Guests

   “Blood pressure is dropping!” Stated a nurse, holding onto on side of the stretcher.

Shooting through the halls of the medibay back at the base in the middle of the canyons, a crowd of medical personnel surrounded the stretcher where a young lady laid. Blood was seeping from the cracks of her armor, staining the gauze and sheets. Her curly, black hair was disheveled and laid frazzled against the thin bedding, hanging over the edge of the stretcher. A large, clear plastic mask covered her mouth and nose, while a nurse was pushing air into the tube from a clear, plastic bag.

The young girl’s skin was pale, almost turning white from the blood that was draining from her body. Pidge, who was rushing with the crowd of nurses, gazed down at the young girl, noticing how there was a large gash on the side of her abdomen that was compressed with basic First Aid gauze and other bandages. She also noticed that there was a dark rash that covered half of her neck.

  “Skins clammy. Low pulse,” one of the nurses stated, pressing two fingers on the side of her wrist.

   “Lance...” the girl muttered under her breath.

Pidge’s eyes were wide with shock, her feet stilling immediately when hearing the name.

  The girl winced, shaking her head and groaning. “Old…Paladins…we need them.”

Pidge watched the girl get carried away through a pair of doors that swished open, and she slowly followed trying to let her memory completely remember her by her studying eyes.

  “We’re taking her to the I.C.U. Nurse Polika, we need to do blood transfusions. Contact—“ their voices disappeared once the doors swished closed.

Pidge’s focused was pulled away by the young man that carried her here. He was hollering, racing down to follow the young lady, calling out to her. Before he could make it to the double doors, the Galactic officers grabbed each of his arms and pulled him back.

  “I have to be with her! Get off me!” The soldier, Esme, still wearing his armor that was stained with the young girl’s blood, hollered with anger.

The officers remained holding him back, but the soldier continue to fight. “I am a guard! I must be by her side.”

  “Young man, you are injured!” an old nurse came to ridicule him, patting a swap on a cut on his forehead.

  “Does that matter!” Esme replied sternly, his teeth baring fangs. He pulled his head away, avoiding the contact of the cotton swab like some rabid dog. His eyes filled with storms of his anger and frustration. “Her life matters over mine. We were attacked. I have to protect her!”

Pidge remained a few feet behind, cautiously watching. This young man seemed out of control, and a tad intimidating. Pidge would think it was him who made the girl bleed if it wasn’t for what he was saying to convince her otherwise.

  “For the sake of the queen, we came out for the paladins’ help! Please help us!”

That was a bold thing to say to a bunch of strangers pointing guns at him. Pidge wondered who exactly was this child.

Krolia appeared before the young solider from the crowd of her officers, her stature towering over Esme. He gazed up, no longer thrashing. His deep-set eyes widened when they met her stern, piercing gaze.

Krolia ordered the officers to unhand Esme, telling them to back off. Esme rolled his shoulders, his eyes glaring at the tall gentlemen before meeting the strong eyes from the tall stranger.

  “Who attacked you?” Krolia asked.

Esme swallowed. Without his own restraint, Krolia’s gaze pulled the words from Esme’s mouth. “Some terrorists. The previous queen had told my current majesty that we must arrive to Earth.”

  “Your previous queen?” Krolia wondered.

Pidge appeared next to Krolia, a tablet in her hand. Esme eyed her, his intimidating gaze studying her.

  Krolia snapped her fingers at Esme’s face, catching the boy’s attention. Esme bowed his head, apologizing.   

  “She was…assassinated.”

  “By whom? The terrorists?” Pidge asked.

  “I’m sorry, but who are you two?”

  “I’m Krolia, the ambassador of this sector. This woman here,” Krolia stated, motioning towards Pidge, “Is Pidge. She is our trusted technician, scientist, and all of the above. She is one of the prior paladins that you whole-heartedly cried out about a while ago.”

Esme gapped, staring at Pidge. She was a lot shorter as Esme towered over her by a whole foot. She appeared slim, and nothing like a knight of Voltron that he imagined. Where was her armor and muscles, and ferocious appearance? She didn’t wear any sort of uniform but wrinkled, worn scrubs and a lab coat with semi-tinted lenses.

