***The Hills of Time***
***By George Pollock, Jr.***

***Chapter 4***
***Into That Good Night***

   While tending to Spea, Catty started wondering about life.
   About the fairness of life.
   The brunette's hands had been treated and bandaged by Amy near the battery 
block. Then Eluza carried the intelligence officer back to the bridge. She 
put Spea on the deck near the doors, where Amy started putting thermal wear 
on her.
   The twitching continued. Even with that, Catty marveled at Spea's 
survival. The android had a micro-fusion reactor inside her, capable of  -- 
in the right circumstances -- a charge almost equal to the one that poured 
through Spea.
   Catty knew how powerful that was.
   And she knew it should have killed Spea.
   But maybe, the android thought, Spea was lucky.
   And maybe -- maybe -- there was something else.
   It occurred to Catty that she might have always underestimated the 
organics. They often found ways to keep functioning after suffering injuries 
far beyond what she thought would be lethal.
   "The will to live," they called it.
   Some things about the organics still puzzled her. That was one. Being able 
to survive physically was one thing. The idea of surviving because of sheer 
will, despite the physical odds, was another.
  Puzzling ...
  "That should hold her for now," Amy said, zipping the thermal-wear jacket 
shut on Spea. Eluza had ordered the nurse and Catty to stay on the bridge 
while the others went back down into the ship. It would be a last-ditch 
effort to cut power absolutely everywhere nonessential that they could find. 
Meanwhile, Patty would try to boost power in the remaining battery cell.
   And on Eluza's orders, Patty had diverted just enough power to stop the 
lights from flickering. After five minutes of flickering light, Lufy had 
gotten irritated. And when Lufy got irritated, she started making others 
irritated.
   After 10 minutes, Lufy got more obnoxious than usual.
   After 15 minutes, Lufy got downright nasty. 
   At that point -- faced with the choice of killing the flickering or 
killing Lufy -- Eluza choose the option that meant she wouldn't have to wash 
bloodstains out of her white duty gloves. She didn't have the time for little 
things like that right now.
   But she admitted to herself that the other option was tempting.
   Amy pulled the scanner from her med bag and examined Spea. "Brain function 
still erratic. The power that  hit her must have been frightening. Burned her 
gloves right off  ..."
   "The captain told me it was," Catty recalled. "What's her prognosis?"
   The nurse sighed. "I don't know. I've given her antibiotics, a sedative 
and a painkiller. It the best I can do. I hope ... the combination won't kill 
her ..."
   "Hmm ... Will the twitching eventually stop?"
   "It might, but I don't know. It's like her nervous system has been shocked 
into a reflex action that won't be shut off."
   Catty thought for a moment. "Is her normal brain function on record in 
your scanner?"
   "Um ... yes, as a matter of fact, it is." Amy tapped a keypad on the 
scanner. After a second, it beeped. She showed it to Catty. "That's her 
pattern after the wreck, when the captain asked me to scan the crew."
   Catty studied the EEG on the tiny screen. She handed the scanner back. 
"Now show me her current pattern again, please."
   More tapping. "There."
   The android pondered the different pattern. She had the original pattern 
stored in her memory. She compared the two, made some calculations and 
returned the scanner.
   "I might be able to stop the twitching," she said.
   Amy's eyes widened, an effect magnified by her oversized glasses. "How 
...?"
   "By directing a measured electrical charge at her brain to restore her 
normal pattern. I would need your approval, as the resident medical 
personnel."
   The nurse searched for words. "What ... would be ... the risks?"
   Catty sighed. "It might increase the twitching -- possibly. I would aim 
for motor control, not the areas of higher functions. The charge would be 
only sufficient to restore normality and would be a much lower level than she 
experienced. I don't think fatality would occur."  Amy looked down at Spea, 
then back at Catty. "Do you know ... for sure?"
   Catty calculated. And finally said, "No ..."
   Amy was silent, watching Spea's twitching and cradling one of Spea's 
bandaged hands in hers. Blood was staining the gauze widely. She bowed her 
head, then regarded Catty sadly.
