Chapter 10
The Obstacle Course
Kara hated the obstacle course. Not because it was hard, but because Reider was the instructor. The obstacles she would normally have taken as a challenge and worked hard at overcoming became instead a chore to be merely gotten through. All she wanted to do was get passing scores so she could move on.
That afternoon the whole class did it once. But Reider kept her afterward.
"Cadet Thrace. You've got to improve your time on the wall to get a passing score."
He sounded so official, so detached, with his clipboard and stopwatch, pretending he was a real teacher.
"Yes, sir," she said and turned around instead of following the last of her classmates up the trail. She might as well get it over as quickly as she could. It had been that way with each obstacle on the course. Do it over. Do it over.
Once more wasn't enough, though. He made her do it twice. Her clocked time was worse the second time. A lot worse. What did the frakker think? The more exhausted she got the faster her time would get?
She was bent over with her hands on her knees trying to get her breath, heart pounding, ears ringing, when she became aware he was saying something, and he was way too close to her. She tried to muster the energy to move away, but before she could do it, he grabbed her from behind.
With one arm wrapped around her breasts, he pulled her upright, shoved the other hand down the front of her pants and started groping her. He was saying something about her being hot, or maybe it was about wanting to see if she was hot. His crotch was thrust against her rear and he was already hard.
A surge of adrenalin coursed through her and she reacted without conscious thought. She slammed an elbow backward into his ribs and at the same time she threw her head back. She felt it connect with what she thought was his chin, but realized when she pulled free and spun around that it was his nose.
She was ready to fight, but now Reider was the one bent over, both hands cupped over his nose, gasping, cursing. Bet that frakker was seeing little white lights about now. Little white stars dancing in front of his eyes. She knew how bad it hurt to get popped hard in the nose.
"You…leave…me…alone," she gasped between breaths. "Alone...you…creep. Understand?" Then she turned and stumbled toward the trail.
She was lucky. When she reached the main path, she met several other cadets and joined them. By the time they veered off toward the first year dorms, there were others walking with her. She got back to her dorm without seeing Reider again.
She threw her fatigues onto the floor of the bathroom and stepped into a hot shower and scrubbed herself until she felt like she had removed all trace of Reider's touch. Mother-frakking creep. What should she do? Should she tell someone in authority? Probably. Would anyone in authority believe her? Probably not. And she'd always taken care of her own problems. If there was one thing Kara had learned as a child, it was not to bother her mother with anything. Kara Thrace took care of her own problems.
She thought briefly of telling Karl. No, she wouldn't tell him because he might do something stupid. Even worse, Karl might ask her if she'd done something to encourage Reider's advances and that would make her want to punch him out. He knew how much she despised Reider.
She thought of Reider's hands cupped over his nose. She'd seen blood at the edge of one of his hands. Hopefully she'd given the creep a bloody nose and something to think about. She wondered what he would tell his friends about his nose...that is assuming he had any friends. I walked into a door. Only an idiot would use that one. I got mugged. That might get him some sympathy. A cadet used me as a punching bag after I tried to rape her. That made her laugh. Even Reider wasn't that stupid.
She made her decision. She would keep this one to herself and see what happened. Maybe he'd think long and hard before he messed with her again.
Kara felt better as she scrubbed herself one last time. She seriously doubted he'd mess with her again.
TBC…