny would reply that they hadn't exactly been near any stylists lately.

Unfortunately, Terri was too distracted to make this particular complaint. Jenny had no choice but to keep looking down and hope one of them saw something soon. Terri's wings were more like gliders with Jenny's extra weight pulling on them, and Jenny was well aware that if things got too dicey she only had to let go to give Terri a chance to rise and possibly escape. Jenny wasn't interested in giving up, but she also wasn't interested in having a death pact with anyone. She didn't want to go into the afterlife owing someone that much.

A glint of light a bit below them and off to the east caught Jenny's eye. It could be a natural hydrocarbon island, but usually those were too dark to reflect much. Jenny gestured up at Terri, and then pointed to where she had seen the glint. Terri banked a bit, and then pulled her wings in so they could dive toward it with all speed possible. Both of them had been given nano enhancements to let them work directly in the harsh environment here, but the presumption was that you weren't going to be spending hours doing so. Neither of them wanted to test the limit in this situation.

As they fell, Jenny saw that they were indeed heading toward a dome. She pulled a small disruptor out of her pocket. They would need to make a hole to enter through since they weren't equipped to open a lock. A hole large enough to let them in shouldn't cause any dome in good shape to collapse.

Nearing the dome, Jenny noticed that a shuttle appeared to be maneuvering to dock with it. Visions of the battle AI somehow cutting them off filled her mind, and a stream of expletives began to come from her mouth – none of them loud enough for Terri to hear them over the rushing winds. She didn't want Terri to alter their course now, but she didn't want to go from one fight to another without at least catching her breath. After all, she was already in a bad mood.

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