Chapter 49: 49. Shakedown

"Demeter this is Littlehammer," Sarah said into the mic. "We're all set here."

Jenny's voice came through the speaker, "Understood. Detaching now, please wait for clearance before you start navigating."

"Standing by," the engineer responded.

We weren't docked to the starboard airlock anymore, the Demeter's shuttle was back in its normal position there. That was because they needed access to the main hold for loading and unloading cargo. It had taken some very skilful piloting on Rebecca's part, but she was able to dock the two ships so that the boat's port-side hatch lined up with the Demeter's main airlock.

That meant we were positioned sideways against the Demeter's bow, and her cockpit was basically just above and astern of where Sarah and I were sitting.

There was a faint shudder as the two ships parted. I kept my hands off the controls for now, while Rebecca backed the Demeter away to a safe distance.

"Ok Littlehammer," Jenny said through the comm. "We're clear, you're free to navigate."

The engineer responded, "Thanks Jenny."

"We'll see you and Amanda as soon as we're done," the AI added. "Rebecca says eight hours, otherwise we'll contact you if there's any change. Take care you two."

Sarah replied, "You too, stay safe."

I had my hands on the boat's flight controls, while Sarah set the mic aside and looked over the co-pilot displays in front of her.

According to the sensors the Demeter was already accelerating away. I carefully engaged the engines at ten percent thrust, then gradually ramped that up to twenty-five percent which was about the fastest we figured I should take the boat in its current state.

We were in the Regulon system, in a very wide orbit that would keep us a couple hours away from Regulon-4. The Littlehammer's fuel tanks were full and the engines were performing ok. About half of her thrusters were inoperable which meant sharp turns and precise manoeuvres were a challenge, but enough of them still worked that I could steer the boat without too much difficulty.

Me and Sarah took her on a short cruise two days earlier, though it was under some very controlled circumstances. Both of us were in e-suits, and the Demeter stayed alongside just in case. The precautions proved unnecessary, but we all agreed it was prudent considering what the boat had been through.

Now Sarah and I were flying it for real, and in a way this would be the true shakedown test, for myself as well as for the ship's boat.

There was no lifeline, and for that matter no lifepods and no shuttles either. The Demeter was heading down to the mining colony, and the two of us were on our own until Rebecca's planet-side business was complete.

And until we docked again with the Demeter, I was in charge. For the next eight hours this was my ship, I was the boss, and that meant I was responsible for whatever happened.

I kept my eyes moving non-stop, flicking back and forth over the various displays and readouts on the console before me. The view out the windows was ok, but looking at distant stars didn't tell me anything useful. The displays told me our course, speed, location, and ship's status.

For the next fifteen or twenty minutes I continued flying like that, completely silent while monitoring everything on all the screens in front of me. I almost jumped when Sarah finally spoke up.

"Amanda?" There was just a hint of concern in her voice. "Try and relax ok? You're doing fine, but you look so uptight I can actually feel my own shoulders getting sore."

I glanced at her and let out a big sigh. I hadn't even realized I was practically holding my breath.

"Sorry Sarah. This is my first command, and honestly as much as I admired pilots and captains, I never ever wanted to be one. Just being a medic was more than enough responsibility."

She reached over and put her hand on my thigh, "I know cutie. All I ever wanted to do was mess with engines and fly on ships. Eventually the Navy noticed I was good at it and next thing I knew they made me an officer and gave me a bunch of assistants. Then instead of messing with engines I had to spend half my time managing staff."

"Anyways," she continued, "My point is you're doing great and there's nothing to stress over. We're just going on a little cruise, you don't need to sit here for eight hours with your hands locked on the controls and your eyes glued to the displays. Just get us on a safe trajectory, then we can go aft and relax in the passenger compartment."

I gave her another quick glance and asked, "Shouldn't one of us stay up here and monitor the sensors at least? And the comms?"

Sarah gestured at the controls, "Doesn't one of these buttons do that for us? I'm sure between the two of us we can set up something to alert us if anything happens."

"Maybe," I frowned. "I know how to do it on the Demeter, we can probably do that here too."

She grinned, "Good. Because I know that chair's not tail-friendly, and I can't imagine you forcing yourself to endure it nonstop until we rendezvous with the Demeter again. So as soon as we're on a safe course, let's turn on all the automation then head aft. We'll get comfy and I'll give you a massage to help you calm down. Ok?"

"Ok Sarah," I smiled. "Thanks for looking after me."

When she realized it was going to take a while before I was satisfied with our position and course, she decided to keep me talking. It might have been a little distracting, but maybe that was the point.

"So what do you think we'll find when we scan the next shipment?" Sarah asked. "Any guesses on what the mining colony is sending back to Lebeau?"

I frowned, "Considering what we found in the containers we picked up from Fuminja, I'd say we're probably going to find a data-crystal or two. That's based on the assumption that whatever that stuff was, it's being tested on the miners."

That was the other thing we did after we finished working on the Littlehammer. Sarah's fancy scanner was intact, and we put it to work on the cargo we picked up from that research facility.

The scanner took three of us to operate, I held the emitter and Rebecca had the receiver, and the two of us sort of waved them back and forth in sync around the container while Sarah guided us and watched the monitor. And at first it seemed like we were wasting our time.

The containers appeared to be full of nothing but normal consumer goods. There were cartons of clothes, some electronics goods, there were even a few cases of booze. Rebecca commented that her contact at the mining colony actually ran the general store in there, and the contents of the two containers basically seemed like stock for the guy's shelves.

It wasn't till we got to the very bottom of the containers that we found what we were looking for. Both of them had false bottoms, and that's where the real shipment was located. Each one contained a secure padded case that held a dozen hypospray ampules and a data-crystal.

