Fleet Academy

by M. Scott Cottrell

  “Excuse me ma’am. Won’t the EVA team be stranded once we roll over to refuel?” Commander Emerson asked.

  “Yes, that’s why it will be volunteers only. One team of four. I don’t want to risk any more people out there than I have to.”

  “Yes ma’am. How about the stress of this boost thing they want us to do with the tanker?”

  “They tell me that the ship will hold it. They have some kind of a nosecone that will slip up inside the bells of all three main engines and that will provide the support structure. They tell me that it works four out of five times in the sims.”

  “That’s comforting.” Lieutenant Commander Petroski, the ships operations officer, said quietly.

  “That’s why I want to do our own sims and be ready for it. I want two pilots to train on the sims until they get it to work every time.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Lieutenant Yang, I need a complete workup from medical on how long we can keep the EVA team viable. Work with Lieutenant Molter, he’ll have the suit mod data. Lieutenant Molter, see if you can figure out a backup plan to recover them if something goes wrong.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Mat heard Lieutenant Yang and himself answer in unison.

  “Ok people we have ten days until the tanker gets here. I want to be ready. Let’s get to work.”

  “Aye ma’am.” Everyone intoned as they stood and filed out of the room.

  “Lieutenant Molter.” Lieutenant Yang called as he started down the passage.

  “Yes ma’am.” Matt said stopping.

  “We’re going to be working pretty closely so you don’t have to ma’am me. Just call me Tina when we’re alone.”

  “Ok Tina. What can I do for you?”

  “I need to get with you on the specs for the suit. Do you have time to work on that now?”

  “Sure. You want to work in the armory?”

  “No, I was thinking my quarters would be quieter.” She said putting her hand on his arm.

  “Sure, that would be fine.” Matt said. Tina was one of the few female officers that hadn’t made some kind of a pass at him. She was very well endowed for an oriental, filling out both the bust and hips of her jump suit, but still short, barely over 160 centimeters in height. Matt followed her down to her quarters. They were a bit smaller than what he had now, containing a regular sized bed on one side of a low partition, and a sitting area on the other with a small work table with chairs and what appeared to be some kind of lounge seat.

  “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” She said as she disappeared around the partition. “I find these jump suits just too constricting to think well in.” She called to Matt as he took a seat next to the table. “To me, being more comfortable helps me think better.” She finished as she stepped back around the partition. In the very short time she was out of sight, she had gotten rid of the jump suit and was now wearing a pair of silky boxers, riding low on her hips. From there upward was bare skin, showing off her thin waistline, until her smooth body disappeared under a very short silk tank top that was so short when she walked Matt could easily see the bottoms of her ample breasts wiggling unconstrained underneath. “That’s much better, don’t you think?” She asked him as she slid into the other chair at the table.

  “Um, sure.” Was all he could say, barely able to take his eyes off her. The top was thin enough that he could easily see the shape of her quickly hardening nipples.

  “You must be uncomfortable in that jump suit.” She said reaching out and pulling the zipper down. “I have some extra shorts if you would like to change out of it.”

  “Sure, if you’d like.” Matt mumbled.

  “Come with me.” She said getting up and taking him by the hand and leading him around to the bedroom side of the partition. She let go and dug through a drawer and then laid a pair of workout shorts on the bed. “Don’t take too long now.” She said with a smile as she disappeared around the partition. Matt stripped his shoes and jump suit, pulling on the shorts and adjusting the bulge to a more comfortable position. Then he walked around to the work area again, wearing nothing else.

  “Oh, much better, isn’t it?” Tina said quietly as she waited for him at the table. “Now, shall we get to work?”

  For the next hour they went over the limits of equipment, cooling rates, heating calculations on the computer and various options. Despite a continuous erection from looking at her ample breasts gently bouncing off the table top, they were having a productive work session.

  “Would you like some water? All this talk of heat is making me warm.”

  “Sure that would be fine.” Matt replied as he watched her walk over to the small counter and draw two glasses of filtered water. As she walked over he couldn’t help but notice that her shorts had worked down slightly farther on her hips from sitting, exposing most of her good looking rear. Turning around with a glass in each hand, he could see that the waist band was low enough that a significant amount of dark curly hair was showing above it. He wasn’t even sure how they were even staying up at this point and not sliding down her slim legs.

  “You don’t mind if I take my shirt off do you?” She said as he set down the glasses and skimmed the tank top off tossing it aside before sitting back down. “Much better. I usually don’t wear anything when I’m working if I can get away with it.”

  “Don’t let me stop you.” Matt said, eagerly eyeing her wonderfully shaped breasts.

