Orbital Academy X

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by MaddiroseX

(Did you love this story? Hate it? Want a sequel? Please let me
know at maddirosex@gmail.com!)

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"We can't leave them Captain, please, we can't leave them
behind!"
Jane didn't trust herself to respond to Missy's pleading. She
continued her task, working calculations to determine the
planet's rotation since they'd landed. Jackson sat next to her,
doing similar calculations to determine the vectors of the
orbitals around the planet. The work was going slowly since the
rest of the ground team was refusing to help.
"You know that Missy is right Captain," Aimee backed up her
friend, "if the positions were reversed, the others would come
for us."
"They probably would," Jane's voice was hoarse, but it didn't
waver, "because I'm not there to stop them. I'm with you, and
later you'll realize that keeping you from rushing off is saving
your life."
"Captain," Missy's voice was steady too, Jane noted with a touch
of surprise, "I will knowingly risk my life if there's even the
slightest chance of-"
"There isn't the slightest chance," Jane cut her off, flicking
the switch to prepare the pod. The open walls around them slowly
closed, switching from an open command center to an airtight
spaceworthy craft. "The chance of rescue is zero, Missy. I know
you don't want to hear that, and believe me, I know how much it
hurts, but they're gone. They're done."
"Their beacons still show up on scanners. They're not dead."


Jane kept her back turned to the girl, adjusting the takeoff
angles according to her and Jackson's calculations. It was hard
to think straight, the faces of her rookies floating through her
mind, but she knew she was making the right choice. She also
knew, vaguely, that she should be supportive for the rookies who
were still with her, but she was still too dull with shock to
even begin to support someone else. Her voice came out too flat,
too blunt.
"They *are* dead. They may've survived the crash, but the Terrans
will get to them before we can."
"Maybe not. You said the Terrans would find us in a few hours,
and they haven't attacked us yet. Maybe the Terrans just aren't
coming."
"Rookie Dorson," Jane tried to throw her authority behind her
voice, but it just came out tired and worn, "your squadmates have
been killed in action. We will miss them, and we will mourn them,
but if we do not get this pod off the ground as soon as humanly
possible we will join them in death."


Some of Jane's former students had been killed in planetary runs
before, of course. Enough of the Academy's Lieutenant-levels were
lost that it would be a miracle if she hadn't. In theory this
should've been no different, but Jane couldn't convince herself
of that. Hearing about a KIA former student was different than
being on the mission with them. These rookies were under her
direct command, and even though there was no way the satflyer's
loss of power could be her fault, she felt personally responsible
for their deaths. She had been steeling herself since they had
broken through the fog, knowing that according to the odds she
would either lose some rookies or die herself. Even prepared, it
hurt on a level so deep that she found it hard to breath. The
loss was somehow so much greater with this squad...not just
Marcus, but Julia, Tess, Preston and Alex. All gone. All because
she had been so confident in boasting about their abilities.
"Fire it up," she said quietly to Jackson, "I'll get us in the
air." She turned to the flight panel, but was stopped short by
the barrel of a pistol.


"I'm sorry, Captain Appet," Missy stood a few feet away, her aim
steady, "I can't leave them behind." Jane stared wearily at the
pistol aimed at her chest. *At least she's not aiming for the
head,* she thought, dispassionately, *not risking a miss if I
suddenly dodge one way or the other. Good form, at least.* The
other three rookies were watching the situation, silent and
still. Jane noted that they weren't helping her, but she hardly
cared. Missy was still talking.
"Jackson, power the engines down and open the panels-"
Jane moved in a smooth motion, closing the distance between them
with a single step, left hand swinging up to grab Missy's gun
hand, right hand stabbing forward to jab two fingers into the
vulnerable tendons in the girl's wrist. Missy didn't cry out,
although she did pale at what Jane knew was excruciating pain.
Typically Jane would follow up with a vicious elbow to the elbow
to snap the bone, or into the throat if she wanted her target
incapacitated. This time she refrained, and the pistol was
already clattering to the floor. Why bother? Missy would already
be unable to move the fingers of her right hand for awhile. Who
could even say if the girl was wrong for trying to force her to
rescue the rest of the squad?


