LIGHTNOVELONLINE 167. Fuelled
"What are we going to do?" I asked quietly as I held myself tight against Rebecca. "I have to do something, I can't just leave Nyssa like that."
I was on her lap again, but we'd moved back into the ship's mess. And there were only four of us present. Jenny was there with my girlfriend and I, and Gwen was still there too. She hadn't had a chance to talk with Rebecca about any official princess stuff yet, but I knew there'd be another data crystal full of messages and vids that my girlfriend would have to review and reply to.
Meanwhile my other girlfriend was outside braving the rain, along with Cammie and Jenna. They'd followed Tanya over to the Persephone so they could start getting things set up for the fuel transfer. I didn't know how much fuel they could afford to give us, but I had a sinking feeling it would only be enough for a level zero jump.
Which meant no matter how desperate I was to get moving, we were probably going to be stuck in a nine or ten day trip just to reach the Fuminja Cluster. I was trying not to think about that for now, because I couldn't imagine anything so frustrating as spending days on end with nothing to do and no way to help Nyssa.
"I assume we're going to come up with some sort of plan, before we try and make contact with the bounty hunter?" Jenny asked.
Rebecca had one arm around me, she was holding me just as tightly as I clung to her. She nodded to our AI, "I'm working on that right now. I don't want to rush into anything, and that includes contacting the guy. Hopefully he has no idea where in the sector we're hiding, he won't know the distances and travel times involved. And hopefully he won't know the Persephone's been using Jump-1 to come and see us. So it's been what, roughly thirty-six hours since he grabbed your sister? Realistically he might not expect us to contact him for another seven to ten days. I'd like to use that time to try and dig up some more information on him, before we make any other decisions."
"It'll take us that long just to reach the Fuminja Cluster," I sighed. "How are we going to..."
My voice trailed off as I started thinking about the navigation charts. I hadn't had to look at them in a long time, but I still remembered the details.
My eyes widened as I looked at Rebecca, "Wait, Marshal's World is only a nine day jump from here. Are we going there? To try and surprise him or something?"
"No," she shook her head. "There's never a good reason to go there. And I doubt he'd be there anyways, but even if he was it wouldn't help us any. Plus we'd end up having to deal with a bunch of professional bounty hunters, instead of just one."
My expression fell and I sighed, "So what are we going to do?"
"I want to get back to Rolandan-2," my girlfriend replied. "We'll use Jump-1 all the way Amanda, don't worry about the timing. We need to get the Demeter checked out by Tamsin's people. She's been sitting on the ground long enough. Not that I don't trust Sarah's judgement because I do, but Tamsin's known the Demeter almost as long as I have."
She continued, "This isn't just about the ship though. Jenny, I'd like you to work your magic once we're on the ground. I'm sure Pots is good at what he does, but according to Tanya he's been caught twice. And frankly I trust your abilities a lot more than his."
The AI nodded, "Of course captain. What do you want me to look for?"
"Anything you can find on Jamison and his ship," she replied. "We know he has at least one person working for him, right? Someone had to be holding the camera when he recorded that message. I want to know who works with him, who else he works for, and as much about the capabilities of his ship as you can find."
The boss continued, "His ship was built on Rolandan-2 so they might even have blueprints on file. I'm not personally familiar with that class of craft, so again anything and everything you can come up with is going to be helpful."
"I'll do my best," Jenny replied. Then she addressed me, "I'm sure we'll all do our best Amanda. I have every confidence we'll save your sister."
"Thanks Jenny. And thanks Rebecca," I smiled weakly as I hugged my girlfriend a little tighter.
After a few more seconds the AI added, "The fuel transfer has just begun. Cammie and my sister have retreated into the hold, but Sarah and Blix are toughing it out in the rain."
Gwen commented quietly, "I'm sure the locals are happy to see an end to the drought."
"They sure are," Rebecca agreed. "I take it you managed to convince Mr. Arun to keep quiet about our involvement in all that?"
The blonde diplomat nodded, "Of course your highness. He and his attaché understood, when I explained the need for discretion. They still intend to make a public announcement, as do I. In fact we've already recorded something that will be broadcast locally a few days after your departure. And I'll transmit it back home at the same time, so your government and the people can also see the good you've done here."
I felt my girlfriend cringe through our hug. She didn't protest though, she just nodded. "Thanks Gwen. I suppose you have more business you'd like to share with me?"
"Always, your highness," Gwen responded. "Before we get into that though, may I ask a question?"
Rebecca nodded, "Of course, what is it?"
Our guest glanced at me then back at my girlfriend again before replying, "While you may not care about the protocols and terminology, that's actually a large part of my job description. If you're treating Amanda's family as your own, does that mean you and she are married? Or betrothed? And in that case, how would you define your relationship with Sarah?"
"I'm not asking out of personal curiosity or looking to find fault your highness," she added quickly. "But it will matter to the people back home, and I'd like to ensure I have the correct information up front. So I know what to tell them, or whether or not I should say anything at all."
Rebecca sighed, "Seriously? Do we really have to make public statements about my personal life?"
Gwen responded with a sympathetic look, "I'm afraid so your highness. You might not have considered this yet, but the people of Vysalis-4 are very eager for you to start producing heirs. No-one wants to see the monarchy fade away again, especially not now that we've found you."
My girlfriend let out a long sigh as she used her free hand to cover her eyes and rub her forehead. "They want me to start having babies? Does that mean they think I'm going to take a husband?"
