Daughters of Demeter

=::= Nyssa Voss's PoV -- Sandlea Province, Kaitor-7, Imperium =::=

"I got it!" I shouted the moment the family comm-tainment unit chimed with a new message. It was fixed to the wall in our kitchen, only two paces from the dinner table where I'd been sitting.

Even so, I'd only just got to the thing when mom rushed in behind me. She looked and sounded anxious as she asked, "What's the news? Have they found my boy?"

I sighed and shook my head, "Sorry mom. It's not from the Navy, it's from Mr. Howard."

He ran the supply depot in town, and his message was addressed to my dad. I went ahead and opened it anyways, since odds were it was something about the farm. It turned out to be a short vid, and instead of Jim Howard's grumpy old face I found myself looking at his hot-as daughter Shelly.

She was a hand's-width shorter than me, and a whole lot curvier. I'd been crushing on her since I first laid eyes on her back in middle school, and even now seeing her image on the screen in our kitchen was enough to send my mind places it really shouldn't go. Especially not now, when we were all worrying about my favourite brother.

"Hey Mr. Voss," the cute redhead began with a smile that made my heart flutter. "My daddy asked me to let you know that shipment you ordered came in this morning. According to the register you're all paid up in full, so you can come pick it up whenever you're ready."

That was it, fifteen seconds of video that could have been a text. Not that I was complaining, Shelly's voice was just as cute as the rest of her.

"That'll be those damn power modulators for the harvester," dad grumbled from where he was standing at the kitchen door. "You know I ordered those things almost forty days ago? Paid extra too, for the rush service. Forty days! That's not rush service. And the worst of it is now I gotta take time out of my day to go pick the damn things up? You'd think paying extra for delivery would mean that cheap bastard would actually deliver them!"

It only took me half a heartbeat to offer, "I can go pick up your modulators if you like? That way you and mom can both stay here, incase the Navy sends news."

Only four days had passed since we got that message from the Navy, telling us my brother's ship was wrecked somewhere out on the frontier. They assured us he survived, and promised they were going to find him. It left the whole family on edge though, my folks were desperate for news. So was I, of all my siblings he was my favourite.

On the other hand helping dad would earn me some points with him and mom. Plus going into town meant I'd get to see Shelly in person, and that was always a great reason to visit Dunham Junction. Heck just having an excuse to take one of the family grav sleds out for a spin was worth it.

"You sure you don't mind hon?" dad asked, while mom gave me a proud smile.

"Not at all," I insisted. Then I maybe fibbed a little when I added, "I'll get your modulators and come straight back home again."

Dad smiled, "Thanks Nyssa. Drive safe now! And don't you try and load those things on the sled yourself, you make sure that crook Howard does it for you. Those things are heavy, I don't want you getting hurt."

"I know," I rolled my eyes as I headed for the door. "See you in a couple hours!"

Not that it was that far into town, but letting the folks think it took me an hour to get there and another hour to get back helped convince them I was driving slowly and safely.

As if.

First thing I did once I got settled behind the controls was to reach down behind the indicator panel. I felt around the various bundles of wires and connectors until I located the limiter dad installed back when I was about ten years old, and gently pried it loose. Then I fired up the sled and set off for Dunham Junction. Slowly at first, but as soon as I was out of sight I slammed the thruster to full and let out an excited whoop as the acceleration shoved me back in the seat.

Twenty minutes later I set down in front of Mr. Howard's supply depot, then brushed the dust off my cover-alls before heading inside. Like I figured Shelly was right there at the counter, and better still she was wearing one of her pretty green dresses. The scoop-neck was low enough to reveal some cleavage, and the fact that those cute freckles of hers covered a lot more than just her cheeks.

In fact I'd swear the dress and the cleavage were both meant to draw attention to that big beautiful bosom of hers. That in turn left me thinking of all the wonderful things I dreamed of doing with her, even if half of them were still illegal on this backwards-assed planet. Which was the main reason I still hadn't come out and told Shelly how I felt about her. I was sure she knew regardless, based on the ship-load of hints I'd been dropping over the last few years.

