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Jane whistled.

“Bad-mouthing Captain Abbott?” she said. She blew out a breath. “Gutsy. Are you gonna start trash-talking Santa Claus next?”

On Earth, at least, the crew of the Texas were revered as heroes. Saying something bad against any of them—but particularly Captain Abbott—was akin to talking shit about any collection of saints from one of the quickly dying religions on her home planet.

Veronica rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” she said. “It was part of a broader conversation about tactics. Take away everything else from the Texas story, and all you’re left with is a tale about a captain who fucked up.”

Jane laughed.

“You’re gonna make an excellent admiral one of these days, Former Ensign Vale,” she said. She then leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “It’s actually a very attractive quality.”

She meant it too. This young woman who was sitting across from her was not only beautiful and sexy, she was career-minded, ambitious, and focused. That last quality was one that was extremely important for a life in outer space. And it was very attractive—sexy, even, in its own way.

Jane liked such women because she also had the same qualities. She didn’t plan on being low woman in the Sabre Squadron hierarchy forever; she eventually wanted to be in charge of that starfighter force—or at the very least another one that was just as elite.

In any case, the fact that Veronica could strip away the “legend” of the Texas , look at it dispassionately, and see it for the major fuck-up that it was meant that she had the kind of analytical mind that made the best starship captains.

Jane wondered if she would still know Veronica when the JG eventually became a captain. She had no doubt that would happen but that was a long way off. Much further in the future than she preferred to think about when it came to someone she was dating…

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to ever consider being with a woman that long, only that she had trained her mind—and her heart—to not count on it.

One, she was a starfighter pilot for a first-strike squadron. A dangerous profession, to say the least.

Two, she was in the Unitary Air & Space Defense, which meant she went where they told her to go. Right now, she was assigned to the Fordham . Next time, she could be assigned to another vessel or even a planetary system that would take her lightyears from Veronica.

Three, Veronica would also go wherever her career took her. Naturally, being on the Fordham was the plum assignment for any officer, but if the Unitary determined that she would be best utilized on some other ship, even an ore freighter, then…bye-bye Veronica.

She and Veronica were on a date this evening between their duty shifts. And for a change, they weren’t at Cosmic Melons. Instead, they were having dinner at The Stargazer, a restaurant on Deck 19 which was casual and offered a changing variety of dishes from numerous planets. Today’s offering from Earth included synthchicken tacos with beans and rice, or synthbeef hotdogs with French fries. Jane had ordered the tacos from the holographic menu at their table, being sure to specify—using uppercase letters, no less—that there was to be no sour cream added to them, further mentioning—again in uppercase letters—“I HATE THE STUFF!”

Each of them was also dressed as if for a date, rather than being in some form of official attire. Jane had on one of the few casual dresses she had managed to bring aboard, and which she hadn’t worn in a while, being happily surprised that it still fit. The dress did a terrific job of showing off her long legs, and it had not escaped her notice earlier when Veronica had licked her lips while gazing at them once they met outside the restaurant.

Veronica, meanwhile, was also wearing a dress. A cute blue number with a deep V-neck, allowing Jane a spectacular—and distracting—view of her cleavage that had made her core thrum pleasantly as she remembered what it had been like sucking on those beautiful breasts.

“I am happy that me possibly becoming an admiral is an attractive quality,” Veronica said. “Especially since most admirals—the human ones, anyway—are gray-haired women.”

Jane shrugged.

“Eh,” she said off-handedly, “I think you’d look cute with some gray hair, Vale. Besides, it might distract people from how short you are.”

Veronica gasped. She picked up one of the Lydig banzo berries which accompanied her dinner, and tossed it at Jane.

“I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly average height for a woman,” she said. “What’s more, I’m four bloody inches taller than the shortest starship captain in history.”

Jane’s mouth dropped open. This was news to her.

“They let people that short command starships?” she asked.

Veronica smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

“Well, when you’re looking for the best people,” she began, “you don’t really have to go up too far.”

Jane rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Whatever!” she retorted, using her fork to scoop up some more rice.

