Orbital Academy VII

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by MaddiroseX

(Did you love this story? Hate it? Want a sequel? Please let me
know at maddirosex@gmail.com!)

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"Sir, can I speak freely?" Captain Jane Appet spoke through
clenched teeth, staring across the desk at the commander of
Orbital Academy.
"Permission denied," Major Auspus replied cooly. His fingers
flicked across the screen he held, comparing it to a page of
notes on his desk, the picture of distracted business.
"Yes sir," Jane turned and walked toward the door, fuming, mind
spinning.
"This is why I like you Captain Appet," the Major's voice stopped
her at the door, "any other person to ask that question would
give me a piece of their mind regardless of my answer. Of course
that means, ironically, that I am far more willing to listen to
your rants than theirs. Yes you may speak freely."
"This is stupid, dangerous, reckless and entirely ill-advised,"
the Major's compliment barely registered in Jane's mind as she
turned back to him, "my squad is an excellent rookie team, but
there's *no way* it's responsible to send them on a full
planetary run!"
"I must admit I'm surprised to hear you say that," the Major
smiled wryly at his screen as he spoke, "you spoke so adamantly
at the last meeting. About the abilities of your rookies, about
the need for the orbital to stop coddling first years, about how
we faced a threat that would need a strong crop of pilots."
"That was when they were going to be fighting a flamer Drake,
this is entirely different!"
"I see it simply as a natural progression Captain Appet. Your
team is the model by which other rookie squads are measured, but
right now everyone else is catching up. After the excellent way
they handled the exothermic Drake, the next step is to get them
experience with a planetary run."
"Two of my squad almost died handling that Drake!"


"Captain Appet," the Major set aside his screen and turned to
Jane for the first time. Even after a decade serving under him
Jane wasn't used to the look of utter control in Major Auspus'
face. The age and wisdom of seventy years stared at her from a
face that didn't look a day past twenty. He was usually so
level-headed that it was easy to forget he could stare her down
in a heartbeat.
"Orbital Academy's pilots 'almost die' on every single mission
they undertake," he continued, his attention fully on her, "we
have an incredibly dangerous occupation, without question the
most dangerous of any of the orbitals. The brave men and women
who are here on this orbital have volunteered their lives towards
the goal of keeping the entire orbit safe, and they have done so
with the full knowledge that they place their lives at risk. To
prevent the exceptional rookies in your squad from engaging in a
mission because they might get hurt is a disrespect I refuse to
show them. That is all, you are dismissed."
Jane stared at the Major. His words left her feeling cowed and
immature, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was
somehow...wrong.
"You're putting these kids in way more danger than they can
handle Major Auspus...how can you not see that?"
"Captain Appet, I said you are dismissed."
She left the room in a daze, head spinning, wondering how she
would break it to her squad.


***


"This is so awesome!"
"I *knew* we impressed them with the Drake"
"I wonder if they'll let us substitute this mission for our
Pilot-level test?"
"Does this make us the first Rookie-level squad to go on a
planetary?"
Jane stared at her nine rookies. Their reactions were doing
nothing to help the feeling of disorientation that had been
following her since her meeting with the Major. *This is not how
any of it was supposed to happen,* she thought vaguely, watching
them chatter excitedly at the news.
"You don't seem very excited Captain," Jackson noted
perceptively. The others slowly settled as Jane tried to collect
her thoughts.
"It's...it's just a somewhat dangerous and difficult task, that's
all..." she stammered. *No, that's no good, I can't slip back
into the weakling captain I used to be.* Before this year Jane
had spent a good portion of her time hating herself; with this
squad things had been different. Better. She was proud of her
rookies, proud of herself, and she would be damned if she changed
back, even if the world felt as if it were turning upside-down.


*What would the other Captain Appet say, the one that keeps them
respectful and skillful and amazing?*
"...and it's about time we have you Rooks exposed to some real
challenge. So, first things' first, you all probably have some
incorrect ideas about what's involved in a planetary run. We
should clear up some misconceptions. Meet me in the lower ring
conference room in ten minutes, and I'll give our first briefing
as a squad." The ten minutes would give her time to collect her
thoughts, and she could tell from the bright faces that most of
them were excited about the prospect of a real mission briefing.
Preston and Missy didn't seem as enthusiastic, but Jane didn't
let herself dwell on the fact, instead turning and leaving the
barracks with head high.