  “She doesn’t look like a paladin,” Esme blurted. His dark eyes scanned her again, raising a brow.

  Pidge frowned. “You don’t look like a guard, either. Just some angry kid.”

  Esme mirrored Pidge’s frown, his eyebrows crinkling together.

◆

In the medical bay, inside a large room, the nurses helped the doctors lay Marina’s body onto the hospital bed.

Every nurse all hustled to connect her to the machines and to reduce the inflammation in her body.

One nurse was gathering samples of the rash that was built on the side of her body and from her wound. Another nurse along with two others ran out of the room to go collect blood for transfusion. The nurses that remained inside were all inserting I.V.’s and attaching cords to her body to monitor her.

  “Her heart rate is dropping,” one of the nurses updated.

  “Where are my blood transfusions!” the doctor yelled frustratedly.

The monitor that displayed her heart rate began to beep loudly, and Marina began to wheeze and tremble.

  “She’s in shock!” the doctor hollered, “Insert I.V.! We need fluids people!”

Nurses rushed inside the room with the blood transfusions. The doctor, irritatedly, grabbed the bags from the nurse’s hands and proceeded to hang them from the IV stand.

However, the monitor for her blood pressure and heart continued to beep louder, and their patient began to contour their body in odd angles while her body trembled rapidly.

   “She’s seizing!” One of the nurses stated, rushing in to rotate Marina on her side.

   “I need a suction! She’s foaming!” another nurse called out, being handed a small plastic tube that was inserted into her mouth.

  “She’s gonna die...” the doctor said, holding onto Marina’s body.

◆

Just outside, a few rooms down, the young solider was being treated for his injuries. There was a lot of restriction about getting help, but he was finally convinced by Krolia to look for it.

  “She would need a healthy guard, not an injured one,” she told him.

He suffered from a few wounds and a fractured forearm, so, he would be able to easily recover.


Even though it was bright news, Pidge knew that none of that mattered to him in the slightest.

She would watch his dark eyes stare down at the palm of his hands, seeing the bloody bandages wrapped around them and letting only the sound of his steady heart beat echo around him while he was alone in the room.

A loud hiss from a sliding door caught his attention, and the young man noticed a small, stature woman with short, dirty-blonde hair and beady brown eyes. She wore a long, white lab coat, glasses, and carried a black tablet in her arms.

It was the paladin returning from leaving a few moments ago when nurses came in to help him.

She came inside with a smile on her face, approaching cautiously.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked him.

  “Would the majesty be alright?” the young man quickly asked.

   “I’m assuming that was the young girl—“

   “Queen,” the man corrected harshly, almost bitterly, “She’s a queen, now.”

   Pidge nodded. “Right.”

This seemed to be trickier already for Pidge. Pidge isn’t an expertise with speaking to other people. The only person she ever interacted with was Chip—and he’s a robot. He seems more human than any person Pidge has ever met, but Pidge was awkward and reserved within herself when it comes to being with a group of people.

Hard to admit, but ever since her own childhood, all she cared about was her own small projects, her brother, and her parents. She didn’t have any friends as she grew up. She works alone.

It only took a small change when she became a paladin, but that didn’t come easy for her. It was rough from the start when joining the team of people she barely knew, but she never would have seen herself in a position where she is now, if it wasn’t for her friends.

She took a few steps closer, clearing her throat as her gaze fell on her tablet. She was reading Esme’s file. It was practically empty. Everything was considered “Unknown” and left blank, besides the obvious stats the nurses wrote about his condition.

She pulled a stool towards her to take a seat, thinking about how to approach this situation. She compared it to one of her programs. Sometimes there are setbacks when writing a code and she would have to read line per line about where the error was.

Her beady eyes stared closely at the young man, but he averted her eye contact. His eyebrows were furrowed closely towards the middle in a pout.

Esme is closed off—that was obviously apparent.

His picking fingers show his own anxiety and possible agitation.

Direct commands would not work with him, especially from a stranger like herself.

She could start out by trying to bargain with him. It isn’t as direct, plus it will allow both parties to gain something.

  “You said that you needed the paladins’ help. I can offer you that, but I need to know what happened,” Pidge told him softly.