She moved on to the flight panel without a word, leaving Missy to
hold her temporarily ruined wrist as the pod shuddered to life.
Through the hum of the engines starting up Jane could hear her
break down into tears.
"She was under duress," Aimee was standing with an arm around
Missy, Li hovering nearby, "please, don't hold this against
her..."
"Missy wanted to help her squadmates," Jane said, without
emotion, "I can't let her throw our lives away, but I can't fault
her for loyalty."
"I l-l-love him!" Missy's face had been buried in Aimee's
shoulder as she cried, but she whirled to scream the words at
Jane, "I love him more than anything, more than being alive! If I
could trade my life for his I would do it in a heartbeat! You
can't understand that kind of love! Not loyalty, love!"
Jane let the girl scream, her face blank. When Missy turned back
in a fresh burst of tears, she turned to the window, looking past
the surface that fell away.


***


"I swear I don't usually do this kind of thing on a first date,"
Rookie Jane Cripshaw panted, leaning back to break the deep kiss.
"I didn't think you did," her date said respectfully, but there
was a glint of a grin in his eye.
"Patrick! I mean it!" Jane smacked him on the shoulder, a motion
made more bearable by the fact that she was sitting on his lap,
straddling him.
"Ooh, your boobs jiggle when you're violent, do it again,"
Patrick teased, leaning forward and planting a kiss between her
naked breasts before she could hit him again.
"I just want to make it clear that you're lucky, that's all,"
Jane leaned back, letting him tease her skin and raise goosebumps
along the back of her neck.
"Mmm," Patrick agreed in a muffled voice, nuzzling first one,
then the other, as his hands slid along the waistband of her
pants. He was taking his time, and Jane was grateful for the
fact. She liked the sensations so far, but she wanted to enjoy
this little adventure. When he pulled back looked up at her, his
expression was so intense that she shivered again.
"So if this isn't your normal first date, what is making you
behave so delightfully out-of-character then?" He asked, his tone
incredibly casual as his fingers followed the curve of her back
down beneath her pants.
"It's the uniform, probably, I'm a sucker for a guy in uniform"
Jane grinned, lifting ever so slightly to allow his hand to cup
her ass. Patrick squeezed and made a low appreciative noise in
the back of his throat.


She rose from his lap, smiling at the disappointed look on his
face, and took a step back.
"I guess it just seemed...like it's the right time, you know?"
She gave his question more serious consideration as she shimmied
out of her pants. They got caught around her ankles awkwardly,
and blushing Jane stumblingly extracted herself from them as
Patrick watched. She kept on talking to try to save face,
"I mean my entire life is going to be dedicated to the Academy
starting tomorrow, that's the kind of thing that makes a girl
think hard about what she's done with her life so far."
"Makes sense," Patrick replied thoughtfully, removing his shirt
with one smooth motion, his pants with another. Jane was shocked,
first by the rippling muscle that had been hiding beneath the
loose clothes, then at the realization of just how easily he had
slipped out of them.
"You're...really practiced at that," she stammered.
"Like you said, girls like the uniform," Patrick's grin was
charming and mischievous at the same time, "it's not my first
time."
"Um..." Jane took a faltering step forward, then stood in front
of him, naked and awkward and uncertain. "It's...it is mine,
sort of." Patrick's eyebrows shot up, and he looked her up and
down again, as if he was both appreciating her nude body and also
trying to discern something about her.
"Really?"
"Well, that's why I'm doing this. I don't want to go to the
Academy a virgin, and you're hot and a pilot, which I really
like, and we probably won't be interacting at the Academy much,
so there's no risk of drama...sorry, I sound really manipulative
right now..." Jane bit her lip to stop her own babbling.


Patrick reached forward suddenly and grabbed her wrist, pulling
her back onto his lap where she straddled him again.
"You've put a lot of thought into this," he teased, pulling her
forward even further so that her forehead rested against his.
"I probably sound pretty crazy," Jane murmured. She could feel
his penis, surprisingly warm, against her thigh, and the feeling
made her heart beat quicker. "You don't have to worry about it
being super special or anything, I just want to know what it
feels like, before my whole life is swept into chaos."
"Understandable," Patrick's voice was quiet, "and I like that
you're trusting me with your first time. Believe me, doing this
with you *is* special."
Jane blushed harder at his words than at the fact that she sat
naked on top of him. Her hands slid across his broad chest, and
she tried for a moment to forget about the warmth that was
building between her legs.
"You don't have to say things like that," she whispered, "I told
you, it's fine. I'm awkward and it's my first time so I'm
probably going to suck at it, you don't have to pretend."
Patrick's hand was around her waist, the other sliding up and
down across her stomach.
"I assure you," he replied, "there is nothing pretend about
this."


