Starlight Gleaming Ch. 05

Janetta leaned forward. "Kandikan! Are you cleared yet?"

I looked at the Security officer. He signed on my orders and handed them back. "Take off!"

"Release the quarters," I told Quartermaster Sergeant. "I'll update my address tomorrow." Opening up the back of the HueCac, I tossed in both duffles and then hopped on top of them.

"Get us home, Second Sergeant," Janetta barked.

"Yes, Sir!" And the electric transport zipped across the tarmac, moving like a ghost in the night. I grabbed the rollbar. Janetta turned in her seat and grabbed me. "Come here, you!"

I leaned into her and our mouths met, and for several seconds we devoured each other. When we broke, Janetta husked, "I am so going to fuck you, Kandikan."

"Do tell," I replied, immensely pleased. And like that, we suddenly stopped in front of a hangar. I blinked in surprise. "What's up?"

Janetta and Zinja got out. I crawled out the back.

"There was some activity tonight," she explained. "Not sure what, but our flight is back-up, so we're on call, until dawn at least. What were you doing up there, Kandikan? No, leave your duffles there. I'll send you on home in a little bit. What time are you due to check in?"

"I report to Logistics on the Eighth Hour." Sharing my little adventure this night could wait. Besides, she was barely paying any attention to anything I said.

Janetta took my hand and pulled me urgently into the hangar. Corporal Ixma waved, and Sergeant Cholan started laughing as I was half-dragged into the small office. Janetta closed the door and undid the zippers on her coveralls, exposing her crotch. She took out the rag and tossed it into the dirty bin. Her arousal filled the air. I was already seriously interested, but her scent hardened me instantly.

"Second rag tonight, Ranji. I can not believe how wet I am just waiting for you to get here!"

"I fail to see why that's a problem, Janetta."

She looked at the tent poking from my trousers and licked her lips. Sitting back onto the desk, Janetta spread her legs. "I'm fully primed. Just drop your pants and give it me, Ranji. Hard and fast. No prisoners. Full payload delivery."

I moved up to her, putting my hands to her face. She dodged my kiss and impatiently undid my belt, shoving my trousers and underwear done to my knees. Grasping my erect cock, she guided me to her slick, puffy lips. I pushed forward, and she wrapped her legs around me, pulling me closer as she sighed.

"Come on! Just fuck me!"

I slid my hands under her butt and pulled her tight. "Hang on."

"What --!"

I lifted her up and sat down on the chair, her legs straddling my hips. "Drive, Janetta. You'll enjoy it better."

The pure lust on her face gave way to surprise, then to tenderness. "Oh, gods," she sighed, using her own weight to impale herself on me. Grabbing my shoulders for leverage, her feet hit the floor and she rapidly bounced on my cock.

She was right, she was soaked, her juices quickly coating my balls. And in less than a minute, she moaned as she ground her crotch against me. Eyes closed, Janetta shivered with her release. She paused for several long seconds, whimpering as she tried to catch her breath. Then she kissed me hard and fervently. I gave back as good as I got. Part of me waited for her to try and lift off once she'd come, my hands possessively on her waist, but instead she began rocking again, eager for a repeat. Being inside her slick heat was exquisite! I'd started to feel the tingle in my balls, but her pause allowed me to cool down. I love coming inside Janetta, but the pleasure of her tight walls, of feeling her lithe body responding to mine is so good that I want it to last as long as possible. Of course, getting her to come was half the fun.

"Not done yet?" I managed to get out.

"No," she huffed. Janetta began bouncing again, giving me full strokes into her hot, velvety depths. "I missed you .. so much." She groaned as she picked up the pace again. "You -- you're mine. Ahhhhh! Take care -- nnnnnnnah -- take care of -- haaaaahhh -- my team." And she came again, shaking as she rested her head on my shoulder. More fluids gushing as her long, slick channel pulsated, gripping and releasing my shaft buried within her body.

I kissed her face gently as she recovered. "Admit it, Janetta! You like me!"

"You're a .. shitload of complication." She leaned her forehead against mine. "You know what I think? Complication .. has to be your middle name. But I can't believe how good you feel. Can't believe how much I want to feel you come inside me." Her voice softened. "Come on, Ranji. Give it to me. I'm on the clock here and I need what you have to give."

I tightened my grip on her waist and stood up. Janetta's legs wrapped tight as she hung on. I laid her down on the desk and began to move within her buttery slickness, pushing and probing as firmly as I could.

