Chapter 7: Taking a breather

Xadrin was reading on her bed when she saw Aly stir on the bed next to hers. She dropped the reader carelessly on the bed, and hopped down, grimacing slightly at the throbbing from her bad leg. By the time she hobbled over, Aly was blinking around, as if trying to figure out where she was.

Xadrin rested the back of her hand on Aly's forehead, noting the slight fever that persisted.

"You know," Aly croaked, "I'm sure that there are at least ten more scientific ways of checking my temperature."

Xadrin grinned in surprise. That had to be a good sign. "Why bother when this works just as well?" She pushed the button to raise the top half of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Aly stretched a little as she sat up, carefully avoiding stretching her left side. "Confused. Thirsty. Hungry. Not in that order."

Xadrin chuckled, and fetched the glass of water next to the bed. "Confused about?"

Aly took a long sip of water before replying, "What day is it? I feel like… like I've been gone a long time."

"It's Friday. You've been asleep for the past day and a half."

Aly's eyes widened in shock. She rubbed her face with her free hand, cursing quietly. A moment later, she stared at the site where her wound must be, and touched it tentatively. "I don't get it. It's just a small wound, why did it—?"

Xadrin grimaced at the memory of the bleeding wound, of Aly covered in blood and shivering. "It's the poison. Rangers are immune to Metigor's mind-control, but your body worked extra hard to fight it off. It didn't help that you didn't get to eat the whole day, and were sneaking around his ship."

At her words, Aly suddenly looked as though her mind was far away. Her face was troubled. Xadrin wondered what she saw on that ship.

She took Aly's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're glad you found your way back."

Aly took a quick glance at her, and looked down. "I wish it didn't come at such a high price. Your leg… does it still hurt?"

"Not that much now," she said, and waved her hand in front of Aly to make her look at her, "Stop blaming yourself. You made a good call in investigating the kidnappings. We learned about very important things. Next time, just keep us in the loop, all right?"

Aly stared at her for a moment, and nodded wordlessly. Xadrin didn't think that she convinced her. But before she could say anything, Aly said, "Can you gather the others? I need to update you guys about what I saw on Metigor's ship. And we need to hurry."

After Xadrin asked VIKI to help notify the others, she turned back to Aly. "What do you mean by 'we need to hurry'?"

Aly still wouldn't meet her eyes. "Because with every day we waste, more of the prisoners might die. And Metigor would keep finding replacements."

With great effort, Xadrin refrained from asking more questions until the others arrive. It was a something that all of them deserved to hear. Instead, she tried to make Aly eat something. But she refused, saying that she did not have the appetite, and agreeing only to take some juice. That made Xadrin wonder even more about what she saw on that ship.

Ky arrived first. He nodded at Aly, who nodded back. Xadrin thought that they would get along well. Cody and Shawn came together, and all of them pulled chairs from various places, and settled down.

"Guys, first up – I'm very sorry." Aly said, bravely meeting them in the eyes, her guilt plain to see. "I dragged you into all of this, and…" she gestured at Cody's injured shoulder, and snuck a look at Shawn's bandaged hands. "… I'm sorry."

Xadrin sighed.

"Don't blame yourself," Cody said, "You did what you thought was right."

"I'm sure you made a tactical decision." Shawn said, smiling a little.

For a moment Aly held his gaze, and then she chuckled. "Just hit me on the head the next time I argue with you on that point."

"I'll do it." Shawn nodded, jerking his head slightly towards the camera at the corner. "VIKI will be witness to this, mind. No backing out."

"I won't." Aly promised calmly.

Finally, Xadrin remembered – it was exactly the thing that those two argued about a few days back. She grinned, recalling how the two were yelling to each other about it. It was funny how that got worked out. She caught Cody's eyes and saw that his was grinning like her. None of them were right in how the two would work things out.

"Well," Aly started after a moment, "I need to tell you something. We have been pretty wrong in our assumptions."

Xadrin winced. "We found out."