His lips pressed against hers, and Jane relaxed and leaned into
the kiss. His hands were so strong, and everywhere they touched
seemed to light a brief fire of sensation. He barely touched her
where she ached for him, instead grazing in unexpected places and
somehow turning them into erogenous zones. His fingers brushed
along her shoulders and made them buzz, his touch on her stomach
sent tingles into her, and when he brushed his fingertips along
her cheekbone and down her neck it made her toes curl. His tongue
flicked over hers, and everything was too much, too mean, too
intense. Jane didn't want to cum yet, but he was turning her
entire body into a sex organ, and she couldn't stand it any
longer. She shifted her position on Patrick's naked lap, moving
so that his member pressed between her legs. He seemed surprised
that she wanted him so soon, but he grinned, shifting his hips a
little so that his head pressed against her opening.


Jane braced herself, but the shock of penetration didn't come.
Instead he began kissing
her again, and the onslaught of sensation from his hands
continued. It took her a while to realize that he was letting her
proceed in her own time, giving her pleasure but letting her
decide when she wanted to go ahead. Jane continued kissing, but
let her kisses travel down from Patrick's lips to the side of his
neck. She was wet, her pussy throbbed and with each heartbeat she
was more and more aware of his hardness pressing against it. As
she flicked her tongue over his neck, he made a small feral sound
of approval, and the sound was enough to make up her mind.
Holding tight to his shoulders, Jane slammed her hips down,
impaling herself on Patrick's cock.


She let out a cry of surprise and pain. In hurt much more than
she had expected it to, but it also felt so good that she wasn't
quite sure how to process the feeling. Although he had grunted
when she pushed down on him, Patrick held absolutely still,
watching her with a small smile on his lips. Slowly the pain
began to fade, but the feelings of fullness and pleasure hadn't
dissipated. Jane experimentally moved her hips a little, and was
rewarded with a flush of ecstasy, a rush of pure sexual pleasure.
There was no hesitance after that, she began moving her hips in
earnest, moving his length around inside of her body and loving
every sensation. His arms were wrapped around her, making her
feel safe and warm as she rode him. The sensations pulsing
through her wet sex were unique and powerful, building an orgasm
up faster than she would've thought possible.


It was like nothing she had felt before. He was stretching her
further than her fingers, stretching her so perfectly and filling
her so deep. He was warmer than a toy, with his arms around her
and his chest pressed against her breasts. He was hotter than a
fantasy, with his fingers continuing to stroke and caress in ways
that wouldn't even occur to her to fantasize about. She rocked
her hips back and forth, gasping as he hit places she hadn't
discovered on her own.


Even without experience Jane could tell when he came. She was
surprised at how minutely she could feel the twitches and spasms
of his cock, at how sudden and hot it was when he released inside
of her. She kept on riding, chasing her own orgasm as she slid up
and down him, pain forgotten. Her sensitive pussy felt the second
when he started to grow soft inside of her, and she whimpered.
*No, not yet, I'm so close...* Patrick leaned back with a
confident grin, reached down, and gently flicked her swollen
clit. Jane threw her head back and sighed as she came, the unique
feeling of a cock inside of her making the experience that much
better. Even with him growing soft she felt full and satisfied,
sitting on top of him shaking and coming, his arm around her
waist. When she finally slid back, letting his spent member slide
out of her slit, she wore a grin that matched his.
"So, about us not interacting at the Academy..." Patrick said.
"Well...maybe we could interact a little bit..." Jane sighed,
leaning her head against his strong chest.


