Finding Slade and Saber both passed out on the floor of the air lock was starting to become something of a – mildly disturbing – tradition. They were both naked, the way they always seemed to be when they transformed back into their human forms; for whatever reason. Trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks, and the seriously distracting images that the more lavicious part of her brain was trying to impose on her – whipped cream and twincest was not conductive to getting her job done, nor was it in any way remotely likely; not that she actually wanted it to be – Star went to grab a couple blankets from the hold. She'd been taking them along on the off-chance that either one or both of the twins would be called upon to transform.

Since she'd seen the results of that once before, and she'd thought that it was likely to be repeated under the same circumstances; she didn't know if being right made her feel better or worse about the situation, but she was more than a little embarrassed about it.

Once she'd gotten both boys wrapped up and strapped into the seats they'd been assigned on the ship, all the while ignoring whatever commentary Ringo might have been making about the situation, Star settled back into her own seat and set her mind on getting them all back down to Earth safely. They wouldn't do anyone any good if they ended up getting killed by some stray Spider-crab before they made it back to the Command Center.

Especially when they were so very close to being defenseless.

100100111

When he woke up again, Slade found that he wasn't, oddly enough, staring up at the ceiling of the infirmary the way he had been the last time something like this had happened. Nor, he realized, sitting up and looking around the small room he found himself inside, was his brother anywhere in evidence.

(Saber? Saber!)

(No, really big brother, I wasn't trying to get any sleep or anything. Go ahead and startle me out of the few hours I actually managed.)

(Sorry,) he said, settling back onto the bed and looking around the room again. (I guess I was just worried; this is the first time I've woken up somewhere that's not the infirmary.)

(Yeah; not to mention the first time you woke up without me,) Saber said, sounding thoughtful. (At least since… everything happened.)

(Yeah.)

Laying back down on the bed, Slade wondered for a moment just how he and Saber were going to be able to leave this place with a minimum of fuss. He knew that they wouldn't be able to leave entirely without a fuss, since all of the Space Knights would be expecting them to keep staying on to help after what they'd gone out and done. Still, it wasn't as if they could have just ignored what was happening; that Space Ring debris had obviously been one of the Radam's plans, and both he and Saber had made a silent promise that they wouldn't allow the Radam to succeed in any of their plots; to say nothing of the damage and loss of life that they had prevented.

But just because they were willing to give what help was necessary, that didn't make them obligated to stay; he doubted the Space Knights would understand, but that was just the way things were.

Getting up, and grabbing the jacket off the table by the bed he'd been placed in, Slade made his way down the hall in search of his brother. He'd found out about this weird little power of theirs almost by accident, since whenever they were communicating with one another, he always managed to get a sense of just where Saber was at the moment. For times like this, he was grateful to have it.

Still, there were other times when the full implications would start to sink in again and he'd shudder; after all, if it was this easy for him and Saber to find each other, then it was probably just as easy for one of Darkon's Teknomen to find them.

01000101

He didn't really know just where he was anymore, but the place seemed pretty comfortable. It wasn't loud, it wasn't bright, and there was nothing else to distract him from the restful warmth that surrounded him on all sides. Nothing, that was, except for the slight feeling of wrongness at the back of his mind. He didn't really know what any of that might be, since as far as he knew there wasn't anything… wherever he was that was capable of threatening him.

He felt a subtle twinge, almost an itch, at the back of his neck then. Before he could work up the will to scratch it – he really was feeling astonishingly apathetic about everything – it dulled to barely anything and then stopped entirely. He was grateful for that, insomuch as he could be grateful about anything, and tried to settle back down into sleep.

There didn't seem to be anything else to do, aside from sleep. Maybe try to find out where he was, but he found that he couldn't really work up the will for that, either. That probably should have worried him, at least just on general principle, but that would have taken effort to care about.

He was finding that effort of will extremely hard to maintain, and he didn't really care about that, either.

When he had resigned himself to never moving from this spot, not a hard thing in his current condition, he began to become aware of the… Whatever you would call whispering when you couldn't actually hear a word of it. Spear, it said, and spear again; he wondered if that was supposed to mean anything.

Maybe his name? He didn't really have one to speak of; not that he was concerned, but it would be nice to have something to go by. The silent whispers grew more insistent, and so he decided to go along with them; he had a feeling that there would be less hassle this way, and it wasn't like it cost him anything to accept the name he was being given.

Spear was a very… sharp name, anyway. Once he'd made up his mind, not that he was being given many options either then or now, a sudden wave of tiredness rolled over him. It didn't make much sense, but Spear couldn't care; he was too tired now, for one thing, and the apathy still held him like a thick, sticky cocoon.

Lulled back into an apathetic doze by the presence within the teknopods, the Teknoman now known as Spear settled back into sleep.

11010100

Darkon, through his connection to all of the Radam bio-technology within his ship, felt a sense of profound satisfaction. The human named Conrad Carter had been particularly obstinate in his resistance to the mental reconditioning that was being imposed upon him; such a strong will would serve him quite well in his new life, but first he had to be made to accept that his old life was over. Such was the way with all Teknomen, no matter their species.

He had been the same way, he knew; he had loved his own world – not so much the people that had shared it with him, but the world itself – and he had helped the Radam to add that world to their glorious empire.

It would be no different for any of these "humans" of his, once the traitors had been either captured – something he honestly preferred, but since he doubted it would be feasible with this small amount of warriors that had managed to survive the transformation process, he had to be pragmatic about matters – or killed. This earth planet of theirs reminded him oddly of his own home at times; the climate seemed warmer on the whole, yes, and the wildlife – that he had seen in the minds of his new warriors – was vastly different, but other than that…

Perhaps he was merely becoming homesick after so long; he made up his mind to pay a visit once he had finished with this planet. The triumphant conqueror, returning home with his spoils of war. Yes, that would suit him nicely.

110101001

Sitting in the room that Saber had been moved to by the Space Knights, Slade considered it. It hadn't been that far away from his own, and was furnished in the same way. The rooms themselves were generic enough that they could really be used by anyone, which was a good thing, considering the fact that the Space Knights were going to have to assign them to someone else after he and Saber had left.

Which they were finally going to do today; he'd learned enough about the layout of this Command Center of theirs that he was confidant he wouldn't get them lost again while they were looking for the exit.

"So, it's finally time," Saber said, leaning back on his hands as they both sat on the bed together.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I think I've gotten to see enough of this place to get out of it without getting lost this time."

"Well, I think Ringo would be happy to hear that," his brother said, with a sidelong, sardonic smirk. "If we were actually going to tell anyone about our plans, at least."

"Yeah."

That was the problem with working alongside people like the Space Knights: it was easy to start to respect their courage and their convictions, and then to want to stay on to help them. To become a part of the family they had so obviously formed for themselves out of what had once been just working relationships. But, all of the Space Knights were human… and he and Saber had already had a family.

It hadn't ended well.

Taking his brother's hand, Slade began to make his way out the door and back into the hall. He didn't care how long it took him this time, he was going to find a way out of this command center before he and Saber fell in with these Space Knights by default. He knew that it was possible to stay around people long enough that the act of leaving would start to seem more difficult than the decision to stay, and he was hoping to avoid that.

