Starlight :||: Duty. Family. Honor. #1

Chapter One

Honor
John Boardman, my RIO, and I walked across the base, our packs over our shoulders, picking them up from the wing we'd dumped them in on our way to class. The military base had its own barracks students were provided with, all rooms were set out with pilots next to their RIOs, and John and I had landed rooms one and two. Without bothering to unpack, I hopped in the shower, washing off all the grit I'd collected since the naval ship this morning, helicopter ride and then in that room filled with the men's testosterone and body odour.

There weren't very many female pilots around, I'd trained with a few but most had left due to the toxic pressure of a male-dominated industry or to start families. There hadn't been another female pilot onboard the USS Kitty Hawk, so being the only woman here too was nothing new to me.

I dressed in the pressed and washed white uniform of a naval pilot, pinning the gold oak-leaf cufflinks into my sleeves to make them tidier. My uniform was tweaked slightly due to my elevated rank, but even cufflinks, shoulder and collar sleeves would stand out amongst the men. I fussed and fluffed over my uniform, making sure I was nothing short of immaculate before staring at myself in the mirror. If I went out there with a single hair out of line, I would be criticised.

Generally, I wasn't afraid of how I'd present myself in such a critical environment, but I'd been at sea amongst the same men and standards for three years. Returning to land and society was a hard feat for any soldier. It didn't help I had completely shut myself off to the outside world since the last time I'd been on land, for that horrible day when three bodies had been put in the ground.

There was a knock at the door interrupting the spiralling drain my thoughts had turned into it. Shaking my head, I picked up my service cap and went to the door, opening it to reveal John standing there, looking handsome in his uniform. He smiled and gazed over my uniform. He had been my RIO for three years, assigned to me when I'd first started on the Kitty Hawk and he was my best friend. There had never been anything else between us, despite the nasty rumours the other men had liked to spread, along with taunting him for flying with a girl. But John had never bought into them and stood by my side throughout it all. And look where we ended up.

"Looking good," He nodded in confirmation I hadn't missed anything.

Within the first week of us working together, he'd picked up on my nervous habit of checking my uniform every two seconds. He'd asked why I was so fussy with my uniform when half the men walked around looking like slobs, especially when the humidity got to them. I'd looked at him with a raised brow. "And do you think I'll get away with doing that?"

He didn't say anything else after that but he'd proposed the idea that he'd let me know if my uniform ever went askew at any time. I'd also noted how he'd wear his uniform just as cleanly as I did thereafter. We were a team and we devoted every bit of effort to this team, in order to stay alive.

We pulled up at the club situated in the fighter town of Mirimar, California. John had hired a car for the twelve weeks that we would be training here for. We both tucked out caps under our arms and walked into the noisy club, filled with neon lights, other officers mostly dressed in khaki, and women all out trying to gain the attention of an officer.

John and I made our way through the crowd, getting a few nods from other officers. We came to the bar and was immediately pounced on by Slider, Ice sidling up beside me and signalling the bartender. "Order whatever you two want, it's on me."

John laughed, a genuine smile pulling across his lips. "You don't have to buy me a drink to impress me, Kazansky." Tom raised a questioning brow and John held out his hand. "John Boardman, Eagle-Eye, I got a debrief about you on the helicopter ride over."