***


Captain Jane kept her eyes closed, even as she awoke. She made
sure to listen the deep breaths, punctuated by occasional
shuddering, that indicated Missy was asleep before she opened
them. Li and Aimee were also asleep, Aimee's head in Li's lap,
holding hands in their sleep. At the window, Jackson stood alert
and attentive, looking down at the planet's surface.
"What are you doing?" Jane asked quietly.
"Marking out positional data." Jackson didn't seem startled, and
his eyes never left the window as he answered, "in case the
Terrans clear the satflyer away by the time we return, so we'll
know where they went down."
"Jackson I already told you all, we're not-"
"Captain, with all due respect." Jackson interrupted her, turning
eyes towards her that were intense, unblinking. Jane was startled
at that look. *Has he always been that intense?*
"I understand why you gave the order that you did," Jackson
continued, "You are bound by rules, as are we all. As an Academy
trainee I understand that there are correct and incorrect ways of
getting what you want. Missy's way was incorrect. When we reach
the Academy I plan on forwarding an HCJ report, requesting an
official rescue operation under the provisions. All HCJ reports
go straight to the General, and since he reccomended our squad
for this mission, he's the most likely to approve a rescue."
Jane blinked. "That's very...practical of you, Jackson," she
said, unsure of how to respond to her Rookie's cool-headedness.
"Thank you, Captain."
"But there's no way the General will approve a rescue mission.
And even if he did, there's no way our air team will survive long
enough to be rescued."
"Either way, insubordination won't help them, and identifying how
to reach them will," Jackson replied calmly, "if the official
routes won't work, I'll just have to come up with another course
of action."
Jane found that vaguely ominous, moreso when it was delivered in
Jackson's quiet, deadpan voice.


"What exactly is it that your augments do, Jackson?" Jane asked.
The only other person she knew who had a CPU in his head was
Arthur, and Jackson acted very different. He wasn't charming or
magnetic, he was simply...solid. Solid and quiet, always
unrattled, like a stone.
"Didn't your files fill you in Captain?" Jackson didn't seem
offended or worried.
"They just said that you had them, and a little bit about why,"
Jane admitted.
"Then I would prefer to leave it at that ma'am," Jackson turned
back to the window.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I got us into all of this,
truly. I'm sorry I lost them."
"I don't blame you, Captain. None of us do, or at least they
won't once they've calmed down. We know you care about us."
"Some would say I care about you too much," Jane half-smiled,
then frowned. *Not that it matters anymore...now that Marcus...*
She suddenly didn't want to talk about this subject anymore, not
when the thought of Marcus felt like an emotional punch in the
gut.
"People care too much about trivial things," Jackson seemed
thoughtful, "it's not as if we're all children. Only busybodies
think sleeping with your rookies is inappropriate."
"I suppose," Jane said briefly.


***


"Sleeping with your rookies is completely inappropriate!" Jane
Cripshaw squeaked in dismay. She squeaked quietly, even though
the room they were in was completely deserted, as if the walls
themselves would spread rumors.
"Why is it suddenly inappropriate?" Lieutenant Patrick Appet
grinned, "has something changed between now and say, a week ago?"
"I didn't know you would be my instructor a week ago!" Jane tried
to lower her voice, but it still came out a squeak, "you didn't
tell me, you asshole!"
"Hey, that's not fair," Patrick grew uncharacteristically serious
for a moment, "they didn't even tell me I'd be teaching a rookie
class until I got back to the orbital; apparently they didn't
have enough free captains. And for the record, I didn't get my
class roster until the evening before the ceremony. I found out a
whole twenty four hours before you did."
"Oh..." a little of the righteous anger retreated from Jane,
leaving her able to speak without squeaking, "...well I...retract
the asshole comment then, I suppose."
"Excellent."
"But we still can't have sex!"
"Why is that? Are you a virgin?" Patrick teased, stepping
forward, and Jane skittered backward, away from him.
"You're still my instructor! It's not appropriate!"


He searched her face, as if only just now realizing she was
serious. When he seemed to have convinced himself, he looked a
tad disappointed, but he shrugged.
"Alright then, I suppose. You're missing out," he winked, "but
you're allowed your reasoning."
"I know I'm missing out," Jane said, *fuck do I know it...* "but
I just wouldn't feel right about it. Not with you as my
instructor."
"I won't pressure you then," Patrick reached out and chucked her
under the chin affectionately, "even if you're being a naive
moron."
"I'm sorry," Jane really was, "being with you is fun...a lot of
fun. But right now, I'm not comfortable being anything but
friends."
"I'll take friends," Patrick smiled, already opening the door of
the empty room.
"And I swear," Jane added mischieviously, "the day I graduate and
you're no longer my instructor, I'm hunting you down and fucking
your brains out."
"I'm totally holding you to that, Rooke Cripshaw."


***


Jane barely even noticed when the pod broke through the green
fog. It was the second time she had seen the windows suddenly
clear, evil fog changing to beautiful stars. It was the second
time she hadn't been in the mood to appreciate the sight.


