Page 10

They did five laps around The Ring. That meant ten kilometers, which was four more than Veronica typically ran, but she handled it easily, feeling rather pleased with herself for not tapping out at six. Of course, she had made a point of keeping up with Jane , even though that required a lot more effort on her part. Jane , after all, was an Amazon, with the kind of legs which didn’t seem to have an end, whereas she herself was…most decidedly not an Amazon.

She spent much of their run together feeling as if she was in the middle of a daydream.

Jane .

She was allowed to call her Jane!

Not only that, she had finally been able to say it!

Earlier, while they had been standing on the infield, Veronica had started to feel as if she had suffered a blow to the head which rendered incapable of saying what Jane was giving her permission to say! She just hadn’t been able to overcome her excellent training and get past saying ma’am!

Finally, Jane had made her laugh so hard that it was as if the mental blockage had been blown away with a thermite charge, making her able to call Jane by her first name.

It had felt a little weird the first time she said it, as if she would still get in trouble for daring to be so familiar with a higher-ranking officer. But it had also felt…good.

Naturally, she knew this kind of thing was common…

She had overheard plenty of officers address their superiors by their first names when they were off-duty or having an unguarded moment. She had once even overheard Commander Voss address Captain Yarrum as Vanessa one day when she had been summoned to the captain’s ready room, and walked in on the two of them in the middle of a conversation. As soon as Veronica had come in, Commander Voss had instantly switched to using “Captain,” of course…but Veronica had still caught that Vanessa .

In any case, no higher-ups ever invited lowlies to use their first names, and so Veronica was kind of relishing this privilege.

“Whew!” Jane exclaimed when they slowed down to a walking speed after the five laps. She had her hands on her hips as she walked, with her head tilted upwards. “That was a good run!”

Veronica nodded, shaking her arms at her sides.

“I usually only do six kilometers,” she said.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Jane replied. “I should have asked what you normally do.”

“No, that’s fine!” Veronica said. “I enjoyed the extra kays.”

“Good,” Jane said. “And who knew the Navy trained their personnel so well!”

Veronica pursed her lips, her Navy pride coming to the surface.

“Well,” she began, “who knew the Air and Space Defense taught their pilots big words like personnel? ”

Next to her, Jane burst out laughing, which relieved Veronica, who hadn’t been sure if she should attempt that joke.

“Finally!” Jane exclaimed. “You’re loosening up around me! Thank the stars!”

Veronica smiled, feeling absurdly proud.

“So…how about we take half a lap around to cool down, and then head back to Cosmic Melons for another drink together, Veronica? ” Jane suggested.

Veronica was elated. They were going to hang out more!

“I think that’s a great idea… Jane, ” she answered.

They walked silently for a while. For some reason, the artificial sunlight in this space, combined with the ambient noise of all the people who were playing on the infield, or just sitting in the stands talking, was reminding Veronica of sunny days at Memorial Park, back home in Coventry.

“So what do you usually do during your time off, Veronica?” Jane suddenly asked her.

Veronica let out a dry chuckle. Her time off was almost like a second job…

“Let’s see…” she began. “I study. Like, everything! Currently, I’m focusing on propulsion operations while also trying to learn the Lydig language. That’s in addition to studying my Bridge Officer’s manual. When I’m not doing that, I use the training simulators to recreate the bridge conditions for some of the most famous starship battles in history. Like the Ka’raq Offensive at Omega Centauri, or when Captain Yarrum fought off two Merkonian battlewagons at the Vela Molecular Ridge, when she was captain of the Baychester . When I’m not doing any of that, I sleep.”

Studying was what she had been doing earlier when her Rosie informed her there was a message from Jane. Just hearing that had made her suddenly sit up on her bed, an action which had caught the attention of Findara and Raya, who had both looked at her strangely.

Then, after Rosie had read the message, Veronica had decided studying could wait and hurriedly stripped off the loungewear she’d had on, and gotten dressed in her workout clothes.

She’d had no intention of going running today—and if anyone else had invited her to do so, she would have turned them down. But Jane wasn’t just anybody.

Naturally, her cabinmates had asked what was going on. But all Veronica had told them—as she was heading out the door—was that she had to meet someone to go running with, and that she’d explain later.

Now, Jane stopped walking and so Veronica did too.

Jane stared down at her.

“Don’t you ever do anything fun?” she asked.

“I try to get myself lost in the engineering access conduits and then see how quickly I can find my way out,” Veronica answered.

Jane continued staring at her. Eventually, she started walking again.

“What?” Veronica asked, catching up to her.

“I meant fun , Veronica,” Jane said.

“That is fun!” Veronica protested. “And educational!”

Nonetheless, she wracked her brain for better examples because she didn’t want to appear hopelessly geeky.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “My cabinmates and I like to go dancing in the Caribbean Lounge—whenever we’re not too busy studying. Oh! And I like working out—whenever I’m not too busy studying. Oh! And watching vids!”

“When you’re not too busy studying?” Jane prodded.

Veronica smiled.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Do you ever watch Davenport Landing ?” Jane asked.

Veronica gasped.

“That’s my favorite show!” she said.

“Mine too!” Jane replied.

Davenport Landing was a sapphic soap opera, set in New Beverly Hills on Mars. It was kind of stupid, but that was part of what made it fun to watch. The Fordham had all the episodes that had been produced up until when the starship left Earth’s solar system in her massive video library, which contained entertainment from several different planets.

It had been a while since Veronica had been able to watch any of the episodes. She believed she was as much as three seasons behind. But her duties had kept her from catching up.

She explained as much to Jane now.

“Oh goodness, Veronica!” Jane said. “You’ve missed some good stuff!”

“Did Kieran end up with Nancy?” Veronica asked, referring to a slow-burn story arc in the series.

