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When Captain Yarrum’s deadline for remaining at the alien space station was reached, the Fordham resumed its journey. Its destination was the point on the mysterious map which had been transmitted to Jane. The trip would take just over seventy shiphours.

Shortly after getting underway, Jane felt like her old self, having rested enough to dispel the effects of the decontamination procedure, and resume her normal duties.

Because no one onboard the starship knew what to expect once they reached their destination, all starfighter squadrons were in a state of heightened readiness. This included the various Sparrow squadrons.

The Sparrow—a T-53 model starfighter—was a much smaller ship than the Spacehawks Sabre Squadron flew, and was flown by pilots that were typically less skilled than those who flew for the elite Unitary starfighter squadrons, although they were just as eager to prove their mettle in battle.

The Fordham carried fifty times more Sparrow starfighters than the twenty Sabre Squadron Spacehawks. Before the starship had left the Milky Way at the start of her mission to Andromeda, seven Sparrows and their pilots had been lost in a battle with the Merkonians. Since being in the Andromeda, two more Sparrows had been lost in training exercises. Those nine starfighters and pilots had been replaced during the Fordham’s recent brief visit to the Pecula System.

On a day-to-day basis, the Sparrows were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jefferies, but it was Colonel Mbuwe who had operational command of all the starfighters whenever a situation called for her Sabre Squadron fighters and the Sparrows to work in conjunction with one another.

Which was going to be the case, Jane learned, once the Fordham arrived at her destination…

The plan, as it was explained to her and the rest of Sabre Squadron by Mbuwe, was that once they reached wherever it was they were going, every starfighter onboard the Fordham would be prepped and manned, ready to swarm out of the starship’s massive hangar bays at a moment’s notice. That was over a thousand fighter craft, set to take flight to provide a defensive shield around the Fordham .

Each Sabre pilot would be in command of their own individual squadron of Sparrows, the size of which would depend on their experience and their specific operational or support duties.

Once all of this had been laid out for all of the starfighter pilots during briefing sessions, the simulator work began, and with only a little over seventy hours available, Jane made sure to take advantage of as much sim time as possible with the Sparrow pilots assigned to her.

Not surprisingly, she often found herself frustrated with just how much of a gap there was between her skills and those of the lesser pilots. Once, after a sim exercise, Colonel Chang had asked her how she thought her squadron would do in a pitched battle. Jane had told her the truth: that she fully expected to lose up to ten of the thirty Sparrows she would enter such a battle with.

“Hopefully not Kovalenko, though,” she had then added.

Colonel Chang had cocked an eyebrow.

“Why Kovalenko in particular?” she had asked.

So Jane told her…

Lieutenant Ekaterina Kovalenko was one of the Sparrow pilots assigned to her…and she was good . Maybe a little rough around the edges in terms of some of her techniques, but she was far better than other Sparrows.

“Someone to keep an eye on?” Chang asked after Jane told her all this.

Jane nodded. Sabre Squadron might be a tight-knit band of exceptional pilots, but it was by no means a closed, tight knit band of exceptional pilots. And it was part of each pilot’s responsibilities to keep an eye out for possible recruits.

Kovalenko might fit the bill. But Jane would have to see more out of her.

In the end, all of this sim training, along with the briefings and debriefings, the prep work done on the Spacehawks, and normal rest periods, took up over forty of the seventy hours the Fordham needed to travel to her destination.

Which didn’t leave a lot of time for Jane to spend with Veronica.

But they did finally manage to get together with about twenty-eight hours until the starship would shut off the emquips and revert back to normal space. Even better…they had a whole six shiphours available together.

They used the first three of those having sex in Jane’s quarters…

It was intense, sweaty, and it had allowed Jane to properly release all of the tension that had built up inside of her during all of the work she had been doing up until then. At one point, she had orgasmed so hard due to Veronica eating her out that she ended up bucking herself off her bed and landing hard on her shoulder.

That still hadn’t stopped them. After all, a little bruise on the shoulder could easily be remedied by the quantum-repair med tool that was a standard part of every first-aid kit. So, since she had ended up on the floor, they continued having sex on the floor.

When they were finally done, the temptation had been to sleep off their exertions, but neither of them had wanted to waste the little time they had left before Veronica had to return to her duties. So, Jane had instructed Holly to brew a pot of extra caffeinated coffee. She had then checked her larder and, after discussing it with Veronica, made them both sandwiches.