"Hello Nyssa!" she greeted me with a wide warm smile as I approached. "It's great to see you again! Are you here to pick up your daddy's shipment?"

I smiled back, "Hi Shelly. And yeah, I offered to take care of that for him. He and mom are still kind of antsy about getting too far away from the comm, incase..."

My smile faltered there, and Shelly's fell too.

She gave me a sad look as she asked, "You're still waiting on more news about your brother? I'm sorry Nyssa, I sure hope they find him soon. I hope he's ok. He was always such a nice boy, so quiet and polite."

"Yeah," I sighed. "I mean, it's only been four days? It's probably going to take them some time to track him down. The important thing is he's alive."

She nodded slowly, "Yeah. Still, I hope there's news soon. The waiting must be awful hard on all you folks."

"Oh!" she added as her expression shifted back to a wide excited smile. "Actually I have some news of my own that might cheer you up? Or at least get your mind off your woes for a bit?"

Just seeing her look so happy and excited was enough to lift my spirits again, and brought another smile to my face as well. I asked, "What is it Shelly, what's going on?"

"I'm engaged!" she exclaimed as she held her left hand out for me to see. "I've been dying to tell you, since you're one of my best friends and all!"

There on her finger was a shiny little metal band, with a tiny chip of sparkly stone set on top. I'd noticed it earlier when I was admiring the rest of her assets, but I thought it was just some random jewelry she'd put on.

Now I suddenly found myself imagining the girl I'd been crushing on for years sliding a long icy dagger into my heart as I responded, "Oh. Wow. I'm so happy for you. That really is exciting."

Shelly nodded happily, "Isn't it? Sam popped the question last night! Came right out of the blue, I had no idea!"

In my mind I pictured her giving that icy dagger a twist, maybe snapping the point off deep in my chest. Externally I managed to keep a fake smile plastered on my face as I asked, "Sam? As in Samuel Sanderson? That Sam?"

"Uh-huh!" Shelly grinned. "Isn't that romantic?"

Apparently Shelly and I had very different definitions of that word, since hers seemed to involve marrying the biggest cruelest bully around. About the only good thing I could say about him was he was an equal-opportunity asshole. He picked on everyone, boy or girl. Although he did tend to go after the quiet ones with a little more enthusiasm. And the weird ones, which meant I was always a prime target. He even went after my favourite brother once, when he tried to come to my rescue. The prick only started leaving me alone after that time Aiden and Zack kicked his sorry ass halfway across Dunham Junction.

For now I pushed all those thoughts aside, then just went through the motions with Shelly like some kind of automaton. I congratulated her, then she got her dad to load the two crates onto the back of my sled. I made sure they were both strapped down good and tight, then mumbled some lie about needing to back home again ASAP. As soon as Shelly and her dad were clear I slammed the throttle and blasted the sled skyward in a huge cloud of dust.

"Damn it," I swore to myself as I took off in some random direction. "Why do all the pretty girls around here have to be so straight?!"

Except I knew why. It's how we were supposed to be raised. It's how this whole stupid dirt-ball planet worked, with its backwards-assed patriarchal bullshit. Didn't matter how smart I was, or how good my grades were in school. I was a girl and that meant everybody expected me to marry some idiot farmer's son then start pumping out babies.

The worst part was most other women around here bought into the bullshit. They even acted happy about it. I only had to look at my big sister for proof of that. Kayla was six years older than me, and I knew she was fairly smart. Maybe not on my level, but she wasn't stupid. Except for the last four months the only thing she could talk about was her boring fiancée and their upcoming wedding. Like her greatest ambition in life was to be the wife of some guy who's only claim to fame was raising Dunham Junction's prize-winning pig two years running.

"Fuck I hate this planet!" I shouted into the wind as I drove the sled across the landscape at top speed.

I ended up spending the next ninety minutes joyriding around half of Sandlea Province, trying to burn off my frustration. It even helped, a little.

