Center Worlds - Spark

by Tim Morrison

  Chapter 7

  Alone at Eighteen - TGX-2 Officer's Mess -13 BA

  Gya's Eighteenth Name Day was a somber occasion, coming as it did only two weeks after the disappearance of Lyo. She celebrated it with some of the bridge crew, her Father and the Captain, along with some of the pilots who she had also befriended, and then there was a commissioning ceremony being that she was now of age to begin ranking along the crew.

  “Gya Helvanysa Desinlo.” Commander Camelin intoned, pleased to finally be able to officially use her full name in public. “Your service on board this vessel over the past many cycles has been exemplary and I am pleased to award you rank and status within this crew as a member with full respect, honour and accommodation.”

  Gya stood in front of him, and bowed her head as he talked, a tear trickled down her pale cheek as she remembered that Lyo was supposed to be there, and he was now lost to her.

  “Due to your works and service on board this vessel during your time as a cadet, the senior officers and myself have seen fit to award you the rank of Sergeant, may the Gods protect you, and guide you on your journey.” He finished as he pinned the rank insignia to her uniform, just beside the gilded dagger that she now wore every day.

  “Than you, Commander, Officers, everybody.” Gya said, her voice cracking a little, then to her surprise Sylva Cato walked up and pulled her into a hug, allowing her to cry and feel the warmth of another person close to her. She didn't want to cry, but the tears came anyway, and for a few moments, while she thumped her fists on Sylva's back, Gya was overwhelmed by the emotion.

  The rest of the evening went by quickly, and Gya made her way shakily back to her cabin, where she fell onto the bed into a dead sleep, only waking slightly to pull off her tunic and boots and then fall into a sleep of the dead, helped by a number of cups of Isk, the only alcoholic drink permitted on board Camelin starships.

  The next morning, she woke to find Captain Kalen standing at the end of her bed, slowly shaking his head at her, with Sergeant Cato standing beside him.

  “Sergeant, help this officer to her feet, and get her ready for duty. She has training to undergo, I need pilots.” He said, and stepped out of the door, closing it behind him as Sylva helped Gya to her feet and gingerly into the refresher.

  Despite Gya's weak protests, Cato had her stripped and in the shower within a few minutes, making sure the water was cold enough to wake her up, but not too cold to really be uncomfortable. Then she was briskly dried and handed a fresh uniform to suit up in.

  As soon as Gya was finishing getting her tunic buttoned, she was handed a mug of steaming Kaf and Cato laughed at her expression, but made sure Gya drunk all of it.

  “Come on, chick, we got to get onto the flight deck, Captain wants you to get time in a fighter, you're going to be going for your wings as soon as we can get you ready.” She said, getting to her own feet and pulling open the door as Gya nodded and dropped the empty mug in the recycler.

  They walked down the corridor towards the central shaft that would get them to the cross corridor for the flight decks in silence, then Gya stepped into the grav chute, followed by Cato, and they were at the cross corridor in moments.

  “Why aren't you on the bridge, Sergeant?” Gya finally asked.

  Cato laughed. “Call me Sylva, Gya. You don't have to be all formal with me. I've been reassigned to you. Now that you're an officer, you are going to go all the way, as the Captain put it. He wanted somebody with full ship experience to be there to guide you, and well, I fit the bill.”

  They came onto the flight deck, where the crews were hard at work maintaining the wing of 36 Superiority fighters that had now become a full part of the TGX battle compliment.

  “Eventually, we're going to have launch assemblies for these birds, so they don't have to use the main hanger to boost. For now, we launch in blocks of 6.” Cato said as they walked up to the Flight Officer.

  “Rakon, I got your new chick here. Captain wants her to get wings as quick as possible. This is Sergeant Gya Desinlo.” Cato said by way of introduction as Gya looked at the Flight Officer.

  He gave her a derisive once-over, then glanced at Cato with a definite hunger in his eyes. “This is what Command is sending down, Sylva?”

  “You be careful, Rakon. This chick is a lot more than she looks like. She's been flight training for six cycles.” Cato said, allowing for Rakon to snake an arm around her and as Gya did not fail to notice, squeeze her left buttock firmly.

  “Is that so?” Rakon said, looking at Gya with a little more interest. “You a good pilot, Sergeant Desinlo?”

  Gya nodded. “I aim to be, Sir.”

  He released Cato and put his arm around Gya, ignoring Cato's sudden look of disapproval, and failing to see her shake her head at him as his hand slid down Gya's back.

  "Sirs, problem on the Flight Deck, some kind of fight. We have injured.” Ryo looked at Kalen, then walked out. “I'll handle this, Captain, you keep watch up here.” He said, walking swiftly to the grav chute as he grabbed a squad of security to follow.

