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About two-thirds of the barracks was on her side, cheering her on. That left one third, nine or ten of them, tacitly supporting Kowalski, hoping more for the battle to go against Burnett, than they were enthusiastically for Kowalski.

On the face of it this was not going to be close, Kowalski easily had 5 centimeters and 20 kilos on Burnett. For a girl, Burnett was large, but did not come close to matching most of the meatheads in the room. Though Paul could only assume that she'd previously prevailed over the others to attain her status.

The two squared off in a cleared area in the middle of the barracks, Paul noticed her fists rhythmically clenching, like she was itching to hit him. Kowalski lunged for Burnett, there was a thud as two bodies hit the floor, and just like that, the contest was over. Kowalski's free hand was slapping the floor in the signal of submission. He was face down on the floor, Burnett was on his back with a knee between his shoulder blades, and his other arm in a submission hold.

Paul was impressed as he tried to work out what had happened. Burnett obviously had superior speed and agility, and vastly superior skill. She would be a formidable opponent. Burnett let go of the prone Kowalski, she just said, "OK then," matter-of-factly. Everyone turned to look at Kowalski, he got onto his knees and removed his shirt, then got up and removed his pants and skivvies, then knelt again. Burnett pulled down her pants revealing a sparse blond bush, matching the closely cropped hair on her head. She stepped up to him and pulled his face into her box.

These were her rules, the loser was humiliated by being made to strip, then performed oral on the victor. By the looks of the crowd behind her, she wasn't fussy about the sex of the loser. A big cheer went up from her supporters, but soon they calmed down. She was not happy with Kowalski, she roughly put a hand on top of his head, and pushed him away; he went sprawling on the floor, trying to hide his growing erection as Burnett's supporters laughed heartily.

She signaled to one of her supporters who grabbed Kowalski's pants, fished out his wallet, and pulled out a twenty. She said, "You still get to pay for the room, but you don't get to use it," while she was pulling up her pants. She nodded to the guy with the twenty, and another guy, then left the barracks with them. Her other rule was the loser pays for a motel room, while the victor gets their choice of sexual perversions. In this case, she humiliated Kowalski further by passing him over for two of her regular cronies. Paul was entirely unsure whether he envied them or not.

==

The next day it was Paul's turn, just as he'd predicted. He was minding his own business when Burnett strode up to him and called out, "Hey newbie! It's time to work out who's who."

Paul had rehearsed his reply, he had no interest in the power games in the barracks; he just wanted a quiet life. He looked up, and said, "I'll make it easy for you then, I submit." He didn't know how she was going to take that, best case was he got to go down on her, and got used sexually.

However, the worst case was she thought he wasn't taking her seriously. That was how she took it. She stumbled over the unexpected turn of events. "Hey! No! You don't get to choose." She lunged forward at the sitting Paul. This was one of the scenario's he'd envisioned, he slid off the bed, and under her outstretched arm. She was off balance, she hadn't planned the attack like she would a regular fight. He rose up behind her, and pushed her towards the bed, adding to her momentum. As she went down, he grabbed her other arm and twisted it into a submission hold. They ended up much like the fight the day before, only this time, it was Paul who was on top.

Burnett still struggled, Paul asked, "Are you going to submit?" The hold was intensely painful if he applied the right pressure, just like he was doing, but she wasn't giving up. She shook her head. He continued, "If you don't submit, my next step is to break this arm. Do you want to explain that to the CO?" A broken arm was not going to go down well, the grunts were left to organize themselves in the barracks, the only rule anyone knew of was, no one got hurt permanently. He really didn't want to find out what the reaction to a broken arm would be, but it was his only option going forward. However, she stopped struggling, and slapped the bed covers. He let her go.

Then, he noticed that the rest of the barracks were gathered around, and there was absolute silence. The silence continued, but there was some rustling as Burnett rolled off the bed, obviously favoring the arm he hadn't had a lock on and took off her shirt. She was big for a girl, it was mainly muscle; she had some bulging defined muscles. She wasn't as sharply defined as a man would be, she still had some feminine fat to smooth her out. Then her bra came off, she didn't need one, her boobs were smallish they'd hardly fill his hand.

They were definitely boobs though, and stuck straight out at him, the nipples provided an exclamation point to this. He started to think she was turned on. The protruding nipples were just one sign. Her pale skin was rosy hued, though that might have been embarrassment, her cheeks were burning bright red. She was breathing deeply, but that could have been from the exertion. Then she shucked her pants, and not only was the sparse blonde bush he'd seen yesterday on view, but it was slightly darker further down, where it was punctuated with drops of dew. Her clit was protruding from her open lips, her slit moist and swollen. She was totally turned on!

Paul hadn't expected that, but her obvious arousal provoked the natural response in him. He had been in fight or flight mode; sex was the furthest thing from his mind, even if he'd previously been contemplating a sexual outcome, that had been displaced by the fight. Sex reasserted itself in his mind now, there was a girl in front of him rapidly becoming naked, and already aroused. He had not considered her much in a sexual way previously. The fatigues she wore mostly hid her body, her military haircut was masculine, and her face androgynous. Naked, her body was attractive in and odd powerful way. She was also kneeling in front of him, her mouth open, expecting to give him a blowjob.

There were many reasons why he might have thought this situation was not right. However, a naked girl on her knees with her mouth open, and his hard on overruled any reservations he might have. He unzipped, and took out the hard on, he advanced on Burnett and unceremoniously shoved his dick in her mouth. A cheer erupted from the gathered audience. That was when Paul thought semi-rationally. He held her head, and pulled his dick out of her mouth. He addressed her, and the room in general, "I think we should do this in private, where's the motel? You got the money?"

She nodded and looked in the direction of the door. He told her, "Pull your pants on so you won't get arrested, and show me then." She pulled on minimal clothing and escorted him to the door, amid much cheering.

At the motel, Burnett shucked the clothing she'd pulled on and stood naked and expectant, waiting for Paul's word. Paul regarded the naked Burnett in front of him, she was not classically beautiful, but she exuded power and grace. She would have attracted Paul at any time, but at that very moment, the most attractive thing about her was her arousal. She was turned on and just wanting Paul to take her. Her rule was it was his choice of perversion, so whatever he wanted was available, all of that was going to push any guy's buttons.

Paul however, was a throwback to an earlier time. His parents remembered the time before "The Outage." The time before he was born when civilization on Earth barely survived its first encounter with the aliens. His parents were more of the opinion that civilization hadn’t survived, and romanticized the kinder gentler society that had been lost as civilization was rebuilt, and an eternal war against the aliens dragged on.

