A RUMOR OF PEACE

          "After I was offered the command, Harry and I sat down to discuss it between us.  Harry was the one who convinced me I was truthfully the only one who COULD take the command, and finish what had been started.  But I never should have had to."

          "No," Gabriel said, blue eyes on his face.  "No, Roark, you shouldn't have, and Harry, I think, underestimates himself just a little too much.  He could have taken that command just as easily as you, and done just as well.  We're going to need to work on that, I think," he said with a glance at his father and Dacian.  

          Both of them nodded as Gabriel turned back to Roark.  "You're right, Roark.  You both were.  They SHOULD have known what needed to be done and did it.  Yet they didn't.  Granted, you graduated at the top of your class, the top of your yahren group. with the highest marks and practical scores recorded in the Academy's history, but that does not mean you were ready to take on the kind of responsibility being in command gives you.  Especially in such a volatile situation."

          "No, I wasn't, but all the same..." he paused, gave them a wry grin, looking first at the Admiral, who was sitting back in his chair, fingers forming a peak under his chin as he watched him with a speculative look.

          He then turned his head, looking over at Dacian, who was looking at him with nearly the same look as he spoke.  "You and Harry really DID do an excellent job, Rory.  Better than any of us could have ever hoped."  His tone held a great deal of pride.

          As Roark met Dacian's green gaze, he suddenly became aware of a very bad feeling forming in the pit of his stomach, his body tensing in alarm.  "There's something wrong," he breathed, brow knitting with consternation.  His head tilted slightly, looking over to Admiral Roark to see a look in his eyes he had never hoped to see.  "Oh, Kobol, something very bad has happened."

          Roark Sr. looked over at Gabriel, who then turned his head to look at his twin, a dark brow arching as Dacian gave his head a nod, then he looked back at his father.  That was when the Admiral sat forward, his arms now resting on his desk.  "The situation on Aquaria has, if possible, become even more volatile than it was on Virgon," he told him in a quiet tone.

          "Of COURSE, it has.  Tom Riddle has never been known to be all that stable, nor has he been known to be very reasonable."

          "No, that he has not."  That came from Gabriel.

          That was when Roark heard something in his voice...something...not good.  Looking at each of them in turn, he saw...and read the look in each of their gazes.  Recognizing the look for what it was, he drew in a deep breath of dismay.  "WHO?  Kale?" he breathed.  "Fili? Kili? Not LOGAN?"

          A pause, then slowly, very quietly.  "No, Rory, not Logan.  It's Kale."

          "Ah...hh DAMN," he murmured.  "How?"

          "We don't know at this point.  Logan and Kili found him when they went to his apartment.  They immediately called for medical, called Fili, then called us."

          "Blessed Kobol, they must be devastated.  Especially Logan," he said, lowering his eyes to his now clenched hands.  "I know just how close the family is, and Admiral..." he looked up at him.  "I am SO sorry."

          "Thank you, Rory, and they are," he returned, "but they seem to be holding up well so far."

          "Seem to be being the operative words here."

          Dacian and Roark Sr. nodded at Gabriel's words.  "I would like to get some of the family to them, of course," Roark Sr. said, "but with everyone tied up on assignments, Gabe, Dacian, Raph, Schy, and I just can't leave here right now."

          "What about Commander Thorin?" he asked them.  "Couldn't he go to them?"

          They shook their heads.  "He would like to, of course," came the answer, "but he just can't get away right now either.  There are still too many things to do to get the Academy ready for this yahrens graduating class."

          "Rory, we need your help very badly.  Yours...and Harry's."

          "Of course, Dacian.  Anything.  All you need to do is ask."

          "Don't be so quick to agree, Roark," came the chuckled response.  "What we are about to ask of you and your brother, is going to put you in even more danger than you are already in."

          "Gabriel, we are going up against Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, whatever he calls himself these days.  The very man who murdered our parents, who tried to kill a four-yahren-old, and a fifteen-sectar- old.  We are also going up against his top two Terminators.  How much more dangerous can it get?"

          Another chuckle sounded.  "That is a very good point, Rory."

          Roark looked over at the Admiral and saw the amusement in his green eyes.  "So, what is it you would like us to do?"