   "If we're going to die," she said quietly, "Spea deserves to die with more 
dignity than this. If you restore her, she can face the end in her own way 
..."
   Catty nodded solemnly.
    "... And if it fails and is fatal," Amy continued, "it would be a better, 
quicker death ..."
   She couldn't think of anything to add to that.
   Except ... "Do it ..."
   Slowly, Catty took off the duty glove on her right hand and rolled up her 
sleeve. She made a fist and pointed it at Spea's head. She steadied her arm 
with her left hand.
   Amy watched as the android carefully aimed her fist -- a little to the 
left, a little down, pulling back a little.
   Catty froze.
   The humming started. The hum of a building power charge came from what 
otherwise would be her stomach area. It got louder. The pitch increased. Then 
a piercing, steady tone.
   And in the last moment, Amy saw Catty's golden eyes glow.
   The blast.
   No flash of light. No smell of ozone.
   Just a hard, tangible, invisible "THUMP!"
   Catty's arm recoiled in that instant, and Spea's head jerked away from the 
android's fist.
   Then Amy and Catty sat in silence, watching the brunette lying on the 
deck. 
   Waiting.
   After a quarter-minute, they realized that Spea was still breathing.
   And that she wasn't twitching.
   Finally, slowly, Amy scanned her. "Mother in heaven ...," she whispered. 
"Mother above ..."
   Catty finally asked, "Nurse ...?"
   Amy shut off the scanner. "The spastic pattern is gone," she said in a 
tone of wonder, looking at Spea. "Brain function has been restored within two 
percent of  normal ..." She looked back at Catty. "Well done, Lieutenant ..."
   Catty nodded, saying nothing. She hadn't been completely certain it would 
work. Being too appreciative might have looked boastful. She might have just 
as easily killed Spea -- a doubt that haunted her in the instant before the 
discharge.
   For letting it work -- she thought -- thank you, Mother Nebulart ...
   Spea's head slowly started to move. The nurse studied the bandaged hand 
she held, and she chuckled. "I don't suppose," she said offhandedly to Catty, 
"that you can regrow some organic tissue while you're here, can you?"
   The android was caught off guard. "Um ... yes, I can ..."
   "WHAT?!"
   "Wait a minute! It's not what you think ..."
   "Can you help Spea's hands?!"
   Catty sighed. "No ..."
   Amy was puzzled. "You can make organic tissue ... but you can't help Spea?"
   "That's correct," Catty said softly. "I have a tissue regenerator within 
me. Certain functions of my body can best performed by organic components. As 
the tissue wears out, new material is cloned and laid in. But it's a closed 
system. I can't create tissue, reach in and remove it." She paused and put a 
hand on Spea's hair. "So ... I can't help her. I'm ... sorry ..."
   The nurse studied Catty with an expression that the android began to 
realize was growing resentment. "You have micro-fusion ...," Amy said with 
almost a low growl, "... and you can regrow tissue forever ...?"
   Catty nodded, not sure where the discussion was going.
   "You're ... immortal ...?"
   "For ... all practical purposes ... yes ..."
   Amy's feelings exploded. "BUT YOU'RE A MACHINE, DAMN IT!!"
   "In a sense ..."
   The nurse raised  Spea's hand that she had been holding. "WELL, IT'S NOT 
VERY FAIR, IS IT?!"
   Catty shook her head. "I've never thought of it like that before ... It's 
just what I am ..."
   "Well ...," Amy growled, "... I hope you think about it now ... and every 
time you look at THIS!!" She shook Spea's hand slightly. "And for the rest of 
your immortal  ... " She spat out the last words. "... mechanical life ..."
   Catty didn't know what to think.
   For the first time in a long time.
   A small moan arose from Spea. Her head moved, and her brown eyes opened. 
"Hey ... squirt ...," she said weakly to Amy, "wha' happened ...?  I heard 
shouting, and  ..." 
   She saw the bandages.
   She screamed. 
   "AAAH!! OH, MOTHER!! AMY!! WHAT HAPPENED?! I was working on the 
batteries!! What ...?!" She tried to get up, but Amy and Catty restrained 
her. Spea began to struggle in her growing hysteria. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED 
TO ME?! AMY!! TELL ME!! AMY!! OH, MOTHER!! PLEASE!!"
   As she struggled to hold down Spea, Catty saw the brunette's bloodied 
bandages as Spea tried to grab one of the android's arms.
   And she knew that Amy had been right.
   She would wonder about the fairness of  life.
   For the rest of her immortal mechanical life.