That had hardly mattered to Paul growing up, he'd just tried to survive. He was fortunate in that he was a big guy, and strong with it. He had a natural aptitude for martial arts, so he had been left alone for the most part. Now that had gotten him drafted with the other meatheads. His parents had instilled him in an anachronistic respect for his fellow man, and that extended to the women in his life. He tried to treat them with respect, he’d much rather "make love" than just fuck.

That was his mindset as he studied the naked form in front of him. He kissed her gently, she flinched, she was expecting something else. He took her hands and sat her down on the bed, then got naked himself. As he approached her, she focused on his dick and licked her lips, as tempting as it was to continue where they’d left off in the barracks, he sat down beside her and kissed her gently again. Again, the flinch.

He lay her back, then trailed kisses down her neck, and was pleased with her reaction, she tensed, and a small moan escaped her lips. When he reached her boob, and began kissing the nipple, she gave a gasp, and then, as he gently stroked the other nipple while keeping his mouth on the first, she gave a violent spasm and gasped for breath. She was coming.

Paul was impressed; she made it so easy for him. He was pleased that his nice guy skills were being validated so emphatically. This is how a man should treat a woman. He continued kissing her, gently down her belly, she writhed and moaned in passion. She was having an effect on Paul; her arousal was exciting him like none of his previous trysts. It prompted him to hasten his agenda somewhat.

He kissed his way down to her sex, this was going to be easy, she was so turned on. A gentle lick up her well-spread inner lips elicited even stronger groans, and her body quivered. Time to finish her, he stabbed at her clit with his tongue and pressed. Her reaction was gratifyingly explosive, as she came again.

He briefly continued to play with her clit until she stopped shuddering, then he thought it was his turn. As she lay slumped and sweaty on the bed, he moved between her legs. His instinct was to plunge in crudely, he was that turned on. He tried to rein in his primitive side and act in a more civilized manner.

He paused at her entrance, and with the all the restraint he could muster, gently pushed his way into her. Her reaction was again gratifying, her eyes shot open, but didn’t focus. She moaned loudly, almost screaming. Her head flopped first one way, then the other. Her whole body tensed, and again she was coming. He would have congratulated himself on his mad skills, but she drew out the primitive in him; he just thrust harder as he went after his own orgasm.

She lay limp and sweaty beneath him as he pounded away at her. Maybe a slightly less gratifying reaction than previously, but he could forgive her that after those mighty orgasms. She did look him squarely in the eye and smiled at him. Oddly, that was the biggest turn on of all, a simple smile. He came, and then rolled off her onto his back. They both lay in silence next to each other. When he recovered his wits, he wasn’t sure what was expected of him now. She lay there, staring into space, that seemed to be that, so he got up and went to the shower.

Paul came out of the shower and pulled on his fatigues. He looked at Burnett still laying naked on the bed, his cum leaking out of her. Her expression was enigmatic; he couldn't read her. He was sure she'd enjoyed the experience, she had cum a few times after all, that was how he measured his sexual prowess. But she looked uncertain. He lay down on the bed with her, and held her. Then kissed her gently on the lips. "You alright?"

She answered kinda flatly, "Yeah, fine."

"You want anything?"

"No, I'm fine."

He was getting mixed messages, but he'd certainly enjoyed the experience, so he suggested, "Look, if you want to do this again, … The sex, not the fighting, I'm up for it."

"Sure." Again, she answered without inflection.

He didn't know what to make of her distinctly unenthusiastic response, he wasn't making any headway so at that point he bade her farewell, and left her lying there. Shooting a last look before the door finally closed, he noticed, she seemed different to him now somehow. Sexier? Maybe? He would definitely do that again given the chance.

==

In the motel room, Burnett lay on the bed naked, Sato’s cum leaking out of her, she watched him study her as he walked out the door. Once the door closed she burst into tears. She hadn't wanted it to be like that, she felt on edge she needed something to calm her. Her mind whirled until she reached for her phone and sent a group message to some of her most primitive followers, telling them to get to the room asap.

Five minutes later there was a knock at the door - they'd arrived.

A delicious tingling sensation skittered over her whole body, it seemed to propel her off the bed, she bolted to the door and flung it open. She stood in the doorway still naked, cum snaking its way down her thigh. There were no greetings, no conversation, no niceties, no nothing. They all knew why they were summoned, and they wasted no time in getting their hands on Burnett.

They all grabbed a limb, bodily carried her to the bed and pitched her face down. Feet and hands pinned her down as her followers almost tore their fatigues off in a bid to be the first at her, she felt better immediately. In a few seconds they descended on her en masse, pawing, clawing, grabbing at her boobs and legs, groping and spreading her wide apart. She was lifted up and flipped over as one of her crew slid under her on the bed, his thick stiff dick pointing directly at the ceiling as he spread spit over its head. Without ceremony, or much lubrication Burnett was slammed down and impaled upon it. She cried out at the pain that shot up her little puckered hole, her eyes widened and she yelped as a hand circled her neck and yanked her head backwards. The waiting rampant dick took advantage of her open mouth and rammed in, entered her throat swiftly, and roughly began fucking her face. If it hadn't been for the mouthful of dick, they'd all have seen her smiling.

Burnett had no time to think as another dick entered her cum filled pussy, this entry should have been easy with Sato’s lubrication had it not been for the fact that splitting her wide open was one monstrous dick! The largest in her stable. It felt like it would tear her apart, she hoped that one would not be going in her ass at any point. She barely formed that thought as she felt the sharp pain of her hardened nipple seemingly being bitten off. She tried to cry out but only succeeded in exciting and massaging the dick down her throat.

Her hands were snatched and roughly wrapped around two other dicks. What wasn't clear was whether she was jacking off their rigid members, or if their owners were actually fucking her hands. In truth she couldn't concentrate on any one dick it was all becoming a blur of sweaty, thrusting, exquisite pain. She was reveling in the mêlée, her arousal skyrocketed as they rode roughshod over her body. Copious fluids dripped from her pussy drool coating her upturned face.

The flurry of hands fondled, scraped, squeezed, and grabbed at her to aid their humping, the guys' grunting moans fueled the onset of her orgasm. Every part of Burnett tensed up as sheer pained ecstasy coursed through her body and soul. A muffled guttural moan tried escaping her stuffed mouth as she was pummeled, fucked, and reamed to a shuddering climax. The dick in her pussy almost forced out as her cum gushed around it. The guys in her three holes reacted as expected almost immediately, and one by one shot load after load after load of hot cum deep in her ravaged sweaty body.

