Daughters of Demeter

"Thanks for the coffee sis," Nyssa smiled as I handed her the mug.

I smiled back, "It's only auto-chef coffee, so don't thank me until you've tried it. Sorry we couldn't get it to make hot chocolate."

After a deep sip she nodded, "It's fine. Anyways enough stalling, let's go meet the rest of your crew!"

She followed as I led her past the dining table, then we stopped just inside the lounge where I began the introductions. "Everyone, this is my little sister Nyssa. That's Cammie and those are her girlfriends Jenna and Jenny. And you've already met my girlfriend Sarah."

My sister's eyes flicked up and down as she looked over the petite catgirl, then she checked out the android and AI as well before greeting them. "It's wonderful to finally meet all of you."

Then she leaned closer to me and stage-whispered, "How is it everyone on this ship is so hot?! And young? It's like a ship full of teenage supermodels! Not to mention two of you have the super cute fuzzy ears and furry tails! I don't suppose there's any way I can get in on that at some point too?"

That got both Cammie and I blushing, while Jenna and Sarah smiled. And Jenny looked like she was hoping none of us would reveal how she was involved in my and Cam's tails, or how we all looked so young.

Meanwhile Nyssa continued, "By the way thank you so much for loaning me some of your clothes, Jenna! I'll return them as soon as I can. I'm really hoping I can get all my stuff back when we return to Rolandan-2."

"You're very welcome," the android replied. She and my sister were about the same height, so Jenna offered up some of her outfits as soon as she realized Nyssa didn't have anything to wear.

My sister and I finally moved past the doorway and joined everyone else. I sat down on the sofa right next to Sarah, then Nyssa sat at the other end of the sofa where she could curl up and enjoy her coffee.

About an hour had passed since we revived her, and she was looking a lot more healthy and vibrant now. After getting warmed up in bed she took a warm shower, and while she was doing that Sarah and I carted the empty cryo pod down to the main hold so we could dispose of it along with the one I'd used for Rebecca. Or maybe we'd take them back over to the Eris-Nine, I wasn't sure yet what our plans were for that.

"So twins huh," Nyssa commented as she looked over at Jenna and Jenny. Her focus shifted to Cammie as she added, "And you're both dating a cute catgirl? All three of you must be really lucky."

Cam's cheeks were bright red again and she looked like she had no idea how to respond to any of that. Then again I wasn't entirely sure how to react either. I'd had my suspicions about Nyssa, but it seemed like some time over the past year she'd finally come out. Then again we were a long way from home and our parents and the backwards attitudes of Kaitor-7, so maybe that's why she was being more open about it. I was about to comment on that when my sister's attention returned to me again.

"And look at you!" she exclaimed as she grinned at Sarah and I. "Last time I saw you, you were quiet and shy and self-conscious and awkward. Now you're a cute hot foxgirl flying around kicking mercenary butt with your hot sexy crew! How the heck did that even happen?!"

By the time she was done my cheeks were as bright as Cammie's. I shook my head, "Let's set a few things straight right now Nyssa. First off, they aren't my crew and this isn't my ship. I'm just the navigator and medic -"

"She's also first mate, cook, maid, emotional support fox, and ship's mascot," Sarah interjected with a mischievous grin.

That got a giggle out of my sister, while I just rolled my eyes.

"Anyways our captain's name is Rebecca," I continued. My tone grew more serious when I added, "She was shot while we were rescuing you, and we very nearly lost her. She's recovering in her cabin right now, which is why she's not here to meet you with everyone else."

The smile vanished from Nyssa's face, which actually went a little pale. "I'm so sorry Amanda. Is she going to be ok? And is there anything I can do?"

I nodded, "She should be all right. And actually yes, there is something you can do. You can tell me what in the galaxy possessed you to travel all this way out here?! Especially after I specifically told you not to come! I told you it was dangerous out here in the frontier. And yet you came anyways, then as soon as you got here the first thing you did was go and get yourself kidnapped!"

"That wasn't the first thing I did!" she protested. "I did other stuff too. And anyways I was worried about you! You completely vanished, Amanda!"

I countered, "I told you I wouldn't be able to reply to your messages for a while. That was the main topic of my last transmission! You knew up front I wasn't going to be able to write you back for a while! So why'd you get so uptight about me not answering when you already knew I wasn't going to be around?"

Nyssa pouted as she slumped back against the sofa cushions, "It was the first time you didn't write for either Empire Day or my birthday. You've never missed both of those before."