Aly was surprised, and they ended up telling her about what happened during their mission to Metigor's ship. She did not seem surprised at all at most of their findings, except the fact that they talked to Jen.

"Metigor saw you with Jen?" She asked with a frown.

"He made her attack us." Cody explained quietly. "She was also super strong." He pointed to Xadrin's leg, "That was Jen's work."

Xadrin saw a flash of alarm and worry over Ky's face, and realized that this must be news to him. She wondered what he must be feeling now, to hear of his sister this way. "It wasn't her." She said quietly, looking at Ky. "It was her body, it wasn't her."

"No, it wasn't." Aly continued, and Xadrin snapped back to her in mild surprise. "She's… she's unbelievable. You didn't see her – she's the only one among them who's – who's alive. The other prisoners don't seem to care any more. But she does. She still cares."

Xadrin crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly, staring straight ahead. She could recall those green eyes as if they were right in front of her. She believed Aly. Even if she had thought Jen was dead for so many years, she had faith that if Jen had lived, she would thrive. Despite everything.

"You should be proud of her, Kyril. She remembers what you told her, and she lives by it."

Xadrin, and everyone else, looked at Ky. His eyes were bright, and his fists were curled very tightly. He was almost shaking with the emotion he was trying to rein in.

"We have to get her back." Aly said, still staring at Ky.

"But how are we going to stop her from attacking us again?" Shawn pointed out the most obvious obstacle. "Xadrin told us that there is no cure to Metigor's venom."

"We don't need a cure." Aly said, and Xadrin turned to her in surprise. "She – and all the prisoners – are perfectly conscious and alive when Metigor isn't controlling them. We just have to stop Metigor from ever exerting control again."

"You mean defeating him." Cody frowned.

Aly shook her head. "That's just one way. I think I might know another."

"How?" Ky asked hoarsely, his eyes hungry.

"By breaking his system." She said simply. And then she told her side of the story, starting with how she had thought she was kidnapped by Metigor's foot soldiers, and woke up to a room of prisoners and Jen. She then described Jen's story of the farm the prisoners were forced to build in another planet, the way the prisoners got up to 'work' every day, the eerie chamber with the big tanks, and how she finally snuck out among the next batch of prisoners sent to kidnap more people from Earth.

"You think that the chamber is how Metigor is forcing the prisoners to control other prisoners." Xadrin said as Aly finished, her mind racing.

Aly nodded as she sipped more water. "That is a much more efficient way of controlling prisoners."

"He is already using the prisoners to kidnap more prisoners." Cody commented, "He is certainly sure of his own control over them."

"It's like programming." Shawn added, his eyes wide. "He programmed one layer of prisoners to control the next layer, and the next, building a hierarchy so that he exerts the minimum amount of effort."

Xadrin took a deep breath. So that was how Metigor mastered the impossible for his species. That was how he managed to enslave a whole city of inhabitants and kept them hidden in self-sustaining colonies for years.

"And if we break this hierarchy, we free not just Jen, but all the other prisoners." Ky said, his voice dangerously calm.

Aly hesitated. "We can't know for sure. Maybe he could control many people at the same time – but only for a short while. What I've seen only suggests that without the hierarchy, he cannot sustain something like this for a long time."

"But we need to break it fast," Aly continued, her eyes haunted. "The way the – the prisoners who were controlling the others, those in the chamber – they… wear out. They will need to be replaced by fresh ones."

Xadrin thought she knew what Aly meant, but she had to make sure. "What do you mean they 'wear out'?"

Aly wouldn't meet her eyes. "The way Metigor used them, it must be exerting a lot of stress on their bodies. And they get no rest. If you've seen –" she swallowed, "If you've seen them, you'd know that they wouldn't last."

Xadrin reached out and gave Aly's shoulder a squeeze, knowing that she must have seen terrible things in that chamber that she was sparing them from.

