Chapter 64: 64. Appraised

Our expedition into the city went pretty well. As usual I had lots of people staring at me everywhere we went, but nobody gave us any trouble.

Me and Sarah spent a bunch of ecks on two sets of new bedding and pillows and things, and some nice new towels and other stuff to help make our new cabin feel like a home for us both. We got another chair as well, and a replacement rug for the floor. In fact it didn't take long for the two of us to fill up the back of the grav-sled with our purchases.

Rebecca didn't say anything, but she did look amused at the way me and Sarah were acting like we just got our own apartment. Which really wasn't that far from the truth, in a way.

After that we went to a jewellery shop so the boss could get Gabe's ring and bracelet appraised.

That took about an hour, and both Sarah and I waited outside with the grav-sled so we could keep an eye on all our purchases. I also took the opportunity to compose a message to my sister. With Sarah's permission I included a couple more pictures of the two of us, including the one I took on our date in the park back on Rolandan-2. Like before I kept the message fairly vague, and I didn't outright confirm who I was and didn't name Rebecca or the Demeter.

Instead I thanked my sister for writing and told her how happy I was to hear from her. I mentioned that there may be more bad news from the Navy, and I was sorry if that upset her and the rest of the family. And I told her again how happy me and Sarah were, how we were enjoying our life together out here. I even told her that we just moved into our own cabin together. And I mentioned that our captain and our other ship-mate were both really good people.

When Rebecca finally emerged from the jewellers I asked if she'd take us over to the Vesfar Urox office so I could send my reply back to my sister.

That ended up taking the better part of an hour. The office on this world was nowhere near as efficient as the one on the tech planet.

Even with my message already prepared on my datapad it was still an ordeal, plus I needed to update the contact information for Nyssa since I had her direct communications codes now. And I had to deal with almost everyone in the place staring at my ears and tail the whole time I was there.

Another hassle was that I wanted to keep the same return routing as my previous message, basically I wanted the Vesfar office on Rolandan-2 to be my main contact point. I'd swear the clerk took it as a personal insult, then they charged extra because they said they had to send my message to Rolandan-2 first before it could be forwarded back to the Imperium.

It only cost a hundred and seventy-five ecks in total, so I didn't really care that much either way. I just wanted it done, and I hoped they wouldn't mess up and lose the message or send it to the wrong planet or something.

Once that was finally done the three of us headed back to the ship. Me and Sarah unloaded our stuff out of the grav-sled then Rebecca set out again on her own to take care of some other business. And while she was out doing that, my girlfriend and I hauled our new purchases up to the main deck then started redecorating our new cabin.

The boss was back a few hours later, and Jenny joined the rest of us for dinner. I warmed up the last of the left-over BBQ and served it up for the three of us, then as we all started eating I noticed something new.

"I take it you really like that ring?" I asked as I smiled at the captain.

She blushed slightly and self-consciously glanced down at herself. The ring she found in Gabe's safe was hanging around her neck from a loop of black cord.

Rebecca admitted, "I figured wherever it came from, whatever it meant to Gabe, it was important enough for him to keep it. And I don't really have any little keepsake or memento from him. I have the ship obviously, but that's different."

"Anyways I liked the look of the ring," she said with a slight shrug. "And like I said, it must have been important to him? It's not really sized to fit any of my fingers, but I thought it would look ok as a necklace."

"It's cute boss," Sarah responded with a grin. "And it looks good on you."

Jenny asked, "You mentioned you were going to have the jewelry appraised. Did that reveal any new information about the two pieces?"

The captain was quiet for a few moments as she had a bite of her steak, then after washing it down with her drink she replied "Neither the ring or the bracelet have much intrinsic value? They're both made of fairly common metals, mostly iridium with some platinum and osmium mixed in."

She continued, "The guy said they're probably worth a lot to whoever had them made. Apparently that alloy is very hard to work with, and the jeweller was pretty sure both pieces were one-offs rather than mass-produced. In fact he thought some of the engravings on the ring looked almost like they were done by hand, using specialized tools."

