Printer-friendly version

The Return of Hope

By Prudence Walker

After refreshing my psyche in the desert north of Las Vegas, I returned to Tryst, filled with a renewed sense of purpose. I wanted to take him on a tour to some of the places I’d seen on my first visit.

My presence wasn’t in so much demand now, as people made up their own minds on what they wanted to do. Like myself, everyone had been provided with a memory dump, courtesy of Gaia. This was essential to help people cope with living with relatively primitive Earth conditions when compared with those of habitat life.

I now had time to think. Unfortunately, that meant my thoughts turned to the loss of Puda, who had been my constant companion and saviour aboard my ship the Hope.

I knew that Thomas, the ex-President would remain in Las Vegas until the last, guiding the remaining people to their final destination, his sense of responsibility having not ended with the end of his Presidency. This fact helped make up my mind to leave as soon as possible.

There was still one thing I felt uneasy about. The alien fleet was still out there, putting a dampener on our celebrations. Just because we were safe at the moment, didn’t mean we would be safe forever. I wasn’t one to just run away and hide my head in some far away location. I felt I needed to be doing something, even if it meant losing Tryst.

After a few days trying to decide where to go to first, I felt like taking a break. Leaving Tryst shopping for some fishing gear, I took a ride back to where our fleet had landed. I was surprised to see the vast area empty of everything, bar a few marks on the ground. Only the platform where I’d made my speech remained. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. If Gaia was capable of rebuilding the planet like she had, she could easily remove the space craft to wherever she wanted.

I went over and sat on the platform, wondering if the ships were now scrap, or just stored someplace else. I felt kind of sad, so I decided to return to Las Vegas.

As I stood up and turned to climb down, Gaia’s resonant voice spoke from the platforms speakers, almost making me stumble in surprise.

“Araya, why are you here?”

After a pause, I replied, “I don’t really know. I guess I feel that the alien threat still needs dealing with.”

“Anything else?”

“I feel sad that I couldn’t save Puda,” I admitted sadly.

Gaia’s reply, “You did save her,” sent my heart pumping.

“Puda’s alive?” I asked, thinking I’d misheard her.

“Yes, what you did was foolhardy and put your own life at risk. Yet you did it without regard for your own safety for something, most wouldn’t call life. Can you tell me why you went to the brink of death to save a bioelectric jumble of synapses?” Inquired Gaia gently.

“To me, she was my friend … no it goes deeper than that. She was family! I just couldn’t leave her to die,” I got out, feeling tears forming.

“She didn’t die, thanks to your bravery. It was close, but the repairs you did on the bridge prior to that, allowed her in turn to save you.”

“So, I did hear her voice?”

“Once the main power was restored, she was able to shut the airlocks surrounding your position and pressurize the area enough to ensure your survival. She did try to call to you, but her audio unit failed due to a short circuit,” Gaia explained.

“Where is she now?” I responded, urgently needing to know. And when can I meet her?”

“She is on a shake down cruise of the new Hope at the moment. She could be here in oh … about 2 minutes.” Gaia laughed.

“In the new Hope?” I asked curiously, wondering what was going on.

“Yes, the new Hope is much bigger than the old Hope. It has the latest innovations in offensive and defensive weapons.”

“Bigger? How can you have made it so quickly?” I gasped trying to get my head around the idea.

“It was started not long after you departed Earth, and with the analysis of the alien’s weaponry from the data stream of your encounter as you left to go back, I think we have a solution. As for the size, see for yourself,” Gaia finished.

I looked up as a shadow came over me. All I saw was a huge ball of darkness in the sky, blocking out the sun. Scale was hard to make out, until it got closer and closer, becoming ever more gigantic with each passing second. I was almost afraid of being crushed, as it descended vertically almost directly overhead.

As I watched, it stopped just out of reach. Then a hatch opened as it hovered, and a ramp slid out to the ground.

Then I heard a voice I’d feared was ever stilled. “Welcome aboard Captain,” Puda chuckled.

“Puda!” I yelled, racing for the ramp. As I boarded, a series of shrill whistles piped me aboard the ship. Inside, I paused, not knowing which direction to head. I needn’t have worried, as Puda’s holographic form appeared before me. I ran forward and tried to hug her, but ended up running straight through her immaterial form.

I heard her laugh as I turned, only to find myself in a hug, as she firmed up her form. “Got you,” she giggled, sounding more like a meddlesome child than ever.

“No, I got you,” I refuted, squeezing her form back.

“You like?” Puda asked, waving her hand at our surroundings.

“It’s huge, I still can’t estimate its size,” I laughed.

“Hope 3 is about 3000 feet in diameter, with a main hull of Cobaltstantium nearly ten feet thick. There is an ablative armour outside of that, of a new refractory ceramic, about four feet thick, with another property we think will help.”

“Oh, wow!” I gasped, too shocked to say more, as the statistics gradually sank in.

“That’s not the best bit,” crowed Puda, seemingly unfazed by it all.

“Puda, thank you for saving me back there.” I sobered, feeling a need to get that off my chest.

“Well, I consider us even; after all, you saved me first. That’s something I will never understand, why would you risk your life for me, when Gaia could have easily rebuilt me from scratch.”

She was right in a way. Gaia certainly seemed more than capable of doing just that, given this ship as an example. I knew at the time that I wanted to save the Puda I knew, not a re-creation, no matter how similar it might end up as.

“I was saving you, not some copy Gaia might have produced. To many, you might just be an AI, but to me, you are family. One doesn’t abandon family,” I stated with feeling.

Puda was silent for a moment, which I took to mean she was surprised. Her holographic image hardened as she hugged me.

“Come on, show me the ship,” I urged, breaking the hug, before I let my emotions overwhelm me.

Everything was huge. Instead of four Mag 10 engines, the new Hope had twelve Mag 15’s, an unheard of size. The engines were located at the widest girth of the ship. Besides propulsion, the engines powered the new force field generators that acted as tractor and pusher beams. This would help in vector changes within the solar system, by using the planets and anything else with enough mass to counter the momentum the Hope generated. Puda stopped for a moment to show me the living quarters where the appointments were even more luxurious than the last Hope.

Finally reaching the bridge, I saw that there were still command chairs. I had thought they might not be needed on this new ship, seeing all the other improvements.

“Check these out,” Puda gushed, moving over to the chairs.

I went closer. They were certainly different from the front, more like pods than chairs. I looked through the clear visor-like window in the lid, seeing the seat inside.

“These are high-g seats,” announced Puda proudly, opening one for my inspection. “Fully self contained and vac-proof with its own independent environmental systems, so no need to be suited up,” she added.

The lid hinged on one side like a shell, revealing a form fitting gel padded interior. All the controls were there, plus a few more I took to be weapon controls.

“Seems a bit excessive,” I muttered, pressing on the gel padding.

“Well, if in the unlikely case of null gee failure, you can still survive the stresses of extreme gee maneuvers.”

“Looks like a cocoon,” I mused, getting in it and looking for the belts.

“There are no belts, Araya.” Puda informed me, preempting my next question. “The lid padding prevents your body from moving about, while still allowing you hand control.”

“How fast does she go?” I asked curiously.

“Point nine five light.”

“Oh crap! Look at the time! I left Tryst shopping back in Vegas,” I cried, having not noticed the passing time.

“We can be there in a minute,” claimed Puda calmly.

“Please,” I urged.

“Close the pod,” Puda advised.

I closed the pod, feeling it close gently against my body and found that the clear window in the lid was now a vision screen from the inside. On it, I could see a view of the ground passing below the ship.

“Puda?” I questioned, more for some reassurance that she was in control.

“Yes Araya?” Her voice sounded close in the command pod.

“Where are we?” I asked, not having seen the route to Vegas from the air.

Immediately, an inset appeared in one corner of the screen, showing the ground terrain at a lower magnification. This allowed me to see the city we were headed for and a moving red blip which represented the Hope’s position. I let Puda fly the Hope, content to watch until I could learn how to pilot it myself.

As we neared the city, Puda took us lower, and I saw people looking up at us in shock at our vast size. Some started to panic and run to the nearest building; obviously thinking we might be one of the alien fleet.

“Puda! We are scaring them! We need to tell them who we are,” I warned, fearing someone would get hurt in the panic.

“On it.”

I kept watching the ground and noticed that the people stopped running and started waving, and jumping up and down.

“What did you do?” I asked, seeing no reason for the change in mood.

“Oh sorry, watch this feed from Gaia,” Puda apologised, switching the view on my screen.

The video feed I was seeing must have been from somewhere on the streets of Las Vegas. It showed the huge silver grey craft hovering above, but on the underside was emblazoned in lights the word … HOPE 3.

“How am I going to get down? You can’t land here,” I put to Puda.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

“Implicitly,” I retorted with a snort.

“Go to the turbo lift,” I heard a hint of a smile in her voice, and wondered what she was up to.

Opening the pod, I made my way to the lift, and I stepped into it with a sense of wariness, knowing Puda. I wasn’t scared, I trusted her with my life, but she wasn’t above pushing my buttons for a reaction.

As I stepped into the floorless void, I looked down the shaft. Instead of darkness, I saw the bottom was open, and I could see the street some hundred feet below the ship. Suddenly, I felt myself falling, it wasn’t exactly free fall, but it just felt like it. I fell right out of the ship, but although one part of my brain wanted to scream in fear, another more logical part held fast, as I could feel no wind rushing past, as if I was supported by the energy field used in the turbo lift.

By the time I reached the ground, Puda had slowed my descent, allowing me to land gracefully like one of those mythical superheroes, I’d read about as a child. I looked around at the crowd that had gathered, wondering if Tryst were among them.

“Tryst,” I called out, as the crowd closed on me all filled with questions. I held my hands up, making hushing gestures. Seeing a raised part of the footpath surrounding a drinking fountain, I stepped up on it, still with my hands raised. As the crowd quieted, I could hear a familiar voice, asking to be let through.

“Tryst,” I called again, as I saw him coming through the crowd.

“Araya,” I heard him call back as the crowd parted, allowing him through.

Reaching me, he planted a kiss, the crowd cheering and making encouraging comments.

When I broke it off, I faced the gathered people, one arm around Tryst for support. “As you can see, the Hope is back, bigger and better than before,” I announced. “With it, we hope to eliminate the threat hanging over our ancestral planet.”

I went on to explain a little of Puda’s survival, before asking for a little room. I knew Puda was monitoring me, so I pointed to the cleared space and introduced Puda, who in her holographic form, suddenly appeared at my command.

A cheer went up, as Puda waved to all the people gathered around. “Ready to go?” she asked, as she came and stood next to Tryst and myself.

“Anytime,” I answered, clinging tight to Tryst.

Suddenly, both of us lifted into the air and I heard Tryst gasp as we rose about a hundred feet into the air, before entering the Hope. The next hour was spent showing Tryst around the ship.

In the meantime, Puda was going north to the cabin I’d first stayed in on my first visit. Because there was no space to land the Hope, we both went down the scary ATT, or, Atmospheric Transport Tube, as Puda called it. Puda told us she’d be back the next day, as she still had some tests to do before the Hope could be signed off for active duty.

I didn’t say anything, but it went through my mind, ‘had the ATT been checked out before I used it over Las Vegas, or had it still been untested.’ I pushed the thought away, knowing I’d start feeling paranoid if I dwelt on it.