***


The room was dark, and Jane sat at one end of the table, head
resting on her arms. *Why would the Major send these rookies on a
planetary? He was nervous about letting them deal with the Drake,
what changed his mind?* She snapped into an upright position as
the rookies began filing in, thumbing the lights up to an
acceptable level.
"Alright Rooks, best to go ahead and lay it on me. What insane
rumors are people spreading about planetary runs that I need to
correct?" Jane had a pit in her stomach as she spoke, letting her
gaze travel across the squad as they sat. She felt strangely
guilty, as if she had no business talking to them and pretending
nothing was wrong.
Julia raised her hand, and Jane stopped herself from rolling her
eyes.
"For the last time, Julia, you're not in Pre-Academy anymore.
Stop raising your hand."
"I've heard that the atmosphere on the planet is so thick that
you can't breath or fly a cruiser through it," Julia lowered her
hand and spoke in a rush.
"Partially true. The fog that you see surrounding the planet is
toxic, but it only goes down to within a hundred or so feet of
the planet's surface. Some of the higher hills can be dangerous,
but you can breath on most of the ground. If a cruiser couldn't
take off how do you think people would get back from
planetaries?"
"Just what I've heard," Julia mumbled, face falling. Jane
softened.
"It's alright. Back in my rookie year there was a rumor that the
fog would eat away at our suits like acid..." *Of course we would
have years to learn the truth about the planet before we were
sent down there* "...but anyways. We should probably go over this
from the beginning."


The screens blinked to life, and Jane forced the doubts and
reservations down into a hard pit in her stomach, pulling the
image of the strict Captain around her like a protective shield.
"A planetary run consists of two teams. The first team will be in
a satellite recon skiff, a 'satflyer', about ninety feet above
the surface, just below the fog. The second team will be on the
ground, set up in a temporary bunker. The satflyer team will be
relaying information, giving forward warning of dangers, and
general topological data. More importantly, they'll provide relay
extenders for the ground team, boosting their range. The ground
team will be controlling a squadron of drones; the same drones
you've been training with for the last three months. The drones
will navigate to coordinates provided by the air team, collect
resources, and destroy the nests."


Even through the worry in her chest, Jane felt a bit of pride.
Her students were all bent over, focusing on the diagrams in
front of them. Focused, attentive, alert.
"Who's on the different teams?" Jackson asked, leaning back and
folding his arms.
"Li, Aimee, Missy, and Jackson, you'll all be on the ground since
you've got the best handle on drone control." Jane was grateful
for Jackson's nudging; she was finding it hard to focus on the
briefing, "I'll be with you on the ground. Marcus, Julia, and
Tess will be up in the satflyer, due mostly to their tech, nav,
and diagnostic scores. Preston, Alex, you'll also be up there,
manning the satflyer's weapons."
A chill ran through the room at the mention of weapons. Jane
could see them all thinking the question, but it took a moment
before one of them actually spoke it.
"Captain Appet..." Aimee's voice was quiet, somber, "why will we
need weapons? Everyone says planetaries are dangerous, but...I've
never heard anyone talk about why. This seems...really simple.
Just in and out with drones. I don't see what makes it so tricky,
is that just me?" She looked up and down the table, but her
squadmates were also shaking their head.


Jane took a deep breath. It was the moment of truth; they had to
know the full story.
"On the smoothest planetaries, it is as simple as in-and-out.
Unfortunately, they rarely go smoothly. There are going to be
several obstacles that we can expect." She kept her voice
dispassionate as she spoke, careful not to allow any emotion or
quiver into it.
"The reason we schedule planetary runs right after Drake attacks
is so that we are assured of not running into one on the mission.
Drakes are dangerous out of atmosphere, on the planet they are
capable of shredding us within minutes. Now that the Drakes are
attacking off-schedule, we might not be guaranteed to avoid them
on this run." Jane watched the rookies closely as she spoke,
paying special attention to Julia and Tess as she mentioned the
Drakes. They both seemed sober, but not panicked, so she
continued. "The smaller flying creatures though, those *will*
most likely sniff us out before the mission is done. In every
case where a flyer has reached a satellite without being shot
down, one or more members of our entire air team has been killed.
Don't let them get reach you."


Jane's mental wall faltered for a moment, remembering how it had
sounded. The screams had only filled the radio for a few seconds
before she had shut it off. In her memory they had lasted for ten
years.
"Ahem," she cleared her throat, uncomfortably aware of the nine
pairs of eyes on her, "it usually takes five to ten hours for the
Terrans on the planet to locate the ground team. Usually the air
team should be able to give enough advance warning to pull the
drones back and pack them up. If not, the temp bunker has fuel
and supplies enough to fire up into orbit to be picked up by an
orbital rescue team, and the drones will self-destruct. We know
very little about Terran weapon technology. Mostly because anyone
who has encountered it has died. Data from the air groups
indicates that it's either much better than ours, or the Terrans
are much better at using them."