Leaving aside the mistrust that Ringo so clearly had for them – which wasn't so much a factor in his decision, but it would be nice to get away from – all of the other Space Knights were just the kind of people that he could find himself coming to like. They'd discussed it while they were making their plans, so he knew that Saber felt just the same. Star and Tina in particular seemed intent on getting them to stay, although clearly for different reasons, and he didn't want anything to do with either of them.

Not so much for his own sake – they were both nice, and Star seemed to genuinely care about them – as for theirs. Still, there were selfish elements to his desire to leave quickly; Tina was an almost dead-ringer for… someone that he and Saber had both been very close to. Dealing with the constant reminder of all that they had lost wasn't appealing to either of them, and so Slade moved more quickly through the corridors.

The more quickly they left this Command Center and all its Space Knights behind, the better it would suit them both.

"That's weird," Saber said, pausing in mid-step. "Do you hear people talking?"

Just as he was about to answer in the negative, Slade began to hear the same voices that had brought his brother up short. "Sounds like Maggie," he said.

"Sounds like she's talking about you," Saber said, giving him another sidelong smirk.

Stopping to listen, Slade found that the people in the next room did indeed seem to be talking about him. Ringo was there, the way he always seemed to be lately. Deciding that they could spare a minute or two to satisfy their curiousity, Slade stopped in the hall just outside the room.

10101000

"I'm telling you, there's something weird about those two kids we've picked up," he said, looking at the hand of cards, some that he'd been dealt, and some that he'd picked up for himself during the course of the game; all winners, as usual. "Especially that Slade guy," he slanted a look at Maggie. "I mean, your boyfriend."

Maggie looked indignant, but he'd known her long enough that he could tell that there was no real force behind it. "He is not!" she leaned back, holding her cards up again. "Slade is the sensitive, caring, strong, silent type, that's all. And, if he happens to be attracted to ravishing, quick-witted, intelligent red-heads, then I'll just know he has excellent taste."

He scoffed. "I think the only one that guy is attracted to is his brother," he let his gaze pass over Mac and Maggie both, looking for any hints about what kind of cards they might have held. "If you know what I mean."

"Now, Ringo my lad," Mac said, in that starting-in-on-a-lecture tone of his. "You might not believe this given your circumstances, but family does stick together."

"Yeah," Maggie added, nodding. "They're brothers; it's only natural they'd be so close," she looked over her hand again. "Let's see… I'll take, five cards, please."

"Yeah, I suppose you'd be really okay with something like that," he said, ignoring the thrust of their remarks – they didn't know the full story, and he wasn't about to tell them – and settling back to look at his cards. "I still don't trust them."

"Well, there are a lot of things we don't know about those boys," Mac said, but Ringo personally doubted that he was about to concede the argument. "Eh, two for me."

"Well, I'm looking forward to getting to know those boys a whole lot better," Maggie said, her tone making it painfully obvious just which of the boys she was so hung up on. The giant lipstick heart with the word 'love' written in it didn't hurt, either.

Not the conversation, anyway. "Hey, knock it off, Maggie," he exclaimed, exasperated. "We're trying to play cards, here. Okay, guys, what've you got?"

"Three queens," Maggie said, laying her cards on the table; it was a good hand, but nowhere near as good as his.

"I've got three kings," Mac said; he would have beaten Maggie if he'd only been playing against her.

Still, might as well have a bit of fun with them. He groaned, not too theatrically of course, he wanted to make this believable, and threw down his own hand. Carefully, so he wouldn't reveal his trump card, but harshly enough that he looked believably petulant, if he did say so himself.

"Three twos?" Mac said, incredulous; Ringo almost gave himself away by smirking. Mac laughed, and Ringo knew he had him.

"Hold it," he said, blocking the large man's hand just as he started to reach for the pot.

"Now easy does it, Ringo my lad," Mac said, wagging his finger. "Three kings beats three twos, you know."

Smirking at last, Ringo reached down to reveal his trump card. "Read 'em and weep."

"Oh no! Drat!" Mac exclaimed. Gotcha, Ringo thought. "That's a joker!"

"Well, looks like you got a loser, Mac," Maggie said, staring down at the cards all laid out on the table.

"Got that right," he said, with a wink to show there were no hard feelings. "Who knows, buddy, maybe next time. But I gotta warn ya, I try to make a habit of winning; unlike some people I know. Teknomen included."

"Quiet," Maggie said suddenly, sounding aggrieved enough that he got the feeling he'd done something she considered a big no-no. "Honestly Ringo, you and your big mouth. They're standing right over there, they'll hear you."

That had been the basic idea; not that he was going to tell either of them that.

"Oh, I think Saber actually did hear you," she said, starting to sound more amused than disapproving.

"Why's that?" he asked, vaguely curious.

"He's giving you the finger."

"What?" he looked up, and sure enough; Saber, standing next to Slade, with his back squarely facing him – like someone who didn't have a care in the world – had his left arm raised, and his middle finger extended in the universal gesture for "fuck you".

110001001

"He saw me, right?" he asked, after he had heard Maggie enlightening Ringo about his current activities.

"Yeah, he saw you," Slade said, continuing to look over his shoulder at the card game that had evidently just ended. "He looks pretty pissed."

"Good," he said, then turned to stare Ringo right in the face, Maggie was laughing softly next to him, he could tell from the way she was moving. Pulling down his right eyelid, he stuck his tongue out at the blond. Maggie thought it was hysterical, but his main focus was on Ringo.

Ringo wasn't nearly so amused.

Turning on his heel, Saber left the room beside his brother. "So, now that we've satisfied our morbid curiosity," he was perfectly willing to admit that this little detour was as much for his benefit as it was Slade's. "How about we head for that exit you found?"

"Yeah," Slade looked back over his shoulder for a few moments. "I guess we really should."

"Hey, if you're still hung up on what Ringo was saying about us, don't be," he said, putting his left hand on his brother's right shoulder. "The man's a jackass."

"It wasn't Ringo, it was Mac," Slade said, sounding morose; moreso than usual, anyway. "He's right: there's a lot they don't know about us."

"Isn't that the whole idea?"

Before his brother could make any kind of response to that, Star came around the corner. She had the mien of someone who was looking for something, and when she saw them she smiled.

"I was starting to wonder where you two had wandered off to," she said, smiling. "If you wanted a tour of the command center, you could have always asked."

"Sorry, I guess we didn't think about that," he said, since Slade didn't seem like he was going to say anything.

"Too used to being on your own, I guess," she said, and sounded sad enough about it that he had to smile, if only just a bit. "Well, the Commander wants us to gather some more samples from those plants that the Radam have been spreading out all over the Earth, and I was wondering if you two would like to come with me. I think it'd be good for you boys to know what's been going on Earth for all this time. After all, you've both lost so many memories," she said, looking at them with sympathy plain in her eyes.

At least it wasn't pity.

"I guess we could do that," he said, after looking to Slade for confirmation. "Are we going to be taking the Blue Earth?"

"No," she shook her head. "A job like this would be better suited for the Polaris," he was confused, but she continued quickly enough that neither he nor Slade had the chance to ask any questions. "That's the transport we used to take you and Slade back to the Command Center with us."

