Starlight Gleaming

My alarm went of at Sixth Hour. I got up and shut it off, dressing quickly. The curtains that came with the cottage were thin and gauzy, barely filtering the light. Having a place of our own was nice, but I was quickly realizing just how shoddy and miserable our quarters really were, and at extortionate rates. In the back of my mind were rumbling ideas on how to deal with the mess we were in.

I looked at Janetta, hugging her pillow and sleeping on her belly. Her delectable backside, smooth skin, and firm butt with her mossy grotto peeking from between her legs a tribute to the innate beauty of woman, and especially this woman. I was tempted to wake her as she'd awakened me but three hours earlier. I considered using my tongue to caress those soft, delicate folds guarding the way to her innermost sanctum. Regretfully, I had a lot to do. As her breathing deepened, she began to snore. I chuckled. She did need her sleep.

After shaving, I went into the common area. Zinja and Ixma were already awake. Ixma peeled potatoes and Zinja chopped vegetables. Both were in their cyan class B summer dress, comprising short sleeves, loose trousers and boots, with their cyan berets in their back pockets. Ixma wore the neckerchief over her braided hair with the red and black ribbons.

I smelled hot cahault brewing, and grabbing a cup, filled it from the pot.

"Morning, Lieutenant," Zinja said. Ixma grinned, flushing, until her mother bumped her with her shoulder to get her attention.

"Morning, Sergeant. Corporal." I waved the cup toward them. "Thanks."

Zinja nodded, taking a sip from her own cup, before setting the large skillet onto the burner. "Least we could do as you've been buying for all of us. I see she's eating again. She sleeping? Good. She was badly lovesick and didn't know it. We're glad you two have worked things out."

I raised my eyebrows. "There's still a lot to get settled between us. But I'm hopeful. How are things for you three? Anything that needs attending to?"

"Thank you for asking. We're fine. Have a seat, Lieutenant, and we'll have a hot meal for you soon enough."

Zinja finished dicing potatoes and put them into the warming oil. Ixma policed the area while her mother prepped more vegetables. Then Ixma uncovered a bowl and taking out some dough, began slapping it between her hands. I sat and watched while both women cooked, entranced by their activity. Mother and daughter worked side by side in a sort of dance without words or music. Zinja frequently stirring the potatoes until they were partly done, then adding celery, carrots, peppers, cilantro, parsley, salt, and a bit of lemon juice. Ixma dropped the flat dough onto the griddle and using her fingers, deftly turned the bread as it browned. As each one finished, she spread butter onto it and began another. In no time, she had a large stack of hot flatbread ready for food wraps. After she had about twenty of them, Ixma turned off the smaller griddle, put the unused dough into the mini-fridge, and pulled out eggs. Zinja emptied the skillet of food into yet another bowl, added a stick of butter, and both them cracked eggs into the hot pan. Ixma added more while Zinja roughly scrambled them. Ixma took out a block of cheese and grated enough to fill a small bowl, then retrieved containers of sour cream and salsa. As the eggs finished cooking, Zinja added back in the vegetables and stirred them together to finish cooking.

My stomach rumbled as my nose inhaled the enticing aromas. I filled my cup for the third time. Turning off the stove, they set the food onto the breakfast bar and handed out plates and silverware. Serving spoons were set out.

Mother and daughter smiled at each other, obviously proud of their efforts and rightfully so. A simple meal but enticing. "Dig in, Lieutenant. You first."

I scooped up two heaping spoons onto my plate and grabbed two slices of bread. Topped with cheese, salsa, and sour cream, I used the bread with a fork to scoop the delicious concoction into my mouth.

"How is it?" Ixma asked.

I rolled my eyes, nodding as I groaned appreciatively. It really was good! I shoveled more into my mouth. They laughed, pleased with my response, and filled their own plates, settling into the living room to eat. About that time, Cholan trundled out, dressed in a long flowery skirt, a printed blouse and sandals. I had to take a second look as I'd never seen her in civvies before.

"Smells good," Cholan said, grabbing a plate for herself.

"Very pretty, Cholan." Joining her at the breakfast bar, I hooked another slice of bread and a smaller portion for seconds.

Pouring herself a cup of cahault, she sat down at the vid-comp and began eating as she started it up for the day. "Thank you," she said, pleased. "Both for the compliment and for the gifts. I'm told these are from you."

I glanced at Ixma and she grinned, nodding.