   “I already told you,” Esme responded, his face still frowning.

  Pidge lightly chuckled. “I feel like there’s more to the story.”

She noticed Esme fidgeting with the bandages that wrapped his hands, picking at it with his fingernails.

   “Is she gonna die?” His voice was barely audible. He picked off a string from the bandage, pulling it.

Pidge hesitated, taking in a sharp breath.

   “Well—“

  “Be honest,” The young man commanded.

His eyes caught the paladin’s, holding her gaze. She could see a storm brewing inside his irises, and Pidge could feel the intensity of his own fear and anger radiating from him.

Pidge judged her decisions about what she could say. There was this slow pain inside her chest like a knife was slowly, painfully cutting at her heart. The truth hurts, and it was obvious to Pidge that the young soldier was worried.

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He was digging his nails into the bandages, snagging against some of the loose string of the material. His eyes downcast, showing how his mind was occupied with his own thoughts—staring distantly at his lap.

   “I can’t tell you that,” she responded, turning her gaze away.

The young man scoffed, titling his head back against the pillow to gaze up at the ceiling. Pidge scooted closer.

   “She has lost a lot a blood. She may have suffered neurologically. You need to tell me what happened,” Pidge said to him.

The boy shook his head, biting his bottom lip.

  “I promised them that I will protect her,” the boy muttered.

  “You can still. We are here to help you now. What happened?” Pidge urged.

The boy gazed down to meet her eyes, and Pidge noticed tears glazing his eyes. The storm that Pidge once saw was gone, and now, Pidge only sees a young man sitting in front of her.

  “We were attacked. They were sent to assassinate her. They slaughtered everyone,” he spoke, his voice hoarse.

   “Who?” Pidge wondered.

  The boy shook his head. “I already told you. They were some group of terrorists sent out to assassinate the prior queen and our current majesty.”

 Pidge’s forehead wrinkled with confusion, thinking deeply on the matter.

  “Do you know why?” she dared to ask.

  Esme’s blood visibly boiled. “Do you think I would know that!”

Pidge scooted back. That was a mistake.

  “Sorry, I just needed to understand a little better.”

Esme let out an exasperated breath, dropping his head onto the pillow again. His gaze was turned away from Pidge, staring out at the corner of the hospital room.

  His voice defeated, he stated, “Can’t you put her in those...healing chambers? You have them here, right? On this planet? Couldn’t that save her life?”

   Pidge gave a sad smile. “Her body is badly damaged. She can barely stay alive on her own. The chamber uses a person’s own life force in order to heal...she would die in the healing chamber before she could recuperate.”

  “Dumb if you do, dumb if you don’t,” the boy groaned.

Pidge opened her mouth to respond, but her mobile in her pocket began to beep like a pager. She took it out of her pocket and noticed a message written on it: 



  “Emergency meeting. ASAP.”

It was from her father, Samuel Holt. 

Pidge sighed, putting her mobile inside her lab coat’s pocket. She gazed up at the young man, giving him a smile. 



  “If you need anything or remember anything, please, call me.”

The young boy nodded, and Pidge turned on her heels and left the boy alone inside his room.

Pidge felt unsatisfied like what she tried to get didn’t work. She did notice that the young man was a tad more open, in his own kind of way.

Pidge chuckled to herself, a silly thought slipping into her mind. He sort of reminds Pidge about a certain someone that she knows.

Pidge continued to hurry down the halls, taking turns to head towards the conference room on the building’s floor.

She walked through a white pair of doors that opened into the dark conference room. As she made her way inside, she walked into many of the people talking over each other. The tension in the room was thick, and Pidge could easily sense it.

There were a few people that appeared in holograms, mostly separate ambassadors of different sectors, but also, surprisingly some of the representatives of the republic. From what Pidge known, seeing the representatives at a meeting meant something serious.

Her eyes gazed down to see Krolia and Kolivan, the two ambassadors of their sector, standing in front of the room.

Pidge remained standing at the back of the room, watching everyone, but her eyes eventually fell on the large monitor. There were images of Marina and Esme appearing on the screen.

She noticed how they were registered photos from G.A.R.’s registrar. They were complete opposite: night and day.