  “Thanks, that’s sweet of you.” She said, standing up and pushing the boxers down and letting them slide to her ankles. She stepped out of them leaving her completely naked. “That’s much better. Are you going to join me?” She asked coyly.

  “Why not.” Matt said, standing up and pushing down the workout shorts, revealing how hard he had grown watching her.

  “Hmmm… that must be distracting. Why don’t we take a little break and get rid of that distraction, shall we?” She asked seductively, holding out her hand to him. He took it and she walked them over to the lounge chair. It was a large padded chair that you could stretch out on; almost large enough for two people to sit in partially reclined, but with an added portion reclined to support your legs in a slightly bent altitude. It reminded him of the old reclining furniture he had seen in some of the old books. She turned him around and had him sit on the soft upholstery and then she knelt over his legs where they stuck out on the extended portion. She knee walked up the small incline to his knees, and then down the incline toward his waist, the chair giving her plenty of room for her legs, one on either side of his hips, and settled herself on his lap. She lowered her face to his and gently kissed him on the lips, allowing Matt to return the kisses, his tongue gently entering her open mouth and finding hers. As they kissed he began to gently stroke her legs and hips with his fingertips. She rewarded his efforts with a quiet moan.

  After an hour’s ‘relaxation’ and a long shower together, they sat back down to work, still wearing what they had in the shower. With the distraction of sex mostly gone for the moment Matt was able to concentrate and the two of them spent nearly two more hours running suit simulations, trying to build a plan for how long a person could survive in the direct sunlight. The answers were not good. If any member of the team were in direct sunlight for more than six and a half minutes, the suit would fail, even with the modifications. Even worse, there was inadequate protection for the face, and if they turned directly toward the sun they would be burned by the UV in seconds and probably blinded.

  “We have to find some way to protect our faces.” Matt said quietly.

  “You’re not going out there are you?” She asked him, shock evident in her eyes.

  “How can I not?” Matt said sitting back in the chair. “It’s my team, my responsibility.”

  “I understand how you feel, but this is dangerous. So far our best estimates show we will lose half the team if everything goes right.”

  “Then we need to find a way to make it safer. Let’s face it, I have to go. I can’t ask for
volunteers if I won’t do it myself!”

  Tina got out of her chair and turned his to face her. She pulled him from the chair and drew him around the partition to the bed, and knelt on the bed, crawling backward on it, drawing him on the bed with her. Finally she pulled him on top of her and gently kissed him.

  “This won’t change my mind.” He said quietly

  “Maybe not, but I can try.” She whispered as she wrapped her legs around his and pressed her hips up to meet his.

  Matt walked into the armory shortly before dinner and called for Master Chief Wallace.

  “Yes sir?” He said when he entered the office.

  “Master Chief, have a seat. We have a lot to talk about.

  “Yes sir?” He said sitting down at the desk across from Matt.

  “Fleet has a way to get us home, but it’s not going to be easy. I’ve been working all afternoon with Lieutenant Yang to try to find some way to make this survivable. The bottom line is that we’re going to get a tanker, but we have to EVA four people to make the transfer.”

  “Our suits can’t stand up to that kind of exposure sir.”

  “I know. The plan is to roll the ship so the hatch is toward the tanker, EVA the crew in the tankers shadow and then roll the ship to line the re-fueling ports.”

  “Damn, that’s risky. If we stray into the sun for even a minute we’d be toast!”

  “Your right. We worked up some extra protection. If we wrap the hardsuit in some of that lightweight foil we have for setting up emergency shelters, it will reflect enough energy to give the suit five minutes before the systems overheat. You have to crinkle it so it reflects at angles.”

  “We can do that, no problem sir.”

  “Here’s the hard part. We haven’t figured out how to do a gold coat on the shields. The way the shields are now, if you come into direct sunlight you will blister your skin in just a few seconds, and probably blind yourself. If we make the shields opaque enough to block the sun, we won’t be able to see what we’re doing in the shadows.”

  “I see what you mean. Let me work on it sir, and see what my guys can come up with.”

  “Ok Master Chief. I’ll also need three more volunteers to go with me.”

  “Two more sir.”

  “Sorry Master Chief. As much as I want you out there with me, I want you to lead a backup crew of two. If anything happens and we can’t finish, you need to figure out how to complete the mission.”

  Aye sir.” The Master Chief said quietly.

  “Our best estimates at this time look like we can expect to lose half the team. Make sure the volunteers know that.”

  “Yes sir.” He answered, almost too quietly for Matt to hear.

  “I can’t order you to take the backup team. If you want to withdraw your request for the mission, you may.”

  “I don’t think I would like to do that sir.” He said to Matt as he drew himself fully up in the chair.