That caught me off guard, and it took a moment for me to realize she was right. Her birthday came exactly thirty-two days after Empire Day, and when I was in the Navy I'd always try to send the family a message for the big holiday. Or if I missed that, I'd make sure to get a message out before my little sister's birthday.

I sighed as my shoulders slumped, "I'm sorry sis. I admit I forgot all about Empire Day, that really isn't a thing out here. In fact people would probably give us a hard time about it if we even brought it up. And I couldn't send an FTL for your birthday because we'd gone into hiding. Like you recently found out, there's a price on all our heads. We've had bounty hunters and assassins looking for us for the better part of a year now."

"Yeah," Nyssa frowned. "I'm sorry too Amanda. I didn't know. I hope I haven't put you and all your girlfriends in danger, by making you come out of hiding to rescue me."

I shook my head, "Nah. We were actually ready to come out anyways. You just made it a lot more urgent. But I'm glad you're ok. And it's really nice to see you again, after so many years. You've grown a lot since I left home to join the Navy."

My sister's lips slowly curled into a smile, which soon became a smirk. "And you've gotten a lot smaller since then. And cuter too. Seriously, how'd you do it? After your first message and pictures I've looked into the medical stuff. I know some of the medtech in the core can work miracles, but this... If I didn't already know it was you I'd think it was impossible!"

"Yeah," I grimaced. After a subtle glance at Jenny I said, "I can't really go into details about that Nyssa. Not right now anyways. Maybe after I've cleared it with our captain and the rest of the crew?"

She pouted, "Fine, keep your secrets. So what are we doing? Where are we anyways? I mean I know we're on your ship, but are we in space? Are we already heading back to Rolandan-2?"

"Not yet," I shook my head. "Actually we should probably be working on the Eris, instead of just sitting around."

I looked to Jenny and asked, "What do we need to do to get you access to her computer system?"

Our AI replied with a faint smile, "In fact Sarah already took care of that when you and she visited the Eris-Nine earlier, by connecting the scout ship's data bus to its comm system. Consequently I've already bypassed all of Mr. Jamison's security measures, and now have complete access to the Eris' systems. Her fuel tanks are full and according to the logs she has enough stores on board to sustain a crew of three for fifteen days."

"What do y'all think we should do with her?" Cammie asked. "I reckon she'd be worth a lot of money if we wanted to try and sell her."

I thought about that for a few moments before replying, "That's one possibility, and maybe we'll look into selling her eventually. But we may actually be able to put her to use first."

"What do you have in mind cutie?" Sarah asked with a sly smile.

"If we want to get this price off our heads we'll probably have to go deal with Kelsonian's family, right?" I responded. "And that means visiting Ecclestone's World. We can't go there with the Demeter though, we'd be harassed at best but odds are someone would just shoot us down as soon as we entered the system. Maybe we could take the Eris instead?"

Then an idea crossed my mind and I looked to Jenny again, "Actually if you're in the Eris' computer can you see if there's any information in there about this bounty? Like what was Jamison going to do after he got his hands on us? Did he have a contact person, or coordinates or something?"

"Checking," the AI replied as she stared into space for a moment. "Ah, interesting. He has the coordinates for the Kelsonian family's mansion and their private landing pads. I believe he was planning to take the three of you directly there as soon as he left here. As you surmised earlier Amanda, he'd have delivered his prisoners into the Kelsonian family's hands while the Demeter was still in the mining colony spaceport."

She added, "And now I understand why we have both bounty hunters and assassins looking for us. The price on our heads is doubled if we're brought in alive. Jamison would have collected two million ecks for our captain as a prisoner, but only one million for her body. That was stipulated as well by the way, the Kelsonians won't pay anything unless they receive identifiable bodies."

"At least that means we probably don't have to worry about anyone blasting the ship out from under us," Sarah pointed out. "Missiles, rail guns, even really big lasers, if they need intact remains those weapons are all off the table."

I nodded slowly, then a grim smile settled on my face as an idea started coming together in my mind. "So we have a ship that's known to belong to a professional bounty hunter, and we have coordinates to the Kelsonians' front door. I think I need to go and talk to Rebecca, because I have a plan that should get the price off our heads once and for all."

At that point my sister spoke up again, and I realized she'd been staring at both Jenny and I with a funny look on her face. "Ok I have two questions. One, how in the galaxy did the cute ravenette get information out of a ship's computer without even looking at a data terminal? And two, when did my cute foxgirl sister become such a badass?!"

"Ah," Jenny looked a little awkward as she realized she'd just revealed some secrets in front of my little sister. Still, Nyssa was family and odds were she'd be sticking with us now that she was here, so it probably didn't hurt to let her in on that. "I'm an AI. What you see before you is actually a hologram."

