AUTHOR REQUEST: It would be much appreciated for any reviews. Plus tell your friends to read this!  --KM

Keith's room had become a hub of activity. A technician had brought one of the small chambers used in training pilots capable of pressurizing to high altitudes. One of the nurses had volunteered to test the monitors within the chamber to ensure it did not interfere with transmission. A second nurse attached the various diodes and monitoring pads the captain required; heart rate, respiratory rate, a band which would test the increasing pH within the veins, a carbon dioxide monitor, a brain wave monitor, and several more. The oxygen tubes set to a lower percentage would allow an increase in carbon dioxide within the body and a higher concentration of the same would flood the chamber. Doctor Gorma would stay on hand to watch for carbon dioxide poisoning or problems with his heart. Mikko also ordered the temporary suspension of TPN solution to give the organism less upon which to draw. The IV would instead contain an infusion of sodium bicarbonate to increase the alkalinity of the captain's body suspended in saline to keep the captain hydrated.

Mikko had called in favors from Galaxy Garrison to allow his people the freedom to work on the captain. They had given everything he requested with no questions and without the usual delay. Earth was one among a hoard of planets who looked up to the captain. No one wanted to lose such a valuable resource.

Finally, testing complete, the nurse was brought back to normal elevation and released from the chamber. All of the monitors functioned within normal parameters. The time would never be better. With great care, the crew moved the captain to the chamber. He did not stir during the entire time. Drawing a breath, the doctor ordered the elevation to start increasing as well as the concentration of carbon dioxide. Watching through the observation ports, Mikko watched at the captain's respiratory rate rose and sweat began beading his forehead.

Now it would take time. They would all feel useless standing around watching the captain but no one would leave the room. Gorma and the nurses would be on hand in case anything untoward happened. Goddess and God above prayed Mikko, he has been through enough, please do not let him suffer any more. We have reached the end of human intervention. If this treatment does not work, I cannot imagine any thing further which we humans could do. Cradle him in your healing grace and bless him with the life he should lead.

As Gorma looked around the room, he observed he was not the only one to be offering prayer on the captain's status. One of the nurses approached him, "Dr. Gorma," she began, "The captain's condition has begun to spread to the rest of the people. If prayer can help him now, he has not only Arus, but Pollux, Earth, and a host of other planets praying for him. Have faith, doctor. The people have faith in him and the Goddess and God above. Believe in them and believe in him."

Mikko nodded, but did not stop his eyes from flicking from monitor to monitor watching every aspect he could. The waiting had commenced.

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Hunk had returned to work on Black. He found himself talking aloud and telling Black of the plan of attack. Strangely enough, he could almost feel the reassurance Black sent his way. The lion did not doubt in the captain's recovery. Shaking his head at his own fancy, Hunk, none-the-less, took a sense of reassurance to his work. Again, he started talking to himself as he worked on Black's systems. After working constantly on Black for the day, it looked as though, if the lion cooperated, he would be ready to fly on the morrow. Of course, if the lion had taken any of Keith's stubbornness, than all bets were off.

That is how Allura found the yellow pilot. Words which he would not utter in her presence blistered the air as sparks sprayed from where the Lieutenant worked. She smiled and leaned against the doorway as she watched. He alternately swore and cajoled the system which he was trying to repair. It certainly increased her vocabulary listening to him. She grinned, knowing when he discovered her, his choice of wording would take a 180° turn. In the meanwhile, well, she could wait a bit.

As she stood, her thoughts wandered to the changes she saw in Hunk from when he first arrived. While no one doubted his intelligence or his facility with anything mechanical, his propensity to speak before thinking had often landed him in trouble and as the butt of jokes among the crew. He took it good-naturedly as he did everything else. Allura had learned he suffered from extreme shyness. When the team needed to make an appearance, he often availed himself of an anti-anxiety medication. She had not learned that until a town had once thrown an impromptu party for the team. He had made the excuse of needing to patrol, and nearly run for his lion. What had shocked the princess? Keith had merely nodded at Hunk when he requested to make a patrol. It had taken six months and a bottle of brandy before Hunk had spilled the story to her. After that, she had kept a small supply of the medicine from Dr. Gorma on hand so he would not have to experience another problem.

