Drummond Darroch slid off Cloven, sliding his hand over his neck in an unconscious stroke of affection as he took in the village.  He could pick out the signs of a primitive settlement on the edge of the wilderness.  But what held his attention was the atmosphere.  The immediate sense of an armed camp engaged in war.  The air hummed with purpose, with deadly intent and commitment.  He could feel it on his skin, in the way the small hairs rose on his neck, and his forearms.  He could smell it in the air, taste it on his tongue and he knew Cloven did too.  It was the taste and smell of adrenaline.  And it all split his face in a feral, predatory grin and lit his eyes with anticipation.

Beside him he heard his sons dismounting along with Chola and Paxx and his daughter who'd refused to stay behind.  The memory of the battle they'd fought and he'd lost, made him growl, low in his throat, with both fury and pride. 

He took a step to the side and nodded slowly to Cloven, not needing to say a word.  They'd been together so long it wasn't necessary.  Cloven's muzzle shifted into a dragonish grin very like his own and just as intimidating before he and the other dragons launched back into the air, heading into the mountains for the caves where the dragon lairs were.  Drum watched him fly for a moment, registering the trajectory and then headed for the largest structure around, knowing without asking it was where he'd find the Siolastre and her mate. 

He filled the doorway, blocking out the light behind him as he waited for his eyes to adjust.  Only then did he move into the room.  He knew most of the people around the Siolastre and her man, but not all of them. 

Dinah looked over and then grinned, standing up to greet them.  They'd been concerned as the last week had gone by and they hadn't arrived.  Unsure, uncertain if they'd make it.  But they'd stuck to the plans they'd made, launching several sorties against the ships in orbit, holding back, hiding the truth of their strength.  They'd used the CCFs, launching them in waves, fighting a guerrilla kind of warfare, hit and run, over and over again, sometimes once a day, sometimes more.  They'd been careful, though, hoarding their strength, making sure that the preliminary events didn't take so much out of them that the battle was in jeopardy. 

Everyone had been careful.  Everyone except Marc, who'd been driving himself relentlessly, especially the last two days, directing the sorties, practicing with Christopher and Drianna, plotting with the dragons and Lev, Ingev and Laz, advised by McGee and Zaf.  This was side of him she'd never seen before, the general, the commander, developing a battle plan, integrating the elements, all the resources...the dragons, the ships, the mental weapons, the CCFs and then after all that, the plans if they needed to board and fight, or if the Star Lords landed on the planet.  He'd spent hours talking, identifying possibilities, picking their brains and then more hours putting it all together.

He'd driven himself, eating and sleeping only when she'd forced him to stop, reminding him over and over again he needed to do those things in order to do what he had to do. 

Drum grinned.  "As beautiful as ever," he teased, pulling her into a hug.  "Are you tired of him yet?  Ready for a real man?" he asked, loud enough for Marc to hear as he swung her off her feet for a moment.

Marc snorted in reply, then smiled at all of them. "Glad to see you.  What's wrong?"

It was Paxx Palandjian who replied, Chola stood next to him. "They're attacking the Rim. This was all we could spare."

"Then thanks doubly for coming. I understand that fighting in the past seems less important than fighting your own war," Marc replied.

Chola gave Marc a lopsided grin. "Same war, different front. The Margassans and the Guild will do all they can to hold the Star Lords back until we can get back there to help them. So we'd best wrap this front up as quickly as we can."

"Yeah, I think we're close to either ending it, or being ended. We'll see. Gather round," Marc added.  He didn't bother introducing everyone, instead he swung right into a briefing on the current state of the war, plans for the sortie that day, and his ideas as to how to escalate from there.

"Dragons, the Cephi, the CCFs and a mental attack, if we can launch it all closely enough together, we have a good chance of beating them," was Marc's conclusion.  He looked up, his eyes polling the newcomers for thoughts, comments, ideas.

Darin, frowning, asked, "And the people here? You're not including any of them?"

"No.  They've fought and lost and are broken now. Maybe if we show them the Star Lords left aren't invincible they can help us later. We'll see."  Marc wasn't offering any knowledge he had about how important they would be in the future. No use to complicate things.

"Drum, any thoughts?" Marc asked, meeting the big man's eyes.

Drum thought about it for a moment.  "The previous strikes were all with the CCFs?  Right?  And this one is just a feint while you launch the real attack?"

"It's a feint all right. But we're hoping they'll respond first, then we launch our attack. We want them focused on their own battle plan not ours," Marc replied.

