Entry #27 - 3.1.5503

There have probably been times in my life when I've been more scared than I was these past few weeks, but I'm not sure I can remember when. Hershel's attack on the caf (see journal entry #26) had Athena laid-up with seriously damaged lungs for two solid weeks, and I lost my sight completely for the better part of 10 days. I thought I'd gone blind for good, but fortunately my situation turned out to be temporary. I've discovered I have the ability to regenerate damaged tissues quite efficiently -- something I'd never realized before, and hope never to have need of again! And while we'd feared Athena might not recover completely, she turned out to be as resilient as Mar. They really are a couple of tough old warriors -- guess that's how they've survived so long.

As for Mar, we heard from Sona last night that the old lady is on her way back from her latest venture into a war zone, having successfully delivered munitions to the Ecila and their friends. It'll be good to have the old bat back with us on Ohm. Despite her lousy cooking and consistently foul moods (and mouth to match), she's still family and very much loved. I don't think I'd realized how much I've come to rely on the old lady's inner strength and resourcefulness, before this last episode with Hershel. Being laid-up -- Athena and me both -- and not having Mar here to help look after things...well, as I said earlier, I'm not sure when I've felt more afraid.

3.14 and 50-50, meanwhile, did their best to keep things in order, and remained vigilantly on guard (along with the rest of their pack) to protect us from further attacks by Hershel and his evil hench rats. And though they did spy Richie and Gina, late one night, lurking around the bushes in the quad outside the infirmary, there have been no additional incursions.

And so, first thing this morning, Athena and I decided to take the day off and go diving -- to celebrate our renewed health, get away from the Den for a while and introduce our rodent friends to the countryside (this will be their first journey to the ocean). And while the vermin won't be diving, they're thrilled at the prospect of a picnic by the sea, and are now busily packing a feast of roasted sunflower seeds, cheese sandwiches, crackers and cheese, peanut butter celery sticks, and cheesecake (of course) for dessert.