Keith played with the food on his plate, pushing his peas and corn back and forth across its surface. Lance and Sven were already halfway through their meals by the time they noticed that something was bothering him. There was no hint to anyone else that Keith had something on his mind, but they weren't his closest friends for nothing. Although Keith kept his expression studiously blank, the way he couldn't stop moving meant he was mulling over an issue; during their Academy days, he had nearly tap-danced out of the cafeteria when he got his first 'B' on a physics assignment.

"Big date?" Lance asked.

"You could say that," Keith replied vaguely.

"With who? I haven't seen a woman here other then the Princess," Sven inquired, trying not to sound too eager.

Keith didn't reply and Lance frowned. He understood that Keith was feeling edgy because they had been on Arus for nearly three days and had done absolutely nothing. For a mover and shaker such as Keith, it just wasn't normal to be sitting around doing nothing at all for that amount of time.

"Don't tell me you have a rendezvous with Her Royal Crankiness?"

"Not an official one, but I'm planning to have a talk with her."

"You're not still trying to get her to give us higher clearance, are you? After the fiasco with Coran disobeying orders, I didn't think she would want to even see us near main."

"I'm not going to sit around here doing nothing while there are things to be done," Keith said resolutely. "If she wants proof of our trustworthiness, I'm going to give it to her."

Lance bit back his first response to Keith's declaration and said, "Good luck then, Commander. If there's someone at this table who can talk his way out of a death sentence, it's you."

Keith had to smile at that. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Her bark is probably worse then her bite," Sven reassured him.

"I hope so."

He pushed back his chair and stood. With his back straight and his head held proudly, he walked out of the mess hall to search for the Princess. Lance looked at Sven.

"That is one determined man," he commented. "He sure doesn't want to have a vacation."

"Not when Zarkon's blowing up the surface above his head he doesn't," Sven returned.

He knocked Lance's feet off the table causing him to fall over backwards. It caused a small uproar among the men around them, delighted at seeing the cocky pilot flat on his back and silent for once since he had all the air knocked out of him. Sven laughed uproariously at the sight.

"Now I know why the women love you," he teased, kicking Lance's leg lightly. "You look so beguiling on your back."

Lance threw him a disgruntled look and hauled himself to his feet.

"Shut up, Sven," he said menacingly. "Or I'm going to stick that meatball up your nose."

Sven only chuckled and went back to eating. Lance righted his chair and sat back down.

"As far as I'm concerned, if she doesn't want our help, I'm not going to offer mine," Sven said, his voice low. "The last thing the Alliance needs is another needy planet. Its resources are spread thin enough already."

"Pretty cold-hearted of you," Lance said, arching an eyebrow at him.

"No one wants us here and I don't want to be here," Sven said. "If Keith wasn't such a good friend..."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be here either, but we can't change that now. Don't be such a hardass, Sven. If the Princess changes her tune, you'll probably be leading the charge. This icicle Scandanavian facade you've got going never fooled me."

"Shut up."

"See, I'm not fooled. And I'm right about this one. Look around. How can you refuse a request for help from these people?"

Sven did look around, took in the rugged stone walls of the Mess, the hardened and drooping expressions of the Arusians around them. The sickly pallor of their skin a tell-tale sign of not having seen the sun in too long. Lance was right. He was no icicle...

"If Princess Allura cares about them as much as she should, she'll let us help," Lance continued. "We're a lot more help than trouble."

"Some more than others."

"Yeah. But I wouldn't be surprised if Keith gets us jettisoned into the atmosphere. His diplomatic skills turn into crap when he talks to her."

Sven laughed.

"You noticed that, too? He's probably just not used to that kind of animosity," he reasoned.

"Maybe. Or maybe she's gonna be the first woman to give our boy a hard time," Lance said with a chuckle.

"And that's reason enough to stay."

Exchanging feral grins, Sven and Lance toasted their absent friend.

Keith walked down the corridors on the way to the Conference room. He heard footsteps behind him and found Allura close at his heels. She acknowledged him with a brief nod.

"Good day, Commander," she said.

"Good day, Princess. Please, call me Keith."

"Keith it is then, though don't get too comfortable. GG could call you back at any second now seeing as you're their crown prince," she said.

"Don't you worry. With the mattresses you've provided us with, I've felt no comfort at all the past few days."

Allura glanced at him unsure whether he was joking or not. His expression had not changed one bit and she would have taken him seriously if not for the curious glint in his eyes. She caught herself on the brink of a smile.

