Chapter 11

Drunk and Disorderly

Saturday night, two days after Reider had assaulted her and Kara had heard nothing from him since. That reinforced her feeling that he had learned something from the bloody nose. She hoped he'd learned it wasn't worth it to mess with her.

She had been studying all afternoon, studying while Dana took a nap, studying while Dana got ready for a date, studying when a couple of her dorm mates stopped by to ask her if she wanted to go with them to a movie. But she wasn't in the mood for a mushy, romantic, chick flick so she told them some other time.

At 19:00 she called Karl. "How about let's go to McGee's?"

"No can do tonight. I've got a date. I was just about ready to leave. Tomorrow night?"

"Sure, Karl. Have a good time. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She knew where Lee was. In the city with his girlfriend, no doubt. And Connelly was with Stacey. But maybe not. Maybe Stacey was gone on one of her sales trips. Don't do it, Kara. Don't even think about it. She was still telling herself not to do it when she arrived at Connelly's apartment building and got to the edge of parking lot.

That's when she came to her senses. What the frak had she been thinking? As she turned to leave, she saw Connelly and a woman come out and start walking toward his car. Stacey was wearing a gorgeous, flowing, dress, and she was beautiful, raven-haired, petite, feminine, all the things Kara knew she was not. Connelly was wearing a suit so they must be going out to a nice restaurant or something. He looked relaxed and happy.

Before Stacey went around to the passenger side of the car, she kissed Connelly briefly on the mouth and then with a laugh, wiped off the smudge of lipstick. It was such an intimate, loving gesture that Kara felt it arrow straight through her heart. Neither one of them noticed her in the dim light standing under a tree near the corner of the lot.

The realization that she and Connelly could never go out anywhere nice and risk being seen made the pain twice as bad. She didn't stop walking until she was at McGee's. Only one thing was certain in Kara's mind at the time. She was going to get drunk. And get drunk she did.

By the time she made her third trip to the ladies room, she was feeling no pain…until she saw Captain Reider sitting alone at a table near the entrance to the restrooms. She had to walk past him to get to the head. The jerk was sitting at a table that was mostly in the dark so he could watch the restrooms. Frakking bastard. But she really had to go, so she just walked past him and ignored his greeting.

"Cadet Thrace, fancy seeing you here tonight."

The bathroom window was too high and too narrow to crawl out of, or she would have done it. Instead she stood at the sink washing her hands and stewing about having to walk back past Reider. There was nothing to do but just do it. She squared her shoulders and left the restroom.

"What's the matter, Cadet Thrace, going to run by me like a little coward? Don't have the guts to stop and talk? I never did think you had the chops to make a real pilot. Sims are more your speed. You can't handle the real thing." He laughed. "You're not really tough enough, are you? You can't even make it over a little wall in decent time."

He should have known better. Or maybe he did. "How's your nose feel tonight, Reider?"

"That's Captain Reider, sir to you," he slurred.

"This is McGee's. We don't do rank here."

"Is that a fact? Well, maybe you'd do rank if it was Major Reider. You seem to like majors. I bet you drop those hot pants real quick for a major, don't you? You know what I think? Since a particular major isn't around tonight, I think you and me should just go back to my place and finish what we started out there on the obstacle course. Who knows, you might find out a lowly captain is just as good as a major, maybe even better."

He was drunk, or nearly drunk. But then so was she. Walk away, Kara. Don't say it. Instead she leaned down and put her hands on the table.

"I got nothing against captains, Reider. It's just that I can't see myself frakking a lame flight school washout like you."

He went rigid for a few seconds and then he leaned forward. His face was inches from hers. "What the frak did you just say?"

"I said it's no damn wonder you couldn't handle a Viper. You can't even handle that little bitty stick between your legs."

His hand was still wrapped around the beer bottle when he swung at her. She saw it just in time to jerk her head back. He missed, but by a millimeter. Condensation from the bottle pelted her face in icy drops that almost burned. He was on his feet, then, none too steady, ready to swing again, and she reacted instinctively...just pulled back her fist a short distance and popped him in the jaw. She didn't think it was hard enough to even hurt. All she was trying to do was stop him from swinging at her again, but he stumbled and went down.

And started howling like a baby. In no time at all, McGee's was pandemonium. There was no point in leaving. It wouldn't have mattered. The MPs would have come to her dorm and that would have been a lot worse. Instead she went to the bar and sat down and waited. She waited while a couple of faculty members helped Reider to his feet and then started questioning everyone who was still left near Reider's table.

Funny, no one asked her a thing. They just took it for granted that Reider was telling the truth. "Arguing with me about her lousy scores on the obstacle course," she heard him say, while holding his jaw. And "had a bad attitude all term." And then the worst, "hit me when I refused to change her scores." A short time later one of the faculty members left with Reider saying they were going to the emergency center to see if Reider's jaw was broken.

She had done it this time. She was on her way out the door for sure. Expelled from the Academy. Isn't that what screw-ups do? But one by one the few people who were left on their side of the room shrugged and shook their heads as they were asked what had happened, and she realized that if anyone had seen her slug Reider no one was going to admit it. Still, if it came down to Reider's word against hers, whose word was Admin going to believe?

She tried to blank her mind while an MP mumbled something about her rights. She thought about nothing while she was being driven to the brig, and escorted inside; while she was being charged with a drunk and disorderly and assaulting an officer; while the door clanged shut behind her and the lock clicked into place. She succeeded in blanking everything out until she was alone.

Only then did she realize that while no one would admit to seeing her hit Reider, no one had said he swung at her first either. She was frakked. Totally frakked. Nothing and no one was going to get her out of this one. She was on her way out of the Academy. Her dream of flying a Viper evaporated like fog in the morning sun.

TBC…