Excerpt from Pico’s Crush

“Professor De Luna! Come meet my dad.”

Jerzi turned to see the famous professor of materials science who had inspired Pico to declare a study focus for her certificate. The woman was a little taller than mid-height, conservatively dressed in a long-sleeved, high-necked, dark jacket with half-tails, and her dark hair was scraped back away from her striking face. If she wore makeup on her light brown skin, it was subtle. She seemed familiar, somehow.

“Professor Andreina De Luna, this is my dad…”

“Commander Crush,” she said with a lopsided smile. “It’s a small galaxy.”

It was the use of his old unit nickname and her soft Spanish accent that finally sparked his memory. “Subcaptain Lightning. It certainly is.” Delight bloomed in him, and he grinned and held out a fist to her, thumb up. She bumped his knuckles twice with a fist of her own, once straight up and once turned sideways.

Pico looked back and forth at them, owl-eyed. “You know each other?”

Andra nodded. “Five years together as gunnin in the CGC Ground Division, Command’s Forward Intelligence Unit Zulu Six Echo.” She winked at him. “Your father was the best sniper we ever had.”

Jerzi felt himself redden, as if he was suddenly twelve years old. He ducked his head to hide it. “Thanks.”

He looked at her more closely, trying to reconcile the brash, volatile, very unconventional officer he’d known in the military with the sedate, contained woman in front of him. She was the picture of a dedicated academic, though her straight pants didn’t quite hide her muscular legs, and he suspected her shoes were more practical than they looked.

She’d apparently been thinking along the same lines. “You sure clean up good, Adams. Nice suit. Must have given the designer fits with all those extra muscles.” She winked at Pico, who smirked back.

He had no idea why women were interested in what he wore, but no way in hell was he getting into a discussion about clothes. “Materials science, huh? That’s what they’re calling boom-down these days?”

Andra’s eyebrow twitched. “Claro que sí. Of course. Sounds more dignified in the college brochure.”

“What’s boom-down?” asked Pico.

“Munitions. Explosions,” said Jerzi.