Silence stretched through the room. The rookies' enthusiasm had
deadened into a serious quiet.
"How often is there an injury during a planetary run Captain?"
Missy asked quietly.
Jane had to clear her throat twice before answering.
"Typically there are no injuries incurred on a planetary run.
Those who sustain injuries of any kind are usually lost soon
afterwards," Jane stared resolutely at the screen in front of
her, refusing to meet any of her rookies' eyes but knowing she
couldn't sidestep the question, "typically runs are made up of
nine lieutenant-level and a captain level. There's a reason there
are so few captains as opposed to rookie and pilot levels. We
tend to...to lose a large portion of our lieutenants to planetary
runs."


She couldn't bear to look at any of them, to see the same
question in their eyes as she had in her mind; *why us?*
"It's a testament to how confident the Major is in our abilities
as a squad," Jane lied. *Okay, that didn't sound convincing even
to me. If I'm going to keep my new reputation, I need to get out
of here.*
"I've uploaded a list of resources you'll all need to your
personal screens, as well as a detailed breakdown of team duties.
It will take us roughly a week to get the temp bunker and the
satflyer ready to launch. In the meantime your other duties will
be completely suspended." She let herself briefly scan the
rookies' faces, to make sure they didn't think she was giving
them a vacation. The assembled squad was focused, intent. Jane
didn't have to tell them to spend the time focusing on training
their individual job descriptions; their faces told her it
wouldn't even occur to them to slack off. She nodded once to
herself, and left the conference room. There wasn't anything more
to say.


***


Jane found herself wandering through the halls of the academy,
running a hand along the polished cold walls and headed nowhere
in particular. Lost in her own mind, she barely noticed the world
around her; perhaps that's why her feet led her along a path that
had been ingrained into her subconscious, never quite forgotten
no matter how long it had been. When she arrived at the door to
the Flying Mettle she looked up, surprised, as if she was waking
up from a dream. She hesitated, but after a moment she shrugged
and activated the door. *What better way to forget about all of
this for a few hours?*


The warm air and the noise hit her at the same time as she
stepped into the well lit bar; the body heat and murmured
conversation of fifty people that filled the room. Scent
synthesizers worked in each corner to deodorize and sanitize the
smells of human and alcohol, replacing them with something
non-offensive: as Jane walked over to the bar she caught a hint
of oak. *Same as ever.*


Jane was already feeling better, and she hadn't even had a drink
yet. For anyone living their lives on the perpetually cold
orbital, the warmth of the room was a treat enough by itself, and
the murmur of friendly chatter made her feel safe and comforted.
*I've always loved this place,* she mused idly, waiting for the
bartender to get to her, *Why don't I come down here more often?*
Her eyes wandered across the clientele, different ranks,
different professions, all gathered and drinking, smoking and
laughing together. It reminded her of older times, times when it
was easier to smile and laugh, sitting at the old table in the
corner with the old group. As if drawn by the memories her gaze
roved to the table in the corner...and there they all sat, as if
they had never left.
"What can I get you miss?" The bartender's question was barely
enough to break her out of her reverie. Sure they were all older
now, some a bit pudgier, some with unexpected speckles of grey in
their hair, but the way they were laughing and smiling was
exactly the same.


"Nothing, thank you," Jane took a breath that hitched in the
middle, watching them sitting there, and her answer to the
barkeeper was quiet, "I was just leaving." For a moment, just a
moment, she let herself pretend that things were how they used to
be. She let herself pretend that she was about to walk over to
join them, and they would all grin and budge around to make room
for her, and they would talk and joke. She let herself pretend
that Patrick would be joining them.
"Sorry for the trouble," Jane's voice caught, but the bartender
simply shrugged and turned to the man behind her.
"An' what about you?"


Jane turned to leave, tearing her eyes away from the table as if
by force, head bowed to keep tears from forming in her eyes. A
tug stopped her suddenly. The man standing just behind her had
her by the arm, his grip gentle but firm.
"I'll have what she's having, and she's having a plat-shot with
ice," Jane didn't need to look up to identify the mellow voice.
"Evening Professor," she smiled in spite of herself.


Arthur Proferton returned her smile and then some. His grin was
so wide it seemed to take up his entire face. As soon as he saw
that she recognized him he let go of his grip, turning it
seamlessly into a friendly hand on her shoulder.
"Go ahead to the table," he spoke lightly, as if it had been nine
days instead of nine years since they had last spoken, "I'll
bring the drinks when they're ready." A strange feeling was
building in the pit of Jane's stomach, half excited fluttering
and half sick dread.
"I would absolutely love to Prof, but I'm afraid I'm on a date,"
she lied smoothly, extracting her arm from his light touch, "but
it was wonderful seeing you!"
"Mmm," Arthur nodded thoughtfully, "makes sense why you were
leaving then."
"We're...um..." Jane blushed, "we're actually on the date
somewhere else, I just stopped in here to get us drinks," she
tried to save herself, realizing her mistake even as she
stammered.
"That's why you left without them. Makes sense, makes sense."
"Well no, they didn't have the kind of drinks he likes so-"