Marina had a beaming smile on her face, her face shining with youth. Her eyes were bright and blue, shimmering like stars inside a nebula.

Esme was the opposite. Flat expression with his deep-set eyes almost glaring at the camera, his hair tightly pulled back, and wearing a uniform.

Pidge gazed down at her tablet, clicking on some icons on the screen and began to type a few codes. The images from the screen appeared on her tablet, and she secretly stored them into her tablet’s hidden, locked files.

  “They both came from the Blue Lion,” Coran said, his hologram on the side of the room, “If the lions are able to trust them, then so should we.” 



Coran was a royal advisor that Pidge knew personally. He is Altean, a once-extinct species that was killed off by the Galra, a species which overruled the entire universe. He was the one that helped Pidge and her other friends when they were paladins many years ago. Now, he is the ambassador of New Arus, a planet filled with New-Age Alteans and other species, after the long time war with the Galra.

He was properly dressed in formal attire: navy blue jacket with the G.A.R. insignia over his left breast pocket with navy slacks. His ginger hair was combed back with a small, ginger curl hanging over his forehead with a curl-tipped mustache to match.

  “Right, just like how the Black Lion trusted Zarkon, the Emperor of the kind that committed genocide? We wouldn’t want that to happen again!” one of the representatives claimed.

   “Or that Luka Case,” one of the other officials added, “We can’t afford to have any casualties.” 



  Krolia spoke, “We would have to understand that the lions brought them to us. We can be wary, but we shouldn’t doubt them.”

  “The young girl has spoken about the previous paladins,” Samuel stated, “We could try bring them back.”

  “She was delusional. She was in no condition—“ the doctor working on Marina’s case began to say but was quickly interrupted.

   “She has been falling in and out of consciousness,” Samuel stated, trying to weigh the options of the situation, “Even if her state of—“



Samuel is Pidge's father. He is a lot older, yet not retired. He loves a days work, and he always tells his family that he would never think about doing anything else but research and science. He wore a Galactic Garrison uniform: a dark olive with orange palate as there were golden bands that decorated his shoulder pads to represent his seniority.

  “Regardless,” Romelle, her hologram standing next to Coran, said, “The Old Paladins aren’t on-duty anymore. With all of the old paladins not present here, how could we try teaming them up again?” 



Romelle, just like Coran, is Altean. She is considered as the "New Age" kind. After the Alteans were wiped out, she was one of the many who remained hidden from the outside world due to Lotor, Emperor Zarkon's son. Now, she is thriving as an ambassador by Coran's side. She had made a lot of progress with the New Age like ensuring protection with all Alteans, new and old, and made sure that all of them were welcomed on New Arus. She's slim, wore a pencil skirt with a navy, G.A.R.'s blazer. Her hair was long, wavy, and blond that was tied into an elegant ponytail as she wore jewel drop earrings with a jewel collar to match.

  “You think we could try recruiting new paladins?” A representative with fair skin, long, dark hair and amber eyes, questioned. 



  “The girl said that they were needed. They were the only answer,” Samuel mentioned.



  “I will try to speak to Keith about the matter,” Krolia added, “Last time I had contact with him, he was assisting a planet in sector 889 with his relief organization. As for the others, I’m not able to assist.”

  “Katie,” Samuel called for his daughter.

Pidge gazed up from her tablet, the screen reflecting on the lenses of her glasses. Her beady orbs gazed around the room, feeling the chill from the eyes of the guests weighing on her.

  “Do you think you will be able to call them?” he asked her.

  Pidge bit her bottom lip. “I could…but, it has been years since we contacted each other, and one of them is currently unavailable to reach.”

  “How do you mean?” the fair-skinned representative asked.

  Pidge shrugged. “I can’t really say, Representative. He sort of asked not to be reached unless it is an emergency…”

  “This is an emergency!” a Galactic Garrison General boomed, “We have two foreign aliens on our land claiming that they were attacked by terrorists! Has anyone forgotten what that boy said!”

  “General, please remain calm. As of now, we are safe,” Kolivan responded, his eyes glaring at the general.

