Mark “Coop” Cooper

Location: Thurgood Station, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Heads turned as Coop and Eve walked hand-in-hand down Thurgood Station’s main concourse. The place was packed with the flow of humanity, but despite that, a small bubble had formed around them. It was probably because they were the two biggest people in sight, which obviously pointed to them being military, and not average military at that. Despite that being the obvious reason, Coop liked to think it was because they were the best-looking people in the concourse and people were respecting that. It was a pipe dream, but to him, everything since Eve took his arm felt like a dream.

He’d thought long and hard about his feelings for Eve. She wasn’t his first love. That title belonged to Hailey, although he hesitated to call it love. Fuck buddies with a mutual interest in survival was a better description, but if he really sat down and thought about it there might have been something deeper. Still, even a stubborn, wool-headed man like Coop could see that Hailey’s own career aspirations, and their violent reunion, weren’t conducive to rekindling a relationship.

His own reunion with Eve at the start of their SRRT tour together wasn’t all sunshine and daisies, but things had thawed since then. They’d found their rhythm just like back in Basic. Coop knew a little more now. He wasn’t a stupid PHA Rat anymore, but she still had a leg up on him with her Ranger training. He was more than happy to play her right-hand man. It was familiar, and they worked well together.

In Basic, that had led to the best weekend of his life. He still had wet dreams about it. Sometimes, before he’d found Aiko, and had to settle for some fair-priced hooker, he imagined Eve’s face and body writhing beneath him. Hookers didn’t care whose name he shouted out during orgasm as long as he paid.

Needless to say, he had high hopes for the evening, but he also wondered what Eve’s intentions were. Past Coop wouldn’t have given two shits what the girl wanted as long as he got his dick wet, but Present Coop had evolved a little. He’d fought fellow PHA Rats, pirates, hulking mechs, and even alien squids. He was by no means changing his cavaliering ways, but he’d taken enough lives to know it was short. Even with cellular rejuvenation therapies, all it took was one well-placed bullet to punch your time card. Because of that experience, he was a firm believer of living life to the fullest, and right now that meant trying to get back into Eve Berg’s panties. Although, judging by the dress, she might not be wearing any.

He nearly walked into a vending machine when that thought crossed his mind. He tried to play it off like nothing, but her sharp eyes caught it, and the way they twinkled made him think she knew what he was thinking.

Coop wondered. Not that it deterred him one bit. In fact, it made this game they were playing that much more exciting.

Coop had another ten minutes to think over Eve’s motivations before they took a lift up to the higher levels. Like most space stations, the level you were on was a status symbol. All the machinery that allowed humans to function in space was in the bowels of the station, and the people that needed to fix that stuff tended to live close by. People who tended to manage the people who fixed things lived farther away along with people who’d moved to the station to sell goods and services. Some services took the newcomers closer to the machinery, and others farther away. Inevitably, the rich and powerful ended up in the rarified, artificial atmosphere with breathtaking views of the cosmos, while the people who kept the gears turning didn’t see anything but artificial light.

The restaurant Coop had selected was near the top, because a hundred grand was a small price to pay to make it with Eve. Her eyes widened slightly as they exited the lift at their destination, which was a good thing. The hostess at the door gave them a glance to see if they passed muster. Neither of them were shoddily dressed, but they didn’t exactly scream blue-in-the-eye either. She scanned Coop’s GIC for his reservation, and seemed slightly surprised that it beeped green back at her. He’d had to put a deposit down for the reservation, and he smiled smugly back at her when she took them to their seats.

Out of habit, Coop scanned the rooms for threats, opportunities, exits, and developed a strategy for multiple scenarios before he even sat down. Like a gentleman, he held out Eve’s chair and let her sit first. It made him feel like he was living in a holo-drama.

“Wipe the grin off your face,” Eve’s reprimand was robbed of its power by the smile tugging at her lips.

“Yes, Boss Lady,” Coop fell back on the title he’d given her in Basic, and her smile fully formed.

He took his own seat and the wine guy arrived. He had a fancy name that Coop couldn’t pronounce, but wine guy summed up his duties nicely. Coop let Eve order the bottle because he knew nothing about it. He thought the guy would leave and give them a chance to talk, but he stayed by the table until another man appeared with the requested bottle. Two sip-sized portions were poured into actual-glass cups and provided to them. She swirled it around, sniffed it, and took the time to savor the taste before nodding her approval. Coop just threw his back and nodded. It was a bit sharper than he liked, but he was used to cheap beer at strip clubs. Tonight was about Eve. Whatever she wanted, she got.

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“So,” Eve placed her napkin in her lap and turned her gaze on him. “You’re really pulling out all the stops, Coop. You trying to get lucky?” She cut right to the point.

“You wound me,” he replied mockingly and placed his hand over his injured heart. “Can’t I take you out to a nice dinner?”

“No,” she replied matter-of-factly. “You never do anything for free. You’re hoping to get laid. I’d respect you more if you came out and said it.”

Coop bought himself a second to think by taking a sip of water.