"Aaaah, fuck." Janetta closed her eyes as I ground and drove into her. Her breathing deepened as I settled my weight onto her mons. Flexing her hips, she met my thrusts into her center with her own desire to take me as deep as she could within her hungry depths. Soon I was rapidly sliding in and out, and on each down stroke she used her feet to pull me in harder, deeper. Brushing up against her womb.

The tingle in my balls was growing fast. "Ready?" I managed.

Janetta dug her fingers into my butt as she frantically humped against me. "Yes!" she hissed. "Yes, yes, and yes!"

My hands moved back to her hips. Grunting, my cock suddenly pulsed, spraying into her steamy center. Jet after jet emptied into her as she writhed underneath me.

I looked down at her, gazing into her big, dark eyes, seeing for the first time vulnerability there. Right then all I wanted to do was to hold her safe in my arms. Then I saw the glint of bravado and bluster return.

Reaching up, she nipped my shoulder, then laughed as she shivered. "I really needed that. Thank you, Kandikan." She gave a squeeze to both of my butt cheeks, then unlocked her legs. "Up! I need to get cleaned up and out of here, and you need to get some sleep before morning."

There was a lot I wanted to say, but I chose not to. Lifting up, I pulled out and pulled up my underwear and trousers.

Janetta reached for a rag, then gasped at the mess between her legs. "How many nuts did you use? I'm going to have to shower before I put on my flight suit!"

"If it's not enough, I will happily give you more," I assured her. "I can easily do you again, Janetta. Right now." I meant it, too.

She raised her eyebrows. "I have to get into standby on the tarmac. If I could, I would happily ride you until dawn and make you go without sleep on your first day here. It just isn't working out that way. Trust me. I want to find out which of us tires out first as much as you do."

I shook my head. "It's not a competition and it's not just your body, Janetta. I want you."

"Don't fuck with my head, Kandikan. I'll give you what time I can. We've both got careers ahead of us. Flying is everything to me. You're a bonus. By the gods, my head screams you are trouble, but my heart and my pussy both want you. We can't have a normal life together. Deal with it."

I smiled. "Your heart and your pussy want me?"

Janetta stood up, the front panel hanging down and her crotch dripping. "What, are you deaf? Get out of here, Kandikan. Get some down time!"

She yanked open the door and strode to the open shower by the lockers. I followed her out, mesmerized by the poetry of her body. Janetta quickly stripped and rinsed herself down. The night air was humid and warm enough she didn't even bother drying off.

Janetta glanced up. "Zinja! Take him home. Take Ixma, too. Then meet us at runway one-nine-zero. Cholan! Get this bird hooked onto the tractor!" She pulled out a flight suit and quickly dressed.

Zinja came up beside me. "Let's go, Sir."

"Safe flight, safe return, Janetta."

She gave a curt nod and buckled her boots, then reached for her flight helmet. Outside the hangar, I slipped into the passenger side of the HueCac. Corporal Ixma climbed into the back on top of my duffle bags. Zinja backed out and we hugged the edge of the road. Two other AT-7s were already heading down to the airfield.

Then the scenery flew by. A dozen turns and we ended up in front of a small cottage amidst a long row of duplicates. The address read ninety-three. No street signs and oddly, no street lights either.

The Second Sergeant nodded as I got out. "It's a cracker box, that's for sure. The Lieutenant's got the main room. We're sharing the other. With three of us, there's hardly room to move about inside, but it's ours. Ixma, make breakfast for him in the morning."

"Yes, Sergeant." Ixma crawled out and stood off to the side, yawning.

"That's my girl." The lean woman smiled at her daughter. Zinja waited for me to retrieve my gear, then sped off into the night. Aside from a few scattered porch lights, the street was dark.

Ixma reached for one of the duffles, but I shook my head. "I got it."

She nodded sleepily and pulling out a key, unlocked the front door. She reached in and flipped a light switch, then waited for me to enter. "Rooms are off to the right. Left door in the hallway is Officer's Country. Middle is latrine and shower. Right door leads to Enlisted."

I glanced around. A small open area with a couple of chairs, a small, battered table against a wall, a few boxes acting as end-tables, a small desk with a vid-comp, and a kitchenette behind a breakfast bar at the back. It really was small, but a far sight better than dorm living. At the moment, it was much stuffier inside than out. At least it wasn't as humid here as Tikun!

Ixma went around opening windows and turning on overhead fans. The lights were low watt, and there were no decorations anywhere except for a large unit insignia for the 233rd Intercepter Group on one wall. A snarling red sabre-toothed tiger leaping forward in a black background with a white border. "Dangerous When Provoked" was their motto.

