Chapter Seven

Bandor recognized the man as the navigational officer, Bor. Bor's hair was graying, but his features told of suffering beyond his years. But in his eyes was unmistakable strength. It was as if Bandor's rallying words had infused new life into his tired body and he knew then what he had to do. He looked straight at Bandor and Avok, his head held high. "My family has been subjected to nothing but pain under your rule," he said, his voice gaining power as he spoke. "For generations, we have obeyed your orders even though you worked us to death and murdered us in cold blood. No more. That will end here with our defection. My family will rejoice when they learn that I have turned my back on you. You can do what you wish with them, but they will learn to stand up again after this day and then you shall fear them. All of them."

"I will kill them one by one," Avok sneered. "I will enjoy your women first and then I shall tear them apart slowly and with the maximum amount of pain. They will not die peacefully or as easily as an execution at gunpoint. I will torture them, even the children. While you are on Arus, safe, warm, and most importantly alive. I don't think they will rejoice that you abandoned them to me, that you were the cause of all their new pains." He laughed, a grating sound. "They will curse you to their graves."

Bor glared at Avok, but Bandor could see that he was weakening once again.

"Rise up against Avok now, and we will help you go back to Pollux to rescue your families," Coran said.

"That won't work," Avok sneered. "All it takes is one word from me, and my father will eliminate your families before these Arusians can get there."

With lightning quick movements, Bandor pulled out his blaster and pressed it against his brother's temple. Avok took a hissing breath and looked at the boy from the corner of his eye.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?"

On the viewscreen, Romelle had both her hands over her mouth, her blue eyes wide as she took in the scene unfolding before her. For Avok, she had nothing but pity in her heart. Her older brother was too set in his ways to change to the side of good, but Bandor still had a chance. She had made sure to instill a seed of kindness and humanity in his soul. She saw the hand Avok was beginning to slide towards his own blaster, but Bandor didn't. If she called out, her brother would surely die. But if she didn't...

A shot was fired from somewhere below the two princes. Avok's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground at Bandor's feet. Bandor stared stupidly at his brother then looked to his unfired weapon. He looked down into the control stations and saw a young man standing up. His dark brown hair was shorn, and a good two days of stubble was on his face. He nodded at Bandor.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Lukai, " Bandor said.

Lukai nodded and replaced his blaster in its holster. "I'm with you, Your Majesty. There is nothing left on Pollux for me." His lips thinned. "I am willing to renounce it all."

"What about the rest of you? If you aren't, it is alright," Bandor said.

"Can we think about it, Sir?" another asked. "This is too much to think of in such a short time."

"Of course. But in the meantime..." Bandor opened the channel to the fighters. "Cease and desist. This battle is over."

Lance looked stupified as the fighter he was firing on sent a surrendering signal, followed by a call of surrender from the whole Polluxian fleet. He stopped his thumb on the firing button and opened a channel.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"The fight is over, Lance," Coran said. "Come back to Castle Control. We have some important matters to discuss."

Sighing with exhaustion, Lance steered Red Lion back to its place. The Lions were badly damaged and Hunk would have his hands full in the next few weeks. He was feeling a little weak-kneed himself and he had to drag himself back to Castle Control. When he got there, the others were just arriving.

"Where's Sven?" Pidge asked as he emerged from the chute.

Romelle gasped. "He went to help evacuate the villages," she replied. "We haven't heard from him..."

"I am right here," came the familiar voice.

In a whirl of skirts, Romelle threw her arms around him and muttered words of relief in his ear. He held her tightly for a brief moment and then released her as the others converged around the map table. Gwen entered shortly after Sven, Morgan in her arms and she looked more haggard than usual. Lance looked at her worriedly but she smiled bravely. He made a mental note to talk to her later.

Above them, the Polluxian ships were hovering like silent birds of prey. Bandor was just awaiting the signal to land. Coran and Romelle took turns in telling what had occured aboard the flagship and now they had to think about what to do next. Coran was adamant about keeping his promise of freeing Pollux. The men were brave enough to risk defecting, and he wasn't about to go back on his word.

"We need to talk to Keith and Allura about this," Lance said. "This is not something we can decide right here and now."

"Why not?" Calendi asked. "You're acting captain and Coran is the Princess' replacement. This decision needs to be made as soon as possible because the longer Pollux doesn't hear from Avok, the higher the danger if we attack."

"Have you seen the Lions? They're barely limping along!" Lance railed, frowning. "We can't attack now."

"I thought you were the daredevil, Branegan?" Calendi baited.

"That's Commander Branegan to you, Lieutenant," he retorted.

"Enough," Romelle snapped. "The lieutenant has a point. We need to think fast. Can we get Allura and Keith on the channel?"

Coran pushed a few buttons and shook his head. "They're at a meeting right now."

"We'll talk to them later," Gwen said.

"Wait a second," Lance said. "What if this is a big trick? What if they planned this to be able to gain our trust and ultimately defeat us?"

Romelle glared at him. "Bandor wouldn't do that!" she protested.

"A lot of time has passed since you were with him, Romelle," Lance warned. "He might have changed. He certainly isn't the little boy you took care of."

Romelle looked outraged. Sven put an arm around her. He looked at her and saw the conviction on her face. But he had to admit that Lance had a point.

"We won't let them into secured areas," Coran said before more could be said. "We'll make sure to keep a close watch on them. They did stop attacking and they could have won. If they wanted to destroy us, that would have been their way."

"Polluxian warfare is known to be bloody and violent," Romelle said. "A soldier would rather die with a spear through his chest than sneak around and be a spy."

"Times have changed..." Lance said.

"We'll keep them under close watch. But we can't pass up this chance," Gwen said. "I think we should pour all our resources into patching the Lions up as well as salvage any fighters we can. Have Bandor stall Pollux as long as he can and then we attack no later than the day after tomorrow."

"Hunk, Pidge..." Coran began.

Hunk put a hand on Pidge's shoulder and steered him towards the doorway. "We're on it."

"So we're going to do this?" Lance asked, feeling a headache coming on. "You sure know how to pack a day, Coran."

"We have to," Romelle said. "Someone has to free them."

"Vidout de majority of de fleet there, Pollux vill be az good az unguarded ven ve release Arusian forces upon dem," Sven said. "If only ve could get some Alliance backing."

"We can do this," Coran said. "All it takes is a good strategy."

"Too bad Keith is busy," Lance sighed.

"We can do it," Gwen said. "We'll just put our heads together and come up with something."

"In the meantime, what are we going to do about our new tenants?" Lance asked. "We can't possibly house them all in the castle and having them stay in their ships is too much of a risk."

"I want to talk to Bandor," Romelle said. "He'll stay with me."

"Avok should be put in a secured place," Coran said.

"De others can stay in de bunkers," Sven said. "I'll haf dem cleared out." He smiled wryly. "After all, I packed dem in, right?"