=::= Day 65 - Jenny's PoV =::=

"Please take some time to savour your meal tonight folks," Amanda said with a grimace as she served up dinner. "This is officially the last real food we had on board."

The captain thanked her first mate then added, "Noted."

"Thanks cutie," Sarah said when the foxgirl set a plate down before her. Then she asked, "So what happens tomorrow?"

Amanda set her own plate down last then took her seat, "We've still got a dozen cartridges for the auto-chef, that'll last us a little while. After that we're down to emergency rations."

After a bite of her meal Rebecca said, "There's a couple cases of ration packs in the pantry. And we've still got those cases we salvaged off the Kaden Merit, that's about seven hundred meal kits in total? So that's..."

"One hundred and seventy-five ration packs each," my sister spoke up. "At two packs per day that will last the four of you eighty-seven and a half days."

Cammie pointed out quietly, "We can ration the ration packs. Two a day's nice, but folks can get by on just one."

"Or even one every other day. If resources get really scarce," my girlfriend added softly.

It was a stark reminder that she'd already experienced a couple years of this, and it hurt me to think of her having to make those sorts of choices.

Meanwhile the captain nodded, "In a survival situation it all comes down to calories in versus calories out. If you're putting in a lot of physical work then you might need two packs a day to keep your strength up. Take it easy and don't move around too much, and just one will last a while."

"We're a long way from those kind of decisions though," the tall redhead added, before eating another forkful of her dinner.

I finally spoke up, "I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of this Rebecca, but I am able to take control of the planetary defence network at any time. I can ensure the Persephone would have no trouble getting in or out, should we ask them to bring more supplies."

Only eighteen days had passed since the local government implemented the no-fly zone, but the Persephone's last visit was nine days before that. And needless to say, none of us knew the government was going to make such a drastic move, so there was no chance to prepare or stock up ahead of time.

The boss grimaced as she ate, then after swallowing she shook her head. "I appreciate that Jenny, and I haven't forgotten. The problem is if the government has anyone in orbit, or folks watching local space through their sensors, then they're going to know someone's broken their no-fly order. And if they try and open fire and nothing happens, they'll know their defence system's been compromised."

"Even if the Persephone gets all the way here without anyone else seeing her," she added, "There's no way to keep her arrival secret from the folks here. As much as I trust Ella and her people, there's what, fifteen or sixteen new families in the area? With more showing up almost every week."

Rebecca shook her head again, "As much as I hope none of those people are spies, the bottom line is bringing the Persephone here would show our hand. They might not know how we did it, but they'd know we have a way to bypass planetary defences. And I don't want to use that card unless it's our only choice. If they try and target Ganvis or the Demeter, then we seize control of the defence grid. Otherwise, we listen and we monitor, but we don't interfere."

"Yes ma'am," I nodded slowly. "I understand."

I understood, but it was frustrating. And I was worried. Not so much for myself or my sister, but for the others. Rebecca, Sarah, Amanda, and especially Cammie. I hated the thought of them suffering with hunger or having to do without. Nobody had mentioned it yet, but once they ran out of cartridges for the auto-chef that would be the last of the coffee. And I knew how much some of them enjoyed that particular morning beverage.

They'd already run out of soft drinks, and although she hadn't said anything I was certain the captain had begun to ration the liquor. Lately all four of them were drinking water with their meals, or reconstituted juice. Even the juice powder would run out eventually though.

Water would be a concern too, before long. While the Demeter's reclamation and purification system was surprisingly efficient, it still required regular maintenance. And its filters would have to be replaced sooner or later. Even with new filters the process wasn't perfect, and the ship would eventually run out of clean water. After that the crew would be dependant on the local water supply.

I had no idea what the people of Ganvis might charge for that service, although with luck they'd be generous. After all, most of their current supply only existed thanks to us.

Then again they were already providing us with electricity. Unfortunately every new group of refugees that arrived put an additional strain on the local power grid, and that resource was not unlimited. Sooner or later the town would need to expand its wind farm, or seek other sources of power. Or begin rationing what power they had. Another thing to worry about later.

"What are you thinking about sis?" Jenna asked through our private comm connection.

