It only took Rebecca a day or so before she'd bounced back from the emotional shock of seeing Gabe's video messages. And all of us continued to help Cam adjust to life away from home. Fortunately it seemed like the cat-kin was finally doing all right, and for that matter so was our captain.

Between running into her ex on Deveron-8 then watching those recordings from Gabe, it felt like Rebecca had been forced to confront some of the lowest points in her life. It also seemed like she'd finally been able to move past them. Of course it probably didn't hurt that she'd spent the past few nights with both Sarah and myself.

The night after reviewing Gabe's messages Rebecca joined Sarah and I in our cabin, but since then the three of us had been spending our nights in the captain's quarters.

Now after nine days in jump we were finally approaching the Fuminja system. And for reasons our captain hadn't bothered to explain I was in control of the Demeter, while Jenny sat next to me in the pilot seat to keep me company. Sarah and Cam were at the other end of the ship, my girlfriend was watching over the engines and probably giving the cat-kin a running commentary about everything that was going on back there.

We were coming in beneath the orbital plane of the asteroids this time, and I kept a careful watch on both our assigned path and the sensor screen that was monitoring for any dangerous asteroids or debris that might threaten the ship.

"This is MV Demeter," I stated into the mic as we entered the system. "Requesting a vector and docking clearance for up to twenty-four hours."

One of the port controllers responded after a couple seconds, "Clearance granted Demeter, for gantry six gamma. Transmitting a vector now."

As soon as the vector came up on my screen I keyed the mic again, "Thank you, have a good day sir."

"You as well," came the reply.

The whole process was just as anxiety-inducing as it was the first time I did it, except this time I didn't even have the captain talking me through it. My heart-rate probably jumped by ten percent when our course brought us into the asteroid belt, but I stayed focused and kept the ship on a safe trajectory. The tension didn't let up as we finally neared the port facilities and I cut everything but the manoeuvring thrusters.

Then with shaky breaths but steady hands, I gently guided the Demeter forward until our main cargo airlock gently met with the spindly fragile-looking docking gantry we'd been assigned. Indicators lit up green as clamps on both sides of that connection engaged, and I finally let out a deep sigh of relief as I shut down the ship's engines and thrusters.

"Well done Amanda," Jenny smiled. "We're safely docked and the gantry is pressurizing."

"That's good work," Rebecca added from behind me.

I turned in my seat to find her standing in the doorway at the back of the cockpit.

She gave me a smile and nodded, "I knew you could do it. And I'm happy knowing someone else can handle this old girl, so it's not all on me to keep us flying."

I frowned, "How long were you standing there? You know I'd have felt a lot more comfortable if you'd spoken up sooner."

"I know," she laughed. "But I wanted to see you handle it on your own. Now you've done it, you know you can do it. Building confidence and character, or something? Whatever. Anyways, are you two ready to go?"

Jenny nodded as she got up from the pilot's seat next to me, "I'm ready captain."

"Me too," I added as I followed the others aft. "Or I will be as soon as I grab my jacket and some money I guess. Do I need my sidearm for this place?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Nope. No firearms allowed. Knives are permitted, but if you're not trained in knife fighting then don't bring one. You'll only get hurt."

I ducked into my cabin and slipped on my jacket, then made sure I had some currency in the pockets. I didn't think I'd be doing a lot of spending, but I brought about two thousand ecks' worth of coins. Meanwhile the others continued aft to engineering.

While they all went down together on the lift, I took the ladderway in the starboard airlock. We met in the main hold, which was almost completely empty since we unloaded everything at Ganvis Station.

"Sarah you'll be in charge of the refuelling while the rest of us are off-ship," Rebecca told our other girlfriend. Then she looked to the holographic AI with the white fringe in her black hair, "Jenny you'll keep an eye on sensors and comms, and I suppose keep Sarah company while we're gone?"

Then the boss looked to me, Cam, and the android with the pink fringe in her black hair. "Amanda, Cam, Jenny, I'll give you a quick tour of the port facilities first. Then the three of you can enjoy some shore leave or do some shopping or whatever you like. Or you're welcome to stick with me if you prefer. I'll be looking to get us some cargo, or failing that I'll see if I can find us something to salvage. Ok?"

