Tyler came in next looking at them all and Mark admiring his tattoo.
“Well fuck,” Tyler said, he and Mark shared a grin, they’d done it.
Tyler got his tattoo. The whole platoon did, no one opted out, Alexis had made someone hold her in place but she’d had her calf shot out as well.
They milled around in the locker room, admiring their tattoos.
“You’re entitled to three days’ liberty, use them wisely, get your calves trained up. The messes will be open for you to grab a beer and relax. I don’t want to have to drag anyone out. If I do then you’re going into the cryo and you’ll wake up with the universes worst hangover,” Fredrickson said, making sure her words sunk in.
“Now get out of my sight!” She said.
“Sarge, I was wondering if I could stay awake, get my leg trained up and read up on a few things,” Mark said.
“Knock yourself out, there are some medics awake at all times, you’ll get reduced pay and it won’t count as time on your contract, but do as you want,” Fredrickson shrugged.
“Thanks Sergeant,” Mark said turning and leaving with the rest of his platoon for a shower and a cold beer.
After the showers Mark didn’t miss Tyler and Alexis sneaking off, he had an almost pre-natural skill at knowing where his brother was.
He felt happy for them, before he might have been scared that Alexis was trying to lure him away to plant a blade in his back. After training he knew Alexis much better than that. She was the little sister he had never had and he could see she was smitten with Tyler.
Mark smiled, a touch of sadness in it, not for them, but for himself. He had regularly bed women on Earth and there were a few girls he was interested in, but he found it hard to invest in a woman more than just sex.
He was a lonely and focused man. He did what he had to, he knew that if he got close to someone then he would be constantly worrying about them, he already worried about Tyler constantly and he could handle himself.
A girlfriend was just another way to get hurt. Mark thought.
“Beer?” Moe, a large dark skinned man asked, no one was skinny anymore, lean yes, but all had a healthy slab of muscle.
“Yeah,” Mark said, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind.
***
“What’s up?” Tyler asked as soon as they got to the library, a data repository filled with nooks and cranies for people to access information, and where a number of more private but no less informative meetings were held.
Troopers were a lonely group, few interacted with them other than the strippers and hookers on Resolute or Strike station.
Troopers might die any day so few looked down on relationships with any sort of disdain. What you did and who you did on your own time was your business as long as it didn’t fuck with your job.
Tyler and Alexis’ growing interest with one another had started with simple talking, they had been around one another more than they’d been around most others.
They were from the same area and the stuff about the gangs brought them closer rather than further apart. Alexis had jumped gangs a number of times, losing another was kind of rough, but the EMF had given her a new gang and people she could trust to have her back.
Tyler was focused when in battle, but sweet, almost boyish and free when he had free time.
Alexis’ walls had broken down with every smile and joke they shared.
Now they were sitting in the library, a place they’d visited a few times to enjoy the others lips, the urgency of their bodies pressing against one another but never passing an unspoken boundary.
Tyler was fine with that, and that made Alexis want him even more than before. She could already feel heat spreading across her body, hungry for his touch, his lips. The feeling of his hard body against her own.
So much for the cold shower helping! She thought, smiling.
Tyler caught the expression with an eyebrow rising with the side of his mouth in a way that made her want to give in and kiss him.
She pressed those feelings down, she needed to do this even if it was difficult. She looked away, his hand rested on her arm, reassuring rather than pressuring.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said.
His hand slowed for a moment before continuing.
“Why?” He asked, thoughtful rather than condescending.
“Because I can’t share,” she said, looking to him.
Her guts were a ball of emotions burning like acid through her stomach, till she saw his brow pulled down in confusion. That combined with his opening and closing mouth like a fish trying to form words as his brain had short circuited, drove her to laughter.
God he’s so cute and careless.
“Um, so, ah what does that mean?” He finally asked go with the most neutral answer he could think of.
“You’ve seen it, the way the other girls look at you, the way they flirt with you,” she said.
“Yes, I’m not that blind,” he said.
“So you’ll want to go and do them as well,” Alexis said.
“Nope, not really,” Tyler said shrugging.
“What?” Alexis asked, her turn to look puzzled.
“Sure they’re good looking girls, but they don’t have your fire or determination. They don’t have that inner hardness that comes from being in the gangs as soon as you were old enough. You’re not a lady, you’re a woman, and that’s much sexier than a few looks.” His tone became lower and huskier his fingers moved over her arm in loops “Have you seen a mirror, the way you fill out smart clothes,” His fingers trailed up her arm as he spoke, giving her a wink.
Familiar heat flushed over her body and colored her cheeks.
“I couldn’t handle seeing you with anyone else. Especially if you were willing to become mine,” Tyler said.
“You’re bad,” she said, not caring how her own voice had become husky, as she leaned in closer.
“Oh so bad,” he said winking, that boyish smile playing across his face.
She leaned in, pushing him back on the love seat, arching her body so it pressed against his.