"Maybe that's why he comes to Earth!" Shawn suddenly said. "He knows he must be running out of prisoners soon, and he had to…" he trailed off, but everyone could guess what he wanted to say. It was one thing to think that people on Earth would be enslaved as some human army to fight in a war none of them knew existed, it was quite another to know the appalling way that would be done.

"I worry that he will pick Jen next." Aly muttered.

A scrap of chair, and Ky was standing up. "Why?"

Aly met him in the eyes. "She told me – Metigor will punish those who try to run. And now he knows she tried to."

Xadrin gasped as understanding dawned on her. Metigor had seen them with Jen. He would know that they knew her. Jen would be singled out as someone the Rangers cared about – and Xadrin had left her behind. Guilt twisted like a knife in her stomach.

"You." Ky growled, and Xadrin looked up to his furious eyes, "You never should have left her behind."

He turned to stalk off – and Aly suddenly reached out to catch his arm.

"Is that how you want to deal with this?" Aly demanded, though her right hand was suddenly holding her injured side as she tried to hold Ky back.

"Yes," Ky snarled, but was directing his anger at Xadrin, "you Rangers have left her for dead, and now you've singled her out to Metigor and would probably get her killed. I will likely stand a higher chance of getting her back on my own."

He shook off Aly's hand, but found his path blocked by Cody and Shawn. Xadrin was more concerned with Aly, whose expression seemed strained with pain.

"Look," Cody was saying, "you should—"

"Jen would be ashamed of you." Aly suddenly said, panting.

Ky turned back to her, shocked.

"She thought you are a Ranger." She said, "She looked up to you. Tried to keep caring, keep doing good things like she thought you would. Now you're blaming Xadrin and everyone else without caring for what they've done or sacrificed. If Jen knew, she would be ashamed of you."

Ky stood speechless, his face stricken.

Next to Xadrin, Aly suddenly bent forward with a curse.

"Aly, are you all right?" She asked, catching a glimpse of Ky as he fled the room.

"Yeah." Aly muttered, "Just… give me a minute. Must have… pulled something."

Cody and Shawn looked at Xadrin, wondering what to do next. Xadrin nodded towards the synthetron at the other side of the room, but directed her words at Aly, "We'll get you something to eat. We should have done that earlier. VIKI will get you something afterwards to make you feel better."

"Thanks." Aly said as she slowly straightened up. Cody and Shawn had left to get the food. "But I don't really feel like eating. I feel like we should be working on a plan to get Jen out."

Xadrin caught her eyes. "And we will." She said firmly, "But for now, you have to make sure you get better. We'll need you when we save Jen, and everyone else on that ship."

Aly took a deep breath, and nodded. She gestured at Xadrin's leg. "You too, you know."

Xadrin snorted, just as Cody and Shawn came back with a two large trays of food.

"Those are not all for me right?" Aly asked, staring at the amount of food.

"Of course not." Shawn said as he waited for one of VIKI's automated desk to park itself next to the bed. "You don't get to hog all the good stuff."

Aly grinned, and the four of them settled down for lunch. They had a hard battle ahead of them. But for now, like Aly said, all of them deserved a breather.

Ky turned the hologram around with his finger, and watched as the projection of his eleven-year-old sister turn and smile at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. This was the sister he would never forget – playful, full of life, and young. He had thought that this was all he would have. But now, to know that the same person, who was older, and who must have endured horrors that he could not bring himself to imagine, was very much alive and in the same solar system as he was – he wanted to fly right into Metigor's ship himself, and take her back and never let her out of sight again.

But he could not. He could only get her body back, but her mind and soul would remain Metigor's until he could break the hierarchy that Aly described. And he knew he could not do it alone.

A chime was the only warning he had before VIKI's voice announced into his cockpit, "Aly requests your presence."

He straightened up in his pilot seat, and peered out into the hanger bay where his fighter was now parked. Sure enough, the blue ranger was standing near the entrance and waiting for him.

He frowned. Why would she want to talk to him?

By the time he got out of the cockpit, Aly was walking over to him. She wore a thick dark blue sweater, and she was hugging herself loosely as she walked. It did not escape Ky's notice that she was holding her injured side and trying to be inconspicuous about it. Was she even supposed to be out of bed?

