Chapter 15

I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.

The 1st Air Fighter Wing soon fell into a shipboard routine. They were up at 0530 and reported to hangar D for physical training, or PT. Sophia became the group leader because of her martial arts seniority. Every morning they all warmed up with Tai Chi, followed by karate and weapons katas. They then ran three to five miles and lifted weights. They went to mess together at 0830 and were in the simulators at 0900. Lieutenant Colonel Jones and his two crew-members attended every session and before long it was as though they had been flying with the group from the beginning.

Simulator practice was exhausting and very frustrating at first. The scenarios that they were flying were extremely difficult. Many of them were replays of some of the battles fought by the original Swift crews, battles in which aircraft had been lost. The addition of a limited shield helped immensely, as did the added targeting proficiency of the gunners. Simulated losses were down 80% compared to the original skirmishes, but aircraft were still lost.

The value of a recon and command aircraft was realized immediately. The high resolution quality of the imagery and the ability to make adjustments to enemy movements in real-time, as opposed to the delays inherent in using orbit-based intelligence gathering, made the attacks of the Swifts much more deadly. Aircraft losses also dropped significantly because the recon aircraft could identify enemy troop locations and gun emplacements that would have been invisible from orbit.

Most of the 1st elected to eat dinner in their quarters with their concubines, although there were always some who went to the mess hall. Dinner was at 1800. From 1900 to 2000, Sophia taught advanced martial arts classes in hangar D and from 2000 to 2300 the hangar was open for sporting events. Jones set up a schedule and was immediately swamped with requests. He drafted Candace Tollert to help him sort it out.

Soccer, to no one’s surprise, got the most field time. Softball, football and cricket were also popular with various segments of the crew. One of the most requested games was one thought up by Tex. Instead of getting mad after his run in with the Marines, Tex tried to figure out a way to bring everyone together. Most of the physical sports were too lopsided when the small pilots and gunners played the larger Marines. Tex figured that there needed to be an equalizer, something that would blunt the incredible strength of the Marines and slow-down the quick and agile Swift crews. One day, Tex stepped over an active grav sled in the hangar. The low gravity sent him up in the air, until he left the field, at which point he fell on his ass. The missing piece of the puzzle fell in place and low-grav volleyball was born.

Low-grav volleyball was played on a basketball-sized court with a gravity of approximately 1/8 that of Earth. The top of the net was set at 30 feet and the floor was slightly sticky so that the players could move. Teams of 12 competed against each other. It was an immediate success. Big marines could jump high and spike the ball, but their weight worked against them when they moved. The Swift crews could move quicker, but their velocity worked against them. The first few games were hilarious to watch as big marines and little pilots went flying around, crashing into the walls, net and each other. Eventually, the players developed some amazing skills and the matches became almost like a ballet with choreographed movements and established plays.

Sophia’s martial arts classes also drew a lot of attention. At first, it was only the Swift crew-members who came to her evening classes. After a few days, a few marines and navy people started to come by and watch. The techniques that Sophia was teaching went way beyond what even the marines had learned in training. One evening, she was instructing a group on tactics to use against a larger foe. One of the marines waiting around for the football game to start approached her.

“I see a lot of fancy footwork and spinning around, but that won’t help you against a larger attacker. He’ll just take you down to the ground where you’ll be helpless,” the man said.

Sophia looked him over. She estimated his height at almost 7 feet with the typical marine augmentation package. She noticed how his movements were restricted to some degree by the bulk of his muscles.

“Do you think that you could beat me hand-to-hand?” Sophia asked him.

“Wouldn’t even be a contest,” he replied.

“Try me,” she replied.

“I’m not going to waste my time with you,” he said, turning to walk away.

“Bock, bock, bock,” she taunted him. “The big bad marine is chicken.”

He turned back to her. “Fine, but you’ll regret this,” he said.

“Want to make a bet on it?” Sophia said.

“Sure. Why not?”

“I win, you come to my morning martial arts class for a week,” she said.

“What if I win?” he asked.

“You get to take me to dinner.”

“And that’s supposed to my incentive?”

“Damn right,” she said with a leer as she stared suggestively at his crotch.

“It’s a deal,” he said. “Come on then, give it your best shot.”

In his defense, he did see her move. But that was about it. The next thing he knew he was face down on the floor with his arm being held between his shoulder blades. Sophia let the man up.

“All right, you get to attack this time. I might have caught you by surprise,” she said.

