Seconds later, he appeared in his ship and stepped up to the controls. As soon as the ship powered up, Romelle appeared on the screen.
'Keith, Dr Michaels just informed me about what's going on,' she said. 'Let me know if you need us to do anything.'
'Thanks, Romelle,' said Keith. 'Just let us know if there's any change in his condition while we're gone.'
'Of course. Malay and Naran were about to leave, do you want them to follow you?' she asked.
'I'll send Kosmo to get them,' Keith said. Kosmo disappeared without being asked as Keith powered up the ship. When he looked out the window, he saw Jaya standing on the front step watching the ship.
'Hang on,' Keith said.
He lowered the ramp and strode over to Jaya.
'Hey,' said Keith, dropping to one knee in front of him. 'I need you to look after Molly and Enya for me, okay.'
Jaya nodded. 'Papa's really sick, isn't he?'
'Yes, but we're going to do everything we can to make him better again,' said Keith. 'I promise to do my best.'
Jaya hugged him. 'Okay.'
Maria came out and took Jaya's hand as Keith hurried back to the ship. Malay and Naran were there, and they took to the air and they were glaring at Greg who was standing as far away from them as he could get.
That reminded Keith, he'd never asked Malay what they'd done to him after he attacked Lance.
As soon as they cleared Earth's atmosphere, Keith opened a portal and they shot through.
Shiro went and stood next to Keith.
'Do you know where exactly we were before?' asked Shiro.
'Yes,' said Keith. 'You better sort out who's doing what before we get there, I don't want to be here any longer than necessary.'
'I'll collect the samples,' said Shiro. 'Greg has one energy assault riffles, and here's another one.'
'I will take that,' Naran said. As he took the riffle from Shiro, he eyed Greg with a menacing look.
'Are you sure your pet cat should have a riffle?' asked Greg.
'Cadet, I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless you have something sensible to say,' Shiro warned. He placed himself between Naran and Greg to stop a fight erupting when Naran move towards him. 'We're not here to fight each other, were here to try and same Lance.'
'McLame?' grimaced Greg. 'If I'd known that I wouldn't have come.'
'I swear to god, I'm going to throw you down to the planet for bait,' Keith snapped.
'Hey, kitten, there's no need to be like that,' Greg smirked playfully. 'I can show you a good time when he's not around.'
They came to a sudden stop above the planet and Keith went for Greg. Shiro wrapped his prosthetic arm around Keith's chest and pulled him back. Kosmo was next to Keith barking and growling at Greg.
'Let me go or I'll rip your arm off and use it to beat him with,' Keiths growled.
'Calm down,' said Shiro. 'This isn't going to help Lance.'
Keith stopped struggling and when Shiro let him go he went back to the control panel, calling for Kosmo to follow him. 'Fine, but you wanted him here, so you deal with him. If he falls out of the ship, I'm not going down for him.'
Shiro grabbed Greg by the collar and almost threw him towards the ships door. 'Stand there and shut up, and if you call Keith that again, I will gladly throw you out myself.' He turned back to Keith. 'Take us down so we can get what we need.'
Keith nodded. They descended to where they'd found the black bayard and could still see the deep impression Black lion had made in the muddy surface.
'I can't detect any of the creatures,' said Keith. 'It's like they have the same signature as the planet. I'm going to put a shield around the ship to keep the oxygen levels up in here, they will only be 80% outside the ship.'
'It would make more sense for Naran and I to collect the samples,' said Malay. 'We can go beyond the shield in our uniforms.'
'You can stay on the end of the ramp and hook up a tether line,' Keith said.
Shiro nodded. 'Okay, that makes sense.' He removed the vials from his pocket and handed them to Naran in exchange for the riffle.
Malay and Naran tethered themselves to the inside of the door and activated the face shields on their uniforms.
Shiro and Greg were positioned on either side of the door with riffles at the ready.
'We ready to go?' asked Keith.
'Yep,' Shiro said.
Keith activated the shield and lowered the ramp. They were all instantly on edge as they only sound they heard from the planet was growling, and it was close by.
Malay and Naran moved to the end of the ramp and squatted down, each with a vial in one hand, and a blade in the other.
Keith brought the ship in so low, the ramp almost touched the ground. Malay dropped to her knees and reached down with the vial to collect a sample of the mud, but stilled when the growling stopped. They all looked around the silent world in trepidation.
Malay had the vial millimeters from touching the mud. She looked back down, then dragged the vial across the mud, filling it.
