It was another hour or so before the others finally got Jenna back up and running. The android had so fresh scars on her exterior, but apart from that she seed no worse for wear. I didn't get a chance to ask though, since Cammie and Jenny dragged Jenna into their cabin as soon as she was back online.
Sarah did the sa for , she ca outside and gently guided into the ship then up to our cabin. On the way I stopped briefly to leave my little basket of berries in the galley, then at long last I collapsed into bed with my girlfriend.
We slept a few hours, then all six of us were up again by early afternoon. Including Rebecca, after I checked on her and changed her dressings. I also replaced the temporary limb immobilizers with proper lightweight casts for her wrist and leg. She still looked pretty rough despite the new bandages, especially with the right side of her face covered up. She was able to hobble around ok on her own though, once Sarah and Cammie made a simple crutch for her.
We all ended up sitting around the table in the ship's ss, where I shared my little basket of 'manda-berries' with Rebecca, Sarah, and Cammie. Then I made the four of us breakfast, which we ate while we all updated each other on things.
"I've been monitoring the VDF comm channels," Jenny began. "They finished compiling the results of last night's battle about an hour ago. Vysalis personnel suffered a total of twenty-three casualties, including eleven fatalities."
She added sadly, "Seven of those deaths happened here in Ganvis, when General Sidex and his n executed the VDF troops stationed here."
"The enemy forces suffered even higher losses," the AI continued. "Forty-nine killed, including Sidex and all five of his commanding officers. Another thirty-two were injured, and the rest surrendered."
Jenny wrapped it up with the last set of figures, "Three of the Deveronian military contingent were killed, while another nine were injured. Finally, only two injuries were reported among the noncombatants at Moorefield Station, despite there being so many of them in close proximity to the fighting."
"Fuck," Rebecca sighed as her shoulders slumped. "There was one Vysalis death here the other night too. That's a dozen people who ca all the way out to the frontier expecting a safe mission and a happy coronation, but because of they won't be returning ho to their families."
I slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a gentle hug as I reminded her, "They were all volunteers love. You didn't order anyone to fight last night."
She shook her head, "I didn't have to Amanda. Those people think of as their princess, they'd do anything to keep safe. And I took advantage of that."
Sarah hugged the boss from the other side as she pointed out, "They still volunteered. And it was for a good cause Rebecca. A violent warmonger was stopped, innocent people were freed from his clutches. Who knows how many more lives would have been lost or ruined, if last night didn't happen?"
"I guess," our girlfriend sighed.
The conversation died off for a bit at that point, as we focused on our al for the next minute or two. Then I looked over at our android and asked, "How are you doing Jenna? I'm glad Sarah and Cammie were able to get you patched up again."
She replied with a wan smile, "Patched up is an accurate description of my current status. My power and data bus module was damaged, and we lack the parts to fabricate a replacent. Cammie and Sarah did their best to repair the existing module, but it's not ideal. There's also so minor damage to parts of my titanium chassis that couldn't be repaired with the tools and supplies on board the Deter."
"Fortunately my condition isn't permanent," she continued. "We can acquire the necessary parts and tools next ti we visit Rolandan-2. Until then, I'm limited to about fifty-percent functionality."
Rebecca joked with a half smile, "You and both Jenna. Fifty-percent functionality feels about right."
"You're more than welco to make use of my services captain," Jenny responded. She looked and sounded guilty as she added, "I'm sorry I put you off last night. I let my concern for Jenna cloud my judgent as a Re/Gen unit."
The boss shook her head, "You made the right decision Jenny. Family always cos first, and your sister needed your help."
"That's nice of you to say," the AI replied, "But Jenna and I are not biological entities. It would not have hard her one bit if she'd had to wait a few more hours for repairs."
Rebecca gave the twins a firm look, at least with her good eye. "Biological or not you two are family. And not just with each other. We're all family, as far as I'm concerned. Your sister needed you, and both you and Cammie needed her. The Tullrohane's doctors took care of , and I had Amanda watching over . So Jenna was the priority, and I'm glad the three of you focused on helping her."
"Thank you," Jenny mumbled quietly, and she looked like she was dealing with so strong emotions at that point.
I gave my girlfriend another gentle squeeze as I suggested, "Jenna's out of danger now, so maybe we should get you into Jenny's pod as soon as we're done breakfast?"
The boss took a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh as she slowly shook her head. "No. We've been too casual lately about showing off what Jenny's Re/Gen capsule is capable of. Even if folks don't know exactly what it is, or that it's got anything to do with Jenny, too many people already know we've got access to sothing special."
"The Tullrohane's doctors and her captain and who knows how many other folks know about my injuries from last night," she continued. "If I show up a day or two later without so much as a scratch, that's an entire ship-load of people who're going to know without a doubt we've got so kind of powerful healing tech at our disposal. And that we're keeping it to ourselves."
