"Both engines are showing green across the board," Jenny reported from where her HPD was seated at the engineering console.

I chimed in, "There's no traffic above us, the sky is clear all the way up into and beyond orbit."

My words were punctuated by a flash of lightning, that briefly illuminated the sheets of rain pouring down over the cockpit windows.

"Well," I grimaced, "It's clear once we get above the clouds. The ship's sensors aren't exactly configured for tracking weather, but it looks like we're going to see some heavy turbulence for the first twelve or thirteen kilometres of altitude? After that we'll be above the clouds, and hopefully things will smooth out."

Rebecca nodded as she reached for the intercom mic, "I figured as much."

"Sarah Cam and Jenna," she added as she keyed the mic, "We're expecting some significant turbulence due to all this rain. Strap yourselves in, or hold on tight."

A moment later Sarah's voice came through the overhead speaker, although I could also hear her by angling one of my ears so it was pointed aft. "Understood. We're all set and ready to go boss, engines are good, power plant's good. I think the old girl's eager to get back into space."

"Agreed," Rebecca replied into the mic. "Lift-off in thirty seconds."

Jenny turned to look at our captain and asked, "Are we actually doing a count-down? That seems rather quaint and old-fashioned."

The boss smiled and shook her head as she put both hands on the flight controls, "Not really. But it does feel like a big occasion, I think? After being grounded for two hundred and fifty-two days the Demeter's finally going to stretch her wings and fly again. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm excited."

I didn't exactly feel excited, but I was positive my other girlfriend would agree with Rebecca's sentiment. Mostly I just felt anxious. I knew it wasn't helpful, in fact it was probably unhealthy, but I couldn't stop worrying about my sister. I was definitely eager to get moving though, the sooner we got started the sooner we'd be in a position to save Nyssa.

The boss's meeting with Gwen wrapped up about an hour or so earlier, and since then we'd all been busy checking and double-checking everything to ensure the Demeter was ready to finally return to space again. Meanwhile the blonde diplomat returned to the Persephone, and they set off about thirty minutes ago for Fuminja Beta.

We'd catch up to them when we reached Rolandan-2. One of the reasons they left ahead of us was so that Lady Magniveen could make sure the people at Fuminja Beta wouldn't make a big deal about the Demeter or Princess Rebecca showing up. Normally they'd want to do some sort of fancy diplomatic thing to honour a visiting head of state, but we didn't have time for that and really didn't need the extra attention either.

And finally we also said some quick goodbyes and farewells to Ella, Jace, Preston, and a few other people we'd got to know in our time at Ganvis Station. And I gifted my last three darrowberry bushes to the mayor, since there wasn't time to find any more kids to take them.

Now the ship was sealed up, her engines were idling, everyone was strapped in. At long last we were ready to leave Ganvis Station and Deveron-8 behind us.

Rebecca kept us waiting just a couple more seconds before she slowly ramped up the throttle. At the same time she commented softly, "And here we go."

We all heard and felt the Demeter's main engines rumble to life, and a moment later a shudder passed through the deck. She didn't start moving right away though. It took a little longer than usual, maybe two or three full seconds before she suddenly surged upwards in a motion that left my stomach behind. It was like she was almost hesitant to take flight, after spending so long on the ground. Or more likely, the landing gear were just stuck in the mud and took a little extra thrust to pull free.

"Lift-off," I whispered to myself as my nav screen began tracking the ship's motion.

Rebecca had us on a gentle starboard turn as the ship nosed upwards and increased speed. It looked like she'd picked a course that would keep us away from Ganvis and any other settlements below, which probably wasn't a bad idea all things considered.

"Retracting the landing gear," Jenny reported as the ship started accelerating upwards. There was a hint of pride in her voice, she was undoubtedly thinking of her catgirl girlfriend as she added, "The starboard midship gear is fully retracted and secured, along with the rest of them."

