The door chime for her ready office woke Julia from a light nap. She sat up on the couch rubbed at her head for a moment as if to push the bleariness of sleep out of her mind. When the chime sounded again she called out "Coming!" and stood. A few steps to a plastic coat stand let her retrieve her uniform jacket. She pulled it on over the burgundy red sleeved undershirt she was wearing, tucked it into her belt, and closed it before looking to the door. "Come in."

When the door slid open Apley walked in. The Koenig XO looked as crisply-attired as always, with his sandy blond hair combed into a formal hairstyle. He was from the North American Midwest just as Julia and many of the others were, although he hailed from the Earth of D3R1 as a citizen, and former officer, of the Sol Republic. "Captain," he began, bringing up a digital reader. "My report on the encounter with the NEUROM ship."

Julia accepted it and walked to her desk. "Thank you Commander." When she saw him approach after she sat down in her chair, she looked up at him and added, "Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"I wouldn't like to talk about anything, ma'am," he answered. "I'm obligated to."

Julia nodded. She could see where this was going, as much as she wished she didn't. "Right. What is it?"

"It concerns Commander Carrey, ma'am."

"I figured."

"I don't want… I don't feel right about this," he insisted.

"I'm sure of it," Julia said. "Honestly, Apley, I'm grateful that my friend has such loyal officers. Although I'm a little surprised that you've gotten along so well under him. I'm sure you never imagined having a Commanding Officer calling you 'Ap' in duty situations."

Apley chuckled at that. "It was an adjustment, ma'am," he admitted. Apley thought back to that time. At first the assignment caused him to wonder if he was being punished by being assigned to be the XO on the Koenig. Everything Apley had heard about Zack Carrey and Robert Dale and the others caused him to figure the Aurora and the Koenig would be disasters, operationally speaking. "And I wasn't comfortable with it early on. Over time, though, I realized that his informality aside, Commander Carrey was a good commander."

"So what happened?"

"After our run-in with the NEUROM ship, the Commander's failure to report to the bridge led me to send Doctor Epstein and personnel to check his quarters. That's when they found him comatose." Apley shook his head. "I arrived at his quarters as Epstein was taking him to the infirmary. And I observed that the Commander had a bottle of banned material on his desk."

Julia closed her eyes and asked, "Tequila or bourbon?"

"Tequila," Apley said. "You knew?"

"I know what he drank during his bender after the 33LA mission," Julia answered. She was looking at Apley again. "And I've been wondering about him lately. He's been so withdrawn since Clara died."

"Yes." Apley nodded. "I found a tumbler as well, a plastic one. It was on the floor by a wall. I could smell the drink around it. It looks like the Commander threw it."

"Right." Julia tried to hide her own disappointment. She had to do the same with her growing anger. God damn you, Zack, she thought. Damn you for not asking for help. "Have you written a formal report on this?"

"I…" Apley sighed. "I've started one, ma'am. I'll file it after we find out what's wrong with the Commander."

"And I'll have to file one too now that you're reported this to me," Julia pointed out.

"I know." The look on his face betrayed how much he was against his own actions. "I'm sorry, Captain. I don't want Commander Carrey's career to suffer, but I have an obligation…"

"We all do," Julia said, interrupting him. "I don't like it either, but we have duties to uphold. And I think that Commander Carrey will accept it when he's sobered up."

"Maybe. But I'm worried about him, ma'am. I think losing Clara broke him. And if he loses his ship too… I don't know what he'll do."

"Nor do I. But it looks like he's got a problem, and commanding a ship in his mental condition isn't the best way to deal with it. You've done the right thing, Commander Apley, don't doubt that."

"Yes ma'am." He stood. "May I be dismissed?"

"You're dismissed," she agreed. After watching him go, Julia felt a stab of guilt. "It's my fault too," she muttered to herself. If she'd pushed before this, if she'd forced Zack to open up, then maybe she would have nipped this problem in the bud. Before Zack could do damage to himself. The damage that was now unavoidable.

The white and silver interior of the Castle of Lions was impressive in its own ways. Lucy, with Ensign Jampa and Ensign Tasker following, allowed Coran to take the lead in guiding them to the mess hall. "And here we have the kitchen," he announced proudly, referring to a space that, indeed, had some kitchen-like qualities. He walked up to a machine with a extendable nozzle. When activated it placed a gob of green goo into his ready hand. "The finest goo that Altea has ever produced! It can keep you healthy for years!"

"Assuming you didn't go mad from eating it constantly," guffawed Tasker. He was a light-skinned man of moderate built with chestnut color to his hair and growing beard.

"Maybe we should offer a replicator?" Jampa suggested. There was a little more color on her face today. Lucy wondered if she was adjusting to the Fracture. It would certainly make their job easier if she was should another fight happen.

"And what is a 'replicator'?" asked Coran.

"It rearranges matter on the molecular level," Lucy said. "It allows for the quick and easy replication of tools and food."

"Oh. Well, I suppose its useful. But certainly not as healthy or tasty as goo!" Coran held up the nozzle. "Here, try some."

"Oh, I already ate," Lucy lied.

Her stomach growled a second later. It had no motivation to support her lie, after all.

Coran gave her a suspicious look. Finally she sighed and nodded. "Fine, a bit."

With a flourish the Altean provided three plates covered in the goo and what looked like spoons to eat it with. Lucy fought to keep her stomach in check while preparing a bite (not an easy proposition given how the Fracture was affecting her). When the moment came and her tastebuds first experienced the substance, she realized that it wasn't quite as bad as she'd feared.

Not that she wanted to eat nothing but this stuff. Even if Hargert hadn't already spoiled her palate, replicator food was still superior.

"This stuff tastes like piyam," Jampa observed with some disgust.

"Piyam?" Tasker asked.

"It is a tasteless fruit that is used as an additive in some Daxai dishes," Jampa explained. "The Daxai merchants often add it to foods to provide texture. It is often at the cost of taste, if you ask me."

"I was going to say it tasted like plastic," Tasker said. "It's a little better than nutrient paste at least."

Noticing Coran's frown, Lucy prevented any further remarks by asking, "Can we see your central power source when we're done? I need to check a few things while we wait to see if your systems will pick up the other lions with the IU transceiver."

