Daughters of Demeter

"Ninety seconds," I said after a quick glance at the panel.

Sarah sighed, "I sure hope they're ok."

"We all do," Rebecca agreed.

The tall redhead had an arm around Sarah's waist, gently holding our injured engineer as we all waited next to the Re/Gen capsule. The plan was to put Sarah in there as soon as Cammie came out, but I had a feeling there'd be at least a short delay. She'd want to know the cat-kin was ok first, before taking her own turn in the healing pod.

"That's the second time they've taken a hit that was meant for me," the boss added softly. "If not for Cam it'd be me in there..."

I shook my head, "They didn't just save you Rebecca. Without you we wouldn't have been able to escape the Kennington. Nobody else knows how to use the tractor-repulsers the way you do. We wouldn't have even thought to try."

Android Jenny agreed, "By saving you captain, Cam saved us all."

We were all quiet for the final few seconds, as the Re/Gen timer counted down. It hit zero, and a few moments after that the hatch unsealed. It lifted slightly then rotated away, revealing our cat-kin laying calmly on the padded surface inside.

They slowly opened their eyes, then their ears folded back as they stretched and yawned. It seemed like all of us were holding our breath as we watched the cat-kin sit up. Cam blinked and stretched again, then finally spoke.

"Oh hello everybody," they greeted us as if they'd just woke from nothing more serious than an afternoon nap. "Did we win? Where are we? How's the ship, are we ok?"

The boss responded, "We're ok, thanks to you. We're on the ground now, back at Ganvis Station. The ship's seen better days, but she held together and got us here in one piece. More or less."

"And yes," Rebecca added. "I'm pretty sure we won. Things didn't go quite the way we planned, we ended up having to destroy the facility. At least we can be sure that took care of their records and back-ups."

Cam's tail twitched as they responded, "That's good to hear. As long as nobody took any sensitive data with them when they evacuated."

My gut lurched, and from the look on Rebecca's and Sarah's faces I could tell neither of them considered that possibility either. I knew there was only about thirty seconds between when I gave the order and when the reactor blew, but if there was any kind of warning at all that would have been enough time for at least some people to grab critical research and escape.

Before my girlfriends or I could comment though, AI Jenny spoke up. Her voice sounded guilty as it came over the intercom, "Actually I did consider that possibility. And I took steps to prevent it."

A moment later her HPD came to life and her holographic self flickered into existence standing next to the rest of us. She looked as guilty as she sounded when she admitted, "The research facility was equipped with a number of escape pods. But as I said, I disabled all of their safety mechanisms. Including the escape pods."

"How?" Sarah asked with a frown. "I've never heard of an escape pod you could turn off. That would defeat the whole purpose of them."

Our AI sighed, "They can't be turned off, but they can be put into maintenance mode. I'm quite certain none of Dr. Kelsonian's research, records, or staff escaped."

It seemed like no-one knew how to respond to that. Fortunately it was only a second or two before Rebecca changed the subject back to something much more important.

"What about you Cam?" she asked the cat-kin. "Are you ok, was Jenny able to help you?"

They were still sitting in the open Re/Gen capsule, and needless to say they were stark naked. They didn't seem to care about that though as they shrugged and replied with a very simple, "Yeah I'm fine."

"I don't mind saying it was a very close call," AI Jenny added. "By the time I was able to start processing Cam the malicious nano-tech had already begun its work. Fortunately I was able to shut it down and purge it from Cammie's system before any lasting damage was inflicted."

"That's a huge relief," I said.

"Agreed!" android Jenny said as she moved closer. She held out some clothes for Cam, "I hope you don't mind but I went into your cabin to retrieve these for you. I'm sorry the outfit you were wearing earlier was lost."

"Oh that's ok. Thank you Jenny," the cat-kin responded as they accepted the clothes. It was another cute dress they'd got back at Rolandan-2, and a pair of cute shoes that matched.

They didn't seem in any big hurry to put the clothes on though. They took their time, slipping the shoes on first before pulling the dress on over their head. Then the cat-kin finally hopped down out of the capsule and gave us all a slightly awkward look, while their ears drooped to either side and their tail moved down between their legs.

"Actually there's something I need to tell y'all?" they commented nervously. "AI Jenny already knows, on account of us talking while I was in there with her. But um, I've decided I want to try being a girl. Like I mean, my pronouns and stuff? She and her. And I'm a catgirl, not a cat-kin."

"Or I guess catgirls and catboys are both cat-kin," she added with a little frown. "But I mean, I guess I've decided to be specific. I'm not in-between, not 'none of the above'. I'm a girl, a catgirl, and thats how I'd like y'all to think of me. If that's ok, I mean."

Rebecca and I exchanged a glance while Cam was still talking, and I could tell the captain was thinking the same thing I was. Both of us were worried this was some sort of side-effect, something Kelsonian's nano-tech did before Jenny was able to purge it.

I hadn't forgotten what the woman said it was going to do to Rebecca, and it wasn't hard to imagine something meant to reprogram our boss into a 'meek obedient girl' might have affected Cammie's sense of self in some way.