Tryst was every bit as curious about the cabin and the lake as I’d been. I suggested he catch us dinner, using the new equipment he’d bought. It was funny watching him trying to take on the traditional role of man the breadwinner, or in this case, trout catcher. I sat and watched after explaining how to use the fishing rod. I knew the memory dump would be telling him what each bit was and how it worked, but it didn’t automatically confer the skills to use it.

I felt a bit smug when he took longer to catch our meal than I had, but I didn’t let him suspect that I thought he wasn’t as capable a fisherman as I. Instead, I applauded his efforts, and commiserated when he lost several fish after hooking them. By the time he’d caught the last fish, the first one had expired and didn’t jump about when Tryst attempted to de-head it and clean it. That was one job he could have with pleasure. The second was pretty much gone too, by the time its turn to be gutted came around.

I took on the traditional feminine role, and cooked the meal that Tryst had eventually caught, while he sat back and sampled a can of beer. I decided to try some wine instead, and sipped it while I watched over the fish. Gaia must have known I’d end up here, as she’d had the cabin restocked with a more varied selection, and realized Gaia had been keeping close tabs on me. I’d watched some recorded cooking programs while in our room at Las Vegas, and had learned what a salad was, and now I saw the cabin had the tomatoes, lettuce and other ingredients necessary to build a salad. I did get Tryst to butter the bread rolls I’d noticed in a basket. At least I knew there would be no food allergy problems or the worry of getting sick from overindulgence. Gaia had taken that into consideration and had tweaked the DNA bank that had been in the Hope I’d piloted back to the colonies. She’d seen my reluctance to try eating meat for the first time, with my thoughts of getting sick. The tweak, meant, that the human body could eat a wide variety of foods with little or no adverse effects.

Dinner was a success. Tryst enjoyed his trout immensely, saying it was the best meal yet, but I think it had more to do with the fact that he had caught it himself. I agreed with him, knowing that you can’t beat something cooked fresh and simple. I enjoyed eating tomatoes for the first time, the salty sweet taste complimenting the relatively bland taste of the lettuce. Of course the bread rolls went down like, well, like bread rolls. I watched Tryst eat five to my modest two. Oh well, I knew a certain exercise he could perform later to work those buns off.

Later, when the day’s exercise was over, and we lay together in post orgasmic languor, I brought up the subject of the Hope’s return. I didn’t know if Tryst realised the import of the new and improved ship, or whether he did and was not letting on.

“I have a duty to finish off what I started,” I began, turning on my side towards him.

I watched Tryst turn and face me, his eyes shadowed by the dimmed light behind him. “You’re talking about the aliens, aren’t you?’ he asked quietly.

‘So he did know,’ flashed through my mind. I nodded, not trusting my voice at this point.

Tryst turned on his back and looked up at the ceiling. “As soon as I saw the Hope, I knew you’d be going out there.” He paused, then turned his head and looked at me. “I’m going with you,” he stated.

“NO! I can’t risk you,” I protested. “I love you, and if you’re on board, you’ll be on my thoughts, and your safety might sway a major decision I make at a critical moment.”

“I’m coming,” Tryst argued. “My life would be over anyway if you never came back. If I’m there, you won’t throw your life away needlessly if it comes to the crunch.”

“I couldn’t ask you to risk your life …” I choked out.

“Then don’t, because I’m coming anyway,” Tryst replied, sealing the deal with a kiss.

I had to turn away as tears flooded out. Soon we would both be risking our lives for the defence of all the people on Earth. I considered our lives forfeit, seeing I’d led the remnants of humankind home, to an uncertain future.

~~~~~

We awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking. I looked at Tryst, who was stirring next to me.

“Puda? Is that you?” I called out, as I slipped out of bed.

“Who else knows where you are out in the wilderness?” Chuckled Puda.

“Good point,” I admitted, as I walked into the cooking area pulling my robe about me.

“Pancakes Okay?”

“I don’t know what those are, but judging by the smell I’ll have a double helping,” I agreed.

“Triple helpings for me,” Tryst urged, having followed his nose.

Puda served the pancakes, explaining the various toppings one could choose. I went for the lemon juice and sprinkled sugar, while Tryst, having more pancakes, tried most of them. Maple syrup, golden syrup, lemon and sugar, honey, and even one with jam and whipped cream. Seeing him stuff them away with gusto nearly put me off my own, but I stuck to the lemon and sugar ones, enjoying the acid tang against the flavour of the fluffy pancakes.

At last, it was time to leave this idyllic hideaway. We went outside and drank in the sunshine in the crisp clear air of the morning. I wondered if this might be the last time we experienced this. I looked at Tryst, seeing the same look in his eyes. It was then that I vowed that if it was ever humanly possible, I’d bring us both home safely.

Puda brought the Hope over from behind the tree tops, so that it was now directly overhead. Taking Tryst’s hand in mine, I nodded to Puda, standing next to us. We shot vertically into the Hope, using the ATT, and went directly to the bridge. Immediately, I got to work, checking out the systems in detail, as Puda showed me all the new improvements and what Gaia hoped the new weapon developments would be able to achieve. For hours, I was so deeply involved studying every facet of the offensive and defensive weapon arrays that I closed off all other distractions.

“Araya! ARAYA!” Tryst shouted repeatedly, finally dragging my attention away from refractive indexes, and force field coefficients.

“Oh, hi, Hon,” I answered, shaking my head to try to refocus my thoughts.

“You have been at it for hours. It’s time for a break,” he scolded me.

I nodded, suddenly feeling guilty for ignoring him all this time. I took both of his hands in mine and lifted my face, trying for a kiss. He resisted for all of three seconds before obliging me with a tonsil extraction. We would have stayed lip locked for longer, but my stomach had other ideas and complained loudly.

“I guess it’s mealtime,” I giggled, breaking off the kiss.

“That’s what I was about to tell you.” Tryst huffed indignantly, obviously feeling somewhat miffed that I’d preempted him.

In the galley, he heated something called chicken soup. While we ate, and made small talk, my mind was working on another level, trying to come up with a plan that would see the demise of the alien fleet. A plan that wouldn’t let the same fate happen to us. I was partly aware that Tryst noticed that my mind was busy elsewhere, but he never called me on it. I guess he knew that whatever I was planning, involved our survival in the coming battle.

~~~~~

It was time. The Hope had been waiting just inside the screen protecting the Earth, while I strategized and grew familiar with the Hope’s controls and weapons. Tryst was with me on the second pod while I was in the command pod.

“Have Gaia open a portal, we are going out,” I requested, opening the engine’s thrust plates.

The Hope surged forward and passed the now opened protective force screen. Within seconds, we left the blue sky behind and embraced the blackness of space. My instruments started cataloging the numerous blips of the alien fleet. They were widely scattered around the Earth, not ideal for what I had in mind.

I needed a new plan, so I headed towards the nearest ship within a normally possible vector change. I didn’t want to give any advantage away by revealing the Hope’s true capabilities too soon. I charged up the particle cannon. We closed rapidly, and for the first time I saw a change in their tactics. Instead of advancing on us and attacking, the ship fired a few salvos at us and turned to run.

I guess our sheer physical size had suddenly made them decide to be circumspect. Our particle cannon beam lashed out at them in a lethal frenzy of annihilation, which seared through the hull of the fleeing ship. All that remained of it was a flaming fireball streaking though space, shedding bits of incandescent hull fragments.

Puda announced the next ship’s coordinates. For this target, I had to use the tractor beam to help us change the Hope’s vector quickly. At the same time, Puda fired the self targeting million watt maser beam at our prey. This would jam all transmissions from it and might even destroy some of the more poorly shielded electronics. We didn’t want them warning others of our tractor beam.

The tractor beam, as we had named it, was really more like a force tube energy screen. This tube could envelope a target, and lock it inside an impenetrable wall of energy that could be retracted. The way it was being used at the moment, was to help the Hope and the alien craft to assume a converging vector change. In layman terms, it was as if the alien ship was a ball flying past you and you reached out and caught it in your hand. If the ball (alien ship) has mass, and your arm (the force tube) is locked to your shoulder (the Hope), then your shoulder is pulled towards the ball and vice versa. As the Hope had more mass than the alien ship, the net result was that it was forced to assume the Hope’s velocity and direction.

The alien ship tried everything to wriggle free of the Hope’s grip, jinxing back and forth in vain. It also tried firing down the tube directly at the Hope, using beams and missiles. I let them come, knowing I could alter the way the tube worked. As the beams flashed closer, with the missiles trailing behind, I changed the nature of the tractor beam. Instead of a hollow tube, it became solid, starting at the hull of the Hope and working outward towards the incoming attack. As the beams hit the blocked off tube of force, they rebounded and the energy being reflected back up the tube exploded the missiles. With nowhere to go, but back, the exploding ball of energy took the path of least resistance and continued back up to the tube to impact on the alien ship.

“More of the alien fleet is converging on us,” Puda warned as I watched our captive destroy itself with its own weaponry.

“Good.” I smiled as I shut off the tractor beam and watched something truly amazing happen.

When the ship exploded within its cocoon of force, it had grown hotter and brighter, consuming itself, but without expanding in size, due to the constraints on it by the force field. Once I shut off the force field, the energy suddenly expanded like a mini supernova, leaving not a trace of ship.

I had Puda move the Hope back in the direction of the Earth, as if fearing the advancing fleet gathering against it. I took the time to take a drink of iced coffee from the dispensing straw fitted into the pod.

“You okay over there?” I asked Tryst in the other pod.

“Yes, I’m just nervous,” he replied with a hint of tension in his voice.

“Me too,” I offered, showing him I wasn’t superhuman.

As the ships gathered against us, the Hope came under fire from their weapons. Puda fired back in a desultory fashion, trying several different experimental weapons to test their effectiveness. This was done not to destroy ships per se, although should that happen I wouldn’t be complaining. It was more to be seen to be attacking, without having to use our main weapons.

Some of the weapons we used had marked effects, some had none. It didn’t matter too much as it was all data for Gaia to digest and analyze.

As the alien fleet moved to englobe the Hope, they resorted to using energy weapons alone. I wasn’t sure if this was in case missiles fired at us might be avoided, and could endanger those on the opposite side. In any case, it was what I wanted. Taking a deep breath, I dropped the Hope’s protective energy screen. When the energy output from the alien ships reached the maximum limits of the ceramic composite outer hull, it began to evanesce.

As the surface layers puffed off in a haze of particles, the unique properties of the hull began to come into play. “Energy levels rising,” announced Puda.

“Power storage systems engaged,” I acknowledged, watching the levels climb as the attack against us intensified.

I suddenly realised that Tryst might be terrified at the sight of the hull burning away. “It’s okay Tryst, we are going to use this energy against them. The hull is designed to gather energy directed against it. We lowered the screens so we can gather it. We need more than a million exawatts of energy to power the weapons we intend to deploy. The ceramic composite has a unique property. As it reaches its destructive thermal tolerance, it converts the energy directed against it into power that we can feed into our storage system. We will allow the outer hull to disperse until it’s all gone, hopefully providing us with enough energy to complete our task.”

“I’m glad you told me that,” grumbled Tryst with a relieved voice. “Otherwise I might have been worried,” he added dryly.

“Sorry, I’m not used to having another person on board when things start getting tense.”

“How much storage do we have?” he asked.

“We have one hundred storage units.”

“I didn’t think you could store that kind of power in a battery or accumulator storage system, especially at the rate it’s being fed,” Tryst mused.

