Chapter 29
Jon stood with a towel and soap in hand shivering in the knees. He was about to go into no man's land. He was about to enter the women's showers. He took a deep breath and stepped inside the forbidden domain. His first sight wasn't that of endless naked girls but rather of private shower stalls. His shoulder slunk and his mouth dropped in confusion.
"They get private showers too," he complained. "We don't get private showers." He wandered over to an empty stall and peered inside, "Nice a roomy too. A bench seat even! Holy cow!" He stepped inside, pulled back the curtain and in much relief started to take a relaxing morning shower.
Meanwhile
Jackie had gathered Jon's things including his shaving kit and made her way to the men's showers. She assumed the men's showers would be identical to the much smaller and far more private women's showers. She stepped inside only to find naked men as far as the eye could see. She had forgotten that there more men in the military in ratio to females and thus less focus on privacy. She stopped dead in her tracks and wished she could un-see the sight before her.
Jack walked up behind her with his gear in hand. He noticed she had stopped and he figured she was unprepared for the men's showers. He stopped beside her and stated, "Not what you're used to, huh?"
She wagged the head, "Nope." She looked over at him, "Group showers! How am I supposed to get through that?"
He smirked, "Just keep your hands and your eyes to yourself." Jack found her situation absolutely hilarious and truly was not much help. "They really have private stalls in the women's showers?"
She nodded, "Ah-ha."
"Nice," he sighed. He wandered by her carrying his things. She then noticed he was naked and only wore flip-flops as his behind shined bright upon passing her.
"I can do this," she closed her eyes and told her self. "I can do this!" She took a deep breath and proceeded into a land no woman should ever need to enter.
It had to have been the fastest shower she had ever taken. She didn't look around her and quickly washed Jon's body off. She wrapped the towel around the middle after drying the hair. She then walked over to the far wall with a large mirror and row of sinks. She spotted her father standing at the wall in his white military issued rob preparing to shave. She found a spot beside him and placed the shaking kit on the small shelf. She watched his every move as he whipped up the foamy lather in a cup with a brush. She copied the move and did whatever he did. She brushed the lather onto the face and then found the safety razor. She watched and copied his every move and stroke.
Fred stopped shaving and turned towards her, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Shaving," she replied as nonchalantly as possible.
"Why are you watching me?" he wondered.
"I thought maybe you would have some pointers," she admitted.
"Oh," he went back to shaving. "The trick is in the lather. Apply it right and it makes the whiskers stand up."
"It does?" she asked.
"Yup," he continued his shave.
Jackie copied him and was nearly finished when Jack found her at the mirror. He was going to show her how to shave but he noticed she already figure it out after watching her father. He came up to her other side.
"Doing good," he mentioned to her.
Fred looked over at him, "Doesn't your…Offspring…Already know how to shave?"
"He forgot," he covered for her.
"Weird," he noted and washed the remaining lather off his face. He then grabbed his things and went to his locker.
Jackie held the razor and looked at half shaved face, "I thought this would be quick and easy."
Jack started to shave, "Nope. Go too fast and you can cut yourself. Just takes time until you get the hang of it."
"Dad said the trick was in the lather," she noted as she gently worked the razor across Jon's face.
"It is," he agreed. "Your father uses the brush because it stimulates the stubble and gives you a closer shave. Some guys just use the canned stuff and smear it on because that's faster."
Daniel came to the mirror next with his shaving kit as well. He shook a can of shaving cream and pumped it into his hand and then smeared it across his face. He took a disposable razor and started to quickly shave.
Jack whispered, "Like that."
Jackie noticed Daniel quickly went about shaving and Jack took the same approach as her father and went slow and meticulous. She figured it must be preference and simply finished up and rinsed the remaining lather.
Daniel had finished as well, "See ya at breakfast." He told the pair as he made his way past.
Jackie was about to follow when Jack stopped her, "Let's see how ya did?"
She stood before him and he tilted the chin left and then right. He gave a nod, "Not bad for first time."
"Thanks," she sighed and went to finished getting dressed.
Jack smiled amused, "Don't mention it."
Meanwhile
Jon sat in the women's locker room after his nice long refreshing shower attempting to put on a bra. He had managed to get the article on but had to admit they weren't very comfortable to wear. He then slipped the green t-shirt on and was nearly dressed. He was grateful he didn't have to shave and had privacy.
Sam approached him with a small cosmetic bag. She was already in her green uniform and ready to leave. She straddled the bench, "Here! The women are gone and I can help you with your makeup."
Jon made a face, "What do I need to wear makeup for now?"
"Jackie always wears a little makeup," she mentioned.
He made a face, "She never wore makeup when we were in the Depression."
"She was fifteen then," she reminded. "And broke!"
"Why is she bothering to wear it now?" he wondered.
Sam concluded, "For you I think. She wants to look attractive for you."
Jon cupped her hand and suggested, "She can wear when she is back. Right now, she's in my body and I don't think she will worry about looking attractive for me."
"Okay," Sam agreed. "But if she ask for you to put it on you need to wear it."
