Chapter 210: Chapter 210

"This is Sergeant Magniveen," Sean announced after re-activating his comm set, "General Sidex is dead. Repeat, we have confirmation that Sidex is dead."

Even though my baby sister killed the big bad guy the fighting wasn't quite over yet. According to Jenny there were another nine armed bandits in the area, and one of Sidex's commanders was still at large.

Some of those enemy combatants made their presence known just a few seconds later. I was helping Nyssa into her cabin on the Artemis when we both heard Jaycee swear from their position in the cargo deck below us. That was immediately followed by gunfire as both they and the sergeant started shooting.

"You stay put!" I told my sister as I got her into bed. Then I scooped up my medkit as I called down, "What's going on? Are they trying to access the Artemis?"

Sean replied between bursts of gunfire, "They were thinking about it but we changed their minds."

"They're taking the gun-sled!" Jaycee added.

Their words were punctuated by another short exchange of fire, which in turn was followed by the sound of the grav-sled's engines.

None of us needed the reminder but the sergeant spoke up and warned us anyways, "That sled's got a mounted artillery piece on it! Everyone on the ground's vulnerable, including the princess!"

"Jenny?" I asked into my commlink as I dropped down the ladderway to the lower deck.

The AI's voice was ice cold as she replied, "Already on it Amanda. I'm just giving them some room, so the wreckage won't come down ontop of anybody."

It turned out those two light fighters from the Tullrohane were also on it, and the sergeant's warning had been directed at them rather than any of us. So the moment the sled was clear of the landing area and the settlement it was hit by pretty much everything, all at once.

A powerful beam laser carved it in two just in time for a pair of missiles to slam into both halves and blow them to pieces, which the Demeter's PDLS quickly blasted to dust. In the span of a single second what had been a gun-sled and a handful of bandits was reduced to nothing more than a pretty light show and a gentle rain of tiny fragments.

"I'm tracking the last three enemy combatants," Jenny reported after the gun-sled was gone. "They're using the line of shipping containers for cover. I believe they're attempting to flee on foot."

Jaycee nodded as they raised their weapon, "Got them. Movement to the far left, looks like they might be heading for the wind farm?"

They and the sergeant both let loose a few rounds, and one of the fleeing attackers went down. At that point the other two dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. And at long last it seemed like the fighting was finally over. That didn't mean we were done though. Now that I knew Nyssa was safe I desperately wanted to check on my girlfriend. And we still didn't know how badly Jenna was damaged.

"Can you stay here with Nyssa?" I asked Jaycee. "And Sgt. Magniveen, I need you to round up those prisoners and keep an eye on them."

"Yes ma'am," Sean nodded as he set off towards the two men with their arms in the air. Meanwhile Jaycee slung their carbine over one shoulder and headed up the ladderway to go see my sister. The source of thɪs content is novel✶fire.net

Finally I spoke into my commlink, "Sarah, Cammie, can one of you get our grav-sled prepped?"

"They've got it ready to go right now," Jenny replied. "If it's all clear I'll open the Demeter's main airlock and lower the ramp."

"Do it!" I responded as I hurried out of the Artemis.

Sure enough the Demeter was already opening up, with both Sarah and Cammie waiting for me in the sled. I tossed my medkit into the back then hopped into the driver seat next to my blonde girlfriend. Our catgirl mechanic was in the second row, looking very worried for her girlfriend as she hugged a toolkit to her chest.

"Don't worry," I told her as we pulled out of the Demeter's hold. "Jenna's going to be ok. I'm sure of it."

Sarah nodded, "Rebecca and Jenna are both going to be fine."

The crash site was lit up with portable lights when we got there. The Demeter's fighter was upside-down at the end of a fifty meter long furrow, while Rebecca lay on a stretcher a couple meters away from her downed craft with a couple doctors crouched over her. And there was a distressing amount of blood staining her clothes.

Four soldiers in VDF uniforms were standing guard around their princess, while Tanya and Pots were a few paces away next to their fighter. Jenna was probably still inside the wrecked craft, and that wasn't a good sign.

My heart was pounding as I brought our sled down off to one side of the crash site, but before we were even on the ground Cammie leapt out with her toolkit in hand. The catgirl landed on her feet then with her ears back and her tail puffed out behind her she dashed into the wrecked fighter to check on her girlfriend.

Sarah and I weren't far behind, the moment we'd landed the two of us headed straight for our captain. My ears were drooping down and so was my tail as we approached our girlfriend and got a better look at her condition, along with all the bandages she was wearing.

