“You want to tell me what’s had you scowling for the last twenty minutes?”

“I do Mel. But I don’t want to risk saying it out loud or over chat.”

“That’s all? I’ve got a thing for that. I’ve been waiting for a good time to ask you about it.” She hands me an ear clip with a multi-prong connector?

“Uhh, thanks?”

“It’s a point-to-point UHF transmitter. Just plug it in and we can chat near telepathically.”

“Give me a minute, hon, I don’t have a skull jack.” The mix of emotions on Melissa’s face is too confusing to assess at a quick glance. Tessa, can we multipurpose my Aether tap with a tech sheath?

A good idea, though complicated. This may co-opt or pre-select a path for your next advancement, but it is doable to hook this in around the Aether Tap.

If that means you’re putting us in the lurch to progress a tech I need, then yes, do that.

Confirmed. Executing.

For a moment imagine that when you can hear your pulse in your head and your hands, imagine also it sounds like skittering and that your veins feel like their filled with termites. Whatever realignment is happening feels like that.

>M] Did she just realign her interface to a wrist port? [<

>P] Oh hell, Mel, is that you? [<

>M] Holyshit. IT WORKED!?![<

“Jesus Mel, Brain caps hurt”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry.” And then she kisses me quick in apology.

I put my hand in her face, >P] Mel, that was in public.[<

>M] Not sure I care anymore Pen pen. [<

>P] Ease up sailor, pretend to teach me more about the Fabricators [<

She drags me over to the two fabs where one of my ET3s is scratching his head. Then gets in a brief slap fight with an MM3 before Melissa breaks it up.

>M] I could teach you if you wanted. [<

>P] Yes, I would like that, but not now. So I just had a text fight with the CO about treating Petra and long term preventing the crew from dying of Aether sickness.[<

>M] Penny, the crew can’t afford for you to be put in the Brig. [<

>P] Yeah, but I have to tread a line where he can bust me and then be magnanimous later. Feed his ego and what not. I kind of gave him an ultimatum and he said he’d think about it, and I said every day you think is another day you chose to torture Petra. I then said that I will be inoculating Petra tomorrow, and he said he’d meet me with irons. [<

>M] Penny bear, I just told you that no one can afford you in the brig. WHAT THE FUCK!?[<

>P] I gave a swarm to my electrician. She’d back me up. [<

>M] That’s not even a little bit fair, but I get it. What do you need from me? [<

>P] Okay, wow. I thought you’d take more convincing. But if he really does meet me with irons and does not wait for me to disobey orders. I need you to take the bottle I used on you and do the thing with Petra. If you can’t do that, I need you to push some of your swarm into her with intent to heal. [<

>M] you warned me about a potential mutinee, but did I listen? NOOO.[<

>P] On the plus side, Senior Baiul is really pushing for this, so if Petra recovers most of engineering will be with us. [<

>M] I can’t believe she’s asking me to incite mutinee before asking to sleep with me. Priorities am I right? [<

>P] Mind mic on, Meli. [< I giggle at her brain.

She claps her hand across her mouth and turns beet red, even tries to push away and float toward the airlock. I snag her suit and laugh.

“Mel, you’re a very attractive woman, and I am interested. The mutual respect and support thing we had going just felt to good to risk.”

>M] Well, now that I’ve shown what I’m willing to risk, what are you going to do? [<

I put my mouth next to her ear with a smile, “Get gravity working so I can fuck you properly.”

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And the pretty brunette cackles like a witch of ages.

“A joke that funny should be shared boss.” Campbell interjects.

“Alright, alright. How many Marines does it take to move a space ship?”

“We don’t even have Marines on board. But I don’t know, how many?” He plays along.

“Three. One to thrust,” I make inappropriate him motions, “one to push,” I push in zero g. “And one to get ejected from the airlock at high speed.” I smack my hands together and skip one off by itself.

I can hear the machine next to me printing hardened steel.

“Oh, hohoho. Quite good. The two motivated marines are useless, where the obedient marine actually provides thrust, very good. Ohohoho.” Niedermeyer chortles. Oh my dear Universe, that was the nerdiest laugh monologue I have ever heard. It kills me, I am dead.

My raucous laughter echoes and the rest of the fab lab joins in.

Mel adds. “First in recorded history where explaining a joke made if funnier.”

Aw man, this is what life is about: companionship and laughter. And here I traded it in for doing the right thing right now, instead of being tactful about it.

Melissa and I leave to pilfer the snacks in the Chiefs’ mess before stuffing ourselves into my rack to have ghetto dinner and a movie. Every request is followed by a kiss. Hand me a strudel? Kiss. Victory Horchata, kiss. And this time instead of just being comforting, she’s spinning me up. Is it that I know she’s interested, or is it that she’s putting extra fire in those smooches? It has to be both because I would have never dared to reply as I did:

“What do you want to watch next, Pen pen?”

“I want to watch you cum for me.” Her shudder and the enhanced smell of arousal turn off my higher functions and all I remember of that night are hunger and satisfaction.

