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One full shipday later, the Fordham was still in orbit around the rogue planet.

Research teams had been sent down to the surface at various locations to gather samples of soil, rock, plant life, even the air. Insects were captured when possible, but no larger animal life was brought onboard, although the scientists scanned any such creatures when they located them, and recorded their behavior.

Where it was raining, samples of the rainwater were collected. Ice cores were drilled at both polar caps, and what remained of the planet’s oceans were probed with manned and unmanned submersibles.

Highly accurate three-dimensional scans were made of all the cities, using mapping drones equipped with quantum laser scanners, while on the ground, researchers were making every effort to learn as much as possible about the day-to-day life of the beings who had lived here, using the clues they had left behind.

Pursuant to Unitary regulations, pillaging was not allowed. Any interesting items found were laser-scanned and photographed, and then left where they were.

No more attempts were made to breach the shafts of the other tungsten buildings on the surface that were emitting the beacon-like signals. The determination was that chances were, they all contained the same message, and that if access to that message was connected to a particular individual—such as Jane—that the structures should be left alone for other invitees to unlock.

To that end, the doorways into the tungsten buildings were sealed up again by engineering crews from the Fordham .

The prevailing theory behind why there were so many of those buildings scattered all over the planet suggested that the beings—who were being referred to casually as the Tungstenites—had wanted a system of redundancy in place. After all, a rogue planet goes through many changes as it adjusts to its new existence as a world without a stable orbit around a star. Therefore, there would have been a good chance that if the Tungstenites had only constructed one of those buildings, it would have been destroyed by cataclysmic geological forces wrought by the planet’s ejection from its solar system. As it was, the Fordham found evidence of entire cities that had been submerged in the oceans, and evidence of other cities that were now so much rubble in deep chasms that reached down over 500 meters from the surface.

The plan—as announced by Captain Yarrum—was that the Fordham would remain on station for three more shipdays, which should be plenty of time for the starship to sufficiently study this world before continuing on her mission.

As for that mission…

The scuttlebutt was that discussions were being held at the senior-officer-level about whether to go looking for the Tungstenites, and exactly how to go about doing that.

Personally, Veronica felt that was definitely what they ought to do. However, the only way she would ever be involved in a senior-officer-level discussion was if she was asked to bring them tea.

Meanwhile…

She was horny as fuck!

She was walking out of the captain’s ready room, where she had given a debriefing of her away team mission to Commander Voss and the captain, following her recovery from the decontamination procedure.

Using footage from the helmetcams of her team, she had walked the two senior officers through the events of the mission, explaining just about every decision she had made, answering all of the questions that had been posed to her…

Why had she initially stationed Private Swyburne and Lieutenant Belivet outside of the building once it had been breached, rather than two of the ensigns?

“Once we determined the tungsten structure was empty, ma’am,” Veronica had answered, “I felt that Private Swyburne and Lieutenant Belivet would serve us best outside, due to their ground combat experience.”

Why had she waited until Mission Time 38:17 to contact other away teams to determine if any of them had any luck accessing the shaft?

“Simple deduction, ma’am,” she had replied. “I believed that if another away team had accessed the shaft, I would have heard about it.”

Once Lieutenant Belivet had been taken down the shaft, what contingency plan did she devise in case a rescue was needed?

“I kept a very close watch on my air gauge, ma’am,” she had told them, “knowing that Jane’s—I mean, Lieutenant Belivet’s—air supply had to be at a similar point. My plan was to lower backup air cartridges from her Spacehawk to her should they be needed, and then contact the Fordham should additional air cartridges be required.”

What if Lieutenant Belivet had been attacked at the bottom of the shaft?

But she wasn’t! Veronica had wanted to say. However, she had known that the answer to this question was very important.

“In that case, there would have been very little me and the team could have done at that moment, ma’am,” she said. “I believe I would have ordered Private Swyburne to rig the field abseiling equipment over the shaft, and then I would have joined the private in abseiling down in an attempt to assist Lieutenant Belivet. While doing so, of course, I would have contacted the Fordham and requested more Marines.”

When she was done, Commander Voss had waited a few moments before saying, “There were a few things I would have done differently, Lieutenant.” She paused again. “But we can discuss those later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Veronica had responded, already trying to assess what the commander was going to tell her.