Rebecca sighed again, "Considering how many people were injured or killed last night fighting on my behalf, I can't just show up fully healed like nothing happened to ."
I couldn't argue with any of those points, but that didn't make feel any better about my girlfriend's situation. I quietly reminded her, "Our genetic modifications will help you heal faster than normal, but without Jenny's help you're never going to get that eye back. And there will be scars love."
She hesitated just a mont, then flashed both Sarah and I a smile as she joked, "I thought girls liked scars? And an eye-patch will only add to my rep as a dashing dangerous rogue captain."
"Anyways I'm not saying I'll never use Jenny's services again," she added before either of us could protest. "I'm just saying now's not the ti. Let's at least wait until the dust settles here."
Jenny pointed out, "There are conventional dical solutions that don't involve my Re/Gen pod. I can't vouch for their efficacy, but I know Rolandan-2 has d-tech that can grow replacent organs, I'm sure that would include eyes. They also have techniques for eliminating scar tissue."
"Right," I nodded. "So you could use Jenny's services next ti we visit Rolandan-2, then claim you had work done while we were planet-side."
Rebecca shrugged, "We'll see. We could also just wait, the problem will solve itself once the Tullrohane's gone back ho."
Sarah comnted, "I don't think the Tullrohane's going ho. Not without their queen."
"They'll leave," Rebecca replied. "Eventually. They ca here to do the coronation, not drag back to the Imperium. So..."
Her voice trailed off then she sighed once more, "Either I keep putting that off, and they stick around out here indefinitely. Or I give in and get it over with, then they can return to their hos and families."
• • • • •
It took another two full days for the 'dust to settle' as Rebecca put it. Although that turned out to be a poor choice of words, due to the number of funerals that took place in Ganvis during that ti.
We attended all of them, as did almost everyone else in the area. The little cetery was a busy place for a couple days, and that was sothing nobody liked to see. Still, the community ca together to honour their dead, and to help the survivors with their grief.
The day after the last of the burials Cam and Jenna t up with Jaycee, then all three of them set out to see if the Deter's fighter could be salvaged. They even enlisted the help of a couple locals, including a farr who had so equipnt that Cammie thought would be able to turn the small craft over so it was upright again.
Nyssa was still recovering from her leg wound or she probably would have been out there too, keeping Jaycee company. Instead she ended up hanging around the Deter with Jenny.
As for my girlfriends and I, we had business elsewhere. The three of us climbed into the shuttle, then with Sarah in the copilot seat and Rebecca in a passenger seat behind us I got us airborne and accelerating skyward.
It only took two hours to reach the Tullrohane since the cruiser altered her orbit to et us, and soon enough I had us touching down in one of the big ship's hangars. Like before they had everything secured and pressurized by the ti we were ready to exit the shuttle, and our new aide arrived while Sarah and I were helping our girlfriend out of the small craft.
Rebecca was still dealing with the broken leg, but she'd already healed enough to graduate from a crutch to a cane. Her wrist was coming along nicely too, but it would be another ten or twelve days before she'd have full use of those limbs. As for the most serious injury, she was still wearing a bandage over part of her face, that covered the area from her nose to her right ear and from her cheek-bone up to her forehead.
"Your highness," Sergeant Magniveen greeted the princess with a bow. He was wearing a very fancy-looking dress uniform today, all polished boots and shiny buttons and perfect creases in his clothes. "And Miss Voss, it's a pleasure to see you again. I'm told you requested that I act as your aide during your visit today?"
I greeted him back, "Hello again Sean. And yes, I hope you don't mind? I wanted to thank you for all your help that night."
We also made sure to introduce him to Sarah, and she was as surprised as I'd been when she found out he was one of Gwen's siblings.
After the pleasantries were out of the way our aide led the three of us through the cruiser's corridors to Captain Magoda's office, where she and Lady Magniveen were waiting. Sure enough Gwen had no idea her brother was on board the Tullrohane, let alone that we'd t him. Or that he'd taken part in the attack on Moorefield Station. So my girlfriends and I got to enjoy that little reunion, although the two Magniveen siblings were both far too professional to give us an entertaining show.
It mostly boiled down to the royal secretary being surprised, happy, angry, then embarrassed, all in the span of a half minute. anwhile the sergeant's emotions seed to progress through happiness, embarrassnt, and finally awkwardness. Then Captain Magoda spoke up and got the eting back on track.
"As of three hours ago there are no longer any Vysalis Defence Force personnel on Deveron-8," she began. "The Deveronian governnt has taken control of the situation at Moorefield Station, and as I understand it President Arun's intention is to focus on rehabilitation and repairs, rather than revenge or punishnt."
The cruiser's captain continued, "We've also been inford that the Deveronians completed their internal investigation last night, regarding the leaked intel that resulted in so many deaths during that action. Apparently General Myers was the culprit."