I tried explaining, while keeping an eye on the increasing energy levels. “That’s because it isn’t a battery. It’s more like a capacitor, which can absorb vast quantities of energy quickly and discharge it just as quickly.”

“It still sounds impossible to me,” Tryst argued.

“Okay, imagine the storage system as a black hole that can absorb as much energy as it can get and then turn itself into a white hole and eject that same energy.”

“You have a black hole on board?” I heard fear in Tryst’s voice.

“Well, it’s a tame black hole and there’s not one, but a hundred,” I joked. “Actually, they are quantum anomalies that act like black holes,” I reassured him.

Tryst said nothing. By switching some settings on my monitor I could see his face from within his pod. I could still see confusion written there as he tried to take in my haphazard explanation.

I took a breath as I settled into teacher mode. “Okay, let’s try this. The way Puda explained it to me, Gaia found this effect when she was designing the tractor beam. Actually, I’d prefer to call it a force tube, because that’s what it is.

“When we fought the first ship, we sent out a tube of energy that caught it inside. The tube then sealed itself, trapping the ship in a sort of test tube of force. When Gaia was developing this, she tried narrowing the tube down even further, to see what would happen. When narrowed to the point that the inside of the tube was touching itself, it cut off, leaving just a doughnut like ring, except the hole in the center was only on one side of the ring and hardly detectable. When she tried finding out what it was the hole did, she likened it to the event horizon of a black hole, but one only a few nanometers wide. When she tried sending energy into it to see the effects, it absorbed vast quantities, seemingly with ease. Once she stopped filling it, the ring lay dormant, with no sign of where the energy had gone. But when she collapsed the ring, a huge pulse of energy erupted out. Gaia thought it was the equivalent of all the energy poured in, but done in an instant. It destroyed all the equipment in the place where it was being generated, so Gaia could only make an assumption of the energy output, but it should be enough to deal with our friends. Especially as the ones we have are a hundred times the size of the one Gaia was experimenting with.”

“Wow! So where are these rings?” Tryst asked in wonder.

“Think of them as flattened spheres with a hole on one side than a ring. All one hundred are embedded into the surface of the Cobaltstantium hull under the outer ceramic hull. That’s why we can’t use it till the outer hull is burnt off. The ceramic serves two purposes. One, it protects the main hull from damage while the screens are down and two, it’s destruction under fire, generates the power to arm our main weapons.”

“Araya? All units have received the specified charge,” Puda interrupted.

“Keep them charging, till we are ready,” I told her. “Let me know when the ceramic hull is less than 2 inches thick, so we can jettison it cleanly.”

There was one item I’d kept from Tryst, we had a hundred charged weapons, but the scans showed more than a hundred alien ships. I just hoped my backup plan, crazy as it was, would work.

I watched the alien fleet move closer to us, as we had offered no attack against them. I knew it wouldn’t be long before we would start our attack. When the skin was down to 3 inches, I decided it was time. “Check all systems. Inertial dampening on max and prepare for spin attack maneuver. On my mark of ‘Engage,’ blow the outer skin and activate the screen.”

“All systems check complete. Ready for hull dispersal,” Puda intoned immediately.

“Engage,” I ordered. The primary hull was so thick that with the inertial damping on full, it was impossible to feel the outer ceramic hull breaking off. Only the screens showed the shards floating off into space. Now, only the screens protected the main hull against the onslaught of fire from the alien fleet.

The Hope began a spinning motion, using the thrusters to give us an oscillating spin, rather than just a plain spin. Because the ring weapons were in fixed positions on the hull, to aim them meant rotating the ship to align them at the enemy. The idea was for Puda to take over and fire at the ships as they crossed the alignment path of any unfired ring. Due to the fact that the pulse of energy from the rings was so massive, and of such a short duration, the speed of the Hope’s rotation wouldn’t be a factor.

I watched the star field gyrate around crazily as Puda targeted any ship in line with a ring, nearly making me dizzy. Only the fact that there were no middle ear reactions, due to the artificial gravity and the inertia control, kept me from losing my last meal. I used the targeting program to keep track of one of the ships as it took the full brunt of a ring’s discharge.

With this program, I could pick a target and receive a picture from all the scanners that moved into that point of view as the Hope spun madly. It was a bit jerky, but I could see the burst of energy from the ring spear out in a coruscating beam of lambent fire that was almost too bright to make out. It speared through the target’s screen and hull in an instant, leaving a fulgent auroral glow as the ship dispersed into a cloud of incandescent atoms.

I was stunned by the effects, but Puda’s announcement that we were down to our last 10 ring weapons brought me out of my fugue.

“How many ships left?”

“Twenty five ships remaining,” Puda calmly announced.

“Kill ratio?” I asked, trying to work out what we’d be left with.

Puda replied smugly, “One ring to one ship.”

I sighed. I might have known she wouldn’t have missed any shots. Fifteen ships to deal with.

Knowing the battle had taken less than a minute, I asked, “Are they reacting yet?”

“All weapons fired, the remaining 15 ships are beginning to veer away.”

I knew it would take some time to change vectors, but we couldn’t let one get away.

Now was the time for my plan. “Prepare Hope for ramming, target the one furthest away,” I ordered.

Puda used the force tube to encapsulate the enemy ship, and then retracted the sealed tube. Then, as in our first attempt, the difference in mass meant that it was pulled more towards us than we to it. Not content to wait for it to fall into our grasp, Puda opened all thrusters to the max, accelerating the Hope towards its target.

If the alien ship had fired down the tube, we could have finished it off earlier using our earlier tactics. Instead it had turned to flee, vainly firing its thrusters against the tractor beam. We impacted the alien ship with enough kinetic energy to burst it open like a tomato dropped 10 feet onto concrete.

Immediately, Puda targeted another ship, using the explosion of the alien ship as impetus to alter our vector. Our hull took no damage, and thankfully, only a few sensors had been taken out from the physical deformation of our defensive screens as they were compacted against the hull. We weren’t going to be left blind however, as the Hope had replacements retracted deep into the hull.

This battle seemed to be in slow motion compared with the first. Not only were the ships beginning to separate, the vector changes grew ever more extreme. When Puda caught one ship heading in the opposite direction to the Hope, the sudden impact of having the mass of the Hope being applied to it, simply crushed it into oblivion. After 2 hours of this, we finally ran out of targets. Sensor readings could find no trace of any more alien ships within the solar system itself.

I was too wound up to just return to Earth. On a hunch, I decided to check out the moon. I’d noticed that there’d been some activity around it when we had launched from Earth. I was thinking that they might have been setting up a base from which to attack the Earth from.

As the Hope passed the terminator, Puda called out a warning.

“Araya! I’m detecting a high radiation reading over a vast area. I think it’s some kind of weapon.”

“A weapon? What’s it doing on this side of the moon then?” I questioned, and then a possible answer suddenly struck me. Oh shit! … You don’t think they were intending on changing the moon’s orbit, do you?”

“Given the quantities I’m detecting, it’s possible. There’s worse news, I’m detecting some sort of detonation sequence. They must have triggered it during the fight, seeing they were losing.”

“How long do we have?” I screamed, my blood running cold.

“59 seconds.”

My heart froze and my mind went into overdrive trying to come up with a plan, any plan. Ideas flashed into my head and were discarded. Was this the alien’s plan all along? To disrupt the moon’s orbit, and cause widespread havoc on Earth? Any change at all, could cause tidal motions that would see gigantic waves and earthquakes smash the Earth, which might spell the end of Gaia and all the human life so recently returned.

I could hear Tryst screaming in the background and Puda counting down the seconds as I tried to come up with a workable solution. Firing on the weapon base, would only hasten the inevitable end and add to the destruction of all I held dear. Same with using force screens against it. Sure, it would prevent the explosion from hitting us, but it would only magnify the effect on the moon, as the energy would be trapped against the lunar surface. I needed to separate it from the moon itself.

When Puda announced that there were only 45 seconds left, a glimmer came to me. “Puda, can you encompass the entire weapons base with a force tube?” I shouted, coming up with the only idea I had.

“Yes I can. 40 seconds,”

“Enclose the base in an open ended tube and make sure it ends below the lunar surface, before sealing the ends.”

“Done,” Puda replied a moment later.

“Pull away and bring the weapons base with us. Rotate the away from the Lunar surface as soon as you’re clear.” I ordered, trying not to think what the effects upon the Hope would be if it went off prematurely. “As soon as the end clears the moon’s horizon, open the far end of the tube.”

I hope it would minimize the damage against us if the blast had another route to vent itself, although I had no illusions as to our survival.

I could see the base moving away as Puda applied full thrust, trying to arc us up and away.

“Prepare for impact,” was my last order.

