Chapter 343

Landfall Space Academy

Diana and Selina were in their bunks before midnight, the first time since they had arrived at the Academy that they had gone to bed so early. "Our break starts tomorrow," Selina quietly said as if she were having trouble comprehending that the break was actually here.

Diana's light came on and she sat up. "Twelve weeks. There for a while it seemed as if the time would never be over, but now, it seems like only yesterday that we were looking for 101-A on orientation day. My mind and body are both tired, but now that I have a chance to catch up on my sleep, I'm not sleepy," she finished in amazement.

There was a chuckle from Selina. "I find myself in much the same situation. My body is also fatigued. It is difficult to remember a time prior to experiencing unending soreness. I have almost become accustomed to the constant pain. Seemingly every time I begin to adjust to the additional exercise, the DI adds more reps or longer distances, or new exercises completely. Then the agony begins again."

Diana let out a soft groan. "Don't remind me. I still don't think I'll ever get used to that sixty pound pack. I have calluses from those straps. At least the distance seems to have leveled off at ten miles every other day. And yeah, I know what the DI told us, but I still can't fathom why officers in the space Navy have to become accustomed to carrying a sixty pound pack for ten miles." As Selina began to respond, Diana went quickly on, "Yeah, yeah, I know – discipline. Mind over body. Never give up. All that stuff. But I think they have gotten their point across. Surely there is no reason we should have to do this for the next four years?"

"I am aware that you have studied the curriculum, so I assume the question is rhetorical. And remember, Diana, it was you that continued to encourage me when the pain was so acute in my shoulders that I was actually considering leaving the academy."

Diana had to smile as she continued, "And it was mainly because of your tutoring that the seven in our group are at the top of every class."

Abruptly, Diana burst into laughter. "Just listen to us. We're still doing it. We continue to encourage each other, even when we don't need to. But now, we can stop for two whole days."

There was a moment of silence as the little genius thought, then, "So, what are your plans?" she quietly asked. "Perhaps we should consider obtaining a hotel room together and exploring the town..." Then another thought struck her. Abruptly, she asked, "Are you intending to find a partner and, using the local vernacular, get laid? Perhaps we should secure separate rooms at the hotel. I mean..."

Diana's laughter stopped Selina from continuing. "Why would you even think of something like that?"

Frustrated, Selina tried to recoup. "Well, indeed, you are a beautiful woman, and sex off-campus is permitted between plebes, at least during break. There is certainly no shortage of plebes who would be willing to share your bed, and I imagine there are a number of men in the nearby town that would certainly take up that function, if you should decide that you did not want to sleep with a plebe."

"Well, I suppose, there is Carlyle. He's an arrogant ass, but he has a body to dream about," Diana teased.

Selina's light came on as she sat up. "You are not seriously considering that ... ass?"

Diana flopped back onto her bed, laughing. "Yeah, sure I am." Then, after another chuckle, "His chances come right after slim and none. But what started this conversation about my getting laid, anyway? Checking out the town together sounds like a good idea, and there's supposed to be a park with a fabulous waterfall a couple of hours from here. It's listed on our comps as a tourist attraction, but I imagine we can put up with tourists for a day. We could pack a picnic lunch and check out the place."

"You had actually rather go with me to a waterfall than to have some sexual relief with your choice of men from the town?"

"Who says I would have a choice? Besides, I came here to get an officer's commission in the Space Navy, not hook up with some guy for a couple of nights. I have no interest in that – at all. I just want us to forget this place for two days and have a great time while we're doing it..."

The door flew open and the second year plebe yelled out, "Atten-shun! Colonel on deck!"

Diana knew what was about to happen when she saw the Colonel was wearing white gloves.

Bare feet hit the deck as the two plebes came to rigid Attention, their eyes locked to the bulkhead in front of them, both barely able to breathe.

The women had spent the first hour after returning from their last class wiping the already-spotless room. Then, they had both wiped every surface with white tissues. They had only ceased their cleaning when the tissues had remained dust and dirt free.

It seemed as if the Colonel were determined to find something out of place or dirty, but his white gloves remained immaculate even after he had wiped a hand on the top of the door and on the underside of the bunks.

"At Ease, Plebes," he finally snapped out.

The two, in precise synchronization, came to Parade Rest, and the Colonel continued. "Well done. Enjoy your free-time."

With that, he and the second year plebe were gone.