“Damn right you did,” he said.

This time, the marine circled Sophia looking for an opening. Suddenly, he darted in and made a grab for the front of her gi. Instead of achieving his goal, she grabbed his arm, and using his momentum, pulled him off balance. As his body was moved past her, she performed a spinning kick that landed squarely on his ass and sent him to the floor. The other people standing around began to laugh. And that made him mad.

Picking himself up off the floor he launched himself a Sophia, meaning to bowl her over. She neatly sidestepped him and landed a punch to his solar plexus. His breath left him in a whoosh. Sophia casually grabbed a pressure point in his arm and lowered him to the ground. She knelt over him and put her lips to his ear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at 0530. Wear a gi. Your replicator can make you one. Oh, and by the way, you can still take me to dinner. How about tomorrow evening?” she whispered. At the same time, she let her other hand sneak up and caress his cock.

“Mmmm, very nice. Yes! I think dinner will be very exciting. What’s your name?”

“Carl Donaldson,” he gasped, still trying to catch his breath.

“I’ll see you in the morning Carl,” she said as she let go of his arm.

Carl got up and went to join his football buddies, resigned to the fact that they would be giving him hell about this for a long, long time.

Faith and Aaron approached the door to Aaron’s quarters with their hands all over each other. Faith had run into Aaron before dinner and they had eaten together in the mess hall. During the meal, Faith mentioned the night before Heather’s birthday. The memory of the activities that evening soon had both of their libidos running at full throttle. Aaron took her hand and led her back to his room, which he thought would be unoccupied.

The door opened and they were surprised to discover that Sophia was home, and she wasn’t alone. She was being thoroughly fucked by a huge, but good-looking marine. Aaron recognized him as the marine named Carl that had shown up for martial arts practice that morning. Carl was standing and holding Sophia by her ass cheeks. She was holding his upper arms and she had her feet braced on his hips. Sophia was riding what had to be at least a 12 or 13-inch cock and taking every bit of it. The lovers both had their eyes closed, savoring the feeling of their union.

“Holy shit!” Faith whispered with a look of disbelief on her face.

Aaron and Faith slipped inside the room and closed the door. They quietly sat down on a bed and watched the spectacle taking place in front of them. As they watched, Aaron fondled Faith’s tits and she rubbed his cock through his suit. Soon, Sophia’s face and chest started to blush.

“She’s going to cum,” Aaron whispered in Faith’s ear. Faith unzipped her jumpsuit and snaked her hand down between her legs. Her middle finger found her slickened crack and began to stroke her clit. Aaron slipped his hand inside her suit and began to pinch and roll her nipples.

“She’s not the only one,” Faith said as a small orgasm quickly rippled through her.

Sophia began to cum, a drawn out scream erupting from her mouth. She flung her head back and continued to grind on Carl’s thick rod. She began to grunt every time a spasm occurred in her pussy. Within seconds, Carl unloaded too. Sophia continued to slide up and down on his cock, milking every last sensation out of her orgasm. Before she was through, semen and pussy juice began to drip to the floor from where it had run down her ass. Finally, she pulled herself up and hugged the marine tight.

Carl was the first to open his eyes and immediately spotted Aaron and Faith on the couch. Carl whispered to Sophia.

“Set me down,” Sophia said softly. Carl set her on the floor. Sophia turned and smiled at Faith and Aaron.

“Wasn’t that awesome?” Sophia asked. “God, the feeling of raw power that I just experienced was…I can’t really describe it.”

Faith just nodded her head. Her eyes were fixed on Carl’s now half-hard cock. It seemed to her that it was hanging half-way to his knees. Sophia noticed the direction of her gaze.

“Go ahead honey. I don’t mind,” Sophia said. “I’ll keep Aaron occupied.”

Faith walked over to the man as if in a daze. She dropped to her knees and began to lick the combined sex juices from his dick. Carl wasn’t quite sure how to take all of this but he knew a good thing when he saw it. He just kept his mouth shut.

Sophia peeled Aaron out of his flight suit and went down on him. After a few minutes, she stopped and gave him a kiss.

“Baby, it’s going to have to be anal for you. I’m so stretched out right now I’ll never feel you,” Sophia said.

“When have I ever turned down your tight little ass?”

Sophia stuck her ass in the air in invitation. Aaron fucked her until she had three more orgasms. Sophia had finally had enough and rolled away from him. Aaron looked over to Carl and Faith. She was on top, riding him with her tits pressed into his chest. Her little pink rosebud seemed to wink at him from across the room.

