The fusion core came up on the first try, luckily. Only 42% left in the banks, not enough for a second attempt.

No matter, they had full power now. She ramped up the 4D collision system to its maximum range because there was no traffic monitoring without docking control. She received pings from eight ships, more had escaped from the station than she had thought. Two were shuttles that had already begun their descent to the planet. Four other ships were in various stages of running towards the jump window to the nearest human system. Only one was heading for the Fallerian jump window, probably an independent ship. The last ship was drifting with its transponder actively broadcasting a low-level distress code, 'Request assistance'.

Now, with full power and more acceleration than any other crewed ship in the system, she dared to break the radio silence. She switched to the emergency channel. "Transponder 137429, state your emergency!"

"Thank Hopkins! Our core has failed to start, banks are down to 10%, remaining delta-v is too low to return to the station. Our orbit is stable, life support is working. No immediate danger."

"How many are on board?"

"104, all Samul. Your voice, it was you who allowed the ships to leave. Thank you, we are all very grateful for this chance."

She swallowed, not sure what to say. "Anyone would do it."

"245788, but you did. Thank you." "Yes, thanks from me too." "Yes, you saved a lot of cats." Only the two shuttles had responded. The other ships remained silent and increased their delta v for the jump, not wanting to give away their transponder code. However, whoever held now the power on the station could easily find out their code from the logs.

Only one shuttle dared to reply to the powerless ship with its full name. " 137429, this is the shuttle Kerta Samul. We will return with a charged power bank as soon as possible. We are currently 32 people on a shuttle designed for 10. Our life support is currently running on emergency oxygen cylinders. We may be able to get the third shuttle up in a day. Can you hold out?"

"Yes, life support will be good for a few days. Water is scarce and there is no food. Please hurry."

The voice changed. "This is Yakka of Kerta from Samul. Be assured that we will try everything."

"Thank you, we are counting on you."

Now that she knew which ship was Yakka's shuttle, she switched to an encrypted channel, as she still had the keys from Trina. 'Yakka, this is Rerra, your ex-cousin. Kerta is dead. Trina is with me but in shock. You can use Trina's key,' she sent, turning on Trina's pad and connecting it to the communications panel.

The plasma wake trail from the upper atmosphere started to form behind the shuttle as the reply came in. 'Thank you for getting us out of here, and please, Rerra, take care of my little sister. I look forward to seeing you both again. We will enter a communications blackout soon. Take care.'

'Take care,' she sent and 'thank you for helping the other ship. She was not sure if they would receive her message as the orange plasma already engulfed the shuttle diving into the planet's atmosphere.

Time to leave for Fallerian. After a quick course correction, the White Ocelot was pointing towards the Fallerian jump window. A faint white star marked the exhaust plume of the only other ship heading for Fallerian. Still, she hesitated to leave the vicinity of the station and the stranded ship. What would happen if there was fighting on the planet? If they could not send up a shuttle soon? But her options were limited. She only had the normal docking port, and so did the other ship. They would need a mating adapter. She could not vent the cockpit to space to extend a power cable to the other ship, as Fanny did not have a spacesuit. Theoretically, she could balance the other ship on her nose and push it towards the station.

Her thoughts were distracted by a transition flash. Not from the ship ahead, that was still speeding towards the jump window. Hence, a new arrival, quite close to the station. She waited for the transponder code, as this ship could not know about the coup and would expect standard flight control procedures.

Then the transponder code came, even with a name, Silent Samul. That was Penny! She set her radio on a narrow beam and transmitted to Penny's estimated location. "Penny, there has been a coup. Do not go to the station."

Almost immediately her radio went live, emergency channel. "Rerra, I saw your transponder. What happened? Why is there no response from flight control?" Due to the distance, their messages had crossed and Penny had not yet received her first message. Even if the delay was only 0012 as Penny had come out near the station. Well, she knew this part of space very well.

"I repeat, the station has been taken over by a Ketcher tribe, Torragh. There may still be fighting. Heavily modded cats are running around, murdering all high-tiers whether Ketcher or Samul. How is your fuel?"

