Emerald Flight: Homecoming: Return to Grace (continued)

As she made her way across the base, she disregarded any attention that she might be receiving from those she passed. She was hardly dressed in the most provocative of current civilian fashions, but still she was certain that more than the occasional glance made its way in her direction. The older officers who disapproved of her attire would pointedly ignore her presence. Those who did not would take great pains to maintain an outward show of propriety—regardless of what their thoughts might be.

The cadets would be less circumspect in their appraisal, as she was not that far removed from their station. Although it might entertaining to spent the evening with someone from their ranks, for she suspected that they would likely to quite willing and compliant, that was not what she needed that night. She wanted something more: the company of someone who knew what it was like to have served in space, who carried with them similar experiences and emotions that someone with little more than an academic background could not understand.

She passed through the courtyard and down the short hallway to the larger of the three officer’s clubs on the site. The younger and more spirited officers (not always mutually exclusive traits) tended to gather here. The music tended to be a little louder and more energetic, and the action tended to last right up until closing time.

The other two official clubs had their own unstated [standards] as well. One, on the far side of the base, was where you went if the music or activity at this one became too much, or you wanted a venue a little less public and with few people pressed together. The third club, located on the second level near the command offices, while open to any officer, tended to cater more to the top-ranking officers. Elizabeth had passed by it once while on an errand and was somewhat surprised at first to see most of its occupants still in uniform—many of them in full dress.

Elizabeth entered the club, this time fully aware of the eyes that watched her. Two pairs of them belonged to a pair of female officers, dressed much more daring than she was, clinging to one another in one of the booths near the door. Both of them looked at her with a provocative hunger that caused her to repress a shudder. She had nothing against girls, but had never considered partnering with two of them at the same time. From what she had heard, that tended to be a bad scene, as neither of them were looking to be a submissive participant in the action.