Chapter Seven

Lance's eyes widened as he heard Allura's words.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Arus is under attack?"

"Looks like," Allura said gravely.

"I'm sending a warship with two squadrons and a Lion," Lance said. "Don't argue with me, Princess."

"I didn't say a word," she said.

"Hurry," Sven added.

"Squadrons Beta and Epsilon, retreat into Warship Kaspia," Lance said. "Kaspia and Green Lion, I want you to go back to Arus at full speed. They're under attack."

"That shield better hold," Pidge said, his eyes taking on a worried look.

"It will," Lance assured him. "Now go! Squadrons Alpha and Gamma, provide cover. The rest of you, keep on pushing forward. We have to back Black Lion up."

Keith quickly called up the rough schematics of the castle Romelle and Bandor provided for their mission. It was an amateurish blue print at best, but he got the general idea of where everything was and the Polluxian soldiers had told where was the best place to enter. He checked his scanners and saw that the castle was not protected. Without thinking, he left the pack behind and went for it.

"Easy, Black Lion," Lance tightbeamed a communication.. "We can't watch your back if your back is all the way over there."

"I'm going for it, Red," Keith said. "Fall back. Just don't let anyone come close to the castle."

"Whatever you say."

Keith lowered Black Lion until it was only a few feet above the ground. He fired two torpedos at the castle wall coming up fast in front of them when they detonated before they hit. He frowned as his sensors picked up a small energy reading coming from that general direction.

"What the..."

"Pull up!" Bandor yelled. "They have a shield up...PULL UP!!"

Moving fast, Keith pulled the Black's nose up until it was in a ninety degree angle and slowed it down. They had nearly hit the shield head on and the Black's nose was a bit fried from the contact. He began cursing under his breath and checking his sensors to see why the shield's energy didn't show up in his readings before the torpedos hit. He leveled Black Lion out and began circling the castle, occasionally firing at a fighter that slipped through the Fleet.

"New technology," Bandor told him grimly. "The idea was presented to my father months ago, but I thought he rejected it. I guess he did it for show."

"I guess so," Keith said. He thumbed open a channel. "We have a little problem here."

"What's wrong?" Lance asked.

"They have a shield."

"No indication of it on my sensors."

"We almost smashed into it. The torpedos blew before it even reached the castle. Bandor says it's some new technology."

"Try digging underground," Bandor suggested.

"Yellow Lion," Keith said. "We need to borrow you over here."

"Compensate squadrons," Lance said. "Yellow is going to take a little break."

Yellow Lion appeared at the Black's side in minutes.

"Need some muscle?" Hunk asked.

"Please," Keith answered. "I'll send you some coordinates. Dig down about twenty meters and then test to see if the shield extends down there."

A drill appeared on the Yellow's back and it dove down where Keith had specified. It took a few minutes for it to drill while the Black watched its back. To test the shield, Hunk fired a thin laser beam at it. To his dismay, it sparked and spread, dissipating on the shield's surface. He frowned as Keith had when his sensors showed an energy fluctuation and then how quickly the beam was absorbed.

"It's down here, too" he told Keith. "It doesn't look too strong though, and it takes in energy quickly."

"What else do you know about this shield, Bandor?" Keith asked.

"Only what I've told you. I never paid attention to that sort of thing."

"Do you want me to dig deeper?" Hunk asked.

"No," Keith said. "Let's not waste any more time and just nip it at the bud. Yellow Lion, see if you can find a source. I don't know how if you can't even see the energy, but be creative. In the meantime, looks like we need to do some brainstorming. Castle Control, come in..."

Come in, Castle Control....Castle Control...

"Princess, we're getting a communication from Commander Porterfield," a soldier sitting nearby told her.

"Put him through the speakers," she said distractedly. The castle was under attack from all sides and she was having the two squadrons and three dozen ATV's they had left prepped for battle. "Castle Control here," she said, trying to keep the edge from her voice. "Are you in Castle Pollux?"

"No. They have a shield up."

Allura raised her eyes to Coran. He had heard every word and was staring silently back at her. The others had scrambled the second the alarm had gone off, each taking care of something else though they were still within the room but they had stopped when they heard Keith's information.

"Deed you deeg?" Sven asked.

"Yes," Keith said. "We haven't got too many options. We didn't even know the shield was up until we nearly ran into it."

"Are your sensors working?" Coran asked.

"No one can see it. It's invisible to our sensors."

Before Allura could say anything, a loud explosion shook the castle. She whipped around to see a large ship bearing down on them, firing all its laser cannons at the castle. The shield was holding, but it wouldn't for long. Certainly not for another two hours until the others arrived.

"What was that?" Keith demanded. "What's going on, Allura?"

"We're under attack," she replied, rushing to the command console. Her fingers flew over the keys as she readied a distress signal.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

Allura took the headset she had lowered to her curl around her neck and took Keith off the room's speakers. "We'll talk about it later," she snapped, then added with a softer tone, "Lance sent Green Lion and a warship right over."

"I'm pulling the plug on this attack now," Keith said fiercely. "We're all coming back."

"NO!" Allura exclaimed. "You're almost finished there. Those people need to be freed and if you abort the attack, they may step up security. We won't have a chance like this again."

She could see his jaw working, but the fact that he didn't immediately reply told her that he knew she was right. He just wasn't happy about it.

"We'll be fine, Keith. We can hold on until you're done. Help will come," she said.

"Be careful, Allura," he said. "Hold on until they get there."

"Believe me," she said. "I'm going to try."

""Don't try...do it."

She looked at the monitor that held Keith's image. He was looking up at her, his dark eyes bottomless. She reached out and touched the screen before she knew what she was doing. He did the same. She didn't know what it meant, but she suddenly felt a tightening in her gut at the thought that they would not see each other again. She had been worried about him before, but not like this. And he was feeling the same as she did...she could see that. For a moment, the klaxons and orders disappeared into the background and all she could see and hear was him.

"Be there when I come back," he said.

"I will be if you make sure you come back," she said.

"It's a deal."

He smiled briefly and she returned it as best she could and then they both turned away. She pushed a button and the distress signal was sent.

"Someone come," she muttered. Then she turned and spotted Sven. "Lead the evacuation," she said to him. "Take them down as deep and as far away from here as they can go."

He nodded and jogged off. Romelle looked worriedly at his retreating back but said nothing. She caught Allura's eye.

"Go with him," the Princess of Arus said.

Romelle nodded and went after him. Allura turned back to the viewscreen. Her lips thinned.

"Are the fighters ready?" she asked.

"Yes," Coran replied.

"Are the castle's cannons manned?"

"Yes."

"Fire them all," she said. "Launch the squadrons and the ATVs. Let's give them all we've got."