Eventually I set course for home, and I remembered to slow down to a respectable speed before I got there. Dad came out to greet me as I set the sled down, then he called Luke over to help with the modulators. The pair of them started wrestling the crates off the back of the sled while I headed back into the house, and straight up to my bedroom.

Once there I flopped across my bed then pulled out my personal pad. That was like a datapad, but less than half the size. And in my case, it was practically an antique. I picked it up used, it was probably third-hand, and even then it cost me a year's worth of credits. Money I'd saved and scrounged, doing odd jobs for people around town. Like homework assignments, I was pretty good at that and there were always lazy students looking for a way to avoid studying.

The old scuffed-up screen came to life when I thumbed the power control, and I found myself staring at the same stuff I'd been looking at last night. And almost every other night for the past half year. My only possible ticket off this rock. My only chance at maybe finding a better life for myself.

Imperium recruitment files, for both the Navy and the Marines. Either option sounded interesting, they both had their advantages. Except I knew there'd be plenty of disadvantages too.

With the Marines I'd learn to shoot guns, and maybe even get a chance to fly ships. I was confident I had the smarts, I could probably even apply directly to officer school once I passed their tests. According to the recruitment files the pay was pretty good, and there were loads of potential signing bonuses too. Best of all, their minimum commitment was only five years.

The main problem was, every single war vid I'd seen depicted Marines as brutal thugs who liked to shout and fight all the time. And that was a real turn-off for me. I honestly wasn't sure I could handle a bunch of ignorant assholes yelling at me all day long. And if I couldn't get through basic training I'd never make it to officers school. Then I'd lose all the bonuses and everything else.

Which left option two, the Navy. Learn to fly ships, and maybe shoot guns. Once again I was confident I could get into flight school. Five years ago my brother was looking at either that or med school. He picked the second option since it paid better, but between those choices I'd rather fly ships. Anyways the point was if he could do it then I knew I could too. Heck if I went into the Navy maybe someday I'd even get the chance to see him again.

On the other hand pay was a lot more variable in the Navy, and it started out lower than the base pay for a combat marine. The bonuses weren't as good either. And the initial term was six years instead of five. But if entertainment vids were anything to go by, which I knew they weren't, then Navy basic training probably involved a lot less being shouted at by angry idiots.

Honestly I probably wasn't cut out for military life regardless of the service. Hell I wasn't even sure if I'd cut it on a civilian ship. Not unless I found the right one, with the right kind of captain and crew. I knew I wasn't the easiest person in the galaxy to get along with at times. I couldn't even count the number of times I'd been told in no uncertain terms to keep my ideas or my opinions to myself.

In truth it was all moot anyways.

There was pretty much zero chance of me raising enough money for flight school, which eliminated the civilian option. And unless the Navy found my brother safe and sound there was no way in the galaxy my parents would let me enlist. Hell even if he turned up alive and well on our doorstep tonight our folks might still forbid it, after all the stress and heartache of the past few days.

"Fuck," I sighed to myself. "I just want off this rock."

I ended up wasting the rest of my afternoon daydreaming about a better, more exciting life, while I looked up other worlds on my little pad. Right up until mom called me to come help her and Kayla get things ready for dinner. Then it was back to the usual routine, same dusty old boring life on this dusty old boring world.

An hour or so later the whole family was gathered around the kitchen table. Dinner was a thick hearty stew and fresh-baked bread, while the conversation was just as predictable. Dad and Luke talked about the harvester and how long it would take them to replace the modulators. Zack and Aiden griped about all the damaged fencing they found after that last storm. And Kayla wouldn't shut up about her wedding plans and how her fiancée was working hard to get their new home ready for the two of them.

That lasted right up until it was almost time to start clearing the table. Then the comm-tainment unit chimed with another new message, and the whole family went silent while dad got up to check the screen.

"Is it news?" mom asked nervously. "Have they found my boy?"

After a pause dad frowned, "It's from something called Vesfar Urox PTY. They're not even here on Kaitor-7, it's someplace called Cavendish Station."

"It says it's for Nyssa," he added as he turned around to look at me. "Who all do you know off-world?"

