Chapter Two

Hunk sat silently next to Pidge's bed, listening to the hypnotic beeping of the heart monitor. The youngest member of the Voltron Force had severe wounds sustained from the beating the Ro-Beast gave Green Lion, but he was out of danger now. Doctor Gorma had admitted that they had some scary moments. His body had been broken when he was cut out of the mess of wire and metal that was now Green Lion. If he had been in there for much longer, he would have surely died. His helmet had protected his head, but nothing protected his body as it slammed again and again against the seat restraints whlie the Ro-Beast had shaken the Lion. Doctor Gorma had put him in a deep sleep from which he would waken when the doctor deemed him healed enough.

Pidge stirred. Hunk studied him, his mouth turning down at the corners. Pidge's face was bruised, but was otherwise uninjured. The rest of his body was swathed in white bandages, wires and tubes coming in and out of various places. He was being fed intravenously and he had the look of someone walking on the edge of death. Hunk reached out and took his friend's much smaller and slender hand in his own beefy one and squeezed gently.

"You're gonna be alright, Little Buddy," he said, his voice shaking. "The Princess saved your life."

Gwen walked into the room, Morgan clinging onto her hand. The little girl was walking much more steadily and was given to taking a few steps on her own before falling on her rump. Pidge loved helping her along. Gwen smiled at Hunk, her brown eyes understanding. He took the hand she held out and grasped it like a lifeline. Morgan let go of her mother's other hand and hopped onto his lap. He cuddled her.

"He's so young," Hunk said. "I wish it had been me..."

"He'll be fine," Gwen soothed. "You're pretty young yourself, you know. None of us should have gone through what we have."

Hunk looked up at her face and saw the echo of pain. But it disappeared when she met his eyes.

"We have to get back to work," she said quietly, hesitant to interrupt his time with Pidge, but they had too much to do.

"I know," he said. "I just wanted to stop by and see how he was doing."

"Everyone's been by," she told him. "With this much support, Pidge will be up and around in no time."

Hunk stood, still holding Morgan, and allowed Gwen to lead him out of the room. There were too many fighters that needed his magic touch and he was wanted at the repair bay.

Keith woke up with a start. His bleary gaze shot to the chronometer by his bed and he swore under his breath when he saw that he had slept six hours, not the two he had planned. He threw back the bedcovers and pulled on his flightsuit, as he made his way to the door. Suddenly, his foot snagged in the leg of the suit and he fell face first into the floor. He lay there in stunned disbelief and felt his mind clear somewhat.

What am I doing? he asked himself. This is not the way to react to a situation. I am an Alliance officer...I am the leader of the Voltron Force...too many people are counting on me.

Slowly, he sat up and carefully put his clothes on. As if he had all the time in the world, he slid his feet into his boots and frowned when he realized he was one hand short. Sighing, he simply tucked the laces into the boots so he wouldn't step on them. All the while, he concentrated on locking up his emotions until there was time for him to let them out again. When he lifted his head, his face was determined, but showed none of the strain and anger that had been there moments before. He got up and left his quarters to Castle Control. When he got there, Lance and Coran were sitting at the command console, both looking exhausted, their eyes glazed over. Keith calmly moved towards them. Coran looked up to see him approach and managed a weak smile. Lance looked a bit guilty, as he had purposely let Keith rest and prepared himself for an outburst. But when he got a closer look at his friend, he realized that there wouldn't be one.

The rest must have done him a lot more good than I expected, he thought.

"Any word on Allura?" Keith asked gravely.

"No, not yet," Coran replied. "The other ships have left the area, at least according to our scans but, the flagship seems to be in orbit around Arus. They haven't tried made contact."

"What does he want," Keith muttered. "Hasn't he already done enough?"

"For Zarkon's generals, destruction and murder isn't nearly enough," Coran said with disgust. "I only hope that Her Majesty hasn't been touched."

A muscle in Keith's cheeks twitched, but he said nothing. The thought of Niloc's hands touching Allura's innocence was enough to make him want to jump in Black Lion and tear the man's--no thing's--head off. He kept his expression neutral, though his knuckles were white as he clenched the back of Lance's seat. He was sure there would be finger marks when he let go.

"Allura wouldn't allow it," he said calmly.

"No," Lance agreed. "She wouldn't. Besides, I don't think Niloc is of that sort. At least, he didn't take her to have his evil way. He has something else in mind."

"What do you think it is?" Coran inquired.

Lance threw Keith a quick glance. Niloc took Allura because of Keith. He wanted to hurt Keith where he knew it would hurt the most. He stole a woman Keith felt strongly about, just as a woman in his own life had been stolen from him.

Someone is definitely long overdue for a LOT of therapy, he mused.