Aaron went to his locker and got a bottle of lube. He worked a large amount into his cock and placed himself behind Faith. Matching the couple’s motions as best that he could, Aaron began to work the large head of his cock into Faith’s ass. The head of his cock finally popped into her poop chute. Faith let out a loud gasp.

“Oh God, I’ve never been so full,” Faith moaned. “Fuck my ass, baby.”

Aaron applied pressure until his cock was completely buried in her butt. He could feel Carl’s prick sawing back and forth in her pussy, a pair of thin membranes the only things separating the two men. Aaron began to thrust into her, causing Faith to begin screaming as a huge orgasm grabbed her.

“Fill me up,” she screamed at them. “Fill me up with your cum.”

Carl and Aaron picked up their pace and soon they were both pounding her hard and fast. The feeling of each other’s cocks rubbing back and forth inside of Faith soon had them ready to blow too. Almost simultaneously the men came, filling her ass and cunt full of hot jism.

The three of them collapsed in a pile. Sophia crawled over to them and before long, the whole bunch of them was asleep.

That’s how Reggie and Camilla found them later.

“Dammit. Everywhere is full up,” Reggie said.

“Come on, luv,” Camilla said in her soft British accent. “I think I know a spot. There’s an empty office near the ready-room.”

“OK, but it won’t be as comfortable as having a bed.”

“We’ll make do,” Camilla said, gazing at the naked people. “You know, you could just invite me over some evening. Your family looks like it would be a lot of fun to get to know.”

“Really. You would want to do that?” Reggie asked.

“Sure. Sounds like fun. Are you jealous or something? We aren’t an exclusive item, you know,” she said.

“I know, but I always thought that you were more, um, refined than that.”

Camilla laughed, “You’ve been watching too much Mary Poppins. Just because I’m British doesn’t mean that I’m a fuddy-duddy. I like to fuck, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I did notice,” Reggie grinned.

“Right then, no more sneaking around. We have just as much right to use our rooms as our family does. Besides, I’ve seen Jocelyn giving you the eye. I know that she’ll be up for a bit of fun with us,” Camilla said. “The rest of them too, I don’t doubt.”

“And I know my family will welcome you with open arms, hard cocks and wet pussies,” Reggie replied.

Camilla gave him a big kiss, “Now, let’s go explore that office.”

Tiffany gazed out of the officer’s lounge window at the planet Tulakat below. She could see the night side of the planet approaching as the Jarvis orbited in place and the planet slowly revolved beneath it.

“It looks so peaceful from up here,” she thought. Her thoughts brought on another round of sobs and tears as she remembered the horror of the day before. Tim hobbled over to her from the bar, still using a cane to help him walk. The medical technicians said that it would be a week before the burn scars would be healed by the nanobots. Until then, the right side of his body would be stiff with scar tissue.

Tim stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He could feel her shaking as she let her grief out.

“The AI said he never felt a thing BG,” Tim whispered.

“I know, but I still miss him. He was family. And poor Patty, she’s carrying his baby,” Tiffany said, breaking down again. “I feel like it was my fault.”

“Hush that talk. You know it wasn’t your fault,” Tim said. “In fact, I owe my life to you. Only you could have put the Gotham down safely after that kind of damage. And then, you saved me from burning to death.”

“I know. I just can’t get it out of my head,” she said.

The ‘Gotham City’ and the rest of Bravo squadron were flying ground support for operations in sector 12A. Recent reports indicated increased Sa’arm activity in the area, probably associated with a new underground base. Satellite and aerial reconnaissance had failed to find a base entrance, but the Sa’arm had begun to hide them better in recent months. Ground forces had been inserted at a distance and had moved into sector 12A to observe.

The plan was to get the observation teams in place, then drop in a couple of platoons of Marines to stir the pot. Command figured to raise enough hell that the dickheads would tip their hand and reveal the location of their underground lair.

Bravo squadron was circling the sector above the cloud deck when the first calls for assistance started to come in. As luck would have it, the Marines had been dropped practically on the doorstep of the Sa’arm’s underground warren. Within minutes, thousands of dickheads had swarmed out of hidden openings in the hillsides and surrounded the platoons. The Marines were holding them off, but barely. The Panther assault shuttle had turned around before it even left the atmosphere, but incoming fire was preventing it from landing to take the troops off.

