The Solarian Soldier – 3

After their wild timeout they both got dressed, reverted back to being Captain and XO and started discussing Lalandes latest performance during the recent skirmish with the rebel blockade runner. Not quite as professional maybe, like any captain and her XO would do. They relocated their meeting over to the lavishly cushioned leather couch, where M.J rested her head on his lap.

M.J. was just visualizing data and reviewing an incoming report from the fusion reactor detachment. That gave him time to watch her gesturing through the air and reading information only she could see by means of her build in retina display.

Daniel preferred to access his data and reports with a physical, fleet issued pad. The roughly hand sized device had been in his possession since he had been chief weapons officer aboard the battleship SFS Yu Shan roughly eight years ago. He had been serving under Captain Kgoboge back then since 2355 and the Yu Shan had been stationed with the 6th Battle group at St. Yegorov depot. It had been a rather dull assignment until in 2356 they had received a new XO, as Commander Piqué had recently been transferred to the staff of Admiral Horikoshi.

Her replacement had been one Commander Min-Jeong Fechter. After her arrival things quickly got heated in both his professional and personal life. The Hope Insurrections broke out and most men and women who served aboard the Yu Shan during the following years would remember the combat missions they lived through and the comrades they lost. Daniel mainly chose to recall the memories of fucking and making out in every nook and cranny of the battleship together with his forbidden lover.

This had been a dangerous time for the couple. The Solarian Fleet was very strict when it came to sexual relationships between superior officers and their subordinates. This was a career ending offense and it could even be punished as a crime under specific circumstances. Like for example during wartime in which they had found themselves back in 56, although the civilian government on Earth avoided calling the engagements in the outer colonies a war. Meanwhile, their subterfuge skills had increased quite a lot.

The end of their secret relationship came in 2359. M.J. had been given the opportunity to take command of the Destroyer Unity City and she had accepted without any second thoughts. He had known back then, that this day would come. They had talked about these things and it was a constant option that the fleet would transfer one of the officers to another assignment. However it was feasible to influence to some extent how your career in the navy developed. They both had a good standing with Captain Kgoboge and could have avoided a transfer, at least for some time.

Daniel would have refused any assignment if it meant that he could be together with the woman of his dreams for just one more day. M.J. on the other hand had made it clear that her career in the Solarian Fleet would always take priority. She was a rising star in the fleet. The initiative she had shown early in her career during the border skirmishes with the Neyja Star Empire in 51 had given her an opportunity to serve aboard SFS Solaria, flagship of Admiral Koslova, who was the commander in chief of the Solarian Fleet.

The Solaria was known to young officers as the crucible.