Their breaths mingled, lips just inches away from one another.
“Mine?” She asked, pushing off of him and tracing her finger over his chest.
“Yours, if you’ll be mine,” he said as she could feel his excitement.
“All yours,” she replied, her will falling apart as her body came back down on his, their lips coming together.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her to him.
He picked her up and leaned her back so he was now over her, their lips coming together with slow luxuriates repetition. His lips travelled down along her neck, caressing every arch with careful patience.
She arched in wanton release.
I could get used to this, she thought as she nibbled on his earlobe, his body and muscles quivering as her own.
“These smart clothes are rather restrictive don’t you think?” She said.
“That a hint?” He asked, his voice low and husky with tension.
“Maybe,” she answered bringing his head down and kissing his neck.
He basked in that feeling for a few moments before his finger found the sealing line, he traced it down, her blouse coming apart, cold air playing on her bodies sweat.
Lips followed the line, the two became lost in one another’s bodies, hot breath, moans and touches.
Chapter 6
EMFC Reclaimer
Sacremon System
7/3169
Mark, Tyler and Alexis as well as a few others spent a few months working on expanding their knowledge, with everything and anything they could find from tactics to weapons to fighting styles and using their implants. They hadn’t been able to use their augments before.
Augments increased their natural abilities or added assistance to get the most out of their bodies. There were chemical pumps that could keep them in a state of alert for days, or medical augments that could fight off dise
ase, or help heal wounds. There were others for helping fix broken bones, or turn off a person’s inner ear so they didn’t get sick on exiting and entering atmosphere.
Implants were the only other tech that could be stuck in your body, they interfaced with the user and could be used to give and receive data, like subvocal implants, or HUD’s that linked to the user’s optical nerves. With a helmet neither Mark or Tyler wanted to spend money on them.
Augments were the most expensive things to buy, the model Richter had given them was one of the most advanced medical augments that would look to keeping them alive and functioning even with really bad wounds. Implants wouldn’t help out in any way.
Tyler and Mark had pooled their money for Alexis’ augments, calling them a birthday present.
Mark saw how Alexis and Tyler looked at one another, it wasn’t just physical. They were closer than Mark was with Tyler.
Instead of being angry or jealous he was happy for the two of them. He just had to make sure he did everything in his power to look after the two.
They’d all been unhappy when they made their way to ‘the spine’. The central area that ran the length of the ship and carried all of the lower ranked personnel’s cryo-pods.
The higher up officers had their own place in officer territory of the ship and the ship’s crew were close to the bridge in case they needed to be woken in emergency. They found their empty pods, passing rows of sleeping troopers, waiting to wake up in Sacremon System.
Mark got in his pod, the medic giving him cryo-injections. He immediately felt the sleepiness wash over him as Tyler and Alexis kissed one another.
He’d commented how it looked like they were trying to resuscitate one another with mouth to mouth.
Alexis gave him the middle finger, making him laugh as the medic’s injections made him feel cold and heavy, settling into his pod.
Some thirty-three years and thirteen lightyears later…
“Move it troopers, it's about time you earned your damned pay!” Someone yelled as Mark's body came back online, he stepped out of his alcove feeling like a limp noodle. He pulled his smart clothes on with numb fingers as he looked around blearily.
His smart cloth and chip linked up, a one-line rank tab appeared on his shoulder as Victor scrawled across his nametape.
“Move it Victor, you’re damned big ass is holding everyone up!” Sergeant Pullo by his name tape and the two lines above a plain dot, said, he clearly wasn't happy with his performance.
“Yes sergeant,” Mark mumbling through the words as he got his legs moving through the flow of people.
A scrawl of written information appeared in his sight. While he had been sleeping the cryo chamber had done a full medical on him, and plugged in all the augments, implants and enhancements into his body.
Other people who clearly hadn't been listening to their training staff were howling in confusion as they started seeing things.
Veterans pushed past them as training staff barked them back into order. They would have time to adjust later, right now the EMF needed their slab of meat moving and ready to carry out orders.
“Fuck, I feel worse than that time at Barry's after the sanders gang,” Tyler said from behind Mark.
“Bout damned time you woke up,” Mark said, seeing that Alexis was also following him. “What squad you guys got?” He asked, not even pausing his jog.
“Second division, fourth regiment, Charlie company first platoon third section,” Tyler rattled off, Alexis was in the same Division but in second regiment.
Mark was in Bravo Company.
“Who’s in Charlie Company here?” Mark asked. A few heads turned and Mark moved to those people.
“What platoon are you in?' He asked, going from person to person.
It took some time before he found someone going to Tyler's section, when he did he used his implants to transfer orders with them. It was an odd feeling using his eyes to change commands.
“What the hell you do that for?” The person asked as their HUD updated with the new section they were reporting to.
“Just wanted to stay with my bro,” Mark shrugged running off.
“Get yah both damned killed anyway,” the man growled.
