"We're baaack!" Sarah called in a sing-song voice as she led Cam into the lounge. "Did you miss us?"

I looked up from my datapad where I'd been composing a message to my sister Nyssa and I smiled at my cute blonde girlfriend and the cat-kin mechanic, "Of course!"

Our engineer smiled back as she joined me on the sofa and slipped an arm around my shoulders. Meanwhile Cam settled into one of the large comfortable chairs to our right. Their tail wrapped around onto their lap, and they soon began to fidget with it.

"How did it go? Were you able to help them?" I asked as I cuddled against my girlfriend.

"It went ok, but the Persephone isn't moving until she gets some replacement parts," Sarah replied. "The damage was fairly limited, but also extremely targeted. The comm panel in the cockpit is scrap and odds of finding a drop-in replacement out here are pretty slim. But it shouldn't be hard to find something close, then we can bodge it into service."

She continued, "We need a part for the power plant too, but that's a standardized component so it should be easier to source. More costly though. I'm sure we can find everything we need right here in Port Ecclestone, but we'll be relying on the boss to steer us to a reputable parts dealer."

The cat-kin was still quietly playing with their tail, but I didn't want to leave them out of the conversation so I asked, "Cam, what did you think of the Persephone? Did you meet the rest of their crew?"

"It's bigger than the Demeter," they replied without looking up. "Newer too, it's only about seventy years old. It doesn't have as much character as this ship though."

Sarah agreed, "The Persephone feels like a ship that's seen a lot of crews, but not a lot of love. Not that she's been mistreated or abused, apart from the sabotage she's in decent shape. And she's got potential. I think Tanya and Pots will be good for that ship, assuming they're given the chance to really make her theirs."

Then Cam answered my other question, "I met the rest of the Persephone crew. Mister Pots seemed nice. Mister Blix reminded me of some some of the guys back home at Ganvis? But not in a good way. Miss Cherry was nice, but a little too um..."

"Cherry was a distraction," Sarah stated with a smile. "I thought she was blatant about flirting with Rebecca, but she was even worse with Cam. She wouldn't give up either, it got to the point that Tanya had to haul her away so Cam and I could get some work done."

Cam blushed brightly as Sarah relayed that part of the story, which left me feeling pretty certain the cat-kin wasn't used to that sort of attention.

"Anyways what's the word with Rebecca and Jenny?" my girlfriend asked, changing the subject. "Have you heard anything from them?"

I nodded, "Jenny checked in about fifteen or twenty minutes ago. They've taken care of the port fees and the Demeter's fuel tanks are all topped up. They were in the process of arranging a full load of fresh supplies to be delivered tomorrow, then they're going to head back here again. After that, I think the plan is for all five of us to head out to Gilly's for some BBQ."

"And what have you been up to all day cutie?" Sarah asked with a smile. "I guess you've had a nice quiet relaxing day with the ship all to yourself?"

I rolled my eyes, "Hardly. I cleaned our cabin, the upper deck corridors, the mess, the galley, and the lounge."

My girlfriend looked to Cam and teased, "Amanda's also the ship's maid, in addition to cook, navigator, medic, and mascot."

The newest member of our little family frowned and their ears drooped as they continued focusing on their tail, "I'm still not sure what my job's supposed to be? Y'all have so many different skills, every one of you seems so much more capable than me."

"Don't worry about it Cam," I tried to reassure them, "I felt the same way when Rebecca first welcomed me aboard. I didn't think I brought anything useful to the Demeter, but the captain gave me a chance. And she taught me a lot. I'd never piloted anything bigger than a grav-sled before I came on board the Demeter."

Sarah added, "We can talk it over with the boss during dinner if you like? I'm sure she's got some ideas or suggestions. And if she doesn't, I do."

I was about to ask what sort of ideas Sarah had, when the ship's intercom activated. Jenny announced, "The captain and I are en route back to the ship. If you're all ready to head to Gilly's then Rebecca will set the grav-sled down just outside the ship to collect you."

The three of us all looked at each other, Cam seemed uncertain but both Sarah and I were ready to go. I glanced up at the intercom speaker as I replied, "Thank you Jenny. Please let her know we're on our way down to the main airlock now."

"Will do," the AI responded. "Enjoy your meal."

"Thanks Jenny," Sarah smiled as we all got to our feet.