*******

   The frost was growing.
   Living breath touched the cold metal decks and bulkheads near the battery 
block and froze.
   A new white death.
   Through the steam of her breath, Shildy stared at a bulkhead panel. She 
swore she could see the edge of the frost advance just perceptibly in the dim 
light. She shuddered.
   Absently, she raised a gloved finger, touched the panel and began writing.
   SHILDY WAS HERE.
   She smiled morbidly.
   My monument, she thought.
   "Well, that's it," Patty said down the corridor as she disconnected the 
cable linking the last spacesuit power pack to the remaining cell. Kneeling 
near the cell front, she picked up the data pad and scanned the unit.
   "How much more time did it give us?" Eluza asked.
   Patty read the pad. "Seventeen minutes ...," she said quietly.
   "Remind me not to start reading a new book ...," Rabby quipped.
   "That's ALL?" Lufy demanded. The Attacker rustled impatiently in her 
thermal wear. From beneath the silver metallic-cloth hood, she asked, "Can't 
ya do anything else? There's gotta be somethin' else we can do!"
   "We've killed the ship, Lufy," Eluza said. "There's only light and life 
support from the bridge to crew quarters to here. And if you haven't noticed, 
you aren't as heavy as when you arrived. While you all were pulling circuits 
just now, I had Patty cut artificial gravity to minimum. There's just enough 
to keep us from floating off the deck." 
   She was greeted with silence. 
   "Don't all jump for joy," she said ironically. "You'll hit your heads on 
the ceiling ..."
   Lufy sighed, puffing out a cloud of steam. "Gotta be somethin' more we can 
do ...," she muttered.
   Patty stood up. "Well, I'll be damned if I can think of anything else at 
this point. If you can think of any other independent power source on this 
ship, I'll be glad to listen."
   Down the corridor, Shildy froze. 
   Not from the cold. 
   "Catty ...," she said.
   The others turned toward her. "What?" Eluza asked.
   Shildy moved away from her monument to join them. "Catty."
   Rabby looked puzzled. "What about her?"
   "Catty ... has a micro-fusion reactor inside her.  She told me about it 
when we were in DAMIA ..."
   Lufy's jaw dropped. "That little 'bot ..."
   Patty regarded Shildy suspiciously. "What are you suggesting, exactly?"
   "Nothing," the tall woman said. "You asked for another power source. She 
has one."
   Silence. No one knew where to go from there. 
   Finally, Eluza asked Patty, "Could you ... link a micro-fusion reactor ... 
to the cell ...?"
   Patty's eyes widened. "ELUZA!!"
   "CAN you, Lieutenant Commander?"
   Patty fumbled for words. "I suppose ... but, Captain ..."
   Eluza cut her off, tapping her com headset. "Eluza to Catty."
   After a moment, the android answered. "Catty here."
   "Catty, report to the battery block now."
   "Aye."
   In the following silence, Rabby eyed the captain. She didn't know whether 
to be frightened or angry. Or horrified. Or all. 
   "Captain ...," she said slowly, "request permision to speak freely."
   Eluza nodded resignedly. "Yes, Rabby ..."
   "What are you planning to do, ma'am?"
   The captain sighed. "I'm going to explain the situation to Catty. I'll let 
her make her own decision regarding it."
   "What if she says, 'No'?" Lufy asked. "Do we hold her down and gut her 
like a fish?"
   Eluza's purple eyes flashed. "Watch your mouth, lady ..."
   Lufy shrugged, unconcerned. What was the brass's anger worth at this 
point? They were all prisoners here, as far as she cared.
   "Lufy's got a point, Captain," Rabby said.
   "A point I hope we don't get to, Commander ..."
   "Catty's been a good soldier, Captain," Shildy ventured. "I hate to have 
given anyone the idea, but to just use her like a power pack ..."
   "... Will be her decision, and hers alone, pilot," Eluza finished. "This 
discussion is over until Catty gets here. Is that understood?"
   The silence in the dim cold told her that it was.

*******

   Spea was sitting up against a bulkhead on the bridge. She stared at her 
bandaged hands, not really seeing them.
   "My fault ...," she whispered.
   Amy looked up from adjusting her med scanner. "What?"
   Spea kept studying her hands. "My fault ... we're going to ... die ..."
   "Spea, that's not true."
   The brunette looked at the nurse. "Captain Ortiz asked me ... if she could 
help ... I said, 'No.' ... Thought ... she didn't think  ... I could do it 
..." Her chin started to tremble slightly. "I'm ... small ..."
   Amy touched Spea's shoulders. "I don't think the captain thought that at 
all."
   Slowly, Spea leaned forward into Amy's chest and started sobbing quietly. 
"We had ... about nine hours left ... Nine ... Oh, Mother, I'm sorry!! ... 
It's my fault!! ... Wanted to show ... the captain ... I could ... OH, 
MOTHER, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"
   The sobbing broke into loud crying. Amy slowly embraced Spea and rested 
her chin atop the other woman's head. 
    The embrace was all she could think of doing at the moment. There was 
nothing in her med bag for guilt.

