Janessa and Samal parted ways after that. Janessa was on her way to take a shower. She thought she heard a door slide open while she was on her way down a hall. Around the corner she heard it again.
For the next few days as they made their way closer to Mars and the nearest hotspot of Spectral Horde activity the routine did not vary much. In the morning they would do fighter training with the other squads. They would do their personal training later in the day. They would socialize. Janessa still did her gymnastic routine in the evening. She did not see Duron again but she did run into Samal a few times.
One night when she was on her way back to her quarters Janessa heard a door opening and closing again. She waited around the corner a moment and saw a storage compartment open up. Zemwell Tickbird came out and he was making sure his pants were on right. A moment later Therazan Sajan came out after him. She briefly reached into her uniform shirt to adjust her bra. Janessa could not hear what they said to each other. Zemwell looked like he was in a good mood. Therazan also looked pleased but seemed to be trying to hold it back. They took different paths away from the storage compartment. Janessa wondered to herself if they had just done what she thought they had just done.
“That’s the third time this week,” said someone nearby.
Janessa was startled by an older looking African man with graying hair and an accent to his voice.
“Before you make any assumptions just know that I was not spying on anyone,” he said, “well not that much anyway. I was wondering why that young man kept coming to me for contraceptives. I don’t have much to do so far on this ship and I got curious so I followed him to see what it was all about. I am Doctor Winchester Faction by the way.”
“Yes,” said Janessa, “you’re the ship’s doctor. I remember that.”
Janessa paused then said, “This is a little awkward.”
“Why?” asked Dr. Faction, “because we just saw the head of security having sex with one of the other prime squad pilots? It’s not like the Solar Fleet has any sort of regulations that prohibit that sort of thing. People have sex all the time. People have sex on this ship. Although I got to say those two seem to be having a bit more than anyone else.”
“Are you sure you weren’t spying on anyone?”
“I’m a trained military field medic and a surgeon and a certified pathologist. So far I have had nothing to do on this ship but treat a few scrapes people gave each other in the gym. I got bored.”
Janessa determined that indeed Dr. Faction was just bored and not some crazed sexual pervert. Although as they walked and talked he seemed to find it amusing to make her think deep down he might be. In the commissary the doctor got a dessert bar and Janessa just got something to drink. They talked more.
“So your first name is Winchester
“Yeah,” he replied, “all of the clones in our batch were named after guns. A Winchester
“You’re a clone?” said Janessa, “are you from Sierra Leone
“No, Somalia Africa and the only way anyone knew how to get things done was with guns and bombs. Somewhere along the line during the corporate wars they found it was cheaper and faster to grow soldiers from stem cells than to snatch them. Still cloning isn’t perfect. Very few from a given clone batch even survive. And then our life spans tend to be shorter because we almost always come out with some sort of genetic defect. I was lucky I came out mostly right. I’ve had gene mods to stop my accelerated aging and make my DNA semi normal. But I’ll still won’t live to anywhere near the average human life span and I’m sterile. That’s not to say I’m impotent. I can still keep up with any of the young men on this crew.”
It took Janessa a moment to realize that last part was another joke.
“So how old were you when you were liberated?”
“Age is a funny thing for a clone like me. When I was first put into battle I was only three years old but accelerated growth and virtual training gave me the mind and body of an eight year old. I only saw combat for five years before the Solar Fleet started building up its power on Earth in part by gutting corporations like the ones using child clone soldiers. And then the African Alliance was formed. Isn’t that just how it would be? It took an alien invasion for the nations of Africa to get their shit together. Things are better with the Alliance Africa . They still have no shortage of crime and corruption but it could be worse, it has been worse.”
“So how did you become a doctor?”
“I’m not really sure when it started. At some point I started being the one who tended to my brothers wounds. Then when the corporation that owned us was taken over by the Solar Fleet and we were granted citizenship, well I looked old enough then to attend medical school so I did. I got the gene mods I needed so I would age normally after that. After that I took a job with the Solar Fleet. Then I got selected to be this mission’s chief medical officer. And I got these nice blue uniforms for me and my staff.”
The blue outfitted medical officers of the Daedlus were the smallest subsection of the ship staff. Janessa and Dr. Faction talked a bit longer. When they realized how late it was they went their separate ways but before that they agreed to talk again some time.
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