The most worrying was the one wrapped around the upper part of her face and head, which covered pretty much everthing from her forehead down to her mouth. Another one was wrapped around her right upper arm, there were three more over her chest and abdomen, and the last one was on her right hip. She also had a large limb immobilizer on that leg, so odds were it was probably broken. A smaller immobilizer was around her left hand and wrist.

Rebecca was still conscious though, and she was talking. Or more accurately she was complaining, to the two middle-aged doctors who'd been treating her injuries.

"I keep telling you people just take me back to my ship," our girlfriend insisted, in the slurred tones of someone who has a lot of painkillers in her system. "I'll be fine. I do not need or want to visit the Tullrohane's infirmary. I'm sure it's lovely and I promise I'll drop by for a visit later on. But right now all I want is to get back to my own ship. Seriously, just let my crew know where I am and they'll take care of everything."

"We're here boss," Sarah said as the two of us moved to stand by her feet.

I added, "The fighting's over, now it's just a matter of picking up the pieces."

The redhead let out a loud sigh of relief as she smiled, "I'm so happy to hear you two. Can you please get me back to the Demeter?"

"In a moment Rebecca," I told her. Then I addressed Nieves and Potier, "Can you two head into Ganvis and give Sgt. Magniveen a hand? He's on his own right now, and he's got at least two prisoners to keep an eye on."

The Persephone's captain nodded, "Yes ma'am. C'mon Pots, let's go make ourselves useful."

As they climbed back into their fighter I finally turned my attention to the VDF doctors. With my ears angled forward and my tail standing out behind me I announced, "I'm Amanda Voss, the Demeter's first officer as well as her medical officer. I'm also Princess Rebecca's personal physician. What's her status?"

The two men exchanged a glance, and it was clear from their expressions that they didn't really believe my claims. Which may have had something to do with the way I looked like a tiny teenaged foxgirl.

One of them finally responded with a brief list of her highness' injuries. None were fatal, but a couple had come dangerously close. The fighter had been perforated by high-velocity shrapnel, and a half dozen fragments went through our captain. The most serious caught her on the right side of her head, just in front of her ear. It was a glancing strike but it basically removed her right eye and made a mess of her beautiful face.

The rest of the shrapnel managed to miss most of her vital organs, although she still had some internal injuries that probably required surgery to mend properly. Which is why they wanted to get her up to the Tullrohane and into their infirmary. And finally, her right leg and left wrist were both broken in the crash. The doctors were also worried about the princess might be suffering from shock, despite what their medscanner had to say on the subject.

"In addition to the field dressings we've also administered a standard trauma-shot," the older one added. "Along with a double-dose of painkiller."

Rebecca grimaced, "Amanda? Sarah? Can you please just take me back to the Demeter now?"

"And can someone tell me if Jenna's ok?" she added in a worried tone. "None of these guys will give me a straight answer."

Sarah gave me a pat on the shoulder as she said, "Medical stuff's your thing cutie. I'll go give Cammie a hand with Jenna."

"Thanks Sarah," I replied with a little twitch of my tail and a bit of sarcasm in my voice.

Then I focused on Rebecca and the two men, and did my best to convince a couple old and probably distinguished royal physicians to leave their princess in the care of a tiny teenaged foxgirl.

That took a good ten minutes, and a call to the Tullrohane. Fortunately Captain Magoda and Lady Magniveen were both available to vouch for me, so at long last the VDF doctors grudgingly agreed to let me take my girlfriend back to our ship. Rebecca tried to struggle to her feet, but I put a stop to that by simply picking her up myself. In a princess carry, of course.

Both doctors and the four royal guards all stared wide-eyed as I carefully but easily took my girlfriend into my arms, then carried her over to the grav-sled where I gently set her down in the passenger seat.

Cammie and Sarah emerged from the wrecked fighter a moment later, and the two of them were carrying Jenna. I felt another pang of worry when I saw our android's condition. She seemed limp and lifeless, and if she'd been human I would have assumed she was dead. Especially after seeing the damage she'd taken.

Like our captain, Jenna had a handful of ragged holes in her body. The most serious was in the centre of her chest, very close to where a human's heart would have been. I had no idea what any of that meant for her, but from the looks on my shipmates faces I could guess that the android's situation was serious but not hopeless.

Sarah and Cam confirmed that a moment later as they carefully placed Jenna in the back of the sled. Our engineer commented quietly, "She took a direct hit right through her power and data bus module. Without that she's basically offline."

"There's a real good chance she'll be ok though," the catgirl added as her tail twitched anxiously back and forth. "Once we replace that module she oughta wake right back up again. It'll be like she's just been asleep is all."

