Nova’s Odyssey: Love Among the Stars

Private Nova Delgado wiped the sweat from her brow, continuing to run drills with the rest of her platoon. She resisted the urge to vomit; drills had been unreasonably punishing this week, and her muscles ached constantly. Sergeant Hall’s whistle sounded, and at that moment, it was the most beautiful and welcoming sound she could possibly imagine. ‘Good drill, everyone hit the showers!’ He barked. ‘Rodriguez, Fisk, Delgado! The Captain wants to see you in his office at 10h00. Get your arses into gear and make yourselves presentable!’ He shouted, before turning on his heels and leaving the training area. Nova checked her watch, it was already 9:30am so she didn’t have time to waste. She briefly wondered why the Captain had asked to see her, and the other two women in the platoon. ‘Oooh, did someone block the toilets with their tampons?’ Joked Private Johnson, to eruptions of laughs from the other men in the locker room. ‘Very funny Johnson.’ Responded Rodriguez, glaring at Johnson. Nova said nothing, and started to undress and pack her clothing into her locker. Every inch of her body had a different ache and pain, and her feet were grateful to be released from the prison of her training boots. ‘He’s an i***t, DG.’ Came a familiar voice behind her. ‘God these drills are brutal this week. I think you’re the only one who hasn’t puked! What’s the secret?’ Nova laughed. ‘I dunno Mad Max.’ She said, affectionately using the nickname Maddox had earned at the academy. ‘I guess I’m just built tougher than the rest of you.’ She said, flexing her bicep and comically kissing it. Private Maddox was her only friend in the platoon. It was hard enough being one of the minority females, with most of the men believing they were bigger, stronger and more suited to the job than her, but Nova had made things more difficult for herself by being attractive, smart, and an impossibly skilled fighter. She was a threat. She had been top of her class at the academy, and flown through basic training with her strength, speed and agility. The size of her opponent had never mattered, as she was quick and agile enough to dodge their attacks, and had the stamina to continue until their energy had depleted and she was able to switch from defence to offence. Her piloting skills were also incredible, and she could easily manoeuvre a single man fighter ship, a large cargo ship, or even a 1000 man freighter without breaking a sweat. She would be an asset in any assignment, but her ranking officers seemed to share the same sentiment as her platoon, that this was a man’s job and she was unworthy. She had been called too pretty, too small or too cocky to be taken seriously. Pretty, she was, with her dark, velvety hair cascading down her back, mirroring the night sky in colour and in beauty, and her soft, glowing skin that looked flawless and airbrushed. Her lips had a natural pout and rose-like colour drew attention to her face, while her eyes, deep pools of dark mahogany made it impossible to look away. She was muscular, but had retained her feminine shape, and this, too, seemed to be a hindrance to her. She was a siren, and sirens were not meant to be soldiers. Rodriguez did not have the same problem as she did. She was a very masculine woman, with a male military hairstyle and a strong, muscular, stocky body. She was ‘one of the guys’, and was made more popular in that she had the same attitude towards objectifying attractive women as the rest of the platoon. Fisk, on the other hand, was a small, moderately attractive blonde, with very few skills apart from her ability to use her sexuality to her advantage. No one gave her a hard time, as she quite often provided the release that the soldiers so desperately wanted. Maddox was different to the other men in the platoon. He and Nova had bonded at the academy as they were both very academic, and she would help him with his training wherever he fell short. He credited his acceptance to Valkyrie’s Forge, the elite Starship system where the best of the best would train in order to become part of Earth’s Vanguard. She had showed him how to use his smaller stature to his advantage in terms of movement and agility. Even when they began specialising in different subjects, they still trained together, and were in awe of each other’s skills. Maddox was a highly skilled engineer, and could work the computers on any ship, and fix any damage regardless of what tools or materials were provided. When they had drills to this effect, he was always the first to complete them, and with the best results. He was also a keen linguist, and along with the multiple