*******

   The crunching of frost beneath boots told them that Catty was approaching.
   When the android turned a corner, she saw five figures in thermal wear 
standing near the battery block. They turned toward her. Steam rose from 
their hooded faces, and their eyes glinted in the faint light.
   An odd feeling struck her -- one, she told herself, that had no rational 
basis:
   They looked like a pack of hungry animals.
   Catty wore no thermal wear. Although the temperature was now 150 degrees 
below freezing -- and dropping fast -- it didn't affect her. The cold 
wouldn't bother her for a while yet. She couldn't imagine what the organics 
were going through at this point. But she understood that the cold was a 
strain on them.
   But something still didn't make sense: She knew that on a Kularis-class 
ship, there would be plenty of field rations left, even now.
   So why did the faces look so hungry? 
   "Reporting as ordered, Captain," Catty said.
   "Thank you, Lieutenant," a bundled figure that sounded like Eluza said. 
"Catty ... it's been brought to my attention ... that you have ... a 
micro-fusion reactor within you ..."
   "That's correct, ma'am. In fact, I'd like to report that with the nurse's 
approval, I used a measured electrical charge from my body to stop Spea's 
twitching. There appear to be no adverse effects from the procedure."
   Eluza nodded. "Very good. Is Spea conscious?"
   "Yes ..."
   "How is she?"
   "Um ... disturbed ... at what happened to her  ... and the batteries ..."
   "I can imagine ...," Eluza said in a faraway voice. After a pause, a sigh 
puffed out of her. "Lieutenant ... your power system is what I wanted to talk 
to you about ..." The captain tried to plan the next step delicately, but she 
couldn't figure out how. Finally, she just shrugged. "Well, damn it:  Catty 
... can your reactor be used to at least recharge the battery?"
   "No, ma'am, it can't."
   Another bundled figure instantly erupted. "WHAT?!" it shouted in Lufy's 
voice. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'NO'?"
   "Lufy!" Rabby cried.
   Eluza asked, "Why can't you recharge the battery, Catty?"
   "The voltages are incompatible, Captain."
   Patty draw a sharp breath. "Oh, Mother in heaven ... I never thought of 
that ..."
   Lufy snorted. "Lame excuse ..."
   Catty stiffened. "It's not an EXCUSE, Group Leader! It's a design FACT!!"
   The unexpected outburst silenced the dim corridor. Eluza suddenly 
remembered that even though the Catties tended to be reserved, they had 
emotions. All the emotions from their organic mother's neural net. It wasn't 
a secret, really. But it could be damned surprising. "Catty," the captain 
finally said, "explain the situation, please."
   Catty organized the data, then began. "My system runs on 107 volts. The 
main power grid of the ship  -- including the batteries -- runs on 213 volts. 
The battery would just drain me, with only a marginal -- even negligible -- 
increase in cell power."
   "She's right about the ship," Patty conceded. "Why the lower voltage for 
you, Catty?"
   "The materials in my frame and mechanical components can't take 213 volts. 
They short out, even start to melt. One hundred seven is the highest they can 
handle."
    Shildy spoke up. "We just got 17 more minutes from a spacesuit power 
pack. Why would that work and a charge from you wouldn't?"
   Patty answered her. "Because the suit power pack has to initialize a 
thruster unit. You can't do that on only 107 volts. It has to be 213.  That's 
why the suit has a thick nonconductive pad lining the back -- so if there's a 
short, it won't fry you."
   Rabby held up a gloved finger. "Wait a minute: I saw your sister on the 
old Star Leaf complete a circuit to launch the Blossom. I KNOW that circuit 
is 213 volts. It worked then."
   "And it destroyed her, Commander," Catty noted quietly. "Remember, my 
mother was chief of intelligence. She read your classified report about the 
Chaos mission. And what she knew, we Catties knew eventually, in our central 
database."  She paused, looking a little sad. "I'm certain ... my sister knew 
that closing the circuit would be her doom. She HAD to know ... But she chose 
to sacrifice herself  to save others."
   Rabby nodded. "I know that ..."
   "Wanna carry on the family tradition?" Lufy mumbled.
   "Shut up, Lufy!" Eluza snapped.
   Catty regarded the Attacker with all the coolness she could muster. "If it 
would truly make a difference, Group Leader, I would. I am Catty. I am 
programmed to preserve life."
   Lufy crossed her arms impatiently. "Pretty words, coming from a  machine 
..."
   "I'm warning you, Campbell ..." Eluza growled.
   Catty closed her golden eyes and thought. "Group Leader ...," she said 
slowly, "... Where would you draw the line?"
   Lufy frowned. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"
   "You say I'm a machine. But I have organic components."
   "Big deal ..."
   "Commander Ciera has to wear a splint of metal and wire. It has to be part 
of her now until her fracture heals. Is she now completely organic, would you 
say?"
   "That's something tacked onto her! It's not permanent!"
   "Then let's talk about something that is," Catty answered. "Your upper 
right arm ..."
   Beneath the hood, Lufy's brown eyes widened.
   And through them, the horror and the pain flew back into her mind.
   "Oh, Mother ...," she whispered.
   She had forgotten.
   Because she had fought nightmares to forget.
   "A titanium humerus and synthetic biceps and triceps," Catty noted. "Not 
to mention three titanium lower right ribs and synthetic pectoral and 
abdominal muscles. Replacing body parts damaged or destroyed at Alpha 12 ..."
   Lufy was silent.
   "... Tell me, Group Leader," the android continued, "aren't you partly a 
machine now, too ...?"
   The freezing corridor was profoundly quiet. Lufy bowed her head slowly.
   Eventually -- very softly -- words found their way out from beneath the 
silvered hood.
   "Catty ... I'm ... sorry ..."
   The android was still for a moment. "Well ...," she finally said, "as one 
... composite being ... to another, ... I forgive you, Group Leader ..."
   A puff of steam from Lufy's hood was the only answer.
   After a short silence, Eluza said, "All right ... Can anyone ... think of 
another power source we can use?"
   "... My fighter's ... totally ... trashed ...," Lufy whispered.
   The captain looked around. "Anyone else?"
   Silence. And steam.
   Eluza turned to the ops officer. "Patty ... how much power ... is left?"
   Patty checked the data pad. "An hour ... and twenty-three minutes ..."
   "Very well." The captain raised her head slightly. "I want everyone to 
assemble on the bridge. I'll be there ... in a few minutes. Dismissed."
   Slowly, the women turned and departed, one after another. Eluza was the 
last. She gave the surviving cell a final glance back. Its indicators glowed 
weakly.
   Doomed, Eluza thought.
   Just like us.
   Damn.
   She headed out.
   Behind her, silently, frost born of their breath crept over letters on the 
wall:
   SHILDY WAS HERE
   SHILDY WAS HER
   SHILDY WAS
   SHILDY
   SHI
   SH
   S
   ...

