Daughters of Demeter

Several status screens lit up red on the engineering panel as the aft end of our ship was baked in a pulse of radiation. I was pretty sure we'd be ok though, all ships had radiation shielding. Hopefully this wasn't too different from coming out of jump a little too close to a star.

I jammed the throttle to full power and pulled back on the flight controls so we were in a near-vertical climb as I warned Sarah, "Hang on tight it's going to get rough!"

She didn't even have a chance to respond before the shockwave caught up to us. Our small ship bucked and jolted, but I managed to keep us on course. With the engines at full power we quickly outpaced the fireball and soon enough we were passing through the upper atmosphere on our way out into space.

Sarah was monitoring the sensors again, and suggested a few course corrections to keep us well away from anything else in orbit around the planet. Then once we were finally clear I began working on the jump plot to our next destination while my girlfriend kept both eyes on the sensors and comms.

That was probably when we were most vulnerable, and most conspicuous. Leaving the planet at high-speed directly over a nuclear fireball had to attract at least a little attention. We didn't have a whole lot of options if the planetary defences targeted us or if local authorities decided to stop us for questioning.

Fortunately Ecclestone's World lived up to its reputation and I finished my jump plot before anyone had bothered to even contact us. The Eris-Nine's jump drive hummed to life, and the stars outside the ship blurred into a swirl of blue and purple.

"That's about three and a half hours in Jump-1," I said. "Compared to a five-hour trip on the Demeter. I'm going to get spoiled by how fast this ship is."

My girlfriend smiled, "I can't wait to see how excited you get when you start messing with level two jumps."

That made me grimace, "I don't know that we'd ever need to move that fast. Especially considering the extra fuel burn, and the added risk."

"So three hours," Sarah said as her expression became more serious. "We've just got one more task to do, then I think I'm going to have a drink. Maybe even two."

My smile faded as well and I sighed, "Yeah. I might join you for the first one, but I still need to be able to fly and land in a couple hours."

"Good point cutie," she nodded. "One drink now, the rest can wait until we've landed."

We still had that last little job to take care of, which involved a data crystal Jenny prepared for us in advance. The two of us left the cockpit and I followed Sarah all the way aft into the small engineering compartment. She loaded the crystal directly into the ship's computer core, then activated the software our AI provided.

Some of the data readouts flickered for a moment, but that was the only noticeable change. We'd need to actually access the ship's records to see the rest, but both Sarah and I already knew what to expect.

Back when we were on Rolandan-2 Helen Ortega told us the MV Eris-Nine would be impounded and her crew apprehended and interrogated if she ever returned. Obviously they'd be looking for Jamison and his people, along with my little sister and evidence of her kidnapping. And while they'd likely find that evidence, they'd also find out about our visit to Ecclestone's World and what we'd just done there. Rolandan-2 didn't have any authority over crimes committed on another world, but we were all fairly certain that they wouldn't be too happy with our actions regardless.

So Jenny's little program changed the ship's name and her registration data. It also altered the ship's log. Records were deleted, some were changed, a few new ones were added. Now if anyone bothered to look, they'd learn that we just purchased the ship in a private sale on Deveron-8.

And if anyone followed-up there they'd receive confirmation from a local politician, a certain Mayor Wheeler, that Sarah and I were in fact at Ganvis Station where we purchased a small scout ship from one of her town's residents. It wasn't as solid as the Demeter's alibi, but it was plausible and we had reputable people there who'd vouch for us.

When it was finished Sarah pulled the data crystal from the computer core, then dropped it onto the deck and crushed it under her boot. And with our final task complete, we returned to the small mess where we both sat down together after my girlfriend poured us a couple stiff drinks.

"So what do you think we'll do next?" Sarah asked quietly. She had her glass in one hand, while her other arm wrapped around my shoulders.

I slipped mine around her waist again then shrugged, "I don't know. But vacation sounds nice?"

"I guess I'll need to talk with Nyssa some more too," I added with a sigh. "I need to find out what her plans are, if she wants to stay out here or head back into Imperium space."

My girlfriend had a sip of her booze, then stifled a little cough. "Ugh this stuff is worse than that engine coolant Rebecca used to drink."

That made me smile, but it quickly faded. "That's another thing. She's still recovering, but Rebecca said something about maybe retiring. She might be ready to settle down somewhere safe and quiet."

