Star Cores Ch. 01

Spermatozoa are simple things, oh don't get me wrong, amazing they are, ballistic missiles each carrying their payload of 23 chromosomes, using their flagellum to swim their way towards the ovum.

These little swimming critters were not having much luck however, either at finding the ovum or even swimming; regardless of how hard they flailed they just weren't getting anywhere.

"That's the problem with zero 'G' sex" Harriet stated calmly as she vacuumed up the last remaining pocket of her partners leakage.

"The Clean Up!" Both her and Simon simultaneously stated loudly.

'Men,' she though. Ever since the medic's found the cure-all for sexually transmitted diseases not to mention unwanted pregnancy back in '34. 'Coca-Cola's Mega pill' you were safe. Condoms had become a thing of the past. Which to her was a shame. The clean up after would be so much easier.

'Hhmmm perhaps she could bring them back' She momentarily day dreamed. Distracted she just barely stopped her head from hitting the central control console.

"And momentum!!" Simon stated loudly after noting the close call she just had. 'Oh she was a beauty alright' Simon thought to himself. Watching the naked Harriet chase after more of their secretions. She seemed to be quiet unaware that as she spun around quickly she was the source of them!

'And she was quiet a brain this one' He thought after all it was her idea to take one of the convec belts off the secondary generator and hoop it around them. It was made of a unidentifiable rubbery substance. But like a giant rubber band it kept the two of them together. When in zero Gee their love making wanted to naturally separate them.

"Stop spinning," He laughed. "You're leaking!!"

"Oh," Harriet meekly exclaimed. 'He must think I'm such a dumb drone!' She thought finally catching on where the steady stream of fluids she'd been vacuuming was coming from.

Incredibly bright light flooded the small cockpit. Momentarily illuminating both of the young lovers before dying down.

"What was that!!" they both exclaimed as they tried to float over to the cockpit view screen.

The problem with Stars. Well they may last for a very, very, very long time but they do expire or more appropriately it's best to say the fuel that the average star burns runs out. When this happens the fusion process continues. It just needs a different fuel source. This is exactly what Beta Cigna was in the process of doing. But in the transfer from one fuel source to another. Drastic changes happen, in the case here. Well a flash point had been reached. The star will now expand until a new stable equilibrium is found.

This is bad news for our distracted lovers huddling together in the small cockpit of the ESS Copernicus. For traveling towards them is a wave of sorts. The last remains of the hydrogen that was being fused. Not to mention a large portion of the stellar mass of the previously yellow star, blown off in all directions.

"By Xeus, the star has gone nova!!" Stated the excited Simon.

"Don't be stupid Simon.. Cigna isn't big enough! Replied Harriet. "It must have reached the new part of it's life cycle!!".

"Either way, we need to get the hell out of here!" They both agreed.

Ignoring the amount of fluids she was adding. Harriet expertly floating over the primary consoles chair and proceeded to strap herself in.

"Powering up main drive!!" She stated as Simon followed her lead and strapped himself into the secondary console's drift chair.

Flipping the Auxiliary power controls. Harriet ignored the normal slow check list and went straight to engaging the Bensiki engines to maximum.

"Hey wait, we can't just leave all of the mining equipment!!" Exclaimed Simon.

"Watch me, Do you have any idea what is coming at us at lightspeed right now!" Harriet screamed back at him.

"Oh!! The flash wave!" Simon Meekly replied.

"Yes!" She confirmed.

Both were silent for a while, contemplating what they were going to do now. What they could do! After all in the hundred and six years since Professor Bensiki proposed the idea for pinhole travel. Not much innovation had gone into making the overall speed faster. With Pinhole travel you basically made little jumps. Slipping between two pinhole like points in the warped substance that is space.

Lightspeed is still the Galactic top speed. Sure a Bensiki drive engaged at full would be making quick hops. From an outside observer their speed would be approaching close to 80% of light.

80% of lightspeed is of course about 20% slower. Than the giant wave of stellar material that was at this minute hurtling towards them.

"I have an idea!!, Cigna III" shouted Harriet.

"The planet?, but that in the wrong direction!!" Shouted the slightly panicked Simon.

"Exactly!!" Smiled Harriet.

'And i thought she was smart,' Mused Simon. "Shouldn't we be making our way AWAY from the wave?" stated the clearly puzzled and alarmed Simon.

"We'll never outrun it, but we can put something between us and it! Something big!" replied Harriet as if she was explaining 5th dimensional trigonometry to her 7 year old cousin.

Simon remained quiet. Observing a stray blob of their fluids appear. To make little jumps towards the forward view screen. Tapping away on the primary control console Harriet programmed what she knew of Beta Cigna and what she remembered from Stella evolution classes in high school. She was able to make a rough calculation of where the wave front would be now and where it would be when they reached Cigna's third rocky planet.

It would be close, very close. If her math was right perhaps they would just make it. Sooner than she had thought. Only another minute or two till the wave front reached the planet. When it did the energy would slightly wrap around the planet possibly breaking it apart. Somewhere at the zenith point there would be a sweat spot. A gravitational anomaly if she could get them there. The ravaging energies would pass them by.

"Another 50 seconds till the wave hits!!" Harriet cried.

"The Bensiki engines pre-pulsors!!!, Spin the ship around!! They will act like a shield if we keep the engine running but not jumping!" shouted Simon.

'I knew he was more than a beautiful body' thought Harriet as she skidded the Copernicus in a tight turn that would have had the most advanced hover jocks jealous.

"Brace for impa..." Simon went to state. But the globule of fluid he had been watching earlier had made an about face and proceeded straight into his panicked mouth.

"Ewww i need to cut down on coke!" complained Simon.

"Welcome to my world!, at least you hav..." Harriet almost finished.

There was a enormous pushing feeling. A bit like being hit from behind by a thousand angry surfers determined to get to the shore. Ironically no sound! no 'whoosh' or 'bang' like would have been in the entrainment vidz Harriet watched. The auxiliary console fizzed a bit but other than that nothing.

"Did it pass us?" said Simon.

"Look!" exclaimed Harriet as she switched the forward view screen to a reverse view.

"We are riding it, the wavefront, it must be the engines!" stated a awed Simon.

"we are traveling at just under 98% of the speed of light!" Harriet stated glancing at the console indicators.

"By Xeus, no-one has ever gone this fast!" Shouted a visibly excited Simon.

"well there isn't much we can do to dislodge us from the wave, turning off the engines now would be suicide!" stated Harriet.

"I guess we ride it out" replied Simon.

"You know there is another record we could break!!" Harriet coyly replied as she unbuckled herself and floated over to the still naked and very excited Simon.

Grabbing her out of the air and pulling her down onto his hardness Simon kissed her ear and looked into her eyes.

"Where's that convec belt?" Simon stated as Harriet bounced off him and progressed towards the ceiling.

"You know that's the fastest sex I've ever had!!" laughed Harriet...