Chapter Two

"So now you come to me asking for help after toppling me from my Olympus," Space Marshall Graham said, but the smile on his face took the bite away from his words. "Lucky for you, I'm still in charge of the military."

"Lucky for me, there's someone above you now and I still have my commission," Keith returned dryly.

"How are you holding up, Commander?"

"Good, Sir. I've been through worse."

Graham threw him an incredulous look.

"Ok, maybe not worse," Keith amended, "but I'll make it through."

Graham nodded. "Alright, Commander. You'll get your backup."

"I need them A-S-A-P, Sir."

"They'll be on the next transport out."

"Thank you."

"Just make sure I get a good seat the next time the Princess throws a party."

Keith snorted. "That won't be until sometime after this fracas, but I'll be sure to put in a good word for you."

"Good luck."

Keith nodded and they closed the communication. He leaned back in his desk chair and propped his feet up on the desk. His head was throbbing...had been throbbing since he had heard the news. He could hardly believe it himself, and he was a fool for doing so without even seeing hard evidence, but something inside him told him it was true.

And it made him sick to his stomach.

The door chime stopped him from delving deeper with his troubles. He opened the doors with a push of a button and Lance stepped through.

"I got the pilots from GG," Keith said.

"Nice of Graham to let bygones be bygones," Lance said. "I didn't think he would give you what you wanted."

"He's a fair man. It was time for a change. Are the fighters ready?"

"Almost. We're on the second to last group. Pidge is with the little band of mecha-geeks. He finished the ground shield before schedule."

"That kid should be down here, not up there," Keith said distractedly. "Calendi is still here, I presume."

"Yeah," Lance growled. "She's a pain in the ass."

Keith let out a surprised laugh. "What?"

"She rubs me the wrong way."

"Or not at all, you mean."

Lance threw him a withering glance. "NO. This is a clash of personalities. She's not too fond of me either. I'd rather not fly with her."

"How did she do when Pollux attacked?"

"Not bad," Lance admitted hesitantly. "She has an attitude problem."

"Kinda like someone else I know."

"Yeah, but I'm your best friend!"

"A best friend I don't have to work with, but I do because you're a good pilot."

"Just good?"

"Excellent."

"Better."

"I think we'll keep Calendi for the time being," Keith said. "As for Pidge..."

"You're taking him off Green Lion?" Lance asked, surprised.

"I don't know," Keith said. "I'll think about it. I just think he's more useful down here than up there."

"Is he going on this mission?"

"We don't have time to train someone else."

"Speaking of which, Allura's not going to be happy about being cut out of Blue Lion."

"She'll deal with it. We can't risk her anymore. She's a politician now."

Lance laughed. "Then I say we leave her on."

Keith smiled reluctantly. "Just for that, I think you should tell her. Lucky for you, I think Coran is going to." He stood. "I should be at Castle Control."

"I'll walk with you."

They headed down the corridors, dodging running soldiers. The Castle was not normally active this time of night, but considering the circumstances, it wasn't a surprise. They had the attack planned for the day after next. Four days after the Polluxian attack on them. Gwen hadn't been happy about the length of time, but it would have taken a miracle for them to have the Lions, as well as the other fighters, up to par in a shorter time than that. As it stood, Hunk had warned that the fighters had been put together by sweat, tape, and faith.

They entered Castle Control. Allura, Coran, Gwen, and Sven were in different places around the room, involved in trying to get the mission as close to successful as possible. Allura and Coran were standing around the map table with a few other men, discussing the plan of attack. Keith went over to where they were, while Lance joined his sister at the main console.

"What are you up to?" Lance asked.

"Trying to muddle through these mission assignments," she replied. "If those GG backups don't get here, we're going to be seriously shorthanded. I hope Keith asked for more than a shipload."

Lance winced. "I don't think he did."

"We don't have enough to man the Polluxian fleets properly. At the most, we'll have skeleton crews in each ship and that's just not good enough for this kind of battle. Bandor told us that Avok took all the ships available, but there was a chance the King had more hidden somewhere."

"Keith," Lance called. "How many backups did you ask for?"

"Two hundred and twenty," Keith replied. "Hopefully, we'll be getting that many. Graham had to pull a lot of men out of their current assignments."

"I'm sure he did," Gwen said. "It's not enough."

Allura looked up. "What?"

"That's not enough people," Gwen repeated. "We need to find some hidden source of manpower somewhere or else we'll have to leave two warships behind."

"We can't do that," Allura said. "We need those to hold the fighters. We can't skimp on that." She rubbed her eyes exhaustedly. "What are we doing?"

"Fighting tyranny," Coran said automatically. "Every little bit helps."

"You should tell GG that," Gwen said to Keith.

"I got all I could," he said with a shrug. "We have no other choice but to trust the Polluxians."

"No," Lance argued. "Absolutely not."

"I agree," Sven said after making sure Romelle wasn't in hearing distance. "Dat vould be too much auf a reesk."

"Taking three warships to fight a whole kingdom is a risk," Keith pointed out. "We have to base this partnership on mutual trust."

"We don't have a partnership yet," Lance pointed out. "What do you think, Princess?"

Allura glanced at Keith then at the map table. She sighed deeply and without a word, went into the conference room. They others exchanged confused glances. Keith looked to where she had disappeared to but to everyone's surprise, he didn't follow. Gwen looked slightly chastising as she took the initiative and entered the conference room.

"Lover's quarrel?" Lance asked in a low voice meant for only Keith's ears.

"There's no lover to quarrel with," Keith retorted. "Let's get to work."