"Oh," he said. "I guess that makes sense."

(It's always something, isn't it?) Slade asked, sounding wistful.

(I didn't exactly hear you putting up much of a fight,) he said, feeling mildly reproving.

(I guess…)

(What is it, brother?) he asked, concerned; that wasn't a tone Slade usually used.

(It's not important.)

(If it's making you feel you have to keep things secret from me than I'd have to say it is,) he countered. (I thought we weren't going to keep things from each other. We're all we've got; remember?)

(Yeah,) his brother said, sounding contemplative. (I guess I've just been thinking about the future. About what that commander of theirs said.)

(What do you mean?)

"We're here," Star said, breaking into the conversation she didn't even know was happening.

"Great," he said, smiling. "Let's get underway, then."

"All right," she said, punching in a code to open the doors; Saber didn't bother to pay attention beyond that.

He didn't really think they'd be leaving anytime soon, but they'd probably be issued codes – or taught them, at least – when they were fully inducted into the ranks of these Space Knights.

(So, I guess we're going to stay for a bit longer, eh brother?)

(I guess so,) Slade said, taking his hand as Star lead them into the hangar, and they stood in front of the Polaris for the first time.

"Now, since Ringo isn't here," (Thank God,) he interjected, and saw Slade struggling to hold back laughter. "I'll be the one flying today. Normally, the Polaris here requires both a pilot and a navigator, but I thought-"

"You thought that, since we were good enough to fly the Blue Earth, one of us could take the post of navigator for the duration of this trip," Saber finished, just as Star began to look uneasy about continuing.

It wasn't exactly one of their finest moments, stealing the Blue Earth and using it to fly up to attack the Radam infesting the Space Ring; it was nice of her not to bring it up.

"Yes. That's just what I was thinking," Star said, smiling.

"I'll take care of the navigation," Slade said, before he could open his mouth to say anything.

"All right," Star said, smiling at the both of them. "Let's get going."

Tucking his hands into the pockets of his red Space Knight vest, Saber followed his brother and Star into the Polaris' hangar. It was kind of interesting, seeing the ship from the outside for the first time. They didn't see it for very long, of course, since they were boarding it at the time, but it was interesting all the same.

It was starting to look like they were going to be staying here for awhile, so he might as well learn the layout of the base more intimately.

10100100

Settling himself into the navigation station in the Polaris, Slade looked back over his shoulder as his brother settled into the seat next to him. It was good to have him there, but he was starting to have second thoughts about going out on this mission for the Space Knights' Commander. They were going to be heading out into the heart of the Radam's power on Earth; one of the many places where they had planted their teknopods with the aid of their horrible Spider-crabs.

He hated them; he hated everything they had done, and everything they were trying to do.

Star, who didn't have nearly the same level of experience with the Radam as they had – and, if he had anything to say about it, she never would – took a moment to program the auto-pilot. He started to wonder why, but before he could ask, she was talking.

"I think it's time I filled you two in on what's been happening on Earth while you were gone," she said, with the air of someone about to begin a long story. "The entire world has been covered with these mysterious plants. It all started when the Radam Spider-crabs attacked us."

He knew; he wanted to say that. He and Saber both knew just how and when – but not, he hated to say, why – Darkon and his pet monsters had seeded the Earth with the giant masses of teknopods that he could see passing beneath the belly of the Polaris. He knew that there was something that he should have known about them, something that was important to the Radam and therefore all the more reason that the plants growing beneath them needed to be destroyed, but for the life of him he couldn't think of it. He and Saber had discussed it often in the days since they had been transformed, so he knew that his brother wasn't in any better shape than he was on that front.

"The Spider-crabs destroyed anything that got in their way. Leaving behind a strange vegetation. Soon, the entire world had been covered by these giant, purple plants," she paused for a moment, either out of breath or needing to marshal her thoughts; he wasn't particularly concerned either way.

Saber had been right, they were all they had; joining up with the Space Knights would just burden them with the fate of people who could die entirely too easily. It was best that they both left after this last mission. Better for everyone involved if they just disappeared.

"Every day I get more and more scared," Star continued. "These plants seem so harmless, yet I can't help but feel that the world is in grave danger from them. We've got to find out everything we can about these plants," she said, as the Polaris passed over a particularly thick cluster of teknopods. "What're they for; how do the aliens plan to use them."

(You'd think she's forgotten where we found Gunnar,) Saber said, clearly paying more attention to the teknopods on the ground than to the conversation itself; it was even possible that he hadn't intended to use his telepathy at all. (You think she would have connected the teknopods to Teknomen by now, even if she doesn't really know what to call them.)

(I don't think she even thought of that,) he said, deciding to respond whether or not his brother had consciously intended to start a conversation.

(Maybe-)

"Earth to Slade!" Star shouted suddenly. "Haven't you heard a word I've said? The world is falling apart at the seams; don't you even care?"

"Hey," he interjected, slightly annoyed at having his conversation interrupted, even in spite of the fact that Star most likely hadn't even known that a conversation had been taking place at all. "What d'you expect us to do about that?"

"That's simple," she said, staring at him with a subtly reproving expression; as if she believed that what she was asking of them was simple. "Look, what do you boys want? To be alone for the rest of your lives?"

"We're not exactly alone, you know," Saber said, speaking aloud for the first time since they'd set off on this mission of theirs.

"For all intents and purposes, you are," she countered. "Look; why don't you two want to join the Space Knights? We all seem to be on the same side, and we could all use the help that you two can provide. So I don't see what the problem is."

"You're right," he said; she smiled for a moment, obviously thinking he was agreeing with her. "You really don't know what the problem is. Saber and I are the only ones who would have a chance against the Radam; we have to fight them on our own."

"On your own?" she echoed, sounding mildly annoyed, but also disappointed somehow. She was going to have to get used to that feeling, if she kept expecting him and Saber to stay.

Turning his attention back to the outside world, he found that the Polaris was settling down to land in a small clearing. It was just on the edge of a thick cluster of immature teknopods, but since that was what they were all out here to study, he supposed he couldn't really complain about that too much. Saber would probably see to that.

"We'll talk about this later," she said; he wasn't sure if she meant that as a promise or a threat. "For now, follow me and I'll get you two prepared to leave the ship."

"Prepared how?" Saber asked, rising from his seat and falling into step just behind him; Slade was glad for the company. It would be easier to deal with Star if he wasn't the only one trying to argue his point.

"Well, since we don't know what the effects of the gas that these plants release into the air would be on a human body, the Commander has given orders that anyone trying to take samples be equipped with a breather-mask, if not a full Hazmat setup."

"I guess that makes sense," he said, not wanting to be any more exposed to the teknopods than he had to be; when he paused to think about it for a moment, he realized that he knew what the gas that the teknopods released would do to an unprotected human: at its full potency, released from a mature teknoplant, the gas would serve to knock any human in the area unconscious.

It would leave them defenseless; easy prey for the teknopods to snap up.

"Well, let's get going," Saber said, as they made their way into the storage area amidships.

"Right," Star said.

