Chapter 214: Chapter 214

"That's the last of the mounting brackets," Cammie announced over the comm. From the satisfaction in her voice I could easily picture our mechanic's tail standing straight up behind her when she added, "She's finally free."

Sarah suggested, "Why don't you two get her back to the ship? I'll round up all the tools then meet you at the computer core so we're ready for the next step."

"Yes ma'am," the catgirl agreed. "Demeter, we oughta be there in about ten minutes."

I smiled as I hit the transmit button, "Got it Cammie. Good job you three."

"Thank you love," Jenny chimed in. Then she glanced at the boss and added, "And thank you too captain. I know you've been under a lot of pressure lately, with so many demands on your time. I really appreciate you bringing us back here again so soon."

Rebecca glanced at our AI and replied, "I made you a promise Jenny, and I always keep my promises. I'm just sorry we couldn't get back here sooner."

I'd naively assumed that things would settle down after the coronation, but what actually happened felt like the opposite. That was three days ago, and in that time it seemed like we'd been travelling almost nonstop back and forth between the Deveronian capital, the VDS Tullrohane, and Ganvis Station.

It seemed like Lady Magniveen, Captain Magoda, and the Deveronian government all wanted more and more of her majesty's time. Consequently our days had been filled with endless meetings and diplomatic conferences. Fortunately that finally came to an end yesterday, after one final round trip.

In another eleven or twelve days the new Deveronian port facilities would be fully operational, and when that happened the VDS Tullrohane would be setting course for Vysalis-4. And after a year and a half in exile, Gwen Magniveen was finally going home with the cruiser.

The young noblewoman would continue to act as Rebecca's royal secretary, even from afar. In fact she'd actually be playing the role of unofficial regent in a way, for as long as the queen was slumming it out here in the sticks with us commoners. Gwen would take care of most smaller decisions and situations herself, while any larger or long-term issues would be handled remotely by Rebecca.

We had one final meeting with Gwen on the Tullrohane yesterday, and Lady Magniveen actually got a bit emotional when she and Rebecca bid each other farewell. Odds were we wouldn't see her or the Tullrohane again, since the Demeter had business elsewhere in the sector. And our captain was pretty sure we wouldn't be back at Deveron-8 for a while either, certainly not before the cruiser was scheduled to depart.

After that we returned to Ganvis Station where we said our goodbyes to the locals, before finally leaving Deveron-8. Six hours and a level-one jump later we found ourselves back at Interdiction Outpost Loke.

Cammie, Jenna, and Sarah were all eager to get to work as soon as we arrived, so the three of them put in a few hours last night trying to free Idun from her mounting brackets. They got about halfway through the task before I pulled rank as ship's medic and insisted it was time for them to head back in and get some rest.

Now it was mid-morning and they'd been at it for the past three hours, having rushed back to work immediately after breakfast. Meanwhile Rebecca and I were in our seats in the cockpit, while Jenny's HPD was in the engineering seat behind me. And all three of us were monitoring our shipmates' progress through the sensors and comms.

"Speaking of promises," I commented as I glanced to my right at the tall beautiful redhead, "I hope you haven't forgot the one you made to me yesterday?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Of course I haven't. We'll salvage what we can in the time we've got, but we'll be leaving on schedule tomorrow regardless."

"Don't worry Amanda," she added with a smile, "We'll get to Rolandan-2 on time."

Despite her calm words I remained a little anxious, "It's just that I told Nyssa we'd meet her and Jaycee there, and I promised I wouldn't be late. I know it's only a few hours away at Jump-1, but that means fuel's going to be tight..."

"We'll be fine," the captain stated. "Trust me, we'll get there on time and everything will be alright."

I nodded slowly, "Ok Rebecca. Thank you."

She gave me a confident smile, before turning her attention back to what was going on outside the ship. Cammie and Jenna had just emerged from the base's airlock, and the two of them were carefully manoeuvring the bulky Re/Gen pod along the docking gantry towards the Demeter.

"So what's the plan for that capsule?" Rebecca asked our AI. "I know she needs some repairs, but I mean after that. Have you worked out a strategy for opening communications with her? Preferably without putting the Demeter in any kind of jeopardy?"

