You can’t believe Terra has left you with these women. Guard Grisham was about to beat you with a cane, and Terra thinks its fine to just leave you with her!? You’re stunned into something like obedience, going limp in Grisham’s hands. You don’t even bother to fight when she turns you around and lands a hard slap across your bottom, her hand spanning the center of your cheeks and your resulting yelp is a miserable whimper. She repeats the slap and even though the second one is harder than the first and makes your butt blaze, you barely manage a squeak.

Surnow and Grisham exchange looks as Grisham turns you around and looks at you. “Lost your nerve, academy brat?”

You shrug and look at your toes. You’re still in disbelief that Terra would leave you here. You’d follow her anywhere, and she leaves you with the biggest, meanest looking woman you’ve ever seen. Grisham is bigger than Boris, and her physical power makes you putty in her hands.

“Can I go back to my cell now, please,” you ask quietly. Your ass hurts, your heart hurts and you’re exhausted. It has been an incredibly long day, and it has ended miserably for you.

“No,” Grisham says. “You’re coming with me.”

What next? Haven’t you suffered enough? Apparently not.

She opens the door to the office and points to the hall outside. “Wait there.”

You look at her, confused. “One of my unit just ran away, and you’re going to leave me waiting by myself in the hallway? Aren’t you afraid I’ll run like Sarah?”

“You’re no superclone,” Grisham smirks. “You’re just a little brat. Wait for me,” she repeats, slapping your butt to get you moving.

You scoot out into the hall and sulk. You can faintly hear Grisham and Surnow talking. Their voices get much more audible when you press your ear to the door.

“She’s cute,” Grisham says. You feel a faint blush over your face as you realize she’s talking about you. “And she’s way out of her league. She reminds me of a puppy. All scrappy until her mistress leaves her.”

There’s an answering chuckle from Surnow. “You can look after her until Terra returns,” she says. “We need the cells for real prisoners, there’s a unit coming in with four in the next few hours.”

You hear footsteps and slide quickly away from the door as Grisham exits into the hallway. You can’t meet her eyes after what she just said about you. She didn’t sound nearly as mean when you weren’t there.

“Come on,” she says. “You need a bath and bed.”

A bath sounds amazing. You feel filthy and gritty from your day’s exploits, and the cell didn’t exactly help you feel any cleaner either.

You follow Grisham through the complex, leaving the prison area and entering the barracks. Grisham must be a relatively high ranking guard, because she has her own room with ensuite. It’s comfortable looking, homely even, with hand woven tapestries covering the bed and some of the walls.

“Go get cleaned up,” Grisham says, tapping your butt. “I’m guessing you don’t have a change of clothes.”

“No, ma’am,” you shake your head.

“Okay,” she says. She reaches into some drawers and pulls out a t-shirt. It’s about five sizes too big for you and you know you’ll swim in it. “That will do,” she says. “There’s towels in the bathroom.”

“Thanks,” you say, unsure of why she’s being kind of nice now.

“You waiting for something?” She raises a brow at you.

You find yourself studying her face properly for the first time. She has brown hair cut close to her head, and brown eyes too, the color of leather. Her face has a weathered appearance, not wrinkled, just sort of lived in, like she’s seen a lot. She’s not beautiful like Terra is, but she’s got a sort of charisma to her. She’s probably a little younger than Terra, maybe in her mid-thirties.

“You need help?” Grisham interrupts your staring session.

“No, uhm… no, just…” you bite your lower lip. “Thank you, ma’am, for… the bath and everything and sorry about, you know, before.”

A smile breaks across her face. “No problem,” she says. “You put up a fight. I like a spirited cadet. Bodes well for when you really get out there. Now, are you going to get in that bath yourself? Or does the little academy brat need help washing herself?”