If Burnett thought she was finished she was mistaken there were still more hard dicks that hadn't cum yet, and they wanted their turn. They turned her so she was almost on all fours. One immediately filled her tired aching jaw. He had one hand scuffing her hair, and the other under her chin using it to pull her in and ram into her in one simultaneous motion. She was gagging, the drool running down her chin her eyes bulging and watery. It was setting her pussy alight, she was floating in ecstasy, every part of her felt right, felt good.

Another guy lay under her pulling her on to his face and dived into her soggy pussy with relish. His crotch under her chest he began rubbing his hard on against her boobs. He was never going to get a decent titty fuck from her modest sized chest so he changed tack. With one hand he grabbed her hand to jack off his throbbing dick, and with the other twisted and pulled on a boob as he feasted on her. She couldn't remember who and where everyone was, until another hole greedy dick split her ass open once again, and once again she moaned around the dick she was eating. The guy on the end of that moaned too, he'd been jacking off in Burnett's hand earlier, and with the added stimulation of her throat and humming, he just couldn't hold back from cumming. His hips jerked as he climaxed hard, depositing some of his load into her throat before pulling out, his freed dick spurting wildly, as he carried on pumping cum, finishing all over her hair and face, some even made it as far as her ass.

Feeling him cover her in jizz, made her cum again, her hips jerking as she gushed into the mouth munching on her, as her reward his cum splashed all over her boobs. His moan worked it's magic on her this time making her pussy spasm as one orgasm blended into another. Only the guy working in her ass was still pumping away. Now he was no longer teabaging the guy mouthing her puffy pussy he had a clear shot at it, now it was his chance; sloppy seconds, or whatever ordinal he was. He slid seamlessly into her creamy void, he didn't last much longer, and he rammed one last time filling her pussy again his balls emptying a massive load which overflowed as soon as he pulled out. He liked seeing her gaping holes, and the creampie he'd created.

They all flopped onto the bed, their muscled fit bodies all flushed, sweaty, torn up, and exhausted. It was then they noticed the other guys watching them fuck were sporting massive hard ons again. They crowded round the bed, in no time they added more loads of hot cum to Burnett's smiling ravaged face and body. They were smiling too. They joined the sweaty heap, but the grunts knew they couldn't rest, that Burnett would want them gone, so they set to work gathering their stuff, and hot footed it out the door, half dressed and happy.

She however still lay on the bed, aching, dripping, and covered from head to toe in cum, she licked her lips tasting the cum there and she felt great, much, much better now. Now, she was happy.

==

Paul kept himself to himself, and he was mostly left alone after the fight, except by Burnett. She didn’t see it as a proper fight, so two days later she was back for more. This time, she didn’t let him phase her, and they squared off in the middle of the barracks. The fight was at a stalemate; neither could get past the other’s guard, until Burnett misstepped.

She might have slipped, or someone might have tripped her, but whatever the reason, she was off balance, and Paul took advantage of this, to drive her to the floor, and get the submission hold. This time Burnett submitted as appropriate without the need for extra encouragement.

This time, she seemed even more turned on during her ritual humiliation at Paul’s hand (and dick), and also while Paul made love to her in the motel. While she enjoyed it even more this time, still she didn’t feel right about it, and again called on her followers for a gangbang, after Paul left, again puzzled by her demeanor.

==

Burnett’s losses to Paul seriously dented her authority in the barracks, the anti-Burnett faction grew, and she had to have several fights to keep her position. In theory now Paul was top dog, but he showed no interest in such matters. Being top dog, he could in theory, have his pick of any of the squad, but he didn't want to abuse his power, also Burnett worked to keep him isolated. She fended off attempts by several of the girls to get close to him; girls he might have been interested in. As top dog he should have asserted his ascendancy, and smacked down Burnett for that, but all Paul wanted was a quiet life so let it slide.

It was a couple of weeks later that things came to a head again. Burnett confronted him in the barracks. "OK Ninja! We're having this out once and for all." His prowess, and his race, had earned him that handle.

Paul looked up from his book, Burnett was standing in front of him, flanked by several of her followers, again with the clenching fists. He was expecting this, if he wouldn't force the issue, she had to. This would decide the tone of his residency in the barracks. If he were to win again, it would destroy what was left of her authority, and he’d be able to have that quiet life he craved. That and he’d also get to fuck her again, despite her weirdness, he actually liked her; he sensed some hidden vulnerability. She was also a red hot fuck.

On the other hand, if he were to lose, he could finally get this silly feud out of the way, and he could submit gracefully like he tried to do the first time, and again have a quiet life as one of her supporters. That and he’d get to go down on her, a prospect which appealed to him, even if it were in front of the rest of the squad. He felt sure he could do a good enough job that she would take him to the motel. He wasn’t seeing much of a downside to this situation.

He nodded, and got up warily, staying out of range of the fists. They each regarded the other, on guard for some trick which might sway the contest against them. They squared up in the middle of the room; each crouched awaiting the other to attack. There was silence, and for what seemed like an age, no one moved, as each sized up the other.

Then Burnett lunged, a cheer erupted from the crowd, Paul made to counter, and found himself meeting air, it was a feint, Burnett’s next attack came at his offside, using his momentum to push him to the floor. Outflanked, Paul fended off the grab for his arm, rolled across the floor, and jumped up ready to attack. Burnett had not followed him to the floor as he'd expected, she stood ready to meet him; Paul held his ground.

Again, they faced off not moving. The crowd quietened. Again, Burnett lunged, this time it wasn’t a feint, but that’s what Paul was expecting, he had not committed totally to the counter, and they found themselves locked in a wrestler’s embrace, each holding the other around the neck. With her mouth close to his ear, she whispered so only he could hear. "I am so turned on right now, can we just get to the fucking already."

Paul had not expected an attack to his libido, even if Burnett had not intended the comment as an attack. Momentarily surprised, he let down his guard. That was all the opportunity Burnett needed. She drove him to the floor, and landed on his back, with his arm in an arm lock. Still surprised, Paul took the opportunity to submit, even if the lock wasn’t painful, he slapped the floor.

An even bigger cheer erupted, their bitch was back in charge, now maybe things would go back to "normal," whatever passed for normal in the barracks. Burnett's face was a picture, a mixture of pride and lust. Breaking with her established tradition, she dragged Paul to his feet, still in the armlock and marched him out of the barracks. Paul was in no doubt about just how turned on Burnett was, she had been after every previous battle, but this time she'd just regained her status. She couldn't keep her hands off him, and herself.