***

I wake with a landing strip in my face. I shrug mentally: when in paradise, taste of the fruits. I wrap my tongue around a very lonely bean and we start dancing. Until I get a light pat on my naked ass and a . . .

>M] No. Penny, we have work to do. Behave yourself [<

My mind issues a very childlike “I don’t wanna” as I pull the length of my tongue across her. She moans in a way that spurs me on, but the cognitive dissonance of a sharp pinch of my butt and a savage bite to my leg tell me that the moan was not by choice.

>M] Penny Astoria Mercer! Behave! [<

>P] Yes dear [< I frown, with my soul, and disengage from my fit electrician.

We put our underwear on in a shuffle, then get out of my rack to get our uniform suits on. Melissa kisses me for luck, snags the bottle in my fanny pack, and then swats my butt to get moving. A little shag, a little snack, and then some insubordination to get to.

***

Melissa Isabelle Hunsaker is a ride or die bitch and I’m here for it. She calmly watched me get pulled away from Petra, and while I was making a scene, she pulled Petra’s mouth open, shot the bots in her mouth and surreptitiously used one hand to close her mouth and close her nostrils while the swarm infected her lungs. It honestly looks like she’d killed someone before.

So, they don’t have shackles, but they do have armed escorts to the brig I didn’t know we had.

What does surprise me is that the CO doesn’t show up but Command Master Chief Purnell does and he looks like he had to drown a bag of cats.

“The funny part, folks, is that I didn’t have time to disobey a direct order. Carry me away gents.” I go limp and let them figure it out. Every time my feet hit something metal, I engage my mag boots and laugh.

“We don’t take kindly to mutineers.”

“Didn’t actually disobey an order friend. But I know you’re just following orders. Did you know that I invented the drive that’s supposed to get us home?”

“So you also got us stuck out here.”

“Difference between cause and effect and results based reasoning, but you do you!”

Meat head prime puts his hand around my neck, “If your tech didn’t cause this, what did?”

“Maneuver briefing had at least 3 major differences from ordered execution. If the logs aren’t public, I have recordings.”

“Don’t listen to the traitor Draper, she’ll say anything to stay out of the brig.”

“Oh no, I’m finally get some sleep. How will I carry on?! Woe, woe be the law abiding vagrants under the thumb of paranoid tyrants. WOE WOE!!!!”

Loyal goon punches me in the stomach, but I hoped something like this would happen, so I spit aether infused vomit on the ass. He starts twitching before we get to the brig.

“You going to help him?” Draper asks.

“Would be treason most foul if I did.” I laugh to spin the fucker up.

“I’m not joking traitor. If he dies, you die.”

“Neither am I fuck face. Captain Morris has ordered I not aid in any way those infected with Aether sickness or any other malady that I can prevent. I have not violated those orders, and I will not for some chump that wants to abuse me. He can fucking die for his beliefs, because he was willing to make me die for mine.”

Draper punches me until I vomit a kaleidoscope, and then he’s afraid for his life. I wait until someone comes to resolve this. “Your mate is dying. You should call medical.” He punches me again until I vomit and then backs off. “Your mate is still dying douchebag. You going to kill me while you watch him die.” I vomit in his face on the first punch.

“Fucking cure us now!”

“Sorry sailor. That would be insubordination. Die quietly like your Captain ordered you to.”

//Ship wide alert. Prisoner and two escorts injured, Medical attention required.//

I set that fucker on repeat and mind texted Mel not to respond. I don’t see any of the other alerts, it seems the CO is blocking me in regular comms. This feels like he might actually keep me in the brig instead of proving a point.

Lt. Boone and two security team members show up and tell me where the CO is at. Boone asks me questions but my hands are literal tied and my throat abused, so I wheeze and wiggle my fingers behind my back to showcase. I get beat by thug one and thug two for my efforts and thrown into an honest to goodness jail cell for my efforts.

How did I even get here. Fuck you Universe. I was just trying to save a friend with a side of mischief, and here I am, letting two douche canoes die while a friend may still be dying. I did try, but I also egged them on? Did I arrange for their suicides?

Wait, no. They were beating you because they could. The first Aether spit was accidental. The Second was a trap for the abusive meat head. He made the choice to abuse me, after knowing the possible consequences.

>P] Meli bae, I’m kind of in a bad way. Did Petra get her dose?! [<

>M] You knew they were going to hurt you. [<

>P] I suspected. I’m sorry if that hurt you. [<

>M] I almost stole a GUN penny. A GUN. I can feel them hurting you, and I can’t anymore. I just want to hurt them back and I fucking need to vent on someone. I’m so angry baby, so angry I just want to hurt something!! [<

>P] Punish some scrap for me. Turn it into a full hull, keep Ivanka Baiul from falling apart. Thank you for trying with Petra. It may not . . .{<

>M] She’s improving already Pen pen. Your miracle is working. [<

Eat my dick, Captain. Just eat that juicy fucker.