The creatures attacked out of nowhere. Shiro started firing, keeping back from the ramp while Greg retreated back into the ship.
'Fuck me,' he swore. 'No fucking way am I dealing with that.'
'Get back here, cadet,' Shiro ordered.
'I didn't sign up for this shit,' said Greg. 'McLame's life is not work me risking mine.'
The creatures started attacking the ship, throwing themselves at the shield.
'I'm moving towards the water,' Keith said.
Naran readied himself. He reached down and scooped up a vial of water and sealed it. As the ship began to rise, a creature sprang from breneath the water's surface and grabbed the end of the ramp in its massive jaws.
The ship was thrown forward and both Malay and Naran tumbled off the ramp, and Shiro had to grab the inside of the door to stopped himself meeting the same fate. Hanging on with his prosthetic arm, he aimed the riffle at the creature's face and fire. It screeched and let go, falling back into the water below.
More creatures threw themselves at the ship, knocking it this way and that, and Keith struggled to stay standing. Using their jet packs, Malay and Naran returned to the ship.
'Shiro, did you see that?' asked Naran, pointing.
'What happened? Shiro frowned as he tried to see what Naran was pointing to.
'The injured creatures around that bush,' said Naran. 'They are rubbing their wounds against it. There looks to be something on the bush.'
Shiro moved closer to the door and peered out. 'There's something orange on it. Keith, can you get us closer?'
'Give me a second,' Keith said.
He worked hard to turn the ship in the direction Naran indicated and as they moved closer to the bush, the attack became more concentrated.
'They're some sort of berry,' said Malay. 'They crush them against their wounds.'
'Could the berry be a natural antiseptic for them?' wondered Shiro.
'If that's the case then we need to get one,' Keith said.
Shiro nodded. 'The question is how. They all seem to be congregating around it.'
'There must be other bushes about,' Keith said.
'There are, but the berries look lighter in colour,' said Malay. 'The creatures aren't going near those ones.'
Keith got the ship high enough that the creatures weren't able to hit the ship anymore. He put it on auto pilot and joined them at the ramp.
'Hey, kitten, there's a bed back here,' said Greg. 'We could work out your stress for a while.'
Keith dropped his face into his hands and gave a groan of frustration.
Shiro spun around. 'You seriously don't have a filter between your brain and your mouth do you?'
Greg shrugged. 'Our relationship is complex.'
'There is no relationship,' hissed Keith. 'All I want if for you to leave me the fuck alone.' Keith placed a hand on his stomach and bit back a groan. 'Can you please just work out what we're going to do so we can get out of here.'
Shiro rubbed Keith's back in comforting circles. 'Let's go in low, blasting with all the first power we have to clear the creatures away. Malay, can you grab some of the berries, then Keith, get us up high again.'
Keith nodded. 'Before we do, let me get my belt from my blade uniform so you can tether yourself.' Keith pushed past Greg, retrieved the belt, and brought it back. He extended it as far as he could and Shiro managed to get it on around his waist.
Once they were all in position, they flew in all guns blazing. Some of the creatures attacked the ship, some died before they could move, and other ran for cover. They shot past the bush, the rose steeply into the air.
One of the berries flew over Malay's shoulder and into the ship.
Malay push herself up on her stomach to come back into the ship.
'Malay, don't move,' Shiro cried.
She looked over at her shoulder at the berry that had landed in the ship and they watched in horror as it disintegrated before their eyes.
'What the hell,' Keith said.
Malay looked down at the berries, which were the size of coconuts, in her arms. 'These one's are still fine.'
Keith put the ship on autopilot again. 'Why would it disintegrate in here?' They looked down at the gloopy mess on the floor. Kosmo sniffed at it, sneezed and shook his head. 'Oh, unless...' Keith hurried into the bedroom and came back with his blade uniform.
'What are you doing?' asked Shiro.
'The only difference between out there and in here is the oxygen levels,' Keith said. He knelt on the floor and tied knots in the arms and legs of his uniform then adjusted the oxygen output to match the planet. 'Naran, can you put one of the berries in here.'
Naran nodded and took the uniform from Keith and leant over the side of the ramp with Malay and they manoeuvred one of the berries into the suit, did it up, and turned on the oxygen.
'Bring it back inside and we'll see what happens,' Keith said.
Naran rolled over the handed the uniform to Shiro, who cupped his hands gently around the fruit and stepped back. The fruit remained whole in his hands.
'That seems to be working,' said Shiro. 'We'll put all of them in here and get them back home and into a more controlled environment.'
