Stars & Empire 2: 10 More Galactic Tales (Stars & Empire Box Set Collection) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Steel Magnolia Press
Published: 2014-11-26T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“So that’s why I drink,” Nova said and tipped back another thimble of what was not at all rotgut. Nor was this quiet, elegant lounge aboard the brand new orbiter even remotely comparable to the echoing rec halls that passed for bars around the ground bases. A skyranch was built for civilians and, given the isolation that comes with living in space, amenities were at the top of the health and wellness arrangements. It suited the pilots just fine.

Lieutenant Rolyn propped his face onto his palm and observed her critically. “Except that you don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Drink. Much, anyway.”

“I’m starting today,” she said and tipped the jar over her glass for another shot.

“You’ll puke,” Heiko Boker, the other officer at the table, warned.

She shrugged. The two of them had lured her to the lounge at the end of today’s shift, determined to cheer her up, or so they said. She suspected that they were mainly driven by curiosity.

The days since her painful encounter with Djari had passed like sand through an hour glass. She did her work steadily and without enthusiasm, letting the time pass between shifts with morose walks along the station’s exercise ring or by sleeping too much. She wanted to return to him, talk more about what had happened, perhaps even convince him to turn to the post-trauma team to help him get over his anger. Shon Gat had changed him, somehow, of that she was certain.

Boker and Rolyn were less convinced of that. They had dragged the story out of her over several shots of very smooth spirits, which actually made her feel a little better, and then set to analyzing the problem as if they had gathered for a debrief.

“You gotta deal, Whiteside,” Boker said. “For all you know he’s a right bastard all the time. You were stuck with him for just a couple of days. Maybe he was trying to impress you.”

“And get himself some bag time with you,” Rolyn added. “Let’s not forget that.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”

“You don’t think he was?” He raised a hand and counted off on his fingers. “You’re behind front lines. It’s tense. You’ve come to count on him keeping his shit together when others aren’t and you’re a scrumptious example of femality. Now you’re alone. Boom. Nothing takes the pressure off more than a good hard…” He checked himself. “…love-making.”

Nova rolled her eyes although the sporadic attempts of her squad mates to curb their more colorful language were as amusing as they were condescending. “That’s not all it was.”

“I’ve seen him around,” Boker said. “That’s one nice looking pedestrian.” He batted his eyelashes at the ceiling. “Shoulders out to here, dreamy streaky hair, a smile that’ll melt Feron’s core and, I have to admit, a shapely backside. Nice catch, Whiteside.”

“That is not all it was!”

“No?” Rolyn said. “Now you’re up here where it’s safe. Lots of other bedmates to be found. You’re a pilot and he’s crew. Civilian, like Heiko said. Those worlds don’t even fit together.

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