"Certainly." Coran dug his utensil into his own plate of goo. "And after this nourishing meal, we'll all feel ready to tackle a klamüirl."

"I'll take your word for that," was the best Lucy could do by way of reply.

After another journey through the corridors and lifts they entered a chamber. Built into the center of it was one large, blue-white crystal shining with light. "That's your power source?" Jampa asked.

"It's a Balmera Crystal, battleship-class," Coran said.

Lucy approached it. She realized this was what she had been feeling since the ship arrived. She raised a hand and touched the warm, glowing surface of the crystal. "I feel it," she murmured. "I can feel the life energy inside of it. I've never felt so much from a single object before. " She focused on it. Her power touched that of the crystal's.

In one moment, all of the misery of the Fracture seemed to melt away. She felt the Flow of Life in all of its warm glory. The Balmera Crystal resonated with her power. She caught glimpses of a world, of bipedal aliens of gray-green coloring and yellow eyes working under metal soldiers, pain and despair and misery. Death is approaching in all of its cold finality. More images; a Human man with a brown complexion, large and heavy-set, and Coran. A crystal taken, a promise kept. The lions come, the metal soldiers are routed, and a great burst of life comes. Death's certainty recedes; life has prevailed.

Lucy pulled away. Her eyes blinked. "What did you just do, ma'am?" Jampa asked. The Dorei woman rubbed at her forehead. "I… I felt that. Images in my head."

"I didn't feel anything," said Tasker.

"Remarkable," said Coran. "Those are the memories of the Balmera we got the crystal from. Even though we got the crystal before we saved the Balmera from the Galra! How could the crystal know?"

"I think they remain linked through life energy," said Lucy. She stared at the crystal in wonder. "And you use this to power your ships?"

"Yes indeed! The finest engineering Altea has to offer!" Coran's bright and cheery demeanor suddenly faded. "Or 'had', I suppose. From what your young Altean officer said, it sounds like the survivors didn't keep the knowledge needed to build these things."

"They didn't," Lucy confirmed. She sensed the bittersweet joy in Coran. His species was still alive, but they had lost much of the civilization he was from.

"Well, at least they're around," he said. "If things turn out right, maybe we can invite them back home. Once we've dealt with Zarkon at least."

"The Falaens are a bit settled to move en masse, but I don't see why they might not re-settle anything left of Altea," Lucy remarked. "With enough terraforming technology maybe the planet could be restored."

"It's something to look forward to," Coran agreed. "And you certainly look better, Lieutenant."

Lucy nodded. "It won't last. But connecting to your crystal helped me. For the moment my connection to the Flow of Life feels, well, normal I guess. For the first time since we've been in the Fracture." She looked around. "But we should get back to work. There's no telling how long we have before more NEUROM ships show up."

With the ship on Code Yellow running status game night in the holodeck was canceled. Cat therefore had little to do while off-duty. She stopped by the Lookout for a quick meal before returning to her quarters.

She only had time to get her uniform jacket and shirt off before the chime sounded. Still in the uniform skirt and a white sleeveless bottom garment, she was dressed enough to not be worried about who stepped in. Even that small consideration faded with the arrival of Violeta. She stepped in and shed her uniform jacket. "Hey," she said.

"Hey." Cat stood. "So, uh, off-duty?"

"As much as we can be under the alert," Violeta replied. "I guess the Dragon King will have to wait."

"Yeah." Cat sighed. "And there's not much we can get to right now."

"Have you finished your science work?"

"Yeah." Cat nodded. She sat on the couch. "I mean, all the simulations are run and everything looks sound. My job's finished. It's all up to Scotty, Tom, and the engineers now."

Violeta nodded and sat beside Cat. They embraced. Cat rested her head on Violeta's shoulder. "I've been a bad girlfriend, haven't I?" Cat asked.

Violeta responded to that by shaking her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," Cat insisted. "You've been wonderful to me and I feel like I've let you down. I dragged you off to Vulcan and now I'm letting my science stuff get in the way of time with you."

Violeta's hand reached up and stroked Cat's hair. After years of keeping it above her neck, now the black locks were down to just above her shoulders. "Cat, you wouldn't be the first person to let other things get in the way of your relationship."

"I know, but I still feel bad." Cat put her arms around Violeta's waist. "I'd like to make it up to you."

Violeta seemed ready to speak for a moment. As if she intended to turn the offer down. But she held back, recognizing that she shouldn't. "We'll talk about it later," she said. "When we're not on alert standby." She kissed Cat on the forehead. "Have I ever told you that you are the most adorable nerd I have ever met?"

"Once or twice," Cat giggled. "So, cuddle time?"

"Cuddle time," Violeta agreed.

Meridina was preparing to get some rest when the call came in over her omnitool. She tapped the glowing blue light over the back of her left hand. "Meridina here."

"Hey," Lucy said.

"Lucy? Is everything well?"

"We're preparing to start the scan through the transceiver," she answered. "But I'm calling about something else."

"Oh?"

"The crystal powering this ship. It's… it's amazing, Meridina. I could sense the memories of the being that formed it. It's connected to the Flow of Life even in the Fracture."

Meridina considered that news. "Then it is more fortunate than we are, I believe."

"Maybe. Or maybe we're the problem. Maybe we have to, I don't know, approach this differently? If the Fracture has everything twisted, and our normal connection doesn't work…"

"It is something to consider," Meridina agreed. "I shall meditate on it."

"I would too, but I'm due on the bridge for the transceiver activation. I'll keep in touch. Lucero out."

The communication ended. Meridina removed her uniform jacket and hung it up on a hook near the entrance to her bedroom. It seemed almost a waste, really. The quarters she held as Chief of Security had already been larger than she would ever need, and the First Officer's accommodations were a good twenty percent larger in space.

One benefit was that it gave her plenty of room for a meditation mat at the foot of her bed. After changing out of her uniform clothes Meridina sat on the mat and took up a meditative position. She felt out for the Flow of Life. This time she did not seek the connection as she normally would. She let the flows of energy through the twisted space guide her.