Selina bounced her butt on her bunk. "How did you know he would inspect tonight?"

Diana let out a breath as she too sat on her bunk, despite the rules. "I took him at his word. He told us he would inspect us before our first twelve-week break. Break starts at 0600 hours tomorrow morning. It had to be tonight. Besides, we inspected each other's side of the room and ran our tissues over every surface. If we could not find anything, then neither could he."

"Then why are we both still shaking?" Selina asked, reasonably.

Diana stuck her tongue out at her partner as they both laid back, pulled their sheets up and turned their lights off. Then after a moment of silence, "We did it," they both called out in unison.

The Ship

All of Jeff's wives, save Arlene and Ann, who were watching the alien ship, were gathered around the couches as Diana and Selina called out, "We did it."

There was a moment of stunned silence as the two sat up and looked wildly around for a second before reality came flooding back. "Oh, my," Diana quietly said as Selina began to giggle.

Jeff sat on the couch to take his wife in his arms even as Helen hugged Selina.

"Welcome back," all the wives said in unison.

"Was it all Arlene said it would be?" Nat asked, worried that her turn would come too soon.

Diana and Selina locked eyes before Diana grinned to say, "Just like Arlene and Ann said, 'Piece of cake.' We had a ball," even as she rubbed her shoulder while masterfully keeping her face straight.

"So, how far along are you two?" the Prime asked.

"Twelve weeks of Academy," Selina responded for them. "We are now on break for two whole days. Diana and I had decided to check into a hotel and tour the area, before having to report back to the Academy by 0600 hours day after tomorrow," she said, but then asked, "How long were we gone?"

"Two hours just as Ship said you would be."

Selina and Diana locked eyes for a moment before Selina continued, "I am aware of the time dilation effect, but even so, that seems ... impossible. I can easily relate the number of hours we spent on exercise, in class, studying, and so forth. Two hours of Earth time seems utterly impossible..."

"You have been gone only two hours," Helen affirmed.

"I need a hug, My Prime," the six-year-old said, climbing into Jeff's lap as he sat next to Diana.

Jeff crushed the child to him. "Ship has informed me that the two of you are at the head of your classes, and you have even set up a study group where you have been tutoring your fellow plebes."

"I..." Selina hesitated, "have gifts that many of the others do not. It is only fair that I share those gifts with my fellow plebes, at least the ones who expend the extra energy to study with us. In addition to our normal study, they are learning better usage of their memories. All of these people are very intelligent, otherwise, they would never have been invited to the Academy. I am merely guiding them; they are the ones who are completing the work."

When Selina turned to talk to one of Jeff's wives, Diana whispered in her husband's ear. "She saved my ass."

That is not precisely true, Ship said in Jeff's mind. Diana has been the voice of logic and reason between the two. The DI has already picked Diana to become a leader who will excel in almost any undertaking she accepts.

The Prime smiled as he kissed his wife. Noticing the expression on his face, Diana looked a question at him, "What?"

"Just glad to have you back," he responded while the smile grew into a grin.

Deep Space

..."Do we have a choice?" Ann reasoned.

The two locked eyes for an instant before Arlene gave the order.

"Move us clear of the belt and warp us out."

"Destination?"

"Any direction as long as it's away from Earth." Then a second later, "Belay that order."

Ann stared at her partner, but Arlene grinned back at her. "I've always wanted to say that ever since I heard it on Star Trek."

"Arlene, they are going to find us in just a few minutes. They're accelerating hard, but they must think their scanners will find us even at that speed."

But Arlene was shaking her head. "I don't think they're expecting to find us just yet. I think they're coming as fast as they can to get in front of us. Then knowing they have us bottled up between them, they'll reverse course and come down the center of the belt doing a slow and much more thorough search. If they do that, they might well find us no matter where we hide in the belt. So, we need to be somewhere else."

"Somewhere else? There isn't anywhere else."

"So, let's review what we know. First of all, we have a marvelous scout that is capable of stealth that's probably beyond what the aliens expect us to have. Then we strongly suspect that they will be searching in the interior of the belt, since their scanners would have picked us up near the outside, or at least I think that is the case. So, where does that leave us?"

"With them catching up to us in four minutes," Ann returned.

"Or they will go blazing past us to return at their leisure while they do a thorough search for their enemy who is supposed to be caught between the two tenders as they search with active scans."