She was having a great time. Once again, she was feeling very much in tune with Veronica. They got along so easily when they were like this: just two women spending time together. No uniforms, no rank insignia…just new girlfriends having a meal and learning more about one another.

Considering that now, it made Jane a little sad to think that they could be separated, not by choice but by other factors…like one of them being transferred.

She didn’t know about Veronica, but she herself felt motivated to make this new relationship last as long as possible…

“What’s on your mind?” Veronica suddenly asked now. “I can tell you’re thinking about something.”

Jane chuckled. She decided to be honest.

Well, to a point…

“I was thinking about how much I’m enjoying this,” she said. “And how much I enjoy being with you. I’m glad we decided to do this.”

She saw Veronica blush.

“I am too… Jane ,” Veronica said. “I literally almost said ma’am right there!” She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “So, I have a weird question,” she said quietly.

“Does it have to do with your boobs?” Jane asked. “Because when you lean forward like that, they’re all I can think about.”

Veronica laughed, but she remained as she was.

“Trust me, I’m aware of that,” she said. “Why do you think I leaned forward like this? But anyway…my boobs are not the topic.”

“Too bad,” Jane countered. “I have a lot to say about them.”

Veronica quirked an eyebrow.

“Save it for later,” she replied.

“Okay,” Jane sighed. “So…what’s your weird question?”

“Would you say this is a romance ?” Veronica asked.

Jane nodded slowly, her brow furrowed.

“That is a weird question,” she said.

“Sorry!” Veronica said. “It’s been on my mind since one of my cabinmates mentioned something earlier, referring to the fact that bridge officer training is considered hard on romances. And I know we agreed this wasn’t an arrangement , but we never touched on whether it was a romance. ”

Jane’s lips upturned in a small smile. She liked the word romance being used in the context of herself and Veronica.

“I’d say this has romance vibes,” she answered. “I mean, I would like it to be considered that. What do you think?”

“I’d like it to be considered that too!” Veronica answered quickly. “I just…you know…wanted to clarify things.”

Jane laughed.

“Such a future captain,” she said. “Anyway, now that we’ve determined this is a romance, Future Captain Vale…can we finally discuss your boobs?”

***

If Jane had known that dating a lowly could be so beneficial, she would have done it on one of the other starships she had been assigned to. Because the thing about lowlies was that they knew their way around a ship! It was part of their training, after all…

Bridge lowlies, Engineering lowlies, Propulsion lowlies...they were required to know the ins and outs of any vessel they served on in order to eventually become senior officers who knew the ins and outs of any vessel they were serving on.

And Veronica was now showing Jane just how beneficial that knowledge was…

Following dinner, they had discussed going back to Jane’s quarters in order to—as Jane put it—“…continue discussing your boobs.”

Veronica had countered by saying that as much as she was willing to further discuss her boobs, they didn’t have to do so in Jane’s quarters…

Which was why Jane and Veronica were now in what was called the Drive Plasma Manifold Condenser Pipe Chamber. It was a mouthful of a name—which Veronica had rattled off as though saying “Drive Plasma Manifold Condenser Pipe Chamber” was an everyday occurrence—and Jane had no idea what this place was actually used for, but it certainly seemed as if it would fit the bill.

It was a vast and high-ceilinged chamber that had enormous pipes and conduits going this way and that, like something out of an Escher painting. In fact, the entire space—the bulkheads up and down—was all massive pipes, some of them at least 30 meters high and large enough for beings to walk on. There was only a narrow catwalk providing room for anyone to move about.

The overall aspect of this chamber had a sinister feel to it: dimly lit, with lots of deep shadows. Jane felt vulnerable in here, dwarfed as she was by all of these conduits which seemed like the bodies of colossal snakes just waiting to strike.

Furthermore, the air in the chamber hummed rhythmically, a low, baritone rrrrmmmm…rrrrmmmm…rrrrmmmm sound which seemed to speak of only a portion of the immense energy needed to keep the Fordham running, and which also gave the impression of a slow heartbeat. It was a soothing sound, and Jane couldn’t help but think that if she could somehow arrange to have it piped into her quarters, the humming would be fantastic at putting her to sleep.