*******

   Spea looked up. "Leave me alone ...," she said quietly. "Please ..."
   Lufy puffed out steam indignantly. "Just askin' how ya were ..."
   The small brunette sitting on the deck near the bridge doors returned to 
gazing at her hands. They were covered by thermal gloves now, puffed full by 
the bandages beneath. "I'm cold ...," Spea whispered. "All right?"
   The Attacker grunted, then shrugged. She always considered Spea an odd 
bird -- not the least because Spea once pulled a knife on her. That had been 
after Lufy was found at Alpha 12. Spea, afraid that Lufy would blab Mission 
21 secrets that the Attacker had been told, threatened her with a knife. It 
turned out there was no reason to worry: Lufy openly detested spies' 
intrigues.
   Lufy was surprised, though, by the depth of the intelligence officer's 
passion in the incident. She later thought that Spea might be someone she 
could identify with -- a person of action, not indecision.
   But it never happened. Spea always kept to herself, letting no one into 
her private life. Probably the legacy of her career as a spy, Lufy thought: 
Don't get close, and trust no one.
   And now, the Attacker mused, look where it had gotten Spea:
   A little ball of hurt and loneliness on the floor.
   Usually, Lufy had little compassion for other people's problems. She had 
enough of her own. Especially now.
   But for some reason, as she looked at Spea this time ...
   ... She felt sad.
   Lufy shook her head. Must be the cold gettin' to me, she thought.
   The power-starved doors opened slowly, and Eluza walked in. Her arms were 
loaded down with blankets.
   "Helluva time to take a nap, 'Luza," Rabby joked.
   Eluza said nothing -- and by that, the first officer knew something was 
wrong. The captain normally chuckled at her humor, no matter how lame. But 
now, Eluza was stonefaced as she approached the command chair.
   I don't think I'm going to like this, the readhead thought.
   Quietly, Eluza methodically unfolded a blanket and laid it across the 
seat. She draped another on the back of the chair and balanced the remaining 
folded blankets on one of the chair's arms. Only then did she sit down.
   She surveyed the other women for a moment, then spotted Spea on the deck. 
"Stand up, Spea," she said. The others turned toward the intelligence 
officer. Spea, sighing deeply, got up slowly.
   In the dim light, Eluza looked at the figures bundled in metallic cloth. 
Steam rose from their cold, tired faces.
   The faces of the end of Solnoid civilization.
   Mother ... help me through this, the captain thought.
   "My friends ...," she said at last, her words strangely heavy, "... this 
will be the ... most difficult order ... I've given in my life ...
   "First of all ... this ship ... will die ... within an hour and a half ..."
   Someone gasped. They knew what she said. What they couldn't believe was 
that Eluza had said it.
   "Ordinarily," Eluza continued, "I would give the order ... to abandon 
ship. But we can't leave the ship ... so ... there's no point in that.  We 
are ... being pressed by the falling temperature. It's already at our limits 
... In the next hour and a half, ... it will get worse ..." She paused. "MUCH 
worse ... 
   "I believe ... we are at the end ... of our lives ..."
   "Eluza!" Rabby cried.
   "Figures ...," Lufy said under her breath.
   Patty closed her eyes.
   Amy's chin started quivering. She looked up at Shildy. The tall woman 
slowly put an arm around the young nurse and drew her close.
   Catty waited to hear more.
   Spea stared at the deck and said nothing.
   The captain straightened in her chair. "As a result," she continued, 
"under my authority ... as a captain in the Solnoid Navy ... I ..." She 
closed her purple eyes. "... I ... relieve you of all duties and obligations 
... so you may use ... our remaining time ... as you each see fit ..."
    She opened her eyes and looked around. "May the Mother bless each of you 
...," she added softly. She turned to Patty and Rabby. "... And may she have 
mercy on our ... souls ..."
   Lufy started in surprise. A Sensualist! The captain was a Sensualist!
   "And on yours, Eluza ...," Patty replied.
   "And on yours, Eluza ...," Rabby echoed.
   Lufy, wide-eyed, turned suddenly toward the first officer.  "Swabby!" she 
hissed. "You?"
   Rabby turned and nodded. "Ever since the Chaos mission. Patty converted, 
then she converted us."
   Lufy stared at her friend, not knowing what to feel: Sensualists. People 
who felt deep emotions. Lovers of life. Dreamers who thought there was more 
to life than serving and fighting.
   That didn't make for good soldiers. Which is why Lufy always felt antsy 
around them.
   Swabby, how could you ...?
   Rabby studied the Attacker's expression. "Don't look at me like I'm a 
disease, Lufy ..."
   Lufy almost whimpered. "You were always ... so brave ..."
   "I'm still brave," Rabby said. "And I'm a Sensualist, too ..."
   Lufy thought about that. Could you be both?
   She wondered ...
   Eluza spoke up again. "You may return to your quarters, if you wish. ... 
Lufy, Spea, Amy, Shildy ... you may use guest quarters ... The access code is 
... 7-5-7 ..." She turned to Spea. "Spea ... you might want to stay with 
Shildy and Amy ... so they can make you comfortable ..."
   The intelligence officer looked up from the deck. "Thank you, ma'am ...," 
she said. "... But ... I'd prefer to be ... by myself ..."
   The captain nodded. "I understand ..."
    Lufy sighed: Spea -- the same to the end.
    How sad, she thought.
