=::= Day 47 - Rebecca's PoV =::=

Ella frowned at the empty glass in her hand. Then she sniffed and commented, "I think you got ripped off, Becky."

"Not saying I won't help you drink it though," she added as she held out her glass. "What'd you say that stuff was called again?"

I smiled as I picked up the bottle and refilled her glass, then topped up my own as well. I set the bottle back down on the ground between us and replied, "Charentais XXO. Imported all the way from some posh world back in the Imperium."

"Huh," Ella frowned again. Then she had a gulp of the rich amber liquid and stated, "Eh. It's all right. Ain't worth seven hundred ecks a bottle though."

"No, it ain't," I agreed as I had a sip of my glass. Then I clarified, "I paid a little less than that, then ended up stuck with the stuff after the uh, 'delivery' went south. At least I was able to walk away this time around."

A grim smile settled on my old friend's face and she grumbled, "Thank goodness for that."

I kept the surprise off my expression as I glanced over at her. I decided not to comment, but it was nice to know she still cared. Even despite all our recent differences.

We were sitting side by side on a couple old rusty chairs, out back behind the house she shared with Preston and Jace. I'd been invited to have dinner with all three of them, then after we'd eaten Ella suggested some time alone for just the two of us. So the men stayed indoors while she and I got comfortable out here on their back patio.

Ella and I enjoyed a glass of that expensive hooch as we watched the sun slowly set out beyond the wind farm that powered the town. It was a beautiful evening, the sky lit up with some gorgeous colours before the light started slowly fading into dusk. And maybe we were doing a little reminiscing about old times and days gone by.

"Dunno if you noticed," she commented after another gulp of her drink, "But we've had two more families move into the area over the past ten days. More refugees, from up north this time."

I had a sip of my cognac then nodded, "I saw. Or Jenny saw, and told the rest of us. That's got to be what, almost a dozen now since we got here?"

The older woman grimaced, "Thirteen families. Sixty-three folks in total. Whassat work out to? Almost two a day, on average? Considering the way we'd been losing people the past three years, it's like a sudden population boom."

"Not that I blame 'em," she added. "Compared to the rest of the world, Ganvis is like an oasis now, thanks to you people. We got water, we got food, we got protection and stability. I ain't surprised folks are giving up on their homes, uprooting their families and coming here. As long as they ain't asking for handouts I don't mind folks looking to settle here. Kind of like you and yours, right Becky?"

I tried not to let that get to me. When my crew and I decided to hide out at Ganvis Station I was expecting us to be here for ten, maybe twenty days. I knew there'd be fallout from our visit to Fuminja Epsilon, but our original plan was just some industrial sabotage. I wasn't even sure we'd kill Kelsonian, I had some faint hope she'd face legal actions for experimenting on the miners at Regulon-4.

Instead we ended up going scorched-earth on the place. Not only did we wipe out everyone in the facility, we completely destroyed the installation and left a valuable asteroid base uninhabitable until it could be gutted and decontaminated.

To most folks, our actions were heroic and we saved the day. We also gave the Imperium a black eye, which was always a popular move in this sector. Behind the scenes though, we traded one group of powerful enemies for another. Kelsonian and the people she worked with were gone, but the Fuminja government weren't happy that we turned their fifth-largest inhabitable asteroid into radioactive waste.

Meanwhile back on Ecclestone's World, Kelsonian's family took another serious blow to their reputation and their finances. That all but eliminated any hope they had of rejoining the ruling elite there, but it didn't mean they were broke. As we already found out, they still had plenty of money to pay for things like high-priced bounty hunters and assassins.

So our ten to twenty days was now forty-six days and counting. The Demeter was all patched up, the fuel tanks were about forty-five percent full. We could leave any time we wanted, and had fuel for a level-zero jump back to Fuminja Beta or even Port Ecclestone. Then we'd either be arrested, shot out of the sky, or killed on sight when we left the ship.

Instead we opted to just stay put, keep waiting, and hope the heat would eventually die down. In the meantime the Persephone would drop in and visit us every so often, with another shipment of food and supplies so we didn't have to beg Ella for handouts.

