Chapter 14

A pilot must have a memory developed to absolute perfection. But there are two higher qualities which he also must have. He must have good and quick judgment and decision, and a cool, calm courage that no peril can shake.

— Mark Twain, speaking about Mississippi River pilots.

Aaron was forced to admit that he had been wrong about Miranda Brown. The woman was not magnificent; she was way beyond that.

Governor Brown had assembled an eight-person committee to look at public safety issues for the growing colony. She had enlisted the services of a police detective, a doctor, an emergency medical technician, an engineer, a geologist, a meteorologist, the airbase safety officer, and Aaron. These people had all been found among the Military or concubine population on the planet. Sitting in on their meetings was Hunter Wallace, who was gathering the information he needed to locate public facilities in and around Prentiss. After tonight’s meeting, Governor Brown had invited Aaron to dinner. Dinner had been incredible, but not as incredible as the dessert.

Aaron was rapidly approaching his fourth orgasm of the evening. He was sliding his eight inches smoothly back-and-forth between Miranda’s large tits. Aaron remembered hearing of tits like hers referred to as ‘torpedoes’. They were every bit of double-D in size and stuck straight out from her body with no sag. Her pink areolas were precisely centered so as to give her breasts a conical look, just like the front of a torpedo.

Miranda was holding her ample breasts together, making a velvety tunnel for Aaron’s cock. Every time his cock appeared from between her breasts, she licked the bulbous head with her long, pink tongue. Aaron began to speed up, his orgasm rapidly approaching.

“I’m going to cum!” he warned her. She responded by looking up at him to expose her long, pale neck so that he would have a place to deposit his pearly juice. Aaron came with a grunt, several weak spurts of cum dribbling out of his cock to spatter on Miranda’s neck.

“My favorite kind of jewelry!” she purred.

Aaron gave her a kiss and propped himself up against the headboard. Miranda got up and wiped the semen off of her neck with a towel. Aaron took a moment to look his newest lover over.

At six feet tall, Miranda was an impressive woman. She had all the characteristics of the classic redhead: deep blue eyes, pale skin with faint freckles that began on her face and extended down to her breasts and pale pink nipples that were almost inverted until they were stimulated. Her shoulder length auburn hair framed a face that would have been at home on the cover of any fashion magazine. Below her gravity defying tits, she sported a slightly rounded belly, which she had admitted to Aaron, was caused by her love of good food and a desk job that had her sitting most of the day.

From the waist down though, she was firm and tight. She had enough hips and ass to give her an hourglass figure and her long legs just never seemed to end. Aaron had spent a half-hour just rubbing and licking those long legs this evening. Much to his delight, she didn’t completely shave her pussy either. She had opted to keep a wide landing strip of her bushy, dark red hair.

Miranda finished cleaning up and asked, “Would you like another drink?”

“I’d love one!” he replied. Miranda turned and left the room, headed for the kitchen. Aaron watched her shapely ass sway as she walked out the door.

“Be right back.” She called.

“Damn! All of that and she has real beer too!” Aaron thought to himself. “If the Confederacy hadn’t effectively done away with marriage, I’d be down on one knee as soon as she got back begging her to marry me.”

Miranda opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of Sam Adams. She noticed that she was down to about a six pack of the rare commodity. She opened them and returned to the bedroom. Aaron was still sitting up in the bed but his eyes were closed. She crawled up in the bed and sat next to him. When they were sitting down, their radical difference in height was not so apparent. Miranda touched the cold bottle to his arm, making him jump.

“Tired?” she asked.

“No, satisfied.” Aaron replied. “It’s been a wonderful evening. Thank you.”

“My pleasure, I’ve enjoyed myself too. I wish that we could do this again soon.”

“Me too, but I ship out in the Jarvis in two days,” he replied.

“I know, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t want it. I’ll be counting the days until you return.” Miranda said.

“Do you really mean that?” he asked, knowing that she could have any man she wanted.

“Yes!” she said, and she found that she really did mean it. She had developed strong feelings for Aaron over the past few months. Now she was regretting that she didn’t move faster with him. She knew that she would be thinking a lot about him over the next six months while he was deployed.

