Chapter Six

Three nurses and Doctor Gorma ran full tilt down the corridors of the Castle of Lions pushing a hoverbed that bore the Princess Allura along with them. Lance ran alongside it, having been the only one in the docking bay to greet her as she arrived.

"Get him back," Allura said through clenched teeth. "I want Keith back here, now!"

"We're doing all we can, Princess," Lance assured her, gasping as he ran.

Allura looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot and her face sallow, but there was an extraordinary amount of strength in her expression--with a hint of desperation. They burst through the med wing's doors and headed straight for the operating room.

"Stop," Allura said. She turned to Lance. "If he's not here, you're not doing all you can." She paused as wave of pain forced her to suck in a breath and her eyes grew wide as that hurt even more. "Lance...I want him back. Get him back."

He reached out to take her hand, but Gorma shook his head. He nodded.

"He'll be here, Princess. I'll get him back for you." For both of you.

Romelle came running through the doors just as the operating room doors shut. Sven came in after her, panting as he had been chasing her down the corridor.

"Is she alright?" Romelle asked. "What did Doctor Gorma say?"

"She's going to have to undergo surgery to repair her back," Lance said, staring at the doors Allura had just disappeared through. "I'm not incredibly knowledgable about medical lingo, but from what I could tell, Gorma says that Niloc did some serious damage to her spinal cord as well as breaking a couple of ribs."

Romelle moaned, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. She leaned against Sven. Bandor came hurtling through the door and without a word, he and his sister embraced.

"How is she?" he asked.

Romelle filled him in as Sven took Lance aside.

"How de hell are ve going to get Keit back?" he whispered. "Ve don't haf de Lions, ve don't have eider auf our leaders. Ve've got noting going for us right now."

Lance turned to Romelle and Bandor. "We're going back to Castle Control. Let us know if anything happens."

They nodded and Lance led Sven through the doors. They marched down the corridors, past running men and women. The castle was on full red alert, and had been since the Princess had been returned. They were just waiting for the Lions to come out of Niloc's ship and attack.

"We call Jeff," Lance said simply. "His ship is hovering around here somewhere, on standby in case we need their help."

"Jeff? Vat iz he doing here?"

"Something about a mission, but as long as he's here, I'm not going to ask any questions."

Sven nodded. "Goot. But vat about de situation on Pollux? Our men are still dere. Noting has happened since ve left, but ve haf to act before something does."

Lance felt a head begin to pound. He dug into his pocket and popped two capsules into his mouth.

"Vat vas dat?" Sven demanded. "Dose better not be uppers."

"Don't be stupid. We've already gone through that. I've been having headaches and Gorma gave me some pills. Anyway..."

They walked into Castle Control just as Coran was leaving. He nodded as he passed by them, on his way to the medical wing. Gwen was sitting at the command console, looking pensive.

"Open a channel to the Star-Class vessel flying around nearby," Lance told her. "Ask for Commander Silver."

Gwen's fingers flew over the keys and they had a reply before long. Jeff's face appeared on the console's monitors. He was frowning.

"I can't believe you gave him the Lions," he said.

"Hi to you too," Lance said dryly.

"What was Keith thinking?"

"You would have done the same," Lance said, standing up for his friend.

"Not with the Voltron Lions. It's a good thing we're here."

"Oh really. What could a Star-Class ship possibly have against 4 fully armed robot Lions?"

Jeff looked pleased with himself. "Why, fifteen fully armed vehicles is what it has."

"Excuse me?"

Another man came on the screen.

"Hawkins," Sven greeted. "Long time no see."

"It's just a big reunion, isn't it?" Lance said, rolling his eyes.

"Can we come down?" Commander Jonathan Hawkins asked, his deep voice booming through the speakers. "We have important matters to discuss."

"Passenger vessels only. I don't want a Star-Class ship on my front lawn with its three hundred laser cannons," Lance said. "We don't know what you two are up to. Your ship doesn't even show up in the Fleet roster. For all I know, you turned mercenary."

"In a Star-Class?" Jeff snorted. "Get real, Lance."

"We'll be there in half an hour," Hawkins said.

Keith gasped for air. The heat was burning his lungs and he could see blisters forming on his hands. After spending what seemed like eternity in the freezing cold, the temperature had risen until it was far from comfortable. He had already stripped down to his boxer shorts, and was seriously contemplating taking those off as well. He had to survive this and vanity wasn't going to help that any. He thought of Allura thinking the same, and thoughts about ripping Niloc limb from limb filled his head. He clenched his hands in response to the image, and he winced as his injured left hand twinged. The cold hadn't done it any good, and the heat was no better. He was afraid it would fail him.