"Rerra, good to hear you. But by Hopkins." There was a short silence. "Fuel is down to 100 km/s delta. Definitely not jumping on."

"Penny, can you rendezvous with transponder 137429? Their core has failed to start."

Penny switched to the emergency channel. "Calling 1137429 for Silent Samul. What maker is your ship?"

"Hello Silent Samul. The ship is from Tapioka Industries, hull number 7442, name Kerento Samul. Please, there are 104 on board."

"Kerento Samul, your ship is not suitable for interstellar travel, it was downgraded to intersystem seven years ago. Is that correct?"

"Silent Samul, yes, correct. We de-docked on auxiliary power but were unable to restart the single operational core."

"My ship is rated for re-entry and has ship-to-ship docking but without power transfer capabilities. How long can you maintain life support?"

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"Life support is not the limit, orbit is stable, but little water and no food."

"Kerento Samul, hang in there. I will work out a docking trajectory with my remaining fuel. I suggest a rendezvous and then transfer everyone. I have a large cargo hold and we can go for re-entry. Estimate rendezvous at 5000 or so."

"Thank Hopkins, we will await you."

She called Penny encrypted. "Can you really do a re-entry?"

"The ship's AI suggested a planetfall, so it should be able to do that. Well, I trained that on the simulator too, even though I never thought I would ever do it."

"Now that I know you will help them, I will leave with Trina to Fallerian."

"Rerra, then this is our farewell. I doubt they will let me fly again, even if I save 104 of Samul. The Silent Samul might be the only interstellar ship with off-planet capabilities on the planet. They won't let me take off. No, I will have to retire on the planet. I hope my bones are still strong enough after all those years in the shipyard.

"Oh, Penny, I am so sorry!"

"No, don't worry about this old cat. At least, I will end my career with a bang, two interstellar jumps, the rescue of 104 souls and a re-entry. Not bad. Sometimes life leaves us no choices. Send me an occasional message and never come back. There has nothing ever going here for space cats."

"Penny, no, I am so grateful."

"Rerra, I have to start the microjumps to bleed off delta V now. Take care."

And her transponder ID vanished for a moment, only to reappear in a planet trailing orbit just to flicker out again.

She sighed and ramped up the engines, accelerating towards the Fallerian jump window. Then she took out the box with the pre-timed patches. She stuck 2.5 in Fanny's and Trina's ears, knocking her sleeping passengers out for the next two and half days, maybe a little longer since Fanny and Trina were both rather on the smaller size. Now she sat back and waited for the speed to build up. With one eye she looked at Penny's progress and otherwise started to sort through the data dump. But when the main drive had reached 1.9 g, the shaking was too much for reading. Did not dare to accelerate much more, fearing to shake Trina to pieces from the unstable thrust. Even with this, they would arrive way before the other ship.

* * *

They were on their final approach to Fallerian V. After being fined the last time when she had approached a Fallerian station, she flew extra cautiously, exactly on the course she had been given. Fanny was still knocked out in the copilot's seat by the patch, as was Trina in the tiny luggage hold. She never thought her next flight would be like this, an escape. She had slept poorly during the time in 4D, still too shaken by what had happened back at the station. And she was worrying about her Petra clan. But first, getting Trina and Fanny to safety.

She peeled Fanny's patches from the insides near the tip of her ear. With them came the short hair that had grown back since their last journey. Fanny stirred.

"Good morning. We are approaching the Fallerian V station and will be docking soon." She gestured to the windows, which showed only a small part of the huge station. One could even see the guiding lights flashing at the docking port if one knew where to look.

"Oh, good morning." Fanny blinked several times, then stretched as little as the harness would allow. "Ouch, I was hoping for a more comfortable pilot's seat."

She grinned, " Yes, wait for the bruises around your tailbone. But here we are."

"You've robbed me of the stars again," Fanny sighed.

