DIAMOND 23

Lt. Ceeleah Tegallion on the Naorhy Imperial Space Navy moved slowly as she stretched. She had long ago learned to be careful of her movements in the zero gravity of Systems Station Diamond 23's environment. Awake now, the young lynx carefully unlatched the webbing trapping her in the shared sleeping area, slipping out of her shared bed. There was no need to wake Suulea yet, duty time wasn't for another hour and it was her turn to fix breakfast. Grabbing her coverall style uniform, then resealing the worn webbing she quietly slipped out of the chamber, leaving its pressure hatch open slightly. The eventual scent of breakfast would wake her partner faster than anything else.

The young Naorhy officer yawned as she pulled herself up to the monitoring bridge. "Godds I wish they would put artificial gravity into these stations" she muttered as she moved. But she already knew that the power requirements for such a luxury were much too high for a little systems sensor station to supply. 'Ah well, its only for another three and a half months' she reminded herself. Carefully she slid into her station, pulling down the straps that kept her from floating away. 'Just a quick scan, then breakfast' she decided.

Several hours later she was snapped out of her studies by Suulea's playful nip at her ears. "hummm... What's up lover, forget breakfast?" the other asked.

Ceeleah slumped, as much as one could when there was no gravity to pull ones body down. "I'm sorry" she replied, "But we have a problem, a bad one." Suulea slid around her into her seat with much less effort than her companion ever could. Ceeleah admired the way the other lynx moved, making her natural supple body act like water. It was what had attracted her in the beginning.

"What's the problem" Suulea asked, slipping her straps on as she brought her own station on-line.

Ceeleah transferred her data to Suulea's station. "The comet we found last month, the one they named after us."

Suulea studied the numbers, rapidly digesting the data. "So" she said, "It seems SuuCee passed closer to Kervell than we expected, new course. What's the real problem?"

Ceeleah sighed, pushing away from her controls. "Its new course, well, it sends it right through our space. In fact, it puts it on a collision course with Diamond twenty-three."

Suulea jerked up like a puppet on strings, turning to her companion. "How close" she demanded, disbelief in her voice.

Cheeleah rubbed her head. "Almost dead center, and forget the life pods. If we launched five hours ago we would have made it. Now the Ky field makes it impossible."

The other lynx slumped slightly, remembering her studies from years ago. “Ky field, ky field" she searched, "Oh yeah, the rubble cloud that builds around a comet as it gets older. What about rescue?"

"Heavy freighter MYSTIC GODDESS is seven hours out" Cheeleah answered. "She's coming as fast as her old engines can push her, but she can't make it in time. I project that the comet will impact this station twelve minutes before she gets in gate range."

Suulea released her straps, floating out of the chair she had sat in for almost a year now. "Twelve minutes" she mummered, "So close” the lynx repeated. “Anyone else?"

Cheeleah looked up into her lovers eyes, "No, no one. TERRIES DREAM is coming at full thrust, but she's still going to be seventeen minutes behind the Goddess, and she has a male aboard. The closest military vessel is a day out, unless they jump, you know just what that would mean."

Suulea pulled herself over to the engineering station, "Uh-huh" she answered over her shoulder. "Those women can forget ever having children if they pull a jump this close to Kervell. Its gravity well would pop a radiation flux big enough to insure that, if not kill half of them outright. I hope you told them no."

Cheeleah laughed softly. "I told them if they do that, we'll self destruct. It was the only way to stop them, Captain Kooleah is a member of my Clan." She sighed, "Well, other than setting the sensors to feed our scientists, shall we have a last meal?"

Suulea laughed, lowering her eyes and smiling to her friend. "Sure, but its still your turn to cook" she answered.

Twenty minutes to impact. Both women sat at their station, both in full uniform for the first time since they had arrived to replace the previous team. Without a word Suulea dimmed the lights a little more, using just that much less power. Before them their comet filled their screens. "That's the last of the power we can afford" she reported. "We're on minimal life support, maximum facing shields."

Cheeleah sucked her Keelef from its collapsing pressure container beforre talking. “Dropped the aft shield?" she asked.

"Uh-huh" Suulea replied. "We'd already be holed by this Ky field if I hadn't. There's some pretty big stuff out there." She smiled, reaching out to take Cheeleah's free hand. "You know, its a good way to die, with someone you love." She winked at the woman she loved so much. "Remember me in the next life, will you?"

Cheeleah smiled, tears matting her fur. "Always" she answered.

Abruptly the radio crackled to life. "Diamond 23, Diamond 23, this is private yacht TERRIES DREAM. Do you read Diamond 23?"

