08

* Asitha, Tiness, and Alain have to scramble to prevent a deadly disaster, and an unexpected guest appears on the Amaroth.

*

07 - Fight or Lose

This time when Alain woke up he knew what to expect even though he'd fallen asleep early after eating. Asitha and Tiness slept next to him in his own bed, which meant they had taken him to it after he fell asleep. There was a vague memory of getting into bed so it could have been he was barely awake enough to get to his pod while they supported him. Either way he was pleased the miracle cure worked because his headache was as good as gone and most of the muscle aches as well. The peaceful look on the girls' faces was pleasing as well, but the wish to get really close to them tightened his chest, especially when he looked at Tiness. The image of her as a cute Silth woman clashed with the physical reality, and unlike the clear preference when it came to humans, he couldn't deny he was still attracted to her. He couldn't see her as anything but a fluffy female with cute personality and feel the same attraction for her as he did with Asitha. He groaned inward at the curse of having fallen for two creatures he'd never imagined he'd fall for.

An urgent buzzing tore him from his train of thought and the girls woke up startled. 'What's that!?' asked Asitha as she sat up at once.

Alain leaned over Tiness to pick his tablet from a recess in the wall, the sensation of her body against his only lasting for a second before his mind went into emergency mode. He punched up the console from the Walkurea and silenced the buzzer while reading the log entry that triggered it. 'Oh crap!'

Asitha moved closer to him. 'What is it!?'

'The Walkurea detected incoming projectiles.' Alain said and pulled up the area chart. 'Multiple incoming at high speed, probably comet debris.'

Tiness sat up next to him. 'Straight for us!?'

'We're in the target radius of 400 kilometres.'

'How much time?' asked Asitha.

'Six standard days.'

She hissed. 'We have to evacuate.'

'But where to?' asked Tiness. 'If we escape with our pods we can't go far on our fuel reserve, and heading to the nearest Silth outpost takes too much time.'

'There's still some fuel left on the Walkurea, we could escape with that, but I don't want to abandon this place and have to return to Earth if the debris does hit the ships and destroy them.' Alain said while he rechecked the detection system. 'I don't want to leave you and our home.'

Asitha's heart skipped a beat at the sight of his serious face. She didn't want to return to Silth and the unhappy existence that would await her there. 'What other option do we have?'

'Can't we deflect or evade the debris?' asked Tiness. 'Can't we use the weapons or the shields of the warships?'

Alain shook his head. 'Only part of the shield works on the Walkurea, it won't cover the Amaroth or us. And even if I could get the canons to shoot makeshift projectiles it's too little to make an impact on the debris. It would likely just make things worse by turning larger pieces into clouds of smaller pieces.'

He sensed her grip on his arm and the urge to protect her and Asitha grew stronger. "What can we do!?" he thought while he looked at the cone of the target area displayed on his tablet.

'Could we give this whole thing a push with the fuel we have?' asked Asitha.

Alain looked at her. 'We could push it with the pod thrusters but they're too weak.

'And the Walkurea? You can control it, can't you control the engines?'

Alain pondered. 'I could fire them but it would cause a rotation and probably not get us out of the way. We need to control the Amaroth as well.'

Tiness looked at Asitha. 'The engine controls are damaged in a few places but we could replace those components.'

'But the Amaroth has barely any fuel left.' said Asitha.

'What if we collect all from the emergency pods? There are plenty of them.'

Asitha did a quick calculation in her head. 'Then we'd still be short when I base it on the average fuel capacity of the pods.'

'I saw fuel pods on the Walkurea.' said Alain. 'If we're lucky there's fuel left in them and together with the pods from the ship it might be enough to fuel both warships.'

Asitha looked at him. 'Our fuels aren't completely the same but I could adjust the engine controls to run on a mix.' She looked at Tiness. 'If we work continuously we might make it.'

Tiness nodded. 'Yes. I don't want to return to Silth. I'd rather risk my life to stay here.'

They looked at Alain. He wanted to pull them close and kiss them but this wasn't the time. 'We have work to do.' he said.