The two of them almost fell into the motel room eating each others faces. Burnett grabbed at the waist of Paul's fatigues, pushing him as they went. Still joined hungrily at the lips, they both started shedding their clothes. Paul lowered his pants and hopping across the floor started on his shirt, but just as it cleared his head he felt himself being shoved onto the bed, his eyes widened watching Burnett. She seemed almost to fly through the air, he braced himself as she landed on top of him, and his breath left him with an "Oouff!"

She was a ferocious mass of lips, teeth, and clawing fingers, as she discarded the rest of her clothes. Ripping off Paul's BVDs she quickly had them both naked, only somehow Paul had ended up entangled in his t-shirt and pants, he was essentially bound at the wrists and ankles with Burnett holding his shirt over his head. She was sitting on his chest rocking, her juicy pussy inches from his face, he could feel she was smearing his chest with her juices.

Paul could feel her tensing, she grabbed his head, holding him by his ears, and immediately began riding his face. She started slowly but forcefully, humping her hips, getting faster and faster producing, and spreading her fluids all over his face. Realization dawned, she wasn't getting off his face anytime soon, if he'd realized sooner he'd have taken a bigger breath. It was Burnett's win, so this would be done her way. The longer she rode his face; the more he realized she was going to have him her way. She started moaning pretty quickly, and repeating over and over, "Mmm suck it, suck my clit, fucking suck it." He was doing his best, but she was gyrating wildly, he hung on and did what he could. She didn't think it was good enough, so she leaned back scratching, slapping, and yanking on his meat, her way of urging him to do better.

Reflexively Paul flinched at her treatment, but it did the trick, and she appreciated his renewed effort as he nibbled, chewed, and sucked on her hot, creamy, puffy, pussy. That did it, Burnett pushed down harder on his mouth wildly jolting, jerking, and moaning loudly as her cum flooded from deep inside, filling Paul's mouth, and covering his face.

Paul's lungs were screaming for air, and he saw his chance to best her as she basked in her shuddering orgasm. He took advantage of her distraction and flipped her over, landing on top of her, managing to free himself from his clothes as he went. She might have been powerful and fast, but she was no match for Paul's strength, weight, and ninja-like skills, at least in her present state.

He felt something bubbling inside himself, anger, or fervor? He wasn't sure, but whatever it was, being pinned and used as her human sex toy fired him up. He grabbed her tight around the throat, trails of red welts springing up in his finger's wake, and drove her legs apart with his knees. Burnett was fighting his grip, clawing at his hand, squirming as he rammed his thick meat up her. Her fighting was exciting to them both, something Paul wasn't used to, but he was getting into it, fast!

His dick ripped straight into her pussy, there was no tenderness here, just a raw rough pounding, every ounce of his muscles used in the relentless hammering. Burnett was the one fighting for breath now, her face flushed as Paul pinned her to the bed. His lust filled eyes burning into hers. He leaned down and kissed her, hard, pressing violently against her lips before growling in her ear, "I'm going to fuck you raw."

Burnett's eyes rolled back in her head, and as Paul licked, sucked, and bit down on her nipple, she shuddered under him. Her pussy fluttered around his dick, gripping and pulsating sending pleasure coursing through her body making her jump and buck up against Paul's still pistoning dick. Her fingers clawing at his back, raking at him, drawing blood.

Paul flinched and relaxed his hand on her neck, she greedily sucked in a breath. As she relaxed, he flipped her over, shoved her face into the mattress, and pulled her ass high. He grabbed her hands forcing them behind her back telling her as he left his hand print, "I'm going to fuck this horny ass now." He let a drip of saliva fall from his lips into her tight hole and thumbed it before thrusting his dick deep in her ass. With every hard banging thrust, her boobs jiggled, and her ass was turning a deep shade of pink from his smacks.

Burnett was moaning constantly, contorted into a myriad of shapes, as Paul fucked her relentlessly. He pulled her head up, almost bending her in two, while mauling, slapping, pinching, and tormenting her boobs. He huskily whispered in her ear, "Have you had enough?"

Not one to give in, she used her lithe body to spin around in his hold on her neck. His dick popped from her ass as she twisted and she flipped him. In a second, with an "Aha," and a smug grin, she had him on his back, and at her mercy once more. With an even wider grin, and a seeming misplaced giggle, Burnett jumped on his hard veiny dick and began to ride him with unabashed glee. Paul couldn't help but smile, his state of mind quickly turned back into unbridled lust, as she rode him like she was taming a wild mustang, humping, rocking her hips, clawing up his shoulders, her hard muscled ass bouncing as she pounded up and down on him; he loved her animalistic prowess.

Paul's hands were all over her ass, leaving welts and hand prints, rubbing her little star, squeezing her ass cheeks and pulling her so hard on to his dick that his teeth were clenching, there was a low rumbling in his throat. His growl had returned. Her whimpering, her wetness, and her pussy's tight grip on his dick all alerted him to just how much it turned her on! He'd have to remember that. He realized something else, he'd never had such a hard fought fuck, it brought out the animal in him too, and he was reveling in it!

By now they were covered in sweat, Paul rolled them both, stood up, and bulldozed Burnett into the adjacent wall knocking the wind out of her, then he began to piston hard into her sopping wet slit. Both were grunting with the force of their actions, both had access and began licking, biting, and sucking on the other's neck, each marking their property.

Their moaning was reaching a crescendo, both alive with intense erotic energy. They were mauling each other, biting and scratching as they grew closer to their peak. Paul could feel the pulsating clench of her pussy, her moans coming thick and fast, he in turn fucked her as hard, and as fast as he had ever done in his life, as if trying to pound her into the wall. Grunting and moaning he cried out when Burnett bit down hard on his neck, while her cum gushed out around his dick. That, the pain of the bite, and the sensation of the blood trickling from the wound spurred his cum to shoot from his balls, burst from his dick, and splash deep inside her. Both joined in simultaneous ecstasy they panted into each other’s mouths as they shared a last hard kiss.

Momentarily they stood as an erotic statue, staring searchingly into each other's eyes, before gravity asserted itself over spent limbs. They crumpled back down on the bed, both were heaving to get air; they were now beginning to feel the aftereffects of their session. Surveying their scratches, bruises, bites, and welts they looked at each other and grinned. They knew this wouldn't be the last time this happened.

