The Fordham was basically a small city in outer space.
Well…a city armed with 6000 boost-laser cannon batteries, 500 pinpoint defense lasers, and a host of other state of the art weapons systems, making it the most formidable ship of war the Unitary had ever constructed.
But it was also the largest ship of exploration the Unitary had ever constructed.
At twenty kilometers in length and 1200 meters at its widest point, the Fordham housed over 40,000 crew and passengers of various species. As such, there were plenty of amenities onboard for beings to avail themselves of as the mighty starship traveled through the cosmos.
One of Jane’s favorites was the Cosmic Melons juice bar just outside of The Ring.
For one, she loved the drink concoctions they made using fruits and vegetables indigenous to several Milky Way Galaxy planets.
For another, she loved their logo…a pin-up style cartoon space woman with blue skin and huge breasts, wearing a skintight spacesuit, with the words Cosmic Melons printed across her boobs.
Jane really did feel bad for interrupting Vale’s run, but she also felt that Vale needed to chill the fuck out. The former ensign seemed wound too tight. Of course, Jane could empathize. If she was a wannabe bridge officer too, under the watchful eyes of the captain and first officer, she figured she would be wound tightly also. Especially on this ship.
Besides…back when she was a starfighter-pilot-in-training, she’d had moments when she was certain she’d have a heart attack before her twenty-first birthday—and that was before her obvious talents in the cockpit got her moved up to the accelerated program, which eventually fast-tracked her to Sabre Squadron, having been hand-picked by Colonel Mbuwe herself.
“Have you ever been here?” she asked Vale now as they entered Cosmic Melons and approached an available robomixer.
“No, ma’am,” Vale answered. She was eyeing the illuminated menu above the robomixer.
“Well then, may I make a suggestion?” Jane offered.
“Please, ma’am,” Vale said.
“Two Tandoorian Berry Boosters, please,” Jane told the robomixer. It was her favorite concoction, made with a mix of berries from the planet Tandoor Prime, along with oranges and kiwis from Earth.
“Two Tandoorian Berry Boosters,” the robomixer replied.
The machine scanned Jane’s face, processing her payment for the drinks.
The robot—which consisted of three articulated arms attached to a rotating shaft—then started doing its thing, retrieving a tumbler-sized container from a dispenser and then filling it with a mix of juices from overhead nozzles, doing so in perfectly-programmed choreography.
In less than three minutes, the robomixer had two of the drinks prepared.
Jane led them to a high-top table near a pair of tall potted plants.
“Well, what do you think?” she asked after noticing Vale take a sip of her drink, which had the consistency of a smoothie.
Vale smiled.
“This is very good, ma’am,” she said, and then took another sip.
Jane wanted to tell her to drop the “ma’am” stuff. They were both off-duty, after all, and protocol allowed first names to be used with consent. But then she thought better of it.
For all she knew, hanging out with Vale like this would be a one-off thing. Besides, it seemed as if the JG almost needed to call her ma’am , for her own comfort.
It made sense, Jane considered.
She supposed very few lowlies went for a run—or to do whatever else—only to find themselves then having a drink with a more senior officer.
Alone, no less.
In fact, thinking about it in that light was making Jane feel as if she had now done something wrong…
Perhaps Vale was really uncomfortable with this. Perhaps she was feeling intimidated being in a casual setting with a higher-ranking officer.
Or, Jane surmised, perhaps Vale just didn’t like her company.
Well…whichever it was, they would be finished with their drinks soon enough. Then they could part, and Vale could maybe relax a little.
In the meantime, Jane decided to try to loosen her companion up with a bit of friendly conversation.
“So, Vale…” she began, “…how was your day? Anything interesting happen before I ended up causing you to crash and burn on the infield?”
Suddenly, Vale’s face lit up, and she beamed an amazing smile at her.
“I got to command the Fordham! ” she exclaimed, as eagerly as a teenager back on Earth would in telling someone she had finally gotten her aircar license.
Jane’s eyebrows shot up.
“What? Really?” she asked.
Vale nodded. She leaned forward, putting her arms on the table, and suddenly Jane felt as if she was finally seeing the real Vale, and not the uber-respectful, pre-programmed junior bridge officer.
“All of the senior officers were off the bridge in some kind of important meeting,” Vale went on, “and the captain let me sit in her chair! Then, when she came back, she let me give all the orders needed to send the Fordham on its current course!”
Jane nodded. She also realized that this was the first time Vale had strung together more than one sentence without calling her ma’am.