I looked at Tryst through my monitor, seeing his face directly in front of me. If this was to be my last moment alive, I wanted his face to be the last thing that I saw. His eyes looked into mine. He must have had the same idea in mind. I saw no fear, just trust, and my heart broke, thinking I’d failed him. I didn’t hear the final second count down, but I saw the screen wash out as a brilliant flash of actinic light wiped away all vision. I heard a noise getting louder, like a runaway rocket engine firing, and then all went to hell as the explosion forced the collapsing force tube backwards into the Hope. My last thought as oblivion took me, was ‘Oh hell! … not again!’

~~~~~~

I was walking along a bush trail with Tryst at my side. We were looking for a mountain lake reputed to have salmon just waiting to leap onto a hook and line. All of a sudden, I slipped off the path and down a muddy bank. I yelled out to Tryst before tumbling head over heels down the slope, ending in a muddy pool where I was covered with a sticky layer of mud that prevented me from moving. I struggled to move, somehow knowing that if I didn’t, I might never get back to Tryst.

It was then I awoke. Shaking off the dream, I tried to move and found that just like in the dream, I couldn’t wriggle an inch. I panicked for a second, thinking I was stuck in my dream. I opened my eyes and saw the dark monitor blinking with a tiny icon in the left hand top corner. Everything came rushing back. I was still on the Hope, it had survived the explosion, but what shape was it in? I wondered if I was paralyzed, as I could feel no pain and my inability to move could be the result of a spinal injury.

“Puda?” I called, hoping she was still able to communicate.

“Puda?” I repeated, somewhat louder, her silence, starting to worry me. I wondered if Tryst had survived, feeling frustrated that I couldn’t use the controls to see into his pod. In my heart I felt he was still with me, but I needed to see his face.

“Puda?” I screamed, venting all my feelings into the shout.

The screen blinked a few times, before text started showing on it. I read, # Yes Araya, I’m here. My audio and holographic systems are down, but I can communicate by text. #

“I can’t move, I think I’m injured. Can you check on Tryst, please?”

#You’re surrounded by a polymer called collision foam, that’s stopping your body from moving. Both you and Tryst are okay. I’ll use the release agent to free you, but please remain in the pod till I can make some repairs to allow pressurization of the essential areas. #

When I heard a hissing sound, I hoped it wasn’t my pod leaking air. I started to feel something damp spraying my body and I realised I could move again as the polymer was broken down by the spray of release agent. The smell wasn’t very pleasant, but I managed to purge it by increasing the oxygen flow. My exposed skin felt sticky, and I wished I could get a shower to clean up. When my hands were free, I tried accessing Tryst’s pod to see how he was doing.

The only views I could access, were an exterior shot of the hull and one from the propulsion bay. What I saw seemed impossible. The ten foot thick hull had a dent about 50 feet across and 80 feet deep. I could still control the sensor mounted near the edge of the damage, so I extended it and looked over into the damaged area. At the deepest point, there was a hole about 10 feet across, penetrating the hull to an indeterminate depth. I switched to the other available view and could see some of the effects the damage had caused in the propulsion bay. Warped walls and sheared girders stood as a stark testimony to the ferocity of the impact on the Hope.

“Can you patch me through to Tryst?” I asked Puda.

# You can come out of the pod, as long as you remain on the bridge. It is the only area I have managed to pressurize so far. # Puda wrote on the screen.

“What’s the problem with pressurizing the other areas?” I asked her again.

# Most of the bots I need to move the mobile screen units are out of action. Unlike you, they broke loose and were smashed. #

“Can we help move the units into place? After all, our EPS’s are stored on the bridge,” I suggested, as I cracked open my pod.

# It’s dangerous, and you’ll be exposed to danger, but I could do with your help. # appeared on the screen as I climbed out.

“You’ll get it, just let me check with Tryst,” I told her, not waiting for a reply.

I stumbled over to the pod containing Tryst. I felt like yuck as my clothes stuck to my skin, thanks to the residue from the foam.

I cracked open the lid on his pod, my gaze going straight for Tryst’s face. He smiled, sending my heart aflutter. I leant over and gave him a kiss.

“Come on lazy bones, we have work to do,” I told him, helping him climb out.

He was as sticky as I was and the hug he gave me made it hard to separate, as our clothes stuck together. It did give me some kinky ideas for later, but preferably with naked bodies.

“See, I’m stuck on you,” he claimed proudly.

“We’d better stick to the job in hand. Maybe later you can stick it to me,” I offered with a wink.

With that, we went over and struggled into our EPS’, struggled, because the form fitting suits clung to the remnants of the sticky residue coating our clothes. Suit on, I went over and tinkered with the boards, to see if I could get Puda up on audio instead of relying on the clumsy text printouts. I must have lucked out, as Puda’s voice crackled over the com, before becoming steady.

As we sealed our suits, Puda informed us of the damage, and what needed to be done. After venting the air from the bridge, we passed through the airlock and entered the main part of the ship. Unlike the ultra protected bridge, the rest of the ship’s lesser priority areas showed some damage, whether it be minor or major. Puda directed us to a bot, setting up force screens to seal off the worse hit areas.

The bot, when we caught up to it, had one manipulator hanging off. It was trying to fly a portable force screen generator that would have weighed a hundred pounds on Earth. Here, while it weighed only half that, a load easily flown by the bot if it had two manipulators, it was unable to stop one end from dragging on the ground.

I reattached the dangling arm, and tightened it using my trusty universal tinker tool. After I joined the severed cabling with Gripits, it was as good as new … well, good as second hand, at least.

Leaving the bot to fly on unassisted, we went to the storage unit containing the portable force screen units. There, we dragged out a unit and followed after the bot.

Finding the bot, we started to set up our unit near some damaged I beams that had borne the brunt of the forces that had penetrated the hull. We lifted the unit to where we thought it would overlap the bot’ force screen. Once in position, I waved Tryst away to help the bot, while I secured the unit in place using percussion bolts fitted to the unit.

As I fired the last bolt into what I thought was a secure girder, everything went wrong. The explosive charge, instead of penetrating the girder, shifted it away. Another beam that was resting on it shifted and fell on my leg, trapping it and puncturing my EPS. The first beam prevented me from reaching my leg and applying a sealant. I could feel the effects of vacuum, burning my skin. I looked down to Tryst and was about to call for help, when I saw that the other end of the shifting beam had swung around and knocked Tryst over. Worse news than that was the fact that I could see blood leaking out of his suit, so I knew he’d suffered a puncture as well. I knew I only had seconds to do something. I looked at the unit by my hand. The activation button was on the ship side, and once it was turned on, I’d only have seconds to pull my arm back, if I didn’t want the screen to cut it off. If I activated it, it would allow Puda to pressurize the area where Tryst lay under the beam. The only problem, was that I’d be stuck where I was pinned, still be out in the vacuum of space, separated from safety by an impenetrable field of force.

“Puda, once I activate the screen, pressurize the area inside. Tryst’s trapped there in a punctured EPS.”

I switched on the unit, biting my teeth against the agony flooding my lower body, knowing this was the end. I could feel my blood boiling as it was drawn out of my leg. Only the sticky residue and the snugness of the EPS stopped the air from venting out in a rush. This meant I was just going to suffer for longer. I couldn’t even call to Puda or say goodbye to Tryst because the screen blocked my suit’s transmissions. I felt the pain growing further up my body and I moaned, as it became too much to bear. Eventually I blacked out.

~~~~~~

Some indeterminable time later, I came to. ‘Is this heaven?’ I thought. After what I’d been through, being pain free got my vote, what more could heaven offer? As I drifted in that strange twilight zone between waking and slumber, I realised all wasn’t quite perfect in paradise. My body felt different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I moved. Yes, there was something seriously different with this body. I felt uncomfortable.

Suddenly light flooded my world, and there, looking down, on me was Tryst. He looked haggard and his eyes seemed haunted by grief. There was a sort of embarrassed silence as his eyes slid away from mine.

“Tryst? I’m alive?” I got out before stopping in horror. My voice sounded different, deeper, more masculine. I realised then why I felt ill at ease in this body. It was male.

“What happened to me?” I asked, as I struggled out of the med booth unassisted.

“Araya, I’m sorry, I couldn’t save your body. It was too far gone. We only saved your brain in time. I came to just after you activated the screen. The bot came and helped free me from the beam, after Puda turned off the grav control and began pressurizing the room. That was when we realised you were still outside.

I slapped a patch on the puncture, not bothering about the wound and had Puda depressurize the room again. I jumped to where the screen unit was and turned it off. With the grav control off, I managed to free you from the beam and dragged you back in before switching the unit on again. Puda pressurized the room a second time and told me to place you in the bots arms. Using the bots system, she put you into a stasis field that stopped you from dying.”

“But why give me a male body?” I asked, as Tryst paused in his explanation to hand me a grey coverall. I pulled on a coverall, wincing at the difference in texture to my regular clothes. Maybe I could get Puda to … nah that would be a waste of time and resources, even if she could provide them in satin and pink.

“Because the DNA store was breached, there were only two samples left intact.”

“Oh! What was the other then?” I asked feeling somewhat mollified.

“To get back to Earth, we require your strength and drive, which is why Puda didn’t keep you in a stasis till we got you back to Earth or use the only other DNA sample, which was a female child. Trying to put you in that body could have killed you.”

I felt bad that Tryst had had little choice in making that difficult decision, but part of me was so uncomfortable in this hunk of a body that I wanted to scream out to give me the female child’s body. “Couldn’t Puda just alter the DNA sample so I would have the child’s genetic code, but in an adult form?” I heard myself whine.

“No, it’s more complicated than that. Each sample contains nanites that break down the host’s DNA and replace it with the new DNA. But it also contains instructions on the physical make up of the new form, such as age and size. To break down your larger body, even with the damaged parts, would probably have killed you, or at best, left you with memory loss. A child’s brain is physically smaller than your own and some part of it would have been cannibalized. All your bone structure would have had to be broken down to size. As it was, your body was fed an organic cellular soup to replace the body mass lost to vacuum burn.”

“Okay, I get the picture,” I snapped at him, feeling instant regret at my outburst. After all, it wasn’t his fault. Luckily, he didn’t react like I thought he would, but I could sense I’d hurt him, when he was already feeling down with the way things had turned out.

This body was filled with testosterone, and I was already having problems controlling my aggression. What was I going to be like in a few days, constantly seeing my love and not being able to have any sort of sexual contact? I wanted to fall into his arms and beg forgiveness, but as soon as I moved towards him, my body reminded me that I couldn’t do that any more if I wanted to preserve our life bond, or what was left of it.

This fact didn’t help matters much, so I apologised. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It wasn’t your fault. I think it’s the shock and these male hormones I’m not used to. Please forgive me, and try to make allowances until we can rectify this situation. I love you dearly and thank you for saving my life.” I tried to make my voice sound softer and more feminine.

I opened my arms for a hug, worrying that because we were both male, he wouldn’t accept it. Tryst, to his credit, didn’t pause and hugged me. I must admit that it didn’t feel the same, so I broke it off after a few seconds.

“It’s okay Araya. Puda did warn me that your emotional control would be subject to fluctuations from the influx of male hormones.”

“You don’t look too good either, have you been in the med booth since your injury?” I asked solicitously.

“No, Puda wasn’t sure the med booth would last through two cycle’s, with all the damage incurred, so I decided to let you go through first. I can take my chances later; at least I’ll have you there to take charge if something goes wrong.”

“Strip,” I ordered, doing just that … taking charge.

I watched him blush, and I wondered what thoughts were going through his mind. To put him at ease, I told him I want to see him naked so I could check his body for his injuries.

“How long has it been since the accident?” I asked, as he started to disrobe.

“Five days, we are now somewhere near the orbit of Saturn,” he answered, removing his coverall.

“Damn, we must have picked up some serious velocity. Puda hasn’t been able to get the engines online?” I questioned, as I came close and ran my much larger masculine hands over Tryst’s body.

“Not yet. There’s only so much she can do with only one functioning bot.”

I could feel Tryst tensing up as my hands neared the wound site on his side. He’d applied a general purpose wound dressing over it and I could see the purpling redness through its transparent surface. I was no doctor, but I knew this needed more than just a dressing.

“Lie down on the table, on your side!” I instructed, going into insistent nurse mode. I giggled, or tried too, as the thought of my wearing a female nurse’s uniform on this body, suddenly struck me. The giggle sounded more like a chuckle, which made Tryst ask what was so funny.

Knowing he could do with something humorous to laugh at, I explained my thought. He chuckled too, which made me grin. I picked that moment to rip away the bandage, and his chuckle turned to a yelp, for which I apologised. While I was examining the wound, I asked him if it would be easier if I did wear female clothes in my size, while I was stuck like this.

“Let’s see how things go first. Hopefully we will be able to repair the Hope and go home before it becomes an issue,” was his careful reply.

I hoped so too, but then a thought occurred to me. Could Puda jigger the med booth to change this body into a more female looking one, even if I was stuck having this third leg between my thighs. Maybe I could finagle some breasts if the repairs took a lengthy time.

I treated the wound with the standard med pack, and recovered it with a second skin dressing. “Let’s go, we have work to do,” I told him, my voice threatening to betray my feelings over his close call with death.

I made my way to the bridge, letting Tryst to get dressed by himself.

“Puda? What’s our status?”

“We have been at a two gee acceleration since the explosion. We are somewhere near the orbit of Saturn. I have been endeavoring to alter our vector with one of the remaining thrusters, so we should encounter the outer planets. The main engines are offline, as are all defensive weapons and force beams, and we only have minimal life support, due to power loss.”

“So nothing major then,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood in the bridge, as I’d noticed Tryst had joined us.

Puda chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll find plenty to do Araya.”