==

Lying in their sweaty heap recovering, Burnett looked happier than she had on the previous occasions. She asked Paul, "Hey, is that offer still open?"

Paul was still gathering his wits, "What offer."

"Sex, without the fighting."

"Oh, err, yeah, sure." He assumed the fighting she referred to was in the barracks, not on the bed they were on. Difficult to tell it was sex, not fighting. The sex he was definitely up for, but at that point, he wasn't sure about her stability, and hoped his dick wasn't leading him to the wrong place. 'Never stick your dick in crazy,' was sound advice, but difficult to follow when the crazy was offering herself to you.

She ventured, "You know, I've been thinking."

"Uh, huh?"

"I think I worked out why I didn't like you."

She was sounding more towards the crazy now. If she didn't like him, why was she wanting sex? "Oh, why's that?"

"You remind me of my Dad; I don't want to fuck my Dad."

Paul was worried in a different way now, "Did he abuse you?"

Burnett was startled, "No, no, nothing like that. He's the kindest, most gentle man ever. Maybe too gentle sometimes, Mom kinda walks all over him."

Paul wondered if that's where her personality came from, her Mom. But Burnett continued, "There's something I should tell you about my parents."

"What?"

Burnett started to say something, but thought better of it. After several attempts, she said, "Why don't I show you instead. Do you want to come meet them? We could have dinner."

Paul thought she meant at some future time, so replied, "Sure."

Burnett had other ideas though, "We'd better get cleaned up then, you go shower, I'll warn them we're coming." She reached for her phone. He hadn't moved, so she looked at him, "Well go on then." He thought he'd better go along with that and jumped in the shower.

Later they caught a ride, and it took them to one of the communities surrounding their base. It was an upscale gated community. Paul hoped they wouldn't get stopped, he really did not belong in that sort of place, and they wouldn't normally let him in; he'd probably be arrested for trying. The ride pulled up to a gate, Paul was panicking, thinking there must be some problem, but Burnett lowered the window and smiled at the guard at the gate. The guard jumped up and saluted like she was somebody, then opened the gate for them. The ride then pulled up to a fancy house and let them off.

Burnett led him to the front door, which recognized her, and she entered. Once inside, Burnett led him through one of the doors off the impressive hallway, into a living room. From the other end of the room a voice boomed, "Miss Bernice, is that you?"

"It's me Mama." Burnett answered, and soon a very large lady appeared, she was not so tall, but very wide. Burnett ran to her and hugged her, she was hugged back tightly. "Hey Mama, this is Paul." She indicated to Paul, then addressed him, "Paul, this is 'Fanny', my nanny. Well, she's more housekeeper these days."

Paul was already overawed by the house, now a nanny/housekeeper, Burnett's parents were seriously rich, he was wondering why she was just a grunt like him; her parents could obviously afford to buy her a commission. He held out his hand to Fanny, "I'm pleased to meet you Fanny."

Fanny took his hand and curtsied, "Pleased to meet you Mr Paul." Then continued, "So you're the boy who's had Bernice all of a twitter these last weeks."

Paul didn't know how to answer that, but Burnett came to his aid, "Now Mama, you're embarrassing our guest."

Fanny cowed slightly, and decided she had to be elsewhere, "I've got to go tend to dinner. It won't be long." Then disappeared back from whence she came.

Paul was trying to think of what his next move was, when they heard the door open. Burnett's Dad stepped into the room. Paul recognized him, shot bolt upright, snapped to attention, and saluted, "General!" He wasn't sure exactly where the General was in the chain of command, but her Dad was considerably closer to the President in the chain than to him. He really didn't know what to do, so continued the salute at attention.

Burnett ran up to the General, squealing, "Daddy!"

He greeted her, "Hey kiddo." She hugged him, again she got hugged tightly, and they wrestled playfully, testing the others strength. That contest seemed to be a wash, so she kissed him on the cheek.

The General looked to Paul, still at attention, then to Burnett and addressed Paul, "Knock it off son, I'm not the General here."

Burnett looked back to Paul and said, "Sorry, I should have warned you. In the house, he's the General only if he's wearing his hat. If he's not wearing his hat, we can take just as much notice of him as if he were just my Dad." The General wasn't wearing a hat at that point Paul noted, and he relaxed some. Though it was difficult to relax entirely. It was obvious he was "just Dad" to Burnett though.

Burnett made the introduction, "Dad, this is Paul, Paul this is my Dad." She then went on, "Just in case you're wondering, he is *THE* General, he commands the entire US Spaceforce, and makes a habit of saving the world regularly."

The General stepped up to Paul and proffered a hand, "Pleased to meet you Paul, and don't take any notice of what Bernie says about me."

Paul was totally overawed by meeting the living legend, not to mention his position in his chain of command. "Pleased to meet you sir."

Just then they heard the door open again. This time a young girl walked in, must be Burnett's younger sister he thought. But, Burnett ran to her shouting, "Mom!" She picked her bodily off the floor, hugged her tightly, and kissed her. Burnett carried the "girl" over to Paul, so they were about on the right eye level to greet each other. "Mom, this is Paul; Paul this is my Mom." Something about her Mom was familiar to Paul, but before he could puzzle that. She continued. "Yeah, she is that Colonel, we're going to be having technical briefings from her."

That explained the familiarity, though at that moment, she definitely did not look like a soldier. She looked more like a Shirley Temple impersonator. It was strange that Burnett was so tall when her Mom was so short. Burnett took after her Dad, she was only slightly smaller than he was. The Colonel greeted Paul with a handshake, then Burnett handed her over to the General, who continued holding her off the floor, and kissed her in a much less platonic manner.

While they were involved, Paul turned to Burnett and asked the first of many questions he had. "How come you're 'Burnett,' when neither of your folks are?"

"I want to be just a grunt, not the General's daughter." Paul could now appreciate that, but she added, "Don't you dare tell anyone, if you still want your balls." Paul had no intention of mentioning any of this, and he greatly valued his balls. She continued saying she got her name from some ancestor who fought in a war sometime in the last century. A war that Paul only vaguely knew about, but she seemed proud of her distant ancestor.

Everyone took a seat at the dining table, and Fanny served the meal. Paul was impressed at both the quantity and the quality of the meal, it had been a long time since he'd had such a good home cooked meal as this. That made sitting next to the General and the Colonel easier. He had not expected to be literally rubbing shoulders with such rarified company. It would have been stressful enough had they just been Burnett's parents, but they did manage to put him at his ease, he found himself conversing quite naturally with them. He could see that she did get a lot of her personality from her Mom, who was direct and forthright, though without the awkward vulnerability that Burnett betrayed.