The three of us headed down to the lower deck while Jenny opened the main airlock and lowered the ramp. The timing was perfect, Cam and Sarah and I emerged from the ship just as Rebecca set the grav-sled down in a small cloud of dust a couple paces to the left of us.

"Hi boss, hi Jenny," Sarah called out to them.

Rebecca waved back, then as soon as the sled was landed we all climbed into the back seat together. Cam was on the left and Sarah on the right, while I sat in between the two of them. Meanwhile the ship's ramp was already raising back up behind us as the airlock slid shut.

As we were getting settled the boss turned and frowned at our newest shipmate, "I don't see a weapon on your belt Cam. I thought we talked about that this morning."

The cat-kin cringed, "Yes ma'am we did discuss it. But I won't carry a gun, I'm not comfortable with them and I won't handle them. I could never use one, I couldn't hurt someone."

Sarah spoke up, "It shouldn't be an issue as long as they're with us, right? I know we went through this with Jenny last time we were here, it's no different with Cam."

From her expression I could tell Rebecca wasn't happy, but fortunately she seemed to realize it wasn't worth arguing about. Instead she just sighed as she focused on the grav-sled controls and got us moving again. The sled lifted straight up in another little cloud of dust, then a few seconds later we were cruising at a fairly casual pace towards Gilly's restaurant.

After a half minute the boss asked, "So how'd it go with the Persephone? Can you help them out? Or have you already fixed them up?"

Sarah told Rebecca and Jenny the same thing she told me earlier, about the other ship needing some spare parts. She added, "I don't imagine the comm unit will be that hard to replace? We probably won't find an identical model, but if we can get something close it won't be hard to wire it up, and we can bodge a new mounting bracket for it."

"The power plant just needs one part," our cute engineer continued. "And that shouldn't be hard to find, since it's basically a standard unit. It's the primary pulsed plasma coupler."

Rebecca frowned, "I'm no engineer but I'm familiar with a lot of engine parts after a few decades of listening to Tamsin tell me what needs replacing in the Demeter. And I don't think I've ever heard of that pulsed coupler before."

"I'm not surprised," Sarah replied with a shrug. "They basically never wear out, and they're practically tough as diamond. The only reason the Persephone needs a replacement is theirs was deliberately sabotaged."

She added, "Anyways that's what we need, and I'm hoping you can point me at a reputable parts dealer here in Port Ecclestone? Or even a salvage shop, they don't need brand-new gear."

We were already descending towards the front of Gilly's restaurant by that point. As we touched down Rebecca decided, "You and I will go parts shopping tomorrow. I know a couple scrapyards we can trust not to deliberately rip us off."

"Cam, Amanda, you'll stay with the Demeter tomorrow while me and Sarah are out," she added as she powered down the grav-sled. "All the new supplies should be arriving before noon, I'd like you two to take care of that? Get everything in the ship and stowed away."

"Yes ma'am," Cam replied quietly as we all emerged from the sled.

The cat-kin's nose was twitching along with their tail, while their ears were perked right up at the powerful smell of BBQ emanating from the squat sturdy building in front of us. I was the same, my tail was already wagging and my mouth watered as the five of us walked in through the open door.

There weren't any other customers inside at the moment, the small dining area was empty and there was no sign of Gilly either. I assumed she was in the back again, and figured she'd be with us in a moment. Until then I continued to bask in the delicious mouth-watering scents coming from the kitchen door behind the counter.

It wasn't just Cam and I either, Rebecca and Sarah both looked hungry and excited too as we all gathered around the main counter. Only our AI was immune to the allure of fresh grilled meat.

While the rest of us were looking at the menu boards on the wall and thinking about food Jenny continued the earlier conversation, "What about me Captain? Do you want me with the ship tomorrow, or with you and Sarah?"

After a few seconds Rebecca responded, "If you don't mind I'd prefer if you'd accompany Sarah and I?"

"Unless you're getting tired of following me around everywhere," the boss added a moment later. She sounded apologetic as she admitted, "I just really appreciate you being in continuous direct contact with the ship."

Before Jenny could respond we were all distracted by the proprietor as she finally emerged through the kitchen door, "Well well it's miss Piper back again! And with another new friend in tow! It seems like every time you visit my restaurant you've got another pretty young thing with you!"

That got most of us blushing, especially Rebecca. The captain tried to ignore whatever was being implied though and got on with the introductions.