"Jane," Arthur said kindly, taking the small tray offered from
the bartender, "even if you could lie worth a damn, you know you
couldn't lie to me." He tapped his temple with a smile, and Jane
thought she could hear the soft purr of the CPU in his head.
"You know I fucking hate that thing right?" Jane lapsed into
honesty with a growl, "it's unfair and I hate it. I always have."
Arthur laughed aloud.
"Of course I know," he chuckled, "you hate not being able to
hide. You hate that I can read off your expressions to tell
what's really going on in that secretive, closed off mind of
yours. But I think most of all you hate that I know just how to
make you forgive my sorry ass." He reached forward and flicked
her earlobe with a grin, and just like that it was as if no time
had passed between them, like he was the same mischievous and
boyish friend who she couldn't bear to be angry with.


"Fuckin' chip-head," Jane tried hard to keep from smiling, but
she knew it was useless. Even knowing that his enhancements made
it trivial for him to pick up on social cues, more than even the
most perceptive of normal people, she still found it hard to
resist his charm. She barely noticed his hand resting lightly on
her shoulder again until he began lightly guiding her towards the
corner table.
"Seriously Prof, I really just want to be alone right now," Jane
protested, even though she knew his chip would pick up on the lie
as easily as she had spoken it.
"Bullshit again. Something's hurting you Jane," Arthur grew
serious, "hurting you enough to come here even though you knew
you'd find us here, even though you're worried being around us
will hurt worse. But we can help, I promise you."
"I'm going to need about five more of those," Jane called over
her shoulder to the bartender, but she reluctantly allowed
herself to be led.


The table's chatter faded when they reached it, and Jane's
stomach did a flip. They were all there; Lily, Acren, Jack-pip
and Center, along with another man she didn't recognize. Their
expressions ranged from shock to pleased surprise, expressions on
faces so familiar it was as if she had been kicked in the throat
with nostalgia. Jane managed to keep from staring as the one she
didn't recognize spoke,
"Hey Professor, we were wondering if you'd gotten lost," he said
jovially, "who's your friend?"
"Oh you've definitely heard of my friend Sam," just as she had
fantasized, the group budged over good naturedly to make room for
Jane as Arthur introduced her, "may I present the long-absent and
much-missed, Miss Jane Cripshaw."
"Appet," Jane mumbled, as she slid into the booth next to
Jack-pip, "it's Captain Jane Appet now."
The mood at the table shifted almost imperceptibly.
"You took his name," Lily murmured. Jane looked down at her drink
to avoid the woman's gaze. Whatever was there...pity, sympathy,
anger, Jane didn't want to see it.
"Alright," Arthur broke the small silence, "we're not going to
pretend we aren't thinking about him, so I'm going to make a
toast. But then we're all going to talk and laugh and have a good
time, like we used to, because we all know that's how he liked
it."


Jane was grateful to him. The mods may have let him see that it
needed to happen, but that didn't make the gesture any less
genuine. Arthur raised his glass, and the rest at the table
followed suit.
"To Patrick Appet. Hell of a pilot, hell of a friend, hell of a
lover, or so he liked to say. Hell of a man."
"Patrick Appet," Jane and the other five repeated. The emotion
they filled the two words with caught her by surprise. There was
a fervor there still, even after so long; the toast hadn't just
been for her, they all still felt the loss. The knot in Jane's
stomach loosened by the tiniest fraction, and for the first time
all day she felt just a little bit better.


"A *captain* now huh? Finally started fucking the right people I
see," Center slipped easily into the friendly ribbing with his
typical inappropriate candor, and Jane felt better still.
"Took me long enough, didn't it?" She joked back with a half
smile, "I suppose if you try enough people you're bound to find
the right one eventually."
"But the wrong ones are so much more fun," Lily winked, and just
like that, they were all back together again, just like in the
old days.


When the bartender brought her tray of drinks around, Jane
distributed them among the table to grins and cheers. The alcohol
was loosening the worry in her shoulders a little, and the
camaraderie that slipped back around her so easily was loosening
it even more. She pulled her personal screen out and tapped out a
few lines, setting them to send automatically later, then leaned
back to enjoy the night. The banter and childish jokes, the
sudden topic changes and the rapidfire teasing seemed to pull her
out of time. Sure it was slightly different; she didn't know some
of the inside jokes, and sometimes they had to backtrack in the
conversation to fill her in on this detail or that, but as the
hours passed Jane felt more at home than she had in many long
years.


