Chapter Eight

Keith kept on circling the castle as ideas were thrown at him. Hunk was still trying to figure it out, firing laser shot after laser shot from all angles at it. He felt close to the answer, but plain exhaustion was getting in the way of his thinking. The battle still went on around them, but was dying down quickly. The last few survivors were either running away or were already gone.

"This was too easy," Lance said.

"You're telling me," Hunk snorted. "Yellow Lion's tail laser fizzled out on me and we lost a quarter of our fighters."

"That's just it," Lance argued. "Only a quarter? Something's not right."

"They distracted us from Arus," Keith said. "That's all there is to it."

"I'm going back there," Calendi said. "They need us back there."

"They do," Keith agreed. "Finish up here quickly. Then, send back three warships, Red, Blue and Yellow Lions, and all the squadrons except one. Leave one ATV at each drop point, and leave half the ground troops for the Polluxians. Take up the rest. I'll keep Warship Debros with me."

"Who's in charge here?" Lance said.

"Me," Keith replied.

"Yes, sir." Lance turned to his scanners and spotted the enemy fighters. "You heard the man. Let's get rid of these vermin."

The battle became lively and laser fire flew every which way. Black Lion finally landed near its supposed entrance point and was still while its passengers discussed the situation. Keith tried to focus on it, but now that they were out of immediate danger, all he could think of was Arus. And Allura. He wanted to go back with the fleet but they still had a mission to accomplish. Lance could handle it. He put duty above all else, though his heart was heavy.

I should have apologized, he thought. I should have told her...

"Commander Porterfield?"

"We can try to break it down," he said without missing a beat. "Take it the old fashioned way."

"We could," Hunk put in through the speakers. "But it looks like this shield absorbs energy at a higher rate than the usual. It's gonna take a lot of firepower to short it out. If it takes a ship-mounted laser cannon an hour of steady high-powered firing to take our shield down how much longer for this..."

He paused and Keith saw the surprised expression on Hunk's face on the monitor. His control panel flashed red as Yellow Lion's shields went down.

"What are you doing?" Keith demanded.

"If this doesn't work tell the Princess I'm sorry I broke her lion," Hunk said, sounding distracted.

"Hunk...!"

Keith hardly had time to say anything else when Yellow Lion stepped through where they knew the shield to be and come out the other side...unscathed. He blinked.

"So...there's no shield?" came Lance's bewildered voice.

"Ingenious," Hunk said. "So simple, but I wouldn't have thought of it. No one's been able to perfect the design...Get in here, Keith. Lower your own shields and your power as low as it can go. You'll feel a little sizzle while you pass through, but nothing serious."

After having seen Yellow Lion walk through, Keith asked no questions about the apparently suicidal thing Hunk was asking him to do. He lowered everything and nudged Black Lion through the shield. They ended up on the other side with hardly a burn.

"Explain it to me, later," Keith said, bewildered. He saw then that the battle was over and the Fleet was getting ready to leave. "Go as fast as you can, Lance," he said.

"We will. Be careful."

"One more thing, Keith," Hunk interrupted. "Don't turn anything on while you're in there. I don't know if this shield works from anywhere within that perimeter or not."

"Thanks, Hunk."

When the last fighter and ATV was loaded into a warship, they rose up in the sky and disappeared through the clouds. Debros hovered above them, making sure nothing was going to sneak up on them. When they were gone, Keith turned his attention to the castle. Surprisingly, no one tried to make contact with them. He readied two torpedoes to fire at the solid stone wall when the castle opened fire on them.

The chaos that had accompanied the Polluxian attack was nothing compared to what was happening during Niloc's attack. The Arusians had lost complete control and with more soldiers trying to calm them down, it only got worse. The increased laser fire raining on the ground shield made them panic more. On the platform above the crowds, Sven gripped the railing until his knuckles turned white, barking out orders until his voice became hoarse. Romelle stood at his side, watching the monitors and telling him what needed to be done.