This was not a pleasant experience. There was something terribly wrong about the Fracture. The warped space seemed to brim with fear and terror. Meridina got the sense that its very creation was a terrible one. An act of desperation, with a high cost.

And yet, through the darkness, through the latent fear and anger and pain, there was still the Light of Life. Even the Fracture's creation had not eliminated the Flow of Life. Weakened it, perhaps. Contorted its flow, certainly. But Life persisted. It adapted. It found new channels to flow through. Much the same way she had to.

Meridina felt the Light and reached for it. It was not easy. The latent senses of fear and pain in the Fracture remained around her. It made her cold with dread. The terrible sensation she had suffered since arriving here worsened while she reached. But she persisted through accepting that terrible presence and not giving into it. She didn't have to feel the same if she didn't want to. The Fracture could not actually control her.

Soon the unease and painful anxiety was giving way for the first time since the Aurora entered the Fracture. A familiar warmth thrummed through her. She smiled.

At least, she did until she felt the thrum of danger ripple through her being.

After trying to get another nap and failing, Julia decided to check up on things in the medbay. Leo was off-duty at this point and the doctor on call was Amita Singh, a New Punjabi woman. "Captain," she said upon seeing Julia. "I imagine you wish to see Commander Carrey?"

"Is he awake?" Julia asked.

"No. He awoke briefly but is asleep again. This is a good thing, I must point out. It's a sign that his condition may be improving."

"Right." Julia sighed and nodded. "Can you tell me anything more about his condition?"

"In the bounds of the regulations and medical ethics? He is not fit for duty at this time, and it is the opinion of myself and most of our medical personnel that he is in desperate need of psychiatric counseling," Singh answered succinctly. She gave Julia a determined look. "Pardon me if I am overstepping my bounds, Captain, but I think you and those close to him need to sit down with Commander Carrey and talk."

"He keeps pushing us away," said Julia.

"And that, Captain, is why it is called an 'intervention'." Singh shook her head. "I understand you wish to honor your friend's desires, but the best thing for him is for some harsh truths and intense counseling."

"You're probably right. I…"

A tone came from Julia's omnitool. Blue light appeared on the back of her hand. She tapped it. "Andreys here."

"Captain, I believe we may be attacked soon," Meridina said.

"Really?" Julia didn't hide the bewilderment she felt at the announcement. "This is something you sense or…?"

"Yes."

Julia's first thought was to make sure. Meridina's powers had been off ever since entering the Fracture. She could be wrong now. But she stopped herself. Problems or not, she trusted Meridina's judgement. If Meridina said it, she meant it, and she was certain of herself.

"Alright. Meet me on the bridge." Julia brought her omnitool controls up and tapped a key. "Andreys to bridge. Call all senior officers to their stations, and get ahold of our perimeter craft. Find out their status. I'm on my way."

"Yes Captain," Lieutenant Takawira replied.

Once the channel was cut Julia gave Singh her attention again. "Thank you for your advice, Doctor."

"You are welcome, Captain," was her reply.

Julia stepped onto the bridge in mixed company. Meridina was at the command chair and Jarod at Ops. The helm was taken up by a Gersallian Ensign, Impareg, and Lieutenant Luneri was at Tactical. Caterina was relieving al-Rashad at Science. "Anything?" Julia asked.

"Our perimeter fighters and runabouts report no contacts," Meridina answered, moving from the command chair to her own.

Julia sat in the central chair. On both sides of the bridge the rear lift doors opened. Angel entered from the starboard one while Locarno came from the port. They assumed their postings. "Put me on with the Castle."

After a few moments the image of Princess Allura and Ensign Talara appeared on the holo-viewer. Lucy entered the frame a moment later. "Yes, Captain?" asked Allura.

"We may have company soon," Julia said. "What's your status?"

"The transceiver has been successfully integrated into our systems," Allura replied. "We've begun our scan for the lions now."

"What about your faster-than-light system? Can you use it?"

"I'm afraid that the teludav isn't ready yet. Coran expects to restore it in a few vargas, or hours as you call them."

"We may not have a few hours."

"I see. Well, we are ready to defend ourselves if it comes to that."

"I'll let you…"

Before Julia could finish her sentence, a tone came from Jarod's console. He tapped a key. "Medway to Aurora," a voice stated.

"Go ahead," Jarod said.

"We just detected a number of subspace signatures entering the area. It looks like ships in hyperspace."

"Relay it to us." Julia turned her head to face Cat.

Cat checked the incoming readings. "Oh, that's… that's bad," she said.

"What?"

"Those signatures." She turned to face Julia. "There must be a dozen ships in that force. Maybe more. And at least one is pretty big."

Julia forced any fear or apprehension from her face. SHe had to set the example. "Alright. Jarod, have all runabouts and fighters return immediately." Julia tapped a button on her chair. "Bridge to Engineering. What's the status on our jump drive?"

"Barnes here. We're still finishing the final repairs. We still need at least an hour."

"I'm not sure we have that long."

"Then find a way to give it to us, because this isn't something you fraking rush," he retorted. "If even one thing is off the entire jump drive will fail to initialize. Hell, we could blow the damn thing out with a failed jump."

"We'll do what we can, but still, I'd like it sooner than an hour. Andreys out." She looked to the others. "Suggestions?"

"Perhaps we could attempt to hide our presence in some way?" Meridina proposed. "We could force the enemy fleet to disperse to discover our location."

Julia turned her attention to Jarod. "Could we tow the Castle at warp? Just for a few minutes?"

Jarod considered that. "A minute or two, maybe. I'm not…"

"I'm picking up a hyperspace transit," Caterina said.

"On screen."

The screen shifted to show vessels flashing into existence ahead. They were fighter-sized and larger and of similar makeup to the NEUROM fighters already fought. The larger ships had visible weapons buried in their prows or attached to the sides or bottoms of their vessels. "They're locking weapons on us," Cat said.

"Code Red! All hands to battlestations! Evasive maneuvers!"

Everyone secured themselves with seat harnesses. Locarno complied with the order for maneuvers. And the Aurora was agile for her size and mass.

But that didn't keep the arriving craft from opening up with a large volley of missiles, or those missiles from proving themselves even more agile. Dozens of them streaked in toward the Aurora and Castle, some of the missiles large enough that they would have passed for fighters in their own right.

