Chapter One

Ethan stood at the curtain's edge, not wanting to disturb his sleeping sister. He was going to take his turn by Jack's side after Jordan had finally given in to her restlessness and was scrubbing at the Green Lion was if her life depended on it. But Bethie was now sitting in the seat Jordan had just vacated, her head resting on her folded arms and one hand still tangled with Jack's fingers. There was no change after ten hours and everyone was restless. It was not the same kind of restlessness that had marked their first month underground because it was far worse. There was a time limit that they all wished they could will away.

His presence must have set something off in Bethie's head because she stirred and opened her eyes.

"Why don't you shower or something?" Ethan suggested. "I can sit here a while."

"No, I'll be fine," she said, running a hand through her dark hair and fixing her blue eyes on Jack's drawn face. "I'm not going anywhere until I see those eyes looking right at me."

"At least get something to eat. Even Liv's had breakfast."

"I'm fine."

Ethan sat on the edge of the bed near Bethie and she looked up at him. Her eyes looked huge on her pale face and he wondered at what he saw in them. A mixture of anguish and pain but something else of which he was sure she was unaware.

"You don't look too fine."

"What do you expect? I feel like my hands have been tied since this whole thing started and now the Black's pilot is down. We can barely deal with what we had before that. Ro-beasts, robot Lions, impenetrable hulls...Mom and Dad may have saved our lives by letting us go, but for what? We can just barely make a dent in their defenses and our people, our families are scattered to the winds. In the end, we might just end up..."

"Don't say it, Bethie."

She smiled sadly at him. "You always were like a ray of sunshine, little bro."

"I will hold on to hope for as long as I live. I have to. We can't give up, no matter what happens."

Bethie only shook her head, blue eyes shadowed. Ethan put a hand on her shoulder, looking to Jack.

"How's he doing?"

"He hasn't so much as twitched," she said, squeezing Jack's hand. "He sure knows how to push my buttons."

"He flew the Black Lion from Voltronia to this place without losing consciousness. He's made of tougher stuff than that ro-beast that did this to him and you can be sure that he'll be wanting revenge for it too."

That brought a faint smile to her face.

"We'll have to push our plans back a couple days until he recovers," she said. "Does Uncle Lance know?"

"Uncle Pidge said he is taking it much better than expected. The ground forces came out golden and they're ready to go again, but Uncle Lance put a stay order on everyone until they can get Lion backup. He did ask if we could contact him with contingency plans in case...Jack doesn't wake up in time."

Bethie's lips twisted. "Like send in three Lions instead of five?"

"Something like that."

"I don't like doing that because of the ro-beasts that are hanging around. You can be sure that they're stepping up the production since we've done this."

"That's why we have to move fast and gain ground while we still can. I'm no expert but growing ro-beasts is not like growing a vegetable garden so while they're short-handed we should act," Ethan said.

"How do you know they don't have any in reserve?" she argued.

Any response Ethan had was lost when Jack groaned. Bethie shot to her feet and Ethan ran to get Olivia.

"Jack," Bethie said, shaking the hand she held. "Jack, open your eyes."

"Quit bossing me around," he muttered, squinting up at her. "I'm injured."

Bethie let out a relieved laugh and she clutched his hand to her chest as he blinked up at the ceiling.

"Did someone try to crack my head open with a hammer?" he asked.

"Not a hammer, but a solid steel surface," she answered. "You had me worried for a while there, Jack."

"I'm just keeping you on your toes, Princess. That'll teach me not to watch my six."

"Next time, I'm gonna be there to watch it for you."

He was about to argue with her about that, but the obstinate look in her blue eyes made him close his mouth again. Giving her hand a squeeze, he managed a small smile which she returned. Olivia ran in then, glancing at Jack with relief on her face, and then turned to the machines that monitored his vital signs. Hunk loomed over them all, his lined face worried.

"He's awake?" he said.

"Good morning, everyone," Jack greeted.

"He sounds fine to me," Matt said, patting Jack's leg.

Bethie looked to Olivia who was checking the readouts. Something in what she was reading made her frown, but she bit her tongue, not wanting to say anything until she was sure. When she turned to face them, she had a smile pasted on her face.