Sarah sounded thoughtful as she commented, "I'm not sure about quiet, but I'll bet she'd be safe on Vysalis-4. If she's really thinking about settling down, she'd have a pretty comfortable retirement being princess. Or queen I guess, after the coronation."

"Yeah," I frowned. "But I don't think she'd be willing to leave us. And the Imperium wouldn't be safe for Jenny or Jenna. And for that matter I'm not even sure I'd want to go back there? What would we even do?"

The cute blonde teased, "Obviously I'd be the princess's concubine and you'd be her pet fox."

My cheeks coloured, but I couldn't help smiling at the thought. "That might be fun for a while Sarah, but I think we'd both get bored of it before long. It wasn't that long ago you said you wanted to get back out into space again, remember?"

"You're right cutie," she agreed. "We can play concubine and pet fox during our vacation. As for the rest, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what the future holds."

After another sip of booze she added, "Your plan's worked out pretty well so far. Hopefully everyone will stop hunting us now that there's nobody left to pay the bounty. We'll probably have to keep watching our backs for a while though. You know people are going to suspect we were involved in that blast, even if we do have excellent alibis."

"Yeah," I sighed. "It all comes down to whether or not the Kelsonians had any powerful friends who care enough to either dig for the truth or seek revenge. And Ecclestone's World being what it is, I'm counting on that not being the case. Her family was already out of favour, the Fuminja Epsilon Imperium scandal hurt their reputation even further. Hell for all we know the Ecclestonian ruling class might all be looking at each other and wondering which of them bumped off the Kelsonians."

Sarah laughed softly, "We can only hope."

"Yeah," I sighed, before finally having a sip of my drink. The harsh liquid burned on its way down my throat, then as it settled in my belly that warmth spread out and drained some of the tension I'd been feeling.

In the end neither Sarah or I got drunk. One small glass was just enough to help us both loosen up and relax, and we spent our remaining time in jump cuddling together and speculating about what we all might do after we rejoined our chosen family on the Demeter.

When we finally returned to the cockpit Sarah slipped into the copilot seat again while I paused to gather up my discarded clothing.

"Aw," my girlfriend pouted. "I suppose you don't need to be a badass at our next stop."

I smiled and shook my head as I slipped on my panties, "Sorry Sarah. It was a good idea though. Maybe there's something to that superstition stuff after all?"

"Does this mean you'll be flying pantsless every time there's the possibility of danger?" she asked with a grin.

"We'll see," I smiled as I got my pants on next.

I left my shoes and socks for later, then took my seat at the flight controls. The ship came out of jump right on schedule, and in the right place as well. I made contact with the port control over the comm, and we spent the next forty-five minutes in a boring holding pattern orbiting Rolandan-2.

Eventually we got into a lower orbit and I was cleared to contact our destination. I activated the comm again and called, "Freeborn Shipyard this is Merchant Vessel Artemis, requesting clearance and a landing vector. I believe you folks are expecting us?"

"Hello MV Artemis," a young man's voice responded. "Yes, I have you on our list. I see you're scheduled for some routine maintenance and a new exterior paint job, so we'll put you in bay seven. Transmitting a vector and clearance momentarily. Safe landing."

"Thank you," I replied. "And good day."

As soon as the comm disconnected Sarah grinned, "I guess the name Artemis fits in with Demeter and Persephone."

I nodded, "That's why I don't think we're going to sell her. No point giving her a name that fits the rest of the fleet if the plan was to just get rid of her."

"Good point," my girlfriend agreed.

As soon as we received the clearance and vector I began our descent, and despite our very rough take-off a few hours earlier the Artemis handled just fine, up to and including touch-down.

"Forget the speed," I commented, "I'm already getting used to flying a ship that's actually aerodynamic. Imagine, breaking atmosphere without any rattles or bumps. It almost feels like this ship isn't going to fall apart at any moment."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "She's done a good job so far, but the jury's still out as far as I'm concerned. I'll need a little more time with her before I know for sure that she's got heart."

I smiled and shook my head as the shipyard came in view ahead, and a minute or so later we were on the ground.

After taking a moment to finally put on my shoes and socks I followed my girlfriend down to the small hold. She hit the controls to open up the cargo hatch, and as the ramp extended we both found a familiar face waiting for us outside.

"Hi Sarah, Amanda," the petite ravenette greeted us. Then she grinned, "I can see why you wanted a new paint job. The back half of your shiny new ship is looking a little charred."