We hit the heavy turbulence a second or two after that, as we passed through the cloud base and into the heart of the storm. The view outside the windows was completely disorienting, with rain and lightning coming from all different angles. Instead I focused my attention on my displays, and kept track of our position and vector along with anything else in the sky above us.

My girlfriend was doing the same, her eyes were on her screens rather than the windows and she kept both hands on the flight controls. There were all the usual groans and rattling noises through the ship, but nothing worrying. In fact it was probably my imagination but I almost got the impression the ship was quieter than normal, despite the increased turbulence outside. Like she was that eager to get into space she wasn't complaining about a little extra wind or water getting in her way.

Less than a half minute later we emerged from the clouds to find clear blue sky and bright sunlight. It wasn't quite clear sailing from there on, we still had more than half the atmosphere to get through and there were always some high-altitude winds to shake things up again, but before long the pale blue gave way to black as we finally left Deveron-8 behind.

"I missed this view," my girlfriend commented with a little smile.

She continued flying manual as she put a little more distance between the planet and our ship, then glanced at me and asked "Amanda, please plot us a level one jump to the Fuminja Cluster."

"Yes ma'am," I replied as I shifted my screens to the appropriate displays then began my jump calculations.

I took a little extra time on my jump plot, then double-checked it when I was finished. And after that I asked the boss, "Would you please have a look at this? It's been a while and I'm not sure I trust my first plot after being grounded for so long."

"Of course," she nodded as she reviewed everything I'd come up with. After a minute or so she nodded, "Looks good."

Not long after that she flipped up the protective cover and turned the control underneath, activating the Demeter's jump drive. I felt the shudder go through the ship, then through myself as we made the transition into jumpspace. The stars outside blurred and stretched then dissolved into swirling blue and violet light, while the three of us checked over all our instruments one last time to make sure everything was working properly.

Once we were all satisfied the Demeter was safely in a level one jump the three of us headed aft to the ship's mess, where we met the other half of our little family. I couldn't help noticing everyone else's mood seemed fairly positive. They were all happy the ship was moving again, and I knew both my girlfriends were happy to be back in space.

It almost seemed like the others all wanted to celebrate, but I wasn't ready yet. My thoughts were still with my little sister, and all the challenges we'd face while trying to rescue her. My tall strong redheaded girlfriend must have noticed my worried expression or picked up on my mood, because it was only a few seconds before her demeanour became more professional and she declared it was time for a staff meeting.

"We've got a little over three and a half hours in jump before we reach the Fuminja Cluster," Rebecca announced as we all got seated around the dining table, "And I know most of us are glad to have the Demeter back up in space where she belongs, but you all know this isn't a pleasure cruise. We've got some serious work cut out for us, not to mention there's still a price on our heads."

She continued, "We won't be spending any time at Fuminja Beta, we'll just be there long enough to top up the ship's fuel tanks before we get moving again. The Persephone's faster than us, so Tanya and Gwen have gone ahead to let folks know we won't be doing any kind of diplomatic stuff when we stop in for fuel. Likewise, from Fuminja they'll be heading to Rolandan-2 to let Helen and Tamsin know we're on our way there and we're hoping for a direct vector into their shipyard."

"I don't expect any trouble at the Fuminja Cluster," she stated, "Officially we're all diplomats or something, we've all been pardoned for the business at Epsilon. But we need to be ready for anything. It's possible there's some disgruntled folks there who lost friends or family on Epsilon and are looking for payback. It's also possible some assassin or bounty hunter will be in the area and see us coming in or heading out. So everyone will be at their stations and ready for action the whole time we're in that system."

The boss finished up by talking about our final destination of the day, "Same thing when we reach the Rolandan system. As far as we know there's nobody on that world with a reason to hate us, but there's always the chance of someone recognizing us or our ship and deciding to take a shot at cashing in on the bounty. That means no shore leave, sorry. Anyways like I said up front, this isn't a social call. We've got a job to do. Any questions?"

