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. Ithoughtabout laughing. For two hours. Then me and Arana laughed while drinking Darmin’shiddenstash 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.”