Kolivan is Galra, yet, he was one of the leaders of the Blade of Marmora, a secretive organization that was against the ideals of the Galra empire during the Galra ruling. He is a secretive man–not a man of many words but looks. His face was stern, his eyebrows were always wrinkled together with eyes that were purely yellow. He had a scar that decorated the right side of his face, striking down his eyebrow and eye. He wore a thin, purple braid that drapped over his left shoulder as his attire mirrored Krolia's. His skin, like Krolia, was purple like lilac's pedals, but his power was nothing like a flower. As intimidating as he appears, even though he was calm and rational, his force was something no one can reckon with.

Him and Krolia were co-workers, companions, and, possibly, more. They worked very closely together as they both are ambassadors of Pidge's sector.

  “In the meantime, we need to do more progress on this girl. We also need to seek out the trainees and have them run tests with the lions. And, Coran,” the fair-skinned representative said, “Try contacting the old paladins again to let them know about our situation. We will have to deal with what we have for now.”

  Coran nodded, saluting to her before her hologram vanished; Romelle’s hologram followed after him.

  “And, Ms. Holt,” The representative said, “As Coran tries to contact the previous paladins, you can make sure to run possible tests with the potential new recruits. I have several in mind that can be suitable for the job.”

  Pidge nodded, saying, “Yes ma’am, but, if you don’t mind me asking, why should we look for recruits if myself and the others could be called in?”

  The representative smiled. The smile seemed friendly, but it was her eyes that Pidge noticed that weren’t. “The reason is, if any of our recruits fail as replacements, we can continue with yourself and the others.”

Pidge nodded, giving a humble “okay.” without another word. The representative’s eyes never left Pidge for a moment, unsettling Pidge as she stood at the back of the room. She had to distract herself by mindlessly scrolling through her tablet.

  “What about my patient’s condition?” the doctor asked, standing up from his chair.

The entire room fallen into silence, all eyes were on the doctor who was speaking to Krolia and Kolivan.

  “What is her status?” Krolia asked.

The doctor sighed, shaking his head. “Not good, madam. There is a severe spread of an infection from her wound. Just recently, we found out her kidneys are shutting down. She’s also falling into spills of seizures every hour.”



Pidge began to take notes, scanning through her programs about the symptoms. She saw a large directory of medical terms that have all the similar symptoms—it was about a two-mile long list of issues that this young girl could have.

She was clicking through each one on the first page, but she halted when her brain refreshed her about the wound that was on her side. It was a sliced wound…as if someone cut her.

She gazed up, a light bulb flickering over her head.

  “Were you able to source the infections?” Kolivan asked. 



  “No, but…we put her on steroids to fight the inflammation and we had to induce her in a coma. Her brain was inflamed, and it seems her own antibodies are attacking everything that is having an infection. Her own body is in shock.“

The sliding doors hissed open, and everyone noticed Pidge making her quick exit.

   “Pidge, this meeting has not been adjourned! I ask—“ 



  “Sorry, Krolia, but I need to save someone’s life,” Pidge interjected.

   “Excuse me, but that is my patient!” the doctor yelled.

  “Yeah, well, this is my case, since they landed here!”

  “You’re not even a doctor! How would you know—“ 



  “I’m a space explorer. You only been looking from things from Earth’s point-of-view. She’s not from Earth.” 



She turned on her heels and left the room, walking quickly down through the hall to head into the young man’s hospital room.

She walked by a desk full of nurses, and she called for a few of them. The nurses in the orange scrubs quickly walked beside her, trying to keep up. 



  “I need those results from the toxin test. Also, do a few more blood tests and send them to my lab. A-SAP.”



The nurses all nodded, quickly splitting into different directions.

Each step she took was built on her own confidence. Pidge had a plan, and that was to save that girl’s life. She was dumb for not thinking about it before, but she will not let anyone get in her way. Her feet led her down through the halls, ignoring all the glances from the nurses and guests that whispered amongst themselves about her.

There was a force around her, pushing everyone away as she hurried through. She pulled out her mobile phone, sending an immediate message to all her co-workers at the botany lab.

  “I need samples of the plants from the lab to start toxin screening when blood tests arrive,” Pidge ordered.

