Page 18

On the Fordham’s last full shipday of traveling to Quadrant Two of the Outer Arm, from which the starship would then jump to the Andromeda Galaxy, Veronica exited a lift tube on Deck 5 and proceeded to make her way to Jane’s quarters. She was carrying her smallest standard-issue duffel. She wasn’t going to be spending the night at Jane’s, and so the duffel didn’t contain an entire change of clothing. But it did contain clean knickers as well as her grooming items. If she and Jane got up to what had become their usual antics while in the privacy of the pilot’s quarters, clean underwear would be appreciated later, along with the ability to fix up her hair and makeup once more to on-duty standards.

She had the next four hours free, and then she was expected back on the bridge to help train one of the Charlie shift ensigns on the helm. Now that she was a JG, she was going to be expected to help train lesser qualified bridge officer candidates from time to time. It was part of the concept of students helping other students, and not always relying on senior officers to be the sole educators.

It was extra work, but she was more than willing to put in whatever additional time was needed to get where she wanted to be.

Walking down the passageway which led to Jane’s door, she rolled her eyes when she saw two Sabre Squadron pilots—Raven and Sleeper—heading her way. They were both dressed in civvies—one in a dress, the other in smart jeans and a stylish top. Veronica had to admit that the two women looked incredibly sexy, and she couldn’t help wondering if they were on a date.

Not unexpectedly, the two Amazons blocked her path.

Veronica stopped and stared at a point between the two women, waiting…

“Goodness, MaryAnne,” Sleeper began, “it looks like Rascal can’t get enough of this one!”

“I see that,” Raven replied. She paused. “She must be incredible!”

“That has to be it,” Sleeper said. “You know…Rascal apparently thinks this one will be captain one day.”

Raven gasped, and Veronica knew it was theatrical.

“What?” Raven exclaimed. “They make captains this small?”

Veronica continued staring straight ahead. Her lack of height was a favorite topic among the Sabre Squadron pilots.

“ Starship captains, apparently,” Sleeper responded. “I mean, how tall do you have to be to just sit there in that big chair looking snooty and important?”

“Good point,” Raven agreed.

Veronica finally looked up at both of them.

“I don’t know,” Veronica muttered. “How tall do you have to be to sit in a starfighter looking pretty but confused?” She paused. “Ma’ams.”

The jaws of both pilots dropped open, and they stared at her.

Veronica worked hard at maintaining a neutral face which showed no fear, even though inside she was terrified. She wagered with herself that her small size would allow her to slip past the other two women and evade capture long enough for her to reach Jane’s door and call for help before Raven and Sleeper picked her up off her feet and smashed her head through the bulkhead.

Fortunately, however…

After a moment, Raven and Sleeper burst into laughter, holding onto each other.

“At least she called us pretty,” Sleeper said.

“Whatever!” Raven said. “She was looking at me when she said it!”

“You?” Sleeper shot back. “No…the bit about being confused was directed at you!”

“Well, you look confused even before you get in your ship!” Raven retorted.

“Only if I’m stuck on patrol with you! ” Sleeper replied. “Then the only thing I’m confused about is what I did to piss off Mbuwe!”

The two of them laughed harder.

Veronica watched this while under her skin, her leg muscles remained coiled, ready to run for her life.

But the two pilots simply started walking past her in the direction they had been going.

“Enjoy yourself at Rascal’s!” Sleeper called back.

“Do everything we would do!” Raven added.

Veronica half-turned and gave the departing pilots a small and friendly wave, which was returned by both of them. She then stood where she was for a few moments and took a deep breath.

“Well…my head wasn’t smashed through the bulkhead,” she said softly. “I guess I’m making progress…”

***

“I don’t know what I’m feeling about it,” Jane told Veronica a couple of hours later. “Curious, obviously. Excited. But also a bit apprehensive.”

Veronica lifted her head from Jane’s bare chest and looked at her.

“Well, it’s pretty smart to always be a bit apprehensive while in deep space,” she said.

Jane shook her head.