The three trucks he had sent out could barely break through the crowds blocking the doors. They had tried multiple times to get them to stop entering through the right side as before, but they weren't listening.

"Is there a speaker system in here?" Romelle asked.

"Yes," Sven replied. "Vat deed you haf in mind?"

"Let me talk to them," she said. "They'll listen to me."

Sven punched in a command on the console and handed her a communicator. As if on an afterthought, he raised the volume as high as it would go.

"People of Arus," she said, her voice echoing.

The people below them stopped at the sound of her familiar voice and simultaneously looked up. She waved her hand.

"People of Arus," she began again. "Please listen. We cannot get you to safety if you do not listen to the instructions of the soldiers around you. They have been trained to deal with this kind of situation, but if you do not cooperate, those still outside will be in danger. Every minute they are in plain view of the Doom forces, they are in danger. So please, clear the right hand side of the doors to allow the trucks to pass through. Do this like you did it before. Calmly, mindful of the others around you."

Sven could see many of them nodding their heads in agreement with Romelle's words. In unison, they quieted down and moved faster down to the base to clear the right side. He briefly touched Romelle's shoulder before turning back to the task at hand. She sighed in relief when she saw that they had listened and went back to the monitors.

Gwen clenched and unclenched her fists as the flurry of shuts ricocheted off the ground shield. Sweat began to bead her forehead and she sat down for fear that her legs would give way. She covered her face with her hands, taking in deep, calming breaths. Her mind began to close down as she panicked, barely able to distinguish the past from the present. She heard the shots and saw Luna's atmospheric barrier break into a million pieces, saw the bodies begin to get sucked up in the vaccuum of space. She heard Marc's voice telling her to get to safety....then she felt a hand gently clasp her shoulder.

"Go get, Morgan," Coran said quietly.

Gwen looked up at the older man and saw his brown eyes were compassionate. She put a hand on his and squeezed it.

"Thank you."

She got up and bolted out of Castle Control towards the nursery. When she got there, Nanny was cuddling Morgan who was shrieking at the top of her little lungs. Stifling a cry of relief, Gwen took her daughter from Nanny and hugged her tightly, whispering reassuring words in her tiny ears. Nanny looked at them a moment and left without another word.

Gwen didn't know how long she'd been holding Morgan until the little girl began to fidget in her arms and made quiet mewling sounds. She loosened her grip on the child and sat down in the rocking chair behind her. They couldn't hear the laser fire from where they were, but the knowledge that they were being fired upon was enough for Gwen to feel the seedlings of a panic attack grow in her. It was only Morgan's presence that stopped her from going over the edge.

Should have talked to a shrink, she thought uselessly.

Her communicator beeped and mindlessly she answered it.

"Where are you?" Allura said, sounding like she was going to start yelling any second. "I need you at Castle Control, Lieutenant Branegan."

Gwen swallowed hard and blinked several times trying to answer. But her mouth moved and nothing came out.

"Lieutenant Branegan..." Allura repeated. "Gwen? Are you there?"

In Castle Control, Allura turned to Coran.

"She went to the nursery, right?" she demanded.

"Yes. For Morgan."

"Get her back here," Allura said. "I need her here."

"She's...she's..." Coran stalled. "She doesn't react well in situations like this, Your Highness. After the attack on Luna, she has difficulty in battle situations."

Allura slammed her hands on the control panel and closed her eyes briefly, bowing her head. She took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves as outside enemy ships were relentless on the fighters and the shield.

"Tell her that if she doesn't come back here, we will be undermanned," Allura said slowly. "Most of the people here aren't even half as qualified as she is. Tell her it's her duty."

Coran nodded and headed out. Allura turned back to the viewscreen. An Arusian fighter exploded before her eyes, but she remained studiously calm. No one could see the line of blood that seeped out from her clenched fist as her nails dug into her palm.