He had changed physically since coming to Arus. The first year, everyone had been on short rations. Hunk had never once complained. Later she had learned that the other four members of the team had banded together to give him some of their rations. During that first year, the pilot had dropped any extra weight. He had maintained the weight loss to be deliberate. Much later, she learned he had always been hungry and the loss was a result of never having quite enough to eat. Never did a complaint cross his lips.

Hunk had never returned to his former girth. He would never be lean like Keith or Lance, but he stood solid. Children flocked to him, knowing he stood like a tree and yet his hands could hold a chick so gently it would sleep. Allura wiped a tear from her eye. He was the kindest, gentlest man she had ever known and one of the fiercest warriors when needed. The orange headband and wild hair had given way to something more tamed, although the headband still made an appearance whenever he worked on engines.

In another month's time, he would marry Saria Lannis. Before the current wave of attacks, she had a small shop in town where she sold her hand thrown pottery. The two had met when he wandered into her shop looking for an apology present for Nanny. The two had started talking, and two weeks before word came about Lotor, they had agreed to marry. Garrison had approved his request for permanent placement on Arus. In addition, they had granted him a new rank of 1st Lieutenant with the comment it had been earned several times over. In fact, they had granted new ranks to Keith, Lance, and Pidge as well. Over due, and over earned. She doubted any of them really cared about the ranks. Pidge also received the rank of 1st Lieutenant, Lance to Captain, and Keith promoted two grades to Lt. Colonel on recommendation from the ruling body of Arus. Lance could not help but give Keith a bad time, which Keith gave back in spades by happily turning over some 'Captain' duties to the perpetually responsibility evading Lance. It made for a fun situation to watch.

Allura drew herself out of her musings and gently cleared her throat. A rather rude comment from under board had her smiling. "Whenever you finish, Hunk."

A muffled sound and a rather loud bang answered her. A few minutes later, with no further episodes of colorful language, Hunk emerged from under the control panel. "What can I do you for, Princess?" He picked up a rag and started cleaning off one of his tools.

"I could not concentrate on all the reports on my desk, did not feel like listening to any more bickering today, and just wanted to see how Black was doing," she said all in a rush while looking at her fingernails.

"Ahh," said Hunk, in a tone of understanding and compassion. He understood. She had no tears left to shed, could not stop worrying, and other people's sympathy grated on raw nerves. He knew the feeling. "Wrong question to ask, Allura. You showed up just when I need someone with small hands to solder some connections for me. If you look in the box over there, you will find all the ones which need cleaning and repair. Hop to it!"

She gave him a watery smile and did as he bade. Although not hard work, it took concentration and allowed her to stop thinking for a while. As she sat cross legged on the floor and pulled out one of the boards, Hunk tucked himself back under the control board. Neither spoke and attended to their jobs."

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Lance looked at the desk in frustration. Each time he finished one report, three more which needed his attention pinged him. How did Keith take care of all this crap? I swear, when that numbskull wakes up, I am going to knock him out again for leaving me with this huge stinking pile of shit. The newly promoted Captain wanted nothing more than to throw his recorder and the data pad out the window. Damn pinging. Now I am going to be hearing it in my sleep. Screw it, I am so not doing any more of these.

With that, he flipped the pad into a drawer and strode out of Keith's office to head to the kitchens. He was pretty sure he could cajole some extra desert out of the kitchen staff, just a few pretty words, and some downtrodden looks and they would be putty in his hands. If he was really lucky, he would convince Katja to join him in the rec room later for a movie. Anything really to keep his mind off, Nope, not even thinking it. No siree not this sky junkie.