    "What about you, ma'am?" Patty asked.
   The captain had started unfolding a blanket and covering her legs with it. 
"My place is here," she said, "on the bridge."
   "I will stay with you, Captain." Everyone turned toward Catty. "I will 
function the longest. I can ... ensure that everything ... will be in order 
..."
   Eluza nodded. "Then make it so, Lieutenant ... And ... thank you ..."
   Several moments passed before it dawned on Eluza that no one had moved. 
The others stood there, seemingly lost, not knowing what to do next.
   Without purpose. 
   And maybe -- now -- they were, the captain thought.
   "Please ... do something," she said at last, "before I change my mind ...."
   Patty made the first move. Solemnly, she approached the command chair, 
paused and then embraced Eluza. The captain returned the hug, patting the ops 
officer on her back. When they drew back, Eluza saw tears in the corner of 
Patty's eyes. "No tears on the bridge," she whispered fondly.
   Patty wiped her eyes. Then she drew her face close to the captain's.
   They pressed lips. A Sensualist greeting. And farewell.
   Lufy let out a small groan of amazement.
   "Goodbye ... Eluza ...," Patty whispered.
   "No," the captain said, "... good night ... We'll see each other again ... 
That's what you taught me ... And I'm ... blessed for it ..."
   Patty closed her eyes and nodded. With a final squeeze of Eluza's right 
hand, she withdrew.
   Rabby was next, hugging the captain and pressing lips. Lufy looked away.
   Shildy and Amy were next. The nurse looked ready to break down, but her 
older sister's grasp around her shoulder braced her. The taller woman balled 
her right hand into a fist, then crossed her body with her right arm and put 
the fist on the front of her left shoulder. The Solnoid salute. Weakly, 
slowly, Amy did the same.
   Eluza returned the salute and nodded. The sisters moved back.
   Spea, silent and motionless through it all, took a deep breath. She looked 
up and walked to the command chair. She saluted -- but like a puppet, it 
seemed to Eluza.
   As if the life in her had already left.
   The captain gave Spea the only comfort she could give the brunette at this 
point. She saluted.
    Spea walked away.
   A moment went by.  And in it, Lufy came to realize -- as if she were 
waking from sleep -- that everyone had focused on her.
   Oh, hell, she thought.
   She looked at Rabby. The redhead's blue eyes weren't pleading, and that 
surprised her. The first officer's expression, in fact, was downright 
impassive.
   As if she were saying, "I won't force you. Whatever you do -- or don't do 
-- is yours alone."
   And, the Attacker realized, it was ...
   Because she was a Solnoid warrior.
   She stepped forward.
   She went before the captain, stood at attention and saluted.
   Eluza returned the salute.
   "Ma'am," Lufy said, "I heard ... a long time ago ... you were one hell of 
a lady. And you are."
   Eluza smiled. "I was just thinking ... the same thing about you, Group 
Leader ..."
   Lufy nodded in satisfaction. She lowered her arm, bowed and returned to 
Rabby's side.
   And then -- again -- no one moved.
   Damn, Eluza thought. I hate long goodbyes ...
   "Return to quarters," she said. "Everyone but Catty. That's an order."
   With that, she spun her chair around and started wrapping herself in 
blankets.
   Amy and Shildy started to exit quietly. Suddenly, the nurse let out an 
anxious "Oh!!" that stopped everyone where they were. She quickly opened her 
med bag and withdrew a small black canister with a narrow white band  around 
the middle.  
   Rabby noticed that the hand holding the canister was trembling.
   The nurse walked around Eluza's chair and faced the captain.
   Eluza paused in unfolding another blanket. "I gave you an order, Amy," she 
said, not unkindly.
   "Ma'am," the girl said, almost choking on the word, "I have a duty ... 
that I must ... offer ... in these ... situations ..."
   She opened the locking cap on the canister and poured out some capsules 
into her shaking hand. They were black, with a narrow white band around the 
middle.
   Eluza recognized them.
   Eternox.
   Suicide drug.
   Painless. Quick. Like falling asleep rapidly.
   The captain closed her purple eyes and shook her head. "No ... I'll never 
see the Mother that way ..." She opened her eyes and looked at Amy. "But ... 
thank you ... You have done your duty, nurse ..."
   Amy nodded and put the capsules back in the canister. "Thank you, ma'am 
...," she whispered.
   Eluza put a gloved hand on the teen-ager's cheek. "You've been ... very 
brave ... Remember that ..."
   Amy touched the captain's hand and nodded. Then, her duty there done, she 
rejoined her sister.
   Spea was the first to leave, without a word, without emotion. 
   Shildy put an arm back around Amy's shoulder and led her away.
   Patty looked at the captain one last time, closed her eyes and departed.
   Rabby and Lufy gazed across the bridge:  Eluza draped a blanket over her 
shoulders. Catty sat at the ops station. The android nodded in respect to the 
pair by the doors, then turned away.
   Lufy felt something graze her left hand. She looked down.
   Rabby was taking Lufy's hand in hers.
   The Attacker looked at her friend.
   At the sister she never had.
   And maybe, perhaps ...
   Could it be? Was it possible?
   Now, at the end ...
   At ... love ...?
   But it was so late for such things now ...
   "Let's go," Rabby whispered.
   Lufy nodded.
   In silence,  hand in hand, they left.