Aaron smiled at her and took a drink of his beer.

“Oh, man, that’s good!” he said, relishing the taste of a beer that had actually brewed back home. “How do you get this? And the steak for dinner, that was real too!”

“Being the Governor has its benefits.” She replied mysteriously. She didn’t tell him what she’d had to do with the Captain of the Red Baron to get the steaks, beer, wine and other luxuries that she enjoyed.

“You know, I was thinking while you were gone, that if circumstances were different, I’d ask you to marry me,” Aaron said with a laugh. “A woman as beautiful and talented as you who can get real steak and beer in the backwaters of the galaxy is quite a catch!”

“I’d have said yes!” Miranda blurted out before she had a chance to think. She recovered by rolling her eyes at him.

“Damn, where did that come from?” she thought. Miranda had not given thought to any kind of serious relationship since leaving her sniveling, two-timing husband back on Earth when she was picked up.

Miranda had married ‘well’ back on Earth, landing a husband with a well-connected family in Rhode Island. Even though she had a MBA from Harvard and a PhD. from Yale in public administration, she had spent most of her life as a stay-at-home mom, raising three kids. She knew about her husband’s affairs. She just didn’t care. She had lost all respect and admiration for him soon after they were wed.

He was a lazy slacker who only had a job because of his family. By the time she figured that out, she was pregnant with triplets. Afraid to divorce him and to be forced to fight him and his family for custody, she put up with his shit for 18 years. By the time the kids were in college, she was so used to the situation she just stayed with him. She took a job with a non-profit agency and before long she was running their whole program.

Miranda was just beginning to feel like her life was turning around when the Confederacy pickup happened. She had been attending a gathering to raise money for a new library when the Marines had appeared on the stage in front of the string quartet. Miranda and eight other volunteers were called up front and given their instructions about selecting concubines. Miranda’s husband was not a volunteer.

Miranda watched as most of the women in the room stripped down, and some of the men. She noticed, with disgust, that her husband was one of the first to be naked and was already stroking his cock to get it hard. She turned to the Marine standing on the stage.

“Is it possible for me to say something to the crowd?” she asked. “My husband is down there and I’d like to say something about him to the other volunteers.”

Thinking that the woman was going to make a plea for someone to take her husband with them, the Marine shrugged and handed her the microphone from the stage.

“Excuse me everyone,” Miranda said into the microphone. “I think that most of you know me and my husband. I have been selected for service but he has not so he is fair game to anyone who wants to select him.”

Thinking that his wife was promoting him, her husband stood up on a chair where everyone could see him.

Miranda continued, “Before you select him I just want all of you to know what a worthless, lazy, two-timing piece of shit he really is. He began cheating on me before our children were even born. The only reason he has anything is that his mommy wouldn’t let his father throw him out of the family business. He’s a borderline psychotic and if you look closely at his CAP scores, you’ll see that he is a selfish son-of-a-bitch whose only thought is for himself. He…”

Miranda’s speech was cut-off by a loud buzzing noise. Her husband had tried to rush the stage to get to her and had been hit by a Marine with a stinger. He was flopping around on the floor in spasms, his now flaccid cock wiggling like a worm on a hook.

Having nothing left to say, she handed the microphone back to the Marine and started down the steps. Suddenly, the room erupted in applause, mostly from the women assembled in the room. A lot of the men were looking at their wives in fear. Miranda headed directly to the buffet table where a chef and a one of his assistants were standing. She looked them over for a second then asked, “Would you two like to get off this planet before the lizards show up?”

They both said yes and Miranda led them over to a Marine.

“I’m ready to go,” she informed the Marine. The Marine consulted with his AI though his implant.

“You still have four concubine slots to fill.” He told her.

“I understand that,” she replied. “But, I’d rather wait and fill them later. I don’t feel that these spoiled rich people would make the best companions. They have too many old habits to break.”

The Marine looked at her with new-found respect. “I believe that is a wise choice,” he said. “If you’ll just step into the transporter Mrs. Canton, you’ll be sent to a waiting transport ship.”

“My name is no longer Canton,” she said. “I’m retaking my maiden name as of right now.”