She tried to smile. "Hi."

"You wanted to talk to me?" he said coolly, noting that she was still looking a tad pale.

"To apologize." She said, startling him. "I'm sorry about what I said this morning. About Jen being ashamed of you. It wasn't fair to you."

Ky stared at her. Those words had stung, but he had spent the past few hours in his cockpit thinking, and even if he'd hate to admit it, there was a ring of truth to it.

Finally he sighed. "Don't apologize. You had a point. I was just… angry."

"And worried?" Aly added, and he looked up to her understanding smile. "Me too. That's why I said those words. I just want us to work together to get her back."

He nodded, and gestured to the benches by the wall. She followed him without a word. They just sat there for a few moments in silence.

"I was on track to be a Ranger." Ky said, surprising himself. "I trained together with Xadrin until Santor happened." He snuck a sideway glance at Aly, and saw that she was waiting patiently.

"After that I lost faith." He admitted, recalling the days when he felt so betrayed by everything that he had worked hard for. "Xander – Xadrin's brother – he and the alliance couldn't find a trace of Metigor, or all the bodies in the massacre. But the city was set ablaze – many had assumed that the bodies were turned to ash. I just… I just couldn't believe it."

"But you know they must have done what they could." Aly said quietly.

Ky closed his eyes, and nodded. If he tried to see past his own resentment, he could recall Xander's bloodshot eyes, their team's almost round-the-clock search, and the guilt on their faces when he flipped out and yelled at them. He could recall, even, the conversation when Xander tried hard to ask him to stay on the Ranger training. It was such a long time ago.

"Why did you come?" Aly suddenly asked, and he turned to her. "You didn't know that Jen was alive until you came. So why did you come?"

"Metigor." he said simply. "I vowed to be the one to finish him."

Aly held his gaze steadily. "And now that you know Jen is alive? What do you want now?"

He frowned a little, wondering why she was asking something so obvious. "To get her back."

Aly nodded. "Then focus on that. Put aside your anger, your hate. They won't help you to get her back."

He looked away in irritation. Who did she think she was?

"Anger and hate will only cloud your judgment. Now that Metigor knows about Jen—"

"And whose fault is that?"

Aly simply ignored him; "He will use Jen against us. He will either use her to lead an attack against us, or put her in charge of controlling the other prisoners, burning away her body—"

Ky shoved her hard before he knew what he was doing. "Stop it!"

She had barely stopped herself from knocking into the side of the bench. She braced herself with one hand, and with the other she clutched her injured side, her face grimaced in pain.

Ky stood up, and backed away. "I – I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Aly, are you all right?" VIKI asked. Ky snuck a look at the camera, and glanced back at his fighter.

"I'm fine." Aly replied through gritted teeth. "Kyril – don't go. Don't run away from this. Jen needs you. We need you."

Jen needs me. He repeated silently, and took a deep breath. He was being an idiot.

"I'm sorry." He said, extending his hand, "Let me walk you back to the med bay."

She took his hand and got up slowly. "And I'm sorry that I had to be so blunt. I know it's not easy to think about it, but we have to consider all the possibilities before we can come up with a good plan. We owe Jen that much."

He caught her eye and nodded. She gave him a small smile and a small squeeze of his hand, and he fought the urge to smile back. For the first time in years, he suddenly felt that he was no longer alone. He gestured forward, and they slowly made their way out.

"Does that still hurt?" Kyril asked as they left the hanger bay behind.

Aly tried to school her expression neutral, and realized that she had been grimacing. The throbbing was like a slow burn by her side since Kyril accidentally pushed her just now. Just when she was starting to ignore the dull ache, even.

"Not really," she lied, "I guess I am just suddenly lacking in distractions."

Kyril raised an eyebrow. "Should I keep talking?"

Aly couldn't quite hide her grin. "That might work. Though you don't strike me as the chatty type."