The idea was to have a picnic date at Harmony Park. It was one of two such spaces on the Fordham —lovely, landscaped venues with green grass and trees, seasonal flowers, and a lighting system which mimicked sunlight . The parks were the type of shipboard amenities meant to cater to the psychological and emotional health of the starship’s crew.

It was also a good place to have a date. At least, according to Colonel Chang, who had told Jane that she and Lia often went there to enjoy time together as a couple.

Harmony Park—almost four kilometers long and over a thousand meters wide—was on Deck 9. Once they had reached it, they found a bench along a quiet stretch of a walking path, sat down, and began eating their simple meal. They also spent time talking about their childhoods—Jane’s in Muncie, Indiana, where she had grown up in the heart of the city…and Veronica’s in Coventry, England.

Now, they had finished their sandwiches and the other snacks Jane had brought, and had moved on to discussing their future goals…

Veronica’s really was as simple as Jane had always suspected: the former ensign wanted to be a starship captain. Full stop. What’s more, that was all she was allowing herself to consider reaching at this point in her life. When Jane asked her if she wanted to eventually become an admiral or maybe even the Chief of Unitary Starship Fleet Operations, Veronica had waved off the question.

“I’ll think about the next step after captain, after I become a captain,” she stated. She then furrowed her brow. “Besides, admirals are all old women in their fifties with booming laughs. I don’t want to think about being one of them just yet.”

Jane smirked.

“You want to wait until your first gray hair shows up?” she asked.

Veronica glared at her.

“Which will probably happen sooner than normal if I keep dating you,” she retorted.

Jane laughed.

“The funny thing about what you just said,” she began, “is that I can’t dispute it.”

“Anyway,” Veronica went on, “what about your professional goals?”

Jane shrugged. Hers were also as simple as Veronica’s.

“I want to keep flying for as long as I can,” she replied. “I mean, I suppose I’d be happy to make colonel and then lead the squadron, but flying is what I really want to keep doing.”

This was true. Jane wanted to fly starfighters, and she wanted to do it in defense of the Unitary, the Fordham , her crewmates, and—should such circumstances be discovered here in the Andromeda Galaxy—in defense of helpless sentient and intelligent beings who are somehow under the oppression of others. That was all she wanted…to serve that calling.

She shrugged.

“I just don’t have a timeline for it, is all,” she added.

A thought came to her.

“But I’ll tell you this…” she continued. “If I became the new C.O. of Sabre Squadron, I’d do things a little differently than Mbuwe. Don’t get me wrong…she’s a great leader, but I think I’d put myself in the thick of things more than she does.”

Veronica shook her head.

“Maintaining a steady voice of leadership is important,” she said. “Especially during a battle.”

“Yes, I understand that in theory,” Jane responded, “but I can’t help but feel that it is also important—from a morale perspective—for the C.O. to put herself in the same kind of danger that she’s ordering those under her to be in.”

Veronica quirked an eyebrow.

“You’re only saying that because you’re a hotshot pilot who can’t imagine being anything other than a hotshot pilot,” she said. “But if you ended up in command of Sabre Squadron, I bet you would think differently.

Jane smirked.

“Oh do you?” she prodded.

Veronica nodded.

“Uh-huh…and if I’m captain of this starship when you become the C.O. of Sabre Squadron,” she said, “I’ll make sure you think that way.”

Jane laughed.

“You know what, Vale?” she began. “I think I liked you better when you were still a little afraid of me.”

Now Veronica laughed. She also scooched closer to Jane on the bench and then leaned in for a slow and deep kiss which made Jane melt—but not in her core, as Veronica’s kisses often did. This time, the melting was in her heart.

“Did that make you like me again?” Veronica purred when the kiss broke, a languid smile on her lips.

Jane nodded.

“I never stopped liking you… Captain ,” Jane replied.

***

Eventually, it was time for them to part. Veronica had to change into her uniform and then go meet a handful of her BOTC classmates. Jane, meanwhile, needed to get to yet another Sabre Squadron briefing before her next rest period prior to the Fordham arriving at…wherever it was they were going.

It was easier for them to part ways at the nearest exit from Harmony Park, with Jane needing to head aft while Veronica headed forward.