On the other hand every time they visited Gwen got me to play princess-in-exile with her. There'd be a stack of vids and messages from Vysalis-4 I was expected to go through. Then I had to write replies or record vids of my own, which Gwen would send back home again. Although to be fair it wasn't all bad. We'd made some progress on a few of our goals.

Maybe the most surprising was I now had two Imperium Senators practically working for me, and I had them making some waves about Imperium Intelligence funding illegal and immoral research out here on the frontier. Last I heard on that front, Admiral Trogawa was facing disciplinary action. It sounded like the Navy top brass were blaming her for the loss of both the Hammersmith and the Kennington, since she sent them out here to babysit her illegal project.

Despite having all that going on in the background, I'd managed to keep that side of things secret from Ella and the other folks here. So far at least. It was bad enough I'd gotten used to her calling me Becky, the last thing I needed was my old friend calling me princess or teasing me about that stuff.

For now I pushed all those thoughts and concerns aside and focused on Ella again. I finally asked, "How do you feel about more refugees moving here? I'd be worried too many arrivals are going to stretch the resources too thin. I'm also worried that word's going to reach the wrong people, and we'll end up fighting off raiders again."

"Or worse," I added. "Sooner or later the government's going to get wind of what's going on here, especially as more folks abandon their homesteads to come here and word spreads even further. As I understand it, military forces could turn up and seize all the food and supplies if they felt like it."

Ella shrugged, "I ain't that worried about more farmers and the likes. Thanks to you folks we got good access to water now, there's actually crops growing again. If we can get through one season we'll have more food than we know what to do with. That was the only resource we needed help with. Now thanks to you we got plenty of irrigation equipment, between the stuff y'all brought us and all the older gear Cam and Sarah been fixing up."

"Government stooges might be a concern," she added, "But I got a feeling you and yours could send them packing. I know you, Becky. I reckon you got tricks up your sleeve you ain't let on about yet."

I rolled my eyes and had another sip of my cognac, but I couldn't help thinking about my AI crewmate. She had the planet's communications network and orbital defence platforms wrapped around her little finger. Thanks to her we had firepower and intel, we just lacked manpower. It was an odd mix. I could literally wipe the capital city from the face of the planet, but confronting a few dozen infantry would be a challenge. Fortunately if the government tried to send troops our way we'd have plenty of warning. And we could probably intercept them en route.

Eventually Ella gave up waiting for me to respond. She drained the last of her glass then changed the subject, "So I been wondering. How much longer are you and your girls planning on sticking around these parts? Cause I'm starting to think y'all are just in denial, that Ganvis has already become your new home."

"I ain't forgot how you used to bug me about settling down Becky," she added before I could respond. "You was always telling me how that life was too dangerous, how you'd had enough and wanted something quiet. Dirt under your feet, sky over your head, clean fresh air to breathe. We got all that in spades here, but you're still sleeping in that tin can and breathing recycled air half the time."

I drained the rest of my glass then set it down on the ground next to the bottle. Then I sighed, "Thirty years ago I'd have jumped at the chance to settle down with you Ella. Even in a shithole like this, no offence. But a lot's changed in those thirty years."

"There's the obvious stuff of course," I continued. "Thirty years ago I was a middle-aged man, and after twenty years in the marines and ten years with Gabe I'd collected my share of scars and injuries. I was too damn old for that kind of work, and we both knew it. Now I'm young, strong, and healthy. I've still got the years of experience, but I'm not as reckless as I was the first time around."

My eyes drifted upwards towards the sky, where the first stars were already visible in the dying twilight. With another sigh I told her, "I guess I learned to like the nomadic lifestyle? In a way I did settle down though. The Demeter's my home, and no matter where I go I'm already there."

Ella watched me for a few seconds before asking, "In that case how come you're still here? How come you ain't given in to them itchy feet and got that old boat of yours moving again? And don't give me no excuses about being wanted or hiding out or any of that crap. I know you, you'd fight your way through a blockade of assassins if you really wanted to."