Drum nodded.  "I understand that.  What I'm thinking is, is if you launch this feint with something other than the CCFs it will force them to scramble to respond to something new.  They're used to the CCFs.  They know how to respond.  Use the dragons this time.  They'll have to adjust and they'll make mistakes.  And it will buy you time too, to launch the rest."

Marc frowned looking down at the table for some time. Then he looked up to find Lev. "Can you coordinate an attack that looks less lethal than what we both know the dragons can manage? In other words, I want the Star Lords to underestimate the dragons' abilities."

Lev frowned in turn. "Yeah, we could manage it. Less coordinated, more as if the dragons thought it fun rather than actual warfare. Since most of the unimensional worlds still think the dragons children at heart, they just might buy it."

"The worlds are in shock, both from the attack and because the dragons have disappeared without a word to anyone, even their companions who can't even touch their minds.  In fact, they find that almost more frightening than the attack," Drum murmured.

"I suppose it must be. They've taken the dragons far too much for granted," Marc commented. "It must be hard, indeed, to know nothing of where they are and why they left."

Drum didn't dwell on it.  He was looking at the projection Zaf had rigged, giving them a view of the position of the ships in space.  "Have the dragons appear behind them, so they turn, as it were, from looking at us to looking into space, behind them.   Close, almost on top of them and then after the first attack turn and flee for space, like they're playing a game.  I bet they follow, some at least."

"We've been annoying them enough that they just might. Chris, is everything ready?"

He exchanged a look with his siblings, lingering over the one with Drianna for an instant and then, perfectly calm and contained, he grinned, the slash of a smile making him look like the reincarnation of his father.  "We're ready."

"All right."  Marc looked at his watch. "Four hours. Everyone ready and in place. I'll start the metaconcert then, and the CCFs and dragons can leave on my mark once everything is in place.  Questions?"  Marc asked, looking around the room.

When no one said anything Dinah stirred.  "There's food here and beds if you want to rest for a while.  I know the trip is a strain."

Drum nodded.  "Thanks.  It sounds good. You guys do what ever you need to and we'll sort ourselves out.  And spend some time with Lev here on the dragon tactics and where he wants us."

"Good," Marc said, taking Dinah's hand and leading her off to their room. "You will NOT take chances. I need to know you are safe so I can give my entire attention to the metaconcert.  Right?"

Dinah sighed and put her arms around him.  She was already terrified for him.  "I'm sure you've already given Quinn and Anja their instructions to make sure of it."

"Well, yes. Of course.  Me, I'll be right here through it all. Not a thing to worry about with me."

She snorted against his shirt.  "Sure.  Not a thing.  And I haven't spent the last week listening to you and Christopher and Drianna planning for what to do if something does happen to you."

"It's just being thorough. Nothing is gonna happen to me. You're stuck with me through eternity."

"Yeah, 'cause we're from the future and we know the good guys win this one.  Now tell me why there's no comfort in that thought."

"Because you're a worrywart, that's why. And you don't like it that I'm paranoid about you."

"Oh shut up.  Stop wasting time and make love to me instead," she hissed.  "It might be a while before we get another chance and I'm feeling neglected."

Marc chuckled and magicked off all their clothes. They found the bed and made love and rested in each others arms.

Four hours later the dragons hurled themselves into space with all the glee of children playing, launching the sortie.  Dinah stood, her forehead leaning into Quinn's neck watching them go.  Above, under thick cloud cover, the other dragons waited, formed into battle groups.   On the landing field she knew the CCFs were waiting for Marc's signal, just like the dragons were.  In space, where she couldn't see them, Aaru, Ther'lin and Kella were also waiting, hidden and deadly.  She just hoped they were deadly enough.  Up in the caves were the healers, all Stephen could spare and the few that had been here, along with Max and Kalket.  She sighed and stroked Quinn's neck, blocking out all feeling.

Marc sitting as comfortably as he could, began to build the metaconcert, adding in the children one at a time, and locking them into the array the way they'd all trained, drilled, studied, readied themselves. He left hooks there to add in others. Zaf, McGee, Darin Darroch, and a few others if needed. Just in case.

Ingev was in mental contact with Lev, the two of them coordinating the sortie on their own. The CCFs were fired up and rose in formation. With a signal from Ingev they set off as if this were a normal stick your thumb in the eye of the bully sortie.