As the missiles streaked in the light weapons on the two ships engaged. Bursts of light streaked out to intercept the incoming missiles. Angel opened fire with the larger plasma emitters to hit the larger missiles.

The defensive fire did its work in attriting the incoming enemy strike. But the enemy craft could fire too much too quickly for their defenses to handle. The missiles started impacting on the shields and barriers of both ships. The Aurora rocked at first, growing into a vicious shaking when one of the large missiles impacted on the shields. "Shields down to eighty percent," Jarod warned afterward.

"They're firing again!" Cat shouted.

"I'm trying to engage them with weapons, but they're too far out for accurate shots," Angel added.

"Launch our remaining fighters," Julia ordered. "And combat launch the Koenig."

"Sending the orders now."

"Allura here. I am sending Pidge out to assist."

"Just what we need."

Fighters streamed out of the Aurora's launch tubes yet again. Laurent brought his fighter on an intercept course for the enemy craft harassing the Aurora and hit his engines to full acceleration. "Everyone watch your sixes," he said over the tac-comm channel for the entire fighter group. "We have to counter their maneuverability with teamwork."

The other pilots echoed affirmations. "I'm right behind you," was the extra response his remark got, coming from the Green Lion pilot.

The enemy fighters outnumbered them by about three to one. Ordinarily Laurent would have preferred defensive tactics to deal with that disparity. But that wouldn't work, not against these foes. Not if they were to buy the Aurora time.

Plus, there was the fact of their back-up. That made the three to one odds less intimidating than they would normally be.

The Green Lion's mouth-mounted weapon swept across the enemy's front squadrons. Some of the ships managed to evade, or at least avoid direct hits; those that didn't became short-lived fireballs in the void of space. The Aurora squadrons fired a volley of their anti-fighter missiles a moment later that claimed several of the damaged fighters. Laurent confirmed a kill and twisted his Mongoose fighter "up" and to the right, bringing his main weapons into play against an enemy fighter. It was already maneuvering to avoid Lieutenant Skydancer's missile. Despite its agility it couldn't avoid his fire as well. Bursts of amber light pounded the craft until it blew apart.

A warning tone told Laurent an enemy fighter was on his rear. He stated so over the tac-comm line. Behind him Ensign Sentasa, his Dorei sensor control officer, busied himself with searching for a new target. Laurent focused on evading the incoming fire. Glancing hits drained his fighter's shields to sixty percent.

"I'm making the intercept!" was the enthusiastic announcement of his wingman Lt. Kerman. The Kerbal pilot's Mongoose swung expertly into Laurent's visibility. He engaged the enemy with his phaser cannons. "That's a kill!" the alien voice cheered a moment later.

"Thank you, Alpha 2." Laurent went back to work engaging the enemy fighters.

For Pidge the fight was the definition of a "target rich environment". Well over a hundred enemy fighters were trying to get through to the Castle and Aurora. They were outnumbered.

And this was likely only the beginning of the battle. An enemy fleet was known to be approaching. They had to drive off the enemy fighters now if they wanted to hold out much longer.

The Green Lion shook slightly from a missile from an enemy fighter. Pidge flipped the Lion around and fired a sweeping shot with the mouth laser that clipped his opponent. The offending craft spiraled out of control and shut down a second later. Three more enemy fighters were caught in the sweep. Two simply blew up while the third, taking a partial hit, was left a derelict.

There were yet more fighters behind them though. Pidge triggered the tail laser into rapid fire mode to join another sweep of her mouth laser. Incoming missiles and fire threw her aim off during her evasion. The lion popped up a sensor reading showing multiple opponents trying to box her in. Given how every maneuver led to enemy fire striking her lion, Pidge realized they were succeeding in that.

She was ready to take the lumps to get a good hit on the enemy box. This proved unnecessary when a series of amber energy pulses wiped out four fighters in front of her. She recognized the Koenig moving in, weapons blazing, and with at least a dozen NEUROM fighters tacking them as well. Missiles and energy fire were constantly battering the Koenig's shields. Pidge returned the favor with a sweeping shot from the Green Lion's mouth cannon that blew apart at least half of the pursuers.

The Koenig, meanwhile, fired a spread of torpedoes set for proximity detonation into the unengaged fighters ahead of them. The blue-shite sparks of light looked like energy weapon fire more than projectiles to Pidge. When they exploded with bursts of light and energy, another dozen enemy fighters were outright destroyed and several more damaged.

The enemy were adapting to them. More and more of the NEUROM fighters were concentrating on the Green Lion and the Koenig. Pidge had to keep her lion moving from the volume of fire she was taking. The Koenig's shields repeatedly flashed to life from the missile and energy impacts against it. One of the larger missiles fired from a larger NEUROM craft nearly hit as well, being caught only at the last moment by the Koenig dorsal phaser bank.

Nevertheless Pidge couldn't help but think the Koenig's shields were getting a little duller with every passing moment. Some of the shots seemed to be striking hull even now. A burst from the tail laser destroyed another pair of fighters, and the Koenig's guns claimed more - including one of the larger gunboat-sized fighters - but there were still so many.

"I really hope someone has a plan," Pidge said into the tactical commlink.

The Aurora took another hit from one of the full-sized missiles. "Damage report."

"Shields holding at fifty-four percent," Jarod said. "Minor damage to Decks 10 and 11, Sections A and B."

Julia looked to Meridina and to the tactical map beside her. The number of blinking red icons was still overwhelming. "What is our status?"

"We have lost ten fighters. The Koenig's shields hold for the moment but they have some surface damage." Meridina checked her screen carefully. "There are still over eighty enemy craft left."

"I thought you would say that." Julia weighed her options. "Helm, take us into range."

"Sir?"

"Take us into range, now," she insisted. "Have everyone clear out at my mark. Tactical, I want full torpedo spreads readied, fore and aft. And be ready to fire everything, and I do mean everything."

"Yes ma'am," Angel answered. Luneri added an "Aye sir".

