Daughters of Demeter

Sarah and I stood by while Piper tapped a couple buttons on a panel by the main cargo doors. The doors to the secondary hold were already wide open, now the main doors at the front of the hold began to open up as well. And finally she lifted a cover and turned a small lever. The outer cargo door unsealed then began swinging out and down.

As the big ramp slowly rotated down and the inner doors finished opening, I felt a little breeze coming in through the doors and I got my first breath of fresh, non-recycled air in over two years.

It smelled of ozone and grease.

Ok, not so fresh but definitely non-recycled. I gave the planet the benefit of the doubt and hoped that the air would be cleaner a little further away from an antique spaceship and the shipyard it landed in.

With the ramp fully down, I couldn't help myself. I walked forward and out of the ship. The deck was about a meter above ground level and the ramp was only about three meters long so it was a little steep, but the ramp was treated with a non-slip material.

The area immediately outside the ship was shaded by the cockpit which was a couple meters above me. I looked up, then turned around to get my first view of the ship that saved my and Sarah's life, the ship that had become my new home.

"..."

I wasn't sure what to say. I had to be looking at it from the wrong angle.

"Don't wander too far away Amanda," Piper said. "Mel will be here any minute."

"I'm just stretching my legs," I replied as I backed away from the ship and to the left, while keeping my eyes on the craft.

As I took in the exterior I had to bite my lower lip to make sure I didn't accidentally blurt out any of the things going through my head.

The ship looked like a short fat pot-bellied bug with a tiny head up high at the front. Its six stubby landing gear just added to the insectoid appearance. The shape actually reminded me of a species of dung-beetle we had back on my home-world. In fact the ship looked a lot like someone tried to make a giant dung-beetle sculpture using nothing but scrap metal and trash.

The hull plating was an eclectic collection of different-coloured panels that looked like they came from about a dozen different eras. Some of them didn't even seem to fit the ship, like they were probably salvaged from completely different vessels and forced into place.

The exterior was mostly sort of smooth, that probably barely qualified as streamlined which explained the bumpy ride through the atmosphere. There were a few odd protrubances sticking out seemingly at random and spots where the hull plates obviously didn't fit right. And a few of those plates showed obvious signs of hastily-repaired damage.

The main engines were flattened against the aft upper sides of the hull and reminded me once again of that dung-beetle back home. They looked like the bug's wings were slightly misshapen and tried to fold closed but simply didn't fit right.

From where I was standing the starboard shuttle was also visible, sticking halfway out of the side of the hull like an immature beetle clinging to its mother.

Below the cockpit and above the cargo door was an odd-looking electronic device that looked fairly sturdy. It reminded me of deflector arrays on newer ships like the Hippocrates, except this was a lot older and looked like you could hit it with a small asteroid without denting it. I figured it might be some kind of after-market weapon or defensive thing Piper had added to the ship, except unlike half the hull plating it actually looked like original equipment.

"That's the forward tractor-repulser," Sarah stated.

She and Piper had both followed me out of the ship, and Sarah noticed what I was staring at.

Piper added, "The one at the stern is even bigger. It's one of the most powerful tractor-repulser sets ever made."

I nodded slowly, and our captain broke into a grin.

"You can say it if you want Amanda. I know she's an ugly space bug. But she's a tough old girl, and she'll never let us down."

I grimaced then replied quietly, "It looks like a giant dung-beetle. I'm sorry Piper."

She actually laughed, "I hadn't heard that one before, but don't worry about it. She might look like crap, but she's got it where it counts."

"The ship's got heart," Sarah added quietly. She obviously liked the flying antique we were now calling home.

Before any of us could comment further we heard a man's voice from behind us call out, "Rebecca!? You didn't warn me you had passengers on board!"

We all turned around in time to see the shipyard owner approaching with a wide smile and open arms.