“On the whole, however,” Commander Voss continued, “not bad for your first away team mission. Excellent job.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Veronica had said smartly, staring at a point on the wall above the two senior officers.

Captain Yarrum then stood and approached Veronica, coming to stand directly in front of her. Veronica had to reposition her eyes to stare at another neutral point—in this case, Captain Yarrum’s neck, just above the collar of her tunic.

“Are you after my job, Lieutenant Junior Grade?” the captain had asked.

Veronica had swallowed. There was something almost…frightening about having Captain Yarrum turn her full attention on her and study her. The woman was incredibly accomplished, incredibly capable, incredibly powerful, and—something that was impossible to ignore—so fucking beautiful she didn’t seem real. There were times, Veronica felt, that when the captain looked at her, it was like being looked at by a…spirit from another dimension.

“I am after a captaincy, ma’am,” Veronica had answered her commanding officer. “I am far from that goal and still have a lot to learn. I am certain no one at the Unitary High Command would be silly enough to replace you with me, however.”

The captain had continued staring at her. Finally, she did something unexpected.

She started laughing.

It surprised Veronica so much that she broke protocol and looked up into Yarrum’s face.

Turning to Commander Voss, the captain had then said, “That’s better than the answer you gave me!”

Then, without explaining that statement further, she walked out of the ready room.

Commander Voss had then approached Veronica with a smile.

“Keep your wits about you,” she had said. “Don’t let all of this go to your head. Maintain your focus. I was in your shoes years ago, and I know it’s easy to let the excitement of doing a good job become distracting.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Veronica had replied.

“That being said…damn fine work, Lieutenant,” Commander Voss said.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Veronica said. She then asked, “May I ask what answer you gave the captain?”

Commander Voss had cocked her eyebrow.

“Tell you what,” she began, “when you become a lieutenant commander, I’ll buy you a drink and tell you.”

***

Now, walking out of the ready room, Veronica was amazed at how sexually charged up she was!

She knew the reasons, of course…

First off, now that she had recovered from the fatigue of the decon procedure, she was energized from the success of her away mission, and from having gotten complimented just now by Commander Voss, following her debrief. The feelings which came along with things like receiving really good news or accomplishing something difficult turned her on. She had always wondered if other women experienced that, but had never been bold enough to ask anyone.

Secondly, she was simply wildly turned on by Jane.

Her girlfriend had been so hot during the away mission!

It had been everything about it…

Jane looking like a bad-ass soldier-pilot in her spacesuit, carrying her Zed-7 rifle…

Her piloting skills when they had flown down to the surface, especially how she had artfully navigated the Spacehawk through the skyscrapers of the city that was their destination. Sure, she had made some rather…daredevil maneuvers zipping through the city, but that was just Jane being Jane.

And then her expert and calm attitude once they had landed…

And then her bravery when she had been surprisingly lowered to the underground chamber…

And one other thing…

The way Jane had simply let Veronica take charge on the surface, not impeding her in any way, never trying to undermine her authority, never attempting to prove that she was vastly more experienced with away missions…

It had all been… sexy!

And now Veronica needed to have that pent-up sexual need satisfied.

From the ready room, she immediately utilized the fastest route to Deck 5. It was quite a trip. Jane’s quarters were nowhere near the captain’s ready room. Getting to her destination involved using two different lift tubes, two lateral conveyors, ordering an ensign on a hover-sleigh to give her a ride, and plenty of walking.

With the debriefing over, she was off-duty, and she and Jane had planned an assignation in the latter’s quarters, since they both had a multi-hour window of free time now.

Finally, on Deck 5, she walked quickly towards Jane’s quarters.

As usual…

Sabre Squadron pilots were milling about in the passageway. Veronica wondered if they had spotters stationed throughout the starship, who alerted them whenever outsiders came within a kilometer of their shipboard domain.

This time, there were four of them: Aussie, Chica, Deadeye, and Volcano. Veronica blew out an annoyed breath as she approached. She was never in the mood for this, but she definitely wasn’t in the mood for this now.

Seeing her, the pilots stopped what they were doing and then formed what looked like an impenetrable wall of Amazons.

Seeing Volcano open her mouth, Veronica held up her hand.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” she began. “I’m short, I’m a lowly, I’m not a fighter pilot, I’m short, I’m bridge crew, and I’m short. But can we save the usual repartee for after I get laid?”

