Lance glanced at his watch. Keith had been gone for too long and he was starting to get worried. And as far as he could tell, this treaty was going nowhere. In no specific terms does Lotor state that the attacks on Arus would stop. His wordplay and hidden meanings made the treaty he wrote a trap. Allura's quick mind caught on quickly, but she played along to buy Keith some time. But Lance could tell that even she was starting to worry.

Lotor caught Lance checking the time. He gritted his teeth. He hoped Hagar had her hands on the young commander because Allura was beginning to get twitchy. She had already gotten up from her seat and was pacing around the room like a caged animal. She seemed to have memorized the treaty in the few minutes that she'd been studying it and argued with him over each point. He smiled to himself. She would make an enjoyable trophy.

Allura's hand stole to her communicator. She had to make a judgment call. Keith had been gone too long. It wasn't like him. If he was able to, he would have let them know that he was alright and tell them what he had found. She looked at Lance and he looked ready to run out the door, screaming Keith's name into the darkness. Coran still hadn't called to tell them Keith's signal was missing and that was small relief. Unless his communicator was somewhere he wasn't.

"Is something wrong?" Lotor asked.

"No," she replied. "Lance, go outside and make sure everything is alright."

He opened his mouth to argue, but her eyes narrowed as he did. He threw his hands up in defense and bowed to her.

"As you say, Princess."

He stepped outside, but left the door open so he could see what was going on inside. He took out his communicator.

"Commander Porterfield, come in," he said, his voice low. "Porterfield, please comply."

No reply.

"Coran," he said, taking a different tangent. "Do you see Keith's communicator signal anywhere?"

Silence and then, "It's at the eastern edge of town."

Lance looked back into the room and shook his head. In one swift move, Allura took her blaster out and shot Lotor at point blank range. The Prince couldn't even make a sound before he was rendered unconscious. The blaster was not a laser one. It shot out tranquilizer rays. Lance blinked.

"What did you do that for?"

"Can't take any risks with us leaving him here. If Keith's missing, he's up to something," she replied. "And Sven too."

Lance got down on his haunches next to Lotor and put an iron cuff on one wrist. He used the other cuff on the table leg, which was nailed down to the floor. They took off running. Allura informed her men of the situation and told them to keep watch over Lotor. She and Lance put on some headgear, consisting of night vision goggles and targeting crosshairs as well as location information. As they neared their destination, they slowed, their real blasters out and ready. But they got there just in time to see a small dot of light disappear into the night sky. No one was there, and Allura found Keith's communicator at her feet. She threw her headgear violently on the ground. Breathing deeply to slow the sudden beat of her heart, she leaned against a nearby building and sorted out her rampant thoughts. Lance looked around and saw the outline of a fallen form. He ran to it, and gasped as he realized it was Sven.

"Coran," he said into his communicator. "We have one man down. I repeat. One man down."

Keith woke with the biggest headache he'd ever had. As he slowly became more aware, he realized he was chained up and on his feet. He found himself in an enormous throne room, and no recollection at all of how he got there. He shook his head to wake himself up. The last thing he remembered was Sven introducing him to a beautiful woman with the greenest eyes he'd ever seen. Then...nothing.

"Looks like he's awake, Your Highness," a cackling voice said.

He looked to find its owner and his eyes fell upon the hunched form of a hooded figure. He looked up towards the throne and saw a large, blue-skinned man sitting on it. The crown sitting on his head gleamed gold and his robes did not hint, but screamed of an incredible wealth. His eyes narrowed. He knew who this man was. Every single person who had seen that damage he'd done knew who he was.

"Zarkon," he said hoarsely.

"Ah, you are intelligent," Zarkon said with a laugh. "Hagar was right when she saw you were a quick one."

Keith struggled against his bonds but it was of no use. He relaxed and leaned against the wall behind him. He kept a cool facade on, not allowing them to see the panic that was working its way through him. Zarkon regarded him with the same coolness, but Hagar was grinning, a sight that could bring nightmares.

"What are you going to do with me?" Keith asked.

"Weaken you until you divulge all the secrets of the Alliance and Voltron," the King replied. "It's simple really."

"I'd die first before that happens," was Keith's savage retort.

"Believe me, that can be arranged as well." Zarkon smiled. "As we speak, your friends are formulating a plan to rescue you. They have even contacted me, offering to give me Lotor for you, but you're more useful to me than my son can ever be."

"I'm so proud," Keith muttered.

A blast of energy shot through his body and he lurched against his bonds. It receded and left him gasping from the pain it left behind.

"Speak up, Commander," Hagar said. "The King can't hear you."

"I said...KISS MY ASS!"

Another more powerful blast ran through his body and for a longer period. The pain was intense, and he held on to consciousness as long as he could, but the human body can only take so much. He sagged against the chains as he slipped mercifully away from the pain.