"And you based that opinion on what, two conversations?"

"It's not an opinion," Aly replied, wondering if Kyril was really chattier than she thought, or if he was really trying to distract her. "It's a first impression."

"And are you forming your opinion on that basis?"

Aly smiled, surprised that Kyril could sound like a normal person. But of course he was. "Maybe. I'm still gathering facts. Noting observations."

Kyril seemed amused. "And will I get to read the full report when you are done with forming an opinion of me?"

"If you ask nicely, I might consider."

Kyril chuckled, and Aly snuck a quick sideway look at him. It was the first time she had seen him smile, and she wondered what he must be like if life had not dealt such a terrible blow on him.

"You must be the strategist on your team." He said, catching Aly by surprise.

"Do I sound like one? And well, we plan together and build on each other's ideas." She said, recalling the team's discussions. "There's no strategist on the team. Or everybody is one."

Kyril shrugged. "That's how most teams work. But there will be someone more willing to face the hard facts, to point out the difficult choices. You look like you'd do that."

Because I already did it to you, Aly thought silently, suddenly wondering if her choice of words was too harsh. Her family has always said that she was too critical. And she did not make friends easily.

"It's a crucial role in any team," Kyril was saying, and Aly realized with a start that he had been studying her silence.

"But not an endearing trait, for sure." She muttered, hoping that it did not come out as bitter as she felt.

"Well, you have other redeeming qualities."

Aly chuckled despite herself. "Such as?"

"Your courage. Your sense of duty." Kyril said, his eyes serious.

Aly raised an eyebrow. "And you based that on what, two conversations?"

Kyril hid a smile at her echo of his earlier words. "From what I heard you did. Your actions show who you really are."

Momentarily lost for words, she focused straight ahead. Her cheeks felt slightly warm. It was not everyday that someone tell you something like that in your face.

"I'll have to work on that." She muttered, reluctant to feel good about it when she was so recently proven wrong. "I'm far from good in action."

"What do you mean?"

She paused her steps, and gestured at her injured side, at the rest of her sorry state. "Mind-controlled foot soldiers did this to me. They were not even thinking for themselves. And the team had to launch a search and rescue, and had almost gotten killed while they were at it—"

"You were protecting another man," Kyril pointed out, frowning slightly. "And their weapons were poisoned. You shouldn't doubt your own abilities."

"I don't doubt my abilities at all," she retorted, "I know exactly how bad they are. I know I can be better if I get to work at it. But there was no bloody time for any training, and I slept for two freaking days—"

Ky grabbed both her arms, gently. "Hey slow down," he said, his eyes patient. "Breathe, all right? You are doing very well. Most teams train for years before they get called to serve as Rangers. From what I heard, you team had no warning at all. You guys are doing well."

Aly tried taking deep breaths, but it was like her mind had already been gripped by the train of thought, and its momentum was too strong. "Oh yeah? Did you forget the part about us leaving your sister behind?"

The grip on her arms loosened, and Aly regretted it the moment she saw that Kyril's face fell. She suddenly missed the almost-normal Kyril that she had been talking to.

"I'm sorry I brought it up again." She said, turning away. "I just wish… I just wish that there was more time for everything." She started walking forward again, not really expecting Kyril to follow this time.

But he did. "You are frustrated, I understand. But weren't you just telling me to focus on getting Jen back? You should focus on that as well."

Aly turned to look, and saw that his eyes were sincere and free of the resentment that had clouded him ever since he set foot on the ship.

He grinned. "And feeling sorry for yourself is not an endearing trait either."

Aly looked away to try to hide her grin. She didn't think she succeeded.

But all too soon she found herself in front of the med bay again. Though the sight of the bed was an inviting one, she would not mind extending the conversation further. Kyril waited until he was sure she has settled down properly.

She smiled at his concern. "Thank you, Kyril."

"Call me Ky."

She nodded. "Ky. I mean, thanks for listening to my rant. I know it's not productive, but I just needed to get it off my chest—"

Ky chuckled. "'Not productive', you're the first person I know who thinks talking about feelings is 'not productive'. It's important, all right?"