“Very well, Miss Brown,” the Marine said after a short hesitation. “Come this way.”

Miranda walked into the transporter and never looked back.

Miranda felt herself growing more and more comfortable with Aaron as they talked. It was already nearly 2 o’clock in the morning and they were still up, telling each other about their lives and families and dreams. Before long, Miranda found herself telling Aaron about her plans for the colony.

“Have you ever given any thought to what you want to do when the war is over?” she asked him.

“If you believe the Confederacy, the war will never be over,” he replied. “The Sa’arm will just keep coming and coming like a mindless plague.’

“That may be, but I think that we have to have some kind of plan for the future. We have to have something to work towards. That’s why I’m so adamant about everyone, even the concubines, contributing to the colony,” she said. “I have a plan Aaron.”

“What is it?”

“I want to transform this planet into a resort. Kind of like the “Palm Springs” of the Confederacy.”

“Do you think that would really work?” he asked. “Who would be able to come out here with a war on?”

“That’s the beauty of it, don’t you see. Marine and Navy personnel who have been deployed for months at a time will have somewhere to go to spend their leave. How many of them do you think really want to go home and spend their entire leave with their same old concubines in their same old pod? Not many of them,” she said. “We can become ‘the place’ to unwind from duty. We have dozens of freshwater lakes, a great climate and with the recreation facilities that Hunter is designing; we’ll soon have lots of things to do. 4-wheeling, hiking, camping, boating, golf…you name it and we’ll have it.”

“But how would that be profitable? We literally don’t have money, we can get just about anything replicated,” Aaron said.

“Do you know what the most desirable commodities are now that we have colonized these worlds?” she asked.

“No.”

“Anything from Earth,” she said, “and anything hand-made or hand-crafted. Look at how impressed you were that we had real steak and beer for dinner. People will give just about anything for a taste of home or for a quality item that’s not been spit out of a replicator. People will trade for things. It’s already starting to happen; there’s an economy out here that is developing based on the barter system. Did you know that there is some guy at one of the repair depots that managed to bring rabbits with him when he was picked up? He’s been giving them away to people in exchange for seeds and other things that his colony needs. Those rabbits are worth more than gold now.”

Aaron pondered the possibilities.

“We could do the same thing on a grand scale. Not only could we have trade goods but we could have the recreation to go with it,” she told him. “Imagine what we could offer; casinos, Broadway shows, restaurants with ‘real meat and spirits’. We could have the finest call girls and gigolos in the galaxy, specially trained to make you, Mr. or Mrs. Marine, feel like the ruler of the world. We can turn Trenat into Ibiza, Disney World and Hedonism all rolled into one.”

“Do you really think that’s possible?” Aaron asked her, astounded by the vision that she had presented him.

“I’ve already started. It’s not common knowledge yet, but we are going to be getting a new supply station in orbit around Trenat. A very large portion of the fleet will be coming through here on a regular basis. Add to that the air fighter school and other military operations and we’ll be hosting a lot of military personnel. All I have to do is get it built and Hunter is already doing that part. He’s been in on this plan from the beginning. It’s something that is needed for the war effort.”

“I’m amazed!” Aaron told her.

“And if the war is won, just imagine how many people still on Earth would love to be able to go on vacation to a resort on another planet. Especially one without all the bullshit rules and moralities that hamper you back on Earth. All we’ll have to do is switch our economy from bartering back to money and it will come flowing in.”

Aaron stared off into space as the possibilities tumbled within his brain. He was thinking back to a conversation that he’d been a part of way back at Heather’s birthday party. A small smile formed on his face.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“Do you think you can get me some chickens?”

“Chickens?”

“Yep, and some vegetable seeds like tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans,” Aaron said.

“Why would you want chickens and seeds?”

“I want to cash in on a small slice of your very large pie. You’ll need fresh food to feed all of these vacationers and it’ll be a lot cheaper to grow the food locally than it will be to import it. The easiest way to start will be with chickens and some vegetables. The chickens can provide meat, eggs and fertilizer. Once we get that established, we can expand into grains, pigs, beef and other commodities. Before long we’ll be producing our own cheese, wine and beer,” Aaron said.