It was not unlike what the biologicals thought of as telepathy. Her android body had a built-in comm unit, and I was constantly monitoring dozens of comm channels through the ship's equipment. So the two of us were able to communicate with each other silently and secretly, using a set of encrypted frequencies we both agreed on.

"Worrying about our friends," I responded in kind. "All you and I need to sustain is us power, they need so much more. And without power we just sleep, we'll switch back on as soon as we're plugged in again. Without food and water they wither away and die."

She texted me an image of her rolling her eyes then added, "That's a little melodramatic, don't you think? Just because they ran out of dried rice and canned beef doesn't mean we need to start writing eulogies sis."

I texted her a rude gesture then followed that up with, "I can't help it ok? It's my nature to worry about them. They're my crew, and more importantly they're also my family."

"I'm sorry Jenny," Jenna replied, and she sounded like she meant it. "I get it. And I think this situation worries you because it's the one thing you can't fix. You can patch up their injuries, cure their illnesses, literally bring them back from the brink of death. But there's nothing you can do for them if they don't have air water and food."

She added, "Don't sweat it though, ok? Look at it this way. Rebecca and Amanda both grew up on worlds similar to this one, and our girlfriend grew up right here. They know what to do and how to get by, and Sarah's got her technical know-how. In the worst-case scenario, they can take on local jobs. Rebecca knows how to farm, but she can also take up arms and work with Finn. Amanda knows how to farm, plus she has her medical training, she can work with the local doctor. As for Cammie and Sarah, they've already been doing the same sort of work our girlfriend did here from the start."

Jenna texted me a smile then finished with, "Everything will be fine sis. I promise."

"Thank you for reminding me of all that," I replied. I texted her a smile in return and added, "You're right. They may only be biologicals, but they're still very resourceful."

She texted a laughing image, followed by a couple hearts. Then we both focused on those biologicals in question again. Our private conversation had only taken a couple seconds, both Jenna and I could operate at much higher speed than the others when we weren't constrained to communicating at their level. So we didn't miss anything, although it seemed like there wasn't much to miss.

The others were still eating, and like Amanda suggested they were taking their time and savouring the meal. There was also some idle conversation and speculation about how long the skies would remain closed, and how that situation might be resolved.

Cammie and Sarah were both hopeful and optimistic there'd be a peaceful resolution, while Rebecca was much less positive. Our captain was of the opinion that civil war was inevitable at this point, the only question she had was who'd fire first.

Official news reports still maintained the lie that everything was fine. The government claimed they'd declared martial law because of security threats from disgruntled farmers taking up arms. Likewise their excuse for closing the spaceport and implementing the no-fly zone was due to the threat of 'insurgents', off-world instigators looking to come and stir up trouble.

Meanwhile civilian channels were openly and blatantly describing a very different picture. As Rebecca feared, farming settlements nearest the capital were already reporting government raids stealing what little food and resources they had. Even more worrying were the communities that had simply gone silent.

Ganvis Station was probably safe for now, primarily due to its location. There were hundreds of other places government soldiers could visit first, before they ever got to us.

"Whatever's going on at the capital," Rebecca finally stated, "The fact that we're on the opposite side of the world works to our advantage here. Unless something drastic happens, our biggest threat isn't going to be government troops. It'll be from raiders, like the group we fought off last time."

Amanda sighed. Her ears and tail were drooping as she responded, "If a civil war does break out then overpopulation could become a bigger threat here than bandits. Refugees are already heading this way as it is. Once the shooting starts people are going to flock to Ganvis because they've heard it's safe and there's food here."

The captain grimaced, "Maybe. It'll be up to Ella what to do about that if it comes down to it. I've already offered our help if the place comes under attack, but that's only if we're talking about armed hostiles. I'm not going to use deadly force on unarmed refugees, I won't try and strong-arm people just because they're hungry or looking for a safe haven."

"It's a difficult situation for everyone I think," my sister finally spoke up. "Let's hope there's no violence here, for any reason."

I nodded, "Agreed. As you said Rebecca, I'll continue monitoring the situation. And for everyone's sake, let us hope that sanity and compassion prevail."

When the others were all finished dinner Amanda and Cammie took care of the dishes. Then the six of us retired to the lounge for a little while, but it was clear Rebecca Sarah and Amanda were all eager for some private time together. Likewise, my sister and I were both looking forward to some special time with our girlfriend too.