"He also said the gemstones on the bracelet weren't factory-grown either," she added. "He said they have natural inclusions and imperfections, suggesting they were actually mined from a planet's crust. Basically he said the value in the two pieces is all symbolic or ceremonial, that a ton of labour went into making them. But the materials themselves aren't that remarkable."

Sarah asked, "Did he have any idea where they were from, or who made them?"

Rebecca shook her head, "He didn't recognize the designs or the craftsmanship. We can assume they're from somewhere in the Imperium though. Maybe Vysalis-4, that's where the identity implant came from. The jeweller said the ring and bracelet both have some tiny identification markings on the backs. He said those might be an indication of where or when they were made, but he searched his references and couldn't find any matches."

"It definitely looks cute on you," I responded, "But do you think it's safe to wear the ring out in the open like that?"

The boss shrugged again, "Like I said there's really no intrinsic value, and nobody out here's going to recognize it anyways? And the bottom line is I like it."

"That's the main thing," Sarah stated in agreement.

After that the conversation turned back to more routine stuff. According to the captain we'd be getting supplies delivered to the ship tomorrow around mid-morning to mid-day, and she asked me and Sarah to take care of getting that all stowed away.

While we were doing that she was going to head out and see if she could find a buyer for those containers of disaster relief supplies we picked up during our first time at the Hammersmith.

When everyone was finished eating I took care of the dishes and tidied up the mess and galley, then me and Sarah retired to our cabin together. Not that we were tired or anything, in fact we stayed up kind of late breaking in all our new bedding.

That led to the two of us sleeping in again in the morning, and when we did finally wake we found some excuses to spend even more time in bed together. We didn't actually get up until we were hungry enough to venture out in search of breakfast. Before emerging from our cabin I pulled on a cute green nightgown and Sarah borrowed one of my nightshirts.

We found the captain sitting alone in the mess again. She'd already eaten, and was sipping her second or third cup of coffee when we joined her.

Me and Sarah both bid her a good morning, as I went to get the two of us something to eat and my girlfriend got us both coffee.

Rebecca greeted us, then smirked as she commented "Seems like you two have been sleeping in later and later. I'd complain, but then teens your age are known for spending all day in bed, aren't they?"

I felt my cheeks going red, and even Sarah blushed a little. She was the first to respond though, "You're just barely out of the teen years yourself, boss. Maybe you're just getting up too early?"

The captain grinned and had another sip of her coffee. Then as me and my girlfriend started to eat, Rebecca said "As soon as you're done breakfast I need you two fully dressed and armed. I'll be heading out on the grav-sled, I want you both waiting in the hold for our supplies."

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"Will do," Sarah replied.

I nodded quietly but I wasn't so happy about the plan. I was still wary of dealing with strange locals on this world.

Rebecca obviously noticed my expression, she commented "You'll have to get used to this world sooner or later Amanda. Maybe try to remember that you're stronger and faster than just about anybody else you meet. There's very little they can do to you."

I was about to comment on how people looked at me and the sorts of comments I'd got on this world, when I stopped myself. For all my misgivings about this planet, nobody had done anything to me. No-one had even tried anything. And very few of the negative comments had been directed my way, most of them were meant to be private that I'd overheard thanks to my big directional ears.

Comparing this world to Rolandan-2, I got plenty of stares wherever I went. The main difference was on the tech world most of the staring was from curiosity, while here there was more scorn. In fact my biggest problem with this world probably came from my very first interaction here, with Lebeau casually offering to buy me. Except after Rebecca refused he never pushed it further and never tried anything.

I wasn't ready to lower my guard and go out for a solo walk around the city, but I had to admit maybe I was a little too paranoid about the place.

"Ok boss," I finally responded. "You're right, I need to get over my issues."

Rebecca smiled, "Glad to hear it."