*******

   "No ...," Patty said in the corridor outside the bridge. She shook her 
head, nearly in terror. "No ..."
   Amy showed the black capsules to Spea. "Not the way I have in mind ...," 
the intelligence officer muttered, almost absently.
   The nurse turned to Rabby and Lufy. The first officer looked at her friend 
questioningly -- and partly in dread.
   The blonde studied the drug. "Was a time today ... I wanted to ..." she 
said, her voice drifting off. She looked at Rabby. "But I found ya again ...  
Now I want every second .... the Mother gives me with ya ... Swabby ..."
   Rabby gave a little smile. Returning to Amy, she shook her head.
   Finally, against every terrified instinct, the nurse offered the drug to 
her older sister.
   Shildy's breath steamed from her as she thought. "You know," she said at 
last, "that I will be with you ...  wherever you go ..."
   Amy stared down at the black capsules in her hand. Slowly, she made a fist 
around them.
   Her fist wouldn't stop trembling.

*******

   "Captain's log, final entry ... Captain Eluza Ortiz, Solnoid Navy ...
   "Today ... our Solnoid civilization ... died ...
   "And we died with it ...
   "Our ship, the Star Leaf, was fatally crippled ... in the final battle 
with our ancient enemy, the Paranoid ... We were found ... by only one of our 
fighter pilots ... who reported annihiliation of both sides by doomsday 
weapons ...
   "Our main power having been destroyed ... our reserve batteries kept us 
alive ... until an accident ... depleted them prematurely ...
   "I have relieved the survivors of duty ... so they may face the end ... in 
their own ways ...
   "Commendations ... as follows:
   "First Officer Rabby Ciera ... an old, dear friend ... brave ... 
level-headed ... my good left hand ... who kept me grounded in reality ...
   "Operations Officer Patty Wellington ... another old friend ...  
courageous ... resourceful ... worked miracles that we might live ... as long 
as we did ...
   "Group Leader Lufy Campbell ... last of our Attacker pilots ... knew her a 
long time, too ... brave to a fault ... a challenge ... one I enjoyed ...
   "Lieutenant Catty Shoumen ... android ... a survivor of our dead Lorelei 
Fleet ... one of a legion of sister beings ... now gone but her ... She was 
... useful ... helpful ... mysterious ....
   "The other Lorelei survivors ... known to me ... only for a short while ...
   "Amy Rusnokova ... nurse ... a good one ... A girl ... Of all of us .. she 
especially ... was cheated of a long, happy life ...
   "Shildy Beausoleil ... another fighter pilot ... Amy's older sister ...  
supportive ... and correct ... when she once had to discipline her sister ... 
in my presence ...
   "Intelligence Officer Spea Holgren ... dutiful ... helpful ... but ... a 
sad riddle ...
   "I will spend my end time ... on the bridge of my ship ... as is my duty 
... Lieutenant Shoumen ... being able to survive the cold of space ... longer 
than us organic beings ... has volunteered  to stay with me ... 
   "For which ... I am deeply grateful ...
   "Once ... we were called the Gallant Force ... for our bravery in battle 
...
   "I ... pray ... that we will be as gallant ... as we face the ends of our 
lives ...
   "We Solnoids ... and our enemies, the Paranoids ... made war so long ... 
we forgot how .... to do anything else ...
   "And for that ... we were damned to extinction ...
   "Rightly ... I have begun to think ...
   "Punishment ... for our sins ...
   "I hope that ... whoever ... finds this record ... will forgive us ... and 
the Paranoids ... for not being able to solve ... the riddle of peace ...
   "If our moment ... on the stage of eternity ... had no other purpose ... 
let it be ... a lesson ... and a warning ... to future times ... and future 
races ...
   "May ... the Mother in heaven ... bless our ... souls ... and  forgive us 
...
   "Captain ... Eluza Ortiz ... Solnoid Navy ... End log ..."

