War Machines

18

     Zeke and I stood together in the doorway of the Terra Omega bunkhouse, staring. I'd been traveling from base to base my entire life, and every one of them was the same. Every Terra Omega bunkhouse had always been interchangeable with any other, but now it was different. The layout of the room had changed. Two of the bunks had been removed, the monitor stations moved back. And there in the middle of the room was something I'd never seen in any Border Guard general troop quarters – a double bed. Two monitors were attached, one at each side at the head. Two emitters were focused onto it, the wires leading to them snaking under the bed. The whole thing gave the appearance of having been hastily yet solidly constructed.

     For a long time, we just stared at it.

     "Looks like we're expected to move past the hand-holding stage a little quicker than we thought," I grumbled.

     "So it would seem," Zeke said.

     I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you know they were going to do this?"

     He shook his head. "I did not. I would have politely declined. I do not understand the purpose of all these adornments."

     My eyes roved over the bed, noting the satin sheets, fluffy pillows, and thick comforter. All that was missing was a mirror on the ceiling. I could imagine only one use for a bed like this. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

     "I am thinking I would much prefer a regular bunk, but it would appear that the brass are most determined I be accommodated sexually," Zeke noted bitterly. "I am sorry, J Alpha. Do you think this happened because the cleaning crew reported that we had pushed two bunks together?"

     I shrugged. "Maybe."

     Zeke grimaced and shook his head. "I should have realized this would happen. I failed to move the beds apart, and this is the result."

     "I think it was probably coming for a while," I grumbled. "They didn't just do this while we were in that meeting, Zeke. They must have started moving bunks right after we left for the mission. This was something they'd intended to do all along."

     His hand tightened on mine. "We do not need to use it?"

     "Yes, we do," I sighed. "If we each take a regular bunk, they'll see what monitors we're on, look through the cameras, and see what we did."

     Zeke's head moved rapidly, gauging the cameras in the room. "If they had only bothered to look, they would have seen what did not happen," he complained. "I do not understand why they felt this need to accommodate a sex act when no such act occurred."

     "Well, I'd say they're pushing hard for that sex act to start occurring." I moved toward the bed, running my fingers over the sheets. The satin caught a little on the callouses of my hands. I was a warrior, not a pampered princess, which was the only thing I could imagine wanting a bed like this.

     Zeke had moved closer, still eyeing the bed with distaste. "I still do not understand. It seems as though they are doing everything they can to ensure that a sex act takes place. Why would they wish such a thing?"

     I shrugged. "Who knows? It's fine, Zeke."

     It wasn't fine, but it wasn't Zeke's fault any more than it was mine. The truth was, I didn't really mind sleeping with Zeke. We could share energy again, which seemed to be doing me a lot of good, and secretly, I knew I always slept better with him. I just hated the obvious implications of the double bed. Somehow, it made me feel dirty.

     The bed was ridiculously soft. The sheets were, too. It felt like I was going to be absorbed into the silly thing and suffocate during the night. The bed and linens had probably been ordered for the quarters of some bigwig or another. It amused me to consider that somewhere, an officer might be faced with a standard troop bunk tonight instead of this giant marshmallow. But it was certainly strange. We were both shifting constantly once we were in it.