"You have enough luxury chits to pay for all these drinks ma'am?"
The bartender asked delicately when he brought the sixth tray of
drinks to the table.
"Paranoia is a fine qual'ty," Jane slurred cheerfully, fishing
out her keychain and transferring enough to cover her tab and six
more trays to receiver in the table. Jack-pip whistled,
"They are clearly paying captains far too much these days," he
noted, in the clipped and enunciated tone he took on when
sloshed.
"Eh, I don' use luxury chits hardly at all," Jane waved a hand
vaguely by way of explanation, "don' need much, pretty content
wi'out all that."
Even half-drunk, Jane saw the look that passed between them. She
knew they were about to ask, and that they'd let Arthur do that
asking.


"You've been pretty content, but you haven't exactly sought out
your old friends for the last...oh, eight, nine years," he said.
His tone was offhand and casual, but Jane could see the tension
in the others that Arthur was hiding so well. "It's been amazing
to hang out and catch up with you Jane, but I get the feeling it
was the alcohol you came here to find, not us. What's happened?"
*They're being careful, think they're gonna scare me away,* Jane
realized through the liquor haze. She wasn't entirely sure when
the change in her mind had happened, but the thought of never
seeing her old friends again was unbearable.
"Got assigned a planetary th's evenin'," she mumbled. Her
typically demeanor, cheerful but always at arms-length, was being
worn away by the alcohol. All she wanted right now was more
liquor and perhaps hug.


"Aw hey, that's always rough," Arthur murmured, throwing a
sympathetic arm around her shoulder. *He always knows. Damn
chip-head,* Jane thought, but she smiled and rested her head
against his arm in spite of herself.
"'s my first one since Patrick," she added, so soft it could
barely be heard. She saw the reactions of sympathy around the
table, the ones she had been dreading to encounter. Instead of
making her angry it almost seemed...sweet.


"No planetaries this whole time?" Center asked, and Jane didn't
miss the warning look that Arthur shot him, "how'd you manage
that one?"
"Not hard," Jane shrugged and reached for the tray that had just
been set down, "made captain-level as soon as I could.
Volunteered to teach the newbie Rooks every year since then."
"Probably what I'd do if I could stand busting my ass up to
Captain-level," Acren had been nursing the same glass since the
beginning of the evening, and he was nodding sagely, "so why send
you down now? I thought they didn't pull instructors from leading
Rooks mid-year."
"They don't," Jane downed the entire glass in one swallow, and
reached for another, "they're sending the rookie team down. I'm
leading a team of rookies on a planetary."


There was a moment of stunned silence, then a flurry of
exclamations and questions, some outraged and some simply
bewildered. Jane was too far gone to make any single question out
among the cacophony, so instead she simply grabbed another glass.
"Guys, guys, hold it down," Arthur's voice cut through the noise,
and his arm tightened protectively around her almost
imperceptibly, "it's pretty clear Jane doesn't want to talk about
it alright. Yea she's pretty obviously getting screwed for some
reason, but I'm sure she's doing all she can to get out of it,
and she sure as hell didn't come to a bar so she could remember
her problems. I think the more serious issue we need to address
is that this woman still, to this day, carries a T-320 pistol
instead of the clearly superior R-500."


Jane grinned as the familiar debate was rekindled, Lily gesturing
wildly with her glass with Jack-pip backing her up, while Acren
drily quoted firing stats and Center made random stabs at various
randomly-selected arguments.
"Thanks," Jane said softly, nestling a little closer into the
crook of Arthur's arm.
"Don't talk to me, T-320 user," Arthur replied snootily, with a
dramatic sniff, but he grinned.


***


Another few trays had passed by the time the bar had emptied and
the lights were starting to go out. Everyone in their group but
Acren and Arthur were completely drunk, and all of them were
cheerful as they stood from their table and walked or stumbled
away, shood by the bartender in a good-natured but firm fashion.
With mumbled and slurred goodbyes the crew parted ways, Center,
Sam and Acren heading down one corridor and the rest in the
opposite direction.
"Don' be vanishin' off again, Jane," Center hicced on his way.
"I won't. I won't again," Jane promised, the gravity of the words
seeming to counteract the slur. The rest of them walked on in
silence for a few hallways more.
"It was really good seeing you again Jane," Lily smiled when she
reached her door.
"You should come by again some time," Jack-pip nodded
exaggeratedly, "we missed you quite a lot." The two of them
entered the room together.