Soon enough, the three of them were walking down the boarding-ramp with the special breather-masks fitted to their faces. He almost found himself listening for the exaggerated, raspy breathing that his brother would usually be doing at a time like this. But that was something Cain would do; Saber was more serious, more defensive of them both, than Cain had ever been.

There were times he missed his slacker, goof-off of a younger twin brother; but Cain and Ness Carter were hardly suited to fight a guerrilla war with the Radam Empire.

"I'm going to take bio-samples from some of the larger plants in the interior," Star said, as she walked away carrying a large, gunmetal gray case. Probably some sort of portable computer.

"Go on ahead," he said, knowing that she wasn't in any real danger from this batch of immature teknoplants; still, they would both stay close behind. "We'll watch your back."

There was ash, still drifting in the air from the destruction that the Spider-crabs had caused. It looked enough like snow that Slade almost found himself expecting cold breezes to start blowing in at any moment. Up ahead, crouched before one of the largest of the teknoplants, Star was muttering to herself.

He stood atop a wide, curled teknoplant root whose exposed surface had been covered in ash. It made a good vantagepoint to survey the lay of the land, and to make sure that no one could sneak up on them without him knowing about it. Saber stood next to him, facing the opposite direction; they might not have been staying, but he would be damned if he let someone else die on his watch.

All the while, as he continued to keep his senses primed to detect any incursion by the Radam, he found that he couldn't help turning Star's words over in his head.

(What do you think of them, Saber?)

(The Space Knights? Well, aside from Ringo, I'd have to say that I like them. I mean, that Commander of theirs is pretty inscrutable, but from the things I've seen him do, I think he'd be trustworthy when it mattered. Need I ask why you want my opinion on them?)

(No; I'm pretty sure you suspect something by now,) he said, feeling his lips curl into a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

(Oh, I definitely do. Question is, am I right or not?) Saber returned, and Slade could just hear the smile in his brother's voice.

(I think you just might be,) he said, smiling a bit wider. Before he could say anything else, though, he heard a sudden, sharp scream piercing the air; there was only one person it could be. "Star!"

11001001

While she had been successful in blocking out the thoughts of what had actually happened to the people who had once lived in this place – the same way that she had done with all of the other places that the Radam had rolled over in their attempts to conquer the world; attempts that would fail, if she and the other Space Knights had anything to say about it – seeing that doll in the heap of ashes that had coated the whole of this place – what had once been a normal neighborhood like any other – had brought the feelings all roaring back. Full force; she couldn't pretend not to see something like this. It just wasn't in her.

The twins were at her side in what seemed like half a second; Slade asking her what was going on, and Saber crouching down beside her to check for any injuries. She was grateful to them both; but sympathy wasn't all she needed right now. Not even all the sympathy in the world would bring the dead back to life.

"The people," she said, swallowing past a lump in her throat. "There were families here," she continued, digging the doll free from its prison of ashes. "The Radam destroyed their homes. They're all gone."

Leaning into Saber as he put an arm around her shoulders, she held the doll for a long moment, before she brushed the last of the ash from the bedraggled doll, and stood back up. Saber's right arm was still around her shoulders, though how he'd managed that without leaning on her for support she didn't quite know, and she was grateful to him for staying with her.

She just wished that he and his brother would decide to stay longer; that was all.

"Star, is there anything we can do?"

110101000

He didn't know just what had made him ask that; it was a stupid question, for one thing, and he had a feeling he already knew what she was going to say, anyway.

"Become a part of the Space Knights," she said, walking back and handing him the doll even as Saber gave him a 'well, what were you expecting' look from over her shoulder.

The next thing he knew, they were making their way back to the Polaris, evidently finished with their excursion for the day. He was glad to be going back; glad, not so much to be fighting for people rather than against them, but just that he and Saber had somewhere to go. He wasn't going to try to make friends with these Space Knights, but he would do all that he could to protect them.

Once they were back inside the Polaris and settled comfortably in the seats for take-off, Slade considered what Star had been saying. It was pretty much an unspoken consensus that they were going to stay on with the Space Knights and help them with their fight against the Radam, but maybe one of them would end up telling her later. Still, it looked like she was going to be pretty busy for awhile, and they still had to get settled in if they were going to be of any use to the Space Knights.

They wouldn't do anyone much good if they kept getting lost all the time.

11101010

When he'd finished sharking Mac at cards, and won a very nice antique watch on top of that, Ringo gathered up his various winnings and headed back to his quarters. There didn't seem to be anything that needed the Space Knights' attention today – a situation that probably wasn't going to last very long, he knew from bitter experience – so he was determined to take advantage of what downtime he was being given. He'd probably have to deal with the Wonder Twins sooner than later, and he wanted to be rested enough that he wouldn't end up snapping at them too much. Star hated it when he did that.

He still wasn't going to trust them so easily, of course; good things did not just fall out of the sky the way these two had done. The only thing that fell out of the sky these days was trouble, and these two definitely fit the bill. He didn't know just what their angle was yet, but he was going to make it his business to find out.

10010010

When the three of them had returned to the Space Knight's Command Center – somewhere Saber figured he was going to have to start getting used to; once Slade got an idea in his head, he wasn't the type to abandon it until it had either panned out or… not – they followed Star to a place that had been designated "computer room three". It gave him something of an idea just how large this command center of theirs was. There were only two chairs in the room, though; both bolted to the floor on swivels so you couldn't shift their positions much.

At least, not in any major way.

It had been mutually decided that Slade would handle the computer, since he was more inclined to use them for actual work instead of just goofing off the way Saber tended to like doing. Needless to say, this proved to be of some interest to Star.

"Wait a minute, Slade," she said. "Let me get this straight: you and your brother lost your memories, but you still know how to operate a computer?"

"Yeah; I guess so." (Help?)

(Sure.) "I don't think it was just these basic kinds of things that we lost," he said, leaning forward so he could look over his brother's left shoulder. "I mean, I can remember how to drive a car, and what foods are good to eat or not. It's just… we don't remember anything else."

Star looked sympathetic after hearing that, so Saber knew he'd found just the right thing to say. "You know, there's a series of examinations that we could run on you two that might just help you to regain some knowledge of your past. It'll take some time, but it might be worth it. And who knows, you two might be able to remember everything!" she said the last part softly, but there was obvious enthusiasm in her tone.

(Me and my big mouth,) he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

(It's all right, brother mine. After all, you have to figure that normal people in our situation would be eager to remember what had happened to them.) "Could be," Slade said, managing to sound cautiously optimistic. "I sure hope so."

(Since when have we been normal?)

(Since when has anyone else known that?) Slade retorted.

Before anyone else could say anything, the alarm started to go off. And, since this didn't sound much like the 'general-alert' – though he'd only heard that once – Saber figured that he and Slade had better start heading for the main part of the command center. The way Star shot up out of her chair made him all the more certain that he had guessed right.

"Looks like it's back to the salt mines," he said, resigned for the most part, but still kind of annoyed; Slade was almost the direct opposite.

Leaving the computer room at a sprint, they fell in behind Star as she made her way swiftly back to the comm. room at the rough center of the Space Knight Command Center. It didn't take them too long to make it their, which was good, since he might have been tempted to put on enough speed to outrun Star, and that might have ended up getting him lost again. He could tell that Slade had been thinking along the same lines.