Meanwhile android Jenny responded to the catgirl with a smile, "Of course it's ok! If that's what you want, if that's how you feel, then that's what you are. And of course all of us will respect your wishes."

Sarah nodded in agreement, "What she said."

"Same," I said, but the others could tell from my tone I had something on my mind.

I continued, "I have a concern though, and as much as I hate to say it I have to ask. Cam, AI Jenny, is there any chance that this decision was influenced by Kelsonian's tech?"

"None whatsoever," the AI stated emphatically. "I'm certain of that."

Cammie agreed, "This is stuff I've been thinking about for a long time Amanda. All the way back when we first visited Fuminja Beta? After the shooting those security folks kept calling me a catgirl and using she-her pronouns for me? And um, I kind of liked it."

"Same with the Persephone people when we first met them," she added. There was a blush on her cheeks as she continued, "I held off for a long while on account of not being sure? But every time someone mistook me for a girl it felt good. And when I told y'all about my name and how my ma used to call me Cammie and how I liked that..."

Her voice trailed off for a few seconds. Then she nodded, "I guess I just needed the extra time to be positive it's what I really wanted. And to convince myself it was ok, that I was allowed to be a girl. Cause back at Ganvis that sort of thing definitely wouldn't be ok. But getting to know y'all and learning about your stories and backgrounds helped a lot. That's why it took so long."

"Now I know, and now I'm sure," she stated. "I'm a girl, I'm Cammie. But y'all can keep calling me Cam."

"All right Cam," I smiled. "Thank you for explaining all that. I'm sorry for doubting you."

She shook her head, "That's ok Amanda, I understand why you worried."

AI Jenny spoke up next, "Now that that's settled, I believe I have another patient awaiting my attention? Sarah you seem rather worse for wear."

"I'll live," the cute blonde replied. Then she grimaced, "But I'll be happier once I'm all fixed up. So yeah, if you're ready for me then I'm more than ready for my turn."

Rebecca and I helped her out of her nightgown first, then we both helped our girlfriend up and into the capsule. Once she was laying down comfortably the hatch rotated around then sealed shut, while AI Jenny's HPD stowed itself so she could focus all her attention on healing our engineer.

After that Cam looked at the rest of us and asked, "So we're back at Ganvis huh? Have you spoken with Mayor Wheeler yet? And what happened to Sarah? Is everyone else ok? How about the ship? And what happened to Kelsonian and her thugs?"

"Why don't we all head up to the main deck and get comfortable," Rebecca suggested. "Then we can fill you in on everything you missed."

A few minutes later the tall redhead and I were cuddling together on the sofa in the ship's lounge, I had a glass of soda in one hand while the other was wrapped around Rebecca's shoulders. Likewise she had a drink in hand, but hers was something a little harder. And her other hand was busy stroking my big floofy tail that ended up on her lap. Cammie and android Jenny were sitting together in the comfy chairs to our right, and like me the catgirl had a glass of soda on the table in front of her.

Then Rebecca Jenny and I took turns filling Cam in on everything that happened after she saved the captain from Kelsonian's nano-tech dart. It took us a while to get through the whole tale since the curious catgirl kept interrupting with questions or comments, but nobody seemed to mind.

Eventually we got to the end of the story. Rebecca finished up by saying, "So we're safely on the ground at Ganvis. The ship's broken, but we don't know yet how bad. The starboard main engine looks to have taken a hit when the Kennington opened fire on us with her pulse laser turrets, and we know one of the landing gear collapsed when we hit the ground here. There's some other minor damage, blown circuits and stuff like that, but the engine's probably the most significant issue."

"Once Sarah's finished processing she's going to make a full inspection of the ship and prepare a complete damage report," I added. "I'm sure she'll enlist your help for that Cam. Then I assume the next step will be to start repairs."

Jenny corrected me, "I expect the next step is going to be that meeting with the mayor. And I believe we promised to offload the goods we brought them as soon as both our mechanics were back on their feet."

"Right," Rebecca nodded. "That's tomorrow though. For now we're taking it easy. It's been a hell of a day, it feels like we've been going non-stop for almost twenty-four hours. Right now nothing's on fire, nobody's bleeding, and no-one is actively trying to murder us. So let's just relax and enjoy some peace and quiet."

The rest of us all agreed with that plan whole-heartedly. At one point I got up and made us something to eat, but nothing fancy. Comfort food seemed the most appropriate. Then after dinner Rebecca and I retired to her cabin. Meanwhile Cam and Jenny went back into the lounge together, the catgirl wasn't tired since she'd only just emerged from the Re/Gen and the android offered to keep her company.

Rebecca and I didn't sleep right away, she reminded me of her promise to help me celebrate my astro-navigation achievement. In fact we ended up celebrating twice before we finally drifted to sleep together.

We had one interruption during the night, when the two of us got up and headed down to the lower deck to greet Sarah when she emerged from the Re/Gen capsule. Both Cam and android Jenny had retired for the night by then so neither Rebecca or I bothered to dress for the occasion. Then we dragged Sarah back to bed with us, and the three of us ended up celebrating a few more times together before we got back to sleep.