He looked almost exactly like I expected. Like a friendly uncle in business-casual attire. He was in his mid- to late-fifties, probably a bit over six feet tall. His short wavy hair was greying but was probably light brown or dark blond at some point. His eyes were a sort of steely grey, but they were sharp and I had a feeling he was the kind of guy who didn't miss any details.

He appeared to be in relatively good shape, albeit kind of slim bordering on skinny. He also looked like the kind of guy who still got hands-on with engines and machinery on a regular basis. However at the moment he was dressed for office work, in black slacks and a light blue button-down shirt, and polished black shoes on his feet.

Instead of starting with a handshake or introductions he threw his arms around Piper and pulled her into a tight hug and smiled, "Good to see you again kiddo!"

Our captain was obviously uncomfortable and maybe a bit embarrassed as she returned the hug, then finally pulled away.

"Nice to see you again too Mel," she replied quietly. "And they're not passengers. Let me introduce my new crew."

There was a look of surprise, maybe even shock on the man's face for just a second, before he was smiling widely again.

"Amanda, Sarah, this is Mel Lancaster. Owner and boss of the Freeborn Shipyard. And Mel, this is Amanda Voss and Sarah Holloway. Amanda's the ship's medic and co-pilot trainee, Sarah's our engineer."

After a moment she added, "We also have a fourth on board, her name's Jenny but she's going to stay with the ship."

Sarah and I were spared hugs, we both got hearty handshakes instead. And I got some very curious stares from him, due to my ears and tail. Mel didn't ask about them, but I got the feeling he'd probably be asking Piper about me in private if he got the chance. For now we all just exchanged the usual pleasantries.

After greeting the two of us he looked at Piper again and commented, "I'm glad you finally decided to take on some crew, Rebecca. Your old man would be happy too. I know he wouldn't have wanted you to keep flying the old girl all alone for so long."

Our captain looked awkward but she shrugged, "I'd rather not talk about that Mel. If you don't mind, let's get on with the business at hand?"

"All right," he conceded. "Let's see what you've brought me."

The four of us headed to the ship then up the ramp into the main hold, and Piper gave him the run-down.

"We've got a pair of twin pulse laser turrets and a missile launcher along with eight missiles. Then we've got a whole computer core, military hardened. It all came off a frigate, everything should be in working order. I've also got a half-dozen brand new e-suits, and five cargo-containers full of replacement parts..."

Sarah chimed in with more details about the contents of the five containers, while Mel listened quietly. She and Piper also pointed out which five held the parts, and the sixth one that held the e-suits. And Piper indicated the other six shipping containers that were staying with us.

"I take it you came across a fresh wreck?" the shipyard owner asked. He looked impressed after hearing the manifest, now he was inspecting the nearest laser turret.

Piper nodded, "Yeah, she was an Imperium ship. She ran into one of those old mines out by the Gorath asteroid field? Blew the thing all to hell, they probably didn't even get a distress call out. Might not have even known what hit them, for that matter."

"Damn," Mel shook his head slowly. "I heard the Imperium had a ship out this way. They said it was a goodwill mission, but I've heard some talk they were spies or some such. Or scouting the sector. I sure as hell hope this isn't going to bring a battle group our way. I don't suppose there were any survivors?"

He was still looking over the salvage, and didn't see Piper give both me and Sarah a look as she answered, "Nope. The mine tore her in half, secondary explosions ripped it to shreds."

Mel let out a sigh but nodded, "Not surprised. I know there's been some calls across the sector for some kind of clean-up work, to track those damn mines down and get rid of them once and for all. Seems every other year there's another big ship lost. Nobody's willing to pay for it though."

"So what do you think about the salvage?" Piper asked, bringing the topic back on track again. "Interested?"

"Definitely," he nodded. "I'll take everything you offered. I'll need about twenty hours before I can give you a value? I'll get some of my guys to offload it, then we'll run diagnostics on the big stuff. Once we know everything's working we can haggle over the prices, ok? Meanwhile we'll get the Demeter's fuel tanks topped up. Do you need any other supplies while you're here? And will you be staying with the ship, or are you going to wander into the city?"

