Chapter 2
The habitat had all the supplies we could need.
Built as a giant dome with various divisions connected around the epicenter, the habitat would be our living space for the next three and a half months.
Soldiers lived at the west end, four bunks to a room.
The captain had a private bedroom and an office.
Once the survey team arrived, fourteen of our ranks would take the cruiser back to the nearest port while the rest of us continued operations.
A communal living space at the center of the habitat comprised a dining hall, separated by shelving in an attempt at homey appeal.
On the other side of the shelves, couches and chairs made up a meager lounge containing two screens and a handful of gaming equipment.
I was exceptionally good at the viz, which no one offered to play with me anymore. Sore losers, they were.
While Arana took to searching for booze, Zavir and Iylene tested out the viz, Lilea and Ryker took naps, I went outside.
Never leave unless in a group of two, Roys said, but I didn’t want to be stuck in a habit, shielded from the suns when I finally got to stand beneath the light of one, two actually.
I abandoned the exoskin for our plain black trousers and shirts, stepping out into the suns that brought warmth unlike any other.
In my pocket, I grabbed my pack of smokes to light up, then slipped off my boots and socks to let my toes sink into the soil.
The grass tickled the soles of my feet before I fell to lie on my back where the suns kissed my face.
The Colony always reeked of smoke and oil.
Every day, you woke up choking on your recycled atmosphere.
The buzzing of machinery and harsh cracks of the miners deep within the asteroid kept us company.
But on The Planet, the wind sang. The suns shined.
Strange animals called out. A figure flew overhead, four-winged and slim.
Six smaller versions followed it into the canopy, where the flora moved outside the energy shield.
Zavir and I set that up, having to place conductors at specific intervals around the habitat.
Octagonal, the energy shield kept us contained, cooling off the interior somewhat and preventing any unwanted guests from entering, as well as notifying our captain if anyone trudged out without permission.
Across the way, the jungle moved. I grabbed the flamethrower hanging from my shoulder.
The flora was expected to be defended better against by fire than blasters, although we had plenty of those, too.
With one hand on the weapon, I tugged on my socks and boots in time for Roys to stride out of the forest. He used his commlink to open the energy shield.
The rest of our group slogged along at his back.
“I’m impressed you haven’t burned the habitat to the ground.
” Roys tugged off his visor to reveal short brown hair soaked in sweat.
My eyes betrayed me by following a bead that rolled along his jaw and over his warm white nape that, admittedly, I had thought about biting once.
Or a dozen times with my hand around my cock.
There was nothing wrong with appreciating eye candy, even if that eye candy had a mouth on it that I’d like to sew shut.
“Apparently you weren’t all that worried; otherwise you wouldn’t have tasked me with it.” I crushed my smoke, then settled my hands in my pockets when I was supposed to salute. That caused Roys’ right eye to twitch, a sign of his calm resolve on the verge of snapping.
“Did I not make you aware that you are expected to maintain your visor and exoskin until ordered otherwise?”
“You did,” I said.
“And didn’t I say never to go anywhere alone?”
“I am right outside the habitat under a powerful energy shield.”
“On a foreign planet we have yet to fully study, disobeying at least three direct orders.”
I gave a shrug that had him shoving his visor into my chest.
“Laundry duty it is. All by hand. Make sure everything is perfect for tomorrow.” He signaled for the troop to follow. “Leave everything with Ethin.”
The soldiers dropped their visors in eerie silence.
That was meant to be when they poked fun at me for being disciplined.
Except as the soldiers passed, none said a word, so exhausted that their faces were red and eyes so wide they nearly fell from their skulls.
Perhaps Zavir was right, and my luck saved us from spending the day in a jungle that sucked the life out of the entire troop.
I had to carry groups of visors to the storage room, where droids brought cleaning supplies. The room reeked of sweat, that had Ryker gagging when he poked his head in some time later.
“What did you do this time?” Ryker crossed his russet brown arms covered in tattoos, most of which he didn’t remember acquiring.
“Went outside alone,” I replied.
“Ah, so you deserve this.”
I gave Ryker the finger.
Laughing, he leaned against the doorway. “One of these days, Roys is going to take you out back and beat the shit out of you.”
“He can try. I am the viz champion, after all.”
“The viz is a combat game. Roys is a captain for a reason.” Ryker ran a finger through his left eyebrow, mirroring one of the scars Roys had. “Neither of us has been in a place like this, but he has plenty of times.”
“Read up on him, did ya?” I slapped a clean visor on top of another then took to scrubbing the next. The water was dirty, so I made a mental note to clean Roys’ visor before changing it.
“He is our captain for the foreseeable future.”
“I preferred Darmin.”
“We all preferred Darmin, the drunk bastard.” Ryker made a religious gesture.
Darmin wrecked a speeder inside the hangar bay while drunk two months ago.
Literally went out in a blaze of glory. I didn’t laugh.
I thought about laughing. For two hours.
Then me and Arana laughed while drinking Darmin’s hidden stash in his office.
It was literally a drawer full of booze that anyone could open.