“I get that,” she said, “but this is a different apprehensive. I mean, I’m worried that if we actually find these aliens, and it all goes south, that everyone is going to blame me for it.”

Veronica stared at Jane for a moment before resting her head back on her chest, the nipple of Jane’s left breast less than two inches from her mouth.

She had no response to what Jane had just said, but she could understand it…

They were lying in Jane’s bed, both of them nude. They had recently finished having sex and, quite frankly, it had been among the most amazing sexual experiences Veronica had ever had. She and Jane just seemed to be getting better and better at fucking one another the more they did so, and she could honestly say that no one had ever made her climax as strongly as Jane did.

In fact, right now, she still felt buoyant and her skin tingly even though it had been about twenty minutes since her most recent orgasm. That was new, and she was starting to worry if she would feel normal by the time she was due on the bridge.

She wished she didn’t have to leave. Right here was where she wanted to be. She always felt so at ease and safe when she was with Jane. She also felt as if this was the woman she felt most in tune with, despite the differences in their backgrounds and careers…

She had always assumed that she would end up with another bridge officer. After all, she spent most of her time with fellow bridge officer candidates, and all of her mentors were bridge officers. Little wonder, then, that she had anticipated that as she rose through the ranks over the years, she would inevitably end up finding herself in a romance with someone who had gone through the same trials she had in order to get where she was.

Yet, here she was now, in the arms of a starfighter pilot, feeling as content as she ever had about anything in her life up to this point.

Starfighter pilots were meant to be casual flings—at least that’s how most students on the BOTC track regarded them. But Veronica really wanted this to be so much more than a fling.

Of course, it was far too early to even think in terms of words like “love” and “forever,” but she certainly wasn’t going to complain if they reached that point.

Or was she being a silly git?

Fine…Jane had told her that she regarded this a romance too, but, well…starfighter pilots could hardly be trusted on that score, could they?

Veronica snuggled more tightly against Jane.

This one can be trusted , she determined.

In any case, Veronica had just asked Jane how she felt about the fact that tomorrow, the Fordham would be returning to the Andromeda Galaxy, and that once there, the starship would follow the clues provided by whatever type of being had been onboard the unspac Jane encountered.

Her girlfriend’s answer intrigued her. What if things did go south? How would those aboard the Fordham react towards Jane?

Veronica was very interested in this as a thought experiment because being the commanding officer of a starship—of any size—meant having some kind of understanding of that ship’s crew…

What limits could they be pushed to?

How much fear could they handle?

How willing were they to take chances?

How much of the unknown were they willing to explore?

How far did anyone’s individual bravery extend?

Veronica wanted to believe that those on the Fordham —military and civilian—were onboard because they were willing to embrace the risks associated with finding and possibly establishing contact with Jane’s alien friends.

She giggled…

“What’s so funny?” Jane asked.

“I was just thinking about what you said,” Veronica began, “and in my head, I was referring to them as your alien friends.”

“Well,” Jane said, “whoever was in that other ship seemed friendly enough. I mean, at least they didn’t try to blow me out of the sky. Who knows? Maybe they’ll invite us over for dinner.”

Veronica considered that.

“As long as they don’t invite us over as dinner,” she quipped.

***

The next shipday, Veronica and Jane were once again in the Drive Plasma Manifold Condenser Pipe Chamber, which was Veronica’s favorite place to have sex outside of quarters. No one ever came in here. Access was restricted to bridge and engineering staff—and the engineering staff had far more interesting places to go because the pipes and conduits in this chamber required no attention at all, and if a problem were to develop, Meg would alert somebody.

Unlike the last time she and Jane were in here, however, they were both still fully dressed. Veronica, in fact, was in her uniform because she was due on the bridge very soon.

She and Jane had met quickly for smoothies at Cosmic Melons, just to see one another before the day—which had the potential to be incredibly busy for everyone—kept them apart.

At Cosmic Melons, one thing had led to another with the result that Jane had suggested that since the Fordham was about to make the jump back to the Andromeda Galaxy, Veronica might benefit from having an orgasm so that she would be more relaxed at the helm.