"I guess so. I'm happy that you like them, and I continue to be impressed with Ixma's good taste."

Ixma blushed, but her mother said, "He's right, girl. You did good."

Checking my watch, I took my empty plate and cup to the sink. "Breakfast was delightful and the company astonishingly pleasant. I, however, must leave for work."

"Ixma and I will take you, Lieutenant. We've got laundry to do and it's no trouble to drop you off first."

"Okay," I nodded. "That'll save me some time. Cholan? Thank you for that report you wrote. First rate job. I've another task for you. I'm going to get four MaziTec Solar Panels and put them on the roof. I need you to itemize the wiring, batteries, fuse box and circuitry we'll need so we can switch the power we're using to solar."

"I'll do the list of supplies, sir, but we can't do any modifications without written permission. It was on the contract we had to sign. All of us."

"Contract?" I scowled. "Do you have a copy? Find it for me. I want to read it when I get home tonight. And," I said, emphasizing it, "I want to know exactly how much you paid in fees, and how much this place is costing us each month in addition to the rent."

Zinja smiled. "Us? So you're moving back in?"

I shrugged. "Well, I should make it official and ask Janetta when she wakes. But assuming so, I'll swing by my quarters to pick up my gear tonight before coming here. I'll wait to release my quarters until she gives the okay."

"It's supposed to get over a hundred today, sir. I've got work at the hangar for a few hours, but I should be done by early afternoon. Give me a call when you are done, and I'll come pick you up and take you to get your gear."

"That's kind of you, Sergeant."

"A pleasure, Lieutenant."

Ixma collected two duffle bags by the door and carried them outside. Zinja picked up two more, and I collected the large blanket tied into an awkward bag filled with sheets and linens. With all the laundry, there wasn't room in the back for Ixma.

"So what's the plan here?" I asked.

"Climb in, sir," Zinja replied. "Ixma can sit on your lap."

"That's the plan? Really?" I looked at Ixma, who looked immensely pleased with herself.

Zinja hopped into the driver's seat. "It's a short trip, and saves us some time. Besides, it will be good for you two to be seen together." She glanced meaningfully at my lap. "Unless you'd prefer Ixma to drive? She's a little green, but I'd be happy to sit--"

"No, no. The original plan is fine," I interjected. I sat and Ixma settled herself sideways on my lap. Putting her arms around me, she leaned her head on my shoulder. "Comfy?" I asked, to which she just snuggled close and sighed.

Zinja burst out laughing as she backed up the HueCac, then zipped us across the base, passing dozens of enlisted hauling those strange wooden carts. Between the substandard construction of our tiny house and the wooden carts, I felt like I was in a rural village instead of the Empire's front-line military base protecting us from Atlantis.

The vehicle pulled up by the front door to Supply and Logistics. Ixma hopped out, and I clambered out after. "Thanks!" I said and turned to go inside.

"Lieutenant!" Ixma cried.

I turned back. "Ye--"

She pulled me down and kissed me soundly on the cheek. "Have a good day, sir!" Then giggling, she hopped back into the HueCac. Both of them laughed as they waved, and then they were gone. They had teased me and I admitted that I had enjoyed it. She had only wiggled a little while on my lap. There were a lot worse things out in the world.

Three enlisted workers grinned at me as they entered the building. "Morning, sir."

"Morning," I replied, following them in.

A few faces did a double-take, then smiled as I passed. Most I'd knew in passing, but I was surprised at their reactions.

As I passed by Second Sergeant Matiwatli, assistant to my immediate CO, he cleared his throat and point to his cheek. "A thank you for the holiday, sir?"

"What?"

He reached into a drawer and pulled out a hand mirror. On my left cheek was a perfect lip print, courtesy of Ixma. I hadn't even noticed she'd worn lipstick. I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped it off. When I was done, I handed the mirror back.

Ixma's prank furthered the notion that I had a woman in my life. More so, Ixma was increasingly confident, which I approved of. "Apparently more grateful than I thought," I replied.

Matiwatli laughed and I did, too.

At my desk, I settled in to work for the day. And the first thing I did was scan in and file the photocopy showing that Senior Lieutenant Zinochtli now had possession of my old HueCac. Then I processed the paperwork transferring the vehicle to him and requisitioning another one. On a whim, I selected the latest model four-door, cargo-carrier model ChoCac.

