"By the way, I really appreciate you approaching me for a possible transfer to this ship-building facility," Lieutenant Jaime beamed, looking over to Colette as the two walked down the sparsely lit underground hallway. Jaime posed a striking yet professional figure in her form fitting pencil skirt and button up collared shirt, her blonde hair pressed straight and falling to her shoulders.
"It's nothing really, your experience with piloting speaks for itself. Not to mention your part in flying the experimental Nautilus craft back during the Furihara Incident," Colette said calmly in response, flashing a playful smile at her bubbly compatriot.
Colette, for her part, matched the formal yet non-military wardrobe of her companion, wearing her favorite outfit consisting of a rather formfitting salmon-colored turtleneck sweater matched with a conservative-length purple skirt with hexagonal patterning that flowed loosely down to her brown heeled boots. Her rose-colored lips curled upward as she noticed her companion sneaking a quick look at her vibrant purple hair, which normally would be falling to her hips but today was wrapped in a pristine bun reminiscent of the French peony flower, one of her favorite reminders of home.
To Colette's relief, Jaime's exuberant demeanor was a stark contrast to the usual stern disposition of military pilots. Colette smiled, feeling grateful for her decision to stress the "casual" nature of the interview. The two had spent barely ten minutes chatting over coffee and doughnuts just a week ago and now were bantering swimmingly.
"Perfect, _she suspects nothing,_" Colette mused internally. "By the way Jaime, you will find there are many similar vehicles in development here that will benefit from your flight-testing expertise," Colette continued as they reached the end of the hallway, pushing open one of the double doors to enter a large dimly lit aircraft hangar.
"Oh, so this base is working with the energy research project?" Jaime asked staring wide-eyed at the various contraptions and vehicles stored in the room.
"Of course, we are an elite trained skeleton crew, but the personnel that would normally be here are assisting with the launch of the USS Yorktown, apparently our _intrepid_ Commander Masters gave it a workover on its last mission. Anyway, please, have a seat." Colette motioned to two folding chairs sitting alone on the floor and turned to a nearby desk and pulled out a clipboard and a small nondescript energy transmitter.
"By the way Jaime, how good is your resistance to growing?" Colette said as she clicked the transmitter on, and the device lit up to display a typical gauge designed for measuring growth energy levels.
"Oh... well..." Jaime cleared her throat, "all pilots are required to be able to sustain level 50 decom, and I passed my most recent certification back in March. Of course, during the Furihara incident I was umm... overwhelmed... but General Stromberg can vouch that those conditions were far outside normal mission parameters." Jaime shifted nervously; her eyes fixed on the device Colette had started pointing at her.
"Mhmmm... well, level 50 decom is perfectly adequate for most bases _outside_ Killian, but I expected a much higher certification given your proximity to such volatile generators such as Furihara. I will need to assess your current decom capability myself as the first step to this interview if that is alright?" Colette stated sitting down in front of Jaime, crossing her legs, leaning forward while eyeing her intently, the gun beeping methodically.
Jaime, for her part, didn't miss a beat and immediately straightened her posture, her eyes locked on Colette as she replied in curt military fashion, "of course ma'am, you can start the test any time."
"Wonderful," Colette said as she absent-mindedly adjusted her glasses while looking off to the side, then back at her eager associate. "That's good to hear Jaime, of course the test has already started," Colette smirked as a rumbling *groan* echoed from within Jaime's abdomen loud enough for both to hear.
Surprised, hands massaging her stomach, Jaime's initial thought was that the coffee she had for breakfast wasn't agreeing with her but quickly realized it was something else. A solid mass shifted inside her, large enough to make her wince in pain at the feeling of the mass slowly increasing, a small bulge pushing her fingers apart as her abdomen churned.
"JAIME!" Colette snapped at the girl bringing her attention off her belly, pointing to the transmitter in her hand. "This is only a level 30 decom, I would hope you are not losing yourself already," Colette tilted her head slightly back eyeing her interviewee with mock disdain.
"No! Sorry...mmmm.... ma'am" Jaime stuttered as she forcibly straightened her posture, removing her hands from her stomach and placing them on her thighs, feeling the troubling pressure in her stomach slowly recede. "_Must just be nervous jitters_," Jaime thought to herself.
"_Good, it'd be a drag for her to get preoccupied with the growth implant at the start,_" Colette mused to herself as she absentmindedly scribbled onto her clipboard, "_got to keep up the farce of a decom test for as long as possible_".
"This won't take long, about two minutes if you'll indulge me," Colette innocently batted her blue-purple eyes at the shaking lieutenant. Jaime eyes fluttered as she teetered off balance, the folding chair legs squeaking against the linoleum floor as she regained her balance, shaking her head to clear the fog, her blonde hair dancing about, single strands sticking to her neck which shone with perspiration. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, her breaths forming vapor as her body temperature continued to skyrocket.
"Sure...*gulp*...mmm... this is perfectly fine," Jaime inhaled a long slow breath attempting to calm her nerves, regain her bearings, to recall her decom training from boot camp. "_Ride the waves, Jaime, anticipate the surge and let it pass through you, be calm, just be calmmmmm," Jaime_ closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, the air whistling through her grit teeth and past her pouted lips. Her exhale was stopped short as she heard a muffled groan.