When they finally reached the comm. room – the doors sliding apart to admit them the way he'd them do before – he saw Commander Jamison turn to look at them.

"I'm glad to see that you two came," the man said, though he seemed as reserved as ever; Saber was starting to suspect that this was just the way he was. "Checking the holo-screen, it seems we're discovered an unidentified flying object," he said, as the screen behind him began to display something that Saber almost felt should be familiar to him; it felt like something the Radam had taught him to recognize, so that was already a reason to hate it. "Your assignment, Space Knights, is to immediately go investigate this UFO. But be careful, it could be one of the Radam's tricks."

"Probably is," Slade said, and he was inclined to agree.

Jamison walked over to the main computer and started to type, changing the view on the screen to one of the things that Saber would have been just as happy not to see: a Spider-crab. "Take a look at this," he said unnecessarily.

"I can't stand the sight of them," Star said, sounding purely disgusted; a sentiment that he and his brother both unreservedly shared.

"They probably feel the same way about you," Ringo said; Saber shot him The Look, but he had his eyes closed so he didn't take any notice of it.

"Space Knights, get moving!" Jamison – maybe he should start trying to think of him as 'Commander', though – said, in that soft, fierce way he had.

"We're on our way," Slade said firmly.

"You can count on us, Commander," Saber added.

Star's soft, quickly suppressed laugh let him know that they'd definitely said the right thing. And who knew, maybe with their help, these Space Knights would manage to survive what was coming. He certainly hoped so.

11010100

As they all made their way back down the corridors of the Command Center on their way to Hangar Three and the Blue Earth, Star smiled. She'd had a good feeling about the twins, once they'd had a chance to settle in and to realize that the Space Knights were fighting for the same thing that they were. Whatever the reasons they'd had for wanting to continue fighting alone, they were all better off now that Slade and Saber had decided to stay.

She decided then to tell them just that. "I'm glad you two decided to stay," she said, ignoring Ringo's scoff and eyeroll. "We really need all the help we can get."

She thought Slade might have muttered something, probably something not-so-nice, judging by the way Saber dug his elbow into his brother's ribs. He tried to be subtle about it, but Star was good at spotting things like that. She almost wondered what Slade had just said, but Saber smiled and started speaking before she could ask.

"We're happy to help," Saber said, his smile looking genuine; for the most part, Star thought that she could still see some degree of unease there.

She didn't quite know why yet, but she was determined to find out when time permitted. Now, though, when they were standing at the threshold of Hangar Three as the heavy doors opened in front of them, really wasn't the time for that kind of thing, though. Still, as they all piled into the Blue Earth and took their respective stations in preparation for takeoff, Star found herself watching the twins as they settled into the seats they'd been assigned.

There was clearly a lot more to them than they wanted to let on, and she wanted to find out what it was.

"Hey, Ringo," came Mac's voice over the comm., sounding disgruntled about something. "Take care of my watch. I'm gonna win it back next time!"

"Yeah, right," Ringo scoffed. "All systems go, preparing for launch. Which, according to my beautiful, brand new watch, should be right about now."

"Launch-window is optimum," she confirmed, deciding not to involve herself in whatever inane thing Ringo and Mac were talking about; Ringo would say it was a guy thing, and that she couldn't understand because of that; she would have said it was an idiot thing, and that no one sane could have understood it.

And then they would get into an argument that would take up valuable time. Not to mention making them look crazy in front of the twins. Best not to say anything.

The launch proceeded normally, at least up until they had left the last vestiges of the upper-atmosphere behind. Then, just as she began to see the first, leading edge of the Spider-crab legions that the Radam had sent out to surround the UFO that Commander Jamison had wanted them to investigate. But, more than that, there was the UFO itself.

"There it is!" Slade snarled, leaning forward in his seat, looking for all the world like he wanted to leap out of his seat and transform right then and there.

But, just a second or two later, Slade seemed to re-collect himself, and settled back into his seat. Saber seemed to be completely calm throughout the whole situation, though when she looked at his face, there was a clear expression of restrained anger there. Violence, just barely contained.

It was sort of frightening, how intense Saber could be; he seemed so laid-back most of the time, but still waters often ran the deepest, she knew.

"We've got company," she stated, checking the radar screen. "Coming up fast astern from the starboard side."

"Oh yeah?!" Ringo demanded. "Well, they'd better keep their claws off my ship or they're space dust!"

No one had anything to say to that.

10100100

When the ship pitched violently, slammed from the side by one of Darkon's Spider-crabs, Slade gritted his teeth and glared at one that had just appeared in front of the cockpit windows. (Let's get going.) "We're outta here," he said aloud, knowing that Ringo and Star would want to know where they were going.

Well, Star would, at least.

(Right with you, brother mine.)

Saber's response brought a small smile to his face; Ringo's, not so much: "Just another day at the office, right superheroes?"

Star's shouting the pilot's name was quickly followed by Saber's response. "Will you try not to be such a jackass, Ringo? I know it's a stretch, but at least make the attempt, will you?"

"Why, you little-"

"Oh, sit on this and rotate, why don't you," Saber said, cutting Ringo off before he could work up to some kind of a tirade.

"Ringo, we happen to be Earth's only hope," he said at last, getting the last word by the simple expedient of taking his brother's arm and pulling him toward the air lock.

(Remind me again why we're putting up with him?) Saber asked.

(He's a member of the Space Knights,) Slade said, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. (Beyond that, I don't know.)

Standing beside his brother inside the airlock, for the third time since they had joined up with the Space Knights – but only the first since they had declared themselves to be members of the team – Slade raised his crystal, and felt the subtle, answering resonance that let him know Saber had raised his own.

"Tekno-power!" he shouted, almost perfectly in time with his brother.

As the energy filled him, and the air lock released them both, Slade headed for the swarming Spider-crabs and whatever it was they were guarding.

(Are you getting the same Very Bad Feeling about that thing back there, or am I just being paranoid?)

(Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you,) he answered, the same way Saber would have answered him if he'd asked that question. (But yeah; I don't like the look of that purple thing, either.)

Before they could deal with whatever new thing the Radam had set out for them, however, they had to make sure that the Blue Earth wasn't in any immediate danger. Knowing that there was at least one – though probably a lot more – Spider-crab coming up from the right, he landed atop the ship and looked around. Sure enough, there were two Spider-crabs in close to the ship, as well as a larger number that he didn't bother to count farther out.

It didn't really matter, though; they'd be dealing with those things soon enough.

"So, you wanna dance, huh?" he taunted.

"I don't know, brother mine, it looks to me like these guys might want to play tag," Saber said, clearly getting into the spirit of things.

"Well, if that's the case, then let's play!" he laughed, drawing his lancer and watching as Saber did the same.

The space around them was periodically crisscrossed with the Spider-crabs' sticky venom, but he and Saber dodged it easily as they passed back and forth over the Blue Earth, protecting her from any and all Spider-crabs in the vicinity. Hacking his way through the press with his lancer, Slade spied Saber spearing a knot of Spider-crabs with the energy-ribbon contained within his own. He would have thought to launch his bladed boomerangs, but he knew he couldn't control them nearly as well as Saber could his energy-ribbon.

