Daughters of Demeter

"It's a bit dusty," Rebecca warned us as she led me and Sarah into the cabin. "I didn't really do any cleaning, I just rounded up all the stuff Gabe left behind."

It was around noon of our second day at Port Ecclestone, we hadn't heard any more news yet from either Lebeau or the Navy.

The captain spent the last two hours in her old friend's cabin, getting it ready for my girlfriend and I. It was probably one-part tidying and three-parts reminiscing, but I couldn't blame her for that. She was friends with Gabe for three and a half decades, it was totally understandable she'd be dealing with some emotions as she gathered up his belongings.

Meanwhile Sarah and Jenny spent the morning down in the workshop, discussing their plans for the sexbot that was to become Jenny's new android body. And I spent my time cleaning our old cabin, in anticipation of packing up and moving out.

Our new cabin was the first door on the left just aft of the cockpit, the directly across from Rebecca's. Sarah and I followed her in and immediately looked around.

The decor was pretty much like everything else in the antique tugboat we called home. It may have been painted at one point but now the walls and ceiling all had that same dark patina that I assumed was a blend of rust, stains, and age. A couple light panels in the ceiling provided illumination, operated by a pair of control panels. One was by the door, the other was next to the bed.

I'd been worried the cabin might be in bad shape, especially if nobody had been in there in the six years since Gabe died. It could certainly use a good cleaning and dusting, but apart from that it actually didn't seem that bad. And it was definitely an upgrade from the one we'd been sharing since coming aboard.

At a glance I'd guess the officer's cabin was a third larger than our existing one. There was a desk against the wall directly across from the door, with a large comfortable-looking padded chair in front of it. The only thing on the desk was a computer terminal, but I could see outlines in the dust that suggested our captain removed some small objects before she let us in.

On the wall to the left of the door was a dresser, similar to the one we had in our current cabin. And across from that, to the left of the desk was the bed. It was a proper full size bed, easily big enough for two people. It could probably fit three if they didn't mind cuddling. There were a couple small shelves on the wall just above the bed, and like the desk I could see some outlines in the dust where objects had been removed.

The cabin had some open space in the middle, with a dusty throw-rug on the floor there. There was enough room we could even fit a big comfy chair in that spot, like a reading chair or something. I kind of liked the idea, it might be good for cuddling.

As Sarah and I looked around Rebecca gestured towards a pair of doors on the right, "That one's the washroom, and that's a closet."

She added, "I've pulled out all Gabe's old clothes, and everything else that was in here. Obviously the place needs a bit of cleaning, but if you two don't mind doing the work then it's all yours."

Sarah smiled, "Thanks boss. We really appreciate it."

"It's perfect," I agreed. "Thanks Rebecca."

We both had a look at the washroom next. It was about three times the size of our existing all-in-one cubicle. The shower stall was bigger, though I wasn't sure it was big enough to fit the two of us comfortably. The main advantage was the toilet and sink were separate rather than being part of the shower stall, and this washroom had a full-length mirror on the wall opposite the sink.

The closet was small but nice, we didn't have one in the other cabin so all our clothes and things had to fit in the dresser or were left hanging in the open. We also found a little surprise in there, a small safe sat secured to the floor at the back of the closet.

"Is this the ship's safe?" Sarah asked as she gestured towards it. "Actually was this meant to be the captain's cabin?"

Rebecca shrugged, "It was Gabe's cabin for as long as I knew him. I suppose it was the captain's cabin, but it's identical to mine. They're the same size, and mine is more or less the same layout."

"As for the safe," she added, "I don't know the combination. If you want to cut it open that's fine, but I'd like to have the first look at whatever's inside."

Me and Sarah exchanged a glance. I nodded slightly, she nodded back.

"Yeah I think we want to open it up," she told the captain. "Actually I think I'd like to remove it completely, since once we get it open it won't be much use anymore."

Rebecca nodded slowly, "I understand. Do you want to do that now?"

I suggested, "Sarah why don't you take care of that? I'm going to take all the bedding down to the ship's laundry, then I'll get started dusting and cleaning."

"Ok Amanda," my girlfriend agreed. "I'll grab a cutting tool from the workshop."

Sarah and I were both busy for the next little while, then when she had the door cut from the safe we both left the cabin. Partially to give the boss some privacy as she checked the contents of the safe, and partially to let the ship's air processors clear out the fumes from the cutting tool.

The two of us sat down in the mess with some drinks, and I suggested "If we go into the city at some point with Rebecca, maybe we can stop and buy some new bedding? I'll have the existing stuff all clean for tonight, but I think I might feel better if we're not using the same sheets and things that Gabe had."