"Wha-?" Jane asked dumbfounded, "when did those two..."
"They've been together for about a year now," Arthur replied,
steadying her as they walked, alone, down the corridor to her
room, "they're really good together. I think they balance each
other well."
"'ve missed a bunch, haven't I?" Jane said quietly.
"You don't have to miss a bunch more."
"This's me," Jane indicated the door to her room. She stared at
the door for a moment, reluctant to give up the strong chest she
was leaning against. "Listen," she said carefully, "you wanna
come in for a shot o' coffee or synth or somethin'?"
"Mmm, I'm not particularly thirsty after this evening," Arthur
replied. Jane squinted at his face; even if he had been a normal
man he would know what 'come in for coffee' meant, but his
modifications should've made it obvious what she wanted even
before she had asked. He was grinning down at her, and Jane
blushed as she realized that he was perfectly aware of what she
wanted, he just enjoyed teasing her.


"Oh, okay," Jane said innocently, "well in that case you wanna
come in to fuck my brains out or somethin'?"
Arthur threw his head back and laughed, and Jane chuckled along
with him as he palmed her door open. To her surprise he let go of
her, leading her in with one hand but staying outside the room
himself.
"Much as the offer sounds tempting, I'm afraid not Jane," he said
gently. At her look of confusion mixed with a little bit of hurt
he continued, "you're intoxicated right now. Having this," he
tapped his temple again, "makes consent a bit of a tricky issue
at the best of times, but alcohol makes things pretty clear-cut."
"Are you kidding?" Jane pouted, "'m offering some
no-strings-attached, come-and-take-me, any-hole-you-want-it wild
sex and you're turning me down?"
"You're drunk Jane. Very very drunk."
"Well sure," Jane winked, "I'd only offer two holes if I were
sober." Arthur grinned, but shook his head.
"I want very much to say yes Jane, but-"
"Wait!" Jane remembered and pumped a fist in the air, "Yes! I am
a genius!"
"That's debatable. What am I waiting for?" Arthur leaned against
her doorframe, an amused smile playing on his face as he watched
her.
"Oooh jus' you wait. 'ts gonna be awesome. Gonna be amazing,"
Jane crowed.
A few minutes dragged bye, but just as Jane started pondering
whether or not she had set the message to send, Arthur's screen
pinged an alert. Jane did a small drunken victory dance as Arthur
read the message.


*If I'm timing this about right with the time the bar closes,
I'll probably be throwing myself at you about now. And if memory
serves me right, you'll probably be being a stick-in-the-mud
about it. Consider this advance-consent, so you'll know I
actually want this. You have my express sober permission to
engage in whatever crude and disgusting acts I'm drunkenly
proposing to you right now. ~Jane*


"I'm'a genius," Jane slurred again, while Arthur chuckled and
stepped inside her room, closing the door behind him, "and
I'm'bout to be a happily fucked genius."
"I'm still not fucking you, genius," Arthur smiled, and Jane
cocked her head in surprise.
"Wha? Bu' you saw th'text," she mumbled. Suddenly she was in the
air, Arthur was carrying her. *To the bed? That's good, that's
where it should happen,* she thought vaguely, as her stomach
lurched for a moment. First heavy blankets and then strong arms
wrapped themselves around her, warm and reassuring. *So comfy.
His arms are really strong. But why isn't he taking my clothes
off? How's he going to bang me if we're both dressed-*


***


A steady pounding in her head was counterpointed by the pleasant
aroma of coffee, providing an oddly mixed wakeup. Jane smiled,
keeping her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds of Arthur
moving around the room. She typically set the lighting in her
room to remain pitch-black when she awoke, but he had overridden
them and bathed the room in a soft natural level, like sunrise.
She stretched, long and luxuriously, revelling in the quiet
noises, taking stock of each muscle as she stretched them. *I'm
surprisingly non-sore for the morning after. Did good old Arthur
lose his touch in the last few years?* Nestling back into the
pillows, she began slowly restringing together the memories from
the night before. They had gotten to her room...she had pleaded a
little more than she liked to admit...he had taken her to
bed...and then…


Jane's eyes snapped open.
"Did you drug me without fucking me you asshole?" She asked,
outraged. Arthur set two metal cups down on the table at her
bedside, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. He was
shirtless, and Jane was slightly distracted from her outrage by
his heavily muscled chest. The speckled grey on his scalp was
also present in his chest hair, and she couldn't help but picture
her fingers running through it.
"If you count the truly impressive amount of alcohol you had, I
would say you did a perfectly good job of drugging yourself," he
grinned, handing her one of the cups, "drink this, it'll help."
"What kind of guy are you, turning down a perfectly good girl
who's throwing herself at you like that," Jane grumbled, taking a
sip and wincing at the bitterness of the black coffee, "I hope
you're happy, preventing me from getting my drunk satisfaction."
"Pretty happy," Arthur took a long draught, "especially since I'm
sure we'll both enjoy your sober satisfaction much more than we
would've the sloppy half-conscious drunk version."