"Yes captain," both Jennys responded in stereo, which left a wide grin on Sarah's face.

Me and Cam just nodded quietly, though the cat-kin seemed equal parts excited and anxious about exploring their first spaceport. It was a first for me too of course, and Jenny as well, since neither of us had left the ship on our previous visits here. And while I'd visited ports and space stations in the past, I'd never been to a facility built inside an asteroid before.

With everyone ready the captain double-checked that there was safe atmosphere and pressure outside, then she unsealed the airlock and lowered the ramp. As we set out she looked back at the engineer and added, "You can keep the ramp down but leave the airlock doors sealed when you're through dealing with the port folks please Sarah."

"Aye-aye boss," the cute blonde replied.

There were already a couple guys from the port there waiting in the gantry, and Rebecca directed them to speak with Sarah about the port fees and the fuel purchase. The four of us passed through another airlock on the far end of the gantry, and found ourselves in a large open space that seemed to serve as both a shipping and receiving area for cargo as well as a waiting area for customs.

The gantry and airlock we'd come through was one of six along that wall, which itself was probably thirty meters long. The space was a good fifteen or twenty meters wide, and the ceiling about five or six meters above us. It was all metal plating and the occasional light panel, and looked about the same vintage as the Demeter's interior. From the inside there wasn't anything to indicate we were in an asteroid, which disappointed me for some reason.

In the middle of the opposite wall was a protected doorway next to a small enclosed office-type space. The office had large windows so the local officials inside had a good view of everything going on around them. And at either end of the that wall were a pair of larger secure cargo-type doors.

Rebecca led the rest of us to the office structure, which unsurprisingly was basically the local customs office. She did all the talking for us which was fine since she knew how all this worked.

"I'm Captain Piper of the MV Demeter," she stated to a guy in an official-looking outfit. Then she gestured to the rest of us and added, "These are some of my crew, Amanda, Jenny, and Cam. We're here for a few hours shore leave."

The officials stared at me and Cam, I was more or less used to it but the cat-kin wasn't. They cringed slightly under the scrutiny, but apart from that we didn't have any trouble with the customs people. There was a security arch next to the doors and they had the four of us pass through that one at a time.

It was a fairly standard procedure that would scan us for weapons and illicit substances, they were used at space ports all over the Imperium as far as I knew. I was surprised to find one here though, considering none of the other worlds in this sector seemed to care about that sort of thing.

After that we were free to continue on into the facility. Through the secure door we followed a corridor a few dozen meters to a handful of lift doors. Once again the look of the place reminded me of the Demeter, or other old well-used ships or stations.

The only exception was the walls were 'decorated' with plenty of advertising screens, promoting various local businesses. Both the ads and the businesses behind them ranged from somewhat respectable and inoffensive to garish and highly questionable. One thing was certain though, this port had everything a bored lonely crew could want when it came to spending time and money on shore leave. From bars to brothels and everything in between.

One of the lift doors opened and the inside of that contained more ad screens, which we ignored as the four of us got in. There were a dozen destination options, but according to the boss only four of them went anywhere interesting. The rest of of them led to different docking areas and customs facilities like the one we just left.

She selected one of the four as she explained, "This is the main concourse. Think of it as the shopping and entertainment district? It's the only place most visitors bother with, whether they're crew on shore leave or residents from the other asteroids looking to be social or wanting a night out. And it's generally the only level we ever want or need to visit here."

The other three were a small residential section for folks who lived in this rock, a service level which contained various facilities including a small hospital, and finally the operations level where the port controllers, maintenance staff, and security people worked.

It only took a few seconds before the doors opened again, and this time we found ourselves in a large and rather busy retail-type area. It reminded me of shopping districts, with a few exceptions. The main one being the lack of a sky overhead. It was hard to judge how big the space was, but I'd guess the rocky ceiling was about twenty or thirty meters above us. The concourse itself seemed vaguely round and had to be at least a hundred meters across, maybe a hundred and twenty.

There were buildings everywhere, some were several levels tall while others seemed more like people had built separate unrelated structures one ontop of another. The upper levels were connected by a confusing network of walkways and questionably-built foot-bridges.