“Come on love,” I told Tryst. “I think I’m going to need your help checking out the engines.”

~~~~~~~

“Something’s odd here. This engine checks out, as far as I can tell.” I informed Tryst a bit later. “There’s something I’m missing. Let’s check the fuel lines.”

“They are empty,” Tryst told me a few minutes later.

“Impossible, unless the tanks … THE TANKS! OH, SHIT!” I was feeling real fear, as I raced to the gauges on the far bulkhead. There, my fears were realised. The tanks containing the water used to fuel the engines were empty. We were dead in the water, to use an ironic expression.

“Puda? What water reserves do we have? The main tanks seem to be empty according to the readouts down in engineering.”

“I don’t have any readings coming from down there. I just thought the sensors were damaged. We do have some water on the accommodation level used for washing and cooking.”

“How much and is it separated from the main supply?” I asked, hoping it was.

“It is fed from the main supply, but there is a one way valve that stops back feed, if that’s what’s worrying you. It should last for several days, maybe a week if you ration it.”

“How long if we use it for the propulsion?”

“Five hours at maximum thrust.”

I sat down wondering if it would be better to drift and drink, or waste it trying to slow the ship somewhat. With the velocity we had accrued, 5 hours wasn’t going to put much of a dent in our speed, unless we had a force tube working and something to push it against.

“Okay Tryst, I have a job for you. I need you to find out how much food the Hope has that has liquid in it. That includes tinned foods and fresh food in storage. If we are going to use most of the water for the ship, we will need every drop of liquid contained in the foods for us to survive.”

“I guess that means no showers?” Tryst grimaced, lifting one arm and sniffing.

“No cleaning anything, except after bathroom needs and then we’ll be using antibacterial wipes.”

“Right.”

“I’m going to the bridge. I have an idea, but it’s a bit of a long shot,” I told him, leaving him to go to the galley.

I knew we needed water. The trick we had pulled off on our return to Earth, had given me an idea. Ice. I didn’t think we’d be lucky to find a comet, but often there are moons that have ice on them. Our lives depended on coming close enough to a moon of one the planets remaining in our path.

Once I reached the bridge, I asked Puda about my idea. She went into a search of her data base and came up with several possibilities. Problem was, the moons of Uranus and Neptune were out, because they weren’t in our path at this time. Charon, the moon of Pluto, the last planet in our system and therefore, our last chance as well, was it.

“We might be able to get close to Charon if I use the main engines to alter our vector without wasting it in braking,” Puda announced.

“Just remember, we need some power for the tractor beam,” I cautioned.

“If I could have some the thrusters from the aft and port section shifted across the starboard side, it would increase our chances, without using water for the main engines.”

“Okay, I’ll get right on it,” I promised, even though I had a major chore fixing up the broken tanks. I knew the sooner the thrusters were moved, the bigger the effect over the distance we still had to go.

“Tryst, I’m going to need your help,” I called as I entered the galley food lockers.

“Here, time for some food,” Tryst offered, holding up two cans of beef consume soup.

As urgent as all the work ahead of us, I knew we had to eat, and his choice was just what we’d need before going EVA to work on moving the thrusters.

“Great, let’s heat and eat, we have a date outside.” I grinned, trying to make light of our situation.

Over our tasty soup, Tryst discussed our food and liquid situation. He seemed to think we could survive for a month without having to use supplemental water.

I told him what we were about to do and its importance to our survival. “I know you had a bad experience in our last EVA, but we need to focus on our goal, if we want to get back to Earth.”

“I guess there is one good thing about this … no washing the dishes,” Tryst grinned, to which I nodded.

Moving thrusters is hard work when tethered to the outside hull of a ship. They were constructed to be disposable, as the solid hydrogen fuel feeding a micro fusion reactor would need replacing after a hundred hours of continuous use. The liquid hydrogen was compressed using force screens, to a metallic monatomic form, which provided a long lasting fuel source.

Using a special key to unlock them, the thrusters would rise out tubes set into the hull, where they could be rotated 90 degrees to release them. Moving a mass of about 500 kilos was easy if you pushed long enough to overcome the inertia. Stopping it was another matter. Even in weightless conditions, the thruster’s momentum was an unseen beast that wanted to take control.

It took us five days to move 20 thrusters. Each was placed near an existing thruster and shock bolted into position. Control cabling was linked to the nearby thruster through the access ports built into the hull. The end result was a forest-like group of thrusters looking like candles in a cake. The danger was enormous, as Puda had to shut down the thrusters each time we approached the starboard side, then fire them up again as we left to get the next one.

We slept little and ate sporadically, mostly when we had to refill the tanks of the EPS units. We were exhausted, by the time we finished, conversation reduced to ‘pass that’ or ‘hand me this.’

I checked the wound on Tryst’s body, as he lay exhausted on the med booth table. It looked a bit red and puffy and felt warmer than the surrounding skin. I made a call and ordered Tryst into the med booth, with it set to a diagnostic and cure setting.

While he was resting in the med booth, I dragged my aching body into an EPS and checked out the main tank that had once held the water for the engines. The stresses from the force of the explosion had split the tank. I figured it would need several days to weld it up again. Satisfied that there should be no surprises, I climbed out the tank and went to check on Tryst.

Seeing he was due out in a few minutes, I decided to wait for him. I pulled a fold out chair from the bulkhead and sat waiting, while my mind tried to slow down to sub-light velocities.

The recent strenuous activities in this body had allowed me to come to terms with it, now it didn’t feel as alien as it had when I first woke up in it. But it still wasn’t me and I don’t think I could ever get comfortable in it. I liked being female, no, make that loved being female, even if I was a take charge kind of girl.

“Araya, wake up,”

“Sorry, I just thought I’d wait for you,” I mumbled tiredly, realising I must have nodded off.

“You have been pushing it too long. Let’s get some sleep,” he insisted, offering a hand to help me get up.

Such a simple gesture, yet one he knew I’d appreciate. I knew despite my appearance, that Tryst was looking past it to see the real me, the one who loved him.

I guess we were both throwbacks, to our ancestors. Before my discovery of Earth and the change to either male or female, most of the space colonists were happy to have sex together in either phase. When two became partners, their cycle changed so that they became compatible in both phases. Tryst was different. He would only have sex with me when I was in the fem part of the cycle. Not that I was insistent on sex while he was fem, as she didn’t turn me on then. Although strange by the standards then, it made a certain sense in light of developments. Tryst was as male as I was female, even masked by our changing forms.

The problem now was, while I still saw Tryst unchanged as a male and still wanted sex with him, he saw another male, and was turned off sexually, despite my being his life mate. It must have taken great strength of mind to help me up without a thought of my changed sex.

We walked back to our cabin in silence, where I stripped off my coverall for something smoother and cleaner and in pink. I pulled on the extra large gown that I’d had Puda whip up for me. I didn’t care what I looked like; it was comfort I was going for. I turned and saw Tryst changing into some clean shorts. It was then that this body of mine truly became uncomfortable, by revealing its arousal, as I caught a glimpse of the twin of what was tenting my gown. I turned away, hoping to avoid his seeing it.

Climbing onto the large bed, I turned my body away to my side, thinking about this awkward situation. Back in the habitats, when I was in the male or non estrus phase, and Tryst was consequently in estrus, I didn’t feel sexual attraction for hir body, even though I still loved Tryst the person. As Tryst felt the same way, sexual intimacies weren’t a problem. We had just abstained, while cohabiting the same living space. Now however, we were both male. I still felt attraction for Tryst, as he was still in the form I loved. That attraction translated into sexual arousal, the kind that made me get hard. It was so frustrating, I could scream.

I felt Tryst get into bed and turn on his side.

“Goodnight,” I whispered, turning my head a little.

“Night,” I heard him reply.

We slept. I woke the next ship’s day feeling achy, but better than the day before. Tryst was up already, and had opened our first meal of the day. This consisted of tinned peaches and a small cup of coffee to brush any lingering cobwebs away.

Tryst couldn’t assist me in the tank repair, as there was only one plasma welder aboard. Instead, I had him check out the state of the tractor beam units we’d need later, under Puda’s instructions.

I got to work, venting my frustrations on the obstinate tank by frequent use of foul language and several swift kicks at the metal with my boot. It seemed to help somewhat, but not enough.

Plasma welding in a suit is hot dangerous work, but I stuck to it and got over half the tank done that day. During one of my breaks, Tryst came up with another problem. “The tractor beam generators are mostly intact, but how are we to get the ice collected by the force tube into the ship?”

“Fuck, I don’t know! I shouted. “I’m still fixing the effing tank,” I burst out, as everything seemed to boil over.

In the deathly silence that followed, the female part of me wanted to break down and cry, then beg forgiveness and then get it within the comforting arms of my lover. Unfortunately, this testosterone driven body seemed adamant that not only would it not cry, it wouldn’t allow me to seek comfort in Tryst’s arms. Fueled by frustration and anger, I stamped off, going back to the job of welding.

While working, I went over and over the way I’d reacted, trying to understand why I’d taken it out on Tryst. Now that I was alone with my thoughts, I felt bad about how I’d treated Tryst. It wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t mechanically minded. He’d been part of the hydroponics section looking after the algae, the mainstay of the oxygen and food supply.

I began to hate this body with a passion. I didn’t know how Tryst handled his so calmly. It must be a mental thing. I knew I didn’t have it. Thinking about it logically, I needed to calm myself down. Only on Earth could I be given a new female body. To get there, I needed to fix the ship, get the water we needed and find a way of filling the tanks so we could go home. Nothing to it … suuure.

I made a mental note to apologise to Tryst, and then concentrated on finishing the tank. I must have lost all track of time, because by the time I decided I’d had enough, I found myself eating alone. Puda had informed me that Tryst had already eaten and had gone to bed. I felt bad that I’d left him to stew so long about my verbal outburst. After eating, I went to the bridge, where I did my best thinking, and paced for a while, trying to come up with a solution to the problem Tryst had brought up.

I tried not to disturb him as I crept into bed. I didn’t sleep all that well, what with everything on my mind. I did eventually get to sleep, but it seemed like moments later Tryst woke me up to give me breakfast in bed. Nothing special, just toast, with marmalade and fruit juice.

When we both started to speak at once, Tryst deferred to let me speak first. I got out, “I’m so sorry I took my frustrations out on you. I couldn’t seem to control myself. I hate this body, and some part of me feels angry that you put me in it, even though you only did it to save my life and you had no other choice. I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to squash that niggling feeling. I love you and pray you still love me.” I finally managed to shed some tears.

“Araya, I know you feel uncomfortable with that body. I anguished over the choice, knowing I’d have to see you everyday in it. You were always feminine even as a herm, and suddenly being drowned in a wave of male hormones can’t be easy for you. I don’t forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive. I wondered how you seemed to be taking this disaster in your stride, without seeming to flag or falter. You seemed almost to be superhuman, but now I know you’re not. I love you and always will. Whatever happens… happens. Don’t try to do it all on your own. I know I’m not that good with mechanical things, but I can assist you whenever you need a hand.”

“Now eat your breakfast,” Tryst admonished gently. When I reached out my arms to hug him, momentarily forgetting my body’s sex, he placed the tray in my hands with a grin.

“I’m keeping count,” I muttered with a rueful sigh.

“Of?” Tryst asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of the hugs I owe you,” I mumbled around a mouthful of toast.

When I got dressed later, I sniffed at my armpits, regretting it immediately. Even though we hadn’t bathed properly, the fug surrounding our bodies hadn’t seemed to bother us unduly. My male nose didn’t seem as sensitive as the one I used to own. Armpits were another matter, however. I sprayed on my perfume, not caring if it seemed inappropriate. Even if I was male temporarily, it didn’t mean I couldn’t indulge in a little femininity.

Puda then announced that our present course would intersect that of Charon’s, which was good news. While I finished off the last welds in the tank, I pondered our water collection worry. Then it came to me. I finished off the tank and had Puda do a pressure test to see if it held atmosphere.

While that was going on, I called Tryst to get him to put on a suit and meet me in by the damaged section of the ship.

“I have this idea,” I told him, once he arrived.

“Oh?”

“Let’s check the tractor beam emitters at the bottom of the point of impact.” I said.

The tractor beam emitter ring that had contained the explosion from the moon was now sitting at the bottom of a funnel-like depression. If they could be reactivated or replaced, it could be the ideal position to collect the water. I explained to Tryst as we worked, that if we removed the center section of the ring, we could rig a pipe to feed directly into the tanks, which were less than twenty feet away. We’d need to fit a screen generator to the opening to seal it up afterwards, but after the work we’d done already, that should be relatively easy.

We got to work and in the end, we found it easier to cut a hole in the newly fixed tank and fit a force tube array to connect it to the opening in the back of the external tractor beam array. Two intervening bulkheads also had to have holes cut through them. We strengthened them as best we could with some scavenged metal from less important parts of the ship’s structure. The tank was also fitted with a screen to seal off the opening once it was filled. This did leave a potential weakness, but it was the only way we could do it, with what we had.

Two days later Puda fired up the engines, veering our course towards Charon.