At some point during the meal, the General leaned in conspiratorially and told Paul in tones no one else would hear, "Now son, I'm glad Bernice has found you, just mind you treat her right. As a General, I can only get you court-marshaled, as a father on the other hand, …" The implication was not lost on Paul.

After dinner Burnett showed Paul up to her room. It was incongruously pink and feminine, bottles of perfume, makeup, and some decidedly non-regulation lingerie (which he kinda hoped to see her model soon!) arrayed about the place. Not the Burnett he was familiar with at all, until he noticed among posters of horses, and the ones of clean cut square jawed pop stars, he barely even recognized, was a poster for the "M31a2 Personal Weapons System," the assault rifle all the grunts used and loved. That was more the Burnett he knew, but then she took his mind off such things, when she started undoing the buttons on his shirt.

He had some reservations, he was in the General's house, her parent's house, and she was the General's daughter, but she was obviously turned on, and wanted something. The first thing she wanted was to get naked, and they efficiently stripped each other of their clothes. There was a brief pause as Burnett looked Paul up and down, she paused to admire his hard on before continuing her scan. Paul wasn't sure if she were evaluating him as a predator appraising it's prey, or as a lover. Probably both, was his conclusion.

Burnett gave a gleeful cackle, and there was a flurry of hands, and Paul was slammed down onto the bed, amid the sound of protesting bed springs and more laughter. Taken by surprise, Paul instinctively gathered himself for a counter attack, as Burnett landed on top of him. He fended off an attempt to bite his nipple, and managed to flip themselves over so he was on top, sending the bedside lamp crashing to the floor in the process.

If he'd thought about it, he might have thought he encountered little resistance to his next move, as he pinned one of her arms above her head, and thrust his dick into her mouth. That silenced Burnett's laughter, but then the bedroom door opened, the General stuck his head in and asked, "Are you kids all … Oh …" He trailed off as he saw the scene before him.

Paul instinctively flinched. He stopped himself before he saluted, but his dick pulled out of her mouth with a pop. Scowling, Burnett shouted at the General, "Dad! Could we have some privacy here!" Paul noticed that her legs were widely spread, and her other hand was playing with her pussy, that was why it'd been so easy to subdue her, she was only using one hand.

The General however retreated, muttering awkwardly "Sorry, I, I …" As he closed the door behind him, he heard the sounds of laughter, first from Bernice, then Paul joined in. He tried to suppress his fatherly instincts to want to kill the boy, and be glad that his daughter was so happy for once. Part of him was impressed he managed to get her in that hold, another part was trying to erase that image from his mind.

Later, Burnett and Paul said their goodbyes and left. Paul was having trouble meeting the General's gaze after that incident. The General's demeanor was inscrutable to Paul. Burnett was happy though, and hugged and kissed the General. On the ride back to the barracks, Burnett was quite animated and quizzed Paul on how he liked her parents. Apart from being surprised (and intimidated) at who they were, he did say he quite liked them, they were cool. Burnett was visibly relieved by that opinion.

==

Paul was made second in the barracks’ hierarchy, it was obvious to everyone that they were lovers, not that they tried to hide the fact. This put him squarely in the petty politics he'd much rather keep out of. Most of the barracks deferred to him now, though there was subtle hostility from the shrinking anti-Burnett faction. There wasn't too much open defiance, but occasionally Burnett felt the need to stamp her authority on someone.

After defeating the opposing soldier, then humiliating them, she would drag Paul to the motel where they'd have vigorous sex. Though a detached observer might not be able to tell it was sex, not a fight. Paul found those episodes exhilarating, and surprisingly intimate. That was when Burnett was most herself and relaxed. Paul saw the real raw Burnett, without any of the veneer of civilization she tried to apply.

Paul got to know the real Burnett in the barracks too, she was unlike anyone else he'd ever known. In many ways she was more like a child, as if she'd never grown up. Her parents had bought her the best education possible, something Paul envied her for, he'd never had that chance, his future was bleak until he'd been drafted. He still wasn't sure he had much of a future. In Burnett's case, that education was mainly directed at coping with the world, "adulting" as she called it. Just living as an adult was a challenge for Burnett. She needed structure in her life, and the army provided that for her.

When she'd arrived in the barracks it was ruled by Vince "Puppy" Merrill. Though when Burnett first encountered him, his handle was "Big Dog," but quickly got demoted to Puppy, and he now headed up the anti-Burnett faction. The rules she imposed were the same ones Merrill had imposed, she never thought to change the rules, she liked rules, they provided structure. By those rules, she only needed to prove she was top dog, after that she didn't exploit her dominance, in fact, she protected all her subjects from those who might prey on them (which Puppy had been wont to do).

He learnt of some of her other peculiarities, the habit she had of clenching her fist didn’t necessarily show she wanted to hit someone, though she often did feel that way. The clenching was one of the ways she'd cope; it defused her stress. Another peculiarity was her response to a light touch. She found that intensely painful, if he hugged her, he should do it strongly, just like he'd seen her family doing. That made him think of when he'd been making love after their fights, she'd found his technique painful, the rule was his choice of perversion, so she endured it, and had found it confusingly arousing.

Paul also got used to the routine of the Spaceforce grunt. Mainly boredom. There were periods of boredom in space. Sometimes they were the garrison on the big troop carriers, the front line of defense against the aliens. They were in constant readiness; an attack was expected anytime. Though in interstellar conflicts, "anytime" could be years away, it had been two years since the last attack by the aliens. He knew nothing of any plans to take the fight to the aliens, that was way above his pay grade, something the General was working on. Any such plans were still years away from fruition. Or sometimes they were a small detachment on a smaller spaceship, as defense against being boarded.

There were periods of boredom back at their base on Earth, some worse than others. Much of the time they were free to leave the base, but couldn’t go too far, they had to be able to be back within half a day. At least those times you could get a room. There were several motels just off base; they rented by the hour. Burnett was lucky her parents lived so close by, they could get away to a comfortable (if pink) room, and a home cooked meal. Paul had been adopted as one of the family now, his own parents were several states away. He couldn’t get to see them except on extended leaves.

Though often times they were the ready reserve; they had to be ready to be launched into space at 30 minutes notice. Those were the worst, they had to just hang around the barracks, doing nothing. Apart from watching movies, for some reason old Shirley Temple movies were in vogue, gambling, fighting, and sex were the main nothings they did. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish between those last two, and the sex had to be in the barracks, so you got used to ignoring your bunk mates doing the deed, or indeed ignoring their ignoring you doing the deed.