"Oh?" Jane lifted one eyebrow as she gazed at him over the lip of
her cup, "You turned me down when I was vulnerable and horny.
That kind of thing can make a girl self-conscious. Are you
entirely sure you'll get the chance to give me sober
satisfaction?"
"'Course I am," Arthur tapped his temple with a knowing smile,
and Jane leaned back on her pillow with a sigh.
"It's not fair," she groaned, "taking the mystery out of
everything. Have I ever told you how much I hate that chip?" She
closed her eyes. Even though she griped, her mouth curved in a
half-smile. Complaining aside, Arthur did have a way about him;
half mischievous boy, half charming gentleman. A girl could get
in trouble with a guy with that sort of power.


Even now, she wanted his lips on hers, and she knew that he would
be able to read that desire all over her face. All she had to do
was wait and...
*Oh,* a small shock ran through her when she felt his kiss, light
and feathery on her neck, *that's...unexpected.* The surprise
caused a tingling in her chest that wasn't going away, as further
unexpected fingers brushed through her hair. Jane kept her eyes
closed, but reached up and ran her fingers across Arthur's chest.
He made deep rumble of approval, one that curled Jane's toes, and
then suddenly he was on top of her, his body warm and firm
against hers.


Breathing fast, Jane opened her eyes, pulse quickening. His
fingers were still running through her hair, brushing along her
scalp as he leaned forward. The room was still except for their
breath, and Jane swore she could hear his heartbeat. Smiled up at
him, she met his eyes, inches away, her expression coy and
playful. Of all the games she played in bed with all her partners
over the years, there was one she could only play with Arthur,
and the anticipation was making her giddy.


*I think I want his hands to run from my chin to my belly,* she
decided. She had no clue what had changed about her body
language, what imperceptible cues she had given him, but Arthur
shifted almost immediately. His hand traced down the side of her
face, fingers resting gently on her chin and then sliding down
her neck. Fingertips caught on the edge of the blanket on their
way down her collarbone, dragging it off slowly as they made
their way down between her breasts, down to her stomach. The cool
air against her bare body made her smile.
"Oh, you won't nail me when I'm drunk but you'll strip me naked
in my sleep?" She teased. *I want kisses all over my face,* she
decided at the same time.


Arthur didn't answer her, but he leaned forward, lips grazing
against her cheeks and forehead and softly on her lips. The
motion moved his chest against hers, and the warmth against her
skin after the cold air felt more amazing than it had any right
to. *Now lower...my neck and chest,* she thought, but the kisses
continued to rain down on her face. She enjoyed them for a few
moments more, but then gently pushed upward so that he stopped
and leaned back, so he could see her face. *My boobs need
attention,* she thought again, meeting Arthur's eye. With a
wicked grin he leaned down, and Jane gasped as he took a hard
nipple gently in his teeth. His other hand skimmed up and down,
from her navel all the way up, over her other breast, to her neck
and then back down, swirling in intricate meaningless patterns is
it went. His tongue flicked back and forth distractingly; as soon
as she got used to the feelings on one side he sent a shock of
pleasure down the other.


*No more foreplay,* the thoughts were so intense that her lips
almost moved along with them, *no more teasing, fuck that. Fuck
me. Now.* Arthur's lips pressed against hers with ferocity, and
the blankets were ripped from her legs with a suddenness that
made Jane shiver in anticipation. She arched her back to press
against him, lifting her hips off of the bed. Somewhere in the
teasing he had gotten rid of his loose uniform pants. She could
feel him, warm and hard, pressing on her leg.


He shifted, and Jane shivered as the movement pushed him against
her, between her legs. Her arms were wrapped around his back, and
she rocked her hips back and forth, the feeling of him rubbing
against her slick wetness driving her crazy. She broke the kiss
with a gasp, catching his eye again. Arthur was making almost
imperceptible movements of his hips that rubbed his member
against and over her clit with an achingly slow rhythm. One
motion away from filling her completely, sliding across her
opening, just one shift away. *Stop teasing,* she thought,
*thrust in, thrust in hard.*


Arthur lifted his hips, and Jane braced herself to feel him
inside her...and then gasped out a whimper when instead he slid
back down again. The feeling of him grinding against her clit,
moving against her but not inside, felt so good but at the same
time so frustrating. She yanked her head back, fixing him with a
look full of lust and longing. Leaned up on her elbows, Jane
focused on her thoughts so hard that she felt like she was
mentally screaming at him. *Fuck me Arthur, fuck me! Your
foreplay duties are complete, I'm ready, take me!* Jane
distractedly wondered if his mods just couldn't handle her
anymore, even when it was painfully obvious what she wanted. *I
could always ask out loud I suppose,* she thought, but it felt
like a shame to lose out on their special game.