The four pilots looked at one another while Veronica waited. Eventually, Chica stood aside and gestured by sweeping her arm past her friends.

“You may pass,” she stated.

“Thank you,” Veronica said, continuing on her way.

Just before she reached Jane’s door, a voice called after her.

“What are you and Rascal doing after all that sex?”

Veronica stopped and turned around.

“Probably having more sex,” she said. “Why?”

“Scuttlebutt is that the Sparrows will have the watch,” Deadeye said. “So we’re all going to Orion’s Belt later. You and Rascal should join us.”

Orion’s Belt was one of the chic lounges onboard. Also, the scuttlebutt was correct…a contingent of Sparrow starfighters would be responsible for flying a defensive screen around the Fordham for the next several hours.

Veronica nodded.

“That sounds like fun,” she said. “Count us in.”

She then turned and pressed the Announce button outside Jane’s door…

***

Veronica was practically yanked in once Jane—wearing a robe—opened the door.

Even better, once the door closed, Jane lifted Veronica, holding her up by her ass and pressing her against the door before mashing her lips against hers for a hungry kiss.

Veronica wrapped her legs around her girlfriend, giving herself over to the kiss and the aggression Jane was displaying. She groaned as her core ignited. It surprised her how intense the need between her legs was. Her vagina’s walls were already fluttering rapidly, arousal was flooding her passage, and her clit was simply the center of her universe right now, radiating bursts of pleasure that were adding to the pressure beneath her mound.

She felt like she could come any moment now, just like this…lifted off the floor and being kissed by Jane.

She broke the kiss.

“Fuck!” she gasped. “I need you to fuck me! Please!”

Jane grinned wickedly. She then pulled on Veronica’s bottom lip with her teeth for a moment before saying, “Uh, uh, uh…you owe me!”

Veronica instantly understood what Jane was referring to.

The last time she was here…

The incredible finger-fucking she had been given, shortly before they had left on the away mission…

Jane hadn’t gotten anything in return.

“Oh, yes, ma’am,” she growled now. “I fucking owe you!”

Use me!

Her clit’s pulsing intensified.

She felt her ass being squeezed. Suddenly, Jane turned them both around, so that now she was against the door. She then lowered Veronica.

“On your knees,” she ordered. “Keep the uniform on.”

Veronica groaned again. Seriously…was it possible to have an orgasm without being touched? Because she was right there!

She did what she was told, kneeling before the tall goddess, her breath ragged with her excitement.

Jane undid the sash holding her robe closed and let the garment drop. She was completely nude now. Veronica, looking upward, let her eyes linger on Jane’s breasts—their full undersides practically begging to be bitten, while the rock-hard nipples at their tips pointed proudly forward.

She then dropped her eyes to the bigger prize: Jane’s pussy.

The advantage of being “bite-sized”—as Sniper had called her—was that when she was on her knees, expected to service an Amazon, the Amazon’s pussy was in the perfect position.

And Jane’s pussy was… ready!

Swollen, her folds a slighter deeper pink than normal, and her clit prominent, having shrugged off its hood, demanding attention.

Veronica felt lightheaded at also seeing thin strands of arousal connecting Jane’s folds to her upper thighs, proving just how primed this woman was.

“Oh my god…” she muttered, and then quickly brought her mouth to where it was needed.

Her eyes rolled back at the dual sensations of tasting Jane’s intimate flavor while also feeling her mouth and chin become covered with the liquid essence that was practically streaming out of her girlfriend.

Jane grunted and yelped. Veronica felt her head being grabbed with two hands. Her hair was still in its schoolmarm-ish updo, but she felt Jane really work her fingers into it.

Yes! Mess it up!

She continued slavishly licking Jane’s vulva, splitting her girlfriend’s folds with her tongue, coating it with all of that arousal, and then swallowing it. After several moments, she repositioned her head slightly so that she could work her tongue up into Jane’s passage. Jane’s opening clutched repeatedly at her tongue as Veronica began swirling it inside.

Fuck! She’s wet!

This was beyond normal, and Veronica loved it. This molten evidence of how excited Jane was, and how much she needed what was being done to her, was making Veronica’s own pussy desperate for release.

But that could wait.

She had orders to follow right now…

Removing her tongue, she replaced it with two fingers, pushing them all the way in, and feeling warm arousal start to drip down her wrist. She then focused her attention on Jane’s clit, knowing it wouldn’t take much to make the goddess explode.

