LIGHTNOVELONLINE 77. Shore-Leave
"How about there?" Rebecca asked as she gestured to the left. She steered the grav-sled into a gentle left-hand turn as she commented, "I think that looks like a nice spot?"
"It's perfect," I said as I stared at the impressive scenery below us.
Sarah nodded, "I never expected to see anything like this on a tech world."
The boss angled the grav-sled downwards as she guided it towards a modest-sized clearing next to the river. As she brought the small craft down for a landing she responded, "From what I've read this is all reclaimed or restored? There's probably very little natural wilds left on any of these terraformed worlds, but every now and then you get enough people with enough interest that they try and save or preserve something. Or if there's nothing to preserve, they'll try and recreate it."
She landed the craft to one side of the clearing, and the three of us were surrounded by tall trees on three sides. The fourth side overlooked a wide deep river that was flowing at a good rate. Even if I knew how to swim it looked dangerous enough that I wouldn't be getting too close.
We had grass and small plants beneath our feet, pseudo-wild woodlands around us, and looking towards the river also gave us a view of the waterfall the river pluttemeted down before flowing past our location. The waterfall was at least a hundred meters high, we were now down in a wide gorge with gently sloping sides.
The location was about two hundred and fifty kilometres from the city, and Rebecca suggested it might be a nice place to come visit. She knew me and Sarah enjoyed the little park in the city last time we were here, this was a similar concept but taken to the extreme.
"How big is it?" Sarah asked. "The restored woodlands I mean."
The boss moved around to the back of the grav-sled as she replied, "The whole gorge area is about a kilometre across, and the restored woodlands runs from the waterfall there, about ten kilometres downriver. Where the surrounding landscape comes down to about the same level we are now, the forest ends and it's back to the usual industrialized developed stuff."
Me and Sarah helped grab some of the things, then the three of us walked around till we found a spot with the best view, that wasn't too close to the water to make me anxious. We all agreed on the site, and we quickly set up a nice picnic lunch.
The three of us got comfortable sitting together on a big blanket on the ground, and we had a variety of local food we bought before leaving the city.
Sarah grinned, "This is wonderful. Hot food, cold drinks, an amazing view, a peaceful location, and two beautiful friends. It's almost perfect."
Both Rebecca and I smiled at my girlfriend's words, but the boss asked "Almost perfect? What would it take to achieve perfection?"
"One more beautiful friend," she replied. "I'm sorry Jenny isn't here to enjoy this with us."
I nodded, "Me too. Maybe next time though? Once she's more comfortable with her android body and has all the software fixes done, then she might come with us on little trips like this."
Sarah agreed, "I hope so. I think now that she's got a bit of freedom from her capsule, she's getting more interested in being social and having experiences like these? Or at least having experiences with us, as a friend and crewmate."
"Just don't push her too hard," Rebecca cautioned. "She might be interested in more experiences, but if she's cautious or nervous about it make sure to let her go at her own pace."
"Of course boss," my girlfriend agreed.
The conversation tapered off for a bit after that. The three of us quietly enjoyed the food, the view, and each other's company. I was happy that Rebecca decided to come with us. At first she'd suggested Sarah and I could go off on our own for another day-date. I didn't want to leave the boss out of it though, and neither did Sarah.
We were both pleasantly surprised that the captain even dressed appropriately. Rather than her typical pants and boots 'business outfit' she usually wore off-ship she was in a pretty light-green short-sleeve blouse and a pair of loose dark-green shorts. The shorts ended just above her knees, and were loose enough that they almost looked like a skirt from the right angle. And instead of her boots she was wearing a cute pair of shoes.
Sarah and I were both dressed for a fun day-date as well. I was in a dark blue skirt and a pretty pink blouse while my girlfriend was in an outfit similar to Rebecca's, with dark grey shorts and a light purple top. We were both wearing comfortable walking shoes instead of anything too fancy.
After ten or twelve minutes I was starting to feel full and my focus shifted from the meal back to the view again. I had my little datapad with me, and pulled it out then activated its camera. I took pictures of the waterfall and the river, of the trees around us, with our grav-sled looking small and out of place parked at the edge of the meadow. And of course I got pictures of Sarah and Rebecca and myself, relaxing on the big blanket together with our little picnic.
"Please don't transmit any pictures of me Amanda," the boss asked. "I don't mind you taking them as long as they stay with the ship. I just don't want them transmitted back to the Imperium."
I grimaced, "Of course Rebecca. And I definitely need to mention privacy and secrecy to Nyssa in my next message to her. I should have told her that up-front. I hope you're not upset with me Sarah?"
"Don't worry cutie," she smiled at me. "I'm not upset. Hearing from Sabia was unexpected, and I still have to figure out how I'm going to handle that, but I know it's not your fault. I don't blame your sister either, I'm sure she was just trying to be helpful."
"Any idea what you're going to do about that?" the boss asked her. "You had some very good reasons why not to contact your family, but now that's out of your hands."
Sarah lay back on the blanket next to me and stared up at the sky. It was a clear sunny blue, dotted with small puffy white clouds here and there. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she lay there, but after a few seconds she shrugged and shook her head.
"I really don't know yet," she finally answered. "Basically I'm looking at three options? I can just ignore Sabia's message and ask Amanda to tell Nyssa to ignore my granddaughter. I feel like that'd be the cleanest option, but it also feels cowardly. Sabia might forget about it, but she might keep trying to get in touch with me."