"Gilly this is Cam," the tall redhead announced. "They're the newest member of the Demeter crew. And Cam, this is Gilly. She runs this fine establishment, and we make a point of visiting every time we're in Port Ecclestone."

Rebecca placed a couple coins on the counter in front of the middle-aged woman as she added, "Dinner's my treat again folks, so enjoy."

That put smiles on a few faces, including Gilly's.

"So what can I get you lovely ladies? If you don't see what you want on the menus just ask and Krick will do his best to make your bellies happy!" she announced as she scooped up the coins. The first was five-hundred ecks and the other was two-hundred.

It didn't take long for Rebecca Sarah and I to place our orders. Cam was a little slower to figure out what they wanted, and Jenny of course didn't order anything. Gilly handed us our drinks and told us to get comfortable, while she went into the back to get Krick started on the food.

The five of us picked a table in the corner, and once we were all seated with our drinks Sarah restarted an earlier conversation.

"The three of us were talking earlier boss," she addressed the captain. "About Cam's role on the ship, what sort of work they can do or what role they'll have. Have you had a chance to put any more thought into that?"

"Like I said yesterday," Rebecca addressed the cat-kin, "You have a place with us, for as long as you want it."

Our newest shipmate seemed uncertain or uneasy as they responded, "Thank you ma'am, I appreciate that. But I know you're only saying that because of what happened with that assassin in the asteroid port. You're letting me stay on the ship on account of how I saved you."

The boss grimaced slightly and admitted, "You're not wrong Cam, but my offer stands."

The cat-kin sighed, "I just don't want to be a burden? And I don't like doing nothing, I like being busy. Except I don't know anything about ships, or space travel."

"I just take things apart," they added. "I like taking things apart, figuring them out, and putting them back together. I don't got no formal training, I taught myself along the way. And even if I did figure out ship stuff, you've already got Sarah and she's an excellent mechanic."

Rebecca had a sip of her beer before responding, "I know a lot of this is probably overwhelming Cam. And I know you're not a ship's engineer, not yet. But you're obviously smart, you can learn. The rest of us will teach you everything you need to know to be a part of the Demeter's crew. Or everything you want to know."

Sarah added, "If you're really not comfortable living and working on a ship there's also the shipyard option. Tamsin might be able to offer them a job?"

"Not that I want to see you go Cam," the cute blonde added. "I'm just saying if you're not comfortable with us there are alternatives."

Our tall amazonian girlfriend agreed, "Next time we're at Rolandan-2 we'll try and arrange a meeting with Tamsin. I want to follow up with her regardless, to see how she's doing."

I looked to the cat-kin and asked, "What do you think? I know it's still really early, but are you comfortable or happy sticking with us and the ship?"

"I don't really know yet," they answered in a soft voice. "I guess I can try and learn more about the work y'all do, and see if I can maybe fit in somehow? I still don't see how though. Sarah's got all the training and experience, so why would you need an untrained inexperienced mechanic as well?"

Sarah responded, "That's the thing Cam, you're not inexperienced. You know your way around machines and tools, and you're good at it. I've seen that. The lack of training is easy to fix."

She lowered her voice as she continued, "Believe me I've worked with a lot of new engineers over the last thirty years. I'll take the untrained natural talent over the inexperienced engineering academy graduate every single time."

"In fact," she said at normal volume as she looked at Rebecca, "What if I officially took Cam on as my apprentice? The Demeter's in good shape, but she's still an old ship. There's a lot more I could do with another set of skilled hands helping me out. I'm not saying we wouldn't need the regular maintenance stops at Tamsin's shipyard, but they might be cheaper if I've got another mechanic on board to help me out."

The captain looked to the cat-kin and asked, "What do you think Cam? Does that work for you?"

Cam looked thoughtful as they finally took a sip of their drink. Then they nodded, "Yes ma'am. I'm willing to give it a shot, and I'll do my best."

"I know you will," Rebecca smiled.

With perfect timing Gilly arrived at our table weighed down under a big tray of food. Cam's eyes went wide as saucers as they stared at the massive feast that was being laid out in front of us on the table. Steak, ribs, chops, roast, all seasoned and cooked to perfection. The cat-kin's tail stood straight up behind them, while mine was wagging up a storm.

"There you go ladies," Gilly grinned. "Enjoy!"

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