She decided to try one more time, placing a hand on his chest to
still him as she stared right into his eyes. *Shove. Your. Cock.
Into me,* she thought, giving him a look that even a robot could
understand. Arthur's hand came up and cupped her chin, then moved
gently down to brush at her throat. His voice, quiet as it was,
broke the silence.
"Don't. Tell. Me. What to do."


His hand clasped around her throat, and he suddenly slammed her
back into the pillows, holding her against the soft material.
Jane was paralysed with shock, heart racing, the heat between
their bodies intense and pleasurable and frightening. When she
felt him hard against her opening again her body stiffened. His
hand was still wrapped around her throat, holding her beneath
him. Was he going to take her whether she wanted it or not? Was
he about to take her by force?


As soon as the thought crossed her mind Arthur froze. His hand
was still at her throat, but his stillness was complete and
clear. She didn't even need to tell him to stop, he would be able
to tell the instant she wanted him to. The adrenaline still
coursed through her, but the fear subsided, and she took the
opportunity to gather her thoughts for a moment.


*What the hell was that?* Jane wondered, trying to ignore the
aching just beneath her mound and think clearly. She was normally
the one in control, she called the shots. For Arthur to pin her
like this, holding her gently but firmly around the neck, pinning
her to the bed, dominating her body, was...
*...really fucking hot,* she realized with surprise. She wouldn't
have guessed that she would be intrigued by that sort of thing,
but the way he was subduing her was making her pulse pound. Even
though she knew he would stop if she wanted him to, the thought
of him taking her like that, in control, using her body however
he wanted...she was very, very turned on by the idea.


As soon as that thought crossed her mind Arthur began moving
again, his hand releasing her throat and instead grabbing a
handful of her long brown hair, much rougher than he had before.
He yanked her head back, and Jane cried out at the slight pain
and the unexpected thrill of lust it drew from her. He moved,
shifted himself up her body, and suddenly his member was against
her lips, his grip on her hair holding her head in place. She
took him in her mouth with relish, mind racing at how much she
was enjoying herself. The intensity as he thrust into her mouth
was sending electricity coursing through her. His warm length
tasted of her own juices, and the dirtiness of it was exciting.
He reached behind him, sliding two fingers into her without
warning. Slick with her wetness they went deep into her body with
no resistance, the heel of his hand pressing into her clit as
they entered her.


He was forcing himself deeper and deeper down her throat, pulling
her head by the hair while rubbing circles against her g-spot
with the other hand. Jane could never remember feeling so
dominated, so thrilled and restrained, so utterly lost to desire.
When his member left her mouth and his fingers left her pussy at
the same time, she gave a strangled cry of disappointment, *no no
no please I'm so close...* Her thoughts were disorganized and
disordered, but after all this if she didn't get to finish Jane
thought she would explode.


She gave a tiny shriek when he lifted her bodily off the bed.
Involuntarily she grabbed at him, wrapping arms around his
shoulder and legs around his waist without realizing what she was
doing. Arthur's hand was firm on her right butt cheek holding her
up, while the other held her pressed against him from behind.
Jane barely had time to process the feeling of his hard member
between her legs before he thrust into her.


It only took the one, glorious, hard thrust to make Jane cum, and
it was all she could do to keep from screaming into Arthur's ear.
She squirmed and shook, her whole body shaking with the pleasure.
She felt so full, so wonderfully used and stretched and satisfied
even as her pussy quivered around his length. He drew back and
slammed into her again, and the orgasm seemed to envelop her all
over again even as her body tried to adjust to the waves of heat
and intensity of the first. He was releasing while buried within
her, she could intimately feel it, and the twitches of his cock
inside of her felt deep and acute and somehow so *right* that
Jane stopped thinking and simply rode the wave of orgasm until
its very end.


Words like "tired", "satisfied", and "worn out" barely described
how she felt as Arthur gently laid her back down on the bed. She
lay limp, pleasantly sore and weak, looking up at Arthur who
seemed to tower above her, a smug smile on his face. Her head was
no longer pounding, but she could feel her pulse in her
fingertips and her nipples and between her legs.
"You know, you're not the hot shit you think you are," Jane
panted.
"No?" Arthur asked, unconcerned. He leaned over her, planting a
kiss on her mouth. Jane struggled to stay silent, until he
pressed a single finger against her tender and sensitive clit.
She moaned into his mouth, softly, but loud enough that he
grinned before he pulled away.


*This would be the perfect time for a late morning nap,* Jane
thought, closing her eyes. The lights dimmed within a few
seconds, and the bed shifted as Arthur crawled between the covers
with her.
"Fuckin' chip-head," Jane yawned, already feeling herself fall
asleep as she nestled back against him. His bare skin against
hers felt warm and delightful.
"Why yes," she could feel him smile against the back of her neck,
"yes, I believe you are."