Aly blinked, startled.

"Whatever you are feeling, they are valid and important. Don't hold it in." Ky said, his eyes absolutely serious. "Share it with people. Talk to me. I think we had a very good chat."

He looked as if he was waiting for a reply, and so she said, "Okay."

He nodded. "Rest well."

As he left the room, Aly was left wondering if he really was the same person that she had set out to talk to. Her heart was left in a flutter, and as she stared at the ceiling she realized that she was already looking forward to the next time she would get to talk to him.

As the door to the med bay slid shut behind him Ky swallowed, his hands loosening his collar unconsciously. It was ridiculous, the way his heart was quickening at the sight of Aly's smile, or the way he almost reached out to touch her cheek. They had only one proper conversation between the two of them.

Though if he dug deeper, he knew that even as he was consumed by worry for his sister, he had been quietly awed by her; by her insistence to investigate strange kidnappings despite the late hour and rigorous training during the day, by her will to keep sneaking around Metigor's ship to gather information instead of waiting for rescue from her teammates, by her decision to find him and apologize for something that she was not entirely wrong about so that they had a chance at working as a team. She was, in short, incredible.

But she was also often right, and in particular she was right in that they barely had time for anything. Metigor would strike soon, and Jen would very likely feature as part of his plans the next time they faced him.

Ky grimaced at the thought of Jen's immediate future. The thought of Jen brought back the feelings of frustration, anger, and fear. But he reminded himself again of Aly's words – Put aside your anger, your hate. They won't help you get her back. He would focus from now on. He would set aside childish resentment at the Rangers, and focus on getting Jen back.

As if his body had been thinking ahead of him, he found himself almost at the bridge. It was just the place – the rest of Aly's team would still need another day or two to recover from their injuries, and before their next discussion, he could do well to learn more about this planet and Metigor's likely plans for it.

He touched the keypad to open the door.

" — Aly thought if we could destroy this system —" Xadrin paused and turned back to him in her seat.

Ky halted at the door. On the main screen in front of the bridge was Xander's team, in what must be the middle of a live transmission. They, too, paused to look at him.

"I'm sorry." He said, regretting that he had assumed no one would be on the bridge, "I didn't realize you are in a call. I'll just—"

"Why don't you join us?" Xadrin asked, cocking her head at the empty seat next to her. "I was just updating them about what Aly told us this morning. Maybe you'll have different perspectives."

Xander nodded in the screen, and the expressions on the rest of his team were not unfriendly, as if Ky had not treated them with open hostility barely a few days ago.

Hesitantly, Ky walked over and took a seat, conscious of all eyes on him.

"As I was saying," Xadrin continued as there was no interruption, and Ky almost breathed a sigh a relief, "Aly thought that if we could destroy the system Metigor is using, we would break his ability to control hundreds or even thousands of prisoners over time. We're still not sure if he could actually do that for a short period of time — but it's almost certain that maintaining control over so many people for so long must be taxing for him."

Xander's team did not reply for a few moments as they tried to digest the information.

"Do you have any plans yet?" Brecian finally asked.

Xadrin shook her head. "The team is still recovering. We'll probably talk about it later tonight."

"We don't have much time." Ky found himself saying. As the rest focused their attention to him, he straightened up in his seat. "Metigor knows that we've found out about his prisoners. He has nothing to hide anymore. He will strike soon. And," Ky grimaced slightly, "Aly is right. He will use Jen against us, either as the leader of his army, or as the control."

"When did Aly say that?" Xadrin asked, frowning.

Ky realized that it was something that had come up only during their talk at the hanger bay. "Just now. She found me at the hanger bay. We talked."

Xadrin's eyes widened slightly. "She found you? She's not supposed to be out of bed yet!"

Ky shrugged. "I walked her back. And, one might argue that you are not supposed to be out of bed yet." He said, looking pointedly at her leg, still bundled in the exoskeleton-like leg support from VIKI.