“Bravo leader, this is Beholder,” Lt. Colonel Jones’ voice came through Tiffany’s comm. “Provide fire support for those platoons. We’ve got to clear an opening for the shuttle to pull them out.”

“Roger. Tactical is coming up now.”

“Don’t spare the ammo,” Jones said. “Charlie and Echo squadrons have scrambled. They’re coming in hot. ETA 5 minutes.”

“B flight, take the north side of that hill, C flight the south. Don’t hit too close to our boys, they can take out the close ones. D flight, you’re batting clean-up, come in straight on after B and C clear out,” BatGirl said into the comm. “After that, attack at will until you’re out of juice. A flight will see about sealing up that lizard hole.”

Affirmatives came from her squadron leaders as they dove through the cloud cover to attack. Tactical showed the location of the Sa’arm base as identified by the ground troops.

“A flight! We’re going to close that hole. Swede and Weasel, the rest of us are going to get their attention. I want your gunners to drop every damn buzz saw you have around that entrance. Let’s keep anymore of them fuckers from joining the party!” BatGirl told them.

“Yes ma’am!” Swede and Weasel replied.

The Gotham City dropped out of the clouds at 500 feet and 1 kilometer from the entrance to the underground warren. Taz, Bingo and the other gunners in the front three Swifts opened up with their BLiPP’s as soon as they had visual on the enemy, which wasn’t hard. The forest below was crawling with the bastards. Dickheads were boiling up out of the ground from several openings. Explosions and fires erupted among the enemy as the Swifts cut a swath of destruction through the area. BatGirl was just about to pull up when the laser hit her aircraft.

The Gotham City shuddered and began to yaw back and forth. Smoke filled the cockpit as BatGirl fought to regain control. She managed to pull the nose up and make it over a low ridge and out of the combat zone before the engine quit.

“BG, I’ve got a fire in here!” Taz yelled into the comm. “I can’t put it out, it’s electrical.”

“The ejection pod circuits are fried! I’ve got to set her down!” she yelled back. “You guys hold on!”

BatGirl fought the controls, which were becoming sluggish as the damaged energy cells lost power. She fought for lift as she looked for a place to crash. Just when it looked like she was going down in the trees, she flew over an open floodplain. She pulled the airplane around and lined up with an open area. Not having time to do anything else, she just pulled the nose up slightly and set her down, hoping that there wouldn’t be anything big and hard in her way.

The Gotham City left a quarter mile long trail through the grass and brush as it slowed. It seemed to take forever for the plane to come to a stop, especially with Taz screaming into the comm. He was starting to burn.

Tiffany popped the hatch and jumped out of her ruined Swift. She grabbed her sword and scrambled down the left side of the plane and rushed to Taz’s cockpit hatch. She opened it manually. Smoke and heat hit her in the face as she opened the door. Using her katana, she quickly cut the seat restraints and pulled the unconscious Taz out of the Swift. The right side of his flight suit was on fire so she had to roll him around on the ground to put it out. The fire had burned completely through his suit to the skin, leaving most of the right side of his body badly charred.

Tiffany climbed back up to her cockpit and grabbed her emergency med-kit.

She opened up two wound powder packets and spread the nanobot-containing powder over his wounds. Once that was done, she hurried around the front of the Swift to get Bingo. It was then that she saw where the Sa’arm laser had struck.

The right side of her aircraft, from near the nose back to the beginning of the wing, was gone. The intense heat of the laser had boiled away the metal and polymers all the way back to the energy cell in the center of the plane. There was no sign of Bingo or his cockpit. They had been vaporized too.

In a daze, BatGirl staggered back to Taz. He was still unconscious but breathing. Black smoke was now billowing out of the hatch. The site of the smoke snapped BatGirl back to the present. Her training kicked in and she began to take care of business. Working quickly, she set the self-destruct charges and retrieved her emergency supplies and PDA. Picking Taz up in a fireman’s carry, she walked as fast as possible away from the wreckage. She headed for some trees near the wreck, hoping to find a place where she could hole up and call for retrieval.

BatGirl pulled Taz up under some brush and covered them as best she could with the invisibility cloak. She activated her PDA and sent the self-destruct sequence to the remains of the Gotham City. It blew up in an orange fireball, destroying the plane and keeping the sensitive technology away from the Sa’arm. Then she switched her PDA so that communications would route through her implant. The AI responded immediately.

“Captain Carter, are you injured?”

“No. But Lieutenant Sample is badly burned. Lieutenant Anderson is dead,” she replied.