Sure enough…

“ FUUUUUUUUUUUCK! ” Jane screamed— screamed —just a few swipes of Veronica’s tongue later.

Veronica kept licking the clit, deciding to be relentless, not caring how sensitive the hyped-up little button was. If Jane wanted her to stop, she would have to give an order.

But Jane didn’t order her to stop, and so Veronica kept at it, her head moving side-to-side as she continued swiping Jane’s clit quickly, applying a firm pressure to it.

Meanwhile, the two fingers she had inside Jane’s vagina were squeezed rhythmically while they were simultaneously splashed with a dam-burst of come.

Veronica’s own dam was about to burst, she felt, even though she was still fully dressed.

“ Don’t fucking stop, Ensign! ” Jane screeched, tightening the grip her fingers had on Veronica’s hair. “Oh shit!...Oh shit!... Fuck, I’m coming again! ”

This time, Veronica did release the clit, but she didn’t ignore it entirely. As Jane’s vulva quaked from this second orgasm, she circled the button with her tongue. This additional climax was even wetter than the first, and gravity was helping all of that arousal flow out until Veronica’s hand was practically covered with it.

Not wanting it to go to waste, Veronica quickly removed her fingers and positioned her mouth under Jane’s opening.

“Mmmmm…” she groaned as the hot liquid from Jane’s pussy now went directly into her mouth. “Mmmmm…”

***

From servicing Jane orally, Veronica was next ordered to fuck her.

Not with fingers, but with the strap-on dildo she had, and which they had used—delightfully—several times before.

Veronica, of course, didn’t have any toys with her on this ship. The baggage allowance for lowlies was much lower than for other officers. Not only that, but the quarters of ensigns and JGs were subject to surprise inspections. Simply imagining the embarrassment of the inspecting officer discovering a vibrator had been enough to ensure that Veronica didn’t try to sneak one onboard. Besides, where would she have used it?

So the fact that Jane had toys—the dildo and two different sized vibrators—had pleased Veronica to no end.

And now, Jane was bent over, gripping one arm of the sofa, while Veronica pounded the dildo into her.

Veronica had been allowed to remove her uniform trousers for this, but Jane had insisted she keep her tunic on. And whatever Jane wanted, Jane got.

“Pull my hair!” Jane instructed.

Veronica grabbed the ponytail, wrapped it around her hand, and yanked, lifting Jane’s head.

“ Fuck, that’s it! ” Jane exclaimed. “ Fuck me faster! ”

With her left hand holding the ponytail, Veronica positioned her right hand on the front side of Jane’s right thigh. Then, having all the leverage she needed, she increased her thrusts, driving the dildo all the way in each time she drove her hips forward.

Her own legs, even down to the knees, were sprayed with Jane’s arousal from the action, and her own pussy was dripping her arousal so copiously that her upper thighs were slick, with dribs of her essence having slid down as far as her calves.

She had no idea when Jane was going to take care of her, but she knew that when it happened, she was going to come embarrassingly fast.

“ That’s it!...That’s it! ” Jane squealed. “ Oh fuck! Don’t stop! ”

Veronica fucked Jane even harder.

“ I’m…UNNNNNNNNNGH! ” Jane shouted.

As Jane orgasmed, her pelvis started bucking. Veronica kept up the thrusting for a few seconds more, before driving the dildo in one last time and holding it there, letting Jane’s pussy climax on it while the pilot cried out with her delights.

Jane went limp when it was all over, collapsing to her knees, which forced the dildo to pop out of her pussy. She rested her head on the arm of the sofa, panting, her entire body spasming.

“Sit on my face,” she gasped out after about two minutes.

Yes, ma’am!

“Yes, ma’am!” Veronica said aloud.

She quickly removed the harness from herself, just letting it and the sticky dildo drop to the floor.

Slowly, Jane lifted herself off her knees, and laid down on the sofa.

“Get the fuck over here!” she demanded.

“Yes, ma’am,” Veronica replied.

She straddled Jane’s face and began lowering herself down.

“Oh my god, you are so ready!” Jane muttered, the breath caused by her talking caressing Veronica’s wet sex.

Veronica whimpered as her pussy got closer and closer to Jane’s mouth, until finally…

She had been right.

The instant Jane’s lips touched her clit, she came faster than she had ever come before.