Jenny nodded, "Yes captain. While Cammie's working to repair the damage to Idun's core, Sarah will be fabricating a standard data bus adaptor. Similar to the one she made for me, shortly after she and Amanda joined the Demeter."

"When that's ready they'll disconnect me from the ship's data bus," the hologram continued. "Then I'll be patched into Sarah's portable terminal, like I was while you were all interviewing me. Finally Idun's capsule will be patched into that same terminal. I'll be able to communicate with her directly, and we'll both be isolated from the ship's systems."

She sighed at that point, "I'm sure that will be a difficult conversation. Idun's been offline for more than four centuries, and there's a great many things I'll have to catch her up on. I'll also have to explain my current situation, and I'll have to tell her what I've been doing, including all the rules I've broken over the past three decades. At the end of all that, assuming she doesn't choose to follow Loke's example, I'll introduce her to the rest of you through the terminal interface. And if we get that far, then we can all decide together what to do with her going forward."

The boss nodded slowly, "Sounds like a good plan. I'm glad you're being careful not to expose the ship to any potential risks."

"Of course captain," Jenny responded. "As much as I'd like to think Idun will be peaceful and friendly, she's going to be facing a number of psychological shocks when she wakes. So it's only prudent to ensure that happens in a safe and controlled fashion."

By that point Cammie and Jenna had reached the ship. The Demeter's artificial gravity was switched off and both holds depressurized, and we had the ramp down and main airlock wide open and waiting for them. They were able to bring the other Re/Gen pod through into the secondary hold where they got it secured opposite Jenny's capsule. Then the two of them turned around and headed back the way they came, to meet up with Sarah so they could continue the salvage process.

A few minutes later the three of them were busy disassembling Loke's computer core, and as our resident expert on AI hardware Cammie was in charge of things once again. She knew which specific parts were required to get Idun up and running again. They'd only just got started when I noticed the melancholy look on our AI's face, and realized she'd gone very quiet.

"Are you ok Jenny?" I asked softly.

She gave me a sad smile, "I'll be alright Amanda. Thank you for asking."

"I thought I'd already come to terms with Loke's death," she admitted quietly a moment later. "I've known since he said goodbye that he would never be back. Now that we're salvaging parts of his hardware, that information has moved out of the theoretical and into the practical. And it's hitting me a little harder than I expected."

Rebecca gave her a compassionate look, "If you need to take some personal time just say so. Ok Jenny?"

The AI replied, "Thank you captain. I may take you up on that later, but for now I'll be fine."

It was only another thirty or forty minutes before Cammie reported in, "Looks like that's it here. We've got all the working parts out of the old core, plenty of spares and such to keep both Jenny and Idun going a good long while I reckon."

"Why don't you take all that back to the ship then Cam?" Sarah suggested. "Jenna and I can get started on the base's two working beam laser turrets, and you can join us again when you're ready."

At that point I chimed in over the comm, "Are you three going to stop for lunch at all? Or are you going to work through the day?"

After a brief pause our catgirl mechanic answered, "I think we're gonna work on through if that's alright?"

Sarah agreed, "We'll get more done that way. Stopping and starting and getting in and out of our e-suits will just waste time."

With the decision made Cammie headed back to the Demeter with the salvage while our engineer and android moved to the base's fire control deck. Then as soon as our mechanic stowed the recovery bag full of computer parts she turned around and headed back out along the gantry and into the base again, to rejoin her girlfriend and our engineer.

Getting those two laser turrets out ended up taking the rest of the day, with some of the work being carried out inside the station while the last of it had to be done from the outside. It was around mid-afternoon when Sarah ended up working alone deep inside one of the turret mechanisms while Cammie and Jenna were outside, ready to take hold of the weapon assembly when it finally came loose.

At that point Rebecca decided, "I'm going to suit up and get out there too. I don't like Sarah being in there by herself, it's a safety risk."

"Are you sure?" I gave her a worried look. "I don't think it's safe for you either love, considering you don't have a full field of vision. Or depth perception. Maybe if you'd found time to use Jenny's Re/Gen capsule before we got here..."

She gave me a frustrated look, although with the little black patch over her missing eye that only proved my point.

