Chapter 83: 82. Arrangements

I gathered up the dishes from breakfast then started washing and tidying things up, while Sarah commented "It's nice to be home, but I kind of miss the fancy food we got to enjoy on shore leave."

"At least until we get some fresh supplies, so Amanda can wow us with her cooking again!" she added hastily.

Rebecca smiled, "Good save there Sarah."

I just grinned but stayed quiet as I continued the washing up. A few minutes later I was nearly finished when Jenny suddenly spoke up.

"There is a Helen Ortega outside the main airlock captain. She is asking permission to come aboard."

I glanced at Rebecca and noted the look of mild surprise on her face.

After a brief pause the boss nodded, "Thanks Jenny. Please ask her to come up and join us in the mess."

"Helen is Mel's assistant," Rebecca added. "She practically runs the shipyard, and she's been taking on more and more of his work as he's been slowing down. She knows about his condition, and when Mel and I were discussing the repairs I gave him permission to tell her how we can help him."

That was a surprise, though after a few moments to think about it I realized it wasn't so surprising after all. If she was taking over the shipyard or running it for him, it made sense she'd have to be involved in whatever plans he was making. And if those plans included taking advantage of Jenny's services, then his assistant would likely need to be involved.

None of us had a chance to ask any more questions though as Ms. Ortega stepped into the mess area with us.

She was a couple inches taller than Rebecca, in her mid to late forties, her dark hair was trimmed in a professional off the shoulder cut. Her skin had a slightly tanned complexion, she had an attractive face, dark eyes, and she was wearing a tailored suit dress that perfectly fit her slim body.

She looked to me like the archetypical professional businesswoman, down to the professional-looking leather-bound datapad she was carrying under her left arm.

Ms. Ortega got about two steps towards the rest of us when her eyes settled on the boss. Then she stopped in her tracks and stared in surprise for a few seconds.

"Hi Helen," Rebecca said as she got to her feet. "It's been a few years. Why don't you take a seat? Can I get you a drink? Coffee, water, something stronger?"

Helen stared for another couple seconds before she finally snapped herself out of it. Her whole demeanour had changed, from calm and professional to shocked and unsettled. She moved forward and took the seat at the end, to the left of where Rebecca was sitting.

"Coffee please," she said in a quiet voice. She was still staring at our captain as she added, "I honestly can't believe it. It's been nine and a half years Miss Piper, and you look exactly the same! No, you look even younger!"

That made me cringe a bit. The boss had been sensitive about her age after her latest visit to Jenny's Re/Gen pod, but fortunately she seemed to have gotten over it.

She set a cup down in front of our guest then took her seat as she responded, "You can call me Rebecca. Actually, introductions. Crew, this is Helen Ortega, she pretty much runs the whole shipyard behind the scenes while Mel's just the pretty face out front."

The boss then gestured at each of us in turn as she continued, "Helen, this is Amanda, my co-pilot, navigator, medic, and cook. That's Sarah, she's my engineer. And Jenny, our computer and technical liaison."

Helen looked around at all of us. She still hadn't regained her composure as she half mumbled to herself, "It's like a ship full of teens..."

That actually made Sarah grin, while Rebecca grimaced. And both Jenny and I just stayed quiet.

"So what's going on Helen?" the boss asked our guest. "What brings you here?"

The question seemed to finally snap her out of the shock and her professional attitude returned.

She had a sip of her coffee and responded, "Right, sorry Captain Piper. I've been asked to deliver a personal request from Mr. Lancaster. As you know he's been fighting with a rare illness for some time now. Eight days ago his health took a sudden turn for the worse, and he's no longer able to continue his duties here with the shipyard. He's already made announcements to the rest of the staff, as he reached the point where he couldn't keep his condition a secret."

That left me worried. Last time we were here the boss said her friend had at least a year before things got serious, but if it was that much worse then he might not have a lot of time to make a decision about accepting Jenny's help.

Helen continued, "This is a somewhat difficult situation, but Mr. Lancaster trusts you to be discreet about it. He has confided in me that he has an illegitimate daughter living off-world. Mel is hoping to be able to meet her before it's too late. He would like to hire you to go and get her, and bring her back here to see him."

She took a deep breath and finished up, "He's asked me to offer you two hundred thousand ecks plus expenses to get her here as soon as possible."

The four of us were silent for a few seconds. Me and Sarah and Jenny all looked from Ms. Ortega to the captain, as we waited to hear what she had to say.

"Where is she?" Rebecca finally asked. "What world?"

Helen replied, "Ecclestone's World. I believe the Demeter is capable of getting there in less than half a day at a level-one jump. Even allowing for refuelling and taking care of port fees and supplies, I imagine a three-day turnaround shouldn't be a problem? The repairs and maintenance should be complete by the end of the day tomorrow, so the Demeter should be cleared to leave in forty-eight hours. You could be back here with Mr. Lancaster's daughter in five days or less."

I asked, "Is his condition really that bad?"

Sarah added, "Surely there's faster ships available immediately? Something with Jump-2 could be there and back before tomorrow morning."

The captain cleared her throat and stated, "Helen we'd be honoured to do this for Mel. I take it you're going to handle all the other arrangements?"

She nodded, "Mr. Lancaster has briefed me. Though I confess I still have a hard time believing some of the details."

Her composure seemed to falter for a moment before she recovered. She held out the datapad she'd been carrying, "If you'll review the contract Miss Piper? If it appears in order just sign at the bottom."

The boss quickly read through the data on the screen then added her signature. She handed it back, Ms. Ortega glanced at it then she hit the power button to shut the device down completely.

