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“Honestly, it was so good, I still don’t remember my name!” Veronica told Raya and Findara.

Veronica was back in her quarters. She and her two roommates were sitting on their beds, cross-legged and facing each other. It was like the slumber parties she used to have with her friends back when she was a little girl in Coventry, except this time, no one was wearing their pajamas. In less than a shiphour, they all needed to meet Commander Voss in the Training Bridge classroom.

Veronica had ended up sleeping at Jane’s, but had Rosie wake her up in plenty of time to get back here, shower, and change into her uniform.

Actually, she’d had Rosie wake her up in plenty of time to have sex with Jane one more time, and then get back here, shower, and change into her uniform.

Having done all that with time to spare, naturally she and her two friends started talking about her night with Jane…

“I don’t understand,” Findara said. “How did having sex with Lieutenant Belivet cause you to forget your name?”

Veronica and Raya laughed.

“It’s just a joke, sweetie!” Veronica replied. “I’m exaggerating…trying to say that the sex was so good that all the pleasure caused my brain to stop functioning properly.”

Findara smiled.

“I see!” she exclaimed. “It’s like if I say the sex with someone was so good, I became invisible.”

Raya looked at her with a perplexed expression.

“Is that really a saying where you’re from?” she asked.

Findara nodded.

“In my country at least,” she answered. “It refers to an ancient belief that sensations—pleasure, pain, even hunger—can become so intense they could cause someone to phase out of this dimension and into another one. So, we often say something like, ‘I was so hungry, I became invisible.’” She frowned. “It sounds prettier in my language.”

“Interesting,” Veronica replied, meaning it. This was one of the reasons she was grateful for her career in the Unitary Starship Fleet: having the chance to learn uncommon facts about all of the different species she worked with. “Anyway, I still remember my name, okay? But the sex was really good! ”

“Lucky!” Raya said with a pout. “It’s been a long time since I’ve forgotten my name.”

“And it’s been a long time since I became invisible,” Findara added, making them all laugh.

After the laughter died down, Raya said, “I swear I’m not trying to be a downer, Vale—and I’m happy that you and Lieutenant Belivet have started something—but are you keeping in mind what Commander Voss has always told us? About relationships?”

Veronica knew exactly what Raya was referring to…

It had been drilled into all the bridge officer candidates practically from day one. And it had been reiterated many times by Commander Voss: the amount of training and study required to become a qualified starship bridge officer—even at the lowest levels—was not conducive to romance.

But were she and Jane involved in a romance?

Sure, they had both agreed that this would be more than an arrangement , but how much more? Was it only a temporary non-arrangement —one that would see them steadily spending time together for a few shipmonths before moving on to other…flavors?

Or was it the type of non-arrangement that could possibly lead to the kind of relationship—a romance—which Commander Voss might raise an eyebrow at and mutter, “BOTC training is not conducive to that, Lieutenant Vale…”

She realized that she hadn’t answered Raya’s question.

“I am keeping it in mind,” she said. Then she shrugged. “Right now it’s still new. And Jane and I—”

“Ooh, Jane! ” Findara and Raya both squealed simultaneously.

Veronica rolled her eyes.

“And Lieutenant Belivet and I have discussed the fact that my schedule in particular sucks, so I think it’s fair to say that we are both going into this with open eyes.”

“And open legs,” Raya added, causing her to duck almost instantly when Veronica threw the pillow from her bed at her.

***

In the classroom just off the Training Bridge, Commander Voss was standing before her charges, who were seated at desks that were arrayed in a horseshoe formation.

Veronica and the two other bridge officer candidates who had been promoted to lieutenant junior grade were seated together. Their chairs had even been placed slightly apart from the others, at one end of the horseshoe. This hadn’t been done by them. The seats had been arranged in that fashion when they had arrived, with Commander Voss instructing the three newly-minted junior grades to sit in them.

Of course, they did as they were told, but Veronica knew what was happening, and she felt a little sad about it.

When it came down to it, the military—any military—was all about segregation. Naturally, the Unitary’s armed forces did not segregate on the basis of race, gender, or species…but it did segregate based on rank .

Veronica had the impression that from now on, subtle things like these three seats being placed just a smidgen apart from the ensigns was going to be the norm. It was just another way Commander Voss was telling them, The better of you lot belong over here…and if the rest of you want to join them, I suggest you work harder.

“When we arrive back in Andromeda,” Commander Voss said to her mentees, “we are expecting a first contact scenario. Procedures?”

Every hand in the room shot up.

“Kennedy,” Commander Voss said.

Ensign Kennedy, a brown-haired woman from the United States, stood.

“Go to red alert,” she said. “Have all weapons batteries powered up and standing by. Raise shields.”

Veronica wanted to wince but had the self-discipline not to.