Under Locarno's control the Aurora raced ahead with increasing speed. The enemy fighter elements would, under normal circumstances, easily withdraw and keep the range. But they were tightly engaged with the Aurora fighters, the Koenig, and the Green Lion. As a result, while some did seek to gain distance, the others seemed more interested in continuing their fight with those craft.

The Aurora plunged into the thick of the NEUROM fighter units. "Mark!"

At Julia's command their fighters, the Koenig, and the Green Lion all broke away at full burn. The enemy fighters swarmed around them. Some finally sought to re-open the distance. Others started firing directly into the shields or looked to pursue the craft breaking away.

As soon as the tactical map confirmed their own craft were as safe as they could be, Julia shouted "Fire!"

Every torpedo launcher on the Aurora spat out a full spread of solar torpedoes, sending eight astern and sixteen forward. The torpedoes were joined by the fury of every weapon emplacement on the ship, from the point-defense particle interceptors to the large pulse plasma cannons. The latter destroyed fighters with even glancing hits, the former filled the space around the Aurora with blue pulses that damaged, even crippled, the enemy fighters.

The torpedoes did yet more damage. The enemy fighter formations had nowhere safe to go if they hadn't already tried to break away. The torpedoes blew them apart.

"Forty enemy fighters destroyed or heavily damaged," Meridina reported. "It would appear they are breaking away."

Meridina was quickly proven correct. The NEUROM fighters were breaking away from combat. More were lost in this attempt, hit by the Aurora's weapons or those of the fighters. One by one the survivors seemed to surge away. Soon they were alll gone."

"All enemy fighters have hypered out," Cat.

"Secure from battle stations for the moment. Recall all fighters and the Koenig." Julia tapped the intercom key on her chair. "Bridge to Engineering."

This time it was Scotty who answered. "Engineerin' here, Cap'n."

"I need that jump drive, Mister Scott."

"Aye. I sent Tom t' take over repairs. We should have 'em back online in half an hour."

"Thank you," she said. She added I hope we have that long mentally.

The bridge of the Tatrin's Bane remained silent through the report from the head of the strike force. Admiral Gal-Nazad nodded quietly. "You have done as expected," he said in summation before disengaging the call. He looked to his communications officer. "Has the Lord Minister replied yet?"

"He has, Admiral. You are ordered to seize the Alliance vessel as well or to destroy it."

"Ah." Gal-Nazad grinned. "As I expected. Relay those orders to all ships."

"Yes sir."

The last of the perimeter picket runabouts dropped out of warp in the company of two Mongoose fighters. Meridina quickly relayed the landing orders to them before nodding at Julia. "That is the last of them."

"Good. I don't want to leave anyone behind." Julia almost hit the intercom but didn't. Bugging Barnes wouldn't get the drive fixed any faster. "Status on the shields?"

"Back to full strength," Jarod replied. "And we're ready to put all the generators online to maximize shield strength."

"Including the power from my cannons," Angel noted.

"Odds are there will be more targets than we can reasonably shoot." Julia left it at that. All that remained was the waiting, and that was hard enough.

"The Particle Barrier is at full capacity again," Coran informed the assembled.

Allura nodded to him before looking at her station again. "Still nothing from the other lions. Is this even working?"

"The system is fully linked, and I verified the transceiver was functioning myself," Lucy said. "But the Multiverse is theoretically infinite. Although if I may, we can do this sort of scan from any universe. The real question is if the Aurora will get their jump drive back on in time."

"What is the plan if we can't jump out?" Talara asked.

"I can't let the Castle fall into the wrong hands. Whomever these Humans are, they're no better than Zarkon and his Galra." Allura's expression was pained but resolved. "I will trigger the Castle to destroy itself first."

"If you can set the self-destruct we could beam back to the Aurora," Lucy said. "The Lion can fit in the landing deck, so at least we'll get that away by warping out."

"That was my thought, yes," Allura said. "Although I do regret it. Without the Castle the chance of finding all of the Lions is… very small."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Lucy said. She considered the alternatives that might require. "Right now…"

A pair of tones went off. The first drew their attention to a holographic scanning result. Two more of the Lion ships appeared; a red one that looked similar to the Green Lion and a larger, winged black one. "It worked," Talara said. "Look!"

Lucy activated her omnitool to relay the coordinates the transceiver was showing for the signal. It was only after she hit the confirmation key that COran was calling their attention to the other tone's meaning.

The NEUROM fleet was arriving.

"I just got a signal from Lucero's omnitool," Jarod said. "We've confirmed the universal coordinate."

Julia nodded. She didn't get a chance to reply verbally due to Cat's announcement. "Hyperspace transitions on sensors. A lot of them!"

"On screen."

The screen showed a number of vessels showing up. Julia felt a twist in her gut at the numbers they were facing. There was another dozen of the frigates they had already fought, now joined by at least a half-dozen ships that were twice the length and carrying even more of the same heavy weapons with larger plates of armor. One massive warship, easily the Aurora's length, appeared in the center of the formation.

"Their shields are going up. And they're definitely Darglan-based."

Julia nodded. "Raise shields and divert all available power to keeping them up. Mister Jarod, hail the lead ship."

"They're already hailing us," Jarod said.

"Put them on."

The man that appeared was in another fine golden uniform. He had a similar complexion to Cat and Angel's, with his left eye replaced by a red cybernetic implant. "I am Admiral Gal-Nazad. By order of the Ministry of Fate, in the name of the governments of the NEUROM organization, I demand your immediate surrender."

"No," Julia answered.

"Come now, Captain. We outnumber you heavily. You will not escape us."

"We'll see about that. Although I'm still interested in just what right your people have to attack us."

"You have interfered in an operation sanctioned by the highest authorities of the Ministry. You have slain Ministry personnel. You have cavorted with aliens and powers that are hostile to us. You will make an object lesson to the rest of your peers on the penalty of crossing NEUROM, Captain. I will see to it myself. All ships, commence fire!"

The image disappeared. Blasts of ruby energy started coming their way immediately. Within seconds they were impacting on the Aurora's shields and the Castle's particle barrier. Missiles streaked in with the weapons fire to be met by the interceptor batteries on the Aurora and the efforts of Pidge in the Green Lion to shoot them down. She darted in the space around the two ships, firing her weapons as quickly as she could in the effort to keep the missiles from hitting. Even though, ultimately, they were in such number, and from differing angles, that she could not.