And Veronica, seeing the wisdom in such thinking, and regarding her girlfriend as a very clever person, had gotten them both back into the Drive Plasma Manifold Condenser Pipe Chamber.

Now, Veronica was standing with her back against one of the conduits while Jane’s right hand was down inside her uniform trousers, expertly fingering her pussy, rubbing the length of her folds while also maintaining a firm pressure on her clit. Due to their height difference, Veronica was elevated slightly, standing on a support beam for the conduit while Jane remained on the catwalk.

The fingering had been going on for the past five minutes. When they had started, Veronica had simply been wet. Now, she was soaked between her legs and her core was just…about…to…

“Fuck, please may I come?” she gasped out. The fact that she was wearing her uniform, and that Jane was in her flight suit, made her want to ask permission.

Jane tsked .

“Is that how you ask?” she prodded.

“Fuck!” Veronica squealed. “Please, ma’am , may I come?”

“Mm…that’s better,” Jane cooed. “But as punishment, you need to wait another minute, Ensign.”

Fuuuuuuuck!

Veronica bit her lips and squinted her eyes tightly shut, working hard on staving off the inevitable because she didn’t want to disobey the orders of a superior officer.

I’m not gonna come! I’m not gonna come! I’m not gonna come!

She wanted to scream with frustration because she needed to let go and climax!

Finally…

“Permission granted,” Jane said.

“Thank you, ma’am!” Veronica practically shouted, just before her core exploded.

Elevated as she was, she was able to bury her face in the crook of Jane’s neck, which muffled her scream as her vagina succumbed to the overwhelming pleasures that burst forth from her mound, causing her inner walls to contract strongly, and her arousal to splash down out of her from whatever depths in her passage it came from.

“ Ohhhhhhfuuuuuck! ” she squealed against Jane’s neck. “ Unnnnngh! ”

Jane stopped stroking her convulsing vulva and simply cupped it. Automatically, Veronica began grinding her sex against the hand that was between her legs, using it to help get every iota of delight from her climax.

When it was over, she sagged against Jane, breathing heavily. She hadn’t expected to come that hard, but that was the magic of Jane.

After a few moments, Jane withdrew her hand. Veronica, knowing time must be getting short, immediately adjusted her trousers to a state of neatness.

A new voice spoke in her ear.

“Moisture content within underwear is approaching critical limits. Redirecting wicking molecules from reserve near band.”

It was Rosie. Suddenly, Veronica felt the smart fabric of her knickers reshape itself, with the crotch becoming thicker like a pad. Women’s smart underwear was designed to do that in the event a period snuck up on someone. Veronica knew it would help, but she also knew that she would now have to spend her shift on the bridge with her vulva sticky from her orgasm because she didn’t have time to hurry back to her quarters to clean up and change.

Less than ideal, but under the circumstances she wasn’t going to complain…

***

On the bridge an hour later Veronica—her vulva indeed still sticky—accessed the controls for the fermion-torsion drive, the physics-bending invention which allowed the Fordham to jump between galaxies as easily as a person could jump from one piece of furniture in their house to another.

“Fermion drive powered up, Captain,” she reported.

The Fordham had reached Quadrant Two of the Outer Arm of the Milky Way, and was set to return to the Andromeda Galaxy, which was visible in the main viewscreen—if one knew where to look—as a blob of light far, far off in the distance, among countless other blobs of light.

“Alert all stations,” Commander Voss told the Communications officer.

“Okay, Kenzie…” Captain Yarrum said thoughtfully, “…where were we?”

“At Lieutenant Belivet’s point of contact with the alien, Captain,” Commander Voss replied.

“Then that is where we shall resume,” the captain said. “Helm, make that our point of arrival, please.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Veronica responded, entering the commands in the helm controls. “Arrival point entered. Ready on your order, Captain.”

“Execute,” the captain said.

Veronica activated the fermion drive. A handful of seconds later, concentric circles—like the ripples caused in a pond when a pebble is dropped into the water—began warping the fabric of space in front of the starship. Soon after that, a circular portal seemed to open in the center of those concentric ripples, and soon after that , the Fordham was pulled through that portal and, instantly, found itself in the Andromeda Galaxy.