“This way,” Veronica told her, taking her hand.

Jane was led along a branch of the catwalk that took them between two conduits. They walked about fifteen meters before Veronica suddenly stopped and started climbing a ladder that was built into the side of the conduit to their right. As the young officer was wearing a dress, Jane admired the view that was offered while Veronica climbed, being able to look up and see her underwear.

Those aren’t regulation!

Veronica’s panties were blue and lacy, not at all like the standard-issue women’s undergarments provided by the Unitary, which were comfy and functional, but hardly sexy.

Jane started climbing the ladder…

At its end, she stepped off and onto the top of the conduit. Once more, Veronica took her hand and led her a short distance into a very shadowy area where two elbows of two different pipes were side-by-side, with about a five-meter gap between them.

Veronica leaned back against one of the pipes and pulled Jane to her for a kiss that was aggressive and hungry.

“How much privacy do we have here?” Jane asked when it broke a few moments later.

In the shadows, Jane could make out Veronica quirking her eyebrow at her.

“This much,” Veronica answered.

She then crossed her arms, grabbed the fabric of her dress, and lifted the garment off her body, letting it drop to the ground. She then double-tapped the smart fabric of her bra on the bridge between the cups. Instantly, the bra opened in the front, and she shrugged it off, revealing her breasts in all their glory.

Jane huffed out a breath, staring at them.

“ That much privacy, huh?” she said, already lifting off her own dress. She also made short work of her smart bra, and as she was doing so, Veronica dropped to her knees before her.

“Allow me, ma’am,” Veronica purred, taking hold of Jane’s panties and easing them down over her hips, and then down further, over her legs.

“Fuck!” Jane muttered, toeing off her ballet flats and stepping out of the panties once they were at her ankles.

Veronica then placed a hand on Jane’s toned abdomen and pushed her backwards until Jane’s shoulder blades collided with the conduit behind her.

Jane was savvy enough to know what was about to happen, and she aided in making it so by spreading her feet apart and thrusting her pelvis forward.

“Stars, yes!” she groaned when her pussy was captured by Veronica’s mouth and incredible sensations began intensifying in her core.

She looked down at the beautiful blonde woman who was on her knees, servicing her by licking her folds, the very tip of her tongue teasing her opening, which Jane could feel was leaking arousal.

She knew her height helped in this case. Standing like this, her sex was perfectly placed for Veronica to eat her out while on her knees, and the visual of it happening was making her clit throb. Not to mention the fact that they weren’t in the privacy of her quarters…

She had no idea how risky it was having sex in the Something Plasma Something Else and Some Other Thing Pipe Chamber. For all she knew, some geeky pipe technician could show up at any time, or, conversely, no one except Veronica had been in here since the Fordham launched. But she didn’t care. All that mattered was that they were both nude and weren’t behind closed doors. And that was incredibly hot.

She gave a sharp cry when her clit was sucked into Veronica’s mouth, the younger woman’s tongue immediately swiping across it vigorously.

Jane tilted her head upwards, her right hand covering her mouth, not knowing how much noise she could make, but deciding to err on the side of caution.

Veronica’s skillful work on her swollen clit was building up the delightful pressure beneath her mound. In her vagina, her walls were quivering, helping her arousal slide down her passage to her opening.

“Oh my fuck!” she muttered against her hand as her tipping point approached. “ Oh my fuck! ”

When she started coming undone, she uncovered her mouth and then grabbed Veronica’s head with both hands, her pelvis bucking as the orgasm stormed through her core, releasing its surges of pleasure.

With both her lips sucked between her teeth, she climaxed as quietly as she could, years of practice doing so in barracks back when she was a new recruit coming to the fore.

She knew she must be absolutely covering Veronica’s face with her essence, because this was a big one. But considering how assiduously Veronica was still eating her out, apparently the former ensign did not mind one bit…