Piper glanced at me and Sarah then replied, "Jenny's going to stay with the ship, she'll be monitoring things from the cockpit. These two are coming with me into the city for a while. I'll leave the main and secondary holds open for your guys to access the cargo, rest of the ship's off limits for now."

"Of course," Mel nodded. He pulled a small comm device from his pocket and spoke into it, "Tarv send a team to bay four with heavy lift gear, we're unloading a shipment of parts that's just come in."

"Check," came the reply through the small comm. "Two minutes boss."

With that taken care of, Mel looked at me and Sarah again. Mostly Sarah though.

He smiled, but he spoke with a disbelieving tone as he asked "So Rebecca's hired you on as her engineer has she? You have any experience on a ship as old as the Demeter? Actually, have you had any ship-board experience at all?"

Sarah glanced at Piper for guidance on what she should say, and I caught the slight nodd our captain gave in return.

"I served three years in the engine room on a Thurman-class ship," the cute engineer replied. "It was about the same vintage as the Demeter."

Mel's eyebrows went up slightly, "I'm not familiar with that class of ship, but three years..."

His voice trailed off then he glanced at Piper, a moment later he nodded slightly. He obviously just clued-in that Sarah's youth was thanks to that 'healing pod'.

"What about you Amanda," he asked me. "I suppose you've got a few years experience as well?"

It was hard not to smile as I responded, "Three years med-school, a year residence on a hospital ship, nearly a year as ship's medic."

Mel smiled and looked back and forth between me and Sarah, "I'm glad to hear Rebecca's in good hands. She's like a sister to me, so I hope you two will look out for her."

"Yes sir," Sarah responded.

Piper just looked embarrassed again as she said, "If you three will excuse me, I'm going to grab a few things and let Jenny know we're heading out for a few hours."

She moved to the ladder in the corner of the hold and quickly climbed up and soon disappeared through the hatch into the starboard airlock up top.

I felt a little awkward or out of place being left with Sarah and Mel, but our cute engineer seemed right at home.

"Mel maybe you can help me out," the blonde said as she moved closer to him. "I have a little side-project going on and I'm in the market for hologram projectors. Something I can patch into the Demeter's data bus. Ideally I'd be looking for something I can install throughout the ship, but at least in the common spaces, like the corridors, mess, lounge, engineering, and down here in the cargo areas."

The shipyard owner raised his eyebrows slightly, "That's not exactly a small project. What in the world do you have in mind that you'd need holograms throughout the ship?"

She obviously didn't want to give away anything, but I knew it had to be about Jenny. And considering Piper didn't mention the fourth member of the crew was an AI, Sarah was keeping that quiet as well.

"It's a bit of a long-term plan to upgrade the Demeter's electronics suite," our engineer explained. "I don't want to say too much without the boss's ok, and we're doing this one step at a time, taking it slowly. Anyways about the hologram projectors, I'm not asking you to install them, I can handle that myself. I just need the hardware. What do you think?"

"I think you're going to need to upgrade the ship's computer before you have to worry about supporting hologram projectors," Mel replied. "And that's not a job you can do while the ship's in flight. That's a fifteen-day dry dock procedure."

Sarah grinned, "We're not looking to replace the ship's core, but I've got some ideas for augmenting it with a secondary processor. Anyways let me worry about that. I just want to know if you can come up with the projectors for me, and what that'll cost."

After a few more seconds Mel nodded, "All right, I'll see what I can do. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon, I'll have some options for you by then."

By that point Piper was descending the ladder again, while outside the ship a large flatbed grav sled descended into the bay in front of the ship. The grav sled was carrying two men, an exo-suit, and a couple crates of gear. They were obviously here to unload the salvage.

The shipyard boss greeted his men while Piper motioned to me and Sarah to accompany her, and the three of us headed for the exit while Mel started pointing out what stuff needed to be offloaded from the hold.