I shook my head as I got to my feet and moved to get a closer look at the message meta-data. "It's not from Cavendish Station, that's just a routing point. It was originally sent from..."

"It's from a planet called Regulon-2. That's in the Gorath Sector!" I gasped as I looked at the others. They knew as well as I did that's where the Hammersmith was lost. Which meant this had to be about my brother.

"Well go on Nyssa, what's it say?" Aiden prompted me.

"It's a vid," I replied as I opened it up and started it playing.

All seven of us ended up staring in surprise, because the figure on the screen wasn't some Navy officer. And it definitely wasn't my brother either.

Instead we found ourselves looking at a hot young girl who couldn't have been more than eighteen years old. Her orange-red hair hung down to around her shoulders, and framed a very pretty face. Oddly enough her eyes were amber-coloured with vertical pupils, but the most remarkable thing about her was her ears. They looked like something from a real-life fox, poking up out of the hair on top of her head like a pair of cute fuzzy triangles.

"What the hell -" dad started to say, before the cute girl on the screen started talking.

And the first words out of her mouth set my heart racing as she began, "Hello Nyssa. My name's Amanda Voss. I know you're probably wondering who I am and why I've reached out to you, but you can probably guess by the last name that we're related?"

"Anyways I wanted to contact you because you've probably received some upsetting news recently," she continued. "I'm really sorry about that, I hope you and the rest of the family aren't too hurt."

The hot-as foxgirl hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, tragic news aside things aren't as bad as it might seem. I doubt I'll ever get the chance to come visit, but I wanted to let you know that things are ok. My life's so much better now. I'd even say it's almost perfect?"

"I've got some really good friends here," she added with a wide happy smile. "I even have a girlfriend now! Her name's Sarah Holloway...actually let me show you a picture!"

A moment later my heart skipped a beat when she held up a familiar datapad. As soon as I saw it I knew without a doubt it was the one we gave my brother, as a going-away present when he joined the Navy. On the screen was a picture of that same foxgirl along with a cute young blonde. The pair were hugging and smiling like they were obviously in love.

Then Amanda started talking again, "Anyways Sarah and I are really happy. We've signed on with a civilian ship out here, and we're doing pretty well. I'm kind of running out of things to say, sorry Nyssa. Oh! Did you know our family name means 'fox'? I'm sure you've already noticed the ears, check this out!"

"No fucking way!" I exclaimed as the foxgirl pulled a big fluffy tail up into view from behind her.

"Nyssa! Language!" mom scolded me.

I ignored her though, I was almost completely captivated by the foxgirl on the screen in front of me. And the realization of what she was saying, how she knew me, and why she was telling me all this stuff.

Amanda had a huge grin on her face as she explained, "Yeah it's real! I'm a foxgirl! Didn't plan on that, but I'm so happy things worked out this way, you wouldn't believe it!"

"Um," she hesitated there, "I can't actually tell you how it happened. But it's real and it's amazing!"

Finally her expression shifted to a frown and she sighed, "I miss you sis, I'm sorry things turned out the way they did. Sorry about the bad news. I want you to know that I'm ok though. And I've been thinking about you and the rest of the family. I suppose that's it? You don't need to reply, it's probably expensive getting a message back this way. If you want to write back that's fine. Our work has us travelling around though, so I might not be back on this world for a while."

"So yeah," she nodded to herself. "I hope you're well, I hope mom and dad are ok. And Zach and Aiden and Kayla and Luke. Take care of yourself Nyssa. I hope you have a good life. Goodbye, from Amanda."

She smiled once more, then the vid came to an end. And I just stood there staring at the screen with my heart racing and a wide happy smile on my face. It was impossible and crazy and I had no idea how she did it, but I had no doubt in the world that was my favourite b-- my favourite sister! Her name was Amanda, and she was a foxgirl!

"Well I don't know what the hell that's all about," dad suddenly grumped as he tapped the comm screen to close the vid file, "But I don't want any you trying to contact that stranger. There's no fox people in this family."

"So just put that nonsense out of your heads," he added as he tapped the 'message delete' button.