***

Asitha and Tiness began on replacing the damaged circuits and components of the engine control systems while Alain checked the status of every fuel pod he could find, along with the emergency pods on both warships. He put down a list while they took their first scheduled break. Despite the emergency they agreed on regular breaks to avoid exhaustion and risk making errors in their work. 'All together there's enough fuel to move.' he said. 'If we keep output moderate we can clear the impact radius and still have some left to move further away if needed.'

'Good.' said Asitha when she looked at the ratio of the two fuels available for use on the Amaroth. 'As far as we can tell we should be able to get the engine controls working, although we have to rig it in a few places because we don't have the exact same parts. Once that's done we can try to recalibrate for the new fuel mix.'

'I think we should decouple our home from the ships.' said Tiness. 'If the forces on the impact wreckage are too large it could warp the structure and damage our pods.'

Asitha nodded and Alain looked at the drawing of the two ships he had made. 'Good point.' he said. 'We can secure our pods to the ships with cables to keep them from drifting away. I could stay here and control the Walkurea from here but I prefer to do it from engineering or the bridge.'

'One of us needs to be on the bridge and the other in engineering for the Amaroth.' said Asitha. 'We'll just have to risk leaving our home unmanned.'

Alain leaned back in the couch. 'In worst case we can still survive on the Walkurea, there are enough secure sections for that. It does mean the end of our cosy life however when they find out what happened.'

'It's better than giving up now and leaving everything behind for certain.'

Alain felt the same and was ready to give it his all to secure their life together. He looked at the time. 'Better get some sleep now, we'll need to continue work soon.'

Asitha nodded, hesitated for a moment, then spoke up. 'I think it's best if we sleep together again. To make sure we keep to our schedule.'

Alain looked at Tiness. 'That's not a bad idea, if you don't have any objection.'

She shook her head quickly. 'I think that might be better as well.'

'My bed then? I don't want to impose on your private spaces.'

The girls agreed and they went to their pods to change, and crawled onto Alain's bed quickly after. He'd provided extra pillows and set two alarms to wake them up.

'I really hope we can make it.' said Tiness softly.

Alain gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand in his. 'We can do this.'

She smiled back and Asitha leaned on Alain's chest to put her hand on theirs. 'It might be a bad sign to say this when it comes to movies, but we either make it together, or we don't.'

Alain put his other hand on hers. 'We will.'

***

The next days were filled with work on the warships, sleeping in short periods, and supporting each other trying to wake up and staying alert and calm enough while the clock counted down to the estimated time of impact. They found comfort in sleeping together but they still felt awkward when waking up and finding themselves snuggled together one way or the other. The pressure of the emergency distracted them enough to quickly forget about it though. Alain was glad for it because he wouldn't have to think about controlling himself while the girls didn't have time to deal with their feelings towards waking while snuggled up to a male or occasionally in his embrace.

'I need some help on replacing a relay box.' said Tiness when she and Asitha were almost done with replacing the defective engine control systems. 'I can't do it alone.'

'I'm busy replacing a burnt out circuit on one of the engines.' said Asitha. 'Alain, can you help?'

He clamped a fuel pod to the cargo picker. 'I can in a few minutes. where are you?'

'I'll send you the compartment number.' said Tiness.

Alain arrived a little later later at the pressurised section Tiness was working in. He took off his suit and found her in a narrow area between two walls. 'There's a bunch of cables in front of the box and I can't replace it without holding it in place.' Tiness said as she gestured at the open section of the back wall.

Alain moved up behind her and noted the shoe sized box behind a bundle of various cables. 'Another marvel of smart design.' he said dryly.

Tiness chuckled once. 'I guess our technologies don't differ much?'

'Yeah. I can show you some textbook examples on the Walkurea if you want.'

She giggled. 'Maybe after we're done with this whole thing.' she said and turned to the box. 'Can you hold the box and keep the cables apart while I disconnect it and remove the brackets?'

'Sure.' he said and reached out to the cable to spread them, and pressed against Tiness's back. 'Sorry, my arms aren't any longer.'

Tiness blushed a little. 'It's all right, there's not much room here. If it bothers you I can do it later with Asitha.'

'I don't want to take away your precious time when I have more to spare, as long as it doesn't bother you.'

Tiness shook her head. 'Then I'll begin on disconnecting the cables.'

