Chapter 130: 129. Banter

"Amanda? Sarah?" our amazonian girlfriend asked quietly. "Come on you two, it's time to get up."

I pretended I was still asleep as I snuggled up even closer against her right side. And from some movement on the other side of the bed, I knew Sarah was doing exactly the same thing on Rebecca's left side.

The gorgeous redhead sighed, "You're not fooling anyone. It's time to get up, we need breakfast then we have to get this ship moving."

"Aww," I pouted as I wrapped my tail around Rebecca's right leg. "But I'm so comfy right here."

Sarah agreed, "Breakfast can wait, this is girlfriend cuddle time."

"We'll have plenty of time to sleep in and take it easy once we're in jump," Rebecca pointed out. "But we have to get there first, so let's get moving."

Our cute blonde girlfriend responded, "I don't know boss? You probably won't be able to sleep in if you're putting Cammie through merchant vessel boot camp. Sounds to me like you'll be busy keeping them busy."

The tall redhead let out another long sigh, that almost became a bit of a groan. "Yeah I know. We don't have to start too early though. It's not like we have to worry about dawn or sunrise on the ship."

"Anyways enough stalling," she added a little more firmly. This time she actually sat up in between Sarah and I as she stated, "I'm serious girls, we need to get this ship moving. Now."

"Ok Rebecca," I grumbled with another pout.

I sat up too, and slipped out of bed. I didn't bother getting properly dressed though, I just pulled on a nightshirt then padded barefoot out of the cabin and towards the mess. There was no sign of Cam yet this morning, but I found Jenny waiting there for the rest of us. The android was dressed in one of her typical outfits, dark slacks and a light loose blouse. And the purple fringe in her hair told me she was controlling her android remotely, which was normal while she was on board the ship.

"G'morning Jenny," I greeted the android as I got the autochef started making coffees for everyone. "How are you this morning?"

She replied with a smile, "I'm fine thank you Amanda. I assume you and your girlfriends all had a good night? Rebecca especially, she's usually up earlier than this."

After a sip of coffee I smirked, "Sarah and I may have conspired to keep her in bed a little later than usual. They should both be along shortly though."

Sure enough the boss joined us a couple seconds later. She was partially dressed, she had her panties and bra on, along with a t-shirt. But it seemed like she got distracted before she got as far as pulling on some pants.

"Thanks Amanda," the tall redhead said as she helped herself to one of the waiting coffees. Then she moved to settle into her normal seat at the dining table.

Cam was actually the next one to join us in the mess. I was just sorting out what we'd be having for breakfast when the cat-kin wandered into view partway through yawning and rubbing some sleep from their eyes. Their tail was sticking up straight behind them, ears folded back, and eyes half closed. They were dressed though, in one of the simple outfits we'd got for them back at Fuminja Beta.

"Good morning Cammie," I greeted them with a smile. "Help yourself to coffee if you like? I'll have breakfast ready in about fifteen minutes."

They blushed but seemed happy to hear their new name again, and quietly thanked me as they grabbed one of the coffee mugs.

Sarah was the last one to the table, joining the rest of us after a few more minutes. She wasn't even dressed, so she didn't have any good excuse for taking so long. All she'd bothered to put on was a pair of panties and a tight t-shirt.

"Ooh coffee!" the cute blonde smiled as she grabbed the last mug. Then after a sip she asked me, "Anything I can do to help cutie?"

"You can set the table please," I replied.

"You got it," Sarah replied as she got out the dishes and cutlery.

She also made the toast for me while I was busy with the rest of the meal. Then when everything was ready she even helped me serve it all up. I'd made us all steak and eggs since we had the supplies and I felt like doing something special.

"This is really good Amanda," Rebecca commented as we all started eating. "Thanks for looking after us."

Sarah agreed, "We're definitely spoiled having you as ship's cook."

I smiled, "It's my pleasure. I'm glad you like it."

"Do we have any specific plans for lift-off?" I asked a moment later. "And what about the transit? I know you're going to be keeping Cam busy, what about the rest of us?"

The cat-kin cringed slightly while Rebecca looked thoughtful, as they both quietly munched on some food.

Then after a gulp of coffee our captain replied, "I think Sarah and I are going to take turns supervising Cam's training. We'll figure something out as soon as we're in jump, but I'm thinking maybe we'll alternate days? Or maybe split each day between us, so half of it is engineering lessons with Sarah and the other half is standard ship ops with me."