Lend me some of that strength, he thought to her, closing his eyes.

As if on cue, the temperature started dropping and he could breathe normally after a few minutes. He pulled on his undershirt, but kept his flightsuit off. He walked around the room, looking for anything that could help him escape. Aside from the ventilation duct twelve feet above him and the door, there were no other openings that he could see, though the sheen on the stones near the ceiling were suspicious to his trained eye. The light didn't quite bounce off it quite like on the other stones.

Probably holographic, he thought. So dear old Dad can watch his prisoners suffer.

He sat down, stretching his legs. The floor wasn't as hot as he thought it would be. Looking inconspicuous, he began to feel his hands all over the floor, trying to find something he could pry loose. The floor was probably thin, allowing heat and cold to escape, which was why it wasn't as hot as the walls. But to his dismay, it was as if the floor was single piece with no visible seams. Almost thoughtlessly, his hand crept to where he had placed the detonator. Though his last words to Lance were brave ones, he did have a sense of self-preservation.

Admit it...you just want to see Allura again.

Keith ran a hand through his cropped hair, feeling the sharp bristles against his palm. Deep down, he was thankful that whoever had the other detonator cared enough about him to not blow it just yet. They would give him time to escape. How much time, he didn't know, but he knew that if they sent a rescue team and they failed, they would all be blown to kingdom come. He carefully bit back a surge of desperation.

Suddenly, Keith heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet. His eyes darted across the room, towards the sound, and he saw a tiny form shoot out from the corner. He didn't jump to his feet, instead waiting until it reached him. He recognized it to be a mouse, but covered with a gray cloth. He didn't pick it up, but looked at it curiously. The mouse lifted a paw to move his mask and Keith had to fight back a cheer when he recognized it to be one of Allura's pets. It began to talk to him, but he couldn't understand what it was saying. The mouse rolled its red eyes and began to mime what he was talking about.

Above them, Niloc watched. He laughed at the sight of Keith talking to himself, sure his son had snapped. He couldn't see the gray-clothed mouse as the floor and surrounding walls of the room were a drab gray. He sat down and took in the show.

"What is that?" Gwen said, staring at the viewscreen. "Looks like...a Y-19 Hunter, but the turbo boosters are too big and the wings are longer."

Lance leaned forward and squinted his eyes. "You're right. Is this their secret mission?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Gwen said. "Want me to meet them?"

"Sven and I will go," Lance said. "You stay here and think about our rescue plan."

She snorted but nodded. Lance and Sven went down to the docking bay just as the fighter was landing. Its shiny red and blue exterior was impressive, but even more impressive were the twin cannons on both wings. It touched down gently and the doors opened. Hawkins came out first, followed by Jeff and then the pilot of the fighter, Lieutenant Georgiana "Ginger" Clark. They had serious expression on their faces and greeted Lance and Sven somberly.

"What kind of ship is that?" Lance asked.

"A Falcon VT Fighter, or as we like to call it, Vehicle number five," Ginger replied.

"Vehicle number five..." Lance repeated. "So what's this all about, gentlemen?"

"Could we talk somewhere more private?" Hawkins inquired.

"Of course," Sven said. "Dis vay please."

"I'll stay with the Falcon," Ginger said. She boarded the ship.

They rest went to the conference room and Coran joined them. Lance introduced him to Commander Hawkins.

"How's Her Majesty?" Hawkins asked after shaking Coran's hand.

"She's being operated on," Coran replied. "Apparently, her spinal cord was broken by Niloc and Doctor Gorma is trying to mend it. She's going to be under for quite some time."

"She could wake up and this could all be over," Lance said.

"Or not," Sven added.

"Anyway, Commander Hawkins, how about that story you'd like to tell us," Lance said. "We're all ears."

"We have been working on a project called Vehicle Voltron," Hawkins said. "It was created shortly after Lion Voltron was rediscovered, and has been tested for a year now. We believe it is ready for battle."

"How convienient," Lance drawled. "And us with a battle handy."

"This is serious, Lance," Jeff said. "We can do a lot of good with Vehicle Voltron. He's made up of fifteen different vehicles, each a part of one of three teams--the Air, Land and Sea Teams. We can get into the details later, but we are offering our help to you now."

Coran glanced at the Sven and Lance. Sven nodded slightly. Lance did the same. They needed all the help they could get.

"We accept your help," Coran said. "And we have to move fast before Keith does something drastic."

"What could Keith do?" Lance asked.

"He has a second detonator for the bombs in the Lions," Coran replied. "He can blow them at any time."

Sven covered his eyes. "Great. So, you haf feefteen vehicles, am I correct?"

"Yes," Hawkins replied.

"Here's vat ve do..."