“You want to be a farmer?”

“Not a get-down-in-the-dirt-and-dig kind of farmer, no. I want to be a businessman. Actually, I want my family to be in the business. And provided the planet can support farm animals and crops, I believe that farming would be a secure business even if all we ever did was produce fresh food for the residents of Prentiss. I imagine that a lot of the work can be automated and I’m sure there are lots of concubines that will need some work to do.”

“Ah, now I see where you’re going with this,” she replied. Her estimation of Aaron went up another notch.

“Besides, I expect to be able to negotiate favorably with the government,” he said as he began to nibble and lick her sensitive ears.

“That, I don’t believe, will be a problem,” she replied.

Miranda sat on a couch and absent-mindedly played with her tangled hair. Aaron had just left and she hadn’t even had time to go to the kitchen for her morning coffee, let alone get a shower and prepare for her busy day. Her mind was wandering somewhere in the future. After 15 minutes of staring off into space, thinking, Miranda addressed the AI.

“If I had my pregnancy block removed this morning could the nannites have me ready to conceive by this afternoon?” she asked.

“Yes,” the AI replied. “If you wish, I can have the replicator produce a drink for you that will start the process.”

“Please do.”

“I take it from the timing of your request that you are going to attempt to produce offspring with Captain Sperry,” the AI stated.

“That is correct,” she replied. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. Breeding amongst high CAP scoring individuals is to be encouraged. The resulting offspring are much more likely to be valuable contributors to the Confederacy. I project that any offspring produced by a union between you and Captain Sperry will develop CAP scores of approximately 8.1 to 8.4.”

“You make it sound so romantic,” Miranda replied as she removed the nannite drink from the replicator. She swallowed it in one gulp. The taste nearly made her gag.

“Damn, couldn’t you at least try and make it taste better,” she complained.

“I’m sorry. Is there a flavor that you would prefer in the future?”

“Mint would be OK. Medicine should taste like mint,” she replied.

“Noted. I now have that preference recorded in your medical profile. You should be ready to be impregnated by 2:00 o’clock this afternoon,” the AI said.

“Thank you,” she replied as she ran her hands over her stomach.

Like most of the Swift families in the 1st Air Fighter Wing, Tiffany’s family was having a farewell party for their departing members. Tiffany was taking Greg with her as her technician. Her first choice would have been Ronny, but since he had gotten Lisa pregnant, he really wanted to stay home to be with her during her pregnancy.

Corey was taking Gina with him and to everyone’s surprise; Faith had asked to go on the first deployment with Tim. Speculation was running rampant about why she wanted to go. Most of the family thought that it was because she now had Heather taken care of, but Tiffany had other suspicions. Tiffany had seen how much Faith liked Aaron and she also knew that Sophia was taking Kyle with her. Faith had mentioned Kyle more than once.

The farewell gathering was nice, but sad. Nobody wanted anyone to have to leave, but they all understood the reality of military life. Tiffany’s parents came to the party and brought Heather with them. Faith and Heather spent a lot of time talking and hugging. It was going to be hard on them. Eventually, the Carter’s left with Heather so that Tiffany’s family could spend their last evening together. For the first time, the entire adult clan made love to each other. Even Tiffany, who was by far the most reserved of the family, made love to each and every family member staying behind. She went to sleep knowing that they all loved her.

Aaron hurried to the government center for his meeting with Miranda. She had made him promise to see her one last time before he shipped out. She had cleared her schedule for a while this afternoon so that he could visit. Aaron wanted to see her badly too, but he knew it would be a short meeting. He had so much left to do before he shipped out in the morning. As soon as entered her outer office, her new secretary jumped up and opened the door for him. He thanked the young woman on his way into her office.

“No interruptions for 30 minutes, please,” Miranda told her secretary.

As the door to the Governor’s office closed, Miranda walked around the desk to meet Aaron. She took his hand and led him to a large sofa against the wall. Before they could even get comfortable, she had him in an intense kiss, her hands fumbling with the zipper on his flight suit. His hands were tugging at her skirt, trying to get it up over her ass.

