| Chapter 79 Cameron walked down the hall, on his way to do his morning rounds. A nurse ran to catch up with him, "Doctor, it's here!" He turned around, surprised, "The shipment? Already?" "Yes, sir. The pilots pushed it when they heard of the tension building in this part of the galaxy. I guess they didn't want to get caught in the middle of something," she explained. The doctor nodded, "Has it been tested yet?" "Doing it as we speak. It should be ready to give by this afternoon if all goes well," she replied. "Good, let me know," he said, going on down the hall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick fidgeted impatiently. "Nick, if you don't stop moving, I'm gonna cut you with the scissors," Marie stated. "Sorry," he said, trying his best to stay still as she cut the bandages around his eyes away. "OK, I want you to keep your eyes closed until I tell you," she said, "Lights, dim." Marie pulled the gauze away from Nick's eyes. "Alright, slowly open them," she instructed. Nick started to open his eyes, blinking rapidly as the dim light in the room invaded his senses. He reached up to rub them, and Marie caught his hands, "Don't rub." He sighed in frustration as he continued to blink, each time opening his eyes a little bit more. They felt gummy, like he'd slept for days. At first things appeared blurred and distorted, but with each passing moment, his vision cleared. He glanced around the room, seeing everyone there. Even the council was there, awaiting his verdict. Marie looked at him expectantly, "How is it?" He smiled lightly, "It's good. Little blurry at first, but its better now." She nodded, "Lights up, two minutes." Nick looked at her confused. "The lights will be up to full in two minutes. Gives your eyes time to adjust," she said. "Oh," he laughed as he noticed the lights start to brighten. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, standing up. "Nickolas, maybe you should rest for just a while longer," his mother suggested. He turned to her, "I can't. There's to much to do." Then he turned to the council, "Give me twenty minutes to get cleaned up and we'll get to work." With that he headed into his bathroom to shower. The queen looked over at Mason, and he shrugged. Everyone started to file out of the room, leaving the king to get ready. As they walked past the guards stationed in the hall, Mason caught up with LaDonna. "Let him do this his way," he told her. "He's so tired. I can see it in his face. Pushing himself like this isn't good for him," she said. "I know. But he's determined to do this. Just let it ride for now. I'll watch out for him. If it gets to be to much, I'll make him take a break," he assured. The queen nodded, as Mason turned and took the elevator down with the rest of the council. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stood in the shower letting the hot water ease his tired body. His arm was a little achy, but nothing like what he thought it would be. He would have a small scar, but nothing to noticeable, thanks to Marie. He sighed, turning around and letting the water hit his back. Closing his eyes, he prayed. "Hey God, it's me Nick. I know that I don't talk to you like I should, but I really need some help here. Please let me get this right. The safety of this entire planet rides on me getting this right. Please don't let me screw up, not this time. This is to important. Probably the most important thing I'll ever do ..... so um ..... let me get it right. And please let everyone understand," he sighed, fighting the tears he felt coming. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian sighed. He was bored to tears. Even though the guys were in the room with him, they weren't talking. Everyone was watching the vid, wanting to see what the newest news was on the threat against Celeste. Brian was interested in it too, but he'd been watching since early that morning, and it was showing the same stuff. He sighed again, catching Kevin's attention. "What's wrong cuz?" he asked. "I'm tired of being in this bed," Brian replied. Kevin nodded, but didn't say anything. Brian stared at him, waiting, but when Kevin turned back to the vid, he gave up. Resigning himself to stare at the ceiling. He had just finished counting about half the bumps on the ceiling when Marie and Cameron came into the room. Brian smiled as Marie came over and kissed him. "Hey sweetie," she said. "Hey, I missed you," he told her. She smiled as Cameron approached his IV with a large syringe. Brian eyed it, instantly knowing it was much larger than the doses he had been receiving lately. "Cameron, that's to much," he pointed out. The doctor smiled, "This isn't Krystal, it's the antidote." Brian glanced over at Marie and she nodded. "How will it work?" Howie asked. The doctor and Maire exchanged unsure glances. "That's what we're about to find out," he said, injecting the liquid into Brian's IV, "Brian, we're gonna hook you up to several monitors, just to make sure everything is OK." Kevin stood up, "You mean you're giving that to him and you don't know what it's gonna do?" "We have an idea, but it hasn't been given to anyone yet. Brian's the first," Marie answered. Brian laughed, "Oh great, I'm the guinea pig." Cameron looked at him, "What's a guinea pig?" "Small little rodent used in fucking lab tests," A.J. replied. The doctor chuckled, "Ohh I see. Then I guess you are. Tell me if you start to feel funny." Howie and Kevin glanced at one another, not so sure about all this. Marie was busy hooking a few monitors to her husband when Kevin nudged her, "You sure about this? What if he has a bad reaction or something?" he whispered, not wanting to offend Cameron. She smiled, "He will be fine, but if he does, the monitors will catch it." Brian settled back in the bed as Cameron untied his hands from the rail. "Your feet stay," he said, seeing the hopeful look in his patients eyes. Brian nodded, happy to have even that much freedom. "Cameron, am I suppose to feel all warm and tingly?" he asked after a few minutes. "I'm not sure, you feel that way?" the doctor asked, jotting down a few notes in Brian's chart. "Yeah, I do. It feels good though ... kinda like the high from Krystal but a little more subtle," Brian explained. A few more minutes passed, and Brian was finding it very hard to keep his eyes open. They drifted closed for a moment, but then he quickly opened them again, reaching up and wiping his forehead. He was sweating, but it wasn't that hot in the room. "What are you