Alex slid her right leg across Dirk's, and used her fingertips to trace circles around his left nipple as the perspiration from what had turned out to be an epic lay dried on her skin. Dirk was gently digging his fingers into the soft skin just above her buttocks, just the way she liked. She enjoyed being here with him after they had sex; he wasn't chatty, which counted as a huge win in the bonus column of their relationship. He spoke when it was required, but he wouldn't talk her ear off. Shifting position, his thumb started massaging the edge of the large muscle where it met the tailbone, and she pressed her damp mons against his thigh. She could feel the slow metronome of his heartbeat as she rested her head in the hollow between his chest and shoulder.
Alexandra Galilani Jarvia Chase had taken one look at Dirk when he first came aboard, and she'd thought, more or less: 'OK, how do I get one of those?' The fact that she'd been 17 when they'd met had put a wall between them that she couldn't tear down; Dirk had some very old fashioned ideas about 'age appropriateness' when it came to sex. Her own personal experiences had shown that attitude to be quite rare, she wasn't a virgin after all, but he'd been adamant. She had gotten to know Dirk as a person before she pounced on him like a starving lioness, which had been about eleven hours after she had turned 18. He hadn't disappointed. He was easy on the eyes, he knew how to have a good time whenever the ship put in at a new port, and he was a demon in the sack.
He wasn't perfect though.
She had come to realize that the man, now lying naked in her bed, had a complicated history that involved a lot of violence, and his experiences with the Alliance Marine Corps had been less than life-affirming and peaceful. His life before his enlistment was something that he never discussed with anyone.
Ever.
It became obvious after their first massive blow out, which had started with her prying about his life before the AMC. He hadn't raised his voice, but he had made it very clear that she had stepped way over the line. Not that her own more obvious anger had made things better, it hadn't. He'd been the first one to make a peace offering, and things had gone on as usual since. Not without an occasional need for space, but calm for the most part. She reflected that he really did have better interpersonal skills than most dirtsiders, and those skills were important when you had people locked in an airtight box traveling between the stars. Her own were relatively good, but she had a temper that occasionally got the better of her, and when it did she could get ugly. Dirk rarely ever blew up, but he wasn't shy about speaking his mind with a frank brutality that tended to rub people the wrong way at times. She nearly laughed at the memory of the first time he'd done that to her; she had wanted to punch him, but that would have been a colossal mistake. The Captain would tolerate a lot of joking around, bitching, and (as long as performance didn't suffer) crew hookups, but the last person to take a swing at another crew member in an argument was probably still trying to find a way home. Cameron had formally blacklisted the man with the UniSys Interstellar Transportation Commission, and once the USITC pulls your ticket, you never work on a starship again. Needless to say, getting blacklisted would not make her welcome at family reunions.
Alex had been born on a starship; her family had been spacers since the First Exodus, when little was known about what lay beyond Earth's solar system. Her great grandfather had seen the new stars of humanity's future from a reconnaissance and survey ship. Her mother had been the Captain's own captain at one time and he had been responsible for introducing her to her future husband. Alex had come to know her captain as 'Uncle Cam' when she was just a little girl, and when she'd turned 16 she decided to ask him for a berth to finish her spacer's certification. He had made it clear that she would work her ass off if he said yes, then told her to make certain her parents were willing to let her.
He hadn't been kidding. She had never been afraid of work, but this had been a whole new experience. The work load was as strenuous as anyone else's, and she had developed calluses, muscles, and skills in what seemed like equal measure. Working two shifts eight hours apart was old hat, but the sheer volume of study they piled onto the work cut into what little free time she'd had. The load slackened a bit between stars, but not much, the drain on the systems when the ship was in FTL meant that there were sometimes weeks or months of time to study. Alex had wanted to get away from home and check out the universe. One out of two had to count for something.
She hadn't had her Able Spacer certification a week when she was given the task of helping with the installation of a new communications console on the bridge. Her interest had been piqued regarding the whole process, and she had nearly driven chief engineer Ludmilla Brostowski nuts with a constant barrage of questions about what she was doing. That was when and where she'd decided she wanted to earn her Electrotechnical Officer's certification, because that would a master key to just about any ship's crew. Trained and certified EOs were hard to come by everywhere, and they could command some serious fees for their work.
Alex's personal stroll down memory lane, combined with the steady rhythm of Dirk's heartbeat under her left ear, had been causing her to drift off when the Captain's call came in. Dirk's reaction was predictable: He swore. A lot. Then said "Aye aye, Captain!" Cut the connection and started putting on his clothes. She felt obligated to ask the obvious.
"Do you think you can do it? Get the lines on the cheap, I mean."
"I don't even know if I can get the lines, period. Captain's got two aging Freedom Arsenal FA-76B1 twin railguns mounted, right?" She nodded her agreement, and he continued, "His cooling system was originally designed to Alliance Navy specs, but since the Free Systems League's naval contractors just copied AN designs, the same lines will work in both. The problem is that old AN spec SPC units tend to end up being bought by the League Navy and it's auxiliaries. As a result, we may have to settle for what we can get." He was pulling on a vintage black t-shirt he'd found in an antique clothing shop on the station, with the word 'ANTHRAX' across the front in angular block letters as he finished speaking.
"Sounds like you have your work cut out, huh?"
"Actually I could use your help. I need a list of ships in system, and whether or not they have what we need. If you can do that, I'll talk to some former colleagues of mine at the local Alliance Naval Station. Maybe we can get what we need in time to enjoy a real bed and room service one more time before we leave port." He said suggestively.