The transit happened so quickly that Veronica had always felt it was somewhat boring, considering the miraculous nature of the fact that the Fordham had just travelled several million lightyears.

“We’ve arrived, Captain,” she announced.

As usual, the captain then asked for status reports from all stations. Veronica knew that Captain Yarrum reserved a fair amount of wariness when it came to using the fermion drive. She supposed that made sense. The technology of the drive was so new that it could still be classified as experimental.

As various stations around the starship reported that everything was fine, Veronica noticed an alert on her console.

“Captain,” she said, “long-range sensors are picking up a signal.”

Activity on the bridge stopped.

“What kind of signal?” Captain Yarrum asked.

Veronica analyzed the information the sensor was feeding her.

“Definitely a transmission of some sort, ma’am,” Veronica told her. “It’s not natural in origin.”

“Put it on speaker,” the captain ordered.

Veronica tapped the appropriate controls and instantly the signal was heard throughout the bridge.

It consisted of three staccato beeps followed by a drawling, lower-toned beep which lasted for about a second, which was then followed by a single quick beep. And then the sequence repeated itself, never altering.

“If we were back in the Milky Way,” Commander Voss commented, “I would say that sounds like a distress signal.”

Veronica agreed, though she didn’t presume to say so to the commander. Of course, all Unitary member worlds used the agreed-upon Unitary Distress Call, but she had made a point of studying the different automated cries for help used by the various species in their home galaxy, and could recognize a Valkindan distress call, say, from a Lerutian one.

Though it was dangerous to use Milky Way thinking in a completely different galaxy, this new signal certainly had the hallmarks of a call for assistance.

“Can we tell where it’s coming from?” Captain Yarrum asked.

Veronica had anticipated the question and had the answer ready.

“Bearing two-one-one,” she began, “mark forty-five, ma’am. Long-range scans don’t show any astronomical bodies in that region, but I am reading data which suggests that something is putting out energy. Suggest using macro-telescopes, ma’am.”

“Very well,” the captain said. “Scanning Station, make it so.

In less than three minutes, the officer at the Scanning Station had directed one of the Fordham’s telescopes at the source of the signal. The magnified image it returned showed a structure floating in the inky blackness of space.

“Doesn’t look like a ship,” Commander Voss remarked. “Space station?”

“Tactical?” Captain Yarrum called out. “Suggestions?”

“We can be there in less than thirty minutes using standard engines,” Commander Dell replied. “I suggest we park ourselves at least half a million kilometers from whatever that is and maintain yellow alert. We should have Sabre Squadron on standby, ready to launch.”

At the mention of Sabre Squadron, Veronica automatically thought of Jane. She knew her girlfriend would appreciate even the possibility of seeing some action.

“What do you want to do?” Commander Voss asked the captain after several moments had passed.

Veronica couldn’t help feeling a little envious at the casual manner in which Commander Voss was allowed to ask Captain Yarrum such questions like that. Not, “What would you like to do, ma’am?” or “Orders, ma’am?” Just, “What do you want to do?” It was representative of the special relationship between a captain and first officer, and Veronica looked forward to the day when she could speak to a starship captain so freely as a first officer. And she especially looked forward to the day when a first officer would be the one addressing her —as the captain—in that manner.

Captain Yarrum was quiet for several moments, staring at the image of the space station on the viewscreen.

Finally…

“If it is a distress signal,” she said, “we’re obligated to respond to it, despite this not being our home galaxy. Even if it’s not a distress signal, we’re obligated as explorers to at least investigate.

“Commander, maintain yellow alert. Have all weapons batteries placed on standby status. Have colonels Mbuwe and Shaw join us in my ready room. Helm, set a course for the structure…bring us to within half a million kilometers.”

“Aye, Captain,” Veronica acknowledged.

“Looks like the beings which sent us that invitation are just going to have to wait a little while longer,” the captain said.

“Well,” Commander Voss said, “let’s hope they’re not the impatient type.”