* * * * *

That evening I moved back in to West Seashell Lane. Janetta had slept until late in the afternoon and was awake by the time I arrived with Zinja. Mother and daughter quickly made dinner, and from the ice chest, several bottles of millet beer were quickly disposed of. Ixma and Cholan did the dishes.

After dinner, Janetta and I retired to the bedroom where I soon proceeded to put my mouth to her lower lips and brought her to three orgasms. She begged me to enter her. Even though I was stiff as a board, I said, "Let's have another go at the shower."

She blinked in surprise, but readily gathered her stuff and bounced out of the room. I grabbed fresh underwear and my own towel and followed her. When I got inside the tiny bathroom, the water was already running. Stepping inside the small cubicle, Janetta had a washcloth soaped up and barely washed my chest and arms and legs. Then she homed in and cleaned my cock and balls several times. When I was hard in her hands, she looked at me in faux astonishment, asking. "Did I do that?"

I just picked her up, and as her legs spread, she guided me inside her crevice. Janetta moaned and wrapped her legs around me while I pressed her against the shower wall, stretching and filling her pussy with my cock. I worked vigorously within her channel, and she encouraged me with her touches, sighs, and her hands gripping my butt. Her dark eyes were heavy-lidded as she stared at me, letting sensations thunder through her body. I leaned my head against hers while I pumped into her slick center, reveling in the tight, pulsing heat of her pussy clasping and caressing my shaft.

"Ranji?" she said, her face suddenly serious.

"Yeah?"

"Are women made for fucking?"

I slowed down pumping into her slick sheath. There we were, joined together under a paltry stream of water that dribbled down over both of us. But I knew what she was asking. "No more than men are."

"Ooooh, I like that answer!" Her eyes lit up, and giving me a lazy smile, humped harder back at me. "Give me what you've got, Ranji. I want it all!"

Thrusting harder, I shoved as deep into her as I could reach.

Each time our groins met, she sighed, "Come."

In no time I reached my peak. Grunting and gripping her butt, I pulled her against my crotch while I filled her depths. Janetta groaned and kissed my mouth hungrily, wriggling on my shaft.

Breathing heavily, I stayed inside her, content with feeling her body wrapped around mine. Janetta gently caressed my face. Soon, my cock began to slip out and I set her down. More awake this time, she let me wash her hair and then her body. This time her hair was much easier to brush out. I also noticed she closed her eyes the whole time that I tended to her, a contented smile on her face.

Back in the bedroom, I asked her about it.

"I liked how you touched me," she said, her face full of tenderness. "No one's cleaned me since I was a little girl, and it felt .. gentle and nice. I'd like to keep doing it."

"Deal." We crawled into bed, she onto her side while I spooned up behind her, holding her in my arms.

* * * * *

Janetta ate and slept most of the next two days. Reporting in the afternoon on the third day, the doctors pronounced her on the mend. Captain Tanosca provisionally reinstated her, with orders to return to active duty with the next shift rotation in five days. Her duty was to be six weeks of on-call back up. In case of trouble, they were the first to fly to the aid of the other patrols. Mostly, though, back up duty was dreaded. It was double shifts of waiting on the tarmac, with an hour of over-flight while one patrol landed and another launched into the air. Janetta chaffed at the assignment, but also recognized how close she'd come to losing it all.

In the meantime, a few days later, I finally got a chance to tell Janetta about Itznacoco's intervention at Tikun.

We had just finished a quiet, easy lovemaking culminating in an easy, gentle release. We were lying there naked, holding each other close, enjoying the simple contact of touching bare skin. As I finished, though, she positively blanched, then rolled onto her back.

For a long time, she just looked at the ceiling, then quietly whispered, "Fuck." I drew her into my arms and she shivered. "We swore oaths to the Empire. Don't they trust us? We're really chipped? Like wild animals?"

"I saw the file. Satellite feed, Janetta."

She closed her eyes, frowning bitterly.

Then I told her I would have to go away for six weeks as part of the deal to protect all of us.

Her eyes snapped open, ache in her eyes. "Six weeks! When?"

"I don't know. Soon, though."

She started to cry then. "It's not fair. He broke his word and he hurt me and my people! May he rot in the underworld forever! Even dead, he's still causing us trouble!"

"There's more," I said.

"Oh, gods, Ranji! More?"

I told her about the night I arrived, and what the Greys did.

Despite my orders not to talk about it, Janetta was a fighter pilot, and I felt that she had a need to know. A part of me hoped that she was already privy to my news. However, by her reaction, I could tell she was not.

