Author's Note: The reference to how Pidge set Vince up can be found in chapter 10 of 'All The Right Moves', while the reference to Pidge's memo can be found in chapter 12 of the same story. The scene in chapter 10, with what happens to Daniel is rather funny, especially if you don't like the cadets. The back story of how Pidge discovered the 'herb' can be found in chapter 16 (first part) and chapter 21 (second part) of 'A Knight's Journey'. I am including these references because they are central to the current story.

A Studied Request – Part Two

"Daniel, I'd like you to go to Crydor with Sven when he leaves Arus, for several reasons. He needs to be doing the treatments for his health, first off. Then there is the issue that he should not, in his current mental state, be alone so much of the time. He needs human companionship, and he has mentioned that he doesn't want you to suffer what he is going through." Allura stated her case "I know that we are interfering with Pidge's experiment and I will take full responsibility for that. However, once he understands the situation, I think he will be on board."

Keith saw that the two cadets were trying to process everything they had been told, but he truly wanted his concerns to be heard. "In principal I am on board with what Allura is proposing but I have a very major concern about the matter." He announced with a serious note in his voice; seeing he had their attention "I know that so far the conversation has been about Daniel, but I need to hear from Vince about my issues."

Vince was shocked that Keith was addressing him as a major player in the dynamic of the haggerium infection. He had put up with too many comments about his 'magic thingy powers' and he wondered if the team took him seriously anymore. Coupled that with how he had gone along with Daniel wanting to hide his haggerium infection, and his hacking into Pidge's accounts for the supposed cure, well he had understood that his stock with the team was low.

"I have all of Pidge's test protocols, and the schedule that Sven should be following. Just so you are aware, the last data upload we had from Crydor was almost three weeks ago. I know that Pidge has tried to follow up with Sven, but has not received a satisfactory answer." Vince stated the information, remembering how annoyed Pidge had been. He now felt bad, because Pidge had told him about the problems with Sven's marriage after the trip to Pollux he had made, before the wedding. Until now he had not correlated that information with the test protocol, but saw that he should have.

Vince still remembered those months ago, when he tapping into Pidge's computer accounts to try to cure Daniel. His idol had known exactly what he was doing, and had set him up to fail so perfectly. He still cringed as he thought about Lance quoting the memo that Pidge had sent to Allura, about how Vince could not even follow basic science research procedures. He now pondered that Pidge might be right about him.

"Keith, I will do my best to answer your concern, but please remember that this is Pidge's experiment. It has been brought home to me that while my powers are great, I still have a great deal I need to learn." Vince announced, wanting them to understand that he might not be able to help them. Allura looked at the young man, having heard the note of uncertainty in his voice. She had never heard him doubt his abilities before, and if they were going to succeed they needed him.

"Vince, I think you know more than are giving yourself credit for. There is an old saying that the sign of great knowledge is being aware of your limitations. You are a very smart young man." Allura commented, and Vince saw what she was trying to do. He smiled at her in thanks, while Daniel was trying to process what was going on with his friend.

"I am very concerned about leaving two haggerium infected people alone, for a long period of time. While I've not seen the rages in Daniel, the possibility of it happening is there. Sven on the other hand is unstable at best and mentally disturbed at worst. He is physically dangerous when the haggerium takes over his body. I worry that Daniel could be hurt, or maybe even killed." Keith's voice had bluntness to it; because he wanted them know the danger.

Keith saw that he had everyone's attention, and from the look on Allura's face it was clear that she had not thought about how dangerous it could be. "Vince, I want to know just how likely something like that is to happen, taking into account that the coldness of Crydor, and the treatment on slowing down the effects of the haggerium." He had another question he wanted to ask too, but he wanted to know this first.

"The extreme cold of Crydor causes the haggerium molecules to suspend themselves, which neutralizes some of the effects. However, it doesn't change the makeup of them, or even get rid of them, like the treatment does. When we were getting regular data from Sven, Pidge and I noticed an almost ten percent decrease by the end of two months. It might not seem like much, but it was the first time we had seen anything that could destroy haggerium." Vince explained slowly, weighing his words carefully.