"Actually thanks to your grandmother's efforts in educating and enlightening the population," Gwen began with a smile, "I believe the people would generally be accepting of you taking a wife. Two wives might be pushing it a bit. And I'm sure you know as well as I do there's no requirement to have a male involved in the reproductive process. Genetic material could be collected from either of your partners. Or both even."
At that point I finally let go of my girlfriend and got to my feet. I turned and leaned down to give Rebecca a kiss then told her, "I think I'm going to go down to the hold and check on how Cam and Jenna are doing. This princess stuff is getting a little too sensitive for me."
"Indeed," Jenny nodded in agreement. "I think I'll accompany you, Amanda. These sorts of important affairs of state are rather above my pay grade."
Rebecca sighed again as our AI and I left her and Gwen to their important princess business. We used the starboard ladderway rather than going aft to take the lift in engineering, and a few moments later we joined Cammie and Jenna who were both standing just inside the open airlock and ramp.
The rain was still coming down hard outside, the steady white noise of water hitting the ground was punctuated by random flashes of light in the clouds followed by rumbling thunder.
"As nice as it is to see so much rain, I hope it's not going to cause its own problems is it?" Jenny asked. "I hope the people here aren't going to have to worry about flooding, or the excess water damaging their crops."
Cammie's tail twitched as the catgirl shook her head, "It ought'a be ok. I was just telling Jenna here, a lot of this will run off and collect into lower parts of the land? There'll be some new ponds for a while, but ain't nobody set up farms in those spots on account of knowing they'd be flooded out when the rains come."
"If this world is anything like my homeworld the excess rainwater should eventually make its way down and start replenishing the aquifers," I commented quietly. "They'll have become dangerously low over the last few years, which is why they needed stronger pumps and deeper wells to reach it."
"That's about right," Cam agreed. "It might not be so great for crops, if this keeps up more than a day or so? I reckon it'll taper off before it gets dangerous though. I'm sure them folks who came and fixed up the terraforming gear knew what they was doing."
Jenna nodded, "I'm sure they did. Maybe this is just the planet trying to right itself, after being dry for so long."
That put a smile on Cammie's face, while their tail twitched back and forth. I was pretty sure it didn't actually work that way, but I decided not to say anything. From her expression I had a feeling the catgirl was thinking the same thing as me, but she kept quiet about it too.
Instead she gave her android girlfriend a hug and said, "Either way it sure is nice to see rain again."
"I know we was all looking forward to leaving," she added quietly, "Especially now, what with the latest news and all? But I'm glad we was here long enough to see this. It's good knowing Ganvis and the rest of the world are gonna be ok."
I gave the catgirl a weak smile and nodded, "Me too Cam."
The four of us were quiet again for a little while after that, as we stood together just inside the airlock watching the rain come down. There were already countless small and large puddles forming around the ship, and the ground just beyond the ramp looked muddy. I worried briefly about the ship getting stuck, with five of six landing gear buried in the dirt that was probably turning into a muddy messy quagmire. And the number five gear was in a hole that was likely half-full of water already.
Then again, if it was going to become a problem I knew our engineer would speak up. Although that thought led me to another question. "Where's Sarah? She's not still standing around out in all that, is she?"
Jenna replied, "She retreated to the Persephone, with Tanya and Blix. The three of them are overseeing the fuel transfer from their side."
"The transfer is rather slow," Jenny added, "But we are still taking on more fuel as we speak. Our tanks are approaching fifty percent. I don't know how much they intend to give us, but if we reach fifty-five percent I believe that should be enough for a safe level one jump to Fuminja Beta."
Hearing that sent a little wave of relief through me. I was still distraught about Nyssa's situation, but knowing we wouldn't have to waste days on end in Jump-0 helped me feel a bit better.
"What's that going to do for the Persephone?" Jenna asked. "I hope they won't end up stranded here in our place, if they're giving us all their fuel?"
Cammie shook her head, "Sarah and Mr. Blix said the Persephone's tanks are way bigger than the Demeter's. They say she was meant for much longer range, and she can go as fast as Jump-2? And since they filled up at Fuminja Beta there's plenty on board for them to share with us."
"I'm grateful for that," I sighed. "They'll probably accompany us back to the Fuminja Cluster though, to refill their tanks while we're doing the same."
In fact it was only another five minutes or so before Jenny reported the Demeter's tanks had reached the desired amount, and a few moments later she informed us that the flow had stopped.
Not long after that Sarah and Blix came into view outside, trudging through ankle-deep mud while the rain left them completely drenched. They moved alongside the ship to disconnect the fuel hose and fittings, then the stocky redhead turned and headed back towards the Persephone as he gathered up the muddy fuel line in his arms. And a very wet and messy Sarah finally came up the ramp to join us just inside the airlock.
Her long blonde hair was soaked through and plastered to the back of her shirt, which was also completely drenched and clinging tightly to her body. Her pants were soaked as well, and from the knees down she was caked in mud. Her shoes especially were thick with muck.
"Stop right there," I stated before she even got a word out. "You're not tracking that through my nice clean ship. Shoes and pants come off here in the hold, and go straight into the laundry. Then you're going directly into the shower in our cabin to wash up."
My girlfriend looked like she was trying not to smile as she performed a sloppy salute, "Yes ma'am. While I'm stripping down maybe you can let the captain know we've finished the fuel transfer? We're all ready to go now, as soon as she gives the order."
I nodded, "She's busy doing important princess stuff right now, but I'm sure we'll get moving as soon as that's done."