“Wait, we don’t have enough time for this fooling around,” she said. She stood up and pulled her skirt up around her waist. She wasn’t wearing panties. She quickly unbuttoned her blouse and did that thing where women pull their bra out of their sleeves. Aaron got out of his flight suit as quickly as he could.

“I need you to fuck me one last time,” she said as she pushed him down on the sofa. She mounted him with no preamble, burying him quickly in her cunt. She began to ride him like a woman possessed, slamming her crotch into his as though she were trying to drive him through the sofa. Aaron held onto her amazing breasts as she rode him, doing his best to suck her now hard nipples. It was hard to get them in his mouth, she was moving so quickly.

Miranda leaned over him and whispered, “Cum in me, don’t hold back. I want your sperm in me. I had my block removed. I want your baby Aaron.”

Miranda’s words inspired him and within a minute, he was filling her womb up with his semen. When he finished cumming, Miranda held him tight and rolled both of them over onto the floor so that he was on top. She wrapped her long legs around him to keep his penis inside of her.

“Again my Love. Fuck me again!” she said. As she spoke, she was using her pussy muscles to massage his cock. He stayed hard and before long he was thrusting into her again.

Aaron managed to get her legs over his shoulders and he began to really pound her, plunging his cock into her as deep as he could. The grinding of his cock on her clit made her orgasm almost immediately. He fucked her for 15 minutes straight, giving it to her as fast, hard and deep as he could. Finally he came again, sending more of his life giving seed deep into her. When he finished he collapsed onto her, his sweaty head resting comfortably between her breasts.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” she repeated, while still experiencing the ecstasy of her last cum. Slowly, she came down from her high and began to breathe easy again. She opened her eyes and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

“Thank you!” she said to him, tears in her eyes.

“For what?”

“For helping me to know that I can love again,” she replied.

“Were you serious about removing your pregnancy block?” he asked.

“Yes. You’re not upset are you?”

“No, sweet-heart, I’m happy. I would be blessed to have a child with you.”

Miranda smiled and hugged him.

“I’m really going to miss you,” she said. “I can’t believe that I found you right before you have to go.”

“Better late than never,” he said. “And I’ll be back in 6 months. You’ll be so busy you won’t even miss me.”

“That won’t happen,” she said, “especially if I have a little bit of you growing inside of me.”

Aaron rubbed his hand over her stomach. “That would be amazing,” he said, then kissed her with all his soul.

“Damn, I’ve got to run,” he said when they finally let each other go. Aaron was already late for his family’s farewell party. Aaron hurriedly put his clothes back on.

Before he could get out the door, Miranda kissed him one last time. “Be careful and come home soon. I need you. I love you!”

“I love you too!”

Aaron opened the door and left Miranda’s office.

Reggie stared out of his cockpit window at the rapidly approaching ship. She was the CVF006 “Jarvis”, a Midway class close support carrier and the new home-away-from-home for the 1st Air Fighter Wing. The Jarvis also carried the 42nd Air Assault Wing, the 112th Air Assault Wing and the 21st Air Support Squadron. Eventually, the Jarvis would also house the 2nd and 3rd Air Fighter Wings, once the Swifts were built and the crews trained. Reggie felt a jolt as the Jarvis took control of the Swift for landing.

Reggie watched as their aircraft floated into the ship and was set down gently on the hangar floor. Jessica, Reggie’s technician, opened his cockpit and helped him out of the tight space. Wanda and Kyle were helping Aaron and Kitten out also. Once the crew was out of their Swift, which they had named the ‘Bird of Prey’, the technicians saluted them. They returned the salute and then gave their family members hugs. The technicians had transported up to the Jarvis early that morning to prepare for the Bird of Prey’s arrival.

“Have you had a chance to find our living quarters and get our stuff stowed?” Aaron asked them.

“Y’all ain’t gonna believe how small our cabin is,” Wanda replied in her sweet southern drawl. “There are six bunks but they’re smaller than the kid’s cribs at home.”

“We’ll make do I’m sure,” Sophia said.

“Lieutenant Colonel Jones wants you to report to the ready-room ASAP,” Kyle reported. “It’s through that doorway and down the hall,” he said, indicating a double door at the rear of the hangar.