"Yeah I like that idea," Sarah smiled. "I guess we're spending the rest of the day cleaning? Then we can move in."

I smiled back, I couldn't help feeling a little excited. Like Jenny said, it was a bit of a milestone. Even if it was only a symbolic one, considering my girlfriend and I were already sharing a cabin, and a bunk.

Rebecca joined us after only a minute or two, she was carrying a small strongbox in one hand and a small black gadget in the other as she emerged from our new cabin.

"This is all that was in the safe," she commented. She set the metal box on the table then held out the other item. "Do either of you know what this is?"

She turned it around in her hand as she added, "It has some buttons on this side and there's a couple ports at the end. I thought it might be some kind of old commlink, but I have no idea how to operate it and I don't want to damage it."

It was about an inch square, and an eighth of an inch thick. The exterior was originally smooth and sleek, but now it was covered in scuffs and scratches, one corner was dented and another was chipped. It looked like it had been dropped, kicked around, and generally abused. And I knew exactly what it was.

"That's a PMP," I said as I reached over and took it from her. "Pocket Music Player. We had one wired into one of the family grav-sleds back home."

I pointed at the buttons, "The indicators have worn off but this is the power-play-pause button, these two double as volume and advance-replay buttons, and if I remember right, the last one randomizes the music."

"Since when are you the tech expert," Sarah asked with a grin. "Not that I'm complaining cutie, just surprised."

I blushed, "Since we're talking about tech that was obsolete back in the Imperium's fourth cycle? This old stuff wasn't uncommon on my home-world, and it was in the right price range for my dad."

Before anyone could respond to that I pressed and held the power button to see what would happen. I wasn't really expecting much, but to my surprise the indicator lit up. And a moment later some tinny, scratchy music was emitted by the small device.

It was some kind of instrumental piece, a waltz from the sound of it, and it was probably supposed to be very impressive and distinguished. The PMP sounders were garbage though, they were much better plugged into something else, so instead of distinguished it almost sounded comical.

"I recognize that music," the boss stated with a frown. "Where do I know that from?"

My girlfriend blushed, "Did you watch a lot of vid-serials when you were young? They used that tune all the time on 'Frontier Patrol', whenever the ISS Silver Nova made planetfall. They'd play that for the whole montage, from the moment they hit atmo till the ship was safe on the ground."

Sarah cringed slightly and her cheeks grew brighter as she noticed how we were staring at her.

"I watched it when I was a kid ok?" she protested. "I know it was garbage, but I liked the ships! Even if the Silver Nova was completely unrealistic, it was still fun to imagine."

The boss finally grinned, "It's ok Sarah, nobody's judging you. There's actually a couple full-length 'Frontier Patrol' vids in the Demeter's library. That must be where I recognized the music from."

Her grin turned into a smirk as she added, "I bet your favourite character was the Silver Nova's engineer, right? What was her name again? Sarah Sullivan, wasn't it?"

My girlfriend's cheeks looked like they were about to burst into flames as she insisted, "I didn't name myself after her!"

"Uh-huh," Rebecca responded as she was obviously trying hard not to laugh.

Meanwhile I just smiled, "I think I need to see one of these vids at some point."

After that it took the three of us a minute or two to get all the giggles and grins out of our systems. Then the boss frowned, "I wonder why Gabe had this? Seems a strange choice of music to hang on to?"

"It wasn't written for the show," Sarah explained. "I'm pretty sure it's some classical thing from the Imperium's fourth cycle."

"Right, maybe it had some other meaning to him," Rebecca said as she took the PMP back then opened up the strongbox instead. That contained three items, which she set out on the table for all of us to see.

The first was a chunky ring. It was made of a shiny silver-coloured metal, and consisted of a band that flared out into a flat oval surface on the top. It had a lot of delicate fancy engravings, but nothing I recognized.

The second object was another piece of jewelry, this time it was a bracelet. It was made of the same shiny silver-coloured metal, but unlike the ring this was adorned with lots of sparkly gemstones. The stones were a mix of white, green, and blue. I didn't know much about precious gems, but I could guess they were meant to be diamond, emerald, and sapphire.

Both the ring and the bracelet looked fancy and pretty, and the style and size suggested they were made for a woman. I wasn't sure if they were worth anything, but that would probably depend on the metal and where they came from. Odds were the value was more sentimental than anything else, since shiny metal was readily available in asteroids and sparkly stones could be grown to order.