Lance wanted nothing more than to jump into Red and just race around the planet several times, letting his mind go numb and just flying. Damn Gorma anyway for grounding them until he decided otherwise. He had slept two nights in a row. Well, he had slept somewhat. Amazing what happened when life and death came to town. Katja had proven herself very flexible. What a great tension reliever she was.

Allowing his mind to dwell on the night with Katja, Lance wondered if he could convince her to take a break and perhaps make a special delivery to his room. . .

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Pidge had returned to the central computer system and proceeded to pull out the mess of wires and data cables he had been working on when Hunk had come for him. He contemplated the mess and nodding to himself, walked over to the panel and severed the connections. Most of the wires and cables needed replacement. Absently he sent a message to supply on one of the Garrison ships what he needed for replacement. Then he walked over to a small desk with old fashioned drafting equipment. Darrell found he worked better designing systems on paper. Considered a genius with computers and communication systems it would make more sense for him to use a drafting program. Just one of his little idiosyncrasies.

Besides, drafting took all his attention. He would not have to think about. . .anything else. Nothing beyond the paper and pen and designing an improved system for the castle. Protection and defense. Something efficient, elegant, and with minimal equipment. He could do that.

The green pilot focused on the paper, completely ignoring the tear leaking out of his eye.

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Coran and Magda went their separate ways after leaving the conference room. Coran returned to command central while Magda went to continue supervising the cleaning and repair of the castle proper. Masons had started arriving to evaluate the walls, determining what walls needed shoring up before removing of rubble, and what stood solid. The hospital had first priority, followed by the kitchens. The crews had orders to take care of any structural damage, then castle control, then areas starting with most damaged. Areas of only cosmetic damage would wait, in some cases months, for repair. The princess wanted only a few workers remaining in the castle to take care of superficial issues once the structure stood firm. The town would need every hand possible to rebuild.

Magda went to the captain's quarters. She had requested Cady to stay with the rest of the children for the time being. The children had all received tasks to help put the castle back together. Those in their early teens supervised the small children. Older children assisted with cleaning, cooking, and other tasks around the castle. Today, Magda had asked Cady and her year mates to start picking debris out of the vegetable and fruit gardens. The children would load wheelbarrows with whatever debris they could lift. Several soldiers cleared only for light duty would help them empty the wheelbarrows in designated areas. Magda wanted to assess the damage to the crops and see what they could rescue.

As she approached the Captain's quarters, it pleased her to see the maids had managed to clean most of the dust and debris from the floor. The rooms in this area had taken little damage, situated as they were in the interior of the castle. Most of the damage came from bits of mortar and wall falling due to the castle vibrating as missiles impacted. Pictures fell from the walls, frames cracking, paintings chipped and scratched. Shelves lay among the ruins of the decorative pieces which had adorned them. The masons had quickly cleared this area as stable.

Taking a breath, she entered the access code to the Kogane's quarters. Cady needed some clean clothing and a few of her things. She would stay with the crèche, until her father received clearance to return to their rooms. As she entered, Magda stopped in surprise. Unlike the rest of the castle, which had received only a cursory cleaning, these rooms sparkled. Someone had already remounted the shelving and returned books to their places. The pictures Cady had drawn which hung on the walls showed carefully applied tape to the tears and rips. The bedrooms and bathing area showed the same care. Clean linens covered the beds, fresh towels on warming racks. The rooms still smelled of paint and plaster.

Dashing a tear out of her eye, the woman quickly gathered what she needed from Cady's room. She knew the people who had worked on these rooms had done it after they had finished with their shifts around the castle. They had sacrificed rest and sleep to care for the man who risked everything for them. He had chosen the safety of the people over his own. He had to have known the risks and the odds he would also leave his beloved daughter behind. Magda straightened, a glint in her eyes. The Captain had chosen Arus, so now Arus would choose the Captain, and she knew just how they would do that. Marching out of the room determinedly, she allowed the doors to close behind her and went to find Coran. They had a mission and would not fail to see it through.