“Sequencing is important, Kennedy,” Commander Voss said. “If a situation involving a visible threat merits a red alert, raising shields should be done first . Sit down.” She paused. “Under the circumstances of this first contact,” she went on after a moment, “ should we go to red alert? Why not yellow? For that matter, why should we raise shields?”

She scanned her eyes over the candidates.

“Burammto,” she said.

Ensign Burammto, from the planet Rozix, stood.

“They are unknown beings, Commander,” they said. Their species was genderless. “The unknown requires the highest levels of caution.”

“But we were invited ,” Commander Voss pointed out. “What does it say if we arrive to meet those who invited us with our shields raised and our ship on high alert?”

“Only that we are cautious, Commander,” Burammto said.

Another hand went up.

“Goodwin,” Commander Voss said.

With Burammto remaining standing, Ensign Goodwin—a Black woman from Canada—stood.

“Pardon me, ma’am,” she said, “but you’re assuming they have the technology to determine the battle readiness of our ship.”

Commander Voss shrugged.

“They obviously have the technology to achieve interstellar travel,” she replied. “Why couldn’t they determine something as simple as whether or not another ship has defensive shields raised? Or for that matter, if our weapons are armed?”

The commander was right, Veronica considered. The sensor technology to determine such things was ludicrously simple. It was included with starship model kits sold on Earth, and which kids got as birthday presents! The idea that Jane’s unknown alien contact wouldn’t be able to tell if the Fordham had her shields raised was absurd.

Commander Voss told the two ensigns to sit down. She then put her hands behind her back and paced in front of the junior officers.

“Back to my question…” she said. “Do we really need to go to red alert in this particular scenario? Vale?”

Veronica stood.

“Yellow alert is a viable alternative, ma’am,” she answered, her mind quickly formulating the rest of her response. “We could leave our shields down because those could be raised instantly. Also, we could consider keeping our energy weapons powered down and having only our projectile batteries ready to fire.” She paused. “We were invited, after all, ma’am—as you pointed out.”

Commander Voss stopped pacing and looked at the group.

“Let’s talk about that,” she said. “The fact that we were invited.”

Ensign Petrovich stood.

“That doesn’t mean we need to be careless, ma’am!” he stated.

Veronica, still standing, wanted to roll her eyes.

“It’s not carelessness, Ensign,” she said, purposely using his rank, and not his name…Anatoly. “Our ship would still be prepared for battle, if the need arose. But our first instinct in cases like this shouldn’t always be to show up ready to destroy everything we see at the touch of a button. This is a diplomatic mission as much as it is anything else, perhaps even more so, under the circumstances.”

Her peripheral vision told Veronica that her two fellow JGs were nodding in agreement, and from the look Commander Voss was giving her, it was clear she approved of the answer as well.

At least, that’s what Veronica thought until…

“The Texas ,” Commander Voss said.

Glancing at Anatoly, Veronica saw a smug expression develop on his face.

In a nutshell, the story of the Texas went like this…

It was the first Unitary starship to make contact with the B’zicors—in that case, one of their scout ships. And much like what happened with Jane, the Texas received what appeared to be coordinates to another location.

Naturally, being on a mission of exploration, the Texas traveled to the coordinates, considering themselves “invited.”

Unfortunately, what awaited them when they arrived was half a dozen B’zicor destroyers that proceeded to obliterate the starship without any provocation.

It was a story well-known on Earth.

But Veronica wasn’t ready to concede this argument.

“With respect, ma’am,” she began, “the Texas was a Europa-class vessel, and it represented the very beginning of Earth’s starship-building era. We , on the other hand, are onboard the most advanced starship the Unitary and Earth has ever constructed. And we are also forearmed with the lesson of the Texas .”

“Which is to arrive completely prepared for a battle,” Anatoly said.

“No,” Veronica replied evenly. “The lesson of the Texas is to not let the excitement of being the first cloud your judgement. With respect to his memory, Captain Abbott was arrogant, acted rashly, and was completely unprepared for what happened. Knowing that, we can ensure we won’t make the same mistakes.”

“Very good,” Commander Voss said, looking at her. She then swept her eyes over the entire class. “Very good…all of you.”

Veronica and Anatoly sat back down.

“As you can tell,” the commander continued, “there are often no clear-cut answers in our job, which is why I encourage these kinds of debates.” She paused. “Who is right? Those who want us to meet these beings prepared to annihilate them at the so-called push of a button?”

She looked at Veronica.

“Or Vale?” she asked. “Who says we need to merely keep our finger near the button, but meet these beings with cautious openness?” She looked at the others again. “Ultimately, it’s the captain’s decision, and she will make her choice based on her many, many years of experience.”

She held up a finger.

“Don’t tell her I said many, many years,” she added.

All of the junior officers laughed.