Chapter 2

Every night before bed, Aimee set a personal alarm for a half-hour before her squadmates woke up. The plan was always to enjoy a quiet hour to herself, a respite from the busy schedule that ruled her life these days. Unfortunately for Aimee, every morning she would sleepily cancel the alarm as soon as it went off, so in practice she tended to be woken by the same alarm that shrieked the other rookies out of bed. She spit a swear word as her feet hit the cold tile of the barracks floor, and she wasn't the only one, as the rest of her squadmates dragged themselves from their beds and into the cold air.

Alex, sleeping across from Aimee, broke into a run as soon as she disentangled from her covers, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, yelling "First for showers! Dibs!" Aimee smiled, pulling her blankets around her like a makeshift cloak.

"More time for us to get warm," she muttered sleepily to no one in particular. The Academy orbital station had many luxuries that the smaller civilian stations did not, but it didn't have the energy to waste on extra water or heating. The barracks was kept just warm enough to be livable, and its' two-unit shower only had the water for nine showers of exactly fifteen minutes each. Though the squaddies tried not to go over their time, the final two always had less water than everyone else. Aimee looked at the bunk next to her; Marcus still curled in a ball, and Li in the bunk above, awake but clearly not going anywhere. She cuddled into her blanket, confident that she wouldn't be last.

Missy was already stripping off her loose longsleeved shirt by the time Aimee reached the shower, and she blushed and covered her breasts with an arm as Aimee came in.

"Not looking, don't worry," Aimee smiled and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned her back on her squadmate, "but you know ... we're all gonna be on the same squad for a year. After that, we'll probably end up on squads together on and off for the rest of our career. I don't think there's much of a point being shy around your squaddies. 'Specially us other girls." She tried to put it delicately, but as she shimmied out of her own white sleep clothes she could picture the furious blush that was probably creeping across Missy's face.

"I ... I dunno," Missy stammered, "This seems to have been working so far." Aimee did roll her eyes at that, but kept her back to the other girl as she stepped under the showerhead and powered it on.

"Sure, maybe for the last week," she breathed a sigh of contentment as the showerhead read her body signature and warmed the water to her prefered temperature in an instant, dousing her in water so hot it bathed her in steam. "But there's gonna come a day in the next five years where I might not be the one showering with you, and who knows if the other girls'll be ok with this whole 'don't look to the left' thing. Or one of the guys," she added slyly, for the sole purpose of the squeak of shock that came from Missy.

"They wouldn't make us shower with one of the boys would they? Is that even legal?" Aimee grinned at Missy's suddenly high-pitched voice. "They so can't do that! They couldn't force us to be that ... that intimate!" Missy was starting to splutter with a mix of indignation and panic, and she didn't seem to notice that Aimee had turned towards the frosted glass that separated them until she spoke.

"Missy. Look at me," Aimee tried to convey reassurance and calm, "Nobody's going to make you do anything. You don't come from an Academy family, so you don't 'get' it ... but your squad in the Academy, you grow so close to them that there's nothing hidden anymore. The nine of us are going to end up closer than siblings, closer than spouses. Maybe not this week, or even this year, but by the time we hit our second or third planetary mission? Or our fifth year together? There's not gonna be any secrets between any of us."

"Really?" Missy's body language was the picture of uncertainty, but at least she wasn't blushing as far as Aimee could tell, "I just can't picture that amount of closeness with someone you aren't married to."

"Are you kidding?" Aimee turned back to the shower, flipping on the sonic cleanser and relaxing as the invisible sound waves destroyed particles of dirt and sweat from her skin, "my dad has this squaddie named Sara who comes around for dinner three or four times a week. We moved to the city so they could be close, that's how much they mean to each other. My mom knows that she's not gonna compete with that. Not that my dad doesn't love my mom, he'd die for her, but..." she shrugged, "it's impossible to break that connection between squaddies, you know? It's one of the things you accept when you marry an Academy grad. My dad might take a bullet for my mom, but Sara actually has taken a bullet for him."

Aimee could see Missy taking her words in, lost in thought, as she flicked on her own showerhead's sonic cleanser. She took the opportunity to give Missy a glance up and down through the separator. She was a very pale girl, Aimee noted, her faintly pink skin a stark contrast to Aimee's own caramel brown. Not that that was the only difference between them. While Aimee prefered to keep her jet black hair up in a ponytail at almost all times, Missy's curly brown locks fell in ringlets around her face. Aimee was taller, her shoulders more squared and her hips wide, while Missy's figure was diminutive and petite. Missy noticed Aimee looking at her, and covered herself up with an arm again.

"What?"

"You're just so porcelain cute it's disgusting," Aimee responded with a grin

"What? I am not!"

"You are. You're like a fuckin' china doll. It's ok, people like that whole girly look."