Even if it will be a goose chase to figure out what plant could be the cause, Pidge knew that it is always best to start off with something. Just like many of her projects, she is built with determination like a tall wall built with cement and iron. Nothing could tear her down, and she will not let anything get in the way of her helping the boy and girl. 


She made it to Esme’s hospital room, squeezing through the small open gap as the door was hissing open. Once she entered, the young man looked up at her, his eyes scanning her with surprise. 



  “What’s the matter?” Esme asked, noticing Pidge’s urgency.

  “Esme, I need to ask you a few important questions about your home world.”

  Esme glanced away, confused. “Okay?”

  “Are there any typical toxic plants that can cause rashes or any sort of side effects like burns?” Pidge asked him.

She pulled a stool that she was sitting on before and sat on it. From reading his medical reports, everything appeared to be at a good-standing for him. But, something with Marina didn’t add right.

   “What does this have to do with the queen?” Esme wondered. 



  “Well, she’s in a lot of pain. The wound seems to be burned by something, and her kidneys are severely damaged, and she’s been having seizures every hour.” 



  Esme sighed, “She’s not getting better.”

Pidge silently nodded. 

Esme shook his head, bitting his bottom lip and slamming his fists against the mattress of his hospital bed.

  “The doctor has ordered to induce her in a coma,” Pidge said.

Esme turned at Pidge. “What does that mean?” 



  “To ensure the protection of her brain, the coma will be able to slow down the inflammation inside. She’s already on steroids and other medications to treat the symptoms of her infections, and the doctor ordered for a test to see her kidneys.”

The young solider remained silent, his eyes gazing down at his lap again. Pidge eyed him, and she noticed how his fists were tightly clenched and shaking.

  Pidge spoke softly, tenderness filling her voice, “And...if we don’t do this, there’s a high risk she will die a lot quicker.”

  “You guys haven’t found the cause about why this is happening to her!” Esme frustratedly asked.

   Pidge sighed, “We tested for all sort of flesh eating bacteria and toxins that could cause her similar symptoms, but it doesn’t explain the kidneys or—“

  “We were sent here because we needed all of your help! If you don’t save her, I am obligated to do my duty as a royal officer and guard to legally bind you until death—do you understand, Paladin?”

   Pidge stated, calmly, “I need you to tell me…do you know any poisons from your planet that can do this?”

  Esme sighed heavily, shaking his head. “No, no I don’t. What does this have to do with—“ 



  “The wound on her side. When I first saw it, I thought it was an infection, but instead, it was a chemical burn. Whatever cut her had poison on it. We can’t trace the source because it is not from our planet.”

Esme remained staring at her, and Pidge could see the slight panic coming from his gaze. He pulled away, sighing heavily.

He closed his eyes tightly, leaning his head against the pillow.

  “Many guards are able to study specific subjects to specialize when they are assigned as soldiers…I was the guy who remained positioned in the back. I studied Herbology and Geology, but, there are a few plants that can be used to heal wounds or help sicknesses, but these plants in high doses can be highly toxic.”

  “What are they?”

  Esme shook his head. “These plants are restricted only official—“

He was cut off, trailing away into a deep thought. Pidge noticed his eyes slowly widen and Esme’s shock of realization turned into a frustrated frown.

   “That son of a bitch!” Esme bitterly stated.

  “Esme, you have to tell me—“

  “Casimir. He was the prior Queen’s royal confidant and advisor. Bastard is what he was, truly. A traitor. He was also a herbologist.”

  “Do you know what he could’ve used? If it is registered—“

  “Possibly, but, I’ll humor you. There’s one plant that I know that may do this—Cycas Communis. It’s a green and pink plant. It can be used for treatments for extreme cases, but when combined with chemicals and used with high dosages, it can be toxic to the kidneys but also cause inflammation in the brain.”

  Pidge smiled, resting her hand on Esme’s. “Thank you, Esme. You just saved her life.”

Esme was at first shocked by what she said, but Pidge noticed the rigid young man soften with a small smile.

Pidge took out her mobile, calling the scientists in the lab about her report.

  “Hey, Greg? Yeah, look up Cycas Communis in the Universal Registration. It should be there.”

She took her leave from the hospital room to head to her botany lab, and for once, Pidge noticed as Esme laid lying in his bed, he looked like he felt more at ease.