Once it was off she sighed and her professional act slipped away again. She had a gulp of coffee then glanced around at the four of us and shook her head, "So it's true? The technology Mel told me about?"

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"It's true," Rebecca nodded. "Sorry Helen, I know it's a lot to take in. And I gather this part of the meeting is off the record?"

Our guest nodded, "Right, very much off the record."

She had another gulp of coffee then added, "I'm sorry, you all look like teenage girls and I'm having a hard time getting used to that. I thought you'd be in your early thirties by now, Miss Piper."

"You can call me Rebecca," the boss reminded her.

Meanwhile Sarah asked, "I take it this job to go pick up Mel's daughter is a cover story?"

Helen nodded again, "That's correct. I'll help sneak Mr. Lancaster aboard the night before you're cleared to go. You take off in the morning, fly around for three days then return on schedule. Whether you go to Ecclestone's World or not is irrelevant, just be away from this system for seventy-two hours. Two days after your departure the announcement will be made concerning Mr. Lancaster's death. When you return I'll break the news to you and..."

Her voice faltered and she grimaced, "I really can't believe I'm saying this. I'll break the news to you and Miss Lancaster. And I'll be here to help her adjust and get her established. She'll inherit the shipyard, but I'll continue running it until she's um, old enough to take over."

We were all quiet for a few moments as all that sank in. I wasn't surprised Mel made the decision, but I was very curious how he was going to handle the result. While I didn't think he was trans like me I didn't know him well enough to rule that out. Instead I wondered if he'd handle things more like Sarah, or if his experience would turn out to be more like Rebecca's.

Either way I figured once he was on board I'd try and talk with him. And after it was done I'd definitely be there to help him with the adjustment.

After a few more moments thinking about all that, I came up with a question.

"Does Miss Lancaster have a first name?" I asked. "Or will we find that out after we meet her?"

"He... She..." Helen frowned then grimaced again, "I really don't know how to do this. Mr. Lancaster's daughter's name will be Tamsin. We had to establish it in advance so Mel could get all the paperwork done."

"Paperwork?" Sarah asked.

"He's rewriting his will," Helen explained. "Setting up accounts in Tamsin's name, making arrangements to turn everything over to her."

Our engineer nodded, "Ah of course."

I asked, "I know this is a delicate question, but is Mr. Lancaster's health actually that bad? And if so, will we need to take any special precautions when he comes on board? Or does he have any special requirements, medical or otherwise, that we need to be aware of?"

Helen sighed, "His health isn't quite as bad as we've made it seem, but it has taken a downward turn in the past fifteen days. He's had two falls, and if he wasn't so stubborn he'd be using a cane when he came to work. I think he's in more pain than he lets on, and I think the latest fall ten days ago is what prompted him to take action sooner rather than later."

"I'll ask that someone keep an eye on him when he's moving about the ship," she continued. "As far as I know he doesn't have any specific medical requirements, apart from helping him if he falls again."

I thanked her and added, "I'll make sure he's taken care of. I'm the ship's medic, but I've got three years med-school and a year's internship behind me, plus almost a year serving on a frigate as the sole medical staff. I haven't quite earned the title yet, but I'm pretty close to being a fully-qualified doctor."

Rebecca nodded, "Mel will be in good hands here Helen. Amanda knows her stuff."

Our guest nodded slowly as she stared at me, then grimaced and admitted "I'm sorry I still have trouble believing it. You look barely old enough to be out of high-school, let alone med-school. And the um, ears and tail are also a little distracting."

That made me grin and blush at the same time.

Helen sighed and shook her head, "And this process, it's really going to cure him? You can cure the disease and repair the damage its already done to him? Our best specialists say that's impossible."

Jenny had been quiet so far but she finally spoke up, "Without knowing the specifics I cannot say with a hundred-percent certainty, but in general terms yes. My Re/Gen capsule should be able to repair any damage, and probably eliminate the cause so Mr. Lancaster won't have to worry about it recurring."

After a few seconds hesitation, Helen answered the unasked question.

"It's called Aradelko's Disease," she explained. "There's no cure, but there's a treatment which can slow or stop the progression. Except Mel can't take the drug, because of a pre-existing condition."

I winced when she named the disease. I was no expert, but I knew enough that it was a degenerative illness that ate away at a patient's nervous system.

After a brief hesitation Jenny responded, "If Mr. Lancaster is still walking then the disease hasn't entered its final stage. Which means I will be able to cure him completely."

Helen seemed relieved to hear that, though I could tell she was still a bit uncomfortable. Which was understandable. The whole situation was hard to believe, and if I hadn't been through the process myself I probably wouldn't believe it either.

Rebecca asked, "Is there anything else we need to know, anything we should do or prepare before-hand?"

"I don't think so," our guest shook her head. "If something does come up I'll be in touch. Otherwise, I will see you again some time late tomorrow night, when I help Mel aboard."

The captain nodded, "We'll be ready."

"Thank you Captain Piper," Helen replied as she got to her feet. She picked up her datapad and added, "And thanks for the coffee. I'll see myself out."

The four of us watched as she headed aft towards the lift in engineering. Once she was gone Rebecca looked at me and Sarah. "Can I ask you two to go over the starboard crew cabin and make sure it's clean and tidy? I'd put Mel in your old cabin but I've given that to Jenny and I don't want to ask either her or Mel to share."

"Of course boss," I nodded. "I'll have a look at it today."

Sarah nodded in agreement, "We'll make sure it's ready when Mel comes aboard."