“Jones is here?” Reggie asked. “He’s been off-planet for two months.”

“Well, he’s back now and in a fine mood,” Jessica replied. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting if I were you.”

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll see you tonight,” Aaron said and the three crewmembers headed for the ready-room.

“Let’s get her folded and parked,” Kyle said.

Wanda and Kyle began to manually fold the Swift’s wings up for storage while Jessica went to find a grav-sled to move the craft into its assigned berth.

Reggie, Aaron and Kitten entered the amphitheater-like ready-room. The room was set up such that the chain-of-command hierarchy was maintained. The room was divided into 5 sections, one for each squadron. Each section was then divided into four smaller sections, one for each flight within the squadron. Finally, each flight section was divided into five smaller sections for each crew. In this way, the commanding officers could locate a squadron, flight, aircraft or individual in seconds. Aaron’s rank of Captain made him the highest-ranking officer in Alpha Squadron which put their seats in the front row.

A low stage occupied the front of the room in front of a massive video screen. A hologram pad, or holopad as they were called, was also in place at the rear of the stage. Unlike the small, see through holograms that the AI could project in most rooms, the addition of a holopad allowed for much larger and more solid looking 3-D images. The crews had used holopads extensively during training run debriefings and combat tactics instruction.

As the last crew to arrive on the Jarvis was getting seated, Lieutenant Colonel Jones entered the room from a door to the right of the stage. Everyone stood at attention while he mounted the stage, although most of them did have their mouths open in wonder. Jones had taken the Swift augmentation package and was now the standard 4’6” tall. Like them, he was wearing a navy blue flight suit. He was also wearing a katana with a blue hilt, indicating that he had achieved the rank of sandan, or third degree black belt.

“Be seated,” he said. “As you can see, I have been augmented to Swift standards. I will be piloting a Swift right along with you. As you all know, there is an empty place in the 1st since the passing of Manuel Esteves.”

Sophia could feel the eyes of those behind her boring into her back.

“I will be taking that place, but not in a combat role,” Jones told them. “I am having a Swift refitted for intelligence gathering and battlefield command. Instead of gunners, I will be carrying a sensors expert and a communications expert. In the place of the guns, my aircraft will be loaded with high resolution imaging equipment and an upgraded combat AI. The 1st now has a flying command post and reconnaissance plane.”

“I also want to introduce you to my crew members.” Two people in navy blue flight suits entered the room. “This is Candace Tollert, a sensors expert with 4 years of navy experience and Jerry Wint, a two year communications veteran. They are now part of the 1st Air Fighter Wing, the Fighting Eagles!”

The assembled pilots and gunners broke out in applause as an insignia depicting an Eagle tearing apart a stylized Sa’arm was shown on the screen behind Jones. Along the bottom of the insignia was written ‘1st Air Fighter Wing’. Along the top, one side of the insignia said ‘CVF006 Jarvis’ and the other said ‘Colony of Trenat’.

As the applause died down, Tollert and Wint took seats among Charlie Squadron in seats left open due to the absence of Esteves.

Jones continued, “New flight suits with the new Wing insignias will be available after this meeting from the replicators in your quarters. Everyone is expected to be wearing them tomorrow morning. Your technicians are most likely installing them as we speak.”

“Speaking of technicians, I have a few things to say to you about them. First, I do not have any technicians yet. I felt that it might be best for me to wait. As sorry as I am to say this, I’ve flown against the Sa’arm on Tulakat and there will be available technicians at some point on this voyage. Until then, I’m going to be borrowing some of your technicians to service my craft. The AI will make up a duty roster so that the extra work gets spread around.”

“Next, I want to remind you that we are now onboard a Navy carrier manned by Navy personnel that is hauling not only your asses through space, but several hundred fully-augmented Marines. These people may, or may not, have the same attitudes toward concubines as we do in the 1st. The fact that your concubines are also aircraft technicians gives then some small amount of protection. While on duty, they’re technically part of the Military, even though they have no rank. When off-duty, they’re nothing more than concubines and have no more rights aboard ship than the concubines of the Navy or the Marines.”