Alain held the box by its sides while the cables rested against the outside of his lower arms and Tiness worked on the cable connections. Her back rubbed and pressed with every move against his chest and Alain quickly felt his body heat up. The couple of times he woke up with either of the girls spooned against him flashed through his mind, bringing with it the sensations of their soft fur and their scents, things he had no time to explore when they had to get up and get to work. He thought it might be because they hadn't had the time to freshen up or because he spent much more time closer to them, but her scent became more clear to him and he unconsciously leaned his nose forward to the side of her neck to inhale it.

Tiness tried to keep her mind on her work but Alain practically pinning her against the wall and herself moving against him interfered with images of him holding her tight like lovers did in the movies they'd watched. Her heart began to pound and she hoped her thick fur hid it from him. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable because she wasn't someone according to his preferences.

Alain tried to move his hips back but that only caused him to lose his balance, so he had to keep them pressed against her behind, and slowly he sensed the rubbing of her tail and behind taking effect on him. He tensed his thighs to redirect his blood flow but it was no use and all he could do was hope she didn't notice. It should be a logical physical reaction to stimulation at the right places but he couldn't deny the extra stimulation of her scent and the softness of her fur as her bare arms brushed against his. Even her tail seemed to wrap itself around his legs and the times he imagined their fur against his skin wouldn't go away. As a human he shouldn't even be attracted to a Silth but he knew very well he did, and not just to Asitha, but Tiness as well. He had to face the fact that his weakness was cuteness and Tiness's gender didn't matter to him.

'Are you all right?' asked Tiness and pulled Alain out of his thoughts.

He looked at the side of her face while she looked back at him. "Yeah, it must be because she looks so cute." He cleared his throat. 'I'm all right, it's just a tiresome position to work in.'

She nodded. 'I'm almost done removing the last bracket, then we can remove the box.' she said while the shiver from his breath brushing her ear lingered along her spine. For a moment she imagined him acting on his physical state and taking her from behind, and her heart raced with excitement before she suppressed it as best as she could. She decided to tell him she'd place the new box later so he wouldn't have to endure his embarrassment any longer.

The last bracket came loose and Alain pulled the box away. He placed it on the floor and sat in a squat to hide his state. 'I can place the new box later.' Tiness said softly.

Alain looked at the new box. 'You can't connect it now?'

Tiness looked down. 'I can, but won't it be a bother to you?'

It would bother him in in a certain way but it would be a stupid reason to delay work in the current circumstances. He just had to endure it and as long as she didn't notice it he wouldn't have to make her worry. 'I'll be fine.' he said. 'A few stretches will loosen me up again.'

Tiness blushed at the image in her mind. 'Then, please hold the new box.'

She tried to move as little as possible but her back still rubbed against his front and they both tried their best not to think about anything but their current task, even if it seemed Alain kept his arms closer to hers and her tail wrapped tighter around his legs to keep her balance.

She connected the last cable and was glad to finish the job, but she also regretted it. She leaned her head a little back, letting her back press a little more against him. 'Done.' she said softly.

He let go of the box and flexed his fingers and hands. 'Just in time.' he said. 'I was about to get cramps in my hands.'

Tiness took his hands in hers and massaged his palms with her fingers. 'Thanks for helping me out.'

'Any time.' he said softly in her ear and shivers went up and down her spine. She noticed he hadn't pulled away from her and her heart raced when the thought of asking him welled up in her mind. Fear gripped her but the urge to blurt the question out fought for dominance. 'Alain..?' she whispered.

'I'm done here.' said Asitha over the communication link and startled Alain in stepping back. 'How's your end?'

'Oh, ehm, we're done here.' said Tiness and tried to restart her stopped heart.

'Good. Only a couple of things left and we can run tests. I'm coming your way.'

'All right, we'll wait here for you.' Tiness said while Alain quickly collected her tools to coll down.

***

Asitha studied the documentation on the engines on the tablets in front of her in the engineering section of the Amaroth. 'I think we need to adjust the nozzle throughput here and here.' she said and pointed at the parts on a diagram.

Alain looked it over and hummed. 'Sounds right to me. The design of these engines isn't much different than what we built.'