  “It’s ok. Chief, I felt the same way, which is why I’m going with the main team. Get with your guys and see what you can come up with. We have ten days until we go out. As soon as I give you the list of volunteers, I want you’re guys to start modifying suits for each.

  “Aye sir.” He said as he got up and walked out of the office. Matt went back to work, looking through the database of supplies and equipment, trying to figure some way to buy them some more time. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even hear the tall red head load technician step into the office. She stood there looking at him for a long time before moving over and stepping next to the desk, finally breaking his concentration.

  “Petty Officer Jenkins.” Matt said looking up.

  “Sir! I’m here to volunteer for duty!” She said snapping to attention.

  “At ease…You realize that right now we only have a 50/50 chance of surviving?”

  “Yes sir, that was explained to me in great detail sir.”

  “And you still want to volunteer?”

  “YES SIR!”

  “Ok, at ease.” He said. “Tell me why.”

  “Well sir, as I understand it, if this doesn’t get done, we don’t get home, and to be honest sir, you have a reputation of bringing all your people back, even when the odds are long.”

  “Ok Jenkins. I’ll add your name to the team.”

  “Thank you sir.” She said snapping to attention and saluting.

  “That’s all Jenkins.”

  “Yes sir.” She said turning and heading out of the office. Matt got up and left the office himself, heading up to the mess hall. The food had gotten worse over time, the fresh supplies long since used up and the kitchen crew making due with frozen and dehydrated foods. He decided on the stew with some fresh baked bread. Having gotten a tray of food he went and sat down at a table, taking his time as he wracked his brain to figure out how to protect their faces.

  “Lost in thought Lieutenant?” The Captain asked from across the table as she sat down.

  “Sorry ma’am.”

  “No problem Lieutenant. I understand, I gave you a weighty problem to work on. How is it coming along?”

  “Well, we have the suits figured so we can get up to 5 minutes of exposure, but the problem is the face plate. If we don’t find a way to shield the faceplate we won’t last fifteen seconds looking toward the sun.”

  “That is a problem. I have confidence you will find an adequate solution.”

  “Yes ma’am.” He said quietly.

  “Come now Lieutenant. You sound like it’s going to be the end of the world.”

  “No ma’am. Only the ship and her crew if we fail.”

  “That is true, but it doesn’t do any good to dwell on the larger worries. Work the problem, for the problem.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Matt said as he picked at his food. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

  “Of course Lieutenant… And Mister Molter… “

  “Yes ma’am?”

  “Not to add any more to your plate, but, now that you’re back up and around, you have a number of administrative duties that need to be taken care of. In particular, training evaluations on the Ensigns assigned to your section. I need those by the end of the day tomorrow.”

  “Yes Ma’am!” Matt responded somewhat stiffly, thinking to himself that he really didn’t need the distraction just now.

  Matt was engrossed in the lists of equipment again, sitting in front of the computer terminal in his quarters. The chime on the door sounded and he got up and walked to the door, pressing the button to open it. The door slid open and Petty Officer Tempe was standing on the other side.

  “Tempe, come in.” Matt said, stepping aside.

  “Thank you sir.” She said as she stepped inside and turned to face him. The door slid closed as she stood there looking at him. “Permission to speak sir?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I came to volunteer sir.” She said.

  “Why?”

  “Well sir. Let’s just say that if we’re going to have to do dangerous missions, we might as well do them together.”

  Matt chuckled. “Good a reason as any Tempe.”

  “Caitlyn… please.” She said as she unzipped her jump suit and slid it off her shoulders. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out of the material lying on the floor, leaving her wearing nothing but a pair of thong panties.

  “I’m not sure this is appropriate.” Matt said quietly as she stepped over to where he was sitting and pulled his zipper down.

  “Maybe not, but it will make both of us feel a whole lot better.” She said as she pulled him up by the hands and then stepped between his arms to push his jump suit off his shoulders. She helped the material fall down his arms and then let it fall to the floor as she knelt down She pulled his underwear down to his ankles and wrapped both hands and her lips around his hardening tool.

  “Oh Lord.” He whispered as the sensations of her wet mouth and firm grip overtook his body and thinking.

  “He has nothing
to do with this.” She said smiling up at him before, returning to her ministrations.

  Jenny returned to his quarters and let herself in following her shift in the infirmary. The room illumination was set low, so she dropped her white jump suit off in the sitting area, anticipating surprising him in bed. She slipped around the partition to the sleeping area, and the large bed, wearing nothing but her lacy bra and panties. Unfortunately it was she who was surprised, finding Matt laying on the bed, a naked young woman slowly rocking up and down on his lap.