"Everything looks good," she said.

"Thanks, Doc," Jack said.

Olivia patted his shoulder. "You gave us a bad scare, Jack. Since you owe me now, I have one thing to ask of you."

"What's that?"

"Wear your helmet next time, okay?"

Lance walked down the corridors of the base, a cane in one hand and Archent at his side. The soldiers had settled in and things had finally quieted down. They had gotten in contact with the first base entrance and knew that the soldiers were holding their end up, holding the enemy at bay with a strong perimeter and stable shield. One thing they did not lack was weaponry, thanks to Allura. There was quickness to Lance's step now that he knew Jack was alright and Jason was safe, though he was heading right for danger. Lance's only consolation was that Link did not know their sons were continually putting their heads in the lion's mouth, so to speak, but that was only because communications between them and the Voltronia refugees had been cut off since the beginning. Between worrying about his wife and his sons, Lance was surprised that he was still walking upright--and he was not alone in that.

"Two more entrances until we meet up with the refugees," Archent said, consulting the map in his hands.

"The Lions should be back in the sky in three days after they recharge and rearm," Lance said. "We'll be ready to go by then. The injuries sustained were minimal and the soldiers assure me that they can go on. I'm not going to talk them out of it. They know when they're ready."

Archent was about to say something but suddenly his steps faltered and he put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Lance glanced at him, puzzled, then alarmed when he saw that his aide was white as a sheet. He started to offer a hand to help but Archent shook his head at him.

"That was weird," he muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"I just...it felt like i got punched in the gut."

Lance arched an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that no one has punched you in the last minute, Major."

Archent straightened and after a hesitant step, resumed walking. Lance limped next to him, still concerned.

"Does this happen to you a lot?" he asked.

"No...well..."

"Spit it out."

"When that first ro-beast hatched...I thought I got the wind knocked out of me except I was standing upright and alone," Archent answered reluctantly. "Before that, I never experienced anything like it."

"You don't glow or anything, do you?" he asked.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Glow...like bluish light, an aura...nevermind. Listen, next time this happens to you, I want you tell me. Anything you feel, just tell me."

"Yes, sir."

They moved on to a more logistics-based discussion, but in the back of Lance's mind, he fervently wished that Allura was here to shed some light on this important new facet to this conflict.

Link watched as groups of people streamed into the mess hall. She hadn't eaten yet and often skipped meals in order to make sure everyone got their share. She did not have much of an appetite and had lost a lot of weight since they had taken to the underground base. Lance was somewhere nearby and she hated not being able to talk to him, but her engineers were working hard to reconnect their communications array and she was assured that it would happen any day now.

The mood was dismal and growing worse with each passing day. She wished she could offer her people hope and comfort, but she found that when she tried, she was left drained and feeling worse than ever because she could not find those things in herself. They seemed to sense that and despite her efforts, the complaints grew steadily and her well-honed senses picked up the undercurrent of disillusionment that was growing. The groups that had been whispering about negotiating with the Lotorians above ground were screaming now that they were underground. Link had tried to stop them, tried to speak to their leaders, but they refused to cooperate or even be civil with her. Angry and frustrated, she left her aides to deal with them while she made sure the rest of the base ran smoothly. In that, the people would have no complaints.

She was staring out in the masses of people that were gathering when she saw the familiar figure of her head engineer coming towards her. She met him halfway, her face expectant.

"The communications array is up, Mayor Branegan," he said breathlessly.

"That's excellent news," Link said. "Let's go see who we can talk to out there."

They were almost at the door when Link heard someone calling her name. Link turned and bit back a groan.

"Mayor."

The voice of Aguste Cital grated on her nerves as much as it had Allura, but Link had a pleasant expression on her face when she faced the other woman.

"Yes, Aguste? What can I do for you?"

To Link's shock, she found herself staring at the barrel of a gun. Around them, men and women pulled out laser rifles and guns, but did not point them at the crowds. Only Link was being threatened in that manner.

"I hate to do this to you, Mayor, but there's really no other way," Cital said. "I'm afraid your time as leader is over. I'm taking over from here on out."