"And since Cam Sarah and I will be busy," the boss added as she looked to me, "That means I'm going to leave the mission in your capable hands, first officer Amanda. You and Jenny can handle the ship, the sensors, the flight plan, and anything else that comes along."

I hesitated slightly, "Does that mean you want me to handle the lift-off too?"

Despite all my recent piloting experience I still wasn't confident about certain situations, and the airspace above Port Ecclestone definitely made me uncomfortable. The fact that Rebecca had handled all our flying around here so far played into that as well. Then again, she left me to pilot the ship through the asteroids at Fuminja, so it was certainly possible she'd already decided I could handle flying here too.

My redheaded girlfriend looked thoughtful as she enjoyed another bite of her steak. She finally shook her head, "I'll get us off the ground and onto a vector out of the system. You can take over once we're beyond anything in high orbit."

"Cam you'll be up in the cockpit with us for that," she added as she looked towards our newest crew member. "You'll be in the engineering seat, so you can monitor things from there."

The cat-kin looked uneasy, "I'm not sure I'd know what I was looking at, ma'am. I can sit and watch, but..."

"How about I join you all up front then?" Sarah offered. "I can explain things to Cam, give them a primer on things during the lift-off."

It only took Rebecca a few seconds to make the decision, "Here's what we'll do then. Sarah will be in the copilot seat and Cam in the engineering spot during lift-off. Amanda, Jenny, once we're clear of the system I'll turn things over to the pair of you. Then Sarah Cam and I will clear the cockpit while you plot your course and get us into jump."

"All right boss," I nodded. Then I grimaced, "I guess if you're in a hurry to get us moving then you can take care of that while I'm cleaning up the mess and galley?"

The captain suppressed a laugh as she shook her head, "I'm not in that big a hurry that I'd expect you to be doing dishes while the Demeter's fighting gravity and atmosphere. It's safest if you two are seated during that part of the flight, whether it's here at the table or in the lounge."

"That will give you and Sarah time to get dressed then," Jenny commented as she gave Rebecca a little smirk. "While Amanda is tidying up the galley you two can get properly presentable for your new student. After all, I'm sure you wouldn't want to teach Cam any bad habits, or give them the wrong impression."

My two girlfriends looked at each other, then they both looked at me. Sarah grinned as she told Cam, "The ironic thing is Amanda's the one who started the whole 'no pants' tradition. It wasn't even that long ago either, the Demeter found herself facing off against an Imperium frigate? We were staring down the barrel of their primary weapon and our cute little foxgirl didn't have any pants on."

The cat-kin's eyes widened as they looked back and forth between me and my cute blonde girlfriend. Then they asked me, "What happened? Did the other ship show up when you were in bed or something? You didn't have time to get dressed?"

"She had loads of time to get ready," Sarah laughed. "Instead of getting dressed she went and did laundry! In the middle of a potential crisis!"

You are reading story Daughters of Demeter at novel35.com

I felt my cheeks heating up as I protested, "I started the laundry before the Imperium showed up! And when we had a break in the situation I took that opportunity to put away the clean clothes. It's not like I went off and started a load of laundry while we were staring down their big guns!"

My traitorous girlfriend just grinned as she pointed out, "You had time to carefully fold and put away a whole load of laundry cutie. But you didn't bother taking thirty seconds to pull on a pair of pants and shoes."

"Remind me when she's not around," she told Cam in a conspiratorial voice, "And I'll tell you about the time Amanda piloted a stolen Imperium ship while she was stark naked."

The cat-kin's eyes went wide as they stared at me, while both Rebecca and Sarah looked like they were trying very hard not to laugh. Meanwhile my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

I protested, "It wasn't like that! I didn't steal it, that was Rebecca and Sarah! I was just piloting it."

"But it was a stolen Imperium ship," Jenny clarified with a straight face. "And you were definitely flying it naked, as I recall."

"You're all bullies," I pouted, while my ears drooped and my tail hung down with the tip twitching around.

Everyone was quiet after that for the next several seconds. Then Cam asked in a quiet hesitant voice, "But you really did fly a stolen Imperium ship naked?"

I sighed, "Yes, technically. Sarah's hyping it up and making it sound like a much bigger deal than it really was though."

"Wow," they mumbled as they stared wide-eyed at me.