In the jump drive access room on Deck 30 Tom Barnes felt the shudder in the ship and knew they were running out of time. He looked back to the burnt out power line and finished pulling it free. "Replacement!" he barked. A engineering crewman handed him the desired replacement. The power transmission wire in question was one of a dozen that fed energy into the drive. Ten had burnt out from what happened when they reopened the wormhole. A number of other related mechanical burnouts and other problems were why this repair still had to be done. It would be the last, at least.

Assuming he had time to finish it.

With one hand he guided the wire end to the drive-side of the cylinder casing protecting the line. He felt it plug into place with a reassuring snap. His other hand quickly managed the other side. Wordlessly he shut the casing and moved on to the next. "What's the status of that projector!?" he shouted.

An operations officer, Ensign Hondo, answered in accented English. "All tests are green."

"Good." The ship shook again. Barnes opened the casing. The wire inside was even more burnt out. "And the particle channel?"

"Still working on it, sir," answered Lieutenant Marlua, with an accent from one of the Dorei languages.

"Get it done!"

"Shields down to seventy percent," Jarod said on the bridge while everything shook again. "I'm putting everything I can into the shields."

Julia acknowledged him with a nod. The NEUROM ships were forming a sphere formation around them, ensuring all quarters of the two ships were coming under fire.

On the Castle of Lions Coran finished making his own report about the particle barrier. As critical seconds passed by Lucy considered their options. The need for energy wasn't what should hold them back. Not with the Balmera crystal seeming to actually draw power from the Flow of Life. "Is there a way to generate more energy from your crystal?" Lucy asked. "Anything from your experience on drawing more power?"

"The systems can only take so much," Coran said. "If we draw too much power from the Crystal it could shatter."

"But it's connected to the Flow of Life. Your ship uses that energy. In more ways than one." She looked at Allura next. "Your energy is what it uses for opening wormholes, right?"

"It is, yes," Allura said.

"I can sense it myself. It's essentially the same thing to what I have, just used differently." Very differently, Lucy considered. "I'm not sure how your systems can be used to draw on it, but maybe you can boost the particle shields with the same energy you use to open the wormholes."

Coran shook his head. "It's not the same thing. It would be very dangerous for Allura to do it for long."

"But it may buy more time," Allura said. She went to her controls and activated the system. Two columns, each topped with a point for one of her hands, moved into place. She set her hands on the columns and concentrated. White light appeared around her with particles of the same rising up from the floor. Lucy felt the life energies channel into the ship.

Outside the particle barrier on the Castle started to glow with white light. "The barrier's power is increasing to twice the standard intensity," Coran said. "No, wait, four times… the concentration is too much, I'm widening the field before it burns the projectors out!"

"Then do it," Lucy said. "Cover the Aurora, it'll buy time for their shields too." Even as she spoke she looked to Allura with worry. The effort on her face betrayed the incredible effort she was making.

"Shields down to forty percent," Jarod said of the latest barrage. "Stress on all primary generators is approaching critical. We can't keep this up much longer."

"Bridge to Barnes, we need it now!"

"Ten minutes!"

Before Julia could remark about the lack of those ten minutes, the screen showed the pattern of the Castle's particle barrier forming in front of the Aurora. "What's going on?"

"I'm reading a massive power spike in the particle barrier fields on the Castle. It's at roughly ten times the standard field strength. They've enlarged their shields entirely to protect us." Jarod shook his head. "I'm wondering how Lucy pulled that off."

"It's not her," Meridina said. "I can sense the source of the power. Princess Allura is using her own life energy to charge the shields, as her ship usually applies it to charging its wormhole drive." There was visible worry on the Gersallian's face.

"What's wrong?"

"I am fearful for her life, Captain," Meridina admitted. "I do not know how long she can sustain this without draining her body of all energy."

"We'll just have to hope Lucy keeps her from doing that. And that Tom gets the drive fixed in the time this is buying."

On the Tatran's Bane Gal-Nazad watched with interest. This explained the All-Father's interest completely. This power would suit the Ministry well against its enemies, even against other factions in NEUROM. "Maintain barrage," he ordered. "We must take those ships!"

One minute turned into another. The determined look on Allura's face was giving away to one of visible weakness. But the light around her kept its intensity, as did the particle field.

"Allura, you've got to stop!" Coran insisted.

Jampa had her omnitool out. "Her vitals are failing, Lieutenant," she said to Lucy. "Whatever this is, it's killing her."

"I know." Lucy stepped up. She wondered if she could help. If the system would accept her life energy, her connection to the Flow of Life. It couldn't be entirely linked to physiology, could it? "Allura, let me help you. You're killing yourself."

There was no evident reply. But Lucy, here, could sense the desperate need in Allura to succeed at this. Within that feeling she sensed something that was close enough to assent that she acted. Lucy walked around Allura to face her and set her hands beside Alluras'.

The sensation almost knocked the breath from her. Allura was part of a circuit now. She gave it direction, but it was draining her like a battery. This device hadn't been made to be in constant operation. It could, indeed, kill her.

And now Lucy was in the circuit too. She felt the energy within her being drawn by the machine. Dimly, at the fringes of her awareness, she heard Coran remark that the particle barrier was becoming even stronger.

Coran said more, although Lucy wasn't paying attention. "It's too much. I'm going to fire the defenses to give the energy somewhere to go!"

Beams of light lashed out from the particle barrier. The shields of the NEUROM ships held against the individual beams. But as the hits piled up on them, some began to take damage directly to their hulls. Their armor stopped some of the hits. The others sent debris and flame from the long gray vessels.

Talara observed as well. She thought she could feel both of them slowly dying. The machine was never meant to draw from them so intensely. They were buying time… but what would be the cost?

Barnes looked up from the last of the protective casings for the power lines. "All lines restored," he said. "What about that particle channel?"

Marlua looked up from where he was fixing it. The teal-complexioned Dorei man shook his head. "The channel's still faulty. I can't get it to align properly."

"Dammit, let me see that." He stomped up and checked the status screen. "Reset alignment parameters."