“Oh, that’s what that was!” she stated.
Vale looked at her, evidently confused.
“That was what, ma’am?” she asked.
Jane smirked.
“I thought I had detected the Fordham kind of…you know… lurch a bit when she took off on this course,” she said. “Kind of like whoever was driving her had no idea what they were doing.”
Vale’s eyes suddenly widened with fear, and Jane couldn’t help herself…
She reached forward and placed her hand on the younger woman’s arm.
“That was a joke, Vale!” she said hurriedly. “A joke! I’m just messing with you!”
She then quickly withdrew her hand, not wanting to make the former ensign even more skittish.
Vale’s face relaxed and she even laughed.
“I see, ma’am,” she said. “Thank goodness!”
“Sorry to have frightened you,” Jane said. She raised her glass. “Congratulations on your first time commanding a starship. I already know that it won’t be your last.”
Vale blushed, and Jane thought it was incredibly adorable.
They clinked glasses.
“So…England?” Jane then asked.
Vale nodded.
“Yes, ma’am,” she answered. “Coventry. It’s where Lady Godiva is from.”
Jane’s brow furrowed.
“The chocolate lady?” she asked. There was an ancient and venerable chocolate company on Earth called Godiva. Her father always bought a box of their candies for her mother for Valentine’s Day. Before Jane left home for the Academy, he would then privately joke to his daughter that they would then have to go live on the streets because of how expensive the chocolates were. Every year the same joke, but Jane would always laugh at it.
Vale laughed, and again Jane was pleased to see how it revealed the woman inside the officer.
“Different Godiva, ma’am,” she said. “Coventry’s Godiva rode through town naked on a horse.”
“Oh, I heard about that!” Jane said. “I’ve ridden horses. I don’t think I’d want to be on one naked, though.”
Vale laughed again.
“Good to see you loosening up a bit, Vale,” Jane told her companion. “I was beginning to feel as if we were still on duty but, you know…maybe working undercover, posing as juice drinkers, trying to bust some Lunar Loony dealers.”
Lunar Loony was the current illegal drug craze in the Milky Way Galaxy, compliments of the planet Annexus due to the fact that one of its moons contained a substance with narcotic properties. It was highly unlikely that anyone had managed to smuggle Lunar Loony or any illegal drug onboard the Fordham , but Jane figured it wasn’t entirely impossible.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Vale said, looking into her juice glass. “I guess I’m just not used to hanging out with proper officers. Most—” She stopped and rolled her eyes. “Rather, all of my friends are lowlies like me, so…”
“Yeah,” Jane said, “you’re pretty lucky I’m giving you the time of day, Vale. I mean…spending my off hours with a former ensign? I must be mad.”
Vale looked at her with eyes that were narrowed playfully.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am,” she said, “but you do realize the captain is a former ensign.”
Jane waved that off.
“Sure, but like years ago,” she pointed out. “You, on the other hand…” She sniffed theatrically. “…still have that ensign smell on you.”
This time, Vale burst out with laughter—a lovely, trilling sound that made Jane happy to have been the one to cause it.
And now, she couldn’t help it…
Sitting here like this with Vale—both of them wearing athletic clothes, talking and laughing over drinks—was making her imagine being on a date with the young officer.
It was also making her want that to happen.
Normally, she wasn’t shy about asking anyone out. She took a You miss 100% of the chances you don’t take approach to finding girlfriends or even casual playmates.
Moreover, she knew Vale was gay. It was obvious in the way the JG often got careless with her eyes, and let them drop and linger on her chest, which was clad in a UASD sports bra. Hetwomen didn’t show that kind of interest in her breasts.
Let me just double-check this…
Jane leaned back, resting one arm up on the top rail of the chair.
Vale’s eyes immediately ogled her breasts and the rest of her torso. She even licked her lips a bit before evidently becoming aware of what she was doing and returning her eyes to her juice glass.
Jane wanted to smirk.
Gotcha!
But her intuition was telling her that now was not the time to suggest a date with Vale. Recent laughter aside, the youngster still seemed a little on edge sitting here with her, and Jane was certain it was because of what Vale had told her: that all of her friends were lowlies, and that she was a little off-balance hanging out with someone of rank.
Nonetheless, Jane knew she wanted to see Vale again. Socially. There was something about the blonde which was telling her that if the former ensign would just loosen up around her, that they would actually get along really well, and connect on a deeper level.
How to make that happen, though…
Suddenly, an idea came to her.