How soon would it be before the Greys changed from targeting defenseless transports to challenging the fighter patrols? Keeping it from her and the others made no sense whatsoever. Did they even have master breakers installed? One EMP might even knock out an entire patrol! If such happened to Janetta, I wanted her to make it home in one piece instead of becoming a statistic for Command to evaluate.

This news, however, actually seemed to calm her down. Pushing aside her fears and frustrations, she latched on to the events as something to focus on. Hopping off the bed, she grabbed my tee-shirt and slipped it on as she padded barefoot out of the room.

Curious, I slipped on shorts and grabbed a fresh tee shirt, and followed her out. Cholan was at the vid-comp as usual with her head phones, and Zinja and Ixma were on the small couch studying a tutorial on her new computer.

"Heads up, everyone." Janetta said. "Ranji, tell them what you told me about the Greys and what they've been doing to our transports."

So I did. How the alien ship came down, followed us, hit us with the EMP, then took off. The sixty second reset and the use of a master breaker switch and our narrow escape from the watery grave. What surprised me next was Janetta's next question to Cholan. "Do you think you can either adapt some of the old e-boards to protect the electronics? Or can we rig a small field to protect it from an EMP?"

Cholan shrugged. "I don't know, Lieutenant. I'll take a look and see what we can do. It might take awhile to make it happen. I may have to pull some of the armor to make room for the bigger, older parts."

"No structural changes without my okay," Zinja warned with a growl.

Janetta pointed her finger at each of them. "In the meantime, this is not for talking about with others, am I clear? I don't want this to come back and cause trouble for Lieutenant Kandikan. I'll make some discreet inquiries, see what I can find out about who knows what. But no talking about this to others without my express say-so. That is an order."

Her ground team nodded. "Yes, sir."

"What about the Voisantzt Air-to-Air missiles on your Lightning?" I asked. "An EMP will make them useless, too."

"He's right, sir," Cholan said. "We might be able to shield the avionics so you don't lose the bird, but then all you'll have is the guns, which are short range and useless against a basic defense shield."

Janetta shrugged. "Upscale tech is out for now. But we might surprise them with more low tech. Seven Nations still use the Jing-we-oh rockets. They're fire-and-forget type. They don't even pay attention to chaff. They go where they're aimed and that's it. Won't do anything to those Greys, but they will still give the Atlanteans pause. And I suspect it won't be long before our adversaries start sporting newer tech improvements. Zinja, see if you can find some of the local arms merchants. Maybe we can make some deals."

* * * * *

The next day a courier arrived and delivered to me another randomizer key. I had already received several communications from my father and was working my way through them. I found I was having to brush up on a lot of physics and higher math. My father responded quickly to my inquiries and was patient with his replies. I think we both understood it was going to take me some time to catch up and see the whole picture.

That afternoon, though, I also got a message, from the Tikun Tourism Board of all things. The message itself was gibberish. That is, until I put in the second key into my computer. Most of it was still gibberish, but in the midst of it all there was a name -- Melannee Siroptic , a date and time -- tomorrow afternoon -- and an address, 245 Palm Drive in Capisco, the Seven Nations city just north of High Guard War base.

An hour later, I received yet another surprise. My requisition for a vehicle came through. And, I was floored. I got a ChoCac, complete with a large storage bay in the back, and voice-activated security locks. The latter was to avoid another surprise commandeering. A higher rank than me could access the vehicle in an emergency, but it would only allow the person inside, lock the doors for protection, and then call for help. Driving was only possible if it failed to reach someone in Security.

I made arrangements to use a half-day's leave for the next day, which didn't sit well with my supervisor, Senior Lieutenant Topichtwi. I'd just come back from four days off, he groused. But I was caught up on my work, I had the leave accumulated, and was within my rights to use it, so he signed off on the request.

After the shift, I picked up my vehicle, set the voice locks to recognize me and drove home. The vehicle was pristine, fresh off the factory floor. The engine quietly hummed and so did I.

The doors and roof were solid and combat armored. Even the windows were rated to withstand up to 20mm shells. The onboard sensors would seal up the air system if it detected any chemical or bio-weapons, and it could also detect and jam targeting lasers. With portal axles and thick, deep-grooved tires, it wasn't so fast on paved roads. However, it would do what it was designed to do, which was perform decently on rough terrain. Standard, too, was the front winch and rear trailer hitch.