Ingev's CCF was designed a bit differently than the others. While they all were capable of mental connections to their pilots, Ing's also had a direct brain feed which he switched on and connected for this sortie. It gave him instantaneous access to all his higher functions and made the CCF a part of his nervous system. It was dangerous and could fry his brain in a heartbeat, but for real combat, it was what he was designed to do.  "Yee Haw!" he shouted mentally to Aaru.  Aaru was a bit less happy about it all, but she responded with a mental kiss and watched him lead the CCFs off into space toward the far superior force.

McGee, connected to Ther'lin and through her to Kella and Aaru, tended to agree with Aaru.  He agreed with Dinah, too.  Knowing the end didn't help.  He knew how fragile history was and he knew that was why the dragons hadn't brought their companions.  It would be too easy to change things, to make a single wrong move that would ripple through time, gathering force like a tsunami. 

He sighed and shrugged it off, letting go of everything but the job ahead, taking off for space, Zaf off his right wing, Chola off his left.  Laz, Paul and Natha were ready to take off next.

Paxx was bringing up the rear. The Darrochs were aboard their dragons for this round.

Laz, Paul and Natha followed the others, Paxx close behind. The eight CCFs began an intricate attack vector toward the ships in orbit above ancient Earth. It was only a bit more complicated than normal, not enough to worry those aboard, but enough to get their attention.

At the highest arcing pass the CCFs suddenly began to fall,  letting the gravity well of the planet speed their trajectory toward the ships. As the navigation computers locked on the CCFs began a strafing run, all pretty much the same as they'd been doing for two weeks.

The great ships in orbit began to spin to bring their main guns around.

Laz, Paul and Natha peeled off starting a three pronged strafing run, just like always. McGee, Zaf and Chola did the same, leaving the center ship to Ingev and Paxx. 

Laz focused on the ship surface, the fighter bays, the cannon arrays and the targeting equipment.  He chose the fighter bays, diving in fast, like a kamikaze letting the fighter's computers handle aiming the missiles while he raked the entrance with laser fire.  He kept firing as the missiles launched pulling up only at the last minute, not waiting to see if they scored. 

As he peeled off the dragons burst into space around him, breathing fire, lighting up the blackness like a sun exploding into life.

Marc, settled in the controlling position in the metaconcert allowed his vision to 'see' the battle from outside the battleground.  It was a multiple dimension chess game, moving the pieces until each fit the vision he had of what it would take to make the Star Lords respond. And they were close. The ships spun to respond to the CCF attacks, and disgorged small fighters of their own.  The CCFs swung around in response, the dragons though were their targets. They swept past the CCFs and arrowed toward the dragons who were scattered across the sky in a seemingly undisciplined scatter shot array.

The first pass through the dragons ended in complete disarray of the dragon ranks and dragons began peeling off and breaking for open space and safety.  The enemy fighters, sensing a rout were off in quick pursuit.

The CCFs took off in support of the dragons and the great ships in orbit began spinning their targeting arrays at Earth.

Marc gave the signal then and the Cephi ships began to close. At the same time Marc took the combined strength of the metaconcert and smashed it into the bridge of the lead Star Lord ship.  Within seconds he'd broken open the bridge of the ship and bodies and debris came tumbling into space.

Drum and Cloven covered the retreat of the dragons into space, taking out the two lead CCF fighters as they flew a zigzag pattern backwards.  The dragons were regrouping when Marc's order came and the next wave of dragons came pouring out of the portals, perfectly positioned and breathing fire on the already damaged ship.

The real battle began then, fighters sweeping across the bows of the ships, and the Cephi arrowing down to slice the Star Lord ships exposing the beings inside and cutting off their engines.

The ships began to attempt a retreat but the dragons they thought they'd routed, and the CCFs were waiting them. Dinah on Quinn, Anja at her side, whirled downward with the phalanx that Lev had designed. Dragon fire lit the dark of space and the enemy fighters vaporized.

Marc and the children directed it all, Marc managing the disparate pieces on his chess board with no remorse and no interest in lives lost or endangered. It was a war they had to win, and he utilized every weapon he had ruthlessly.

Christopher watching Marc's back and the backdoor, was the first to scream out a warning. But it came too late. An arrow of mental lethality aimed directly at Marc's brain hit before anyone could do anything, and before Marc was even aware of its existence. The metaconcert began to crumple.  In the vacuum of space Dinah screamed and Quinn wheeled, racing for the planet.

Christopher spared a single precious second to yell for help before he plunged into the gap, pouring himself into it, picking up the linkages, mending the breaks.  He shoved everything out of his mind, every awareness, and focused on the chessboard, and Marc's battle plan. 