*******

   Spea tapped the keyboard beside the door. 
   7-5-7. 
   Slowly, the door opened.
   She turned toward the others just down the corridor. She said nothing but 
saluted, holding her fist in front of her left shoulder longer than normal, 
awaiting a response.
   As ranking officer, Rabby returned the salute. Sadly. Spea had offered no 
goodbyes -- not even to her Lorelei comrades, Amy and Shildy. Since her 
accident, she had almost completely withdrawn. Rabby lowered her arm.
    Spea did the same. Then, silently, she withdrew into guest quarters.
   The door closed.
   Amy whimpered. Shildy embraced her and stroked her head gently. The older 
woman looked up at the first officer. "Thank you ... for everything, 
Commander ...," she said quietly. "For me and ... my sister. Thank you all 
..."
   "Good to have met you, ace ... and nurse ...," Rabby replied.
   "Give 'em hell, you two ..." Lufy added.
   "The Mother bless you both," Patty said.
   Shildy nodded. Then she reached out and tapped a keyboard.
   7-5-7.
   The door opened.
   Still embracing Amy, Shildy used her free right arm to salute. The nurse 
had buried her face in her sister's chest , and she was openly sobbing now.
   Rabby saluted.
   Shildy tenderly nudged her younger sister toward the open door. 
Reluctantly, the girl started to move. Then she recovered long enough.
   "I'm ... I'm ... sorry for ... crying, ma'am ...," she told Rabby through 
tears.
   "We're not on the bridge, Amy ...," the redhead observed.
   With that, gently, Shildy led the teen-ager into the guest quarters.
   The door closed.
   Patty looked at her two old friends. "I'm glad ... we're together ... for 
this ...," she said softly. "... I love you both ..."
   Rabby walked over and embraced the ops officer a long time. They patted 
each other's back. "I love you, too," she whispered. She pulled back and 
pressed her lips to Patty's.
   Lufy said nothing. Watching Sensualism was becoming old hat by now.
   "Good night, Rabby ...," Patty said.
   "Good night, Pats ..."
   They parted. Patty looked at the Attacker. "Good night ... brave heart ..."
   Lufy found herself walking awkwardly toward the dark-haired woman. She was 
uncertain what to do next. She wasn't a Sensualist, for Mother's sake.
   But this ... was Patty ...
   Patty ...
   Lufy reached out tentatively.
   Patty smiled. She reached out. And drew Lufy into her embrace.
   Pats on the back. "Wish ... I coulda had ya with me ... in a fight or 
two," Lufy whispered. "You're OK ..."
   "You're ... the best ... there ever was, Attacker ..." 
   Then Patty drew back.  And before Lufy knew what was happening ...
   Their lips met.
   For once, the Attacker didn't fight.
   Hey, she thought ...
   That's ...
   ... different ...
   ... and ...
   ... um ...
   ... nice ...
   Whoa ...
   They parted. Patty smiled. 
   She could swear she saw a tiny, TINY smile on Lufy's face, too ...
   Patty tapped her personal code on a keyboard by her quarters.
   The door opened.
   She took a deep breath. "Dream of happiness ..."
   "You, too ...," Rabby said.
   Patty nodded. "I will ... I'll dream ... of my child ... Good night ..."
   " 'Night ...," Rabby whispered.
   Patty entered her quarters.
   The door closed.
   And then there were two.
   Rabby again grasped Lufy's hand. "My quarters are this way," she said 
quietly, "on the other side of Eluza's ..."
   "OK ..."
   They headed down the dim, cold, littered corridor. "Hey ...," Lufy finally 
said, "... can ya tell me about ... Sensualism ... ?" Her tone quickly turned 
defensive. "Not that I'm some ... touchy-feely ... OK?"
   Rabby smiled. "Oh, of course not ..." She guided her friend past a cable 
dangling in the middle of the corridor. "Well, no time like the present. We 
do have about an hour and a half to kill ..."
   She stopped abruptly. "Oh, SORRY ... That wasn't the best way to put that 
..."
   "Huh? Oh ..." The Attacker shrugged. "Went right by ... Thought it was 
another of your lame jokes ..."
   The first officer laughed. "Well, THANKS!" She smiled and started down the 
corridor again. "Oh! Just remembered: I have something of yours ..."
   Lufy was actually surprised. "Ya do?"
   "Yeah. I think you'll remember it ..."
   They arrived at another door. There was an emergency light right in front 
of it, so as Rabby punched in her personal code, her metallic-cloth thermal 
wear glittered.
   Lufy watched the sparkling. "Thermal wear is so stupid ..."
   Rabby paused at the keyboard, puzzled. "Why?"
   "Well ..." Lufy said, starting to look uncomfortable, "don't take this ... 
the wrong way ... but in that light just now ..."
   "Yeah ...?"
   "Ya look ... Well ..." The Attacker let out a puff of exasperated steam. 
"Well, ya look like a damn giant oven mitt, OK?"

*******

   The sound shot through the Star Leaf.
   It echoed in cold, dark rooms.
   It bounced off frost-covered decks.
   And living souls listened.
   Spea looked up from the heirloom knife she had pulled -- through blinding 
pain with her bandaged hands -- from a pocket in her uniform.
   Shildy looked up from Amy -- the nurse was still sobbing next to her -- 
and up from the black capsules they both held.
   Eluza started, breaking away from the memory of a warm, clear day of 
sailing when she was a girl.
   Catty paused from planning her two final duties -- and wondering when the 
captain would let down her guard ...
   Patty looked up from the small video player on her nightstand, as her 
datatag inside it repeated the only image she had of her child, born on Chaos.
   Lufy looked in shock at the source of the sound.
   The sound of Rabby laughing hysterically.
   Laughing with all her life ...

TO BE CONTINUED