Earth languages he’d learned (unnecessarily, since Earth had adopted English as the standard after the first wave of the wars), he had also learned several alien languages, in which he could both communicate fluently, and use to understand alien technology. They were on one of many hundreds of ships which provided top of the line training equipment, education and ruthless drills, to ensure that all soldiers were equipped to deal with any threat that may arise. Earth was not going to be caught unawares again, after losing half its population to an attack from the Aetherians 20 years ago. There had been several waves of attacks, and after the second wave, the remaining population of Earth had been evacuated to the colonies, a group of habitable planets several light years away from Earth. Nova got into the shower and hastily washed the sweat off her body. The warm water was so soothing to her aching muscles, but she knew there was no time to enjoy the respite of a hot shower with the Captain awaiting her. She reluctantly turned the water off, and started to forcefully rub her hair with a towel. It had been too sweaty to not wash, but having thick, waist length hair was bound to slow her down, and being late to the Captain’s office would be looking for trouble. She towelled herself off as she walked towards her locker, pulling on clean underwear and her dress uniform. Rodriguez laughed from the locker behind her, giving her cropped hair a once over with a towel and spritzing cologne on her neck. ‘Rapunzel, that hair is gonna make you late.’ She laughed boisterously. Nova gave her a sidewards glance but decided it best to not dignify Rodriguez’s comment with a retort. She continued to rub her hair with a towel, before combing it through and applying a generous amount of hair gel. She checked the time, she had 10 minutes to get ready and be waiting outside the Captain’s office. Nova managed to scrape her hair flat to her head and roll it into a neat, military style bun. She took one last look in the mirror, applied a single lick of mascara to her eyelashes, and proceeded to jog towards the Officers’ area. As she rounded the corner to the hallway where the Captain’s office was, she slowed to a fast walk, and then to a professional walk as she approached his door. Rodriguez and Fisk were already waiting outside the door, their hands clasped behind their backs. Nova joined them in line, mimicking their stance. ‘You made it, Rapunzel.’ Said Rodriguez gloatingly. Fisk leaned towards the two women. ‘I heard that the Major General is with the Captain, he’s handing out a confidential assignment.’ She said. Fisk always had the inside scoop on everything that was going on, a benefit of numerous sessions of pillow talk. Nova often thought she’d make an excellent spy, or journalist in a different lifetime. ‘Where’d you hear that, Frisky?’ Asked Rodriguez condescendingly, using Fisk’s rather unflattering nickname. ‘I don’t kiss and tell!’ Frisk responded cheekily. ‘You mean you forgot, after 50 d***s you start losing track of who is who?’ Responded Rodriguez, not missing an opportunity to slut shame Fisk for probably the twentieth time that morning. They were interrupted by the door to the Captain‘s office creaking open. Sergeant Hall walked out of the office. ‘Glad to see you all made it on time.’ He said sternly. ‘Rodriguez, you’re up first.’ Rodriguez looked at Nova and Fisk with a wink, and strutted into the office confidently. She wasn’t inside for more than a few minutes when she walked out of the office indignantly. ‘f*****g asshole.’ She muttered under her breath, making her way to the barracks, her gait noticeably deflated. Nova suppressed a smile; Rodriguez was a bully and it was always good to see her getting what she deserved, but Nova would not be so bold as to poke the bear. Sergeant Hall held the door open. ‘Stop gawking, you two!’ He said gruffly. ‘Fisk, get in here.’ First dutifully went into the room, looking back at Nova and giving her a nervous smile. Although they weren’t friends, Nova liked Fisk and hoped that things went better for her. Fisk was in the room much longer than Rodriguez was, but eventually the door opened and she wandered out. There were tears in her eyes and she looked at the floor, not making eye contact with Nova as she walked past. Nova reached out and out a hand on her shoulder, but Fisk just looked at her, shook her head, and followed in the direction that Rodriguez had gone. ‘Delgado, don’t disappoint me!’ Sergeant Hall’s voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘In you go.’ Nova took a deep breath and feigned confidence as she walked into office.