Outer Ring Region – 7-692B System – Orbital path – Hel Supercarrier-class ship
First day on base and he was already running late. He had gotten a text message on his NeoCom from Cal, his assigned wing commander, welcoming him on board the carrier class ship and asking for him to set an example to his squad by being prompt. Emerson didn't want to disappoint him. He knew that the carrier was a maze and had planned ahead, making sure he had plenty of time to get from the officer quarters to the briefing room. But the sheer size of the ship and its complexity hadn't sunk into his head at the time and he was sure he had counted too short, now. All he was feeling at present were first-day-at-school butterflies in his stomach and a growing feeling that he was going to be very very late, making his legs leaden and his intestines feel like slithering ice in his abdomen.
"... Starboard line to. Aft Deck Observatory. Servicing. LQ 3. LQ 4. CA 1. CA 3. FD 1, CC and Aft Deck Observatory. Boarding. Please mind the gap. Stand clear of the closing doors. Starboard line..."
He ran through the rapid transit turnstiles, flashing his wing commander badge to the attending guard. This automated transport would shuttle him, along with scores of other pod-pilots and ship staff to the flight decks. As he piled into the train car, barely making it before the automated door swished closed, he was crammed between a couple of burly guard and a few other pod-pilots, recognizable by the same off-green shimmery jumpsuit he wore that they used to climb in their pod. One of them was a woman. And quite beautiful at that, even in her unflattering suit. Beautiful auburn curly hair and dark brown eyes was all he saw at first glance. She was leaning against the wall of the train, her back pressed against it and her arms gripping a vertical support bar.
The train slowed and jerked silently to a stop, entering the next station. More people. However was everyone going to fit in here? Some people got off the train, the two guards among them. They jostled Emerson as they did so, buffeting him close to the woman. Then all the other passengers came in. Pushed in. Squeezed in as the train door forced a few to suck in their bellies and press against the mass of people. Emerson quickly grabbed an overhead support bar and was pressed to the side of the female pod-pilot. His arm was still vaguely upward, now pressed against the woman.
Emerson looked apologetically at her and around him. She didn't look at him. She seemed totally unconcerned with anything happening, as if she were very accustomed and weary of the whole sardine thing.
Emerson realized, though, that his elbow was about level with the woman's sternum and was therefore cradling the woman's breast. That realization brought a slight stir to his pants. He tried to repress it but the more he thought about it, the more insistent the idea was.
The train jerked back into motion, throwing Emerson slightly away from the woman, maybe a fraction of an inch, for a few seconds, then jerking him back into his position. He felt the heavy brush of the woman's breast against his arm and forearm. He started to enjoy the rhythm with which the train was making his arm move against it. He stopped resisting it and lost himself for a moment in the warm sensation of serendipitous proximity with what felt like a very well formed breast. How long had it been since he last had sex. He feared to count. His officer rotation had taken weeks. And there had been no woman contenders in his group...
Eventually, he came out of his reverie and glanced at the woman. He noticed she was now looking at him. Her gaze was indecipherable. He chose to ignore it for the time being. The next few stations saw a decline in passengers and eventually, Emerson had no more excuse to be leaning on the woman. The next stop was his. He disengaged himself, turned towards the door and followed the crowd out onto the platform. He hoped his hard-on wasn't too visible in his jumpsuit.
The station was huge. Lighted placards were indicating directions by acronyms he wasn't quite familiar with yet. This was so different from station time... The excitement tingled in his brain, making the butterflies flutter wildly.
As he stood baffled on the platform, waves of passengers pushing slightly at his back, the woman appeared by his side.
"You look new here. Where are you going?" she asked offhandedly.