Naran and Malay put all the fruit she had in her arms into the uniform and they came back into the ship and closed the ramp.
'Let's get out of here,' Keith muttered, returning to the control panel.
They just cleared the atmosphere when a proximity alarm went off. Out the window they saw a battle cruiser heading towards them at speed.
'Who are they?' asked Shiro.
'Zanberrians,' Naran said.
The cruiser started firing on them.
'Hang on,' Keith warned. He shot down below the cruiser and skimmed closed to its hull so their weapons didn't have clear target.
They shot out form under the ship only to find the rear of the ship as heavily armed as the front. Their ship lurched forward as they were hit and the control panel started alarming.
'Shit,' muttered Keith. 'We're only going to have one chance at a portal so keep your fingers crossed.'
Before they could say anything, a portal opened in front of them and they shot through along with a final blast from the cruisers weapons, which hit the rear of the ship causing the ship to spin through.
Keith curled himself around his stomach as they were thrown around the cockpit. When it slowed down, Keith pulled himself over to the control panel.
Earth loomed large in the window and they spun into the atmosphere. Keith managed to stop the spin the ship was in, but one of the engines failed to respond. The ship shuddered as it fell towards the ground.
'I'm losing the ship,' said Keith. 'Kosmo, get everyone out of here.'
'Keith...' Shiro began.
'Just go, I'll be right behind you,' he said.
Shiro grabbed Greg by the colour. 'Take a handful of Kosmo's fur.'
'What?'
'DO IT,' Shiro yelled.
Greg did as he was ordered and he and Kosmo disappeared. It took longer than usual for Kosmo to return and his looked a little disorientated. Keith knew the speed in which the ship was falling would make it difficult for Kosmo to teleport back to it.
Shiro motioned Malay and Naran forward with the berries. They hesitated briefly before taking Kosmo's fur and disappearing.
Keith felt his strength draining as he tried to control the ship. A broken message from Romelle came through, but they were unable to respond. Shiro moved to behind Keith and wrapped on arm around his chest, ready to grab Kosmo as soon as he reappeared.
The ground outside was rushing up to meet them and Shiro held Keith tighter. He closed his eyes not wanting to see their fate, seconds later he felt something against his legs. His eyes sprang open to find Kosmo there and he grabbed his fur.
The nose of the ship hit the ground and started rolling forward.
Then they were still.
Shiro blinked up at the late afternoon sky. This left arm was still wrapped around Keith, who lay on his side next to him, and he still had a fist full of Kosmos fur to his right. Willing his fingers to open, Shiro let go of Kosmo.
Suddenly, Romelle appeared next to them. 'Are you two okay?'
Keith slowly pushed himself up and they were both helped to their feet.
'I didn't expect to survive that,' Shiro admitted.
'A couple more seconds and you wouldn't have,' Romelle said. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.
Keith was pulled into a bone crushing hug by huge arms. 'Fuck, kitten, you scared the fuck out of me,' Greg said.
Keith struggled against his grip a moment before driving his knee up into the other man's crotch. When Greg let him go to grab his aching manhood, Keith punched him in the jaw and sending him crashing to the ground.
'Don't ever touch me again,' growled Keith. He then turned to Shiro. 'We'd better get these berries to Michaels before something happens to them.'
Without a second thought, they left Greg on the ground and hurried to the hospital.
They found Michaels tending to Lance. Shiro, Malay and Naran told him about the berries and they hurried off to deal with them. Keith slowly went over to the bed where Lance was on a ventilator, and took Lance's limp hand in his.
'Keith.'
He looked round to see Jorge standing in the doorway.
'I'm sorry,' Keith said, turning back to Lance.
'This isn't your fault,' said Jorge, joining him at the side of the bed. 'It's the hard reality of the job.'
'But it's not his job anymore,' Keith said.
'I think the reality for the two of you is, you'll never not be paladins,' said Jorge. 'Both your lives are intertwined with three different races, and I know Lance has never been happier than he is with you, doing all of this.'
'Even when things are so difficult sometimes?' Keith muttered.
'Even then,' said Jorge. He rubbed Keith's back. 'He had a lucid moment before this happened, and he said he regretted nothing because he knew he would see you on the other side when it was time.'
Keith closed his eyes and tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks. 'Has someone gone to get Maria?'
'Not yet,' Jorge said.
'I'll go look after the kids so she can come,' said Keith. He leant forward and kissed Lance's temple. 'I'll be back soon,' he whispered.
Taking Kosmo's fur, he disappeared.