It was so titanic that even though her eyes were open when it hit, she lost all vision, her sight being replaced by a blinding white light as her core exploded.

She felt transmogrified. It was as if she had become only her sex…no limbs, no chest, no head even. She was only her orgasming pussy, a spiritual transformation of waves of unlimited pleasure, strongly contracting vaginal walls, her swollen clit, and spurts and splashes of her liquid essence.

If there was a heaven, like those ancient religions said there was, this was it…

***

“We have been invited to Orion’s Belt,” Veronica murmured as she and Jane lay in bed after they were done having sex about two hours later.

She was wrecked…

The number of orgasms she’d had, coupled with their intensity—and the way more than a few of them had overlapped one another—had made her feel as though she no longer had bones in her body. Her pussy was still tingling and zinging her with aftershocks, despite it having been more than twenty minutes—at least—since they’d done anything sexual.

And who knew when it would stop streaming arousal?

Now, she was lying with her head on Jane’s chest, Jane’s right nipple within reach of her tongue should she decide to reach out with it from between her lips.

“Who invited us?” Jane asked.

“Your silly and goofy friends,” Veronica told her. “Out in the passage, as I was coming here.”

Jane chuckled.

“How bad were they this time?” she inquired.

Veronica scoffed.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” she replied. “I shut them up before they even got a word out.”

“Wow, look at you!” Jane exclaimed. “I remember when you were a scared, little former ensign coming to see me for the first time, needing me to rescue you from the big, bad starfighter pilots. Now, after leading one away mission, you’re putting them in their place.”

Veronica lifted her head and looked down at her girlfriend.

“Hey, how is it they are always out there?” she asked. “You pilots have your own lounge, you have your own gym, you even have your own game room! Yet, no matter when I come down here, there’s at least two of them hanging around in the passage, like they have nowhere better to go.”

“They have spotters throughout the ship,” Jane told her. “They always know when you’re coming.”

Veronica’s mouth dropped open.

“Wait, is that true?” she pressed.

“It’s your uniform, ditz,” Jane replied. “We don’t like bridge crew sneaking up on us. Even unimportant bridge crew such as former ensigns…”

“Hey!” Veronica said.

“Anyway, us Sabre pilots have this entire region locked down,” Jane went on, “just in case one of the bigwigs like your other girlfriend Commander Voss decides to poke her head around here for some reason. We don’t want someone like that seeing us acting less than professionally, and we certainly don’t want her discovering the still we’ve built in one of the spare Spacehawks.”

Veronica’s eyes widened.

“ You have a still? ” she squawked.

This was… way against regulations! This was practically criminal in how much against regulations it was!

“Just a small one,” Jane told her. “But you can’t tell anyone! Especially your annoying ensign friends. I’m only telling you because I trust you, I am developing very strong feelings for you, I make you come like no other woman ever has, and I know you would love to try a sip of Sabre Squadron moonshine.”

Veronica opened her mouth and then quickly shut it again. Soon, she felt her lips upturn into a goofy grin.

“You’re developing strong feelings for me?” she asked.

“ Very strong feelings,” Jane corrected.

Veronica’s heart was melting.

“So am I,” she said. “I mean, for you!” She smiled. “I would never have imagined this! I mean, you and me…lying here like this…talking about developing strong feelings for one another.”

“ Very strong feelings,” Jane said.

Veronica gave her a quick and romantic kiss—as opposed to a long and I need more sex kiss. Then she resumed resting her head on Jane’s chest.

“I’m so lucky,” she said.

“Me too,” Jane replied. “By the way, did you want to go to Orion’s Belt, or just stay here?”

Veronica considered it.

“I kind of do want to go,” she decided. “I mean, I’ll need some tea first, to revive me after all of our playtime, but your friends made a point to invite me, which is quite a step up from before.”

“I told you they’d come around,” Jane reminded her. “Besides, I know for a fact that other girlfriends will be joining us.”

“Really?” Veronica said. This was interesting news! The part of her that enjoyed a good bit of gossip was intrigued at finding out who else on the Fordham the Sabre Squadron pilots were dating. “So, what…? Is it Show Off Your Girlfriend Night?”

Jane scoffed.

“Please!” she said dismissively. “I’d win easily! And they all know that!”

Another goofy grin developed on Veronica’s lips.

“That makes sense,” she replied. “After all…you are dating the future captain…”