Missy opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of voices just past the door interrupted them. Aimee glanced at the timer on the wall as Missy quickly stepped from the shower to the evaporator; their fifteen minutes were up. She half-sighed, half-swore under her breath. Missy, wreathed in steam from the water droplets instantly evaporating from her skin, managed to slip her robe around herself before Li and Marcus came in, but Aimee stayed under the hot stream of water. "It's so freaking cold out there and I'm so comfortable," she managed to plead and snarl at the same time, "I will give one of you an entire week's dessert vouchers if you let me take your shower time."

Li was already shrugging out of his sleep gear, his eyes travelling up and down Aimee's body as he did so. She returned the glance unabashedly. Pre-Academy physical training had turned the skinny boy into quite a muscular man. Aimee's eyes roved across his olive skin, noting that it contrasted nicely with his black hair. He was just a few inches taller than her, and when her eyes finally met his a shiver ran down her spine.

"Eh, not a huge fan of dessert," he smiled. Marcus was giving her an appreciative glance as well, but he seemed much more interested in getting into the warm water himself; he slipped out of his clothes and under the unoccupied shower in the space of a few seconds. Missy had already left the room, wrapped in her robe but still shivering.

"You suck, I hate you, I'm cold," Aimee complained, stepping out of the water and instantly regretted it as goosebumps rose on her shivering skin.

"Well I didn't say we couldn't work something out ... there's no way I'm giving up my time, but we can share," Li wiggled his eyebrows at her with an exaggerated lewd expression, grinning as he stepped into the recently vacated shower.

"I know you're joking, but fuck it's cold," Aimee wavered for about half a second, then stepped under the warm water with him, turning her back on his look of surprise...

"I should make stupid jokes more often," he chuckled, and he was close enough that she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. Even though she was no longer cold, the goosebumps stayed raised.

"You can look but no touching," she said over her shoulder, sticking her tongue out. Li shrugged agreeably, "worth a little less space in the shower" he replied. The showerhead registered both of their body signatures and adjusted the temperature to an average of their preferences, raising the heat just a bit.

"Ooooh my gooood" Aimee moaned out loud, as the heat and steam seemed to melt her strained muscles. As soon as she moaned she felt Li's member harden and press into her rear.

"Hey there," she giggled, "I said no touching didn't I?"

"What?" Li's voice was defensive, "There's not a lot of room for two people in here."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't be swinging that thing around," Aimee smiled. Though she loved giving Li a hard time, she actually didn't mind the feeling against her bottom, warm and firm and slick with water, "maybe you should take care of that some time."

"I wish," Li pulled his hips away, out of the water. Aimee felt slightly disappointed as warmth left and Li continued, "There's never enough time."

"Ugh, tell me about it," Aimee agreed, "let alone enough privacy. It gets freaking frustrating, I feel like there's constantly a fire between my legs."

" ... you did that on purpose," Li complained, as his member pressed against her again, and she grinned.

"Maybe. Maybe I like the warmth."

"That's not a very nice thing to do when we've already established I can't jerk off around the other guys."

"And the other guys appreciate that, believe me." Marcus broke in.

"Well if we can't take care of ourselves, isn't that all the more reason to be nice to each other?" Aimee started slowly shifting her ass, taking advantage of the slickness to slide it up and down his length. Li sucked in a breath, and although he didn't say anything, she could tell from the slight trembling that he was stopping himself from pushing forward.

" ... and I can be very nice when I want to be," she added softly, shooting a suggestive look over her shoulder to gauge his reaction.

"Oh come on! How is that any better?" Marcus complained from the next shower over, "I'm standing right here."

"Your own fault for listening," Aimee laughed, but her conversation with Missy weighed on her. Much as it would be nice to scratch an itch that had been plaguing her for a week, It wasn't worth introducing tension into the squad, "it's fine, you've got a point. No being nice for an audience then."

Li's disappointment was almost palpable, "Cockblocked by my own squadmate!" he groaned, half-serious, and leaned back, away from her. Stealing a glance at Marcus to make sure his back was still turned, Aimee stepped back as well, grinding her butt into Li, trapping his shaft between his stomach and her ass.

"So are either of you finding it as rough to adjust as I am?" She asked, keeping the conversation going so that Marcus wouldn't look over his shoulder and note how close they were behind the frosted glass.

"Oh you know, same as for everyone else in the squad I guess," Aimee was glad Marcus answered; Li's breathing was coming out in shallow pants as she ground against him, trapping his member between her butt cheeks and working them up and down. "It takes a lot of adjustment to get used to such a harsh schedule ... but there's the luxuries too, the benefits of living on a better supplied orbital station."