Catching Lance's look and knowing what he was thinking, Keith wondered how Niloc could have possibly known about how close he and Allura were.

And you'll pay for this, the same way I paid for it, Keith thought.

"Oh, guess what?" Lance said, a sly smile on his face.

"Now isn't the time for games," Keith said sternly.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Take that stick out of your ass. Anyway, we found a downed enemy fighter. Hunk thinks he can fix it up good as new."

Keith's eyebrows rose. "Good. That was a lucky break. We're going to need it when we go after Allura."

"I hope the Princess is alright," Coran said, closing his eyes briefly. He looked older then, his wrinkles standing out as his face sagged with exhaution.

"I think you should get some rest, Coran," Lance said worriedly. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"I must stay up..."

"Go. I'll take over from here," Keith said. "You can trust us with this. Allura's important to us, too." To me.

Coran nodded. "Alright. But wake me at the first sign of trouble. Even if it's just a suspicion."

"You got it," Lance assured him.

Coran shuffled out of the room, one hand rubbing his forehead. Keith took the seat he had just vacated. He looked over the readings and didn't look even half satisfied with what he saw.

"We can't get the shield power up as high as Pidge had it," Lance explained, his lips tightening at the mention of the fallen pilot. "We need him."

"How is he?" Keith asked, biting back the worry and guilt he felt surging up. He would deal wtih it later.

"Gorma put him in a coma so he could get all the rest he needs," Lance answered. "He says it'll be a couple days."

"Can't Hunk put the shield back up?"

"He's got his hands full with the repairs," Lance replied.

"Who do you have working on it?" Keith demanded.

"The shield maintenance guys," Lance said. "They're the only ones who are familiar with the design, but they don't have the necessary skills to really put it back together."

"There has to be someone around here who does."

"I do."

They both turned and saw Calendi walking towards them. Her curly red hair was tied tightly in a ponytail and her slender form was poured into a fitted red jumpsuit. They could see each muscle bunch and flex as she walked. If he had liked her, Lance would have drooled and promised to be her servant for life. As it stood, his lip only curled in distaste.

"Remind me to ask you later why you chose her," Lance said to Keith under his breath.

"I can get started on the shield right away," she said to them, not hearing what Lance had said.

"I don't remember reading anything about you being a techie," Keith said.

"Call it a hobby of mine," she said. "How 'bout it? I'm getting tired of sitting around here."

"Just a hobby," Lance said critically. "How do we know you're not going to blow it up?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I've seen the plans. I can understand what Pidge was doing. Go ahead and test me."

Lance and Keith exchanged a look. Lance was hesitant, but they had no other choice. Gwen would have been a good pick as well, but she was busy with the officer assignments. She had some training in the technical department, though not as extensive as Pidge and Hunk. Calendi would have to do for now.

Keith opened a link to the shield generator room. "I'm sending down Lieutenant Calendi to see if she can help you out," he said to the crew. "If she doesn't cut it, don't hesitate to send her back up."

"Yes, sir," someone replied.

"They're waiting for you," Keith told her.

She nodded and left. Lance turned on his communicator.

"Gwennie, as soon as you're done there, could you go check on the shield?"

"I don't think I can do anything about that, Lance," she replied. "I've looked at Pidge's schematics and I thought I was looking at a whole new language. It's hard to follow what he had done."

"Calendi is down there. I just want you make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Alright. DeSouza out."

Lance turned off the communicator and found Keith looking at him curiously.

"What?" Lance demanded. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You're good in this role, Lance," Keith said, a hint of pride in his voice. "A lot better than what I expected."

"Well don't think I'm going to take the commander exam anytime soon," Lance said, turning back to the console.

They lapsed into silence. Keith was pleased to see that everything was being worked on and the castle was slowly rebuilding its defenses. The laser cannons were already fully charged and ready to be used when they were needed. He was about to get up and check on the fighters when the long-range communicator beeped. His heart leaped in his throat and then he calmed when he saw that it was from an Alliance vessel. But he frowned when he didn't recognize the name of the ship.

"Castle Control, this is Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Silver. Please respond."

"Jeff," Keith replied. "Nice to hear from you."

"I just heard about Princess Allura," he said. "And Pidge. How is he doing?"

"He's going to pull through," Keith said.

"I just wanted to offer any assistance we can give you," Jeff said. "We're going to be nearby for a week or so to do some exercises. If Niloc comes back, we'll be at your side in a flash."

"Thank you, Jeff."

"I'll talk to you soon, Keith. Silver out."

Keith sat in contemplative silence. "What do you think they're up to?" he said after a while.

"Some secret mission," Lance replied.

"It better be a good secret," Keith said.