"Why?" he wondered.
"It's her body," she reminded him.
"And I'm currently in it," he countered. He stood up and found the green ABU jacket. He placed the article on, "I'm not getting dressed up and wearing makeup, even if it's regulation makeup, if I don't have too."
Sam suggested, "You know you could use this time to find out what life is like for a woman. You might learn something."
"This is Jackie we're talking about!" he rebutted. "She's not a woman. She's a guy in woman's body! She's acing this! She's having a blast in my body. I just hope she will give it back to me!"
Sam rose to her feet and rebutted, "You know, Jon. I think the reason Jackie is having more fun than you isn't because she's a guy in a woman's body. I think it's attitude!" She then stormed out upset Jon wouldn't let her help.
He huffed, "Trust me…She's having a blast!"
Short Time Later
After breakfast Jackie had to take Jon's truck and drive to the falconry range to clean bird cages. She did so without much incident and enjoyed seeing the birds. Upon returning she decided to drive up to Black Forest and sign Jon up for air racing tryouts. Upon parking the truck she climbed out and discovered Major Mitchell had a class of students up at the airfield.
She greeted him, "Major Mitchell."
He gave a nod back assuming she was Jon, "Major O'Neill."
The cadets all sat around the Major in chairs as he worked a dry erase board on aerodynamics.
Cadet Jennifer Hailey looked over at Jon's body and smiled for she found him attractive.
Jackie caught the look and realized Jennifer had never smiled at her before. But she was smiling now and frankly that was odd. She spoke to Mitchell, "Is Landry around?"
"He's out for a moment," he replied. "How's Jackie? I heard she won't be in class for the week. Any idea what's up?"
She replied, "She's working on a special assignment in the…Um…Mountain."
Jennifer made a face, "Of course she is."
Jackie asked her, "Something wrong?"
"No," she shook her head. "It's just Cadet Jackson seems to get favors most of us don't."
Jackie shrugged, "She's on special assignment."
Jennifer balked, "What is she? A spy?"
"Of course not," she had distance the idea for she was indeed a spy.
Kyle Mitchell spoke up, "I don't mean to sound negative but Cadet Jackson gets a lot of privileges."
"Privileges?" she balked. "Really? Privileges! Do you have any idea what it's like…" she tailed off figuring she couldn't really go into details.
The Major asked, "What it is like?"
She looked at the old plane the cadets were using to practice flying. "The reason you have that plane to fly is because her father allowed it and Jackie put it together. It was shipped here in pieces. She put it together on her own time for you to use. That plane is not a normal Seversky P-35. It was the prototype. The very first plane! It's been heavily modified and it took years to do it. It was blood, sweat and tears that poured into that plane and then it was given to you to use for your training. She didn't have to do that."
Kyle rebutted, "Her father inherited the plane and gave it to the program. You make it sound like she built the thing form the ground up with her bare hands."
Unbeknownst to Kyle essentially that is what happened. She couldn't admit that her role and simply stated, "The plane was in pieces when it came here."
Mitchell spoke to his class, "We are not here to ditch Cadet Jackson behind her back. She and her father donated the plane for us to train with." He then spoke to Jackie in Jon's body, "Is there something I can help you with, Major?"
"I'm here to sign up for pilot position on the Air Force team," she told him.
"Sign up board is in Landry's office," he told her. "This way," he motioned for her to follow. He led her to Landry's nearby office while the cadets stayed in their seats. He candidly spoke to her still assuming she was Jon. "Listen, I know she's your girlfriend and all but she's missing a lot of class. This is critical instruction and she needs to be here for it."
"There's no way," she disagreed. "There is nothing you are teaching she doesn't already know. She can simply take the test when she gets back."
"Listen," he countered. "I know her father is Colonel Jackson and she's a darling of the Brass. But she's getting away with a lot of crap. She can come go as she pleases, she's hardly ever in class and half the time she's not even on campus. I heard a rumor that she's spending the nights at your house, Major. She's a cadet and cadets must follow rules. And what's worse with her getting away with all this she is setting a bad example for other cadets. I spoke to other staff and they don't want to tolerate this either. She getting special treatment and it's bringing down the other cadets."
She told him, "You worry about those cadets. You don't worry about her. Okay! You teach those kids and you teach them good. You take bird and you teach them dogfighting maneuvers. Once they get past props they go to jets and they will need to know that sooner than later. I can't tell you what I know but I can tell you there bigger threats to our existence than political crap going on in D.C. There is a major threat out there," she pointed up. "I need you to get those kids ready in case it all goes south."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Just do it," she barked. "Forget about Jackie and teach those damn kids." She signed Jon's name onto the list of candidates.
Mitchell stood with his eyes narrowed, "What's going on, Major?"
"I don't have all the information yet," she admitted. "Jackie will be back in a week with any luck. You do your job and don't worry about her. If it all goes south she will tell you what you need to do. Understand?"
"I think so," he replied unsure.
"Major," she gave a nod and marched out the door.
Mitchell stood baffled, "What the hell does he know?"