"Yea, I don't miss living on a civilian orbital, that's true. Worse food, less space, fewer amazing showers," Aimee enjoyed how casual and level she was able to keep her voice as she began moving her hips in circles, sliding smooth skin across Li's head as she moved up and down, from side to side, "and I think it's also helpful to have each other for support."

"I agree, it's good to have squaddies to lean on." Marcus replied, then added after a moment "even the perverted ones." Aimee turned sharply to look at the divider, but Marcus' back was still to the glass, apparently oblivious. Li was thrusting against her now, all attempts at subtlety forgotten as he responded to her rubbing. The combination of friction and slickness was turning Aimee on, but even better was Li's clear desire for her. When he grabbed her hips, nails digging into sensitive skin as if he couldn't help himself, Aimee almost came, even though he hadn't yet touched her where she wanted it most.

The timers above them made a small pinging noise, and the water cut off. Aimee bit her lip hard to keep from whimpering as the two of them separated, both breathing heavily and nowhere near satisfied.

"Ooh, tough luck you two," Marcus grinned, stepping out of his shower, "gotta suck getting interupted like that."

"Interrupted doing what?" Aimee's face grew hot, but she grinned in spite of herself, "we were just having a conversation!"

"Yea, well, I feel bad for you," he chuckled, stepping into the evaporator. "Any conversation that has you both panting and gasping like that probably won't be fun to have stuck in your heads all day." Aimee's grin slowly dropped from her face as she was suddenly very aware of the burning hunger between her legs.

"Son of a bitch" she growled.

"Jeez Aim, if I'd known you were whoring yourself out for some shower time, I'd've offered you mine," Preston joked as Marcus, Li, and Aimee re-entered the barracks.

"It's funny that 15 minutes of shower time is all you think your dick is worth" Aimee replied. For some reason Preston's lascivious humor never seemed as cute as Marcus or Li's. Maybe because even though his words were lighthearted, it sometimes felt as if he weren't joking.

"She didn't whore herself, nothing happened," Li pulled on his uniform as he spoke; Aimee was surprised at the disappointment she felt watching his skinny but muscled chest being hidden by its crisp grey lines, "we just shared a shower, Marcus can testify."

"Marcus is staying completely out of this one," Marcus was already dressed and checking the screen by his bunk for new updates, "whatever sordid and X-rated things happened in that shower, it's between the two of them."

"It's ok Li, you don't need to defend me," Aimee finished dressing and rose from her bunk, "if Preston thinks I'd do something just for a few minutes longer in the showers, nothing's going to change his opinion of me." She layered the guilt on a little heavily, but Preston's joke had uncharacteristically bothered her. To his credit, Preston looked a little ashamed of himself at her words.

"Aw I was just poking fun, I didn't actually mean it," he muttered, a little sheepishly. Aimee made a mental note to stick to her own allotted shower time from now on.

"Tactical III: Squad Maneuvers" was an optional class, which meant only about a quarter of the rookies in Aimee's year had signed up for it. Unfortunately for her and her squadmates, their instructor Captain Appet was dedicated to holding her squad to the highest of standards. For the four boys and five girls that made up her squad, the class was mandatory, making them the only rookie squad with every member signed up for the class. On the plus side, this meant they had an entire class session to themselves, twice a week. The rookies were seated now around the large circular table, the wide space in the middle of the table projecting a holographic sphere as its standby screen.

Captain Appet and Tactics Instructor Yidra sat together on the far side of the table from the door as the squad filed in. Aimee sat a few seats down from the pair, and smiled when Missy took the one next to her; she was glad their conversation hadn't frightened the shy girl off. Preston took a seat on her other side, and after a moment Aimee turned to give him a smile as well. No matter how much he irked her, they would be squaddies. Love or hate him, he would eventually be closer than a brother to her, so she might as well make an effort. Marcus sat on Preston's other side, next to the Captain. Two other girls, Alex and Julia, sat on Missy's other side, followed by Li directly across from Aimee, Jackson, and Tess.

"Welcome, Rooks," Captain Appet began, and Aimee's eyes narrowed. When the Captain was in a good enough mood to use nicknames, it meant either she was about to go very easy or very hard on them. "Today we're going to skip the theory and get down to the practical; we're going to set up a ten-way virtual squadron battle." As she spoke, Yidra had been fiddling with the virtual keyboard in front of him. As the Captain spoke, lights began to form above the table's surface; holographic fleets of spheres, in ten different colors. At the same time, a virtual keyboard glowed in front of each of the rookies and Captain Appet, their colors matching the spheres.

"The keyboards will send orders to the holographic drones," Captain Appet explained, typing a few symbols and sending a green sphere plunging towards the table, then slowly raising up again, "we've scaled the size down quite a bit of course, but otherwise the holograms will respond and behave exactly the same as a real drone on a planetary run. Yidra is going to be taking notes on your tactics, which he'll share with all of you via the squad forum this evening."