The last thing Rebecca pulled from the strongbox was very different from the first two. It was a tiny metal disc, about a quarter inch across and no thicker than a fingernail. It was a dull light grey colour, and I knew exactly what it was. Most people had probably never seen one, but I'd come across them in my training and when I was an intern on the Hippocrates.

"That's an identity implant," I stated as I pointed at the disk.

The boss nodded, "I know. Do you have any way to read it? Something in your medical kit?"

"My scanner can read them," I said as I got to my feet.

It only took a few seconds to grab my med-kit from the storage room, then I was back at the table with the others. I pulled out my scanner and switched it to the right setting, then aimed it as the metal disk.

Information filled up the little screen, and I read it out to Rebecca and Sarah.

"The disk belonged to a woman named Anastasia Rhiannon Magrethe, of Vysalis-4. Date of birth was fifth cycle, year four-twelve, day two-sixty-one. She wasn't in any of the Imperium armed forces, but she was an officer in the Vysalis System Defence Force. The last update was made in year four-thirty-eight, when she was promoted to lieutenant commander."

I frowned and added, "There's some encrypted data as well, but my scanner can't parse it. And you'd need the right code to decrypt it anyways."

Sarah looked impressed, "Lieutenant commander at age twenty-six is a pretty remarkable achievement. Though maybe they do rank differently on Vysalis-4?"

Meanwhile Rebecca had a deep frown on her face. "Born in four-twelve, if she was alive today she'd be turning seventy-seven in a few days."

I asked, "Do you know her? Or did you?"

The boss shook her head, "I've never heard that name before, and I don't recognize the planet name either."

My girlfriend spoke up, "I do. Vysalis-4 is one of the oldest core worlds in the Imperium. They might even be one of the founding worlds? I know they've been part of the Imperium since the first cycle. If I remember right, they've got a lot of political sway within the senate."

That information left a thoughtful frown on Rebecca's face, while Sarah reached out and picked up the disk.

"How easy is it to get these things out?" she asked as she looked it over. "I don't think I've ever seen one before."

I sighed, "Not easy. They usually bond them directly to bone."

"It's illegal to extract them," Rebecca commented. "At least within the Imperium. It's also illegal to implant fake or modified ones. Though you can usually find a black-market surgeon who'll do it, if you know where to look or who to ask. Easier to get it removed out here in the frontier, since Imperium laws don't apply."

Sarah asked me, "What about that encrypted data you mentioned? Is that normal?"

"I've never encountered it before," I replied. "It might be something they do on that world though? I don't think it's a Navy thing."

Rebecca agreed, "I've never heard of it either. I suppose I could talk to the guy who decrypted the Hammersmith's secret orders, but..."

She shrugged, "It's probably not important. It sounds like that implant's been redundant for fifty years."

I finally turned off my med scanner and tucked it away, when another thought occurred. I looked up at the boss and asked, "When the Kennington scanned us, would they have detected it? They were obviously looking for identity implants."

The captain frowned, then glanced down at the strongbox. Finally she relaxed and shook her head, "I don't think so. It was in the strongbox, locked in the safe. Both are made of dense hardened alloy. Add in the ship's hull and you've got three layers of protection..."

Her voice trailed off, then she finally shook her head again. "They definitely wouldn't have got any data off it. I'd say worst-case scenario if their scanner was really that good they might have registered it existed, but even that's doubtful."

Sarah finally put the implant down and picked up the ring instead. As she studied it she asked, "So where do you think Gabe got this stuff? Maybe it's from a job or something? I don't want to badmouth the guy, but maybe it's stolen? Maybe that's why he was fleeing the Imperium?"

"Perhaps," Rebecca replied quietly.

I had another theory, and when I realized the boss was looking at me I started to suspect maybe she was thinking the same thing as me.

In a quiet voice I suggested, "Maybe he didn't steal it. Maybe it was his."

"Gabe was five years younger than me," Rebecca said just as quietly. "This is day two-fifty-seven on the Imperium calendar. If he was still alive, Gabe's seventy-seventh birthday would be in a few days."

That's when I realized she already knew. She probably figured it out as soon as I read off the date of birth from the implant.

We were all quiet for another minute or so, till Rebecca finally put the jewelry and implant back in the strongbox. She sealed it up then as she got up she said, "I'll be in my cabin. The other officer's cabin is yours, you can move in whenever you're ready."

"Thanks boss," I replied as she took the strongbox and the PMP with her to her cabin. Then I looked to my girlfriend and suggested, "Let's get back to work? It'll take us a couple hours to finish cleaning, then we can move our things over."

Sarah smiled, "Ok Amanda. I'm already looking forward to it."