Then Sarah chimed in with another smirk, "As for when Amanda became such a badass, I'd say that happened back when she decided not to bother wearing any pants while she faced down an Imperium Navy frigate. Then again, it might have been that time she piloted a stolen Imperium ship stark naked."

Nyssa's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she gasped, "My sister did what?!"

I cringed for a moment, then just sighed and got to my feet. "I'm going to go and check on Rebecca. Sarah's probably going to tell you a bunch of tall tales, but she likes to make things up and she exaggerates a lot."

Jenny commented with a faint smile, "In my experience Sarah's stories are almost always factual, although she does have a knack for telling them."

I just shook my head as I headed out of the lounge, while behind me my sister slid across the sofa to sit right next to my girlfriend. Apparently she wanted a front row seat for all the embarrassing tales Sarah was about to share.

The stories started almost immediately, but I tuned them out as I got to Rebecca's cabin. I knocked at her door, then waited for a response. A minute passed without hearing from her though, so I tried the call button next to the door.

That worked, sort of. She sounded distant, like she was probably in bed. And she was quiet enough that I couldn't quite make out what she said. So I decided to invoke girlfriend and medic privileges, and took it as an invitation to let myself in.

As soon as I stepped in through the door and saw my girlfriend my heart went out to her. She was laying on her bed staring blankly at the ceiling, with a hollow haunted look in her eyes. It left her looking sad and vulnerable in a way I'd never imagined possible for the once stoic and taciturn ex special forces marine.

I moved closer and sat down on the bed next to her, where I pulled her into a hug. "Is there anything I can do for you love?"

It wouldn't have surprised me if she tried to pull away or put on a brave face. Or I could easily imagine her acting embarrassed and trying to laugh it off, being caught moping around in bed like that. But Rebecca didn't do any of those things. Instead she wrapped her arms around me and pressed herself against me in a tight hug.

She didn't say anything for a while, and we ended up holding each other in silence for at least fifteen or twenty minutes. Not that I was complaining, it was always nice to cuddle with my girlfriends. I just hoped it was somehow helping her. To try and make it a little better I shifted slightly so my tail was free then wrapped it around her waist and let the end rest against her legs, like I was giving her a floofy bonus hug along with the regular one.

Eventually I asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rebecca sighed and held me a little tighter, but it took her another minute or so to respond. Her voice was soft and quiet as she began, "You know I've been through a lot. I've lost count of how many times I've been shot, injured, wounded. Before Jenny, I had more than my share of scars, spent too much time recovering in various infirmaries. I've had plenty of close calls, including the big one thirty years ago. But this time was different. This time I died."

"I remember it all," she added in a whisper. "How much it hurt, and how terrifying it was. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, couldn't speak, and I felt so cold. I didn't want to go Amanda, I didn't want to leave you or Sarah or the others."

After another little sigh she added, "I never want to experience that again. And I don't want any of you to go through that either. I just want to keep all of us safe."

"I've always said our work is dangerous," she continued, "And I know I've been careless in the past. Especially with Jenny around, I took things for granted, took extra risks. And it wasn't even a seasoned professional or combat-hardened veteran that got me, it was some stupid kid who panicked and got lucky. Now I can't help thinking, maybe this was a sign? Maybe it's finally time to retire. Time to find something else, something safe..."

Her voice trailed off there and she ended up just quietly cuddling against me.

Hearing her mention the possibility of retiring somewhere safe was a bit of a surprise, but then again maybe not so much. She certainly hadn't seemed to be in any great hurry to leave Ganvis Station, despite her claims to the contrary. Unfortunately I knew we couldn't just go back there and pick up where we left off. As long as we had that price on our heads there really wasn't anywhere in this sector we'd be safe, and returning to Ganvis now would probably just put those folks in danger too.

If there was any hope of having a peaceful life out here then we needed to deal with the Kelsonian family, one way or another. And I had an idea on how to do just that.

"I'm sorry Rebecca," I finally responded. I leaned closer and gave her a kiss then continued, "I'm sorry you went through that, and that it was so frightening. I can certainly understand the desire to take a step back and find something safe to do, or somewhere peaceful to live."

After another kiss I continued, "The thing is we still have that price on our heads, and I don't think we'll find peace or safety in this sector until we've taken care of that. I have an idea about how to do just that, but I'll understand if you want to sit this one out."

My girlfriend returned the kiss then took a deep breath and asked, "What is it you have in mind Amanda?"