Chapter Fourteen
Shale stayed at her post as pilot, keeping an eye on the ship, the Ancients, and the comet. There could be debris along for the ride, and she didn't want their only way home damaged or destroyed. The problem was the on board radar had to be used to keep the Phoenix at a relative distance to the planet, and couldn't look for danger. They had to rely on the station for that.
The five girls floated near the airlock, looking at the comet.
"Wow, that's really impressive," said Topaz, "And it's just a big piece of ice?"
"That's right," answered Sapphire, "But it's so big it won't burn up when it hits the air, and will cause a lot of damage."
"Yeah, I got that..." answered Topaz. Then she giggled. "If we took it home, we would never run out of ice at parties!"
"That's for sure!" smiled Amethyst.
The radio crackled. "Ancients, this is the station. We're picking up a separate piece of the comet that will pass close by you. There shouldn't be any danger, but be ready.
"Roger that, receiving now," said Shale. "ETA?"
"Three minutes, mark," was the reply.
"Uh, station, how big is it?" asked Ruby.
"No bigger than fifteen feet across, Miss Trollman," was the answer.
"A regular bead will handle that," said Sapphire.
"Just what I was thinking," answered Ruby. "Shale, we'll take care of it."
"THERE IT IS!" said Amethyst, pointing at a bright star that was just beginning to show a disk.
"And here's a bead," said Onyx. She reached into the left pocket on the space suit and brought out a purple bead. "I hope this is it. Hard to tell in these suits."
The other four closed in and put a hand over the bead. With no incantation needed, the bead began to glow.
"Here it comes," said Amethyst, looking toward the bow of the Phoenix.
The other four moved away, allowing Onyx to throw the bead at the chunk of ice traveling some thirty miles a second.
Ahead of the ship the bead exploded and formed a bright green portal.
"Okay, everyone, concentrate on keeping it open," said Sapphire.
It took a minute, but finally the ice hit the portal dead center with room to spare. It vanished, and the portal dissolved.
They turned around to find the exit portal just forming. The ice flew out of it and continued on its way.
"YEAH!" "WE DID IT!" "NICE." GOOD JOB, EVERYONE!" "what did we do, again?"
There were groans at Topaz's comment, and the blond giggled. "Just kidding."
bffl bffl bffl
The comet was noticeably bigger, and the time to activate the bead was at hand.
"About time, too," muttered Ruby.
"Timing is going to be tricky," said Sapphire, "We'll have to activate the bead, launch it, let the portal open and hold it open until the comet is through."
"But I know we can do it!" said Amethyst, pumping her arm.
"Thank you Miss Confidence!" said Ruby.
"I thought you said she was Miss Diplomat?" said Topaz.
"Never mind," said Ruby, exasperated. You could hear her eyes roll in her voice.
"Shale, how much longer?" said Sapphire, ignoring her friends bickering.
"The comet's course and speed are constant," Shale reported, "And I make it... five minutes."
"Let's get ready, guys!" said Sapphire, "The rocket will take the bead to the comet very quickly, so let's get started."
They clustered around the rocket with the oversized spell bead mounted on top.
"Say when, Shale!" called Ruby.
"Stand by..." came the answer. "One minute, twenty seconds... a minute ten... one minute... fifty seconds..."
The new Ancients put their gloved hands on the bead. It wasn't visible but their belly gems started glowing and the bead did so in response.
"To save the world is why we're here. The comet's getting awfully near. The situation's very dire. Make it miss our world entire!"
They pulled back and the bead started glowing a deep red.
"Launch now, Shale!" called Sapphire.
"Stand back! Launch in ten seconds!" came the response.
The BFFL scrambled away and watched as in the silence of space the rocket ignited. The clamps holding it to the Phoenix retracted, and in the blink of an eye (and much faster than they thought) it was gone, heading for a date with destiny.
"Get ready to hold it open, guys!" called Amethyst.
There was a bright flash of red, and the portal spell activated. The round, cloudy object expanded rapidly directly in front of the comet. It took about ten seconds for the expansion to stop.
"It's at it's widest! Hold it!" called Ruby.
They faced the comet and held out their arms, willing their personal magic to cross the vacuum and hold open the portal.
"Ten seconds to impact," said Shale.
"It's starting to fight us, wanting to close!" said Ruby after a few seconds.
"Don't give in!" said Amethyst.
"I'm doing my best, but I don't know how much longer I can last," said Onyx, the strain in her voice clear to all.
"Three... two... one... impact!" called Shale. The radar says it has about six miles of ice to cross into the portal. Because of our relative speeds it will take about six seconds or maybe a bit more. You've got to hold it that long!"
"Easy for you to say!" muttered Topaz.
"Guys, we've got a problem!" said Amethyst.
"I see! I see! The portal isn't big enough! Can we expand it?" said Ruby.
"I... don't think... so... I'm at my limit now," answered Onyx.
"Us too!" chimed in the other three, in unison.
The main bulk of the comet was disappearing into the portal, but the sides were not. They sheared off and broke up, leaving chunks of ice the size of houses moving away spinning.
"The main body will be through in five, four, three, two, one... now!" reported Shale, "You can relax, you've done all you can."
Five groans of relief echoed over the radio as the Ancients relaxed.
"You've done it! The world is saved!" came a voice from the station. "We're getting reports that the comet has reappeared on the other side of the world, and is moving away!"
"All RIGHT!" they yelled in unison, giving a clumsy high five.
"Shale! Evasive! There's a piece of comet heading right for you!"
"Grab something, guys! No time to get you in!" said the pilot.
"No prob!" answered Ruby, "GO!"
The five best friends grabbed pipes and handholds on the Phoenix and held on tightly. They watched the ship as it turned to port and started to move away.
"Too late!" called Topaz, pointing.
A tumbling piece of ice the size of a car was rapidly approaching, and there was no way for the Phoenix to move fast enough to get away.
"Shale, get out of there!" called Sapphire.
"I've got..." was as far as the navy blue haired troll woman got as the piece of comet slammed into the Phoenix amidships, between where the Ancients were and the control cabin. It wasn't even slowed down as it took part of the ship with it. The body crumpled and jackknifed and fluids started gushing from pipes sheared off. The fore part began violently tumbling, the Ancients holding on for dear life.
"SHALE!" yelled Topaz, and got four protests at the loudness.
"I think the thrusters are okay, I'm going to try and stop us rotating. Hold on!"
It took several minutes, but under Shale's skillful hand, the remains of the Phoenix slowed to a stop. Now far away the piece of comet continued on, unperturbed.
"You've done it!" said Ruby, relaxing. The others did the same.
"I'm okay!" said Shale, "But that was quite a ride! What about you guys?"
"We're intact, but the Phoenix isn't," answered Onyx.
"Yeah, she's totaled," said Shale. "And we're around three hundred thousand miles from the ground."