Suulea pulled the microphone over, expecting a request for last words. "This is Diamond 23, Lt. Suulea Tavel.." she paused, looking over to Cheeleah, then continued. "This is Lt. Suulea Tegallion speaking. What can I do for you" she answered.

"This is Elleath Torkal, Owner aboard. We will be intercepting you in two minutes. Move to your gate room and be ready to drop all shields for a high speed transfer." There was a pause, they could hear the whine of overloaded engines in the background. "There's only going to be one pass kids, then its glory time, stand-by for the count."

"Oh my Godd" said a shocked Cheeleah, "Torkal is a male, and he's taking this kind of a risk just for us?" She almost stopped breathing for a moment until Suulea giggled.

"I just declared us mates for life to a Royal male, it doesn't get any more legal than that." She laughed, "Who would have thought a male had the claws to take this kind of risk?" Both women laughed, they had one chance, but one more than they had minutes before. Both turned to look one last time at the approaching comet, then made their way to the single chamber safe enough for high speed transfer.

Aboard TERRIES DREAM engines screamed in their pain while bulkheads rattled like loose glass in a gale. Smoke and the smell of overheated equipment filled the small ship. Dreams entire crew were in spacesuits, as the ships air was no longer breathable. Had not been for almost an hour. Commands were short, mistakes none. The private Naorhy ship was rapidly approached the small station, and the comet that was rolling down on the two women aboard like a mountain against a tiny village. Power flickered as overloaded shields reflected near light speed lumps of rock.

TERRIES DREAM was dying.

Watching the single monitor in the gate chamber Suulea gasped as she spotted twin flickers of silver drop away from MYSTIC GODDESS, rolling away from the heavy hauler to fall towards the monster planet below. "By my father" she exclaimed. "They just dropped her cargo pods."

Cheeleah spun to check her the monitor herself. "Oh no, no, no" she whispered as she read a side screen. "TERRIES DREAM is going into drive failure. She's not going to be able to turn."

Suulea rechecked the scrolling tracks, duplicating information from the command deck eighty feet away. "I've got it" she decided. "DREAM is going to scream by us at near light speed, then GODDESS is going to try to match long enough to pull us all off." She looked at her lover, the lynx’s eyes now as wide as saucers. "If this works..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "If this works we all make history."

Cheeleah groaned. "And if it doesn't we make the biggest light show this side of a jump implosion" she replied. Both women looked out the single viewport at the flashes indicating shield hits. "Well" started Cheeleah, "There's never been a better way to die than with brave and honorable shield-mates."

TERRIES DREAM screamed in, her gate emitters hunting for lock on the stations own systems. Instants before they located their prey the stations shields fell. Lock made, TERRIES DREAM screamed by at near light speed, plucking its targets from the doomed station seconds before her own engines flashed into nothingness. Powerless, the private ship now followed an interstellar path to nowhere. Now ahead of her the heavy freighter MYSTIC GODDESS struggled under rarely used military overload to match the smaller ship. Able to keep up with the best warship in the Naorhys fleet, she was already outclassed as the smaller TERRIES DREAM had reached non-jump speeds that had only been dreamed of.

Aboard Terries Dream crewfem struggled to help the two rescued women into life-suits before the poisonous atmosphere killed them. Their crippled ship shuddered with near lightspeed impacts by small stones, her own shields gone with her engines. Ahead lay only empty space, their only hope an old freighter retired from the jump paths, her people old and tired. Meanwhile TERRIES DREAM reached for the stars.

Aboard the MYSTIC GODDESS though engines rumbled, no screams of overload were to be heard. Built to haul mega-tonns of dead weight from star to star, the ship had power to spare. Still, without jump she couldn't match the oncoming ships speed for more than seconds. Her Captain finally made her decision. "Drop all facing shields" she commanded. "Get them all, or blow this ship trying."

Both ships closed, looking like streaks of light in a fog as they plowed through the comets tail. As TERRIES DREAM approached, fingers of forces reached, searching, finding, acting. Then the ships parted, MYSTIC GODDESS turning slowly towards the nearest repair base, a battered TERRIES DREAM for the stars.

Eventually Cheeleah opened her eyes, still sick from two impossible rescues. In her arms Suulea moaned, laying still in the charred lifesuit. Both lynx’s knew that there was no way they should still be alive. Yet they were, and they were still together. Then a sound of heavy boots behind her caused her to look up. Look up into the eyes of the first male she had seen since childhood. In awe she watched his approach, his space armor cracked and still smoking slightly.

"Well" the grey furred male admitted. "You two sure know how to ruin breakfast. Don’t you."