“My suggestion to you is that you instruct your technicians not to wander around the ship and to avoid the Marines’ living area. While off-duty, have your female concubines go places in pairs and I would have the women dress down. And I mean that, do you hear me out there Brazilians? We all know that you want your concubines to look good. But fashion-model looks can get them in trouble, especially after we’ve been cooped up inside this tin can for four or five months. I know. I’ve done three deployments.”

“Now that I’ve scared you, you’ll find that most of the people you meet are actually all right. Just be careful of the troublemakers; there are always a few.”

“That’s it for now. Your PDA will get you to your quarters. We will eat together at 1530 in mess hall D, crew and technicians. We will muster at 0800 tomorrow in the hangar for simulator practice. We will be using your Swifts as simulators. We have to get my crew assimilated with the rest of the Wing and get you prepared to face the Sa’arm on Tulakat. Therefore, we’ll be training exclusively using simulated models of actual Tulakat terrain. We have two weeks of travel time to Tulakat. We’re going to be busy.”

Sophia was standing in the middle of their quarter’s trying to figure out what could be done about the sleeping arrangements. Wanda hadn’t exaggerated about the size of the bunks. They were long enough for a fully-augmented Marine to sleep in but only as wide as a single person. They were arranged three to a side, across a center isle from each other. During the day they could be flipped up to expose long, narrow benches that created a seating area on each side. Sophia pulled the benches away from the wall and lowered the bunks on one side only. Next, she arranged two benches next to each bunk and then partially opened the bunks on the other side and removed the mattress from each one. She laid the mattresses on the benches, effectively making three full-sized beds.

“It ain’t home, but it’s the best I can do,” she told Reggie and Aaron who had been in the bathrooms while she was moving things around.

“That’ll be better than sleeping alone,” Reggie said. “You’re not going to like the bathrooms either. To sit on the toilet, you’ve got to put one foot in the shower and one arm over the sink.”

“Yep, and no showering together either. There’s not enough room in the shower to fart, let alone get cozy,” Aaron replied.

“I’m beginning to wonder why anyone would sign up for this shit,” Sophia said.

“They can’t exactly put this stuff on the recruiting posters,” Reggie said. “Besides, it’s still better than staying on Earth and being Swarm food.”

“Speaking of food, it’s almost 1530. Where are Wanda, Kyle and Jessica?” Aaron asked.

“Approaching your door right now,” the AI answered.

The door opened to admit the three technicians who immediately flopped down on the nearest bed.

“Come on, it’s time for dinner,” Reggie said to them.

“Just leave us here to die,” Jessica moaned.

“Yeah, we’ll eat in tonight,” Kyle said.

“You can’t. We all have to eat in the mess tonight. Jones’ orders,” Aaron told them.

“Shit,” Jessica said, dragging her ass up off the bed. “Let me go wash my face then.”

“What’s wrong with you three?” Sophia inquired.

“It’s that bitch of a Master Sergeant that runs the hangar,” Wanda told them. “She worked us like slaves. As soon as we got done storing the planes, she put us to work cleaning the hangar. We were literally scrubbing the floors on our hands and knees.”

Jessica returned from the bathroom, her hair pulled back in a pony-tail. “I’m ready now.”

Reggie and Aaron pulled Kyle and Wanda up off the bed and the six of them made their way to mess hall D.

They arrived early to mess, got their food and found seats at a table near the wall. Tiffany and her bunch arrived soon after and joined them. Before long, most of the 1st were eating and only a few were left in line. True to form, one of the last people to arrive was Tex.

Tex’s real name was Adolphus Jackson, but there was only a handful of people in the First that knew it. Tex was from San Antonio and he was all Texas. When he was out of uniform, Tex wore button up shirts, tight blue jeans and cowboy boots. He favored a white cowboy hat, but rumor had it that he had almost thirty of them for various occasions. Nobody could remember a time when Tex didn’t have his cowboy hat on except when he was flying and was forced to wear his flight helmet. It was a common joke around the ready-room that he probably fucked in it too.