She sighed, "The second option is to send a message back through Nyssa, and just tell her that no I'm not who they think I am. Nyssa was mistaken, I'm a stranger who happened to have the same last name. It might work, but it might not?"
Sarah shrugged again as she finished, "And the third option is tell her the truth. I could send a reply directly to Sabia, I still have her direct contact details. Maybe by vid message? I could answer her questions, tell her yes I'm her granddad, but caution her against regular contact with me. I'd have to explain about the need for secrecy, and obviously I wouldn't mention the Demeter or any other sensitive information. I don't know what she'll do once she knows the truth, but I know she's a smart girl. I can hope she'll act rationally and responsibly."
I finished my drink then asked, "So I know we've talked about some of the risks in the past, but realistically what's the worst that can happen? The Imperium has already declared us dead, I know my family received the credits from my account and a death benefit. I'm assuming your daughter got your credits and insurance and stuff too Sarah. So let's say they intercept one of these messages and see an eighteen-year-old girl claiming to be a dead Navy officer. What happens?"
My girlfriend frowned slightly as she thought about that.
Meanwhile Rebecca spoke up, "I doubt anything would happen to either of your families. The Imperium is massive, and even if Imperium Intelligence has their claws in this sector because of that business at Fuminja Epsilon they're not all-knowing or all-seeing. Keeping me and the Demeter out of your correspondence at least means there's no connections on that side of things."
She added, "On this side the Kennington knows about the Demeter and they know my name. Lebeau knows me and the ship obviously, and he's seen you two but I don't think I ever told him your names."
"So what would happen if someone in the Imperium intercepted one of our messages home?" I asked.
"Nothing," the boss replied. "I'm pretty sure nothing would happen. Even if they figured out you were claiming to be a dead Navy officer, it's not like you're in their jurisdiction. And you're not trying to defraud the Navy or your family, so it's just not worth their while to pursue. And even if you've convinced your sister who you really are, I can't believe some Imperium communications snoop would believe it. It's so far outside their experience and understanding, they won't even consider it."
Sarah asked, "So you're saying there's no risk then? I may as well tell Sabia the truth?"
"As long as you don't divulge any secrets," Rebecca clarified, "Then yes. Keep me and the ship out of it, keep Jenny out of it. Don't tell anyone what happened or how you changed, or that you've got an AI friend. Those sorts of things might get ignored, but they might also attract unwanted attention. And without mentioning me or the ship there's no way for those people to trace you. You're an anonymous account number at a private business on a free world in a free sector."
"Ok boss, thank you. I'll keep that in mind," my girlfriend replied with a smile.
That seemed to be the end of that topic, and the three of us turned our attention back to the view and the peaceful surroundings.
We got up and walked around the meadow, we even walked around in the woods a little. We didn't go too far though, we definitely didn't want to get lost or anything like that. I took a bunch more pictures, including several selfies with Sarah or with Rebecca, and I even got some with all three of us. It was a nice fun relaxing way to spend the afternoon with two of my three closest friends.
Eventually the three of us decided to pack up and head back to the city. The trip took almost ninety minutes so we didn't want to leave it too late. We made sure not to leave anything behind, the meadow was as pristine when we left as it was when we found it.
Rebecca slipped behind the controls and Sarah took the passenger seat next to her, while I got in the second row. I took more pictures as we lifted off, and Rebecca took us closer to the waterfall so I could get some exciting shots of the water as it cascaded down the side of the cliff.
Then finally she brought us up to a good cruising altitude, and we set off back to civilization at about a hundred and seventy-five kilometres an hour.
Conversation on the ride back revolved around what we all wanted to do next. After some light debate we agreed to head back to the hotel and get changed, then the three of us would go out somewhere nice for dinner.
It didn't take long for us to freshen up and get changed. I was in a cute little black skirt and a slightly-revealing orange blouse, plus some cute shoes with a bit of a heel. Sarah wore tight black slacks and a pretty white blouse, and Rebecca was similar. Her black pants weren't as form-fitting, but her blouse had a deeper neckline and the ring she still wore as a necklace helped draw attention to that.
Instead of a posh restaurant Rebecca took us somewhere a little different this time. Rather than quiet and private and fancy it was a little louder and flashier, with music playing and more people around enjoying themselves. There was a bar and a dance floor, but there were also tables and booths around the central area. Plus it was near enough the hotel that we could walk rather than take the grav-sled, so all three of us could indulge a little.
And we all took advantage of that. Rebecca ordered some expensive whiskey for herself, while Sarah and I both tried some mixed drinks. There was a little conversation between the three of us but nothing terribly serious or important. After a few drinks we ordered food, then another round of drinks after that.
Both Rebecca and I were wary of the dance floor but Sarah was eager, and somewhere after my third drink she managed to convince both of us to give it a try. It was fun and silly and I was positive I was a complete disaster at it, but neither of my girlfriends complained. Both of them were about as bad at it as I was, and after the fourth or fifth song the three of us ended up giggling as we retreated back to our table.
Eventually one of us paid for everything, though I wasn't sure who, then the three of us left together. I was in the middle, I had my left arm around Sarah's waist and my right arm around Rebecca's. And they both had an arm around me too. We got back to the hotel ok, then Sarah and I dragged the boss into our room for a nightcap.
We all talked a bit more, there was some joking and giggling, and some hugging and kissing. Eventually our little party moved from the sitting-room to the bedroom. And needless to say, the evening ended as perfectly as the rest of the day had been.