“Someone's not a morning person,” Tyler said, his voice quiet enough so it wouldn't carry as they moved on.
They moved out into the massive floor that was configured to look and act like Sacremons’ environment.
“See you guys at chow,” Alexis said, waving and going off to her platoon.
“Don't get too attached,” Mark warned.
“Well we're not exactly doing that ourselves,” Tyler said giving Mark a knowing look.
You did just force someone to change their orders with you so you could be with your bro.
Mark shrugged and moved into place.
The veterans looked at them as if they were some new kind of species that they had been told about, but were still wondering if they themselves were real.
“So nice for you to join us Victor and... Victor,” Sergeant Pullo said. He was the one who had been kicking Mark's ass out of the cryo chamber had somehow beaten them onto the main floor. Sergeant Pullo had light brown hair cut down to a fuzz, blue eyes and a strong chin. His body had the weight of someone that had gained their muscle through hard work.
Right now those blue eyes thinned as he was probably realizing that one of them had switched with someone else.
“Your big damned bastards, what CEO chucked you out of mega-city?” The sergeant asked.
Mark and Tyler thought themselves past that kind of name-calling, but here, just like in the slums they would have to prove themselves in order to get past the most annoying ribbing.
Neither of them rose to the bait and the Sergeant quickly moved on.
“First we're going to go down to the chow hall before everyone else crams in the damned thing, we'll continue our briefing there. Turn to your right, and we're jogging.” Everyone moved in a jogging column of three right into an elevator which took them to one of the three massive messes that served the three full-strength divisions aboard Reclaimer.
“You looked at the most recent tachyon transmissions?” One of the veterans, his name tape labelling him as Gupta, asked his friend Simmons.
Gupta was shorter than Mark, but he was heavily tanned with black hair, a plain face and had muscles that spoke of hard work.
Simmons had a similar physical build, but she was also taller than Gupta, had red hair pulled back in a ponytail and sharp features.
“Yeah, using fucking kid fighters, they're the worst. They can get in small spaces and will fight to the end,” Simmons remarked, she didn't sound upset about the enemy using kids, rather the fact that kids could be a bigger pain in the ass to kill than adults.
Mark shrugged it off. He had killed someone that was trying to stab him and Tyler in the night when he was nine. There was little room for political correctness within Earth and Her Colonies. Kids got used for labor and any jobs that cut costs for CEO's. Unions and labor laws, none of them were adhered to on the colonies, on Earth they were a forgotten memory.
The health and safety of the twentieth century had gone tits up when the economies of western nations tanked. The corporations sucked the nation’s dry and started setting up their own independent trading houses. When the rest of the world tried to take over the companies that were making more money than any other country, corporations shut off their companies products to their attackers.
The attacks died overnight and corporations used their new-found power to do what they had always done, get politicians to see the world according to their view.
With their new power and wealth, many politicians saw how things were going and let their greed take them. Governments that had been enemies for as long as history could remember, played nice and Earth's government came into fruition.
The corporations were so entwined with government that 'elections' were basically companies trying to find someone tha
t would be agreeable to helping their economy grow. Every CEO tried to get their person on Earth's throne to get them a position of power and open to the most lucrative contracts that Earth and Her Colonies offered.
Mark and Tyler heaped food onto their plates and started to look around for a free table.
“Sit with the section,” Gupta said, heading for the section's table, people were already lining up at the multiple dinner lines while the mess filled up.
Sergeant Pullo sat in the middle of the table, people dug into their food with gusto.
“Nothing like deep sleep to give a man an appetite!” Xiao said, shovelling food into his face.
“Pssht, would hardly call you a man,” Simmons said, grins appearing while Xiao was unable to retaliate because of his mouth full of food.
Mark and Tyler sunk into their food, taking their time, both of them remembered their first meal on Reclaimer, they'd never seen so much food before and people had gorged themselves so much that they'd thrown up. The run after that meal had been a disgusting affair.
Tyler and Mark's stomachs were now accustomed to change, and their growing bodies needed every damned calorie they could pack in.
“Alright, listen in,” Pullo said swallowing whatever he'd been munching on.
“We're going through standard training,” there were groans from everyone as he continued. “We'll do some shooting tests, all systems from E-12s to Repulsors. Then its drills, I want to know how everyone's gear is by tomorrow. We'll be doing maintenance till we make planet fall. We've got a week to go before we're above Sacremon.” His head swiveled to Mark and Tyler who hadn't stopped putting food in their faces as they listened.
“Listen to everything this lot says, most of its crap, but sometimes they pull something out of their asses.” That got a few laughs from around the table.
Mark just nodded.
“First thing. There ain't no gangs up here, there's just us looking out for one another and everyone else trying to kill us. This is your life now, get used to it quick. If I hear you starting shit I will come down on you like a goddamn orbital strike, am I understood?” Pullo's voice had a hint of iron to it. This was not a man to cross.
Sacremon (Harmony War Series Book 1) Page 9