He would have to take care of them the hard way.

Raising his lancer, joined together into its double-ended form, he carved through any of the Spider-crabs that managed to make it past his brother. Knowing that Saber would back him up if he really needed it, and that his brother would protect the Blue Earth if he got too far away, Slade began to hack and slash his way closer to the large, purple mass that the Spider-crabs seemed to be protecting. It obviously had something to do with the Radam, or else they wouldn't be going to so much trouble to block his way; for that he hated it, and he would destroy it.

"Come on, you freaks!" he bellowed, not caring if they could understand him or not.

Carving his way through another pair of Spider-crabs, Slade felt something slam into his back. It wasn't a Spider-crab, he would have known in an instant if it was and he would have been in a lot more trouble besides, but when he tried to fire his thrusters and maneuver himself back into the battle, he found that his movements were sluggish and barely responsive; it had to have been a spray of Spider-crab venom.

(Saber, get Star and Ringo out of there!) he shouted over their link; Saber would probably be annoyed with him later, but it was all he could do.

He wasn't much good to anyone if he could barely move.

(What?! Slade, are you crazy; you know what we always said.)

(I know that,) he said, trying to be calm, even as he raised his lancer again and prepared to defend himself. (But you're the only one who can help them; I'll be all right here. One of the Spider-crabs just hit my thrusters; I'll take them out and then I'll meet back up with you.)

(And what happens when one of them moves too fast for you to deal with?) Saber demanded; and out of the corner of his eye, he could see his brother moving in to back him up. (I notice you're not moving like they can, and you have to know that not one of them is going to hesitate to take advantage of that.)

(I'm not helpless, you know,) he grumbled, though he was grateful to see Saber so close at hand.

(You might as well be,) Saber said.

Blunt as ever, he mused, deliberately keeping his mental walls up. (Thanks; I needed that.)

Another Spider-crab slammed into them then, trying to force the two of them apart. Grabbing his brother's hand as it was offered to him, he raised his lancer in his opposite hand and saw Saber doing the same. Ramming the point of his lancer into the fleshy back of the Spider-crab, even as the thing's momentum drove them away from the Blue Earth, he looked ahead to see the Earth itself looming closer.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

(Saber, we have to get off this thing; I don't know about you, but I'm not really in the mood to end up at the bottom of another crater.)

(Yeah; that makes two of us,) Saber said, sounding vaguely, morbidly amused. (I'll just yank our weapons out of this thing's back, then I'll fly us both back to the Blue Earth.)

Just then, though, as if to mock their efforts at escape, the thin, leg-like spines on the fleshy underside of the Spider-crab they had inadvertently hitched a ride on closed over them. Pinned to the creature's back, all Slade could do was laugh; nothing was really funny about the situation, not when you really thought about it, but Slade found that he couldn't quite help himself. All of that work, and this was how they ended up.

It was either laugh or scream; laughing hurt his throat less.

As the Spider-crab dragged them inexorably back to Earth, Slade sifted through his available options. What few of them there were right now, anyway; they were both about as stuck as one could possibly get, flattened against the back of a Spider-crab with no way to retrieve their weapons, and he didn't know yet how to deal with that.

(So, now what?) he asked, even as he started to feel strangely weak.

(I don't know, brother mine. But that's not what's bothering me,) Saber said, sounding more worried than Slade would have honestly expected him to.

(What is it, Saber?) he asked, hoping that what was starting to happen to him wasn't happening to his brother.

(I feel… I don't know, weak all of a sudden. I don't know what's happening to me.)

(You too, huh?) he sighed; it was always something, and it was usually something bad these days. (I guess it was too much to hope that it was only happening to me.)

(Yeah, well, don't go getting all noble on me, older brother,) Saber said; Slade hadn't honestly expected him to be so annoyed, but maybe he should have, considering all they had been through up till now.

(I'm sorry,) he said, abashed. (I didn't mean to make you worry. But we've got to find a way to get away from this thing, and we still have to destroy that URO, out there.)

(Unidentified Radam Object,) Saber chuckled. (That's cute. Ugh, I feel dizzy,) Saber said, and Slade could feel his brother squeezing his hand more tightly. (Do you have any ideas, brother?)

(We need to find a way to get this thing to let go; we need the room to maneuver, and I think…) he trailed off, twisting the blade of his lancer.

The spines, or legs or whatever they were, slackened and loosed their grip on them. And, since he'd managed to get his bearings, although just barely, he knew that the Radam's hideous construct wasn't all that far away. (Saber, charge up your Tekno-bolt and fire it when I do, all right? Whatever the Radam have heading for Earth, it's right in front of us.)

(All right,) Saber said, and out of the corner of his corner of his eye he could see his brother nodding.

Starting the charging process, and knowing that Saber would be doing the same, Slade felt the energy of his Tekno-bolt peak. Willing his pauldrons to open, Slade fired at almost the same instant as Saber did. The pure, destructive energies of their respective Tekno-bolts ripped through the space in front of them, completely obliterating the Radam construct and its complement of Spider-crabs.

Slade was glad for it; he felt as if he was only staying awake through sheer willpower, he needed rest. He needed food, but rest had to come first. He was just about to collapse as it was.

(Saber?) he asked; there was only a small, weak moan over their link in response. (Don't worry, brother; I'll get you back to the Blue Earth.)

(Thanks,) Saber said, in what Slade thought was the mental equivalent of a whisper.

Wrapping his arms around his brother's waist, Slade fired his thrusters; tried to, anyway. He'd forgotten entirely about the Spider-crab venom still gumming them up. Normally, he would have tried to fire them in short bursts, relying on his own momentum and the lack of inertia in space to let him coast over to the Blue Earth, but he was evidently more wrung-out by that dual Tekno-bolt he'd participated in; he barely felt capable of moving anymore.

And, to make matters worse, oh so much worse, he could see the remaining Spider-crabs beginning to gather around his and Saber's immobile forms; like vultures around a corpse.

100100011

Sitting at her post in the navigator's chair, Star watched in helpless horror as the insensate forms of the twins continued to drift in space. What made it even sadder was the fact that Slade's arms were wrapped around Saber's waist; he was still trying to protect his brother, even though something had clearly happened to them both.

"It's been over two minutes, Star, their number's up," Ringo said, and she wondered how anyone could be so heartless. "If we don't go right now, we may never get back to Earth."

"They're not moving," she said, trying not to let what Ringo had said get to her.

"Look, I feel for the guys, but we've got to out of here!" Ringo shouted.

Spider-crabs were starting to gather closer around them, circling like some evil parody of carrion birds, and probably for the same reasons. She wasn't about to let the Radam get their hands on the twins; not when they'd obviously worked so hard to escape, and not when she had just started to get to know them.

"I'm telling you, Star: they've bought it! And if we don't go now, we're next," Ringo snapped; she ignored him, rising from her seat and heading for the secondary airlock. "Where d'you think you're going?!"