But Jane shook her head.

“I’m not telling you,” she said. She tilted her head towards the exit. “Let’s go get juiced up,” she said.

They left the track and exited The Ring, making their way towards Cosmic Melons.

After examining the menu, Veronica thought the Tethys Sunrise sounded yummy, and she said so to the robomixer. Jane ordered a Watermelon Smash. When Jane also instructed the robomixer to charge the drinks to her account, Veronica protested.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jane told her. “I make a lot more money than you. Unless they’ve bumped up ensign pay without telling me.”

Veronica glared at her.

“Excuse me,” she stated. “I make JG wages now.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Jane said. “You’ve been promoted and now have slightly more responsibilities than an ensign.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. She enjoyed Jane’s sense of humor, even though much of it seemed to be centered on making fun of her low rank as well as the Navy. But that’s how it was in the military. At least Jane was playful about it, and Veronica had a sense that was because the pilot liked her.

But what good did that knowledge do her? There was no way in the galaxy that she was going to be the forward one, and suggest the two of them have dinner together one night, or—even more terrifying—suggest that they have an arrangement whereby they basically used each other for sex.

Veronica would be perfectly fine with an arrangement, but she just knew she would die if she was the one to make the offer…

The two of them found a table and sat down with their drinks.

“So…” Jane began, “…your schedule sounds absolutely atrocious. Not much room for a social life, I suppose.”

Veronica’s heart skipped a beat.

“Not really, no,” she replied. “But, you know, it’s not impossible. I mean…if I had a girlfriend, she would just have to be someone who understands that my career comes first.”

She felt very proud of herself. She had just killed two birds with one stone. By casually mentioning her lack of girlfriend, she had also casually mentioned her sexuality. And she hadn’t even thought about it! It had just come out, making her believe she was a natural at this.

Jane nodded.

“I get it,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m in the same boat. For me, a girlfriend has to realize that if I’m needed to help fend off an enemy attack, that means I can’t sit at home giving her a back massage or something.”

Veronica took a sip of her drink.

“Exactly,” she said. “I mean, how could anyone dating a starfighter pilot expect to have a normal relationship with her?”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” Jane exclaimed. She then gestured towards Veronica with her glass. “And how could anyone dating an ensign expect to have unlimited time with her?”

Veronica narrowed her eyes.

“Begging the lieutenant’s pardon,” she said, “but I feel I must once again remind you that I am no longer an ensign, but rather a lieutenant junior grade.”

Jane scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, a lieutenant junior grade!” she exclaimed. “Well, you guys have absolutely nothing to do, so why can’t a woman have unlimited time with you?”

Veronica quirked an eyebrow.

“It’s a mystery, isn’t it?” she said snidely. “So can I assume you make fun of all the other lowlies this way?”

Jane shook her head.

“You’re the only lowly I know,” she replied. “So, you’re lucky.”

Veronica barked a dry laugh. She really was starting to feel comfortable with Jane, as if the difference between their ranks didn’t exist.

She also started to wonder if, say, Raya had been the one to contact Jane, asking her to give that talk to the BOTC class about the first contact experience, if Jane would now be sitting here in Cosmic Melons with her .

The very idea caused a flash of jealousy to flare in Veronica’s chest. It got worse when she imagined Findara sitting here with Jane…

Raya was cute. Findara was gorgeous.

“So, listen…” Jane began, “if you ever want to catch up on Davenport Landing , let me know. We could book an A/V room and watch it together. I’ll even bring popcorn.”

Veronica swallowed.

In what manner was she supposed to take that offer?

She knew in what manner she wanted to take that offer, but that didn’t mean anything.

She smiled.

“That would be great!” she exclaimed. She then decided to take a chance. “And if you ever want to meet up somewhere else other than this juice bar, I’d be more than happy to.”

Jane smirked.

“Oh, I don’t know, Veronica,” she said. “I kinda like that this is becoming our place.”

“Me too!” Veronica exclaimed. “I wasn’t suggesting that—”

“Well, I like your idea,” Jane cut in. “Perhaps we should meet up for a meal one day.”

Veronica nodded eagerly. A meal sounded like a date…even though perhaps it wasn’t going to be a date. After all, Jane hadn’t actually said the words, Would you like to go on a date with me? But whatever having a meal with Jane was going to be, she wanted it.

“Yes!” she replied.

She usually ate her meals with other BOTC classmates, or at the very least with Findara and Raya. Meals were good opportunities for them all to quiz each other about procedures, and to vent about their commanding officers. But a meal with Jane was a good opportunity to…spend time with Jane.

Jane smiled at her.

“Cool,” she said, looking at her with eyes that were obviously telegraphing interest, even though Veronica didn’t quite want to believe that at this point. “We still have some time before we reach Pecula, don’t we? So…maybe tomorrow, if your duties allow?”

Veronica thought ahead to tomorrow, and analyzed her schedule…

She was meant to work the Charlie shift on the bridge tomorrow—what would be called the graveyard shift on Earth. Earlier in the day, the BOTC class was due to meet with Commander Voss, and she was also meant to participate in a study group about particulate fusion reactors on Mercury-class starships.

“I have about an hour for dinner tomorrow before my bridge shift,” she told Jane. “Alternatively, I have about an hour for lunch, but not at midday.”

“We’ll make it work,” Jane said. “Why don’t you have your AI send me the times you’re available.” She paused. “Wait…are ensigns allowed to have AIs?”

Veronica glared at her.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Are pilots allowed to chew gum and think at the same time?”

Jane laughed.

“Oh, I can see that we are going to have so much fun together!” she said, quirking an eyebrow.

Veronica smiled, feeling stupidly happy. She also realized that she could imagine many different scenarios in which she and Jane could have so much fun together.