Tex’s other distinguishing trait was that he was always the last person to arrive, even though he was rarely late. Whenever someone would chide him about it he’d just grin and say, “I reckon I must still be on Texas Time.” Of course, that spread like wildfire and now when anyone was late to something his or her excuse was always, “Sorry, I’m on Texas Time”.

Tex was just about to pick up an empty food tray when a group of twenty Marines entered the mess hall. They stopped and looked in disgust at the diminutive crew members in the room. One of them, a Sergeant, strode up to the line and pushed Tex out of the way, knocking him down and causing his hat to fall off.

“Beat it, Midget,” he said. “There are some real Marines here that need to eat.”

The woman in front of Tex, one of his gunners whose name was Ruby, turned around and yelled, “Hey, wait your turn!”

The Marine laughed and grabbed Ruby by her forearms. He lifted her up and held her in front of him.

“Put me down,” Ruby said. The Marine continued to laugh at her.

“I order you to put me down Sergeant!” Ruby tried again.

“Who the fuck do you think you are ordering me around? You fucking twat! I don’t take orders from a runt!” the Marine screamed at her.

Just then, a humming noise filled the air near the commotion. Tex had drawn his katana and had the point of it sticking in the Marine’s back.”

“Ah think you had better do what the little lady told you to do,” Tex said in a calm voice. “She outranks you just a bit.”

Before the Marine could reply, one of the other Marines drew a stinger and fired it at Tex. He dropped to the floor.

“What the fuck took you assholes so long?” the Sergeant yelled to his men as they gathered around him. “That little fucker was going to cut me.” The Marine started to kick Tex in the head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice said.

The Marines turned to face the voice, only to find that the remaining 295 pilots and gunners from the 1st were standing around them.

“Who’s going to stop us?” a Marine asked.

“We will,” Aaron said as he drew his sword. The other 294 did the same. The humming sound that filled the air sounded like an angry swarm of bees.

“Your move,” Aaron said. “You’ve already assaulted two superior officers and disobeyed direct orders. You’re looking at some brig time, probably a court martial. If you stop right now and put the Lieutenant down, that is.”

A loud voice from behind the sword-wielding crewmembers said, “He’s right Sergeant. Put the Lieutenant down and step back before I let them make a very messy example out of you.”

The Sergeant looked to see whom the voice belonged to. When he saw who had spoken, he blanched. He carefully set Ruby back on the ground and backed up against the cafeteria serving table. Several armed MPs moved forward and took up guard positions between the 1st and the Marines who had started the trouble. Lt. Colonel Jones and a naval officer approached the group.

“I want this Sergeant and whoever stung this man sent immediately to the brig. The rest of these men are to be confined to quarters pending an investigation,” the officer told the MPs.

“Yes, Sir,” one of the MPs replied and they soon had the Marines out of the mess hall. A few seconds later a medical team arrived and took Tex to the medical bay for treatment. Now that the excitement was over everyone returned to their seats.

“Listen up!” Lieutenant Colonel Jones yelled to get everyone’s attention. “I would like to introduce Captain Rodriguez, commanding officer of the Jarvis.”

Everyone immediately rose from their seats and snapped to attention.

“As you were,” the Captain said. “I’m here to welcome you to the Jarvis. We are glad to have you. If y’all can fly them planes with the same intensity that you just showed here, I believe the Sa’arm are about to experience a serious ass-whooping.”

“I would also like to apologize to you for the incident that just occurred. That group of Marines is new onboard and they come from a rather rough-and-tumble colony. I will have the AI update your PDA’s with the location of their quarters. I suggest you avoid them for a while. Eventually, the bad eggs will get weeded out.”

“Finally, I have spoken with Colonel Walker and he has told me of some of the unique training methods that you have employed. He also spoke very highly of using the availability of sporting events to bolster morale and to foster cooperation. We currently have two empty hangars. Eventually, they will house the 2nd and 3rd Air Fighter Wings, but for now, hangar D will be available for sporting events and training. Colonel Jones will be in charge of scheduling.”

“Oh, and speaking of hangars. I have reminded Master Sergeant Conner that we have vacuums and floor polishers for cleaning the hangar floors.” A sign of relief could be heard from all of the assembled technicians. “That’s it for now. Again, welcome to the Jarvis.”