I slipped into the driver seat as I replied, "Then let's get our patients back home."

Cammie sat in the very back next to her girlfriend, while Sarah got into the second row behind me. It was a very short trip back to the Demeter, and Jenny had the ship open and ready for us when we arrived. Our AI was waiting for us in the hold when I landed the sled in the middle of the deck.

"How is she?" Jenny asked as she hurried to check on Cammie and her sister.

Cam repeated Jenna's prognosis for her girlfriend, then she and Sarah carefully picked the android up so they could get her into the ship's workshop. Meanwhile I helped Rebecca out of the passenger seat but our stubborn captain insisted on walking rather than letting me carry her. She had to lean heavily on me for support though, due to her broken leg.

Jenny seemed torn at that point. She hesitated and gave Rebecca a worried look while Cammie and Sarah headed aft with Jenna. The stress in the AI's voice was obvious as she addressed our captain, "You need my Re/Gen pod."

After a slight pause Rebecca shook her head, "I need rest. Go help your girlfriend look after your sister. Amanda will take me to my cabin."

The AI glanced at me for confirmation, and as much as I wanted to get my girlfriend healed up I knew her situation wasn't life-threatening.

"Take care of your sister," I told her. "I'll look after the boss."

"Thank you both," Jenny replied, before hurrying after the others.

Rebecca and I moved a lot slower, but we eventually made it to the lift in engineering. From there we gradually made our way forward to her cabin.

I got her into bed then helped remove the last of her clothes, and as she relaxed I used my own medscanner to verify her condition. Thanks to her genetic modifications she didn't require any immediate surgery, but without Jenny's services Rebecca would be in rough shape for a while.

For now my girlfriend had no trouble falling asleep once she was comfortable. I considered joining her, especially after the long stressful night we'd all had. I didn't want to risk disturbing her though, so I sat in the chair by her desk. From there I could continue monitoring her, although it seemed like she was stable.

After another hour or so I was confident our captain would be fine on her own for a while, so I quietly slipped out of her cabin. I probably should have just gone to bed myself, but I headed down to the ship's workshop instead. I wanted to see how Sarah and Cam and Jenny were doing with Jenna.

None of them noticed me peering in through the door, they were too focused on what they were doing. They were obviously still busy so I left them to it, but I wasn't ready to head to bed yet. It occurred to me that maybe some fresh air would help, so I wandered forward through the secondary hold then into the main hold, where I hit the controls for the main airlock and the cargo ramp.

That's when I found out it was already morning, although the sun probably hadn't been up more than a half hour by that point. Folks were already up and getting active in and around the settlement though, since it was a farming community after all.

I stepped out into the early morning sun, then just stood there for a few minutes. Despite the distant sounds of activity it still felt kind of peaceful. There was no shooting, no shouting, just a normal dawn for the people of Ganvis. And for me, as I quietly enjoyed the crisp early morning air and the sunlight on my face.

"Excuse me, Miss Amanda?"

My eyes snapped open and I found myself facing one of the local farmers, with his three young kids next to him. The oldest boy looked to be about twelve or thirteen, probably right on the edge of growing up into a young man. The younger boy was ten or eleven maybe, and the little girl couldn't have been more than six.

"Hello," I blinked a few times as I wondered if I'd dozed off on my feet. "What can I do for you?"

The farmer gestured to his kids as he said, "The young'uns was hoping to speak with you ma'am, and when we saw you was standing here alone we figured this was the time."

"We wanted to thank you ma'am," the older boy spoke up. "You gave us some berry bushes a ways back, and they's all making berries now. My brother and sister and I all wanted to give you something in return."

The little girl held out a small hand-weaved basket she'd been hiding behind her back. It was a tiny thing, barely the size of my fist, but it was full of darrowberries. The girl gave me a shy smile and mumbled, "We picked these mandaberries for you, Miss 'Manda."

"Daisy here started calling 'em that since them bushes was from you," their father explained. "Now everyone's calling 'em mandaberries, on account of being so grateful for all your help ma'am. You and your shipmates, I mean."

I felt a huge wave of emotions while my ears drooped and my tail slowly swished back and forth behind me. I finally reached out and accepted the little basket as I smiled at the girl, "Thank you Daisy."

"Thank you all," I added to her brothers.

The kids all smiled back, then after bidding me a good morning they and their father turned and headed off the way they came. I stayed where I was as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me.

A few seconds later tears started streaming down my face as I quietly clutched that little handmade basket full of berries.