"Nothing I can do about that seeing as we've exhausted all our supplies," she said without a note of apology in her voice. "By the way, I'm not going to be giving you higher access."

He stopped dead in his tracks, the amused glint in his eyes giving way to anger. She regarded him with coolness, but was quietly impressed by the picture he presented for he did have the ability to be very intimidating. She was by no means intimidated but she could understand now how he rose so quickly in the ranks at such a young age. She crossed her arms and regarded him with a lazy air that seemed to madden him even more.

"I shouldn't be giving you any explanations, but I'm afraid you're going to hound me until I do, so here it is," she said. "I lost two men the last time I gave an Alliance officer the same access as my soldiers. They were two of my best men and they did not deserve to die in such a dishonorable way. I will not let it happen again. I have been too trusting when it comes to you Alliance officers and I think that has to change in light of the past situation. I have to know, personally, that I can trust you to walk around here and everything will be safe. I've done that with the people that came before you and have given up a hell of a lot more so believe me when I tell you that I'm not going to make any exceptions."

"I'm sorry you feel that way because I believe that we could do you a great service," Keith said, his anger abating and replaced by a calmness that did make her nervous.

"So did he," she said, referring to the unfortunate officer who had crossed her path.

Keith bowed slightly. "Until later then, Princess."

"Until later, Commander," she replied.

Keith turned away and immediately his eyes fell upon a gray, circular object with a small green light on its surface mounted on the wall. He squinted at it and his eyes widened when he realized what it was. He turned, grabbed Allura, and ran for the nearest doorway. He held her tightly as he covered her with his body.

"What the hell are you--" she began before she was cut off by an ear-splitting explosion.

Alarms began going off all over the base. Allura's mouth hung open as she looked around him towards the now gaping hole where there was once a wall. Her fingers had tighted on his arms until he felt her nails dig into his skin. He could feel her trembling, but before he could make a move to comfort her, she had moved out of his arms and into the corridor. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the doorway.

"Are you crazy?!?" he exclaimed. "Whoever planted that bomb might still be here to make sure you're dead."

She looked up into his face, suddenly looking like a scared little girl, and his mouth feel open with surprise. Then he blinked and just like that, he was staring back into the face of the battle-worn Princess. She gritted her teeth and bared her blaster before she she crouched down, her eyes scanned the corridors. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his blaster held at ready. As soon as the smoke cleared, her soldiers began to filter into view. She did not reholster her blaster, but lowered it when she saw them. She stood, Keith backing her up.

"Run a scan here and see if you can find any unauthorized individuals," she said to the man nearest her. "I want everyone accounted for as of an hour ago or from when the timer on that bomb started."

Her men surrounded the bomb, eyeing it with trepidation. Keith walked through them. He got down on one knee to get a better look at it. It was like nothing he had seen before and looked as if it had been thrown together from spare parts. He didn't want to touch it for fear of a sensor that might set it off. From what he could see, there were four more charges on it.

"This corridor and any other corridors and room within a twenty meter radius should be cleared," he said. "I can't tell whether this bomb will go off again or not, but we need to get experts in here to take a look at it."

The men made no move to follow his orders. Frustrated, he turned to Allura. She regarded him for a brief moment before nodding. They scattered. Keith stood and took her arm, leading her away from the bomb at a rapid pace. She pulled her arm free and glared at him.

"What are you doing? I have to help them," she argued.

"Not when that bomb is there, you're not," he contended. "You know you're important to these soldiers so if you get hurt, they could fall apart. Come with me."

They stared at each other, a battle of wills occurring as her blue eyes bore into his dark ones and neither backed down. She knew that he was right, but she didn't want to leave her soldiers at a time when they needed the most leadership. She knew Coran could handle it, but he was sometimes out of touch with the times and did not know how to act according to the present situation.

She knew that Keith did.

For his part, Keith could see the battle she was waging within herself and kept silent. If he opened his mouth now, all he would just incur her anger and out of spite, she would put herself in danger. He didn't need to know her for too long to figure her out.

Before either of them could speak, a shadow appeared on the corner of Keith's vision. His blaster was up and he immediately blocked the Princess just as a shot was fired. He returned it, but it was more reflex that actual thought and he was barely aware of the action as pain shot through his body. He heard Allura scream as he fell against her, but by then he was barely conscious. He heard her yelling at the edges of his mind, but the darkness had already begun to overcome him. He felt her arms go around him and then all he knew was blackness.