~~~~~~

Finally, Charon was within the reach of a tractor beam.

“Activate beam,” I told Puda, hoping against hope that everything would hold together.

Both Tryst and I watched, as the beam flicked on and speared outward to Charon. It bit deep into the frozen crust, encircling many tons of frozen water ice. Puda closed the end as soon as the beam hit the solid rock of Charon’s core. While we still had some power in reserve, Puda used the beam as a braking pole. Titanic kinetic forces warred against the comparatively stationary moon. Cracks formed in the icy crust as the Hope slowed, braced by the slowly compressing force tube of the tractor beam.

The beam remained intact, bleeding off our massive speed as Charon’s far greater mass absorbed the energy. Such was the heat generated, that the ice in the force tube melted, as did the ice surrounding the base of the tube where it intersected the moon.

“We are getting very close,” Tryst warned unnecessarily. “Are we going to hit it?” he asked anxiously.

“No,” I told him, as the tractor beam got even hotter.

“Shut off all screens protecting the damaged section. Leave up only the force tube connecting the tank and the tractor beam,” I ordered.

“What you doing?” asked Tryst.

“The heat is turning the ice into steam and it’s coming up the center of the tractor beam tube. Once it hits the cold tank, it will condense into water again. Opening the area surrounding the tank to the vacuum will ensure the heat can radiate out and will keep the area cold,” I explained.

Puda announced that water was collecting in the tank, as the tube was allowed to compress a bit.

The rigid stick effect of the tractor beam started the veering the Hope away from a direct impact with the moon, as the end half buried in the core acted like a pole-vaulter’s fulcrum. Once Hope’s changed vector showed it would clear the moon, Puda started retracting the tractor beam, bringing back our means of survival, water.

As we flashed past Charon’s now marred surface, we could see the molten surface where a core of ice had been extracted.

Puda announced that she had captured 20 metric tonnes of water, to which Tryst and I yelled out our glee.

Now that all the work we’d done had resulted in success, I could let myself relax. I felt exhausted, but somehow freed from having to be the one making the tough decisions. I left to get a shower for the first time in ages. Although I enjoyed being clean, I was too tired to really do it justice. After the shower, and wrapped only in a damp towel, I flopped onto the bed and passed out in fatigue.

I slept like a log, and when I woke, it was to see Tryst. He then told me I’d slept for two whole days straight.

“How’s the ship?” I asked, once I’d reactivated a few brain cells.

“We are going home,” Tryst announced proudly.

“Already? I questioned, thinking we’d need a few more days yet.

“Yes, Puda spun the ship around after you left, and used the tractor beam to latch onto Pluto as we went past. It enabled us to pendulum around and Puda released us as we neared the correct vector to intersect the Earth.”

“We are going home?” I repeated in wonder. No word ever sounded so sweet.

“Puda said that Charon has a slight speed wobble, but nothing that will affect it long term.”

“Well we did bleed a lot of speed off on it,” I agreed. “I’d hate to work out how much energy it absorbed from us,” I called over my shoulder as I scrambled to the toilet.

It was time for a real meal. Now that water wasn’t restricted, we could eat something that wasn’t soup or fruit. I think I enjoyed that meal almost as much as the first one I’d had the first night on Earth. Maybe the lack of stress contributed to its flavour.

With nothing urgent to do, I wandered back to the bridge, Tryst following behind. I stood by my command pod, but didn’t enter, as the residue from the acceleration foam still clung here and there. With the Hope at full boost we were already closing on Saturn’s orbit.

It was then that Puda announced an approaching craft of unknown origin. It was coming from the inner system and was making good speed.

I was getting fed up with all these seemingly endless crises. We had no offensive weapons left and only one working tractor beam.

“Is it hailing us?” I asked Puda, forgetting that communications were still out since the initial explosion at the moon.

Puda gently chided me, “I only have the sensor array up, not the communication array. You didn’t get around to fixing that.”

“I’m not running away. We can ram, if they get close enough,” I suggested.

“They are decelerating, I detect thruster burns, shall we slow too? Puda asked.

I thought about it, and then came to a decision.

“No, if they are friendly, then let them do the work. I want to reach Earth quickly. If they are the enemy, the same applies.”

We continued on, our eyes glued to the sensor readings, trying to discern any more info on the approaching craft. It seemed to be slowing faster than one would expect. All we could discover when it had spun end for end in its braking maneuver, was that it was teardrop shaped. I hoped this was a sign of non-aggression, as usually weapons are directed from the front of a craft, which was now pointed away from us.

Suddenly, the Hope’s engines shut down.

“What happened?” I called, thinking we’d come under some new kind of attack.

“I shut the engines down,” Puda announced calmly.

“What? Why?” I countered, feeling confused.

“The ship’s from Earth… from Gaia.” Puda answered.

My protest died stillborn, as that bit of information struck home.

“How do you know for sure?” I asked warily.

“I only have visual contact. They must have figured that out that from the lack of answers to their hails. Someone started sending laser coded messages. It seems to be commanded by Prince Constantine,” Puda elaborated.

“Can you communicate back?” I asked, feeling a sense of relief.

With wry humour, she stated, “No. I don’t have anything to signal back with. Maybe with the next model.”

“You don’t seem to be able keep your ships together very long,” I poked fun gently at Puda.

“Don’t blame the tools, blame the operator,” she snapped back, before a noise sounding suspiciously like a giggle issued forth.

“Point taken,” I conceded, feeling too jubilant to argue.

Tryst defended me, “I think the operator did a pretty damn good job if you ask me.”

“Point taken,” Puda admitted, making that sound again.

“Puda must be having some harmonic distortion problems,” I muttered, winking at Tryst.

We were now coasting along with the engines off, neither accelerating nor slowing appreciatively. The other, as yet unnamed vessel seemed to require less time to reverse vectors and was already on the move to match our velocity and vector.

“It must mass less than us, yet it is only slightly smaller than the Hope,” I speculated.

“Either that, or it has some new kind of engine,” Tryst pointed out.

“Or both,” Puda added.

We watched fascinated, as the teardrop shaped ship closed on us, having switched directions in a seemingly impossible way. Eventually it closed to match our speed, before attempting a docking maneuver. Both Tryst and I went to the airlock dock bay to await our visitors.

The first through, came dressed in EPS suits. They obviously thought that with the damage they’d seen on the Hope, that they would be needed. When they saw us through the view port in the airlock door standing there unsuited, they seemed overjoyed. As they took off their suits and waited for the airlock door to cycle open, I realised with a shock that they hadn’t expected us to have survived.

“Boy, are we glad to see you alive. Where is Araya?” were the first words Constantine greeted us with. “We were sure that only Puda had survived, although Gaia had said there was a 50:50 chance of your survival.”

“It was a close thing,” I replied, uncertain as to how to explain my new sex.

“We wouldn’t have survived without Araya,” Tryst pointed out.

“I thought there were only two aboard. Who are you, and where is Araya?” Constantine asked me.

At our continued silence, as both Tryst and I looked at each other and pondered how to break the news to him, his face took on a look of alarm. “She’s okay isn’t she?” he cried, obviously fearing the worst.

“Well, sort of,” I started to explain. “Araya’s body was killed and Tryst had to rebuild her with the only viable body left. This one … I’m Araya.”

“You … you’re Araya?” Constantine repeated, trying to come to terms with my changed visage.

“Can you explain …” I turned to Tryst before running to my cabin in embarrassment, as tears of frustration and pain overwhelmed me.

I ignored Tryst’s anguished call and shut the door, leaning against it as my body warred with itself. Mentally, I wanted to fly to the bed and weep till I could cry no more, but physically, my stoic testosterone imbued body tried to block the emotions from showing. This dissonance between body and mind was slowly tearing me apart. I wanted out of this body with such urgency, I could hardly contain myself.

A soft knock interrupted my misery. “Go away Tryst, I can’t face them right now,” I answered.

“It’s me, Constantine,” I heard him say. “I’m sorry if I upset you out there. It was insensitive of me, please let me talk to you?”

“It’s not your fault. It isn’t anybody’s fault, I just feel off balance in this body. It’s so not me. Even as a herm, I could fool myself on my off cycle. This body won’t allow that. I’m more masculine than Tryst, and that’s saying something.” I wailed to Constantine, through the door.

“Please let me talk to you,” Constantine pleaded once again.

I turned and reluctantly opened the door before going over to sit on the bed.

Constantine hovered by the door for a moment before coming and sitting next to me on the bed.

“The main thing is that you are alive,” he pointed out. “I wish I could help you right now, but the ship we came out on only has the bare essentials. It’s not even finished yet, but when Gaia saw what happened on the moon, she rushed to complete it for the recovery of Hope.”

“It’s fast?” I asked, curious despite my current misery.

“Yes and a lot of other things too. It has new shields, new engines, new shape, and new communications,” Constantine enthused.

“Weapons?” I couldn’t help, but ask.

“Um, none at this stage. I said the Hope wasn’t complete yet.”

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

I slipped back into disinterest, as my present problem didn’t have the quick fix I’d hoped for. I had mixed feelings about the new ship. I felt jealous that the new one had superior technology, that the Hope didn’t, but at the same time I felt pride that the Hope had come through such an ordeal and had survived to go home under its own power.

“When I saw the Hope and the damage it sustained, I thought that neither of you had survived. You know you are both heroes back on Earth. Gaia managed to capture the battle and had broadcast it to all of us. I think they are going to give you medals.”

My immediate reply to that bit of news was, “I don’t want to be seen like this!”

“I’m sure Gaia will have something worked out by the time we get back,” Constantine promised. “Would you like a tour of our ship?” he offered, trying to bring me out of my fug.

“I woul … uh, no, it’s okay.” I’d started to accept realising I’d have to meet people in this body.

Constantine shrugged, but didn’t press me to accept, for which I was grateful. I got up off the bed and wiped my face.

“I guess we should get back to the job of getting the Hope back to Earth,” I sighed.

Of course Tryst jumped at the chance to tour the new ship while I languished in our cabin in my self-imposed restraint. Constantine had promised that the crew members who had already seen me would keep quiet about my unfortunate circumstances. This did help a little, but in my desperation, I still felt like punching a hole in the hull with my fist.

It didn’t help when Tryst got back from the tour, all enthused about the new stuff he’d seen.