***


"Ladies and gentlemen!" Center stood unsteadily, one foot on the
chair, the other planted firmly in the middle of the table. His
shout had garnered attention from the entire mess hall, and he
drunkenly smiled at the upturned faces around him. "Today, my
squad an' I have *hic*, 'scuse me, graduated to
Lieutenant-level!" Even the strangers at the mess joined them in
a cheer, a celebratory shout that echoed off the walls of the
room. Center clearly had more to say, but his squaddies pulled
him back down before he could use up the room's collective
patience.
"Lieutenant Center, you are drunk," Jane laughed, grabbing his
drink from him as he groped for it.
"I think we've all earned a good drunkening, Lieutenant Cripshaw
ma'am," Center pulled off a perfect salute that melted into a
awkward muddle at the end, sending the whole squad into laughter.
"He's got a point Lieutenant," Lily grinned, lifting her hand to
indicate another round of drinks.
"This 'calling each other Lieutenant' crap is gonna get old real
fast, knock it off," Patrick growled good naturedly.
"Aw c'mon Patrick," Jack-pip elbowed him, "do you know how
fuckin' miserable those exams were? We worked our asses off for
the right to call each other Lieutenant."
"And anyways, we're Lieutenants too now! You no longer outrack
us, *squaddie*" Jane teased. The rest of the squadmates burst
into laughter again, and for the rest of the meal took great
delight in refusing him every time he asked for a chip or another
drink. The squaddies chatted and talked long past the mess hall's
normal closing hours, until one by one they wandered off towards
the barracks, going to sleep early in preparation for the big day
tomorrow.


"How long we known each other now, Rook?" Patrick asked
thoughtfully, after Acren had left, leaving the only Jane and him
alone at the table..
"Come on Patrick, when are you gonna stop calling me that?" Jane
whined, "it's been two years since I was a rookie."
"I've been your teacher for those two years, I'm allowed,"
Patrick puffed up his chest, "I can call you whippersnappers
whatever the hell I want." He grew serious again,"but listen
Jane. We've gotten close, over these years, yea? It's not just me
who feels it?"
"Course it's not just you," the serious tone was sobering, and
she didn't like it, "what kinda question is that? You're my best
friend, you know that. What's the deal with you this evening?"
"I know that. And you're the best friend I have Jane-"
"Your only friend," Jane muttered, but Patrick made an impatient
motion as if brushing her smartass comment aside.
"I just think...things can be different, now that I'm your
teammate instead of your instructor. Can't they?"
"Patrick," Jane rolled her eyes, "if this is about my promise to
fuck you when you weren't my instructor anymore, you don't need
to worry, I haven't forgotten. I mean, if you're still
interested..."
"Need I remind you that *you're* the one who's been forcing us to
wait this long. I would've dropped my pants for you the first
day." Patrick grinned, but he still seemed hesitant.


"What?" Jane asked. She was starting to get worried,
self-conscious, "you *do* still want me too, don't you? Or has
getting to know me better soured your feelings about me?"
"What? No!" Patrick seemed startled, "the opposite, actually. The
more I get to know you, the more I enjoy your company."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I'm just interested in more with you. More than just the
fucking."
Jane blinked, trying to gauge if he was being serious.
"What do you mean...'more' like dating?"
Patrick spread his hands in response, clearly waiting to see what
she thought of the idea. Jane sat stunned for a moment, hope and
disbelief warring inside her. Before the academy Patrick had
simply been a hot guy in a uniform, someone convenient. In the
first year with him as her instructor she had developed a
schoolgirl crush, one that she only resisted because, true to his
word, Lieutenant Appet had never made another advance to her. In
the second year, Pilot Cripshaw's crush had matured into a fierce
loyalty and friendship, a relationship somewhat deeper but
plagued by sexual tension. She knew he saw her as a good friend,
and she was fairly sure that he looked forward to their promised
fucking almost as much as she did...but that he felt the same
affection about her had never crossed her mind.