"Don't we need to resynchronize first?"

"That's what I'm doing, but a full resynch would take an hour, and we don't have it!"

"Bridge to Jump Drive Control. Status?"

"We're almost there! Two minutes, tops!"

Everyone on the bridge heard Barnes' remark. Meridina shook her head quietly. "Perhaps he is. But it may be too late for Allura… or Lucy…"

"This is Captain Andreys. The jump drive is almost done. Whatever you're doing, you don't have to keep it up for much longer."

The others on the Castle bridge heard Julia's remark. Lucy and Allura did not.

The good news was that the system seemed to be adjusting for Lucy's presence, that included not relying so much on Allura's life energy.

The bad news was that it might still kill them both.

"Their vitals are declining," Jampa said. "Shut it down!"

"I can't, not from my end," Coran insisted. "It has to be them." He stepped toward the platform, wincing at how bright the light was around Lucy and Allura. "Princess! You have to disengage the system! You've bought enough time!"

But neither could react.

It was left to Talara to do so. She came in from the side and reached to place her hands on the columns as well. Coran shouted, "Don't! It won't work for…"

She didn't hear the rest. Her hands touched the columns and immediately she felt it. The machine wanted to draw everything from her. It was out of control. It would kill her, Lucy, and Allura if it wasn't stopped. "We have to stop it!" she shouted.

They didn't hear her. But they felt her presence. Her part in the circuit allowed Lucy to grasp what Talara was thinking, and she in turn made sure Allura felt it with a surge of her will.

The others watched in silent horror as the machine's brightness soon threatened their vision.

Then the light around them died down. The small particles of light ceased to flow. All three tumbled to the floor of the bridge.

Outside the enlarged particle barrier shrunk back to its normal size. The fire of the enemy ships was again striking the Aurora's recovered shields while battering their own.

Coran went for Allura where she fell. Tasker knelt by Lucy. Ensign Jampa scanned them. "They're alive," she said. "Their vitals are stabilizing."

The vessel shook. Coran looked up in time to see another missile crash into the failing particle field. He bottled back over. "This isn't good. We're taking so much fire that the particle barrier is about to collapse!"

Again the Aurora was shaking from multiple hits to their shields. "Shields back down to forty percent," Jarod said. "Thirty-six… thirty-three."

Julia was back on the intercom. "Jump Drive Control, we need the drive now!"

Barnes watched the results. The particle channel wasn't pretty, but it would work for a couple jumps before they had to resynch. He pulled himself away. A sudden rocking of the ship caused him to lose his footing. He fell over. A glance from his place on the floor told him Marlua had fallen as well. The Dorei was lying nearby and not moving. "Marlua! Marlua, get… crap." Barnes struggled to his feet as another jolt caused the ship to rock violently.

"The shields are starting to fail! We're out of time!"

"I hear you dammit!" Barnes shouted in frustration. He barely managed his footing again and got back to the drive. He closed the particle chamber access hatch and secured it. A key press along the side set the drive back on. "You're good! Go for it!"

Jarod didn't wait for Julia to react to Barnes' reply. His hands went to the control. "Activating jump drive now!"

A twinkle of green light formed in the space ahead of them. Within moments it enlarged to a full-size jump point. Jarod could immediately see that it was Wrong. The gravitational profile was completely off. The jump point's vortex crackled with energy in a way it normally did not. The Fracture was actively distorting the point.

"Full speed! Take us in!" Julia shouted.

Locarno triggered the engines. Over on the Castle Coran did the same. The Green Lion took up a position between the two. All three craft accelerated for the point.

Gal-Nazad watched the jump point open. His prey were escaping. "All ships, fire on the vortex! Fire!" he screamed.

At that command the ruby light of their guns adjusted. Their barrage was now focused entirely on the jump point.

Cat was already observing the jump point closely. The distortions in it from the Fracture were fascinating, or rather, would be if they were close to possibly dying right now.

The enemy fire on the point wasn't necessarily going to disrupt it. Some of the shots simply went in and then out the opposite end. It was only after a few seconds that she noticed the disruption effect forming. "The jump point is destabilizing!" she shouted.

It did more than destabilize. Whatever had twisted space in the Fracture so long ago, it turned local space hostile to the very existence of the jump point. The crackling of the energies was building. On the inner core of the point, right before the transition horizon, the vortex looked more like a violent maelstrom than its usual appearance. "It's going!" was all Cat could say, but it was too late for them to have time to stop

Locarno and Jarod noticed the danger too, though. They didn't need her readings to know it was going bad and Locarno was already cutting forward movement. Jarod operated the tractor beams to snag the Lion and Castle before they could go into the collapsing point. When it did collapse, it created an expanding sphere of green energy that enveloped both ships. The Aurora rocked violently from the impact. When it was over Jarod quickly confirmed his fears.

"Report!"

"The shockwave did a number on our shield systems," he said. "They're down."

There was no mistaking the look on Julia's face. They'd done everything they could. And in the end, it wasn't enough. The Fracture itself had defeated their attempt to flee.

Allura and Lucy were regaining consciousness when the ship lurched from the Aurora tractor beam grabbing them. They looked up in time to see the distorting jump point collapse. "No," Lucy breathed.

"It didn't work." Allura's expression betrayed her disappointment. "We didn't get away."

Lucy shook her head.

"Then… we have no choice." Allura struggled to her feet. "Have your ship transport you back. Coran, please go with them."

"My place is with you, Princess," Coran announced. "It was your father's last request."

"And mine is that you survive. You go to our people…" She glanced at Talara. "...and you tell them everything. Help them find the past they lost." Allura stepped back up to the controls. "And I will destroy the ship."

Coran's feelings were bad enough. But Lucy sensed the despair and horror in Talara. There was a look in her eyes, on her face, that spoke of warring impulses. A desire to beg Allura to come with them… but also a recognition that this was something Allura couldn't be talked out of, and a respect for it.

It was a moment later when Lucy felt the sensation that caused her to shout, "Stop! Wait!"

The Aurora was taking a pounding on their armored hull now. "Damage to Decks 4 through 10, all sections, Decks 12 through 28 and 30 through 34, multiple sections…" Jarod operated his controls. "Armor self-repair systems are struggling to keep up."

