It was very fortunate, Helen Zilwicki decided, that HMS Hexapuma had such a small ships company. With pre-ghost rider manning levels, every compartment was a thoroughfare, even the out of the way ones. Being caught wrapped around one of the other midshipmen or midshipwomen on board would have been a disciplinary issue, even though they were roughly equal in seniority, Helen was senior to Paulo, and being caught canoodling in a corner was in all likelihood a breach of article 119, which was very definitively a Bad Thing on your snotty cruise.

After Monica, she couldn't remember which of them had made the first move on the other. All she could remember was simply stepping into a small observation room, locked together at the lips, thinking about nothing but the moment, even as, uninvited, she felt Paulo slipping a gentle hand inside her tunic, parting the magnetic strip with a tiny strip of plastic, and she just groaned as his hand found one of her breasts, and simply continued the process of making her feel very pleasured, until he heard a familiar set of footsteps, one from large feet, and a different set that were far more staccato.

His hand whipped out of her tunic, and she pushed him back into a sitting position in the lee of the door, where Lieutenant Hearns might not detect him. Her hair, admittedly, was in a state of absolute disorder, so she quickly opened a service run and began rooting around, hoping Lieutenant Hearns would pass by.

She didn't.

Instead, the Grayson officer walked straight in. "Miss Zilwikci." She said, in her soft, musical Grayson accent. "I thought you were headed for impeller one."

"I was, ma'am. As I was passing the room, I heard an alarm sound in here. I decided to check it out, in the hope I could fix it."

"I assume you called it in to engineering?" The poker-faced Grayson replied, betraying nothing except extreme scepticism and a slightly knowing tone.

"I was hoping to sort it myself, ma'am. IF it had been serious, it would have been called in as soon as I found the problem."

"I see." Lieutenant Hearns replied. "Do you know where Midshipman de'Arezzo is?"

Her eyes flickered to the door, where the Lieutenant's armsman was leaning, clearly very comfortable. "No, ma'am." She said, before flushing, hating herself for loosing control of her emotions and body language to such an extent.

"Mateo, would you close the door, please." The Grayson said, her face remaining inscrutable as the huge San Martino almost casually opened the door.

"No-one, milady."

"I see. Mateo, be a dear and open the cable run behind there." She instructed, keeping her eyes firmly on Helen's face. Under her father's tutelage, however, Helen had developed a poker face to match the Grayson's and revealed nothing. The armsman compiled, glancing both ways down the surface run to search for anyone, listening intently for anyone making haste down the run who might have been nearer.

"Nothing, milady." He said, sliding a hand very unobtrusively up above the door, looking for ankles. To Helen's surprise, he found nothing. With a annoyed glance at her, the armsman stepped through the service hatch, before stepping back and through again, facing the opposite direction.

"You wanted me, ma'am?" Paulo said, stepping into the compartment.

"Yes. The Captain wanted you to run up some programs for solly first line EW systems, based on the last generation of our systems before ghost rider, with a ten percentage point advantage over everything we had. Not that you were busy, I assume."

"No, ma'am." He replied, keeping his face perfectly straight. "I was heading for the wardroom when chief Malcolm told me you were looking for me."

"Don't think I won't ask him. I think you were in this service run a few minutes ago. And the Tester knows how the captain has a belief in the regulations about relationships, even between snotties." She replied, half-stating, half-fishing for evidence to back up her suspicions.

"Me, ma'am?" Paulo replied, his face its usual blank canvas. "I know the regs. I wouldn't dream of violating them." Then he stuck out his tongue, suddenly. "You imagine I have any interest in relationships." He said, after giving the lieutenant a few seconds to clearly see his tongue. "You know what happens to C-types after a certain age, lieutenant."

"I know." She snarled, her jocular humour vaporizing like water in front of a graser. "I know Madasan practices all-too-well. And I know what Mesa does as well. If I could, I'd waive the Eridani Edict for both planets. And I would happily pull the trigger myself." Her armsman made a noise of agreement, before she marched out of the compartment.

Once she had vanished down the corridor, Paulo kissed Helen again, before saying "I was too young for those bastards to begin my "development", and just holding her to him, as he shook with suppressed tears. "Every day, for a year, once I knew what was going to happen, I was scared..." his voice tailed off, and she kissed him again. "For a b model, you were required to know more than not to resist." He continued, his voice cracking. "They would have forced me to learn, as soon as I was physically capable of learning, what a female wanted. It was an excellent use, as they saw it, for failed batches of female C-types. Training us to be lovers. Four years, then you were shipped out, and only luck would save you from a "pleasure" resort."

"I..."

"Understand?" He snorted. "No-one can truly understand if they haven't been in that place themselves."

"I was going to say I love the man you are." She replied. "If I had the chance, I'd wipe out the slavers myself. Remember who my adoptive mother is."

"Helen..." he said. "What I said to Lieutenant Hearns is true. I have no sexual desires for just anyone, only for you. I love you as much as you love me, but I would still find some things too hard to cope with."

"Is there any way to change that?" She asked, rocking her hips slightly, in a suggestive manner.

"Not unless you know someone who can wipe memories." Paulo replied.

"You wouldn't be the man I want in my bed." Helen retorted. "The hardest part of what was done to you will be coming to terms with it."

Abruptly, she broke off the lecture she was about to give when he suddenly kissed her, pressing her back against the bulkhead. After about thirty seconds, Paulo broke the kiss, and gave her a somewhat mischievous grin. "Once we're dirtside, I'm sure we can work things out." He said, before locking on for another attack run.