“Understood. A shuttle is on its way,” the AI told her. “Lieutenant Jones is holding for you.”

“Carter. Wrap Anderson in your space blanket as tight as you can,” Jones said.

“Yes Sir,”

“Shuttle ETA is seven minutes. Recon doesn’t show any activity in your area, but there might be a patrol around. Stay down until the shuttle arrives. The rest of A flight is flying cover for you,” he said.

“Did we get the Marines out?” she asked.

“About half of them,” he replied. “We wouldn’t have gotten any of them out without the Swifts. Bunker-busters are inbound, you’ll be feeling them in a few moments. By the way, dropping the buzz saws around the entrances was genius. According to the observers, the mines are still keeping them bottled up.”

“Thank you, Sir,” she said, but she didn’t feel like she deserved any praise.

She wrapped Taz up in the blanket and held him until the shuttle landed near her. A squad of Marines fanned out around the shuttle as two med techs rushed over with a stretcher. They took Taz and hustled him back to the shuttle. Tiffany followed them to the shuttle. The Marines pulled back and as soon as everyone was aboard, the pilot took off.

As soon as they were clear of the surface Tiffany began to cry.

Tim and Tiffany were in their quarters with Faith, Ronny and Gina watching a video when the AI announced a visitor. Tim asked the AI to open the door. When it opened, Lieutenant Jones was standing outside. Tiffany and Tim immediately stood to receive him.

“Please, I’m not really here on official business,” he said indicating that they should sit.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Ronny said as he and the other technicians started to get up.

“This concerns you too. I think you should stay,” Jones replied.

“As you are all aware, the rules guiding the relationships between Swift crews and their concubines are pretty unique. We have saddled you with technicians that are also your families. Militarily, this made sense because it has allowed you all to develop into effective teams that trust each other. Personally, this will cause problems when pilots or gunners are lost. You know what I mean.”

Tiffany and the other nodded their heads.

“I have spoken at length with Colonel Walker and we have developed some rules concerning concubines, rules that the AI has agreed to. First, non-technician concubines may be kept as part of the family if the surviving sponsors want them. They will not automatically be turned over to the Civil Service. I understand that Bingo only had his two technicians.”

“That’s right, me and Patty,” Gina said.

“Yes, and Patty is pregnant. Correct?” he asked.

“That’s correct, Lieutenant Jones,” Gina replied.

“Call me Mike,” he said. “That brings me to the technicians. The Confederacy considers you too valuable to be taken out of service to the Swift program. That means that when a sponsor dies, the technicians have to pass on to another pilot or gunner.”

“But I don’t want to leave my family,” Gina said, beginning to cry.

“I know, but that’s the way it is. We did manage to get the AI to agree that no technicians would be taken away from Trenat. If possible, technicians will be placed with other crews in the 1st. If no places are available, they may go to the 2nd or 3rd fighter wings. It was the best that we could do. At least the technicians will be close to their old families.”

“Thank you,” Gina said. “That helps.”

“Also, if you all have no objections, I’d like to sponsor Gina and Patty. Now that I’m flying I need technicians,” Mike said.

“When would I have to leave?” Gina asked.

“Not till tomorrow,” Mike replied.

“It’s OK with me, Gina said.

“Excellent. AI, I take Gina and Patty as my concubines.”

“Noted,” the AI replied.

“Mike. Are we going to get a new Swift?” Tiffany asked. They had all been on light duty for two weeks due to lack of a replacement aircraft.

“The cargo ship is due to arrive this afternoon. It’s bringing twelve replacement aircraft from Azahar. Also, six gunners have arrived on a transport from Trenat. Walker took the most advanced students and their technicians from the 2nd and shipped them to us. You’ll get to pick your new gunner tomorrow.”

“That won’t leave us much time to train with them before we get to our next assignment,” Tiffany said. “We’re still leaving Tulakat tomorrow, aren’t we?”

“Yes, you’ll have about eight days of simulator practice with your new gunner before we arrive. I know that’s not much time. However, if things progress like they did on Tulakat when the Swifts were first used, it should be a couple of weeks before the Sa’arm develop defensive methods to use against you,” Mike Jones replied. “That’s all I have for now.”

Mike stood and shook hands with Tim and Ronny. He gave Tiffany, Faith and Gina hugs. Before he left, Mike whispered something in Gina’s ear that made her smile. Tiffany saw that smile and new that everything would be all right with her friend.