“The hull is only two feet thick and is made of a new cerametal that works in a similar fashion to the sacrificial hull we had on the Hope. But it’s protected from being burned away by a force screen that covers the entire hull. Energy weapon fire can be selectively passed through to allow the energy to be converted into power, while the bad stuff is kept out,” Tryst informed me happily.

I grunted, wishing we’d had that capability before all this started.

Tryst babbled on, oblivious to the mental anguish I was feeling.

“They also have instant communication to Earth via a super light sub quantum energy beam. There’s even talk that a new FTL drive being developed will allow a ship to go anywhere without relying of wormholes. Apparently, Gaia has been gathering information from the gate rings we installed on the wormhole and the new drive is based on that.”

Damn this stoic face of mine! I had to grit my teeth and clench my fists under the table to stop the anger that threatened to boil over and end in a physical attack against Tryst’s seeming indifference to my mood. I knew it wasn’t his fault and I hated feeling this way, but the body I occupied seemed to have its own rules of behaviour.

When I got up and smiled sickly at my love before turning away and pacing the deck, Tryst, bless him, finally caught on to the fact that I had other things on my mind right then. He came up to me and turned to face me, before giving me a gentle hug.

“Gaia knows what happened love. I talked to her and she thinks she has the solution. You’ll step back on Earth as a female.”

At the news, I stood there and silently wept, tears finally flowing with the promise of regaining what I’d lost. I cried my anger and my fears away in a paroxysm of pent up emotion. Tryst waited patiently, patting me gently on the back as he allowed me to cry myself out against him.

Things were a little easier after that. With the other ship now following us, we could relax as the Hope reached the inner system and the beautiful sight of the Earth grew in the view screens.

Puda took the Hope through the docking procedure with the orbital station circling the Earth, while Constantine landed the other ship directly on the Earth at the space center where all the Hopes had been built. Apparently something there had to be picked up and delivered to the orbital station.

Once we were ensconced in the orbital station, Puda took the Hope back to Earth for a refit. We had a communication link with Earth on the station and watched the news broadcasts of our survival. The reason given for the delay in our arrival was that I needed a surgical procedure on the station before I was fit to return to Earth.

Within an hour of our arrival, Constantine returned and docked with the station. He had a DNA sample with him that he guaranteed would please me.

His other news wasn’t so good. “The Hope is being scrapped. Gaia deemed it easier to build a new ship rather than bother repairing her.”

I felt sad and a sense that I’d let Puda down again by not being there for her in her time of need. I wished there was some other alternate outcome.

“Let’s get this started,” I pressed, trying not to weep in frustration at my helplessness in looking after my ship.

Constantine handed me the sample and turned to leave. Before he disappeared from the room, he said, “I have to return to Earth. Gaia will send a ship back up once your body is rebuilt. Good luck and I’ll see you soon.”

Tryst followed me to the med lab where so many of our people had recently gained their new bodies. I placed the sample in one of the many lab machines there and climbed into the adjacent booth. Tryst held my hand and said, “I love you,” before I closed the lid and started the procedure that would hopefully, return me to my proper sex.

After what seemed only a moment, but was in actuality many hours, I woke. As is usual at first, things were a little hazy as my scattered thoughts gathered themselves back into cognizant awareness. My body felt different, yet familiar. I didn’t need to touch myself to know that I was a woman once more. I couldn’t help, but smile. No matter what I looked like, I was now female. I just hoped Tryst could love this body as he’d once loved my first female form.

I opened the booth’s lid and saw Tryst waiting for me. He helped me out and took me into a fierce embrace that threatened to smother me.

“Air,” I gasped, before he captured my mouth in an ardent kiss.

We broke at last and I got a chance to look at my body, at least what I could see. It was remarkable similar to the one I’d picked originally. Same colour skin and my hair seemed to be the same colour and length.

“I wasn’t sure you’d recognise me,” I admitted my worry to Tryst.

He grinned and his expression aroused my curiosity. I could tell he was hiding something from me. He gestured towards the wall, where a mirror had been strategically placed. I walked over, keeping one eye on Tryst and his growing grin.

When I turned my attention to the mirror, my world rocked. There before me in her naked glory, was … me. The exact same person I’d been before the accident. My knees buckled under the shock of seeing my ghost, or the body I’d thought lost forever.

Tryst caught me, supporting my weakening legs. “How?” I gasped out.

“I talked to Gaia after you went into the booth. I wanted to know what to expect when you’d finished in the booth,” he began, as he held me in his arms.

“And?” I prompted, looking up into his eyes.

“Did you know that the original Hope had a backup of its samples?” he asked.

When I shook my head, he continued. “Well there were duplicate DNA stores in case one was breached through some mishap. This meant that each sample had a duplicate. Once the original Hope returned to Earth, she removed the DNA banks back into storage. The second Hope had a whole new set of DNA samples. Once she heard of the loss of your body, she searched the original banks to locate the only sample that had its twin missing. The one you had used. Your new body is the twin of the one you lost.”

I was so overjoyed, I jumped upward, flinging my arms around his neck and kissed him while scissoring my legs around his waist in a vice-like grip. His hands dropped to my ass, cupping my buttocks to hold my weight while I tried my best to give him a tonsillectomy using only my tongue.

He carried me, still lip locked, to the nearest sleeping quarters and set me down on the bed. As I used my hands to undress him, I tried not to break our kiss. The sex that followed was a feeding frenzy that took the edge off our desperate needs. A second round followed the first. This time we could take our time and get to know each other’s bodies again in a less urgent manner. Eventually, we lay entwined, our passion sated for the moment, drifting on the aftermath of our orgasms content to hold each other in silence. Somewhere in the silence, we both drifted off to sleep.

Waking up in Tryst’s arms made me smile remembering the night before. I squeezed out of bed, trying not to disturb Tryst as my bladder sent me to the toilet. Afterwards, I took a shower, reveling in the way my body felt under the stinging droplets. By the time I was ready to come out, Tryst entered with some clothes he’d been given by the AI that ran the orbiting station.

I got dressed while Tryst took his own shower, nearly tempted by his offer to join him, but I knew where that would lead, and I didn’t think the bowlegged walk look was the impression I wanted to give at our arrival on Earth.

We ate a leisurely breakfast with just a bit of small talk going on between us. I think we were both we wondering what our arrival back on Earth would bring.

“Ship approaching,” the monotone voice of the AI informed us.

“Screens on,” I ordered, activating the monitors in the dining area.

It looked like Constantine was back in the ship he’d commanded before. We finished our breakfast and made our way to the docking level. There, we were directed to the bay where the ship had docked.

The airlocks swished open as we approached and we entered the ship once more. “Constantine,” I called, seeing no one was there to greet us. Hearing nothing, we ventured further in and started making our way to the bridge.

“We’re underway … that’s odd!” I exclaimed, feeling the subtle sensations only one used to space travel would recognise. We saw no one, and the ship's com remained curiously silent as we arrived at the bridge.

The reason became clear once we reached the bridge. There was nobody around. The bridge was empty. “Ship? Where is everyone?” I asked the onboard AI.

“SHIP? SHIP? What am I, a piece inanimate cerametal?” An instantly recognizable voice snorted.

I screamed in joy, “PUDA!”

“Welcome aboard the newest Hope, Captain,” Puda announced with pride. “I hope you won’t break this one too soon, I’m getting tired of having my memory core transferred to and fro.”

My voice filling with choked up emotion, I cried, “I could hug you.”

“Easily accomplished Araya,” Puda responded, shimmering into holographic existence.

I moved to embrace her, hoping she was using her hard light mode. She was, and I could put all of my relief and joy at seeing her into that hug. Once I released her, Tryst gave her a hug too, which I found moving. Tryst’s association with Puda hadn’t been anywhere near as long as mine, yet he obviously thought she was more than just a run of the mill AI.

“Thanks for saving both our lives,” I heard him say to her.

“A ship is just a pile of metal without its crew” Puda replied with an astonishing touch of insight.

“Well, hardly just a pile of metal. You are unique in whatever shell you’re in,” Tryst told her.

I’m sure I saw a blush appear on Puda’s holographic face, as she stepped back a pace.

“We have a reception to attend,” Puda began. “I have some clothes for you that I thought would look appropriate if you’d like to try them on.”

“Darn, and here I thought jeans and a tee would be fine,” I giggled, trying not to show my nervousness at the upcoming reception.

“Well I thought you’d like to show off that body you just regained,” Puda astutely pointed out.

“True,” I agreed. “This was all the AI could supply us,” I grumbled, plucking at my top.

“Well let me show you what I selected.” Puda smiled, leading the way to the Captain’s quarters.

The Hope entered Earth’s atmosphere, tearing a hole in it and creating a contrail of water vapour as it traveled across the continents in the upper atmosphere. Puda took the Hope down once we neared the legendary Cape Canaveral, where Gaia had created all of the Hopes for me. The ship slowed, and descended to tree top level near what Puda informed me was the rocket garden.

It was here that the history of early space travel was preserved, using old rockets as statues. Redstone, Atlas and Titan rockets stood there, along with a Saturn 5 that dwarfed the others. Alongside that were several Russian rockets, including the one that had launched Sputnik 1, and others that had been used to build and supply Mir, the first long duration space habitat. Then there was the space shuttle and a Nimitz class asteroid miner along with a Pegasus Mars Lander.

As Puda moved the Hope slowly past them, she pointed out three new additions that dwarfed the others into insignificance. I gasped and tears sprang from my eyes, as I saw the three ships that had borne the name, Hope. The three stood in silent testimony to the trials they had endured to save mankind and bring Earth’s children home safe again.

“They were saved as a reminder to the future generations of mankind,” Puda explained. “Gaia left them in the same state they were when they arrived back on Earth, still showing the signs of damage in their efforts to save mankind. They stand as symbols of Earth’s determination to recover her children and of the few brave souls that commanded them, meaning, you and Tryst.”

“Hey I didn’t command anything,” Tryst protested, looking as embarrassed as I surely did at this role we’d been placed in.

“Just a second, if I have to bear the honour of being famous, then you are going to suffer along with me,” I joked.

“Damn, does this mean I can’t slob around anymore? I’ll be stuck wearing this suit forever?” grumbled Tryst, twisting the collar of his dark blue military style suit.

“Tough,” I giggled. “What about me?” I pointed out. “I can just see myself working outside in this,” looking down at the ankle length gown in shimmering Aquamarine silk that hugged my form like a cocoon. My 4 inch spike heels, and the severely limited leg movement from the gown, made walking an exercise in precision navigation.

“You certainly look appropriate for placing on a pedestal, in my opinion,” approved Tryst, winking at Puda.

“You’d soon grumble if I lazed around idle while you did all the work,” I laughed.

“Ready to meet your adoring public?” Puda asked with a raised eyebrow.

“NO!” We both chorused together.

Puda laughed, and the Hope moved away at speed, heading towards Vegas. Apparently Gaia had provided coverage of the last battle for everyone that had scattered around the globe. She’d also gathered up them for this gathering, just to celebrate our success. It was going to be a daunting time, being the focus of attention with everyone’s eyes.

It was around midmorning when we arrived, not at Las Vegas as expected, but at the spot of the first landing. Looking down on those gathered there, we could see a huge arc of people seated in front of a platform, where I guessed we were to stand. For those further out from the platform, huge screens had been provided to allow them to see and hear us clearly. Looking at the immense gathering, I suddenly felt overwhelmed.