"Hang on, Slade," she said, addressing the only one of the twins who still seemed to be conscious. "I'll have the airlock open in just a second." Entering the relevant commands, she looked over to watch the secondary airlock slide open. "There."

"Thanks, Star," came Slade's exhausted-sounding mutter, carried over the ship-board comm. "I guess we overdid it out there. It almost feels like I'm going to-"

The end of his sentence, whatever it would have ended up being, was cut off by Slade's own scream. A short one, yes, but all the more worrisome for that. "One-eighty it back to the base, Ringo!" she shouted over the comm. "Step on it!"

"One-eight-zero degrees," Ringo responded easily. "Roger. And just in time, too."

Breathing more easily, knowing that they would all be safe soon, Star made her way to the aft section of the ship; both the main and secondary airlocks led there. And it was where the twins always went when they needed to transform. With the atmosphere restored, the doors hissed open without protest, and she stepped inside without another thought.

The twins were there, Slade's arms still wrapped around Saber's waist, and Star paused for a moment as she considered what she was going to do next. There was no way that she was going to be able to carry both of them for any length of time, but it was clear that the twins both needed urgent medical help. Taking a short breath to fortify herself, Star walked into the airlock and crouched down beside the twins.

The fact that they were still clothed registered then, vaguely, but she was still grateful for it in a way. Gently unclasping Slade's hands, she unwrapped them from Saber's waist; it wouldn't be good for Slade to have his circulation cut off, which was what was going to happen if she left Saber where he was, so she carefully lifted Saber up off of his brother's right arm. The least awkward position, at least relatively speaking, since she wasn't going to have an easy time carrying them in either case, was for her to sling one of the twins over her back, and then try to drag the other one.

Star was fully aware that she was only going to be able to make it as far as the cockpit, but that was really the only place she needed to be. Ringo was there, and as much as he clearly didn't like or trust the twins, she didn't think he would be heartless enough to ignore them when they were so clearly incapacitated. At least, not now that they were onboard, she reflected with a slight wince.

Grabbing Saber's arms, Star pulled him up onto her back and clasped his crossed wrists with her left hand. Still crouching, she paused a moment to regain her balance, then wrapped her right arm around Slade's waist, braced her feet against the deck, and forced herself back to her feet. Struggling out of the airlock under the combined weight of the twins, with Saber's breath tickling the back of her neck with every step, she finally made it back into the cockpit after what felt like a short eternity.

"Ringo!" she called, her voice strained from what she had just done. "We have to get them to a doctor!"

"Will you just forget about those stupid kids and help me get this ship back on the ground?!"

"How could anyone possibly be so cold-hearted?" she wondered aloud. "Hang in there, you two, you'll be okay," she said, just as the Blue Earth pitched under the assault of what had to be another Spider-crab.

She felt herself and Saber slammed into a wall, both Slade and Saber's right hand breaking free from her grip on them. Star could only be thankful that she hadn't landed on Saber's legs, since she didn't think she could have done that without damaging them with the violence of the ship's pitching and rolling. The ship pitched again, worse this time, and Star found herself slammed violently back into Saber's chest, driving the breath out of him with a force that she hoped didn't end up breaking one of his ribs.

Slade's body was driven forward into her as the ship was slammed brutally into something she could only hope was the ground, and Star found herself slamming back into Saber again. She'd brought her arm forward to try to brace Slade against her body, so she didn't worry too much about breaking one of Saber's ribs that way, but she still had her back against his chest, so she couldn't relax all that much.

It may not have been as concentrated a blow, but blunt-force trauma could be all the more dangerous in the long run.

Once the ship had mercifully come to a stop, she pulled Saber free from her back and began to check him for injuries. Pressing down lightly on his ribs yielded nothing like a break, which she was profoundly grateful for, but when she moved to examine the rest of him, she found a small cut on the back of his right hand. Probably when he had been tossed against the wall and she had lost her grip.

However, the worst of his injuries by far was the one she found on the back of his head. He was bleeding badly, though when she looked at his head, she found that the blood itself was hidden in his black hair. Not wanting to disturb his injury any more than she probably already had, she put Saber's head in her lap, and waited.

She would have liked to have checked on Slade, but that wouldn't have been possible without disturbing Saber. Ringo came to check on her a few moments later.

"Star! Are you all right?" he asked. "I tried to bring the ship down as gently as I could, but- Star, your hand!"

Star looked down at her right hand, where Ringo's gaze was fixed. It was the very same one that Star had used to check Saber's injury.

"It's not… mine," Star muttered.

"Here, let me help you," Ringo said, not seeming to be listening to what Star had been saying. Pulling her to her feet, Ringo either didn't notice of didn't care when Saber's unconscious and injured body slid back down onto the floor.

Star was speechless for a moment, before she got over her shock. She had known on an intellectual level that Ringo wasn't very fond of either Saber or Slade, but she had thought that he would have at least given some thought to the fact that they were both lying unconscious on the floor. Grabbing the First Aid kit from the back of the Blue Earth's cockpit, Ringo began to go through it.

"This might sting a little," Ringo said, trying to prepare Star for the mild discomfort he was sure was about to come.

"Ringo-" Star began.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'm actually pretty good at this," Ringo grinned in a way that was probably intended to be reassuring, but only came off as mildly annoying given the fact that Star was trying to tell him something that he kept ignoring.

As Ringo started to wipe away the blood on Star's hand, Star decided to let him. Ringo would probably be more willing to listen to her once he found that Star wasn't injured like he thought. Just then, Ringo finished cleaning away the last of Saber's blood, then he began to get out one of the bandages from the First Aid kit.

"Wait Ringo, maybe you should check the wound first before you bandage it," Star suggested, hoping that Ringo would get the message that she wasn't the one who needed help.

"Oh, right," Ringo nodded.

As Ringo looked over Star's hand, searching for some kind of injury that would explain all the blood that had been there a few minutes ago. There was only clean, unbroken skin.

"What's going on? I could've sworn you had a cut on your hand," Ringo said, gazing at Star's hand with a look of eloquent confusion.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Ringo. I'm not the one who's injured."

"Well if you aren't, who is?"

"Saber. He's lying on the floor next to Slade. I thought you might have noticed them," there was no tone of accusation in Star's voice, since she was trying to give Ringo the benefit of the doubt.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't notice that," Ringo said, not sounding particularly contrite.

"I guess you didn't," Star said neutrally. "Come on, let's go see what we can do to help him."

"All right then, after you."

Ringo seemed to have to make a great deal of effort to get himself to go to the back of the cockpit and check on the twins. Star sighed, trying to keep her impatience in check. This feud that Ringo had with Slade and Saber was starting to get tiresome, but she knew that Ringo was just stubborn enough to keep it going despite the fact that it didn't do any of them any good.

But now wasn't the time to get into that kind of an argument, not when there was someone who urgently needed help, and not when Ringo was as likely to ignore her advice as anything. Once they were back behind the pilot's chair that overlooked the cockpit, Star hurried over to Saber's side. He didn't look any better, but at least he didn't look any worse either.

Star quickly picked Saber up, cradling him in her arms despite the fact that Saber obviously weighed more than she did. Ringo picked up Slade, with the attitude of someone who would rather be doing anything else at the moment. Star just barely kept herself from groaning aloud. Dealing with Ringo when he was determined to be this difficult would try even the Commander's patience, she was sure.