"Wasn't he the one who kept pushing for orbital bombardnt?" I asked with a frown.
Lady Magniveen nodded, "He was. The Deveronians believe that was a cover, that he was putting on a show of force by supporting sothing he knew would never be approved. According to my Deveronian liaison, they uncovered a series of paynts Myers had been receiving from Sidex over the past few years."
Captain Magoda took over the explanation, "They were also able to decrypt Myers' communication logs, and confird he leaked the entire plan to Sidex almost as soon as we'd completed it. Including the Tullrohane's orbital path and sensor logs. So Sidex knew when you were coming, and when it was safe for him to move without being seen."
"Myers was arrested last night," she added. "He's now being held in a high security detention centre awaiting court martial. If he's found guilty he could be facing execution for high treason."
That just left with one question about the whole ss. "Did we ever find out for sure why he kept trying to attack Ganvis? I know the first attack was supposedly motivated by revenge, they were after Mayor Wheeler, but why co back again? I can't help thinking General Sidex would probably still be alive if he'd gone literally anywhere else on the planet."
Rebecca's expression grew dark as she comnted, "So would those seven VDF soldiers he executed at Ganvis that night."
Magoda nodded grimly before answering my question, "According to Lt. Maguine's final report, the initial attack was indeed motivated by revenge. Sidex made sure to strike while your highness and the Deter were absent. He also made arrangents through Myers to ensure the normal lines of communication were down, so nobody at Ganvis could raise the alarm or call for help. If not for your tily arrival there'd have been no word at all until long after Ganvis was under Sidex's control."
"That explains the first strike," I replied, "But why co back again afterwards?"
The cruiser captain explained, "Thanks to Myers, Sidex knew her highness had sworn to end him. He also knew the princess was ultimately responsible for thwarting his attempts to take the settlent. And finally, he knew she'd be at Moorefield Station during the attack. So he wanted her ship. My security chief believes Sidex was hoping to seize the Deter, and he probably ant to execute any crew he found on board."
My girlfriends' expressions grew even darker at that, and mine as well.
anwhile Captain Magoda continued, "When he realized he couldn't get past the Deter's defences his fall-back was to escape with the Artemis instead."
After a few seconds Rebecca sighed, "Thank you captain."
"Now if you don't mind," she added, "I promised a couple doctors I'd go and tour the ship's infirmary. Maybe the sergeant could show us the way?"
Sarah added with a hopeful grin, "I don't suppose we could visit engineering as well? If there's ti afterwards, I an? I've been dying to see the inside of a Callisto-class engine room, ever since they launched the class vessel nine years ago."
The princess looked like she was holding back a smile as she rolled her eyes, "We'll see. Assuming it's not off limits or sothing."
Sgt. Magniveen asked our blonde girlfriend, "Is that a normal engineering thing? You like to see other ships' engines or sothing?"
"Sort of," Sarah replied with a grin. Her expression shifted to sothing like pride when she added, "My daughter Katia designed the jump drive integration for these cruisers. I've never had the opportunity to see her work first-hand before, and I doubt I'll ever get the chance again."
Both Rebecca and I nearly face-pald at that, while the sergeant and Captain Magoda both stared at Sarah for a second or two. No doubt processing the idea of the cute young blonde having a daughter old enough to design starships.
Fortunately neither of them questioned her on that. Instead Magoda seed happy to get the lot of us out of her office. Then while she returned to her duties on the ship's bridge Gwen and Sean accompanied us to the infirmary.
That wasn't really about touring the place though. Rebecca t and thanked the two doctors, as well as the rest of the Tullrohane's dical staff, for all their hard work over the last few days. Then she went and personally thanked each of the injured VDF soldiers who were still there recovering from their wounds.
After that Sarah got her wish, when Sgt. Magniveen led us all to the Tullrohane's engineering section. Sean went on to introduce our girlfriend to the cruiser's chief engineer, a friendly middle-aged man nad Lieutenant Ian Quinn. He seed very happy to find out one of the princess's consorts was another engineer, and was more than willing to give her a tour of his engines. The sergeant tagged along as well, which ant Rebecca and I were more or less alone with Gwen for a little while.
"If I may speak freely your highness?" Gwen asked softly. When Rebecca nodded the noblewoman continued in the sa quiet voice, "I was sowhat surprised to see you're still recovering from your injuries. I thought you had so technology to take care of that?"
Rebecca replied just as quietly, "Not the ti or place for that conversation Gwen. Short answer is it wasn't necessary, my injuries weren't life-threatening."
Gwen sighed, "Thank goodness for that. I do wish you'd be more careful though, your highness."
"I will," the princess replied. "I promise."
Then she glanced at for a mont as she seed to hesitate. Finally she looked back at her secretary again and asked in a slightly wary voice, "Maybe it's ti we talked a bit more about this coronation thing?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)