I staggered, my knees becoming jelly, feeling more nervous than I had facing the enemy in space. “Don’t worry, you can lean on me,” offered Tryst, moving to support me with an arm around my waist.

“It’s these shoes,” I lied, looking up at him in gratitude.

“Of course it is,” Tryst agreed, seeing through my fib. “But we can’t have our heroine going barefoot, can we? You know, I’m scared too, But together we can get through it. The world needs its heroes right now, and we got handed the job.”

“Darn I know I shouldn’t have signed that job application,” I wailed, pretending to hit my head against the view screen.

Tryst’s support had sent the collywobbles off to pack their bags. Hovering twenty feet in the air, Puda sent us slowly down to the ground via the ATT, then put the Hope down behind the platform, away from the crowd.

After the tube had been shut off, we walked carefully to the platform. I held on to Tryst for dear life as we could hear the ever increasing cheers start to wash over us.

We climbed up onto the platform, still holding hands. And the roar from the people peaked as they waved and cheered. A huge screen was mounted above us, replaying everything we’d been through in the last battle. There was even footage of our struggle afterwards, as we struggled to repair the Hope. I suddenly realised that Gaia must have got that footage from the monitoring cameras that allow Puda to keep track of our movements aboard the ship.

The footage ended when Tryst carried my dying body into the med booth, for which I was grateful. I turned from the screen, letting go of Tryst’s hand and raised both my hands slowly. The roar slowly died, as they saw I wanted to speak. I waited until things quieted before I started to speak.

A million things flashed through my mind as I tried to decide what my opening words would be. Stupid things, most of them, such as “Dearly beloved, we are gathered …” I shook my head, trying to come up with something decent people would remember.

“People of Earth, I’m not a hero. I am just an ordinary person like you, forced to do extraordinary things. Any one of you would have done the same in my place. What I did, I did for all of mankind and Gaia, the giver of life. Let us celebrate our return to this planet and our continued survival upon it. Our enemy is defeated for now, but we must build a civilization that will endure past those who might try to take it away. Let Gaia guide us in our endeavors.”

I finished, stepping back to Tryst and taking his hand. “You want to say something?” I asked, expecting him to say no.

Tryst paused before nodding. Surprised, I let him stand forward and address the crowd.

“I’m not a speech maker, and speaking to you all scares me silly, but I need to get something off my chest. After the near disaster with the moon, the Hope was in poor shape, with very little fuel and with a horrendous velocity debt to overcome. I watched Araya get stuck with trying to repair the ship with little thought of her own fragility. She even sacrificed her life unflinchingly, to save my own. She never gave up, never thought of defeat. I was constantly in awe of her spirit’s attempts to overcome the odds that were stacked against our ever getting home. She is the real hero here, I’m just glad I was along for the ride.”

Tryst stepped back and took me in his arms and kissed me, while the people responded with a roar of approval. I felt stunned by what Tryst had said. In hindsight, even I could see that everything he’d said was true, but at the time it had just been the right thing to do. I wasn’t a hero, just a survivor. I guess Tryst saw it differently.

I broke the kiss and smiled at him. “Come on love, we have a world to discover.”

Of course we didn’t get away that easily. More speeches were made, and it wasn’t until the celebration party had been in full swing for quite awhile that we could slip away.

Puda, who’d appeared at our side after the speeches, had flown the Hope away with the excuse that it needed to complete its refit. As we were still seen there, nobody bothered much, as the bots flew around supplying everyone with food and drink.

In reality, Puda had flown back to Vegas to await our arrival. Feeling like children sneaking away from the party, we took the rail transport back to Las Vegas. There, Puda waited with the Hope.

We quickly boarded and the Hope flew up into the afternoon sky. “Where to Araya?” Puda asked with a snappy salute and a grin.

‘Where to? Indeed’ I thought.

“That way,” I literally pointed with my arm at the horizon, not caring which direction my finger was aimed.

Puda took the ship in the direction I’d indicated. I held Tryst as we watched the every changing terrain flow past below. Occasionally we would pass over some habitation, but nothing I saw caught my attention enough that I wanted to stop. Eventually, the East coast came into view and I had Puda take the Hope North along the coastline.

“There! Stop there,” I insisted, seeing a familiar landmark rising into the evening light.

The Statue of Liberty shone like a beacon, still welcoming her weary traveler’s home. I felt it was rather appropriate, and choked up at the thought. Tryst who’d never seen it before other than on the records we’d seen back on the habitats, said he liked the way the torch was lighting up the way home. I nodded, shedding a tear. Puda circled the statue once before depositing us next to the hotel I’d stayed in last time.

“I’ll see you soon, I really do need to go back and finish the refit,” Puda announced. “If you decide to move anywhere else before I’m finished, there are plenty of hover cars. Just ask the nearest bot,” she added before taking the Hope South.

I took great pleasure in showing Tryst the sights in person. Having someone to share the experience made it so much more satisfying, especially at night between silken sheets.

At first, we were alone, seeing no people at all, but gradually others started coming back. Maybe it was because they wanted to see the place where I’d been and subsequently seen on the video clip of my travels. Often, we’d meet them in restaurants, where the time ingrained routine of breakfast, lunch and dinner guaranteed synchronicity of our movements.

In space and in particular the habitats, this routine had been observed as well. But because of the need to have people awake and alert every hour of the day, these routines were staggered so that while some were sleeping, the others were awake. On Earth, that need disappeared, and once more, waking life was governed by the diurnal cycle of earth’s planetary motion.

Meeting others was strange at first, as recognition only went one way. They knew us, but mostly, they were anonymous to us. The adoration of these strangers was nice, but it made me feel like I had to be circumspect in public, as if having been placed on a pedestal, I wasn’t allowed to put a foot wrong. I wanted to scream at times. Just yell out. “I’m just like you.”

It got better after they got to know me, but there was always someone new coming along as people traveled the earth searching for the right place to stay.

Then one day it all changed. The Hope was back. We were on the island where the Statue of Liberty stood, having a picnic, when Puda appeared standing next to us. We literally jumped and I nearly exhaled my drink through my nose in shock, not a nice feeling when it’s a cold fizzy cola.

“I’m baack,” she quipped, striking a pose.

“You … you …” I spluttered, looking for something to throw at her.

“You know, you’re not supposed to snort coke,” she laughed unrepentantly, as I wiped liquid from my face.

“Where’s the Hope? I asked, changing the subject. I knew I wouldn’t win if I tried playing her game.

“Behind you,” she grinned, watching me spin to look.

I saw nothing but the city backdrop. I searched the sky above, still seeing no sign of the ship.

“Where?” I finally asked.

“Keep looking,” she urged.

Suddenly the sky seemed to darken and from nowhere it seemed, the Hope emerged, solidifying into physical form. Both Tryst and I gasped, as the now visible Hope moved lower, settling down near the island’s shoreline.

“Not only is she now fully armed and has the fastest engines, she has cloaking technology. Gaia discovered a curious property of the cerametal hull. She found it has a crystalline structure which not only has energy absorption properties; it also can emit energies as well. By connecting each crystal to its diametric opposite with micro filaments, light impacting on one would emit out its opposite, rendering the mass in-between invisible,” Puda explained.

“Wow! I guess next you’ll be telling me about faster than light drives,” I kidded her, seeing how enthused she was with the cloaking device.

“How did you find out about that?” Asked a puzzled Puda. “Gaia only just started work on it.”

I was the one caught out this time. I didn’t really want another explanation like the last, so I swallowed the obvious question, and pretended to be all knowing.

“Well it is the next logical progression,” I put to her.

“I think Gaia wants to make a fleet of similarly equipped ships,” Puda mused as we followed her back to the Hope, our picnic forgotten in the heat of the moment.

Once aboard, we found that the Hope contained the new clothes we’d acquired over the last month we’d been in the New York area.

“I take it we are going someplace?” I asked.

“Gaia thought you’d like to take a tour of Earth, seeing you saved it from the alien fleet,” Puda answered.

I looked at Tryst. “You up for a tour?”

He grinned, “Sure, let’s blow this joint.”

“You’ve been watching too many old movies,” I laughed, at his expression.

It was good to be back in the Hope, even though it was a new ship. Puda chattered on about this or that, imparting the local history of the places we visited to us. Things were different though. Without the need to fly into space, transporting goods, and avoiding the pirates that used to ply the void between the habitats, I felt restless. I guess I missed the excitement and the danger that came with my old job.

Visiting the wonders of the Earth helped assuage the feeling of missing something. That is, until one particular morning over Africa. I had had just awakened and got dressed, when suddenly I felt nauseous. I barely made it to the toilet before retching. I felt somewhat better afterwards, so I didn’t mention it to Tryst who was still abed. I wondered if the native fruits I’d sampled the day before were responsible, so I resolved to limit experiencing new flavours today.

But the next morning, I experienced the same nauseous feelings, and after worshiping the Earth mother, to which all things eventually return, I woke Tryst.

“I think I need to use the med booth. This is the second day that I’ve been sick after I woke up.”

“Okay, Love, let’s go,” Tryst offered, as he scrambled out of bed.

“Diagnostic mode,” I ordered, as I climbed into the booth while Tryst looked on anxiously.

“Diagnostic completed,” Puda announced in a strange tone, several minutes later.

I climbed out of the booth and posed the question burning in my mind. “What’s wrong with me and is it curable?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Curable? No, there’s no need of a cure for pregnancy. In nine months or thereabouts the situation will resolve itself.”

“No cure …” I started to protest, before the rest of her words began to sink in. “I’m pregnant? I’m going to have a baby?” Shock making me babble on.

“You’re going to be a mommy. Congratulations Araya and Tryst. Welcome to the cycle of life.”

I stood there with a jubilant Tryst hugging me, while I tried to contemplate being pregnant. Puda rattled on about how I might have three more months of morning sickness before it subsided. I was going to bring new life into this world, something that might never have been possible in the cold reaches of space where I’d lived most of my life. I suddenly had a purpose again, nurturing the beginnings of Earth’s new future civilization.

I rubbed my stomach in anticipation. “Tryst, you’re going to be a daddy,” I giggled, feeling giddy.

“I think we need to read up on what’s in store for us … and you.”

The news that I was going to be a mother gave me back my sense of purpose. No longer did I need to go exploring in outer space for excitement, because I had something exciting happening in my inner space. As I sat on the bridge of the Hope watching the Earth turn below me, I cried with joy at the thought of our children having the freedom to wander where they will on this magnificent globe we call home. I turned to Tryst and hugged him, knowing our future together was complete. “Honey, let’s go home.”

The end.

Postscript: Araya and Tryst never did settle on one particular place on Earth. Instead, they used the Hope as a sort of mobile home where Puda took on a secondary duty as a nanny. They did stay at various places around the world for months at a time, enjoying the beauty of a particular spot, but always returning to the Hope. Araya decided to have her first child in the hut where she had first stayed, as a symbolic gesture, with an ever watchful Puda at her side in case she was needed.

Araya went on to have four children, two boys and two girls, who later commanded their own ships, having inherited their mother’s passion for adventure. Each had their own AI, based on Puda’s memory core, but with an individual personality. It was they who commanded a new fleet of FTL ships bent on discovering if there were any other survivors of man’s first exodus from Earth.

The alien fleet that had plagued mankind’s return to Earth was never a threat to Earth again, thanks to new innovations in robotic weaponry that protected the solar system from their positions in the Oort cloud.