I responded, "What's our plan for keeping the ship stocked up with supplies? We're doing pretty good right now, between what we got from the Persephone and all the vegetables and rice we got from folks at Ganvis. That's not going to last forever though, and I don't expect we'll be visiting Ecclestone's World any time soon."

"We can get what we need on other worlds," Rebecca replied. "Depending where we are, some stuff will be more expensive. Or maybe not available. But I know we can get cartridges for the auto chef on Rolandan-2, we can also get replacement filters for the purification and reclamation system."

She added, "It's out of our way but we could also visit Tragentis-3, that's another agri world in this sector. It's sort of in between Ecclestone's World and Deveron-8 in terms of, well, everything. But they have plenty of food and it's cheap."

Jenny spoke up next, "You mentioned expenses, that brings up a question I've had in mind for some time now. We obviously haven't been earning any money for the better part of a year. Meanwhile we've incurred some significant ongoing costs, primarily in the form of paying the Persephone to keep us supplied with food and spare parts for the ship."

"As far as I know you've been handling all of that yourself," she continued. "To my knowledge you've never asked any of us to contribute to those costs. Is the ship going to be ok in terms of finances? And do you want me to make enquiries at Fuminja Beta for cargo? Shall I check the port offices at Rolandan-2 for any cargo opportunities there?"

Instead of answering right away the boss leaned back in her seat as a thoughtful look settled on her face. After a couple seconds she replied, "First off, as captain and owner of the Demeter, I'd never ask my crew to contribute to the upkeep of the ship like that. You all know how we handle paydays here. Situations like this are why eighty percent of the profit from each job stays with the ship, while we split the other twenty percent between us as pay."

"I suppose this is one topic where I've always thought more like a captain instead of a family member," she admitted. "It's just never even occurred to me to discuss the ship's finances with any of you. Maybe that needs to change, I don't know? On the one hand it's our home, but on the other hand it's also a business. And it puts me in the awkward position of being your captain and boss, as well as friend, girlfriend, or family."

She paused there for another second or two before continuing, "To answer some of your questions Jenny, no we will not be looking for cargo during our stop at the Fuminja Cluster. We won't be there long enough, this is just about topping up the fuel tanks so we can get the rest of the way to Rolandan-2. Once we're there, yeah you can go ahead and monitor the shipyard traffic, keep an eye on what jobs pop up."

"Just monitor though," she added. "We're not going to take any jobs until we have a better idea of our next move. First and foremost your assignment will be gathering more intel on that bounty hunter. I want to know everything we can about the guy before we make the call. Then we'll see what kind of arrangements he wants to make, where he wants to meet for the exchange."

Sarah frowned, "We're not really going through with that though, are we? I mean, we're not handing you over. Right?"

The boss shrugged, "Probably not? I can't say for sure what we're going to do, not until we have a lot more information. But ideally? We'll come up with some way to fake it, get Nyssa out of his clutches without actually turning me over. Then if possible, we'll leave the guy's body in an unmarked grave someplace."

"That's what I'm hoping for too," I stated quietly.

A moment later I sighed as my shoulders slumped, "I used to hate violence, now I'm actively hoping to kill a man I've never met. It was bad enough having to use deadly force for self defence, or to defend the people at Ganvis from raiders."

Rebecca leaned closer and pulled me into a hug, "I get it Amanda. I don't like it either, but sometimes it's necessary. Don't forget, we're talking about a man who hurts innocent people for money. Maybe he's a professional and doesn't hurt them more than he has to, but that doesn't make it right."

"I know," I mumbled as I leaned into the hug, while my tail wrapped around us both so the end was on her lap. "He's got Nyssa, and I'll do whatever it takes to get her back. I'm just thinking about how much I've changed over the past year."

My voice was even quieter as I added, "Back home on Kaitor-7 if some guy hurt my little sister, our older brothers would go and beat him up. Now it's happened out here, and if I get the chance I'll shoot the man myself."

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