Burnett had an advantage there, she didn't notice a lot of the other's reactions, so she could happily do the deed and not even consider she was being watched. Paul was not so lucky, but would get overruled by his hard-on. On one such occasion, Burnett had gone to shower and was now walking back to her bunk, totally naked. Paul first noticed the change in background hubbub, and looked up from his book to see Burnett casually walking through the barracks. He wasn't the only one to notice her, lots of pairs of eyes were following her, several, both male and female, with lust filled glances.

Paul more than glanced, he was quite mesmerized, her unusual beauty really shone through like this. She walked with a powerful grace, a subtle, but oh so alluring swing of the hips, and a slight wobble of her boobs. The display was having its usual effect on Paul, he was hard, and is often the case his hard on was in an uncomfortable position, but he didn't want to adjust himself in front of the whole squad. All Paul wanted to do was slip away to a motel where he could employ his hard on in private.

Burnett had no such reservations, as she walked towards Paul, she smiled. She gave him her usual appraising look, he still wasn't sure he wasn't prey, or lunch. Her eyes settled on the bulge in his fatigue pants, Paul froze like he was prey, both afraid and hopeful that he knew what was coming next. She took a last couple of steps towards him, knelt in front of him and reached for the zip on his pants.

His cheeks burning red, he glanced around the barracks, not everyone was feigning indifference, and not everyone feigning indifference was doing so convincingly. He felt like all the eyes in the barracks were staring at him. Some, both male and female, wishing they were him, and some, both male and female wishing they were Burnett. It was the thought of the guys wanting to go down on him that were most disturbing, until Burnett's blowjob pushed all such thoughts out of his mind.

He wafted along on waves of ecstasy, temporarily unconcerned as the blowjob consumed his senses, she even drove thoughts of what was next from his mind. She reached that point though, she stopped with the blowjob and reclined on his bunk, with her legs open, smiling. She was so sexy, she was willing, more than willing, and that was sexy, but that smile was the sexiest of all. Still, he glanced around the room, seeing furtive glances from those ostensibly ignoring them, whether they were actually ignoring him and Burnett, or not.

In his current state of arousal, that didn't seem to matter so much. He had a hard on, and she had a wet and willing pussy; there was only one possible conclusion. He let his primitive side take over, his kind gentle side was too embarrassed to be seen at that moment. Not for him, his usual approach where he might feast on her tasty pussy, instead he plunged straight in. She was naked, he was still in fatigues, at least he had those to cover his embarrassment. Only his dick was sticking out, dicks don't care, they only want one thing.

His dick got what it wanted, he pounded away with strong graceless thrusts, and she smiled at him. Paul wanted this to be over, his dick was happy with that idea, and that smile pushed him over the edge. He came, letting out a primitive grunt which attracted the glances he'd not want to gather. Then he collapsed, and buried his face in her boobs, hiding his embarrassment, trying not to think of who was watching. Burnett hadn't actually come from the encounter, but she was happy she'd provoked such a reaction from him, and that she'd pleased him (or so she thought).

==

It was during a period of boredom as the only squad on a small Space Destroyer that Burnett was woken by the Oxygen alarm. She wasn’t yet fully awake, but her training took over. First, she grabbed the survival patch located on the breast of her fatigue shirt, and stuck it over her nose and mouth. Exhaling into the patch formed it into a mask adhering to her face. The water vapor in her breath catalyzed a reaction which released oxygen she could breathe in, as it scrubbed the CO2 which might kill her.

The patch was only guaranteed to work for two minutes, so you had to work fast. Next, check your immediate surroundings. If you can render aid in ten seconds, you were to do so. You could apply someone else’s patch if they weren’t able, but after those ten seconds you had to leave them to their fate.

She didn’t see anyone needing immediate aid, so she went to the foot of her bunk where her space suit was stored. Even with all the drills they’d had, putting on a space suit was tricky. Putting one on in under 90 sec, under low oxygen conditions, with an alarm blaring in your ears was especially challenging. Fifty-seven seconds later, she sealed the helmet on her suit, and it showed green condition. At least now the alarm was silenced in her ears, she could think.

She would have been pleased at beating her personal record if she weren’t so worried about what the fuck was going on. It might be a drill, they loved drills, it punctuated the boredom. It might be an attack, at that moment she just didn’t know. She looked around, most of the grunts were in the final stages of suiting up; several of them were going green on her status display. The faceplate of the helmet gave augmented vision, and overlaid status of those around her. The suits networked themselves over a local optical network (basically they shot lasers at each other, their beams carried information). Her display showed who each suit was, and their status.

Each suit now showed green except one nearby, "Lunk" showed a red status. 'Damn Kowalski again,’ thought Burnett as she stepped over to him to render aid. That was the next step, render aid to any in trouble. She saw the issue, flipped the right catch, and twisted the helmet into place. Lunk's status turned green.

Next step, check in. She looked at the comms display, "Down." She was not on the command net, she couldn’t communicate with anyone outside of the barracks, including anyone who could give them orders.

"Anyone got comms?" The suit recognized it as a broadcast question, and the optical network relayed it to everyone. It also recognized it as a question, and switched to showing comm status for the others. She looked around, everyone was showing a red "Down" status.

"Who’s in charge?"

The suit recognized the question, applied the usual heuristics and concluded, "Burnett."

"Shit!" Thought Burnett, she’d just been nominated as the most viable leader by the suits' AIs collectively. She had never wanted command, she'd avoided all attempts to give it to her. Now she was it, and all the grunts were looking at her. She had that horrible feeling of losing control, she wanted to hit someone, but that wasn’t an option, her fists instinctively clenched. She glanced at a control on the display.

Dark. Dark. The faceplate went opaque, all displays went dark. She was alone with the sound of her breathing. One, Two, Three, she counted her breaths, the feeling receded. She heard her Mom say ‘Use your words.’ One of her earliest memories.

"On!" The faceplate went back to transparent, the status displays reappeared. Everyone was looking her way. Looking to her for orders, shit! Turn a negative into a positive. These were her squad, protecting them was what she did.

She glanced at "Local" on the status display, so her question would not be broadcast, then asked, "Now what?"

"1. Form a perimeter." The AIs had a variety of generic suggestions for grunts cut off from the chain of command.

Burnett thought this sound advice, and she was happy to be told what to do. Glancing at "Broadcast" on the display, she first barked, "Weapons." Those who hadn’t already picked up their weapon did so, including Burnett herself, she’d been too busy stressing over the situation to take care of that.