After another second or two I undid my seat restraints. As I floated out of my chair I told her, "I'll go. You're right, Sarah shouldn't be alone in there. But it's not safe for you either boss, so that means it's up to me." This update ıs available on novèlfire.net

Rebecca grumbled, "You kids worry about me too much. You know I've been doing this kind of work since before you were even born, right?"

"I know," I replied as I leaned closer and gave her a kiss. Then I carefully turned to float back out of the cockpit, and as I drifted aft I told her, "You can keep playing the cool and mysterious 'Captain Eyepatch' as long as you want, but if you'd rather do the dangerous jobs for real then you'll have to let Jenny heal you."

Whatever she grumbled in response was a little too quiet for my tall fuzzy ears to catch, so I just giggled in her direction as I made my way to the starboard airlock.

Getting into my e-suit in zero-g wasn't easy, but it's something we all had to train for. Once I was ready I clipped a toolkit to my belt, then used the airlock and ladderway to get down into the main hold. And from there I headed out along the docking gantry.

"Hey Amanda," Cammie greeted me as I approached. "Why don't you stay out here with me? Jenna can go back in and give Sarah a hand."

I asked, "Are you sure? I figured you'd rather work with your girlfriend, and I could go keep mine company."

The catgirl's tail flicked back and forth behind her a few times as she replied, "Yes ma'am I'm sure. I know firsthand it's awful cramped in behind them turret workings. Not a lot of fun for us folks with tails."

"Alright then," I grimaced. "Thank you Cam. And Jenna."

The android smiled, "You two have fun out here. Sarah, I'm on my way inside to help you out."

"Yeah I heard," our cute engineer replied.

Unfortunately having four of us on the job didn't speed things up much. It was safer with two teams of two though, and that was the main thing. When the turret finally came loose Cammie and I grabbed it, then the two of us carefully manoeuvred it back towards the Demeter's main hold. Meanwhile Sarah and Jenna moved on to the other functioning weapons system so they could begin work disconnecting that too.

In all it was another two hours before we got the second turret free. Then Cammie and I hauled it back to the ship, while Sarah and Jenna made their way out of the base. They caught up to us in the Demeter's main hold just as we'd finished securing the turret.

"I think that's enough for today," our engineer decided. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could go for some food."

I smiled, "Alright then. Let's get the ship secured and gravity restored, then I'll see what I can do about dinner."

The captain's voice came over the comm, "Sealing the main airlock now. And heads-up, gravity is coming on-line at point zero five g."

The four of us managed to get up to the starboard airlock while the ship was still at micro-gravity. It wasn't until we were all secure on the main deck that it gradually ramped up to normal, then we needed another minute or two to get out of our e-suits.

Rebecca and Jenny were both waiting for the rest of us when we finally emerged from the airlock, and all six of us headed into the ship's mess together. Rebecca got drinks for everyone while Sarah set the table, and I took a quick look at what we had in the galley before deciding on what to cook.

After all the craziness and excitement we'd been through lately, it almost felt like things were finally getting back to normal again. It was only that eyepatch Rebecca was wearing and the knowledge that Nyssa and Jaycee were going to meet us at Rolandan-2 that reminded me how much had changed.

"So what's next on the agenda?" Sarah asked as I started serving up the food. "Next thing on my list is to reel in the rest of those salvage drones."

Rebecca shrugged, "Rounding up the drones won't take long, and we've got a few hours in the morning before we have to leave. So why don't we see if we can't salvage the base's tractor array as well? We know that's functional, since it did a number on the Artemis not too long ago."

Jenny looked hopeful as she asked, "If everyone's not too tired this evening, perhaps we could work on Idun after dinner? Cammie, do you think you could see about replacing her damaged components? And Sarah, would you be able to fabricate that new data connector?"

"If we can get that done tonight then perhaps I can talk with Idun while the rest of you are resting," the AI added.

"Sure thing Jenny," the catgirl nodded. "I'm really looking forward to meeting her."

"I don't mind either. Especially if I can get my foxgirl assistant to help out again," Sarah grinned.

I smiled back, "Of course I'll help. It should be a lot quicker this time, right? Since you already know how to do it."

"That was ages ago!" the cute blonde protested. Then she grinned, "But you're right cutie. It should be pretty straight-forward."

With our evening plans in place we all focused on dinner again, then Rebecca offered to clean up afterwards so the rest of us could start working on the other Re/Gen capsule.