I have not yet begun to fight!

~John Paul Jones, September 1779

Chapter Five

"Well, Father?" Lotor said, propping his feet up on the console. "What do you think?"

"It was brilliant," Zarkon said with reluctant admiration. "I am proud to call you my son."

Those were words Lotor had waited to hear all his life and he laughed with delight. "I'll remember you said that. I have them in the conference room. I'll present them as a gift to you, Father. You can do with them as you wish."

Now it was Zarkon's turn to smile. "Excellent. I will enjoy killing each and every one of them."

"Killing? No torture? No prolonged life sentence in the slave pit?"

"I didn't say I would kill them right away," Zarkon said.

"Ah," Lotor said amusedly. "Well, Father, tell the Drules they can land anywhere they want and take whatever they want. The Alliance Forces should be here soon, but they won't fire on anybody. Not while I have the heads of the Arusian government at gunpoint."

"I want to see them."

Lotor signalled to the soldier guarding the conference room door. He entered and the other soldier stood aside as the hostages filed out. They glared at Lotor and then at Zarkon, but said nothing.

"Ah...at last we meet, Princess Allura," Zarkon all but purred. "You're a very beautiful woman. You remind me of your mother."

A muscle in Allura's cheek twitched. "How do you know my mother?"

Zarkon grinned, baring his fangs. "Didn't you know? We were all great friends once."

"Until you betrayed them," Allura spat. "You destroyed their home and their lives. If that's how you treat your friends, I can't imagine what you do to your enemies."

Zarkon's grin faded. "You'll find out soon enough, Little Princess."

His words made Allura's head snap back with surprise. She stared at him as she delved deep into her memories. He stared back at her as if he knew what was going through her mind.

"Take them away," Zarkon said. "One look is enough for me. Too much looking makes me ill."

"I feel the same way," Lotor said, waving them away. "So, Father, will be here soon?"

"I've waited years to go back into the Castle of Lions. I will be there within the hour."

"When do we make our move?" Lance hissed, leaning close to Keith. "I can't sit here while they're out there."

"Zarkon's coming," Keith said. "We can take him and Lotor hostage, but there are still other soldiers in the room so we have to get some weapons." He looked to Skech. "How did you get up in the vent?"

"From the inside of a broom closet," he replied, his voice muffled through the helmet.

"That one just outside Castle Control?" Keith asked.

"No. Near the kitchen."

"There's a small weapons locker in the kitchen and a bigger locker a floor below it," Keith said. "About how long did it take you to get here from the closet?"

"About five minuntes."

"You can't fit up dere, Keit," Sven said, eyeing the hole. "Skech, Pidge, Bandor, and the women can do it, but not you."

"I'll do it," Allura said. "I know the castle better than anyone here. It'll take at least fifteen minutes to get the weapons and come back, right? She put a hand in her pocket and took her her communicator. "Anybody still got one?"

"I have mine," Gwen said, holding hers out.

"If I have time to go to the bigger weapons locker, let me know," Allura said, taking Gwen's and giving it to Keith.

"We can dress up the dead Doomie as a decoy just in case," Bandor suggested.

"Lotor will notice that Allura's gone right away decoy or not," Lance said, frowning.

"But she's right. She knows this Castle inside and out," Romelle said.

They looked to Keith. He glanced at Allura, saw the stubborn expression on her face, and knew that despite what he thought, she would go. Fortunately, he did agree with her.

"She's going," he said. "Skech, are you listening to their transmissions?"

"Yeah, but my Drulian is a little rusty so I can't catch everything."

"Give me the helmet," Romelle said, holding out her hand. She put it on and began to listen. "You're clear to go," she said, looking a little ridiculous in her gown and the helmet.

"Let's get the Doomie down," Keith said.

He and Hunk got the dead soldier down. They began taking its clothes off and Allura began to unzip her flightsuit. Keith glanced at her, shocked.

"Wait, wait! We'll turn around," he exclaimed, covering Hunk's eyes and glaring at the other males in the room.

Allura laughed despite the gravity of the situation. "What a gentleman."

They turned around and she changed into Skech's clothes. It fit her fine and was the regulation flightsuit most of them wore, but his was gray and hers was dark blue.

"Done," she said. "Help me get up there."