feeling?" Marie asked. "Tired," he replied, his eyes drifting shut again for a moment. Marie smiled at him as she took a cloth and dabbed the sweat from his face, "Then go to sleep honey. Hopefully when you wake up, you'll be much better." Brian nodded, letting his eyes drift shut again. This time he didn't fight to open them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stood in the control room, the council and Anthony behind him. He was listening to one of his ships as it directed its fighters. Apparently the ship stumbled across a couple of the vessels that had attacked Kholath, and was now engaged in a battle. The techs were furiously working to get an image up as well as the audio. Finally the image appeared in the middle of the room. Nick watched as his fighters were locked in a fierce battle. They were outnumbered, and he knew if help didn't come soon, he was going to lose a lot of people. "How far is the nearest ship?" he asked, impatiently. "It should arrive in five minutes, your highness," one of the techs replied. "They don't have five minutes," Nick muttered, glancing back at the council. Mason met his eyes for just a moment, and what he saw there frightened him. He couldn't explain it, but there was a knowing there. It gave him chills. "Call them back," Nick instructed. Every tech in the room turned and looked at him in shock. "Call them back. Tell them to bring their fighters in and get the hell outta there, now!" Nick ordered. The techs snapped back to work, and soon the commander of his ship appeared, "Your highness, we can beat them. Just give us time." "General, I will not lose any lives unnecessarily. I have given my orders, now follow them," Nick said in a stern tone. The general looked offended, "I have never retreated in my life." Nick sighed, "What good is winning the battle general, if you lose the war. This battle isn't necessary, we are just killing our own people by staying there. Let them go for now, we'll get them in the end." The general looked as if he was contemplating Nick's words for a moment, then nodded, his image vanishing, replaced by the battle. Nick watched as his fighters quickly went back to their ship and then the ship turned and sped away, the two ships on his heels. Nick sighed in relief as his ship finally jumped, leaving its pursuers to wonder where it went. "How many did we lose?" he asked. "Twelve," a tech answered. Nick sighed, his shoulders slumped. Twelve fighters. Twelve people who wouldn't be going home. "Notify their families, and give them my deepest condolences," he said, turning and leaving the room. The three council members glanced at one another before following him down the hall. All three were worried, and none of them knew what to do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Here, let me," Kevin offered, taking the cloth from Marie. "Gloves," she reminded him. He nodded, pulling on a pair of gloves before taking her place by Brian's side. He wiped the sweat from his cousins face, wondering how long this was going to take. Brian had been asleep the entire time, and sweating profusely. They had already changed his bedding and clothes twice, and they were needing it again. Cameron had hooked up a second IV to help replace the fluids Brian was losing. Maire stretched, walking over to the window to see the suns setting. "It's just what I thought," Cameron said, coming through the door, "It's ridding him of the toxins. That's why he's sweating so much." "So we gotta keep the gloves on then?" Howie asked. Cameron nodded, "Just to be safe. If you had a small cut on your hand and you touched him, some of the toxins could enter your system. Better safe than sorry." "No shit," A.J. said, "I do not want to be going through what he has, that's for sure." "So how much longer is this gonna take?" Kevin asked. The doctor shook his head, "I'm not sure." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat alone in the throne room. The council had long adjourned for the day, and he had sent Anthony on to supper. He sat on his throne, his knees pulled up to his chest, feeling very small the large chair. He rested his head on his knees and closed his eyes, his mind a whirl with what was happening. He knew he had to accept it, but he just couldn't get his head around it yet. It was to much to ask of a twenty-one year old. To much pressure. How the hell was he suppose to protect Celeste now? Nothing but angry calls came in after the altercation. Rulers accusing him of letting the attackers go. He knew they were right, he did let them go. "Please let this be right," he murmured. "Nickolas, are you alright?" came a voice from the back of the room. Nick looked up to see his uncle walking towards him. He slid his legs down to the floor, "Yeah, just thinking." Mason stood in front of him, "You should eat, why don't you come with me? Everyone is finished, but the staff saved you a plate." Nick smiled, "Thanks, but I'm not really hungry." Mason moved closer, studying him, "You are exhausted. A tired king tends to make mistakes ya know?" Nick sighed, "Do you think I made a mistake today?" he asked, looking down at the floor. Mason thought for a moment, "I don't know. I saw your point. The other ship wouldn't have gotten there in time, and we would have lost many more lives, but......" "But we've never backed down from a fight until now," Nick finished for him. The older man nodded. "Are you doubting your decision?" he asked. Nick shook his head, "No ... at least I don't think so." Mason reached over and pulled Nick's chin up so he was looking at him, "You've seen something. Tell me." The young man pulled away from his grasp, shaking his head. "Nickolas, I see it in your eyes, and it scares me. Tell me what you saw," Mason begged, "Maybe I can help you." Nick took a deep breath, "I wish you could, but this is something I have to do on my own. No one can help me." Mason's heart filled with sorrow at Nick's words. They sounded so void of hope, so final. Nick stood, resting his hand on his growling stomach, "I guess I am hungry after all." Mason nodded, "Mind if I join you?" Nick shook his head, giving him a half grin. Mason couldn't help but note that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Just promise me no more talk of what I've seen," Nick said, as they crossed the massive room to the double doors. "If you wish, but if you need to talk, I'm willing to listen," the older man offered. Nick glanced at him, a true smile crossing his face, "Thanks." Chapter 80 |