All that left me feeling much better by the time we got up in the morning. I pulled on a nightshirt while Rebecca got as far as panties and a bra, and Sarah opted for panties and a small tight tee. Then the three of us left Rebecca's cabin together, in search of coffee.

We found our other shipmates waiting for us in the mess, and the sight made all three of us pause. Cam was sitting at the table with a mug in front of her, while next to the catgirl was not one but two nearly-identical Jennys. The first was our android crewmate, with the pink fringe in her black hair. And the second was our AI using her HPD, with the white fringe in her hair.

"Good morning," AI Jenny greeted us.

I smiled as I continued on towards the autochef to fix coffees for me and my girlfriends, "Good morning Jenny, Jenny, Cam."

Rebecca moved to her usual seat at the table then asked, "I take it you've explained your new situation to Cammie?"

"I feel like I'm out of the loop on something," Sarah added as she moved to take a seat next to Rebecca. "What's the new situation?"

I joined the others a few moments later, as soon as our coffees were ready. And all six of us spent the next little while talking about how our AI and android had become two separate individuals. Needless to say both Sarah and Cam were very excited about the new development. There were plenty of questions, especially about how exactly it happened.

Unfortunately neither Jenny could give any solid technical explanation for how our android achieved her own sentience. The best answer was the one she gave Rebecca and I earlier, that she experienced a special moment walking barefoot in the grass on Rolandan-2 and that somehow led her to become her own unique person.

The conversation continued while I fixed breakfast for those of us who needed to eat. Then after our morning meal we finally turned our attention to the actual work we all needed to take care of.

"Sarah, Cam, I need you two to make a thorough inspection of the ship's systems," Rebecca told them. "I need a complete damage report, repair estimate, and if we're going to need spare parts I'll need a detailed listing of exactly what's required."

The boss looked to our holographic crewmate and added, "AI Jenny maybe you can help them with that? I assume you have access to the ship's diagnostic systems, so you can point them at what needs attention."

"Amanda and android Jenny," she continued, "You two will be with me when we go meet Mayor Wheeler. We'll give her a run-down of what we brought her people, and hopefully she'll leave us alone for as long as we need to stay here."

Sarah asked, "Assuming we need spare parts, how do you plan on getting them here? Especially without divulging our location to anyone?"

Rebecca smiled, "I may have made some arrangements in advance. If that's all the questions, then let's get dressed and get to work."

It didn't take long for us to get dressed, and the boss wanted us armed again since this was a dangerous world after all. She decided side-arms were good enough though, so happily I wasn't expected to cart around a shotgun or rifle like last time.

We were in no particular hurry go to meet Mrs. Wheeler again, but we couldn't avoid the woman forever and we did tell Jace and his dad that'd happen today. So it was only another half hour or so before Rebecca and Jenny and I set out.

The shipping containers we delivered on our last visit were still in a line along the south edge of the settlement, in between the buildings and the landing area. Most of them were empty by now, and we hoped the locals were able to put all that stuff to good use.

The three of us paused there to turn and get a look at the Demeter, now that we were a few dozen meters away. She was sitting much lower to the ground than usual, with her belly practically resting on the hard dry dirt. It took me a moment to realize that was because five of the six landing gear had sank almost a meter into the ground when we landed. The sixth one obviously couldn't take the strain and buckled instead. The starboard mid-ship gear was bent over and stuck out sideways, and it looked like we probably wouldn't even be able to retract it in its current state.

"I'm sure Sarah will tell us all about that when the time comes," Rebecca commented, before we all turned to continue towards the mayor's residence.

The main 'street' of Ganvis was still quiet, the only person we saw was Finn. The local lawman didn't bother us, he just nodded in recognition as we passed by. Not long after that we found ourselves back in the mayor's office, standing in front of Ella and Jace. The older woman looked grumpy as usual, while her son remained friendly.

"So I hear y'all needed someplace to lay low?" Mrs. Wheeler asked, skipping any pleasantries and getting right to the point. "And you brought us some goods to make it worth our while?"

Rebecca nodded, "That's about it. We've got six more containers, two of seed, two of food, one of agri and irrigation gear, and the last one's a mix. Medical supplies for your doc, plus sundry household and electronics goods your people might appreciate."

Ella's expression didn't change as she asked, "And how long you folks planning to stick around this time?"

"As long as we need to," the boss answered.

After a moment she added, "We'll keep to ourselves if you don't want us socializing with your people. And we've got our own supplies and food, we're not looking to put extra pressure on you folks here. About the only help we might ask for if we're here long enough, is to tap into your power grid so we don't have to drain the Demeter's tanks keeping the lights on inside."

The older woman sniffed and frowned, then finally nodded. "All right Becky. My boy here keeps telling me y'all are good people, and I can't deny you helped us out a lot last time. Only thing I'm gonna ask is, if we get more raiders coming round I'll expect y'all pitch in and help out like before."

Rebecca didn't even flinch at the nickname. She just glanced at me and Jenny then agreed, "Fair enough."

Mrs. Wheeler sniffed again then made a dismissive gesture, "On your way then. I'm a busy woman, ain't got time to waste chatting. My boy'll make the arrangements to unload them containers."

This time the boss actually smiled, "Thanks Ella."