The lift opened into a sort of central square, it was probably meant to be like a little park in the centre of 'town' but any attempt at growing plants had long since been abandoned. Instead there were carts and stalls set up with vendors hawking whatever they had to sell.

Just from where I was standing I counted over a dozen bars and taverns in view, plus numerous little shops or store-fronts selling who-knows-what. Considering we were inside a big asteroid I figured anything for sale here had to be imported from elsewhere, so it was all probably going to be overpriced.

On the other hand, for crews with limited shore leave or local miners with no other options, this was probably the sort of place they were happy to spend their time and pay.

"C'mon," Rebecca gestured to the rest of us. "I'll give you a quick tour then you can decide what you want to do."

As expected both Cam and myself got plenty of stares as we followed Rebecca around. Along with all the regular people we saw, there was also a noticeable security presence. They seemed to patrol in pairs, outfitted in uniforms and carrying expandable batons and related gear on their belts.

As we explored the captain pointed out a few shops we might be interested in, including a place that sold clothing and accessories since Cam had very little in the way of clothes that fit them.

Then there were the restaurants bars and taverns, a few entertainment places that ranged from chaste to highly questionable. And finally in the darker alleys and back lanes were strip clubs and brothels, which none of us had any interest in visiting.

There were also a number of mundane places, some food shops and places that sold general supplies and even housewares.

The boss explained, "I understand Fuminja Alpha has some shopping facilities but there's a wider selection here? These smaller shops sometimes pick up whatever stuff they get off passing ships, so you get more exotic goods that they won't have in the official shop at the residential asteroid."

"Then you've got folks living and working at the private facilities in the other big rocks," she added, "Not to mention all the small independent miners living throughout the cluster. They all come here to stock up on supplies or blow off steam."

Jenny asked, "The port must be fairly busy then just with local traffic alone. I'm surprised it was so quiet where we came in?"

"They actually have a completely separate facility for locals," Rebecca responded. "I understand it's a lot more streamlined. Basically any shuttles or other small craft that are registered locally and don't have jump capabilities are routed to the other half of the port."

We ended up in front of a place that looked like it was part bar, part business. The signage out front identified it as the 'Ward Room' and it seemed busy, with a few dozen folks inside while others were coming and going.

Our captain gestured at it, "This is where I'll be for the next little while. It's pretty much what it looks like? Combination bar and broker. I'll find out if there's any work we can pick up here, and if not I'll ask around about any potential salvage in the area."

"You're welcome to stick with me but it's probably going to be boring," she added. "So if you'd rather wander around or do your own thing then be my guest."

I didn't mind either way, so I looked at the other two to see what they both wanted to do. Jenny didn't seem to have an opinion either, and Cam appeared distracted.

Suddenly the cat-kin seemed to pounce at the boss, knocking her sideways and almost sending the two of them tumbling to the floor. At the same moment I heard a loud noise that was like tearing fabric, and seemed to come from a man who'd just exited the Ward Room behind Rebecca and Cam. And it looked like he had some kind of gun in his hand.

Then it was just like back at Ganvis Station with the raiders again. Things were in slow motion, as I saw the man swing his weapon towards Rebecca. My strong amazonian girlfriend was already moving at him. She grabbed his wrist with her left hand and forced his gun downwards as it discharged again, while her right fist connected with his face with all her genetically-enhanced strength behind it.

The man's nose and jaw both shattered under the force of the blow and he went down immediately, leaving Rebecca standing above him as she spun around scanning the area for other attackers. It was all over in just two or three seconds, so fast nobody else had time to react. Even Jenny and I were left startled by how quickly it all went down.

Then while other bystanders started shouting or running away, I spotted the blood on Rebecca's left shoulder and Cam's right upper arm. I hurried to them both as I gasped, "You're wounded!"

"I'd be dead if not for Cam," the boss stated as she looked to our guest. "How'd you know what that guy was up to?"

The cat-kin was holding their arm and looked like they were in some pain. They blushed though and shrugged as they mumbled unconvincingly, "Um, instinct? I guess?"

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