A loud, clattering din shattered the usual calm of the detention unit, startling PFC Nation from his mulling over the most recent issue of the Space Fleet Cadet. He rose from his
chair with a weary sigh. Things had been quiet in the brig for the majority of his current tour on the USS Escort, quiet until the arrival of his most recent ward.
"Git this garbage outta my face, you pole cat", the screeching prisoner demanded as she trotted around her cell red faced, her skirt hiked up as though astride a horse.
Nation stepped over to the cell, noting with some chagrin the widening puddle of semi-edible waste on the floor.
"That's right", Lightnin' Liz bellowed, prancing near the energy field which served as a barrier to the outside, "come in an' clean it up, Turn-Key!"
Nation shook his head and sighed, thrusting his hands into the deep pockets of his Space Fleet uniform. "You clean it up, you skanky prairie scag", he said leaning up against the opposite wall.
"Who you callin' skanky, boy!", she yelled, stepping forward into the pool of food on the floor. "If'n I had my guns, you'd be dead where you stand!"
"Well, you don't have your guns", Nation reminded her, "so why don't you be a good little girl and clean up your cell."
"Little girl!", Liz screamed indignantly, "little girl?!? I'll show you a little girl!!" She made as if to hike up her skirt even further, and, though not one to turn his head at a bare,
feminine thigh, the private found himself doing so regardless.
"Shut up and clean your cell", he muttered as he made his way back to the duty desk.
"What is ya'", Liz queried forcefully, "a sissy boy?" She tried to follow him, but hit her head on the force field for her effort, sending a small but noticeable shock through her body.
Nation shook his head again. For some strange reason, she never seemed to tire of butting her head against the energy field. Perhaps there was a way to turn up the voltage, he mused.
He settled back into his chair and was immersing himself back into his reading when a dull thump resounded from the prisoner's cell. He peered out of the corner of his eye in time to see her rebound off of
the force field again. It was going to be a long shift.