“Of course I want to fuck you. Who wouldn’t? And having done so before, I can guarantee that I won’t be the only one having a good time.” He laid it all out on the table.

“Honesty from Mark Cooper. I never thought I’d see that day.” Eve’s return smile said volumes about his chances.

He could barely contain his enthusiasm.

“On the other hand, we are eating dinner on a hundred-grand chip that you got for doing your job. A chip you should never have accepted in the first place, and a chip you told me you were going to share with the rest of the team.” With a few words, all of his hopes and dreams came tumbling down. It must have showed on his face, because Eve let out a short laugh. “Relax, Coop. You’re secret is safe with me as long as it doesn’t harm anyone or endanger the mission or the team.”

“They’ll never even know about it,” Coop guaranteed, as new life was breathed into his chances.

The waiter arrived and put a hold on the conversation until they’d ordered. There was a five-course, pre-prepared meal available, and that was something their enhanced metabolisms would healthily embrace.

It was a steady stream of good food and conversation from then on. He even forgot about boning her until the dessert course. Surprisingly enough, she was the one who brought it up over some type of cheesecake that Coop swore had drugs baked into the crust.

“I’ve booked a private room at a cheap motel for the night,” Eve stated conversationally as if she was talking about the weather. “It’s not quite a by-the-hour establishment, but its close. I don’t plan on doing much sleeping, so it’ll do.”

Coop nearly choked on the delicious dessert and had to smack himself in the chest to dislodge the creamy content. “Um…ok.” He didn’t know what else to say.

Eve primly put down her fork like a queen and regarded Coop with a serious expression. “I want to propose an arrangement with you.”

“Ok. I’m listening.” He nearly threw his own utensil onto the table. Something told him this was important.

“I have certain physical needs that I can’t pretend I don’t have around you anymore.” She said the words confidently, but it was as close as Coop had ever heard to her saying he made her horny. “Due to our enhancements it is difficult to be with other people.”

Coop translated, but continued to pay attention.

“My proposition is simple. We fuck when and where we want. I will make the Sergeant Major aware of our relationship, but since we are the same rank it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Coop knew the LCDR was screwing the LT in his free time, so there shouldn’t be anything stopping him and Eve.

“I have a few conditions though.” Her eyes grew serious. She’d dangled the carrot, but the threat of the stick was there as well. “First, when we are together, it’s just you and me. I don’t want you checking out the petty officer’s ass unless you’re planning to tap mine. Got it.”

“Got it.” Coop would never pass up that opportunity.

“Second, and this is for your benefit, this is only when we’re stationed together. When we inevitably get transferred, we’re both free to screw around with anyone else we want. I’m not looking for marriage and a family; only fun and the occasional stress fuck after things go to shit on a mission and we make it back alive.”

“Understood,” Coop nodded.

he thought as Eve laid out the best-case relationship.

“Lastly, I don’t want any more of this shit from you.” She waved her hand at Coop.

“What, the dinner?” Now he was confused.

“No, taking the money chip from the diplomat. Engaging in shady shit when we’re on planet, or any of the other questionable stuff I know you’re up to. I’m not going to kill my career by being associated with that. Understood?”

Coop hesitated, but then he remembered her thighs wrapped around him in that motel outside Stewart-Benning… “Clear as crystal, Boss Lady,” he replied confidently.

“Good.” She popped the rest of the cheesecake in her mouth and smiled. “Pay the tab and let’s get out of here. I appreciate the effort of a refined meal together, but I need a stiff drink in a dive bar on the lower decks. We might have an agreement, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ply me with liberal amounts of alcohol first, Sergeant.” The way she said his rank sent a thrill through him.

“Your wish is my command.” He signaled the waiter, paid the man, and grabbed Eve by the hand. She giggled a bit at the speed which they left the fancy restaurant, boarded the lift, and headed back down to the lower decks.

Inside the crowded lift, her hand found his quad and gave it a squeeze. It was like being struck by lightning, and he jumped at the sensation. “Sorry.” He apologized to a small man he nearly flattened against the wall in the process. The man just grumbled and got off at the first opportunity.

They got off shortly after on a deck where the smell of cooked meat, spilled beer, and artificial fragrances trying to overtake working-men’s body odor was the norm. Coop selected the first bar he could find and pushed open the old-fashioned door. The chatter in the place nearly stopped when Coop and Eve entered, and all eyes went to her.

he scowled at everyone and headed right for the bar.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” he whispered to her as the set themselves up and got their drinks. A line of men already looked like they were working up the courage to come talk to her.

Eve just smiled in return.

he thought. She was testing him again, trying to see if he was worthy in the oldest way known to mankind: by seeing if he was the alpha among the gathered males.

Coop cracked his knuckles and neck in anticipation. The men in the bar were a rough bunch, who’d had enough to drink to think it was a good idea to take on someone his height and weight.

Coop intercepted a man’s hand as it went to pinch Eve’s ass. Eve would have taken the guy’s head off before he got within a meter of her, but she was putting her honor in his hands. But he knew the reward was worth it.