Allura flew right over Keith and Lance's ship. Pidge was behind her, in the middle of a firefight. She turned her Lion around, keeping an eye on the other ship, and helped him out. They made scrap metal of the squadron in a few minutes.

"Let's get going, Keith," she said. "They might send a fleet out soon."

Keith angled the ship up and turned on the drill. They burst through the surface and lifted off, falling next to the Blue.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see you, Princess," Lance said.

"I can't say the same, Lance," she replied. "Is everyone ok?"

"Romelle is hurt," Keith said. "She needs medical attention as soon as possible."

The Princess nodded curtly. "Follow me. Pidge will take up the rear."

They shot off into the atmosphere, followed closely by too many Doom fighters to count. Pidge looked at the growing number of dots on his radar with dismay.

"We can't fight them," he said, trying not the panic.

"We can outrun them," Allura said. "Keith, can you attach yourself on Blue Lion's back?"

"Yes. We've got magnetic links we can use."

"Do that. We're going to make a run for it."

"Hunk," Keith said, opening a channel to Arus. "We need fighters waiting for us over there just in case they decide to follow."

"Roger that," Hunk replied.

The small ship attached itself to the Blue.

"Let's make a run for it, Pidge," Allura said.

They gunned the booster rockets and were pushed back on their seats. The Lions raced towards Arus.

"Fall back," Zarkon ordered the fighters. "Let them go."

He watched as the Lions beeped off the screen. His fighters began disappearing until only a third of what had been there was left. They had used holograms to make it seem like there were more than there really were and tampered with the signals to make it appear on the Lions' scanners as well. He wasn't overly impressed with the way the officers had saved their friend, thinking it was too simple and he was slightly embarrassed that he had let them get away with it, but as he had mentioned, it was all part of the plan.

"Do you think they suspect anything?" Hagar asked, thinking along the same lines.

"I'm sure they do. I think we made it too easy," Zarkon said. "But we have Sven in place. They are not so naive as to think that we wouldn't try to do something with him."

"What is it, Father?" Lotor asked. "I must know."

Zarkon rolled his eyes. "Will you disappear from my sight if I tell you? I'm getting so sick of your hovering, Lotor."

"Anything you ask as long as you tell me."

"Hagar put a spell on him. He will act normally but he will do as she tells him when asked. He won't know why he does these things but he won't fight it. He will be our spy on Arus, our puppet."

Hagar cackled appreciatively. "It's a brilliant plan, Sire. It's your best yet."

"I've conquered hundreds of worlds and you think this is my greatest plan?" Zarkon retorted, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "I don't think so, Old Witch."

"My apologies," she said, scowling beneath her hood.

"Useful as those are," Zarkon snarled. "Well, you better not make any mistakes with this, Hagar. We are going to do as much as we can with him. And when we're finished..."

"I know, Sire. I have him self-destruct."

The gurney carrying Romelle was rushed into an operating room. She had lost too much blood and they had to work fast to save her. When Lance had told the rest of the team of how she had defended them after she had been shot, they had been very impressed and they waited anxiously for news of her condition. Sven was put in his own room and from what one of the other doctors told them, he appeared to be just sleeping. His vital signs and brain waves were all normal. He couldn't explain why he didn't wake up during his rescue, but they just had to wait for him to wake up.

Keith stood over his sleeping friend. Sven was nearly unrecognizable with his thick beard and long hair, and his skin had taken a sallow complexion. Lance went to stand next to Keith and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll give him a good haircut and shave when he wakes up," he said with a smile in his voice. "It's damned good to see him, isn't it?"

"You have no idea," Keith said, sounding better than he had in months. "I thought that I had made my peace with his death, but then when I heard he was alive...I thought I was going to explode."

"I know what you mean. I could have run to Doom when I heard Romelle say he wasn't dead."

"It's time to leave now, Sirs," said a nurse coming into the room.

The two of them filed out of the room where Pidge and Allura waited. Hunk was nowhere to be seen for he was manning Castle Control still.

"Has he woken up yet?" Pidge asked worriedly.

"Not yet," Lance replied.

"Has he been looked over for any bugs or implants?" Allura asked.

"Yes," Keith answered. "As far as we can tell, he's clean."

"That's strange," Pidge said. "Zarkon must have done something to him."

"We're going to keep a close eye on him," Allura said. "On both of them, rather."

"How's Romelle?" Keith inquired.

"Not too good," Allura replied, a frown on her face. "Doctor Gorma was just out here and he told us that they had almost lost her once. She wasn't very healthy to begin with and that's not helping her chances."

"Zarkon doesn't feed his slaves very well," Lance muttered.

"No, he doesn't," Allura agreed. "They are both very lucky that you got them out."

She heard footsteps nearing them and saw Coran heading their way. He had a strange look on his face and that only meant one thing. He knew something and he didn't know whether to tell her or not.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The doctor is requesting that you leave," he replied, looking her in the eye. "He can't work under such scrutiny."

They followed Coran out the doors separating the med wing from the rest of the castle.

"We have to step up security measures," Allura said as they walked to Castle Control. "We can't let either of them in any important areas."

"How sensitive of you, Princess," Lance sneered.

She looked at him sharply. "We can't risk being compromised. We can't be sure of them just yet. I understand that they're your friends and you're worried about them, but this has to be done."

"She's right, Lance," Keith said.

"I didn't say she wasn't," Lance pointed out.

Hunk turned as they entered the room. He stood and gave the main seat to Coran.

"The skies are clear," he said. "Zarkon didn't follow."

"Now we know something is up," Pidge declared.

Keith crossed his arms and frowned. "Lance, have more men on duty in each shift. Post two guards outside Sven's room and Romelle's when they have her stabilized."

"Whatever you say, Big Chief."

Suddenly, the communicator chimed and when Coran answered it, they saw the ravaged face of a young man.

"Mayday...this is Planet Cassia...we are in need of assistance...we are under attack..." he managed to say through the static.

"We'll be there in ten minutes," Keith said.

"Hurry...we might not be here...ten minutes...."

Then the connection was lost.

"Pidge and Lance, stay here," Keith said. "We'll call if we need Voltron."

"Aye-aye," the two said in unison.

So that's why Zarkon didn't follow, Keith mused briefly. Sly bastard.

They jumped into the chutes and moments later, the Black, Blue, and Yellow Lions launched and flew towards Cassia.