"I think..." Jane said slowly, "that that would be alright." The
grin that broke across his face was instant, warming her from the
inside out.
"Just as an experiment, to see how it works out," she warned,
"I'm sure I'll fuck it up eventually, so be prepared for that."
"Oh I'm sure you will," Patrick teased. In spite of herself, Jane
grinned back at him. The warm feeling wasn't going away...there
he was, her schoolgirl crush, her hero, her first, and he looked
as happy about having her as she had ever seen him before. *Not
to mention how fucking hot he is...* Jane mentally added. The
warmth in her heart was spreading to other areas...areas that
needed his attention.
"So...how about that fuck?" she cut straight to the point, not
bothering with coyness or subtlety.
"Believe me when I say how much I want it," Patrick chuckled,
"but we've got a planetary to run and not a lot of time to sleep
for it. We've waited this long, let's give it one more night."
Jane wanted to argue, but it *was* her first planetary. She would
need to be at the top of her game tomorrow.
"One more night," she growled, rising from the table, "after that
I'm coming for you, Appet."
"Oh you definitely will be," Patrick grinned.
Shocked that she had left him with such a clear opening, Jane
turned up her nose and walked away with a sniff.


***


"Attention temp pod, this is Pilot Gammon, we are within range
and ready to latch tow lines," the comm crackled. The others were
awake, and Captain Appet could feel their eyes on her as she
walked across the small pod to reach the comms.
"Roger that Pilot Gammon," she said without feeling, "bracing for
impact."
The pod shuddered as the towlines his, and the entire room jerked
as Gammon began pulling them towards the orbital. Jane held onto
the desk, staring blankly at the dull lights to avoid turning and
meeting the gaze of Li, Aimee, Missy and Jackson. Her four
surviving rookies. Pulsing blue indicators on the dash showed
that the others were technically still alive, somewhere, or at
least alive enough that their bodies were still powering their
subdermal computers. Jane turned her back on the display. She
would rather meet the others' gaze than be watching when the
lights went out. None of the rookies met her eyes. *They're never
going to forgive me,* Jan realized, *hell, I can't even say that
I blame them.*


***


"GET INTO THE FUCKING POD," Jane shrieked, her fingers hovering
over the red button, eyes wide with horror. Lily stumbled as she
ran down the hill towards the ground team's temp pod, but
miraculously was able to turn the stumble into a roll. To Jane's
left, Arthur was taking shots at the Terrans whenever they showed
themselves from behind the trees, but the blue-haired combatants
were using some kind of shielding; sending the shots wide or
absorbing them. Lily lost her footing yet again, which saved her
life as a gout of blue flame flew past where she had been
standing a moment ago. With a final burst of speed, Lily threw
herself into the pod, and Jane slammed the button down.


Arthur continued suppressive fire until the walls of the ground
pod closed completely, while Jane flicked the switches to set the
engines began spinning. The pod shook as it slowly rose from the
ground, hammered from the outside by blue fire, but the damage
wasn't enough to keep them from taking off. Jane glanced around
the room, confirming that Arthur and Lily were safely inside as
the pod rose slowly into the air.
"It's alright, we're all inside, we're all okay," Arthur said
soothingly, reading her distress with the help of the CPU in his
head. Jane slumped to the ground, shaking.
"They came so fast!" She said with a shuddering breath, "how did
they find us so fast?"
"Ground team come in, are you safe?" Patrick's voice sounded
strained on the comms.
"We're safe, just took off," Lily gasped, holding her side,
"everyone accounted for, we'll hit the fog layer and be away in a
few minutes. How about you?"
"We're...we're not doing too well."
Jane identified a tone that she had missed the first time and
sprang to the window. With the rising motion of the pod, Jane had
to scan the sky for a moment before she caught sight of the
satflyer.


There were creatures swarming the satflyer. Though they were hard
to make out at distance, Jane thought she could count about six
or seven of them. They flitted back and forth, first hovering,
then moving quickly in sharp, straight angles of flight. The
satflyer's guns were firing off in brief but constant bursts of
fire, seeming more focused on keeping the creatures at bay than
at hitting them.
"Air team this is ground team," Jane could hear Lily trying to
keep calm, "we're away! Get out of there!"
"Roger that ground team," even as Patrick's voice sounded over
the comms, escape pods began firing out from the top of the
satflyer, leaving long columns of smoke in their wake. Jane
counted them as they flew up into the fog. *...two...three...*
"Everyone's out!" Lily was no longer using proper transmission
protocols, but no one cared. They were all transfixed by the
sight of the satflyer, and by the tiny specks that were attacking
it.
"Patrick, take off! Everyone's safe!" Lily's voice had risen to a
high pitch.