Once me and Sarah were finished eating I took care of the dishes and tidied up the mess, then the two of us got properly dressed. We were both in the sort of 'work clothes' the captain preferred, and of course we had our side-arms hanging from our belts.

The three of us headed down to the main hold together, then my girlfriend opened up the main airlock and lowered the ramp while the boss climbed into the grav-sled.

Sarah commented, "We need some chairs down here, if we're going to be waiting around for supplies to arrive."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rebecca replied with a smile. She started up the grav-sled and as she slowly took it forward out of the hold she called, "I should be back in an hour or two."

We both waved as she left. And after the boss was gone my girlfriend asked, "I guess we just get comfy down here? This container's not too bad, if you don't mind a bit of dust on your behind. Or we could just seal up the ship and wait up top. I'm sure whoever's coming will signal when they're here."

"I think I'd like to get some fresh air and sun," I replied as I headed down the ramp. I moved out from the ship's shadow and stood in the sunlight and commented, "That's one thing this port has over Mel's shipyard. The air's cleaner here."

Sarah offered, "Want me to bring a couple chairs down from the mess?"

I smiled but shook my head, "Nah it's ok. Unless you want to sit down, but I'm fine like this."

She slipped an arm around my shoulders so I wrapped mine around her waist, and the two of us stood together and quietly enjoyed being outside. After a little while of standing in the sun we ended up taking a slow walk around the ship. Sadly it was just as ugly from the back and sides as it was from the front.

"She sure is an ugly ship," I commented quietly. I was smiling though, and I knew my girlfriend could tell from my voice I wasn't disparaging the Demeter. If anything I tried to make my comment sound respectful.

"Yep," Sarah agreed. "I've said it before, but the old girl's got heart. She's the sort of ship that'll take care of us as long as we take care of her."

I nodded, "She's been good for us so far. I think..."

My voice trailed off as a large flat-bed grav-sled descended just off the bow of the Demeter. It kicked up a huge cloud of dust that left me and Sarah coughing and brushing ourselves off. I could feel it in my hair and ears too which pretty much killed my mood.

"I guess this is our supplies delivery," my girlfriend sighed. "Time to get to work."

She went to talk to the two guys while I took another half minute to try and shake the dust out of my hair and fur. That resulted in the two delivery guys staring at me, but I did my best to ignore them rather than let the stares get to me.

Once they got moving it didn't take very long for the men to transfer all the boxes and cases of supplies from the back of their craft to the bottom of our ramp. Then they took off in another huge cloud of dust while Sarah and I were moving the goods off the ramp and into the ship.

I needed another minute to shake the dirt out of my hair and fur, then as soon as the ramp was cleared we sealed up the ship and started moving the supplies up to the main deck, via the lift in engineering. And finally we began stowing everything away.

Like last time we had several big boxes of fresh meat, there were a couple cases of booze and soft drinks, more canned and dried goods, and cartridges for the auto-chef.

Sarah and I were about halfway through when Jenny came up from the lower deck to join us. She stood and watched while we were lugging heavy boxes of goods into the storage compartment just aft of the galley.

"Hi Jenny," Sarah greeted her with a grin. "Had enough of your studies for now? Or did you come to keep us company and watch us work?"

Our AI crew-mate smiled back, "Neither in fact. Though I'm happy to keep you both company if you wish? I actually came to let you know the ISS Kennington has just left orbit."

I asked, "Have you been monitoring them the whole time we've been here?"

"Not as such," she replied. "I've been monitoring the port control comm frequencies though, along with a few other active channels. I overheard the Navy ship making arrangements to leave the system."

"Do you think they're heading back to the Imperium?" Sarah asked. "Or are they going to take over the Hammersmith's mission in this sector?"

Jenny shook her head, "I'm afraid I don't have that information Sarah. All I know for sure is the Kennington has broken orbit and is heading out of the system."

"I hope they're going home," my girlfriend said with a sigh. "It was nice to see Andy one last time, but I'm sure Rebecca would be happy not running into an Imperium warship again any time soon."

I grimaced, "Agreed."