Casserine by Bernard Lee DeLeo

only you can imagine, but I did what I was told. Risling’s reasoning sounded plausible, and I couldn’t think of any way it was detrimental to you. After all, you volunteered to come here.”
    “Jarhead justification.”
    “I can see you have no intention of accepting any explanation for my actions in this, do you?” Jake asked, as he shifted over to the couch. He wrapped his arms around Adrian, who had crossed her hands over her chest, and turned her face up in the air away from him.
    “Correcto.”
    “How about if I showed you something, Risling ordered me in no uncertain terms, not to tell you,” Jake offered, kissing her softly on the back of her neck.
    Adrian turned in Jake’s arms, warding him off as he tried a more romantic tact. “Show me, but it better be good.”
    “How about I take you through a few exercises first, just to help you readjust to our gravity after your time on board the Tennyson,” Jake urged, opening Adrian’s top a little to force his way to her neck.
    “Later.”
    “Now,” Jake said, picking her up off of the couch, and heading towards their bedroom.
    “Beast,” Adrian said, pulling his head down to her as Jake paused to kiss her passionately.
    “Hussey,” Jake replied, pulling away. “At least the crew on the Tennyson won’t be able to hear you scream this time down.”
    Adrian’s startled gasp, as she slapped him with her open hand, evoked a laugh from Jake who set her down on the bed. He forced her onto her back, holding her hands to the sides of her head. “You promised me you were never going to mention that again, Jake. How did I know the Tennyson had a policy of open com units in all the storage areas on the ship?”
    “It certainly gave them something to laugh about and share all over the galaxy,” Jake said, kissing Adrian’s bright red face. She had blushed crimson at the memory of the first time the Tennyson had been able to dock for an extended period on Casserine.
    “The lightness of the change in gravity, and.and we were in there alone…I.” Adrian stammered her explanation.
    “A justification?” Jake asked, needling her as he continued his lightkisses.
    “Oh Jake,” Adrian whispered. “We must be the laughing stock of the base by now, not to mention every ship in the quadrant.”
    “What you mean we, Ke-mo sah-be?” Jake asked, spinning their Lone Ranger word gag back on her.
    “Why did you have to bring that up again? I had finally managed to block the memory enough so I could face the Tennyson crew. I’ll never be able to go back on board for dinner,” Adrian added, cringing under Jake’s touch.
    “Relax Hon, we’re famous now.”
    “Oh my God,” Adrian said in a hushed tone, still reliving their tryst in the storeroom of the Tennyson, delivered by sound to the immense entertainment of the Tennyson’s crew.
    Jake pulled her top off as she struggled weakly. He paused long enough to remove his own, and then returned to his mate. “Remember when we came out of the storeroom?”
    “Oh…my…God.”
    “You couldn’t understand the applause, or why everyone was lined up in the corridor outside. At least not until Jenny, that ensign from supply, ducked into the storeroom and shut the hatch. When her voice came over the ship’s intercom, shouting testing, testing, testing.”
    “Oh…my…God.”
    “I thought you were going to pass out,” Jake laughed, stroking her sides as she shuddered.
    Adrian slapped both hands to her face as Jake slipped the rest of her clothes off and his own. “I am not going back on board ever,” she vowed.
    ‘With your talent for blocking out everything you don’t want to hear, you’ll be fine,” Jake replied, returning to their previous embrace as Adrian still kept her hands over her face. “I thought you were magnificent.”
    Adrian peaked out from her fingers. “Really?”
    “I was the envy of every man on the ship,” Jake confirmed, continuing his ministrations. “Let’s see if I can attain a