"It sounds like this treatment could be the cure!" Allura stated excitedly. She had not known that Pidge had seen those kinds of results. Another thought came to her "Was Sven not able to feel the difference? I would think that if he could have felt the results he would not have stopped the treatment?"

"Sven probably did not feel that different, because the haggerium has been in his body for so long. I know that Pidge was going to up the frequency of the treatments, to see if he could get faster results." Vince informed her, not wanting her to get her hopes up.

"Why did Pidge only want to do the treatment on Sven, and not on Daniel?" Keith asked, realizing that he had been out of the loop on this. It was probably discussed when he was in the morass of dealing with Allura, Lance, and Eimear, he mused. That caused him to wonder what else he had missed during that time period.

"Pidge actually tried a test treatment on Daniel, with good results. However, he wasn't sure if it was successful because of the treatment, or because the infection is not so advanced in Daniel. Pidge was also concerned about complications from the treatments." Vince made it a point to keep his voice calm, hoping that Keith wasn't going to ask the question that he was afraid he would ask.

"Vince, I've already stated that I will take full responsibility for the decision to include Daniel in the experiment. Pidge will be back in a month, and if at that time he feels like it is not a good idea, he can stop the treatments." Allura wanted to reassure Vince that she would bear the displeasure that Pidge would have.

"Maybe I missed the briefing memo." Keith reported, and then stopped. He knew that he was the only one who was careful about documenting everything, and he rather doubted that a memo about the treatment had ever been done. "Exactly what does the treatment or experiment involve? Daniel is under my command, and before I agree to this, I want to know what is involved." Keith didn't want something to come back and bite him later.

"Pidge discovered a hybrid herb that Admiral Hutchinson's son grows, in his hydroponic greenhouse. His grandfather was a science officer for the GA, and discovered a special type of magma rock on a planet. It has some kind of energy that causes the plants to grow faster, and it enhances their makeup i.e. fruits and vegetables taste better." Vince stopped, and clasped his hands tightly, hoping he remembered Pidge's instructions for this situation.

"A hybrid herb? And magma with energy?" Keith questioned, and Vince explained about the greenhouse, saying that the admiral's son liked to cross-breed plants as an experiment "I don't know what the original herbs were, because the guy doesn't keep good records." Vince thought it sounded credible enough for Keith, and he was glad that Pidge had prepped him so well.

"The guy gave us a piece of the magma, and several starter plants to work with. Once they are grown, we cultivate them, chop them up, and ingest them. Pidge left over a month's supply with Sven the last time he was there, and left me instructions to send more back with him when he returned to Crydor." Vince was holding his breath, watching to see if Keith had bought the story.

"You are telling me that Pidge is experimenting with an unknown substance, and letting Sven ingest it? And he tried it on a minor too?" Keith didn't know why he was shocked; thinking about some of Pidge's other schemes in the past. He had to trust that 'the great genius' as Lance referred to him, knew what he was doing. He also suspected that Pidge might have more information than he was letting on to Vince. The green lion pilot, he knew, had been very disappointed in Vince's behavior and actions with Daniel.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Keith, but Pidge says that Sven is under a death sentence, and the longer the haggerium is in his system, the lower the prognosis for a good outcome." Vince intoned in a solemn voice, thinking about the discussions he and his idol had carried on. He noticed that Keith was taking his announcement in stride, but that Allura had turned very pale all of a sudden.

Lance noticed it too, and had felt her body stiffen next to his. He was tempted to go get her a glass of brandy or something, but decided she would probably not want to drink in front of the cadets. The wave of guilt washed over him, as he thought about how it could so easily have been him with the death sentence.

"Daniel, do you want to do this? Sven is not scheduled to leave for two days, so you can have some time to think about your decision. If you don't want to we will all understand." Keith reassured the boy as he looked at Allura and Lance, who nodded their heads. They watched as Daniel rose up from the chair and walked over to the French doors.