She looked up at the large fuel injectors at the side of on of the engines, then looked around. 'Do you see anything to stand on? I believe there should be ladders but it looks like they were taken.'

Alain checked the spaces between the engines. 'Nothing here.'

She looked up at the engine again. 'We'll have to go search for something then.'

Alain looked up. 'That would take too much time just for a quick adjustment.' he said and looked at her. 'I think it's quicker if you sit on my shoulders. That looks like the right height.'

Asitha chuckled. 'Can you handle my weight?'

He nodded. 'I've been working out more since that thing with the bandits.' he said and tensed a little in lingering anger. 'I want to make sure I have at least some strength if it's needed for protection.'

Asitha smiled a little. 'Yeah.' she said. 'How do you want to do it?'

He helped her step up onto a console, stood with his back to her, and she sat down in his neck, wrapping her feet around his back. He wrapped his arms around her legs, tested his stance, and was glad for the training he did. 'How is it?' she asked.

He looked up with his eyes at her face. 'I've got you. Are you good?'

'Yes.'

'All right then.' he said and stepped forward towards the engine. 'Let's get this done, we have eight of these to do.'

Asitha reached up to the injector. 'Can you get to it?' Alain asked.

'Barely, but it's good enough..' she said and adjusted the secured screw valve.

Her movements caused her shirt to crawl up slowly and Alain soon had to try and ignore the warm sensation in the back of his neck, but the soft sensation of her inner thighs against his cheeks didn't help with that. "Don't think! Don't think!" he thought to himself. "She's too busy to realise her shirt slipped up so I should be too busy supporting her!"

"Work! Focus on priorities!" Asitha thought as she tried to focus on getting the adjustment right. "Alain's doing his best to support me in getting this done and so should I!" She bit her lower lip while the back of his neck ground firmly against her between her legs and sent tingles through her lower half. 'Done.' she said. 'Want to take a moment to rest?'

'No need, let's continue.' he said quickly and thought "If I take a rest you'll surely find out the consequence of sitting in my neck.". 'It's less tiring to do it all at once instead of lowering and lifting you each time.'

'All right, the next one then.' she said and agreed that doing this quickly might be better than prolonging the sensation.

By the time they were done with the last injector Alain felt more tired than just from lifting her weight. He stood with his back at another console and Asitha got up from his shoulders. His neck tingled at the sudden cool sensation and a waft of musky scent tickled his nether regions together with his imagination. 'You're all sweaty.' she said and wiped his neck and shoulders quickly with her shirt. 'Wasn't it too much?'

'No, I'll be fine.' Alain said without looking at her and resisting the desire to touch his neck and smell his fingers. He flexed his shoulders. 'Let's test fire one engine to make sure it can handle the new fuel mix.'

'Yes.' Asitha said and climbed down from the console, suppressing the itch from the top of her inner thighs rubbing against her. She activated the engine and manually fired it for three seconds at low power, then read the output on the console. 'It's not as efficient but it works. I could get another few percent from it if I fine-tune it.'

'We don't really have the time for it and I think it's better to not waste fuel on the small gain it might bring.' Alain said and gave her a smile. 'I'm already satisfied that you got it working but since you're smart it was no surprise.'

She blushed and looked at the console and engine documentation quickly. 'Anyone with a bit of knowledge could have done this.'

'Maybe, but I'm still happy you're here.' he said. 'Let's tell Tiness the good news and eat.'

***

Asitha noticed Tiness's reaction at home when she caught the scent from Alain's neck despite hiding it. It embarrassed her but she had smelled the change in Tiness as well the day before. Under normal circumstances at home it was a natural thing and no big deal, but she could understand why Tiness had tried to hide it. Human noses weren't sensitive enough as far as she knew but Alain's scent had changed as well and she wondered if he had found out about them. He said nothing about it or rejected Tiness or tried to approach herself like Silth males would have, so she figured he hadn't. There were more urgent matters at any rate.

Alain suspected it was the intense schedule they worked at that caused the thicker smell of their fur in the air. He had increased the throughput of the environmental system but it didn't compensate completely. It also didn't lessen the scent when they sat close and slept together but he didn't think it was a bad thing when it seemed it both comforted and revitalised him.