There was a wavering in space, like a faint mirage in a desert. It started as a pea-sized blip, but quickly grew larger, soon filling the immediate area completely. If sound could travel in space, you could have probably heard a distant screech, that slowly got closer and closer.
Suddenly, where there was nothing else before, a large space ship materialized out of seemingly nowhere. It was brilliant white with shiny metal highlights here and there. Currently, it looked like it has been cooking well in an oven, and steam and smoke were coming out of it from various places, and some of the surface plating appeared to be slightly charred.
It swiftly emerged from nowhere, as if pursued by all the Marauders in the entire galaxy. It abruptly decelerated and veered towards the neighboring star.
"Daew!" Naina swore, and listed probably all other curse words she had ever heard, and invented a dozen more. She was panting, and sweat drops were traveling along her skin everywhere. "It was ... harder ... in the other ... direction," she panted, trying to stabilize her breathing.
Mizuni was clinging on to the captain's chair with all her life. Her face looked pale, and she was sweating profusely. It was almost like her eyes were looking in two different directions. "I feel sick," she muttered under her breath. "It hurts everywhere."
Perez had fallen out of his chair and was lying on the floor, completely out of it, unconscious.
"Hold on, Valera," Naina said through gritted teeth, twisted her wrists and moved her fingers, as the Infinity moved closer and closer to the star. "We're nearly there. I need more power to the FTL, or we're not gonna make it. Can you do it?" she asked.
Mizuni closed her eyes, nodded, and slowly managed to bring herself somewhat up, leaning heavily on the chair. She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and walked a few steps towards Perez.
"Lu!" she called out. "Lu! Are you okay?!"
Slowly, taking support from every surface she managed to reach, she arrived at the lying Perez. She kneeled before him and sighed with relief when she noticed him still breathing.
"Oh thank heavens, you're alive," she whispered. Using both hands, she sat on Perez's recently vacated chair and tapped the console. "I can give you 108 percent of power to FTL, that enough?" she said.
Naina nodded. "Should be. It's gonna be down to the minutes, anyway. Hold on to something, this isn't over just yet," she said. She moved her fingers, and Infinity obeyed without hesitation. Naina directed her into a low-ish orbit toward the star.
"We have to go as near as we can. The polarizers are too small for effective scoops, and they're not meant for that anyway," Naina said. "Once we're there -- should be, like, 45 minutes or so -- it's going to get rough. I don't think Infinity's shielding has been designed for that."
Mizuni closed her eyes. "I think I can do something about that," she said. "Hold on. I'll see if I can re-calibrate the shields on the fly. Can you give me all the data from the star that you can?"
"Displaying data on your screen now, Dr. Mizuni," Quera said.
Mizuni wiped her forehead, fought against throwing up, and then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can do this," she muttered, and started typing.
"Quera, give me readings," Naina said.
"Estimated. You have to be within a touching distance from the corona itself, Captain Melcey," Quera said.
"Daew!" Naina swore. "Valera, can our shields last inside the corona?"
"No way," Mizuni said. "No way, with this amount of power that we have. We'll have trouble beginning from one tenth of an AU. Any closer to one hundredth of AU and it'll be like walking on burning coals."
"Quera, numbers," Naina said.
"Estimating the scoops' capability, we have to be within 1/95th to 1/98th of an AU to have a positive return," Quera said.
"Daew, that's close," Naina swore. "Mizuni, we need the shields working. Can you use the donut drive to generate a field around us?"
Mizuni looked at Naina, blinked twice, and then smiled widely. "I love you!" she yelled. "That's brilliant!" she started typing furiously. "Quera, give me access to the spbub data on this console, I need it asap."
"As you wish, Dr. Mizuni. Displaying now," Quera said.
A while later, the ship approached the star, causing the panels to heat up. A shimmering field manifested around the ship, and the surface instantly cooled. A shrieking noise could be heard inside the ship. Not deafening, but noticeable.
The ship flew on the rim of the star's corona, and then dove straight into it. It emerged out of the corona a few minutes later. The shimmering field around it glowed brightly, and it looked more like a blob of light flying through space, rather than a ship.
"Valera, you beautiful genius!" Naina yelled, and her laughter danced within the room. "It works, it actually works so well! I can't believe it!" she squealed, laughing brightly. "We dove through the corona! And the ship's no worse for wear! This is incredible! I could kiss you right now!" she said, with her eyes glowing and a smile on her lips wider than in a while.
Perez had woken up a few moments earlier, and now glanced towards Mizuni, who was watching Naina. Her eyes were half closed, and her lips were turned upwards in a content smile. Perez chuckled silently.
"Quera, take her out," Naina said, and the ship lurched slightly, as Quera plotted an optimal course away from the star, and towards the nearest known hypergate.
Naina got up from the chair, ran to Mizuni, and pulled her up from the chair. She threw her hands around Mizuni and pulled her close. She twirled her around a few times, laughing and smiling happily.
"You gorgeous, beautiful genius!" Naina squealed. "I've never done something like that! What a thrill!"
She halted, and they gazed into one another's eyes. Mizuni's cheeks darkened considerable, and her eyes danced between Naina's eyes and lips. Mizuni put her index finger on Naina's lips, and it was like someone turned her off. She came to a sudden stop, and her cheeks turned bright red, as did her ears.
"Calm down, Naina," Mizuni whispered. "It wasn't just me. You're the best pilot I've ever seen in my life, Naina." She said seriously. "We did it together," she said and smiled, still keeping her finger on Naina's lips. "I'm starting to think that together we can do things neither of us thought would be even possible before," she said softy.
Naina just nodded, unable to utter a word. "I'm going to remove my finger, then I'm going to kiss you. Is that okay?" Mizuni asked gently.
Naina's ears looked only slightly less bright red than Mizuni's hair, but she nodded ever so slightly. Mizuni's ears were getting a healthy shade of peacock blue, as she removed her finger. Naina stood perfectly still, not being able to even breathe. Mizuni closed the distance and touched their lips together ever so slightly, and then drew back enough to look into her eyes.
Mizuni pulled her closer, so her mouth was almost touching Naina's left ear. "That's for calling me a genius," she whispered into her ear, and felt Naina's whole body shiver. "Breathe, Naina," she said softly.
Naina exhaled deeply and inhaled again. "I ...", she said.
Mizuni drew herself slightly away from Naina, so they stood nose to nose, with only an inch from each other. She placed her finger on her lips again.
"Don't," she whispered. "I'm not sure either. This is new for me," she said.
Naina nodded. "Mmh," she mumbled quietly.
"Let's have a sleep, and then see if we've calmed down, OK?" Mizuni said.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