Once they managed to get the boys out of the Blue Earth, there was still the matter of getting Saber the medical attention he so obviously needed. Luckily for all of them, Tina and Maggie were standing just off to the side of the Blue Earth's exit ramp, more than likely waiting for Slade. Star didn't know why Maggie insisted on flirting with Slade, but that wasn't what she was thinking about right now.

"What happened?" Maggie demanded. "Are they all right?"

"As far as I can tell, no," Star said, obviously worried as Ringo brushed past her on his way to the infirmary. "I'm going to get him to the infirmary. You're welcome to come along, if you want."

"Thanks, I think I'll do that."

With that decided, Maggie followed Star as the other woman sprinted to the Space Knight infirmary. Once inside, all Star had to do was call one of the doctors. Maggie took care of that job, determinedly explaining the situation as she knew it to one of the more attentive of the medical staff. They soon took Saber off of Star's hands, and another of them even contacted Commander Jamison.

The Commander was a good man, and would want to know about the injuries that one of his crew had sustained. As the doctors swarmed around Saber, checking him for other injuries and tending to his head wound, the Commander himself walked into the room.

"What's the situation? What just happened?"

Star was again impressed by the way that the Commander could be so calm, even in this kind of near-crisis. That was part of what made him such a good commanding officer to work under, that and the way he cared so much about the people who did work under him.

"Sir," the doctor who had just finished wrapping Saber's head in bandages saluted. "Saber has sustained a minor fracture in the back of his skull, along with a superficial wound to the back of his right hand, and moderately bruised ribs. The fracture has been taken care of to the best of our abilities, but he will still need to have time to heal."

"How much time?" the Commander asked.

"Three, maybe four days. Five at the most."

"Mmm," the Commander nodded. "And what about Slade? Did you have a chance to examine him?"

"Yes. All that was wrong with Slade was a severe case of exhaustion, along with minor scrapes and bruises. He'll be fine once he wakes up."

"Good. Keep me updated on Saber's progress."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Commander Jamison walked out of the infirmary. Ringo came in a little while after the commander had left.

"So, what's the word?" he asked, not sounding all that concerned.

"What do you care?" Star snapped, finally getting angry at Ringo for his callousness.

"I just want to know when he'll be back on his feet is all," Ringo shrugged.

"Why? Just so you can rub Slade's nose in the fact that his brother got hurt?" Star demanded.

"Come on, Star," Ringo shot back, getting defensive. "You know me. Do you think I would really do that?"

"I know how you feel about Slade," Star said. "And I also know that you'd take any chance you could have to get a one-up in the stupid little feud the two of you seem so insistent on carrying on with."

"Hey, why don't you go yell at Slade, then?" Ringo was getting angrier with every word Star said. "You going to try and tell me that he doesn't take part in this alleged feud?"

"No, he doesn't." Star said with finality, shoving her face close to Ringo's to try and make her point better. "Slade just defends himself from your accusations. You're the one who keeps trying to antagonize him."

"Look," Ringo said, getting fed up with Star's allegations. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong with Saber, or am I just going to have to ask one of the doctors?"

Ringo didn't realize Star had slapped him until he felt his stinging cheek. "What was that for?!" he demanded.

"You're such a moron sometimes," Star snapped, turning to leave without another look back.

"Sheesh, someone's in a bad mood." Turning to look at Saber, Ringo saw that the Teknoman was now hooked up to a respirator and a heart-rate monitor. "You don't look so good, you know," Ringo smirked down at Saber.

Turning away from Slade's brother, Ringo went to look for one of the medical staff. Walking over to one of the doctors that was still in the room, Ringo questioned her about Saber's condition. Once he had finished with that, Ringo turned and left the room. It was time to bring Slade up to speed.

11100101

Slade had just woken up, and he still felt weak and disoriented from the aftermath of the battle he had just taken part in. He was also scared; scared of the voice that had seemed to call to him, trying to make him do things that he would never voluntarily do. For a moment Slade wondered if Saber had gone through the same thing during that battle. Then he decided to ask.

(Saber?) Slade called, trying to be as unobtrusive as he could about using his telepathic power. (Saber, are you there?)

That's strange, Slade thought to himself. He could sense his brother still inside the base, but for some reason Saber wouldn't answer his call. Even if Saber had been asleep, the telepathic contact should have awakened him. Just as Slade was about to try again, Ringo walked into the room.

"Slade, good to see you up."

Ringo had the look of someone who was delivering particularly bad news and trying not to enjoy it too much, though it appeared that Ringo wasn't trying too hard. Slade wondered just what could have happened to make Ringo so pleased.

"What do you want?" Slade demanded belligerently, not liking the look on Ringo's face one bit.

"Come on," Ringo grabbed Slade by his right wrist and hauled him out of his room. "I've got something to show you."

Slade considered fighting, but then decided to just go along with whatever Ringo wanted him to do. It would be just as easy to find out where Saber was after Ringo had finished showing him whatever the other Space Knight wanted him to see. As Slade was pulled along behind Ringo, he wondered just why they were heading toward the infirmary.

Slade had come to know the way to the Space Knight infirmary a great deal better than he would have preferred. Saber would probably say that that was because he spent entirely too much time there, and then Slade would probably have to agree with him. Once they were inside the observation room, Ringo let him go. And Slade took a moment to gather his wits.

"All right, I'm here," Slade snapped. "What did you think was so important that you had to drag me through half the base?"

"Go take a look through that window," Ringo said, smirking in a manner that made Slade long to punch him in the face. "Tell me what you see."

Wanting to have this over and done with as quickly as possible, Slade strode over to the large window that looked in on the treatment area. There was someone lying in the med-bed, clearly injured judging by the bandages that had been wrapped around their head. At the moment, though, Slade was more concerned with finding his brother than trying to figure out who this new person was.

"All right, I looked," Slade snapped, turning away from the window with a decisive snap. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find my brother now."

Ringo smirked again. "You're looking at him."

"What?" Slade turned back to the observation window, looking at the injured figure in the med-bed for the first time since he had been dragged into the room. No. No, it can't be.

But it was. Lying there, fresh white bandages covering his long black hair, was the very person that Slade had been looking for. Ringo looked more amused than anything over Slade's distress.

"Your own brother," he said, looking at Slade like he was some kind of vicious, evil thing. "Tell me Slade, is anyone really safe while you're around? Or should I go tell Star that she should watch her back now, too?"

Slade wasn't really hearing what Ringo had to say; being more focused on his injured brother. How could this have happened? How could I have let this happen? Saber, my own brother. I'm so sorry. Slade had pressed his hands up against the glass, and was now leaning his head against it.

"Slade? Oh Sla-ade?" Ringo singsonged, his voice warbling up and down the scale on the last part of his sentence. Slade ignored him.

When Ringo grabbed Slade's left shoulder, though, Slade pulled out of Ringo's grasp and ran. Ringo stumbled, falling to the floor and bruising his right wrist. Unfortunately, this was the same wrist that he wore the watch he had won from Mac on.