Inside Janetta's tiny closet, I discovered she'd left space for me to hang some uniforms. I filled the space, putting my underwear and kit onto her dresser. I put the other duffle on top of the now-empty one against the wall. Filled with books, a personal comp, and casual clothing, it could wait until later. Though I did dig out one of the tins of cahault. I wanted some in the morning. I heard Ixma in the latrine, then her quiet, "Night, Sir," as she went into the bedroom across the hall.

When I was satisfied with my minimal unpacking, I grabbed a towel and my kit and hit the shower. The water wasn't terribly warm and the pressure was miserable, but I made do. I'd see what could done about the water situation later. When I was done, dressed only in a towel, I grabbed my laundry and headed to bed. Not bothering to dress, I set my alarm, turned on the room fan, opened a window, and turned out the light. I still had news to give Janetta, but that would have to wait until later. Was it just yesterday afternoon that Senior Sergeant Itznacoco had been in my office? Her pillow smelled of oranges and her, so I wrapped my arms around it and let myself drift away.

* * * * *

The alarm went off at the sixth hour and I rolled out of bed. Four hours wasn't a lot of sleep, but that's the way it goes some days. Dressing quickly, I discovered Ixma in the bathroom, so I shaved in the kitchen. Then I looked for a pot and filter to make my chocolate coffee drink. A search of the pantry showed just enough plateware for each of us. Four plates, four bowls, four cups, silverware, a couple of cutting knives and a cutting board. Most of it was chipped and unsurprisingly all in the plain white functional design found in the base cafeteria. One pan and one skillet. One cupboard filled with Meals Ready to Eat. Ground Service MREs? Gods above.

While I was browsing, Ixma came into the room. I looked in the mini-fridge. Some millet beer and an unopened bottle of Blue Agave Metl juice. No doubt Janetta's special stash. An extra large jar of salsa. I sighed. The prospect of a Ground Service MRE breakfast left my stomach in knots. I had had to eat them for two weeks during survival training and every meal left me nauseated. Not even tea in the cupboards. And in all this mess, no means to brew my cahault.

Ixma shyly scooted by me and reached up into the cupboard for an MRE. Instant eggs. Her dark brown hair was braided with red and black ribbon, the colors for their unit. She wore a short-sleeved summer class B uniform. Patch for the 233rd above her grade mark. Where her mother was lean and angular and handsome rather than pretty, Ixma was skinny and gangly like a very young teenager. I'm average height, and I was a full headspan taller than her. She also continued showing a lack of self-confidence. I didn't think she was even twenty yet. That lack of confidence needed to change. It would attract those who liked to intimidate and hurt.

As she started to open the MRE, I said, "Stop. What are your duties today, Ixma?"

"Cook you breakfast. After you leave, do the laundry at the base laundromat. Then I can sleep until they get home."

"Can you cook? I mean besides prepare MREs?"

"I know how to cook some." She looked like I had caught her doing something wrong and she wasn't sure what it was yet.

"This pantry is not up to specs. There's almost no cookware and no real food. How far is the laundromat? And how are you going to carry that much gear all by yourself?"

She pursed her lips. "There's a wagon in back for me to use, sir."

"Where's the base cafeteria? I know what your mother said, but you eat too many of those MREs and you'll end up doing the Atlantean Two-step."

She didn't say anything, looking away. I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or angry at my changing her mother's orders or both.

"Come on. Show me where the cafeteria is and we'll grab some food there." I hoped they had cahualt. Barring that, some good hot, black tea.

"I can't."

"Why?"

Ixma explained that there had been bribes to get the housing, even though as a pilot, Janetta should have been allotted space as part of her housing allowance. It had taken all their pooled cash to get the place and what little they had on hand. She thought there was still money owed to some officer. The upshot was they had no money until payday in three weeks. She only had enough to do their laundry maybe twice.

High Guard War base was supposed to be front line defense against the Atlanteans. We were less than seven hundred rads away from a shooting peace. And some corrupt shit was gouging front-line warriors trying to defend the Empire!

I pulled out my wallet and gave her twenty credits. "Take it. Now get your wagon loaded and ready. We're going to breakfast. My treat."

She hesitated, holding the note in her hand.

I pointed to my shoulder pip. "Corporal, I know what Sergeant Zinja said. I outrank her. Get your gear and turn to!"

She was unhappy, but did as she was told.