Xadrin looked surprised for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. "VIKI gave me this so that I could get out of bed."

"That is incorrect." VIKI cut in immediately, "I issued the leg support to you to support your recovery, which would be greatly accelerated if you do not overtax it against my advice."

Meryl sighed loudly in the screen. "Xaddie, you are supposed to listen to professional advice."

Xadrin threw up her hands in exasperation.

Ky found himself grinning. "You should have asked for proper instructions when VIKI gave it to you."

"Oh I might have," Xadrin retorted, "If someone hasn't barge in and demand—" She stopped abruptly, looking to him in alarm.

His face fell. He remembered that night at the med bay. He remembered how hard he was gripped by a mixture of fear and hope. He remembered how he had given in to those feelings and almost hurt people who had nothing to do with them — first Xadrin, then Aly.

He took a deep breath. "I remember. I am sorry, about how I treated you that night." He turned to Xander's team on screen, who watched the exchange quietly. "And I am sorry, to all of you. I wasn't fair to you all these years. I know you did your best in trying to find my sister. It was… it was very childish of me."

He did not dare meeting their eyes for the next few seconds, but when the silence dragged he snuck a glance, and saw that they were slightly stunned.

Xander caught his eyes, and he smiled. Was it relief? Or was it joy? "We are glad that you're talking to us again. We know it's been hard on you all these years, but know that we will always be your family."

Ky swallowed and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Yes, he still had a family in them. He was only alone by his own choice. What a fool he was.

"And we will get Jen back." Xadrin added, her eyes a little too bright.

He nodded again. But he remembered to focus. "Yes, we will. But we have to prepare for it – Jen could very well be leading the next attack as Aly predicted. We need to – we need to be ready to… to fight her, or fellow Eltareans."

Just then, another thought occurred to him. "Xander, we would also need a transport for all these people. Metigor's system is too linked to his battleship, we have to destroy his ship and not let it fall into other hands. The Ace is not big enough to transport all of them back to Eltare."

Xander nodded. "Makes sense. We'll request the Council to send you a transport – and hopefully reinforcements."

"Will they?" Xadrin asked, skeptical but hopeful.

"You'd be surprised." Nirra smiled, "Your intel about the Santor survivors has stirred up quite a storm over here."

"Yeah, it's not a question of whether they will send anything, but a question of how many ships," Rakan added with a grin. "There are a number of people tripping over themselves trying to be the heroes who bring the Santor people back."

Ky caught Xadrin's gaze, and they rolled their eyes at each other. "Politics." Xadrin muttered.

"Well, as long as they send the reinforcements in time, I don't care." Ky replied.

"When did you learn how to rise above?" Xadrin asked, half-jokingly.

Put aside your anger, your hate. Ky smiled. "Since Aly knocked some sense into me."

Xadrin raised her eyebrows suggestively. Ky deliberately looked away.

"Very well then." Xander said, eyebrows raised as well to show that he had not missed the exchange. "We will talk to the Council today. We'll let you know when the transport is coming. Team, anything else you want to add?"

"Listen to professional advice!" Rakan called out.

Xadrin rolled her eyes, and the rest chuckled.

"Glad to have you back, Ky." Meryl said, smiling. Surprised, Ky felt his cheeks warm, and merely nodded back.

The link was cut after a short exchange of 'love-you's and 'take-care's, some of which were directed at Ky as well. It felt like he had never left the group. That left a smile on his face, and he had to wonder why he had held them back for so many years.

"So," Xadrin turned her chair to face him, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, "how, exactly, did Aly 'knock some sense' into you?"

He stood up. "You can ask her that yourself," he said, smirking slightly. Without waiting for her reply, he walked to the door in a few big strides.

"Hey, you are taking advantage of me – my leg –"

"Don't come after me," He called over his shoulder, grinning, "Remember to listen to professional advice!"

On hearing her exaggerated grunt in reply, he laughed for the first time in a long, long while.