It was only an hour or so later when Eta heard Alex returning to the ship. She was indeed sitting on one of Alex's kitchen stools as instructed with her diary open before her. As she heard the Commander call out a greeting she quickly rose to her feet, at the last second remembering Alex had instructed her not to stand at attention.
"Make sure everything loose is stored away, we're taking off eh-sap," instructed Alex as she strode past into the cockpit.
"Yes Miss!" replied Eta in surprise before darting across the hall to hastily stash her book back in the locker Alex had emptied for her. She entered the cockpit, and after a moment's hesitation sat and strapped herself into the second seat.
"May I ask what you found, Miss Alex?" she asked, slightly apprehensive. "I didn't hear any cargo being loaded."
"That's because we're not doing a cargo run," Alex replied with a wink. "I found something a bit more interesting, and a bit more time sensitive." she added, having already begun preparing the ship. Eta swallowed before nodding.
"May I.... ask what it is?"
"I was just getting to that," Alex said, her attention focused on bringing the ship to life beneath their feet. Eta felt the floor jolt, as their landing pad began to carry the Peregrine sideways and up towards the hanger.
"So that ringed planet in the system..." Alex began. "Well apparently someone's running a mining operation within the ring. And a few hours ago, the company lost contact with one of its mining ships. They're trying to organize a proper search, but as we know S&R is still tied up with... whatever. So the company said they'd be willing to pay if I went out there and started scanning right away," she added as the landing pad came to a halt.
The thrusters underneath them ignited. The Peregrine shuddering as she lifted slowly into the air. Verity announced as the landing gear retracted, and Alex turned the ship gracefully towards the mail slot. Gliding through the traffic of ships with ease.
"Is the mining vessel in danger?" asked Eta apprehensively as she felt the Peregrine straightened its path and her body lose all weight. There was a gentle shudder as the shields of the mail slot passed over them, and suddenly the tight walls, the traffic, the noise, all faded away to nothing. They were in outer space.
"They don't know," Alex replied. "It might just be a communication failure. In which case I get paid for not doing much. If it's more serious... well I'll have to see what I can do once I get there. But to begin with my job is just to go search for them and try to find out what's going on," she said as she dropped the Peregrine's nose out of the flood of ships lining up for the mail slot and pointed her out into the black. She opened the throttle and Eta felt herself being pressed back into her seat from the acceleration. Her harness kept her in place as Alex had them on a long slow turn, both putting distance between themselves and the station, and bringing them to their new heading.
"Frame Shift Drive charging," announced Verity, and Eta felt a growing tremble within the ship. A deep sound, not unlike wind started to swell around her. It was a sound she had heard many times before, but from the cockpit of the little ship it all felt so much closer.
"Four," Verity counted down.
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
"Engage"
With every step of the countdown the noise grew in power, until all at once the sound seemed to break and the Peregrine leapt forwards, pushing Eta firmly back into her seat as space whipping by all around her. But eventually they stopped accelerating, and she felt herself become weightless again as the ship settled gently into Supercruise.
"Is this... a common activity for you, Miss?" Eta asked, glancing over. "Yesterday you rescued me. Today you're intending to rescue mining staff in distress."
"Luckily not," replied Alex. "I always watch out for people in trouble, but it doesn't come up too often, which is probably a good thing. Two in two days is weird. But I'm intrigued, and they're paying. So win win."
"I am sure they will be very grateful to have you come to their aid just as I am," Eta replied, smiling as she marveled at Alex's willingness to jump off towards people in need.
"Well first we need to find out if they actually need aid at all," Alex reminded her. Eta nodded, thinking for a while as space hurtled past them.
"Pardon me, I'm sure you've already considered this. But on the scale of an entire planetary ring system, how do you intend to locate a single ship?" she asked after a moment.
"That is an excellent question," Alex observed. "The guy I talked to wasn't at the station. We talked over comms. He said the operation was run out of a Megaship that's hanging out at the edge of the rings, and that's where he's based. I have the location of that, and he said he'd give me the most up to date info once I get there, including a last known location," she added. Eta watched the Commander for a moment, before reaching down and released her harness. She floated up out of her seat and maneuvered herself around kneel quietly next to Alex's pilot's seat as she gazed out the canopy with a contented smile on display. Alex glanced down at her with an eyebrow raised, a quick flash of colour passing across her cheeks.
"You really like being down there huh?" Alex observed. Eta simply nodded. The Commander pursed her lips for a long moment before she took a slow breath.
"Like it's very kinky, but look Eta.... I am really not your Master. You don't owe me anything," Alex replied, yet again ignoring the twinges in her lower body.
"Even if you are not my Master, you are still a woman in a position of authority and admiration relative to me," Eta said matter of factly.
"Wait, admiration?" Alex asked, one of her eyebrows shooting up.
"Yes," Eta confirmed, showing no embarrassment at the statement. "I am presently witnessing you travel between planets and put yourself in potential danger, just because you feel someone is in need of your assistance. You are a marvelous woman, and I am honoured to be in your company," she said happily.
It was Alex's turn to blush red and be at a loss for words. She stared down at her passenger who just smiled back up at her.
"Uhhhh, thank you?" was all she was able to say at first.
"But umm... let's not forget that I'm being paid for this. And also, we don't even know if anyone's in trouble out there," she added, trying to deflect.
"But you departed the station in such short order because you thought there might be," Eta pointed out. Alex just glared at her.
"If you're so enamored by my boundless compassion, why is your reflex still to get weird when some of it heads your direction?"