"We're not safe," Jane said quietly, with horror. The temporary
pod had risen quite a ways before the creatures noticed it, but
now they were beginning to group up into two separate swarms.
Four of them continued harassing the satflyer, swooping in close
and then ducking back in the air when the guns opened fire. The
second group of four had swung around, and were heading towards
the ground pod.
"They know we don't have weapons," Jane realized aloud. The pod
had grown deathly silent. "Patrick, those...things are coming at
us," Lily said, her voice grim, "they know we can't keep them
away."
"Copy that, ground team. How much longer before you hit the fog?"
"...one and a half minutes."
*Too long,* Jane felt herself slipping into a strange sort of
morbid calm. The creatures would reach the defenseless ground pod
before they hit the fog.


The flying things were close enough that Jane could see their
features now. They were naked women, or at least partly so. Their
arms were warped and twisted, forming wide feathered wings. At
the knee their skin became tough and leathery, ending in
three-toed claws. Their mouths were a little too big to seem
human, their eyes a little too wild. Although she'd never seen a
Harp in person, Jane had heard enough to know what they were
capable of.
"Ground team..." Patrick paused for a moment.
*He'd better finish his sentence quick,* Jane thought dully, *it
won't take the Harps long to rip through the walls once they get
to us.*
"...listen, Arthur, you know me better than anyone, with your
chip. You know what I'd have to say."
"Don't you fucking dare," Arthur roared into the comm, but
Patrick was still talking, his speech rushed now.
"Lily, that thing we talked about last week? The answer is yes,
of course yes. You've always been strong enough, and I've always
known that." Jane looked confusedly back and forth between her
squaddies. Arthur looked furious, Lily's eyes were watering.
*Why is he bothering to tell us things like this now?* she
wondered, *why does it matter when he knows we're about to die?*
"And Jane...listen," she had never heard him sound so deadly
serious, which was appropriate, she supposed, "it would've
worked. You weren't some experiment to me. It would've worked all
the way to the end, all the way until you were Mrs. Lieutenant
Appet."


The full realization of what he was about to do hit Jane just as
the first shots grazed the pod. The  Harps that were attacking
them were caught completely off-guard; Jane could see the shocked
expression on the face of one as it was blown away. The other
three spun, trying to dodge and spin out of the way of the
barrage that the satflyer was firing. A second Harp was blown out
of the sky, and the other two broke off, spinning in quick dives
towards the surface to escape. Jane's attention wasn't on them,
it was on the satflyer itself. As soon as the guns had turned to
assist the temp pod, the first group of Harps had swung in, using
sharp claws and oversized tough teeth to rip away strips and
bites of metal from its sides.


Jane couldn't cry, couldn't look away, as the specks disappeared
from sight, crawling through the holes and into the satflyer. The
windows of the pod were suddenly obscured, covered by roiling
green fog.
"P-Patrick no," she gasped, "no no no no." Her mind seemed
fractured somehow, broken into pieces that refused to carry a
thought from beginning to completion.
"Patrick no," if she said it enough times, it wouldn't be true,
"no, I love you, no"
The comm crackled, his voice staticky through the distortion of
the fog.
"I love you too Jane."


The screams only filled the radio for a few seconds before she
slammed her hand down on the switch, shutting it off. She wasn't
sure when it stopped and when it was replaced with her own
screaming. In one of the fractured pieces of her mind she thought
his scream might never stop.


***


Captain Appet tried to ignore the ten-year-old scream, as fresh
in her memory as if she had heard it a few seconds ago, as the
doors of the pod hissed open. Behind her Li and Aimee stood on
either side of Missy, Jackson a little ways off but still clearly
supporting the group. Jane was grateful for that, at least.
Knowing that the rookies would be able to lean on each other took
a small portion of the weight off of her mind. She realized with
a start that the door was open, and the hangar in front of them
was relatively packed with people. *They don't know,* Jane
realized, *none of them know yet.* It seemed perverse, that such
a horrible thing had happened and these people didn't know about
it.


Her eyes wandered over the assembled people for a few moments.
Her old team were there, Lily, Arthur, Jake-pip and Center.
Arthur was frowning, stepping forward; he had already read the
entire mission on her face. There were several teams of scrub,
some Captains and Lieutenants. There was a healthy portion of
Rookies there as well. *Do my rooks have friends in their year?*
she thought with surprised. General Auspus was directly in front
of the pod, one eyebrow raised in a question. Jane cleared her
throat, and spoke to the entire group. She already knew the
words, Lily had spoken them when she, Arthur, and Jane returned
from  their last planetary run.


"There was trouble on the mission. We're the only survivors."