"Be ready to jump to warp on my command…" Julia felt her gut clench. "Use the transporters. Get everyone off of the Castle and beam over armed solar torpedoes to key sections. We'll scuttle her as make the jump to warp."

At her station Cat could do nothing but observe the readings from the NEUROM ships. Tears were in her eyes. How could they have failed? Why? Was there something she missed? Something that would have helped them get away…?

What had she done wrong?

Despite these feelings, Cat still had her eyes on her station. She watched the reading form on her screens with surprise, certainly bewilderment. The training reminded her to report what she saw. "Captain! I have a subspace distortion forming to starboard!"

"On screen."

The distortion their sensors had detected appeared from nothing, shimmering into view like a ghost gradually going from the immaterial to the material. It was something like a ship decloaking. Or like the videos of Shadow vessels appearing from hyperspace.

The object that appeared was a ship. It was so massive that it might as well be a station save for the sleek lines. The hull was solid black, and Julia shot a look to Cat as it fully materialized.

"Cat, what is that…?"

"It's definitely a ship. A big one. I'm reading dimensions of six-point-four kilometers long by one kilometer on the diameter of the hull."

The fire from the NEUROM vessels was immediately interrupted by a wall of wavering, translucent yellow hexagonal shield forms. Missiles and plasma fire harmlessly vanished into it. The brief moment of supreme terror that the ship itself belonged to NEUROM vanished with the fire that it harmlessly absorbed. Hanging in space, it ignored the fire of the NEUROM force with all the effortless contempt of a champ prizefighter being gone at by a drunk in a bar.

Cat switched to a composite view based on UV light and the ghostly form resolved into a cigar ship, the hull of constant diameter amidships but tapering on each end. The ends terminated in a blunt taper that was surmounted by a short spike, a hundred meter pyramid. It had cruciform fins, angled back and curved, but terminating in blunt edges, and the fins themselves were a kilometer and a half long in their projection from the hull, with a second, tiny set forward like guide-fins on a rocket, and blisters marring the otherwise perfect cigar form running the length between the two.

Four tiny, miniature cigar hulls a hundred meters in diameter ran half the ship's length and were offset at forty-five degrees from the fins, about three klicks in length and attached to the main hull by massive armored columns. The pitch-black hull showed blue running lights to port and orange to starboard, but beyond that and a squiggly marking of gold right forward at the bow, it was pitch black, without a single light or visible opening.

"It has the same volume as Starfleet Spacedock," Locarno muttered.

Jarod nodded. "And it was pulling six thousand Gs when it decelerated into position."

"Cat, get all of this. Now," was all Julia could manage.

"Already doing it… wait. I'm picking up… it's opening a jump point."

Another emerald vortex opened in space ahead of them. Moments later the crew heard a voice.

Go.

It took a moment for all but Meridina to realize that it was being transmitted telepathically.

"The jump point is stable," Jarod said. "I'm not sure how it's defeating the interference from the Fracture, but we can go through it."

"It is… off," Meridina said. "Peculiar. But the presence is earnest."

Go now.

Julia considered the option for a brief second before deciding that, trap or not, it was more likely to be better than being killed or captured by NEUROM. "Take us in, Helm," she said.

"Aye ma'am."

The Aurora's engines moved it toward the jump point. The Green Lion joined them.

It was a moment before everyone noticed the Castle was not.

The same voice was heard in the minds of those in the Castle of Lions. Lucy felt something off about the voice. It didn't feel like the normal telepathic contact she'd experienced with Meridina before. "We should probably do what they say," she said aloud. "Coran? Allura?"

Neither were moving. Lucy and Talara both turned to face Allura. Her blue eyes were widened with shock. "It's… it sounds... "

Surprise came to Lucy when she sensed what Allura was meaning. "You think it's…"

"Mother." Allura's hand reached out and activated the ship's communications system. "Mother, is it you? Is it really…"

There was no immediate answer. Lucy noticed that the Aurora was already starting to move to the point. She knew they should go. But if it was truly Allura's mother, then her own experience told her it would be cruel to interrupt.

The voice returned. It was genuine, and there was warmth, but something of it made Lucy feel… off. Allura. I have seen you fighting Zarkon. I am so proud of you.

The tears were flowing freely on Allura's face. Hearing the admission brought utter shock to Talara's face. "You're coming with us? You're coming back to us?" Allura asked, hopeful and ecstatic. "We have new Paladins. We have Voltron again! And our people still live in the other universe! Together we can defeat Zarkon and stop the Galra!"

That is your destiny, Allura. It is not mine. I cannot come with you. Lucy sensed a slight pain in the thought. Resignation.

"What?" The look on Allura's face was pained. "Why not?"

I am not who I once was and I never will be again… You must go now.

For a painful moment, nothing further happened. Allura managed to respond despite the sob that came from her at the realization that she wasn't getting her mother back in her life. "Mother, please, come with us… I've already lost Father…"

Coran, your Queen calls on you for one last service. Take my daughter and go. Fulfill your own destinies.

There was sadness on the older Altean's face. His usual cheerful, peppy nature was entirely missing at the moment. "Yes, Queen Fala," he managed. He promptly turned and fired the sublight engines.

"I don't understand," Allura wept.

My fate has been tied to another. I am bound to that service forever. That is the price I paid to see you again, Allura. And I would pay it all over again for this day. Ahead on the monitor, the jump point was drawing closer. Goodbye, Allura. I love you, and I am so very proud of you.

The jump point drew closer. Allura seemed to slump against the control columns for support. In the final seconds she managed a reply. "I love you too, Mother. Goodbye..."

And then the Castle followed the Aurora and the Green Lion into the jump point. The vessel surged ahead and made the transition between universes. On the other end, the vessels found empty space.

"I'm detecting the Lions on our systems now," Coran said quietly. "We're back in our home universe." When there was no reply he turned back to face her. "Allura?"

Allura was weeping quietly. Coran took a step toward her, but it was Allura that took her into an embrace. Whatever her own stunned feelings at encountering the legend that had saved her ancestors, for the moment Talara was more focused on the other legend now weeping in her arms for the mother she had regained and lost again.