There were half a dozen ships, two were totally disabled, blackened hulks spinning in  space, all life either gone or dying as the dragons finished them off.  Two were damaged but still fighting.  The majority of their CCFs were focused there, along with Kella and some of the dragons, pounding them mercilessly.  In the two seconds he was focused on them, the ships launched a counterstrike, space torpedo's hitting the dragon phalanx with dead on accuracy, killing them all, driving the rest back momentarily.

But the main battle was with the two remaining ships, trying to break loose from each other and flee the crossfire they were under from Aaru and Ther'lin while four other dragon phalanxes ran strafing runs, keeping them from launching a second wave of CCFs.

He had three groups of dragons in reserve.  Laz's team were landing to refuel and McGee's would next, while Paxx and Ing covered them as they fell back. 

He absorbed it all in less that a minute before he began moving the pieces, calling up some of the dragon reserves to replace those they'd lost.  Then he began pulling power from where ever he could find it, drawing on all the lessons he'd learned.  He reached across space sending his mind past the gravity well and into the first ship, searching for the single mind directing the attack for the star Lords.  He quested carefully, using half his mind, while the rest directed the battle, not wanting the Star Lords to guess anything had changed, wanting them to think with Marc out of the fight the mental battle was over.

He was taking a hell of a risk and he knew it.  Next to him Drianna hissed as she realize what he was doing but she didn't try to stop him, she just shifted the metaconcert slightly and took over some of the burden.  He was aware, too, of the healers carrying Marc away and ignored it.

He started touching minds lightly, unobtrusively, searching for the one he wanted, the one mind that was directing everything happening.  When he found it the power of it almost overwhelmed him, even as lightly as he connected to it.  It was a mind like none he'd ever seen, and a part of him was fascinated, hungry to examine it, desperate to just stop for a moment and learn from it.  It was perfectly constructed, a mind that was one hundred percent accessible to itself.  Disciplined, honed, the rate at which it took in, absorbed and processed information was breathtaking.  More than that was its ability to merge and handle groups of minds, multiple metaconcerts simultaneously.

He saw and understood all of that in the split second it took to push his fascination aside, gather all the energy he had and slam it into that mind, a mind so perfect, so beautiful he would forever remember it, forever grieve its loss and his part in its destruction.  He sent the ball of energy flying through space, using the trail of the bond he'd established, staying there until the last minute, making sure....making sure the mind died, feeling it as it did, hearing its scream of disbelief, its rage and then its shock as it realized, dying, who and what he was. 

He heard that mind scream the news into the arrays it was controlling and as it did it took with it the seeds of their destruction, giving Christopher a clear channel, an open killing field into them all and he took it, without hesitating, even as he absorbed the death of the most perfect mind he'd ever know and felt its regret, a shared regret that this was how they'd met and that there would never be another meeting between them.

With their leader dead and other major minds under attack the Star Lords leapt toward deep space, fighting for their lives now, losing their discipline and fighting only for their individual survival. The dragons and the Cephi kept up the pursuit and in the end only one ship escaped, jumping to deep space only seconds before they too would have been incinerated.

On the planet, what was left of Marc was garnering every resource they had just to keep the bare minimum of life support going for him.  His mind was burnt out, his body even worse.

Dinah shoved a healer aside uncaring, blinded by her tears and her terror.  She plunged her hands into what was left of his hair, the silken almost black mass of strands that she loved, pressing her fingertips tight against his skull as she slammed her mind into his.  She was frantic, searching for him, for even a spark of him to grasp and hold onto while she poured into him her will that he live, her absolute command, the unrelenting demand that he not leave her alone. 

Around her the air grew frigid as she sucked in energy.  Outside the clouds began to roil, boiling, growing black, while lightening exploded, arcing downward, seeking her, pouring into her.  Electricity flickered all along her body, all along Marc's, answering her demand for the power to find him, to hold him to her, lock his life into her keeping.  She sent power into the bond between them, anchoring it in her and in him as she raced along it, searching for him, knowing she was running out of time to catch up to him.

He was so close to letting go, to crossing over and she knew there was still, always, that part of him that wanted that, that was tired and just wanted to lay the burden down that he'd carried for so long.  She knew that and understood it.  The pain he carried was a living pain, one she shared with him though he didn't know it.  The depth of it sliced her heart, shredded it and she ached for him.  But she refused to let him go, refused to allow him to give into it.  She raged across the spaces between life and death, sending her absolute denial into him like a cross bolt, using it to slow his progress enough so that she could reach him in time.