Daniel looked out as he thought about what he had just been told, and asked to do. Keith's comment about Sven doing him harm, and maybe killing him had hit him hard. They were asking him to be alone on a remote planet with someone who was not of sound mind. Vince's comment, about the death sentence was not new, but hearing him say it out loud to Lance and Allura made it seem even more real. As those thoughts were swirling around his head, he heard Vince's thoughts too.

He knew that he had forced Vince to go along with his idea to hide the infection, and that caused the fissure in Vince and Pidge's relationship. Vince doubting his abilities now was the end result of what Daniel had asked him to do, and the position he had put his friend in with Pidge. Daniel had also heard the rumors about Sven and Romelle, and was glad that Allura had told them the real story. It was sobering to realize that he could end up like Sven if the haggerium was allowed to rage in his system long term.

"Sven is not the only one under a death sentence, so am I!" Daniel turned back around and walked back over to the group. "I grew up reading about the exploits of the Voltron team, and how Sven was the greatest navigator in the GA. I am willing to give this a try, for both our sakes." His voice was firm and deliberate, and Keith nodded his head.

"I admire what you are doing Daniel, and will note that in your service record." Keith told the cadet, and then addressed everyone else. "I am going along with this, provided certain safe guards are put into place. Vince, I want you to check in with Daniel and Sven by comm link every 24 to 36 hours as weather allows. Also, once a week until Pidge returns, Hunk, Lance, or I will fly you to Crydor where we will do a hands-on assement of the situation. Finally, we need to have some kind of a code word for Daniel to use if he feels he needs to be pulled out of there fast."

Keith finished his list, and waited to make sure everyone understood, and then he turned to Daniel "Please understand that if at any time you feel threatened, or just feel like this is something you can't do, use the code word, ok?" Keith still had misgivings, and hoped that he had put enough safe guards in place. Daniel agreed, as did the other team members.

"Allura and Lance, I'll leave it to you to make the arrangements. I have a conference call with the GA authorities that I need to go participate in." Keith stood up and prepared to leave the room, saying as he did so "Daniel, I will want to talk to you one on one before you leave for Crydor. I will check my schedule and let you know the time." He then excused himself and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone Lance turned to Vince "Nice explanation for the haggerium treatment you gave Keith. Where did that come from?" Lance had been afraid that when Keith started asking about the treatments the cadets would confess to the pot smoking, especially someone as upright as Vince. He watched as the boys exchanged smiles.

"Pidge warned us how anti-smoking Keith is anyway, and the pot issue would really push his buttons. He coached us on what to say if we were ever questioned, and I guess he might have warned Sven too." Vince replied, trying to contain his laughter. He thought to Daniel 'Lance doesn't know that we have heard the lectures Keith has given him about smoking'. Daniel thought back 'I remember when you wouldn't smoke pot with the admiral's daughters and me. I'm touched you are going along with it now'. Vince thought 'I'll go along with anything if it cures you'.

"Daniel and Vince, you have shown me you have discretion, which will be very important in this matter. I also greatly admire you, Daniel, for being willing to go to Crydor. When I thought of the plan, I did not consider the danger you could be in. If you change your mind in the next two days, I will certainly understand." Allura reassured the cadets, very impressed with how they were handling everything. She also had to give Pidge high marks for having an explanation for Keith ready to go. Allura didn't want to bother him on his honeymoon, but decided she would write a memo updating him, marking it for delivery after he returned.

The cadets had smiled at her, and stood up to leave when she stopped them "Boys, you can tell Hunk and Chip about our plan, but only in private. I would prefer that no one outside of the team knows what is going on, or the fact that you are on Crydor with Sven. I will talk to Bandor about the situation myself, because he needs to be in the loop since Sven falls under his authority." Allura gave each young man a direct look, and they promised not to talk about it in public.

Once they left, shutting the door behind them Lance followed them and locked it. He then walked back over to the sofa and pulled his wife tightly against him "Allie, I love you! Right now let me hold you and love you." Lance murmured in her ear, and she melted against him as he pushed her down on the sofa.