  Walking onto the flight deck was a scene of controlled chaos. The command and the security team muscled through the assembled crowd and Ryo himself grabbed Gya by the back of her tunic to lift her off the bloodied Officer Rakon.

  “That is enough!” He growled as the security officers pulled Rakon clear and let the medics have a look at him, while Ryo stared his daughter down.

  “You want to explain to me why I have two officers battling it out like Clustercats on a grassy plain?” He snapped, glaring at her. Gya adjusted her uniform and wiped a trickle of blood from her lip, but remained silent.

  “I asked a question, people. Cato, what happened?” He growled.

  A weak voice came from where the medics were checking Rakon. He had held up his good hand. “It was my fault, Commander. Don't blame the Sergeant.”

  “Your fault?” Ryo replied, not taking his eyes off Gya.

  “I was a bit too familiar with the Sergeant, Sir. I allowed my hand to roam below her belt, and she took offence. It will not happen again, Commander.” He finished with a cough then allowed the medics to work on his injuries, the worst of was his fully broken hand.

  “You broke his hand.” Ryo said later as Gya stood at attention in his ready room. Captain Kalen sitting on a couch and observing the scene before them.

  “I was about to break his arm when you stopped me, Commander.” She replied, quite defiant in the face of the situation.

  Kalen laughed at that, and Ryo even smiled a bit.

  “I don't want you fighting with every overly friendly officer on board, Gya. Yes, he was a bit familiar with you, but is that a crime?” Ryo said.

  “For me, it is, Commander. Only Lyo is allowed to do that, nobody else.” Gya responded.

  The two men looked at each other as an understanding dawned.

  “Right, we'll keep that in mind, Sergeant, my apologies for our misunderstanding.” Captain Kalen said, “Although, next time, if there is a next time, try not to break bones, Rakon may be very handsy, but he's a better flight officer than many I've served with.”

  “Sergeant, fighting is not permitted on board this ship for any reason. You know the rules. You are confined to the brig for three days, report there to begin sentence.” Ryo said gruffly. Gya saluted him, then the captain, and stepped out of the room to walk down to the ship's brig complex.

  “Female officers only, Kalen. Otherwise our medical bay is going to be full by the end of the cycle. Also, make sure they aren't too female, I don't really want to have to deal with Gya after having had to turn down passes by both sexes with a violent response.” Ryo said, getting a quiet chuckle from Kalen.

  “I'll have a word with Cato, we'll get this sorted out.” The Captain replied.

  Three days later, Gya was released from the brig, and went back to her quarters to change and have a hot shower, only to find Sergeant Cato there, organizing some things.

  “What are you doing, Sy
lva?” She asked.

  “I'm moving in with you.” Cato replied with a twinkle in her eye.

  “But...” Gya said.

  “It's that, or you move in with me, and believe me, chick, this room is a palace compared to my little closet.” Cato said, then finished sliding her gear into a drawer.

  She sat on the bed and patted the space beside her, Gya obediently sat down. Cato put her arm round the younger woman's shoulders.

  “When we find him, I'll be gone before he finishes the debrief. Until then, this is Captains' orders and we do as we're told, don't we, Sergeant?” She said quietly.

  Gya nodded and sighed as she got to her feet again. “I really need a shower, change of clothes, and some proper sleep.”

  “Do you need some help?” Cato asked quietly, and Gya turned to look at her.

  “Are you interested in me, Sylva?”

  “Only if you want to, Gya. That is entirely up to you.” Sylva replied.

  “To be honest, Sylva,” Gya said as she pulled the tunic and undershirt off in one move, “I don't think I've even got the time, or the energy to argue. Come on if you want to, I have no idea what I'm doing, so please, be gentle.” She finished as she pulled off the pants and shorts then tossed them to join the rest of her clothes while kicking on the water in the shower.

  Sylva chuckled as she undid her own tunic then rose to follow the younger woman who now stood, fully naked, waiting for Sylva to make the next move.

  Many moves were made, and Sylva ensured that Gya was fully satisfied, while still maintaining her innocence, there were many things that could be done that did not need to involve penetration.

  ...

  By the end of the cycle Gya had gotten her flight wings and Flight Sergeant's bars. She was running regular patrols with the other fighter teams as they defended the borders against Michelab onslaughts and penetrations. The Superiority fighters proved their worth in innumerable fights as they were able to dodge around the weapons of the larger capital ships and make strategic and tactical strikes against them crippling the bigger ships and allowing for easier Camelin victories in the long running battle between the two Clans.

  The fighters were also capable of landing on the larger Confederacy ships, then the pilots could jump out and do an internal assault that quite often resulted in the capture of the vessel for Clan Camelin.