Let it breathe, let it breathe, let it breathe for the space cadets

Trip into Dragos's craft a second time

Tee Gar lifted the adjusted time energizer down the hall.

It was a long pod that greatly resembled a cryostasis pod to the Robot's sensors.

The Robot was tagging behind the men who held specific components for the time energizer pod. There were empty halls lacking any form of life. The survivors were in the cavern seated in chairs that had been acquired, searched for, and created for the sole purpose of having people seated. Some of the survivors were frozen in terror being on a seat again that could try to kill them for a second time during flight. There was a visible tremble waving through the crowd. There was a buzzing coming from Tee Gar's white utility belt contrasting against the commander variation of the uniform.

They came into the sparkling corridor leading into the emergency bay. Tee Gar was very carefully making sure that it didn't break during transport. The Robot went slower than usual. The floor was slick and tempting fate for things to slide and break. The lights flickered off one by one behind the group. They came to a stop once in the barely lit part of the abandoned emergency bay. The Robot wheeled his way toward the seeker then came to a stop by it waiting for the men to catch up with arms full. The Robot bent down then slid the red stick out of the Seeker. The Robot straightened himself up staring at the frozen man.

"You are late, cadets," Smith said, in contempt.

"Gampu?" Tee Gar asked, sliding the cryostasis pod to his shoulder.

Tee Gar observed the man with folded arms seated in a chair glaring toward him and had hunched shoulders with a bulging forehead nerve ready to pop.

"And why are you in the commander uniform?" Smith asked, standing up. He clasped his hands with a murderous glare toward the Robot. "Now, don't start and tell me that you decided to enlist my help on distracting ten thousand people for a week just because I bore some resemblance to the late commander because you were the one who didn't want the stress! I believed the twins told me everything! Everything that I needed to know about this situation."

"What?" Tee Gar asked, his heart dropping.

"Don't lie to me," Smith said, insulted. "Commander Soom."

The words were a stab to the heart pointed toward Tee Gar.

"Honestly," Prentiss lied. "He relegated some of his duties to the others."

"And no one bothered to tell me the truth?" Smith's words were hard and furious.

"Everyone believed you survived the attack," Tee Gar stepped forward. "Telling them that a bunch of kids are in charge of their safety? Do you know how terrified they would be? Protests. People trying to act as the leader. Everyone in disarray not knowing what to focus their efforts on."

The survivors had protested immediately after Tee Gar revealed and wanted to choose on a single authority, experienced, to lead the effort. It was a struggle not to roll his eyes but humoring them was out of the question. They were right, he wasn't trained for it and no one ever had, that short reply made them silent as he revealed that being divisive will spell their demise after trying to stay in the gymnasium. If one cadet waved their hand when they were being attacked once more by Dragos then everyone was going to be sucked out and the survivors would be dead. He stood on a box making his speech then surveyed the silent crowd. It was only hours ago that he had to put his foot down.

Tee Gar put the cryostasis pod beside the doorway.

"So listen to me when I say that you were a compromise to keep everyone from doing that while I and the rest of the crew figured out how to handle this," Tee Gar said. "Yes, we used you. Yes, we lied. Yes, we kept a secret back. Do we regret it? Yes." Tee Gar had a apologetic look on his face as the other men moved the components into the seeker. "I am sorry."