"Sorry, not on purpose. So what's next?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should start a career in adult entertainment. I certainly have the body, thanks to being Ketcher." She grinned and pushed out her breasts then sighed again. "I have no idea if even the Ketcher clan will have any power after this. If so, I would return to the planet."

Of course, Fanny was right on both counts. Still, she shivered. "No need to be so pessimistic. There is a large independent community as well as a Samul representative on this station. I think Trina would vouch for you."

"Well, what are her plans?"

"She's still under the patch. Let her be until we dock. Just 0014 now."

The station called her for final docking confirmation.

The docking warning sounded and with a slight jerk, the clamps locked in place. She shut down the systems, wincing at the vibration of the third coolant pump as it shut down, she had apparently messed up that replacement job. "Fallerian, here CAT076A White Ocelot, entering warm standby."

"Acknowledged, handling to docking agent. Thank you for the contract."

With a final whump directly behind them, they were on station power. She left the superconductor cooling running, just in case.

"Let's wake Trina." She stood up and opened the cargo net, then peeled the three patches for the two and a half days from Trina's ear. As Trina had never jumped a lot of fur came with the patches but no blood.

Then she helped Fanny again, who was struggling with the toilet belt. "Sorry for undressing you in your sleep. But this is a toilet belt as we have no real toilet here. Sorry." She was ashamed of her White Ocelot once more.

"Nothing happened," Fanny shrugged. "Ouch," she winced again as she put on her briefs. "Why does my tail hurt so much?"

"You've been out for more than two days, lying on your tailbone while the main drive shook the ship badly."

"You'll have to work on that if you want repeat passengers. Beyond me, of course, I'm really glad you got me out and will always prefer to fly with you."

She blushed and turned back to Trina.

Fanny was still massaging her tail. "I could be well dead instead of just a hurting tail."

She blushed even harder below her fur.

Trina lifted her head.

"Hello Trina, we're on Fallerian V."

"What?"

"The murderer even came to the shipyard, so I jumped with Fanny Ketcher and you to Fallerian V. There is a Samul representative here."

"Uh, oh. No. Is Kerta?"

"Yes, Kerta is dead and Yakka made it to the shuttle to the planet. Penny is also on the planet, the ship she picked up was re-entry capable."

"Damn."

"Sorry, nothing you could do about it. So you will contact Samul here?"

"Why am I wearing a thinsuit?" Trina was still under the after-effect of the patch.

"You flew in the luggage hold and my ship has no toilet."

"Oh!" Trina shook her head. "Sorry, Ok, let's get to Samul then. Oh, and hello Fanny from Ketcher, nice to meet you. Trina from Samul at your service." Trina stood and then bowed.

She handed Trina her clothes and then turned around to let her get out of the thinsuit. Soon they were standing on the Fallerian station, Trina and Fanny in their normal clothes and she in her gym uniform from Clarice. Well, the Fallerians wore no clothing beyond some ribbons, so hopefully her gym uniform did not matter to them. With the humid heat, it was even a somewhat sensible clothing.

A docking officer was waiting for them, an almost perfect half-spherical yellow beetle with brown-yellow striped legs. "Greetings, Officer," she spoke in Fallerian, "I is pilot. They is passion." She handed him her pad with the ID.

"Your ID," she whispered to Trina and Fanny.

The beetle showed no emotion, at least none that she could see. But its voice sounded amused. "Greetings, educated cat. Welcome to Fallerian. You mean they are your passengers?"

And she had been so sure of her pronunciation. "Sorry, officer, yes, passengers."

Trina and Fanny both switched on their pads and the officer scanned their IDs.

"900 for three cats for the day and 500 for the docking port, please," the officer replied in perfect standard.

She gave in and switched to standard too. "Can I make an upfront payment for a quicker departure?"

"As you wish."

She paid the 900 for the three of them and the 100 for the ship upfront, as neither Trina nor Fanny had an offline wallet on their pad. Not much more and she was broke again.

"Doing business with you is a pleasure," the officer concluded the transaction in Fallerian. Then the beetle turned and disappeared into a low hatch near the docking port in the official tunnel system.