Then she signaled to some grunts on the left. "You four, that door." Pointing to the door at one end, the barracks had an entrance at either end. The four indicated moved to take up positions guarding the door. At the other end, "You four, that door." Those four moved to take up positions. "Everyone else, to me." The rest of the squad gathered around her.

Local again, "Now what?"

"2. Wait for orders."

‘Typical,’ thought Burnett, the order was always ‘Wait.’

"OK, relax. We wait here until someone tells us what to do." She looked around the gathered grunts, they took up positions on the neighboring bunks. ‘Sparks’ caught her eye, Larry Capello, the comms specialist. Focusing on him to form a private link, she asked him, "Sparks, any idea why we're not on command net?"

"No BB. None of the diagnostics are showing anything."

"Keep working on it." Burnett encouraged Sparks, he was currently their only hope of contact.

Again she retreated, she turned the faceplate to full virtual, it was opaqued, but showed the world outside from the suit’s cameras. She had to keep control. She sent the viewpoint spinning around. She could see everything, there was order. She needed order. She took a personal inventory. She had all her limbs, all her senses, she had her weapon.

She checked over the status of the suit, and settled on ‘O2 reserve,' it showed, ‘Current: 26h43m’ at least she was good for a day of waiting, but she saw next to it. 'Estimated: 2h01m in combat.' She frowned at the O2 reserve display, and the faceplate switched back to augmented status display. Looking around, she could see the reserve of the others in the squad. It varied from about 18 hours for the larger guys up to 30 hours for the smaller girls.

She was interrupted, "BB Gun?" The display said it was Sparks asking.

"Yeah?"

"I got some diagnostic information. The comms are down with a status of 'corrupted.'"

"What's that mean?"

"Dunno, I've never seen it before. Hold on. … The manual says it could be interference, or someone is listening in." Sparks had the manual up on his display; it wasn't helping him fix the problem. What neither of them knew, was the command net was secured with quantum encryption. That was theoretically impossible to intercept, if someone tried to intercept the communication, the receiver was alerted to that, and it didn't pass the traffic.

The thought that someone might be listening into the command net was worrying. She glanced around the room again, the status was much as before, except for "Ninja," his status was now showing 35h13m O2 reserve. She focused on Ninja, "Hey Ninja, whatcha doing?"

A short pause, "Meditating." That explained the improved O2 status.

"Something's hinky with the command net, go recon and find a stripe or someone." She was charging him with going to find someone to tell them what to do. She looked around the assembled grunts, "Take Babydoll with you." Holly "Babydoll" Hewitt was the smallest of the grunts, so used the least oxygen and was showing 33h34m O2 reserve. Those two had the most oxygen to spare, so could use a little on the mission.

She linked to Babydoll, "Hey Babydoll, go with Ninja, he's going to recon the situation."

"OK BB."

She switched to broadcast, "Listen up! Ninja and Babydoll are going on a recon, stay alert while they're out there. And don't forget to relax, it extends your O2 supply." Those two orders were more or less contradictory, Burnett never asked for this gig.

The door at one end, closest to the officers' mess, where you're most likely to find an officer, was cautiously cracked. Nothing untoward was seen outside. Ninja and Babydoll exited, and the door was left open a crack and one grunt kept watch.

Ten minutes later the door was opened, Ninja and Babydoll reentered, and the door was shut and locked behind them. That was when Burnett realized she'd left the status display on O2 reserve. His reserve was now showing 5h02m, like he'd been spooked; he was using almost as much oxygen as he would in combat. He linked into Burnett in private. "The place is crawling with bugs; they've got the officers." "Bugs" was what the aliens were commonly called.

With no officers available, it was down to the grunts to act. Not something they'd trained for, so what the fuck do they do? Burnett had come to accept there was no shame in asking for help, so she broadcast to the room. "Listen up! There are bugs on the ship. They're jamming up the command net. Anyone any bright ideas what the fuck we do now? I'm all ears."

Ninja spoke first, "How about we contact the brass off ship. Ask them what to do."

That gave Sparks an idea, "We could use the emergency conn, it's usually unmanned and has its own laser transmitters." The emergency conn was a backup if either the bridge or the main communications systems had been taken off line (like being shot up in a battle). The ship could be controlled from there, as well as having the backup communication systems, Sparks had been shown it during his shipboard orientation.

"Could you work it?" Burnett asked Sparks.

"I could try …" Sparks sounded unsure on that point, but at that moment, it sounded like their only option. Burnett considered if she should send a detachment to do that, but decided, "reconnaissance in force," i.e., everyone going together, was their best option.

Sparks told them where to find the emergency conn, then the squad headed out, using the standard tactics for negotiating a spaceship in battle. Burnett was mighty glad to have training to fall back on for this situation, she hated that she was currently in command, she was only just holding on, but she was motivated to do good by her squad.

They arrived at the conn without encountering anyone. Again, she set up a perimeter, then got Sparks to do his thing. She noted her O2 reserve was now showing 14h49m, they were burning through oxygen with all this activity and stress. She again sent out the contradictory orders to relax, but stay vigilant.

Sparks linked in, "I think I've got this, who do we talk to?"

That stymied Burnett for a second, but like all things military, she thought of the chain of command. "Where's the ship usually get its orders from?" After some investigation, Sparks worked out that'd usually be the flagship, so he opened a link to there.

That didn't go well, and soon Sparks reported back to Burnett, "They want a recognition code. They told me to knock it off, or they'll report me." He sounded fearful they were going to be in trouble for this, using the communication systems without authorization.

Burnett realized she did have one recognition code, so asked Sparks, "Can you get Earth on that?"

"Err…" Sparks checked the system and the manual he'd downloaded from the console. "Yes, I can do that." He sounded triumphal, relieved that he could do something useful.

"Open a link to …" She then gave Sparks an alphanumeric code and a recognition code.

It seemed like an eternity to Sparks and Burnett, but it was probably only 20 seconds before a voice came on the link, "Hey kiddo, what's up?"

Burnett flipped the link to private, before she burst out, "Daddy!!!" She didn't know if she were more relieved to hear her Dad, or an officer in this situation. He was a comforting mixture of both at that second. Next she gave her most concise summary of the problem in decreasing order of severity as she saw it, "Command net is down, and there are bugs on the ship." Then, she gave voice to her other fears, "I know you said I should use this link only in dire emergencies; I think this counts."

The General had envisioned the personal code he'd given her would be used