She had to admit that the idea of a soft bed in a nice hotel, and room service for real fresh food instead of prepackaged, no matter how good, was the only reason she agreed.
"OK, Marine. I'll help, but only 'cause you ask so nice." She teased with a smile, and swatted him on the backside as he walked past her bunk to leave her quarters.
Alexandra Galilani Jarvia Chase had taken one look at Dirk when he first came aboard, and she'd thought, more or less: 'OK, how do I get one of those?' The fact that she'd been 17 when they'd met had put a wall between them that she couldn't tear down; Dirk had some very old fashioned ideas about 'age appropriateness' when it came to sex. Her own personal experiences had shown that attitude to be quite rare, she wasn't a virgin after all, but he'd been adamant. She had gotten to know Dirk as a person before she pounced on him like a starving lioness, which had been about eleven hours after she had turned 18. He hadn't disappointed. He was easy on the eyes, he knew how to have a good time whenever the ship put in at a new port, and he was a demon in the sack.
He wasn't perfect though.
She had come to realize that the man, now lying naked in her bed, had a complicated history that involved a lot of violence, and his experiences with the Alliance Marine Corps had been less than life-affirming and peaceful. His life before his enlistment was something that he never discussed with anyone.
Ever.
It became obvious after their first massive blow out, which had started with her prying about his life before the AMC. He hadn't raised his voice, but he had made it very clear that she had stepped way over the line. Not that her own more obvious anger had made things better, it hadn't. He'd been the first one to make a peace offering, and things had gone on as usual since. Not without an occasional need for space, but calm for the most part. She reflected that he really did have better interpersonal skills than most dirtsiders, and those skills were important when you had people locked in an airtight box traveling between the stars. Her own were relatively good, but she had a temper that occasionally got the better of her, and when it did she could get ugly. Dirk rarely ever blew up, but he wasn't shy about speaking his mind with a frank brutality that tended to rub people the wrong way at times. She nearly laughed at the memory of the first time he'd done that to her; she had wanted to punch him, but that would have been a colossal mistake. The Captain would tolerate a lot of joking around, bitching, and (as long as performance didn't suffer) crew hookups, but the last person to take a swing at another crew member in an argument was probably still trying to find a way home. Cameron had formally blacklisted the man with the UniSys Interstellar Transportation Commission, and once the USITC pulls your ticket, you never work on a starship again. Needless to say, getting blacklisted would not make her welcome at family reunions.
Alex had been born on a starship; her family had been spacers since the First Exodus, when little was known about what lay beyond Earth's solar system. Her great grandfather had seen the new stars of humanity's future from a reconnaissance and survey ship. Her mother had been the Captain's own captain at one time and he had been responsible for introducing her to her future husband. Alex had come to know her captain as 'Uncle Cam' when she was just a little girl, and when she'd turned 16 she decided to ask him for a berth to finish her spacer's certification. He had made it clear that she would work her ass off if he said yes, then told her to make certain her parents were willing to let her.
He hadn't been kidding. She had never been afraid of work, but this had been a whole new experience. The work load was as strenuous as anyone else's, and she had developed calluses, muscles, and skills in what seemed like equal measure. Working two shifts eight hours apart was old hat, but the sheer volume of study they piled onto the work cut into what little free time she'd had. The load slackened a bit between stars, but not much, the drain on the systems when the ship was in FTL meant that there were sometimes weeks or months of time to study. Alex had wanted to get away from home and check out the universe. One out of two had to count for something.
She hadn't had her Able Spacer certification a week when she was given the task of helping with the installation of a new communications console on the bridge. Her interest had been piqued regarding the whole process, and she had nearly driven chief engineer Ludmilla Brostowski nuts with a constant barrage of questions about what she was doing. That was when and where she'd decided she wanted to earn her Electrotechnical Officer's certification, because that would a master key to just about any ship's crew. Trained and certified EOs were hard to come by everywhere, and they could command some serious fees for their work.
Alex's personal stroll down memory lane, combined with the steady rhythm of Dirk's heartbeat under her left ear, had been causing her to drift off when the Captain's call came in. Dirk's reaction was predictable: He swore. A lot. Then said "Aye aye, Captain!" Cut the connection and started putting on his clothes. She felt obligated to ask the obvious.
"Do you think you can do it? Get the lines on the cheap, I mean."
"I don't even know if I can get the lines, period. Captain's got two aging Freedom Arsenal FA-76B1 twin railguns mounted, right?" She nodded her agreement, and he continued, "His cooling system was originally designed to Alliance Navy specs, but since the Free Systems League's naval contractors just copied AN designs, the same lines will work in both. The problem is that old AN spec SPC units tend to end up being bought by the League Navy and it's auxiliaries. As a result, we may have to settle for what we can get." He was pulling on a vintage black t-shirt he'd found in an antique clothing shop on the station, with the word 'ANTHRAX' across the front in angular block letters as he finished speaking.
"Sounds like you have your work cut out, huh?"
"Actually I could use your help. I need a list of ships in system, and whether or not they have what we need. If you can do that, I'll talk to some former colleagues of mine at the local Alliance Naval Station. Maybe we can get what we need in time to enjoy a real bed and room service one more time before we leave port." He said suggestively.
She had to admit that the idea of a soft bed in a nice hotel, and room service for real fresh food instead of prepackaged, no matter how good, was the only reason she agreed.
"OK, Marine. I'll help, but only 'cause you ask so nice." She teased with a smile, and swatted him on the backside as he walked past her bunk to leave her quarters.
No comments:
Post a Comment