So it wasn't long before everyone wished each other a good evening, then we all retired for the night. The first officer and engineer accompanied the captain into her cabin, while I followed Jenna and Cammie into ours.

Our adorable catgirl girlfriend's ears were perked up while her tail swished and twitched behind her in anticipation. She and Jenna didn't waste any time getting ready for bed. Cammie slipped on a cute pink nightshirt, while my sister put on a rather provocative white lace teddy. Then the two of them settled into the lower bunk together, arms around each other in a tight cuddle. And Cam's tail slipped in between Jenna's legs, then wrapped possessively around her left thigh.

"Just going to stand there and watch?" Jenna asked as she looked up at me. "Why don't you join us sis?"

Cammie nodded as she looked over her shoulder at me, "Yeah, please join us Jenny? Unless you don't feel up to it tonight, what with all that stuff we was talking about at dinner..."

I smiled, "Thank you Cammie, Jenna. I'll be with you two in a moment."

My holographic image flickered then vanished, as I commanded my HPD to stow itself in its little docking bay on the wall. Then I opened up the high-bandwidth connection to my sister's body, and let my internal virtual senses go dark as I focused on the sensory input coming from Jenna's chassis. A second later I was there with both of them. My sister and I were sharing her body, and I could once again feel the soft delightful warmth of our girlfriend pressed against us.

So far we'd only ever done this in private, and as far as I knew Cammie was the only person who knew it was even possible for us. The fringe in our hair would be a giveaway, it didn't know how to respond so every time we did it there was a new and unique pattern of pink and purple up there.

"Thank you both for inviting me," I whispered. "It's nice to be able to relax with you two like this now and then."

Jenna replied just as softly, "You're always welcome sis, you know that."

"Yeah," Cammie agreed, as her tail squeezed our thigh a little tighter.

All three of us were quiet after that. We cuddled, we traded kisses, but mostly we just enjoyed the intimate closeness of each other's bodies. It was tender, loving, and peaceful. And eventually Cammie drifted off to sleep purring quietly in our arms, as she'd done many times since the three of us all moved in together.

Jenna and I continued cuddling with her even after our girlfriend was asleep. My sister and I talked a bit after that, but we avoided the big troubling topics. Instead we commented on how adorable our catgirl looked as she slept, and exchanged some affirming thoughts and emotions about our bond with each other as well. Naturally all that happened internally, so our conversation wouldn't disturb our sleeping girlfriend.

Eventually I decided it was time for me to return to my virtual environment, and Jenna wanted some downtime of her own. She didn't need to sleep as such, but she did need to plug in and recharge now and then.

So we bid each other a good night, then I retracted my awareness from her chassis and shut down the high-bandwidth connection. My virtual senses came back online, and as a first order of business I checked the Demeter's sensors to ensure the ship was safe and sound. That only took a couple milliseconds, then I turned my attention over to the comms, where I found a flurry of recent activity, on both public and military frequencies.

My virtual eyes widened in a mix of shock and dismay the instant I tapped into the feeds. All thoughts of decorum were temporarily forgotten as I activated the intercom speakers in our captain's cabin.

"Five and a half minutes ago the orbital defence network turned its firepower on the planet," I announced. "The initial target was the port facility. It was obliterated by railgun bombardment, along with all eleven ships that were grounded there. Early reports indicate there was significant collateral damage to areas of the city adjacent to the port."

I continued, "Ninety seconds later a second orbital defence platform opened fire on a large farming community known as Prosperity Creek, located about five hundred kilometres north-west of the capital. That community had a population of over two thousand people. It has been completely destroyed."

Two more events came up while I was speaking, so I relayed those as well. "As I've been talking civilian channels began reporting gunfire in the capital city. Reports are mixed but some people say the military are under attack from rebel forces, while others claim government soldiers have opened fire on unarmed civilian targets. And now the civilian global communications grid has just been completely shut down."

For the next few seconds there was nothing but silence from the three shipmates I'd just interrupted with my news. Then I heard Amanda let out a long sad sigh.

Rebecca finally responded in a soft voice, "That's it then. The war's begun."

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