I hit the latrine while she loaded up the wagon. Outside, I confirmed our address. Ninety-three West Seashell Lane.

It was only a rad to the base cafeteria, but with the foot traffic, it took us half an hour. The wooden wheels on the wagon made conversation next to impossible, so I brooded while we walked. Not even rubber wheels? What was going on here? Along the way, I noticed other enlisted pulling wagons. Irritation gave way to curiosity to another question: why they were spending so much time hauling things about by foot? The wooden wheels had to be harder to pull, too. It was good exercise, but a tremendous waste of time. The War base had over ten thousand personnel, yet I'd seen less than a score HueCac vehicles and only one of the four-seat ChoCacs.

When we got to the Cafeteria, I went in while Ixma waited outside. She couldn't leave the wagon unattended. I quickly rolled through the buffet line and picked up food for both of us, including two large cups of cahault. Suddenly my day was looking a lot better.

Outside, I found Ixma fidgeting nervously. I handed her a breakfast wrap and drink. "Eat," I told her, and took a bite of mine. It was passable, but it was ten shades better than the freeze-dried eggs I had narrowly dodged. Navy had the best rations, hands down. Some men even fought over whether Air or Ground Service had the worst. I had had to endure both. Air Service was better. Marginally.

Ixma ate her food, but her demeanor remained submissive. It was irritating, but then something dawned on me. The house where we resided was mixed residential, not female only. Alone, she could easily be bullied into sex, even hurt. I had an idea. "Corporal? Where's the Commissary?"

She pointed up the street. There was the sign, about three blocks away.

"Come on, let's go." Off we went, me leading and Corporal Ixma trudging behind me with her wagon loaded with duffles full of dirty laundry.

Inside, I first went to uniform supply and bought a spare neckerchief and a pair of sublieutenant's pips. Then I went to grocery and grabbed a cart and loaded up a set of steel pans and two boxes each of dishware and silverware. I actually had a lot of money from the trust fund my parents set up for me. I also had had little chance to spend my pay on anything in the two years since finishing Officers College in Tohingo. I had quite a bit of change set aside. At the deli, I ordered two score of meals from their pre-order list to be sent to the house, and put it all on my charge card. Then I hired a porter to load the items I bought onto the wagon. On my way out, I also purchased a map of the base.

Outside, Ixma looked dismayed at the extra weight. The porter loaded the large boxes on top.

I gently took her by the arm. "Take off your beret, Corporal."

She watched the porter work, then did as I told her. Shaking out the neckerchief, I refolded it into a headband, and put it on her head, tying the ends under her braid. Her eyes grew wide. I put the pip on each side behind her ears, and then took the beret, setting it on top of her head. This marked her as the woman of an officer. It wasn't anything official, but it was a known practice. As an officer, I was at the bottom. But it should give any enlisted men pause before they harassed her.

"You wear this, you understand? Anyone asks, you belong to me. I work in Logistics. Lieutenant Tlacotli is still your boss, and she is my woman. That makes you mine, too."

She nodded, eyes big.

I then gave the porter forty credits, close to a week's wages for him. By his red hair and blue eyes, I figured him to be from New Siluria or even New Brae, the northernmost of the Seven Nations, up by the frozen island of Manahatta. I also stored away the information that foreign nationals were on the base for casual labor. I looked at his name tag. "Bran, your job is to haul this wagon to the laundromat with Corporal Ixma, and then to unload everything at the house."

"Yes, sirrah!" he nodded.

I touched the neckerchief on Ixma's head. "See this? She is mine. You protect her, get her to the laundry and to our house and the contract is done."

"Yes, sirrah. I work."

"What should I do?" Corporal Ixma asked.

"You're a Lieutenant's woman. Act like it. You lead, and he follows. I'll be home this evening."

Glancing at my watch, I had fifteen minutes to Eighth Hour. A look at the map revealed that Logistics was a rad and a half from the Commissary, so it would be close. I told her goodbye and set off at a run.

I found the building with two minutes to spare. I checked in, was introduced to my immediate superior, Senior Lieutenant Danchan Topichtwi, and to Second Sergeant Matiwatli, his aide. I was given a desk, and then sent on to Security. When I was done getting my clearances, keys, and passcodes, I grabbed lunch and came back to find a tech hooking up the cables to my desk computer. Because I had a decent tech background myself, it didn't take as long as normal to get my profile set up. By mid-afternoon, I was processing supply reports. And that was the rest of my first day at High Guard.