Then the boss spoke up, "Sorry if our teasing got out of hand Amanda. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Yeah same," Sarah agreed. "We love you cutie, but sometimes I can get carried away."

"I also apologize for overstepping any boundaries. It was not my intention to upset you Amanda," Jenny added.

I shook my head, "It's fine. I wasn't really upset, and I know it was all just jokes and fun."

"Maybe a good lesson for Cam though?" I added as I looked to the cat-kin again. "If you haven't figured it out already, Sarah can be a bit of a joker at times. And she seems to bring that out in Rebecca as well. She's even got our resident AI doing it now. But at the end of the day we're all girlfriends friends and shipmates. None of us mean to be cruel or hurtful."

Our cute engineer agreed, "If I or anyone else says something that makes you upset Cam please don't hesitate to speak up and let us know. We'll stop and apologize immediately. Like Amanda said I can be a bit of a clown at times, but I know I can get carried away. And sometimes what I think is just a joke can come across as mean or cruel."

"Ok," Cam replied after a brief pause. "Thanks for making all that clear."

By that point we'd all pretty much finished eating. Our captain asked, "If everyone's had enough to eat how about we all give Amanda a hand clearing the table? Then Sarah, Cam, I'd like to get up front and start prepping the ship for launch."

"Yes boss," Sarah nodded, as we all got up from the table.

It didn't take long to clear the table with everyone helping, but I still had to do the dishes myself.

As the others headed towards the cockpit Rebecca asked, "Amanda? Let me know when you and Jenny have things secured back here. We won't go until I hear from you."

"Will do," I told her as I got started on the dishes.

Jenny stood next to me and helped, when I had things washed she made sure they were dry then stowed them away in the appropriate drawers and cupboards. So even the washing-up went by relatively quickly, and after a few minutes the android and I got comfortable in the lounge.

I was on the sofa and she was in one of the chairs again, as I asked "Can you let the boss know we're ready back here?"

"Of course Amanda," she replied. A moment later she added, "Rebecca says we'll be lifting off momentarily."

Sure enough it was only about thirty seconds later when I felt the engines roar to life. The deck shuddered a little as the Demeter started moving, and a few moments later I could feel the ship start to angle her nose upwards.

"You know I think this might be the first lift-off that I wasn't in the cockpit," I commented. "It's a very different ride from back here."

Jenny asked, "You prefer to be able to see where we're going?"

I thought about it for a moment then shrugged, "Flying on the Demeter was literally the first time I had a window seat on a ship. But yeah, I guess now that I've got used to sitting up front I kind of miss it."

"On the other hand," I grimaced as the ship shuddered and the deck groaned softly, "I'm familiar enough with the noises the ship makes now that I can pretty much tell our altitude and speed by the noises she's making."

The AI smiled, "I suppose I'm cheating a little, since I have direct access to the sensors and external cameras. It doesn't matter where I'm sitting, I can see what's happening both inside and out."

That made me smile too, "I don't know if I'd call that cheating? That's just part of who and what you are."

We were already through the worst of the turbulence, I could tell we were clearing the upper atmosphere by the way the ship got quieter and the flight became much smoother. From there it was still another twenty or thirty minutes before we were fully clear from any traffic in high orbit around Ecclestone's World.

When the time came Rebecca called Jenny and I up to the cockpit, while Sarah and Cam made their way aft towards the engine room.

Then the boss relinquished her seat and had me take the captain's position, while Jenny settled into my usual spot in the copilot seat.

"Any last minute orders or comments?" I asked as I looked over the flight controls and the displays.

Rebecca replied, "Like I said earlier I'm leaving the mission in your hands. I know it's roughly six days to reach the last known coordinates, when we get there it'll be up to you to figure out and implement a search pattern. You'll be in charge until we find the wreck, then I'll take over to coordinate the actual salvage process."

"What if we don't find it?" I asked. "How long are we prepared to search?"

After a few seconds to think it over she decided, "If you haven't found anything after four days of searching, we'll reassess the situation. That'll be ten days from now, halfway to our deadline."

"All right boss," I replied. "Good luck with the training."

She smiled, "It's not like we're not going to see each other for the next six to ten days, I'm sure you'll hear all about Cam's progress every time we sit down at the dinner table."

I smiled back, "Good point. Anyways how about you clear the cockpit? Jenny and I have work to do up here, we don't need you teacher types distracting us."

Rebecca laughed as she finally headed aft, while I got to work plotting our level zero jump.