Sarah smiled back, "Hi Tamsin."

Rebecca made arrangements to have the Artemis repainted so it wouldn't look like Jamison's ride anymore, but I came up with a plausible lie on the spot to explain the damage.

"The scorching is why we got her so cheap. The previous owner tried taking a shortcut and got a little too close to Chalirma. Nearly got himself cooked and decided he'd had enough of space, went and retired back home to Deveron-8."

Cover story aside I was positive Tamsin knew where the scout ship really came from, even if she didn't know yet what we'd used it for. But she and her shipyard had a reputation for minding their own business, and sure enough she didn't question my explanation.

"I suppose a lot of Deveron ex-pats will be thinking about returning home these days," she commented thoughtfully. "The news coming out of there has been nothing but good for a while now. It's a welcome change, that's for sure."

"In fact I saw a new report just last night, their interim president thanked a certain Princess and her crew for helping save lives and restore order to the world?" she added with a smirk, while my cheeks coloured and Sarah grinned.

"Anyways Helen should be here shortly to do the official business stuff," Tamsin said before either of us had a chance to respond. "And for that matter I think the rest of your girlfriends are on their way as well. Unfortunately I need to get back to work, I just stopped by to see you two and get a look at your newest toy. I'm sure we'll have time to catch up again later, and you can fill me in on all the latest gossip."

Sarah and I both exchanged hugs with her, then our friend turned and headed back out of the landing bay. It was only another couple of minutes before the Demeter's grav-sled swooped down to land alongside the Artemis. Cammie and Jenna were together in the second row, while Rebecca sat up front in the passenger seat. And Nyssa was at the controls.

Everyone climbed out of the sled as soon as it landed, but Rebecca got to us first and pulled the two of us into a three-way hug. Then for the next minute or two the only thing on my mind was my two girlfriends.

Eventually our captain asked, "I take it everything went according to plan? It looks like you had a bit of a close call though."

All three of us were still holding each other as I replied, "It maybe got a little tense at one point, but the plan worked. As for the ship, I knew she'd be getting a new livery anyways, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to bake off some of the old paint."

From the look on her face it was pretty clear Rebecca didn't buy that, but she didn't question it either. She just held both Sarah and I a little tighter and sighed, "I'm glad you two made it back ok. I was worried about you."

"We were all worried," my sister added. "I'm so glad you're ok sis!"

I finally stepped away from my two girlfriends then pulled my sister into another tight hug, "Me too Nyssa. Maybe now that the danger's past we can spend some time catching up with each other."

"And maybe you'll finally tell me how I can get my own cute tail and fuzzy ears?" she responded as she held me.

My ears folded back and my tail twitched as I gave her a look, "Seriously? After everything we've all just been through, that's what you're focused on?"

"What? I'm your sister, I want to look the part!" she protested. Then when she realized I wasn't going to relent so easily she sighed, "Fine, we'll talk about that later. The important thing right now is you're here and you're safe! Like I said, we were all really worried about you."

There was a small smile tickling my blonde girlfriend's lips when she responded, "I for one wasn't the least bit worried. After all, we had a secret weapon on our side, something that's never failed us."

My cheeks were already heating up because I knew exactly what she was about to say.

"Just before the mission I convinced our lovable fox to take off her pants," Sarah announced. "And we all know, there's nothing more badass than a bare-bottomed Amanda."

Cammie and I both blushed, while Sarah and Jenna smiled. Rebecca rolled her eyes, but she looked like she was fighting a smile as well.

Nyssa's eyes widened as she stared at me. It took her a second or two before she asked, "Did you really...?"

"I did," I nodded. My tail began swishing around as I gave up fighting it and let myself enjoy the moment. In fact I almost sounded like I was bragging as I clarified, "It wasn't just my pants. I flew us in stark naked from the waist down, for the full badass effect."

Sarah and Nyssa both started giggling, while even our captain had a smile on her face. The hot redhead pulled me and Sarah into another tight hug as she stated, "Pants or not I'm glad you both came back in one piece."

"Me too Rebecca," I replied, before giving her a long passionate kiss. And once again I couldn't help thinking about how grateful I really was that everything had finally worked out.

After five days of chaos and stress, combat and bloodshed, we were all together and we were all safe. Not just my girlfriends and the rest of my new family, but my little sister too.

~ The End (of Book Six) ~