When she did she latched onto him, merging with him completely, holding him motionless on the cusp between life and death, pouring her strength into him, into his will.  If he died she was going with him and she made sure he knew that even as she braided the life she was making out of the energy of the storm into his life, strengthening it, making it impossible for him to leave her.

When what was left of his mind responded it made her gasp, the searing agony he was experiencing, lancing through him in wave after wave.  He was trying to reach her through the millions of years between them, agony and time and space all separating him from where she and his body waited, even though her mind had followed him, still, the thread back was so tenuous and fragile and pulsed with even more agony for him should he take it.

Even so, he recognized her determination to drag him back from the brink and for her he took that first step.

She didn't wait for the second.  She merged with him even closer, so close there was no place in his mind where she wasn't, no place in his body where she wasn't. Then she used joining she'd created, took the closeness to take some of the pain from him, to lift away just enough that it eased.  It was still unbearable and she knew that, but the easing made it seem less so.  And with the easing he took a breath, drawing air into his scorched lungs.  He took the breath and she exhaled for him.  She drew in the next and he exhaled.  His heart beat once, sending oxygenated blood through his body, keeping him alive but also feeding the pain.  His heart beat once and she used her heart beat next, he took in air and she let it out for him, sharing the effort and the pain.

He tried to spare her, push her aside, take it all back on himself but she was having none of it. So he let her set the agenda, followed her lead, since his mind was so shattered he couldn't really think beyond the breathing and the pain. How long it was before he - no they - were back enough for the healers to begin she didn't know, and he couldn't know.  The outcome of the space battle, the safety of their friends and family, nothing could penetrate the layers on layers of agony that battered at both of them.

She stayed with him through it all, feeding the storm with the power of her need and then taking that power to herself, using it to build, inch by inch, a small space where they could shelter for a moment at a time from the agony.  The pain beat at the outside of the walls she built, but inside for just a moment between heart beats, between breaths, they had a respite.  Then he'd inhale again and she'd exhale for him, taking them back to the fight, sharing the agony while the healers worked desperately.

Kal wrapped him in skin and her with him, flesh to flesh.  It went against everything he knew but he did it anyway, stripping them both naked so that her skin covered as much of Marc's as possible.  He didn't know how he knew, but he did, that if he tried to separate them they would both die. Once he had them in skin, he left his helpers to set up the IVs, blood and saline and glucose for both of them, as much as they could pour into them and to pack them in ice to try to stem some of the pain of the burns, while he focused inward, inside Marc's body and his mind.

The burns were horrific, third degree and covering most of his body.  Kal took that understanding with him as he plunged into Marc's body, working in tandem with Max and another healer to begin to repair the damage to his mind.  If they couldn't fix that the burns were a moot point.

Kal gasped when he saw what little was left of Marc's mind. The attack had come when Marc had all his mental shields down, every part of him had been open and vulnerable. He'd held nothing back.  And this was the result.  He stopped swearing and letting himself feel helpless and instead plunged into that shattered mind. He found Dinah everywhere. Dinah leading him down the crushed and destroyed pathways, showing him were to begin, where the tiny spark that was still Marc had settled. And yes, there he was, a tiny spark of consciousness battered by the agony of his wounds, but there, hanging on, and held in Dinah's mental arms.

Kal worked around Dinah, not wanting to upset that balance as that balance was the only thing Marc had to hold him here. Hours later Kal surfaced, drenched in sweat but fairly sure he'd at least made a beginning and given Marc and Dinah both some easing of the horrible pain.

As he surfaced another healer took his place, joining the two others working on Marc's mind.  another had already made a beginning on the physical burns.  They'd won the first battle, but the war wasn't over yet.  Not the one for Marc's mind and his life and not the one with the Star Lords.  It wasn't time to sing the song yet, but he had hope it wasn't too far off.

And in space the battle was still ongoing, although they had the Star Lords on the run. But they were dangerous when cornered and more dragons died. Two CCFs went down too, one spinning off into the depths of space, its life support beginning to sputter out.  The other one sped downward toward the planet lighting up the night sky as it hit the atmosphere at too sharp an angle.

Mal and Briony pulled up from chasing the CCF as it hit the atmosphere and spun around, headed back into the battle.  As she turned she saw ahead of them three CCFs, locked on and closing fast.  She spewed flame, spreading it wide, detonating the first wave of torpedo's, while she climbed frantically, clawing for height to get above them.  In her mind she could hear Mal screaming something only all of a sudden she couldn't make it out as the second wave of torpedo's hit the firewall she'd created and exploded, sucking them into the artificial vacuum of the detonation and shattering the bubble that protected the two of them from nothingness of space.