That may make me sound like an asshole, but honestly, I didn’t like any of my superiors. They were exactly that — superiors. A certain person went for such positions, and they were rarely trustworthy. I wouldn’t listen to a damn word they said.
“But he’s gone and we’re stuck with this one,” Ryker added while picking up the cleaned visors. “Play nice before you get yourself into real shit.”
“No matter how often you feign concern for me, I will never bend over for you.”
“Oh no, how terrible, you’ve ruined my life ambitions.” Ryker kicked the bucket, so the water sloshed all over my pants. “Finish up, or Roys will have you bent over, and not in the fun way.”
When he first showed up, the thought crossed my mind in extreme detail.
I wouldn’t say I had a specific type in terms of looks.
There were aspects I may enjoy more than others, like meaty thighs and some nice hand holds around the waist, both of which Roys had in abundance.
But regardless of anyone’s taste, Roys fell into a kind of “attractive” category everyone could agree on.
Tall, rugged, ridiculously muscular in the way that could toss you over his shoulder and lug you around like a rag doll if he felt like it.
But then he opened his stupid mouth and I realized fucking was off the table. Unless gags were involved.
Ryker departed, leaving me to finish up the visors, then all the soaked clothes the droids brought.
They offered a larger container too, where I, eventually, scrubbed the clothes under Roys’ supervision.
The captain leaned against the threshold with a piece of candy caught between his slightly crooked teeth.
He always carried the damn candies, cherry flavored based on the wrapper design.
“Don’t you have better things to do than watch me do laundry?” I dropped another clean shirt into the pile. Droids took the pile to the dryer every couple of minutes. They didn’t talk, but they had big eye sockets that made them look pitying.
“Anything would be better than monitoring you, but unfortunately, you are in dire need of my attention, seeing as you cannot follow basic orders.” Roys tossed a piece of candy at my head. “How would you like it if you stayed at the habitat tomorrow?”
Roys didn’t miss my hesitation.
“The droids know not to leave the energy shield, but if anything were to get through, they aren’t equipped to defend the habitat. I could leave you to monitor the perimeter, that way I know you won’t wreak havoc out there,” he continued.
“You need me. My tactical scores are better than anyone here, including you.” I scrubbed the visor hard enough that my nails scraped against it.
I wanted to go out there, to see what this world offered, even if it was bad. At least it was natural. At least it would feel more like where we were all meant to be rather than the cold rusting containers I knew all my life.
“Not all of them.” He balanced his weight on the heels of his feet, so we were eye to eye. The blue in his went dark, consuming as deep space. “You have skills, and that makes this all the more annoying. One day, you need to use them.”
Roys’ commlink blinked. The holo screen popped up, and he stood. “One of your buddies is bringing you dinner, but if this isn’t done in time for tomorrow, you won’t be getting breakfast.”
I waved the captain off, who waited for me to share the signature, yes sir, that never came. Darmin never bothered to get it out of me. Was probably too drunk to realize I wasn’t doing it, honestly.
Rolling his eyes, Roys sauntered off, and I spent the rest of my evening cleaning.
By the time I finished, everyone had gone to the barracks.
Zavir and Ryker took one bunk. Arana claimed the top of the next one, her clothes strewn about the floor.
I stripped myself, leaving my clothes with hers before rolling into bed.
The habitat wasn’t large, so the rooms were big enough for our bunk beds to be shoved against each wall and a space between that Zavir would have to angle himself to get through, as well as a desk and a closet.
Once the others departed in two weeks, there’d be more space.
It was as big as the one I had at the Colony but without the reinroaches.
Terrible creatures. Ate right through metal and a bone here or there, and if you found one, that meant there were dozens more.
My commlink buzzed. I shouldn’t have looked because I couldn’t go to bed pissed off. Zavir and Ryker made displeased grunting noises before falling back asleep.
“Tomorrow is going to suck ass.” Arana crawled so half her body hung off the edge to glare at me below. “We’re stuck with Roys because of you.”
My pillow smacked her in the face.
“Ouch!” She wiggled further onto her bed so only her brown eyes were visible. “There may be a way for you to change his mind.”
“Do share how you think I could achieve that.”
“Ask nicely with his dick in your mouth.”
I slid out of bed. Arana squirmed further back in hers. “Hey now, it was a joke. Let’s play nice, Lucky.”
She blocked me from using the ladder. I shoved her back. Squeaking, she held up her hands as I straddled her. “This extreme of a reaction is convincing me that maybe you actually want to suck his dick and, gah, don’t punch me in the tit!”
“What tit?”
“How dare you! You know how sensitive I am about my beautifully muscular chest. Ouch, Lucky, fuck off. I will kick you off this bed right now.”
Arana did, in fact, kick me off the bed, where I lay on the floor hoping we’d run into one of those man-eating plants tomorrow so it could chew Roys up and shit out his carcass.
I couldn’t believe I ever had sex dreams about that hunk of garbage.
Then again, maybe that was my mind’s way of making our captain somewhat useful.
Regardless, Arana was right. Tomorrow would suck ass.