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Considering we were pretty sure the installation at Fuminja Epsilon was some kind of medical research facility, it seemed like my earlier guess was right. It looked like they were working on some kind of drug, and testing it at the mining colony.

I added, "Whatever it is they're testing, the mining colony is a pretty good choice for a pool of test subjects. It's a closed population, people can't just come and go except via the port. And I'm sure that's easily controlled and monitored. Anyways, what's your guess? What do you think the mine's shipping back to Lebeau?"

She shrugged, "I think you're right. It'll be data, reports of whatever they're testing. Something way too sensitive to be sent by FTL, otherwise they wouldn't need the expense of sending data-crystals by ship."

"We'll find out soon enough," I pointed out. "And after we finish this run and start the next, we can find out what Lebeau is sending to the research lab."

By that point I was satisfied with our trajectory, so I throttled back the engines and left the helm set to maintain our course. It took another couple minutes to figure out the settings for the sensors and comm, but when that was done we had the comm system tied to the boat's intercom and a proximity alert set on the sensors. So if Jenny or Rebecca called, we'd hear them throughout the craft, and if anyone came within ten thousand kilometres we'd get an alarm.

With all that done, I let out a quiet groan of pain as I finally got up out of my seat. My poor tail ached after sitting on it for so long.

"C'mon," Sarah said as she slipped an arm around my waist. "Let's get you comfortable and I'll see what I can do about helping you relax."

• • • • •

"Hey kids, did you miss us?"

I was startled awake by Rebecca's voice coming through the boat's intercom, and the first thought to pass through my mind was oh no we fell asleep!

Sarah wanted to give me a proper massage, so we took the cushions from some passenger seats and made them into a sort of bed in the middle of the floor. Then what started out as an innocent massage quickly became a lot less innocent. One thing led to another, and suddenly the two of us were curled up naked together in the Littlehammer's passenger compartment while Rebecca was trying to hail us on the comm.

Sarah had just woken as well, she grimaced "Uh-oh, did you fall asleep too?"

I gave her a look then jumped to my feet and dashed into the cockpit, while our captain's voice came through the intercom again.

"Amanda, Sarah, anybody home? We're done at the mining colony, we need to bring you two aboard so we can set course for our next stop."

As soon as I got into the cockpit I hit the controls on the comm then grabbed the mic and responded, "Sorry boss, we're here. What's the procedure for docking?"

"Just shut down your engines," Rebecca replied. "Keep the boat on a stable trajectory and I'll do the rest."

Sarah took the mic from me and we both got into our seats, she replied "Understood boss. Amanda's ontop of it."

It only took me a few moments to get myself and my tail sorted out, then I shut down the engines and made sure the boat remained stable. Meanwhile the Demeter was moving into position to dock with us.

Technically as the smaller craft we'd normally have been manoeuvring to dock with them, but my lack of skill combined with the Littlehammer's lack of functioning thrusters meant it was safer for everyone if Rebecca and the Demeter did all the work.

Still, it meant we had several awkward minutes ahead of us with both Sarah and I sitting naked in the cockpit and all our clothes back in the passenger compartment next to our makeshift bed.

She glanced at me and grinned. "People will never believe me when I tell them about that time my bad-ass girlfriend piloted a stolen Imperium ship stark-ass naked."

I blushed but I couldn't help smiling as I corrected her, "We didn't steal it, we recovered it. Or salvaged it? And anyways, that wasn't even me. You and Rebecca stole it. And you're not wearing anything either, so doesn't that mean you're a bad-ass too?"

"Nope," she giggled. "You're in command remember? You're the one flying the stolen ship, I'm just along for the ride."

"Uh-huh," I rolled my eyes. Then my grin faded and I grimaced, "I sure hope we have time to get dressed and tidy up the cabin before Rebecca or Jenny come aboard."

Of course by saying that I completely jinxed it, for myself anyways.

While I kept the ship steady Sarah excused herself and hurried aft to get dressed. She put all the cushions back where they belonged as well, then made her way forward into the cockpit again just as we felt a gentle bump from the Demeter nudging against our port-side hatch.

Jenny's voice came through the comm as she confirmed, "We have a positive lock Littlehammer. Rebecca says it's safe to open the hatch. And she'd like you to completely power down now."

"Are we going to be moving the shuttle back into the hangar?" Sarah asked into the mic. "I'm sure the Demeter can't go to Jump-0 with the boat stuck sideways across the bow like this, it'd put too big a strain on the jump drive."

After a short pause Jenny responded, "Rebecca says we'll be taking the boat under tow. That's how the Demeter was designed to function. Sarah you can open the port-side hatch now, and once it's open Amanda please power-down the boat."

I nodded, and Sarah replied "Understood. Littlehammer signing off, see you soon."

Then the cute blonde shut down the comm equipment and moved aft to open up the hatch. I heard Jenny's voice, her HPD was there waiting to greet us apparently. Which meant she was between me and my clothes.

With bright red cheeks I started shutting down the boat's systems, and finally took the power-plant offline, then shut down everything but the reserve power and emergency lights.

And when I couldn't put it off any further, I got up and made my way aft. I did my best to act calm and casual as I walked naked past the hatch, past my two crew-mates, and into the passenger compartment to collect my clothes.

I tried not to react to Jenny's surprised expression, or to my girlfriend's comments as she explained to the AI how I was a total bad-ass of a skipper.

On the one hand I didn't think I was anything of the sort, but on the other hand I couldn't help smiling about one thing. I just successfully completed my first command, and in Sarah's words, I did it stark-ass naked.