She was scrambling to rebuild it when the third wave launched and she knew she didn't have time for that.  So she tore into the fabric of space instead, ripping a portal open where there wasn't one and dove into it, taking the brunt of the concussion of the torpedo's exploding, feeling it sending her into a somersault while Malachi held on desperately to her neck.

And then they were falling, into a black pit and she could feel the blood pouring from her nose, knew Malachi was unconscious, luck the only reason he was still on her back.  She felt explosions igniting all around her and wanted to weep.  She couldn't stop their fall, she could feel the blood pouring out of her from a hundred places and still the explosions went on and on, only now they were in her mind, too and all she could see below them was fire.

She rolled, deliberately dislodging Malachi and then used the last of her strength to catch him in her claws.  Then she screamed her defiance and reached across time and space with all she had in her, desperation, grief and love giving her the strength she needed.  She searched and found the mind she sought, pouring into it her love and her farewell, her plea and her thanks.  She held the contact as long as she could, taking the filaments of it, and the memories, with her into unconsciousness.

Paxx Palandjian's CCF screamed through the atmosphere. He awoke as the heat began to turn his suit to burning material. He gasped as it did so and hit the eject button, figuring anything had to be better than being cooked to death. All he could do was pray that the eject button still worked.

The CCF that was tumbling out into space held one each modified human. Ingev sent out a message to Aaru and switched himself off, hoping she'd be able to track him down when she had a chance.

Christopher and Drianna, now second seat, held the metaconcert together, and Chris snatched Paxx out of the air as his escape pod ejected him.

The dragons were regrouping and those left unharmed helped those badly wounded limp back to the Earth. They'd mourn the dead and the lost later, the living needed all their attention now. 

In space, the three Cephi cleaned up the remnants of the Star Lords, taking no prisoners.  When they finished and the remaining CCFs landed, Christopher carefully dismantled the metaconcert.

Drum Darroch was there at the landing field.  He caught Paul as he collapsed, having held himself and the fighter together long enough to land it.  He lifted him easily, waiting to see the others deplane, noting the ships and the corresponding damage to the pilots. 

They'd been damn lucky and he didn't want to think about what was happening millions of years and millions of parsecs away.

It didn't take long to realize they'd totally lost two CCFs. Aaru reported she would retrieve the one and made Zaf suck in a weary breath when she reported that the pilot, despite losing life support would most likely be fine.  McGee too stepped out of his CCF in one piece.  Christopher let Chola, who looked not the least worse for wear know that Paxx was with the healers. 

"Debrief?" Lev asked as he appeared near them all, looking around for Marc.

"Marc's with the healers," Christopher said.   "Dinah's with him."  He sighed and met Lev's eyes.  "As soon as the dragons can, they should head back.  The Guild and the Margassans won't hold them very long without them.  We'll go back as soon as Marc can be moved."

McGee shook his head.  "No," he said, making it non-negotiable.  "Everyone else will go back as soon as they can, with everything we've got.  They'll take Aaru and Kella.  You and I will wait here with Marc.  We're not done here yet."

"Yeah," Zaf agreed appearing out of nowhere. "Those guys should go back. We'll clean up here."

Christopher gave McGee a hard stare, and then nodded shortly.  "Just the five of us?"

"Yes," McGee said, looking at Lev now.  "If Aaru and Kella are up to it you should leave now.  Aaru can pick up Ingev on the way.  You can resupply at Pensa, replace the fighters there and then head for the Rift.  Aaru knows where.  We'll meet you there in a few days.  Just make sure nothing happens to the Silka, and I mean nothing.  They'll throw everything they have at you and you're going to have to hold them off."

"Right," Lev said. "I'll make sure everyone knows. Marc?" he asked. "Will he make it?"

"Yes," McGee said.  "If you have trouble at Pensa use my name.  And when you get to Silka, use it again."

"Right," Lev replied and hurried off. He figured Christopher could argue with the rest of the kids.

Christopher didn't argue.  He told them and they obeyed, like they always had.  He gave Brenna and Neill five minutes to see Marc for themselves.  He kept Kalie, Cola and Quinn with them and sent the rest of their dragons and those from Aaru with them.  After they were gone he turned back to Zaf and McGee.  "Now what?"

"We wait," McGee said.  "For Marc to wake up and explain how to set this up so that the pieces we needed to get here are in place to make it happen.  That should be late tomorrow or the day after.  Until then, we help the healers.  And pray we won't be too late to save the Silka."