Keith made a foothold with his hands and she put a foot in it, steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder. He lifted her as she reached out for the edge of the opening. Easily, she pulled herself up.

"Wait," he called out.

She peered down at him and waited as he went to Skech. He took the Doom blaster from him and held it out to Allura. She looked as though she wanted to argue, but decided that there was no time.

"Don't be afraid to fight," he said. "Good luck."

"So, how do we make a dead blue-skinned Doom soldier look like the Princess of Arus?" Lance asked conversationally.

Allura crawled through the ventilator shafts using her elbows, knees, and feet to push herself forward. There wasn't enough room to move in all fours so she was on her belly, wiggling like a snake. Concentrating, she pictured the corridor she was passing over top of. The last thing she needed to do was get lost.

Four minutes....

Ahead of schedule, Allura saw the hole that Skech had left open. After making sure there was no one there, she went over the opening so that she could back up and go down feet first because there was no way she could have turned around in the that tight space. What she didn't account for was how far the floor was. Skech had climbed on the shelves to get to the vent, but Allura hadn't thought of that so she merely jumped.

"Shit," she hissed when she landed hard on one foot.

She took an experimental step and realized that she sprained her ankle. Gritting her teeth, she held the blaster at ready and put her ear to the door. When she didn't hear anything, she pushed a button on the wall and the door slid open. She checked again to make sure no one was there. The corridors were completely empty. The Princess frowned. Though it was good for her, it was strange for Lotor. She expected to dodge at least one of his soldiers, but there wasn't even a dustball in sight.

She ducked back into the closet and turned on the communicator. "Something weird is going on."

"What's wrong?" Keith said, having taken the communicator from Romelle when he heard Allura's voice.

"There's no one in the corridors at all."

"That's a good thing," she heard Bandor whisper.

"No, it isn't," Keith said. "Either Lotor's on to us or he's got fewer men than we expected."

Allura put her ear to the door. "I still don't hear anyone. I think I should go for the guns anyway."

"Do it. We've got nothing to lose now. Now or never."

She smiled faintly. "You like saying that."

"It seems to get you moving."

Allura rolled her eyes, but she felt her cheeks burning. "Make yourself useful, Keith," she admonished. "I'm out."

She opened the door and hurried out, keeping her back to the wall. The kitchen wasn't far off and she put her ear to the door. She didn't hear anything, but she opened the door while keeping herself out of sight. Still nothing.

Moving fast, she ran in and headed straight for the weapons locker. It was next to the garbage chute. There was no indication that there was an opening there at all, save for the small red button underneath the counter nearby. Allura pushed it and the locker door slid open revealing two laser rifles, three blasters, and ten extra power packs. She could fit the blasters in her flightsuit's pockets, but she didn't have anyplace for the rifles. Rushing around, she found a cloth bag that the cooks used when they went to the market and she put the rifles in it. She slung it over her shoulder.

"I can't go to the bigger locker," she said into the communicator. "I'm coming back now."

The doors to the kitchen were closed and Allura was about to open them when she heard the footsteps. They were headed straight for her. Her eyes darted around the room and she tossed the bag with the rifles in it in the garbage chute. She headed straight for the weapons locker. She climbed in, tucking her knees to her chest, and after five seconds, the door slid shut. The kitchen doors opened at the same time and she slowed her breath, afraid they'd hear even that.

There were at least two Doomies in the room and she could hear them checking behind counters and in large cupboards. She prayed that they wouldn't see the red button and discover her there. She didn't have enough room to reach for any of the blasters on her.

After what seemed like an eternity, the soldiers left. Allura counted to thirty before she activated the communicator.

"I'm going to need a little help here," she whispered in the darkness.

"What happened?" Keith questioned.

"Soldiers on patrol. I had to jump in the weapons locker."

"The what?"

"You heard me. Get me out."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"Pidge can do it. Have a little faith, will you?"

"Blow a hole through the door and climb out. We can't access anything in here. Lotor will be able to see what we're doing and then what do we do?"

"Oh ok, and then I'll just cover it up with a big oil painting," she retorted sarcastically. "Get Pidge on it will you, Keith. He can override the system."

"Five minutes, Allura, and then you're blowing a hole through the door."

"Yeah, sure." If I can get to my blaster.