"Because it's not just me anymore," I replied quietly as I turned to face her again. "I've got a crew I'm responsible for. More than that, they're my family. Honestly El, I love them all. Amanda and Sarah especially, but Cam and the twins too. We're family, but I'm also their captain. And I won't risk them getting hurt, or worse, just because I'm feeling bored or restless. So I guess I'm kind of thinking of this like a long-term deployment."

My expression shifted to a wry smile as I continued, "Remember when you were a wet behind the ears private, and we got posted to that desert world for half a year?"

She groaned, "How could I forget? That was literally my first deployment."

"And my first taste of combat," El added with a grimace. "I was so scared at the time..."

My smile shifted to a smirk, "I remember."

"Yeah 'course you do," she grumped. Then she held out her empty glass and asked, "Any more of that fancy hooch left?"

I refilled her glass, then poured the last splash of it into my own.

"Even after all these years you're still the cool levelheaded veteran," she commented as she cradled her drink in her good hand. "Even all dolled up like a school-girl, that tough grizzled warrior's still in there."

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I like to think I've softened a bit over the years. Old age will do that to you."

Ella snorted at that, then had another gulp of her drink. "Old age she says, sitting there all young and pretty."

Her expression became serious again a few seconds later. She looked over at me and said, "You never asked, but if you wanted your lucky gun and your special ops patch back..."

I shook my head, "Keep them. Years ago I might have taken you up on that, but I'm not that person anymore. You can hang on to them, let them remind you of who I used to be."

"Huh," she frowned as she had another sip of her hooch. "Maybe it's time I let go of the past as well. But thanks Becky, either way."

I nodded, then after a moment I admitted "I've actually still got something of yours back on the ship. Not just your patch, but your whole jacket. It's in good shape too. It's yours if you want it back."

Ella frowned as she thought it over. Then she shook her head, "Nah. Same thing Becky, you can keep it if you like."

"It'll probably fit you better than me nowadays anyhow," she added in a teasing voice.

I smiled, "Maybe."

After that we were both quiet again, and my eyes drifted upwards once more to look at the night sky. We both finished the last of the cognac in silence, each lost in her own thoughts. In spite of our rocky reunion during our last visit here, I had to admit tonight turned out a lot better than I expected.

There was a lot more to Ella Wheeler than the crotchety old grump I met last time, and more to her than the feisty Ellery Talwyn I knew three decades ago.

Eventually the silence was broken by a quiet beep from one of my jacket pockets. I sighed, "Sorry Ella, I need to answer that."

"My crew know not to call me unless it's an emergency," I added as I pulled the little commlink out of my pocket. Then I thumbed the switch and asked, "What's up?"

Jenny's voice came through the small tinny-sounding speaker, "I'm sorry for disturbing you Rebecca, but I thought you'd want to know this right away. Deveron-8's president has just declared martial law. The capital city is under lock-down and the military have been mobilized. The government also broadcast an arrest warrant for a man named Edward Arun, leader of a large farming community. Mr. Arun is alleged to have committed several acts of sedition and treason."

"Arun's the mayor of Prosperity Creek," Ella stated. "They're one of the oldest and biggest settlements outside the capital. Mostly farmers and the likes, similar to Ganvis but a hundred times bigger."

There was a sigh from my commlink as Jenny added, "The situation just got worse. Planetary defences have come online, and a general bulletin was broadcast locally as well as via FTL. By official order of President Taggart, the entire Deveron system is now a no-fly zone. Any vessels attempting to enter or leave Deveron space will be destroyed on sight."

"Sounds like Taggart's starting to get desperate," Ella commented as she slowly shook her head. "And closing the sky means you and your girls ain't leaving here any time soon."

I pointed out, "We weren't planning on going just yet anyways. It does mean no more visits from the Persephone though, at least until the situation here changes."

My old friend had a distant, thoughtful look in her eyes. I was sure she was thinking about her own people now. After all, I wasn't the only one with responsibilities around here. And she had a lot more folks relying on her than I did.

Ella finally sighed, "I wonder how long before it's a full-on civil war."

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