After kissing one another again in the passageway outside of the park, Veronica said, “Listen…if things get, you know, weird when we meet these aliens, be very careful, okay?”

Jane rolled her eyes.

“See…that’s what everyone always gets wrong about me,” she said, still holding onto Veronica’s hips. “I’m always careful! It’s just that I make it look like I’m not! I call it, ‘being careful with style.’”

Veronica let out an exasperated breath.

“You’re absolutely…” she began, but then stopped and shook her head. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

“Well,” Jane said leadingly, “you know I like it when you use those sharp little teeth of yours.”

“Go away!” Veronica said, laughing and hitting Jane’s sternum with her little fist.

“I promise I’ll be careful with style…a bit more carefully,” Jane told her. She bent to give her girlfriend another kiss. After it ended, she said, “Now go! Be all ensign-like somewhere else.”

Veronica smiled.

“Shut up,” she said. “We should see if we have a spare few minutes together before reversion. Maybe at least have a smoothie at Cosmic Melons.”

Jane made a face.

“I’d love to, but don’t count on it,” she warned. “The closer we get to where we’re going, the tighter the leash on us pilots. I’m going to be expected to not wander far from either the hangar or my quarters from now on.”

“Blast!” Veronica exclaimed. “Okay, we’ll figure something else out. I gotta go!”

“And be ensign-like,” Jane added. “See ya!”

Veronica headed forward while Jane went aft. As she walked, Jane had a small smile on her face.

This romance with Former Ensign Vale was nice! There really was something there, she felt…and it went far beyond the terrific sex. Jane had been fooled by that before—allowing herself to start to feel as though something meaningful was happening between her and a woman when, in the end, it had only been massive orgasms playing tricks on her mind.

Well, she had massive orgasms with Veronica, but there wasn’t anything tricky going on with her mind. She and Veronica had something real developing between them. Every time she laid eyes on Veronica, she felt happy. Every time she sat somewhere with Veronica—talking, laughing—she felt happy.

And she felt so proud of her girlfriend!

Veronica might only be a JG now, but Jane already considered her a trophy girlfriend because it was obvious that Veronica was one of those Unitary officers who would rise through the ranks rapidly, and leave their mark on the coalition.

She only hoped that Veronica wouldn’t eventually grow bored with her .

She stopped suddenly on her way to the nearest lift tube.

Fuck!

That discussion they’d had in the park about future ambitions was worrying her now.

Yes, she was fine with the idea of remaining a starfighter pilot until she either got blasted to smithereens—a very real possibility—or retired from the force.

And yes, she did expect to lead the squadron eventually. Beyond that, she really had no idea, and her ambitions became…foggy.

Would she like to become a brigadier general one day? A major general?

Maybe. But right now, she was all about flying. Flying and fighting. Those were her talents and those were how she could best help the Fordham on its mission to explore this galaxy.

But suppose—just suppose—she and Veronica remained together for quite a while…

Would Veronica lose interest in her once she became, say, a full Commander?

She resumed walking.

Veronica didn’t seem that type. How Jane knew that, she couldn’t really say, but it felt…accurate.

As for herself…

Jane knew her ego well enough to know that no matter how high up the ladder Veronica climbed, it wouldn’t make her jealous. In fact, if she and Veronica were still together then, she figured she’d probably walk around the starship with a chip on her shoulder. Like, Yeah, my woman is the first officer on this ship! That’s how cool I am!

After all, if for some reason she and Captain Yarrum had been the ones to start dating, she certainly wouldn’t have been bothered by the fact that the captain…

No… Vanessa if she’s my girlfriend!

…that Vanessa carried a rank stratospherically higher than her own.

Jane chuckled. The idea of being able to call the captain Vanessa!

Her mind started running away with that concept…

The idea of being able to kiss the captain…

The idea of being able to see the captain naked…

The idea of being able to go down on the captain…

Stop!

She wracked her memory, trying to recall something from her schooldays…

Didn’t there used to be a religion on Earth where people would chant something religious-like as penance for bad thoughts or other fake sins.

Hail Mary? Hail Mother? Something ‘full of grace?’

She could ask Holly. Then, just for fun, she could chant it as penance for having sexual thoughts about the captain while being quite happy with Veronica…