“I’ve contacted Galaxy Garrison and have informed them that Captain Keith is now missing in action,” Coran said, looking from one morose face to another gathered around the Conference Hall table.
The dark circles under their eyes and their pale faces were mere reflections of the sorrow and anger each of the members of the Force had been going through for the past two days. Coran wished that he could spare them this – but they had to go on or Arus would be lost. He took a deep breath and went on.
“Space Marshall Graham has promised to send a replacement pilot to us as soon as possible,” he said, noting the startled, indignant expressions of the people around the table. “However, we are, at the moment, strategically weak with only four lions at our disposal. We are hoping that the Castle of Lions will be able to provide a sufficient back-up defense system in the meantime.”
Lance, eyes smoldering, opened his mouth to say something when Coran held up his hand for silence and stood up, moving behind Lance’s chair with a grave expression. “Since the Captain… left us… before the Princess had been sufficiently trained to pilot the Black Lion and lead the team, it has been decided by both Marshall Graham and myself to offer the position of leader of the Voltron Force to Lance.”
“No.” Lance immediately bolted up from his chair, glaring at Coran. His eyes burned with unshed tears, blazing with fury. “No. How can you give up Keith like this, like he’s just some expendable robot pilot? After he’s given so much to all of you?” he asked hoarsely. “It’s only been two days, Coran. Two days. He deserves more than this, dammit – and I’ll be just as damned if I take the position of a friend and my superior officer when he’s still alive!”
Coran sighed, anticipating this reaction. The rest of the members of the Force, the Princess among them, were still in a state of stunned shock at the announcement of Lance’s promotion, but he felt the tension and emotion in the room increase tenfold at Lance’s outburst.
“Lance, I do not mean to give up on Captain Keith,” Coran explained softly, his voice heavy with regret. “He was more than just a pilot to me, he was also a friend whom I respected highly, and I, too, feel his loss. However, he would understand that under the circumstances, with already one lion down, it would be near impossible to deploy the team on a rescue mission to a destination we are not even aware of.”
Coran lay a hand on Lance’s rigid shoulder. “I know that had I been the one missing, he would stop at nothing until he found me, whether dead or living. But I also know that he would agree with me that the Voltron Force cannot survive without a leader, even a temporary one,” Coran continued meeting Lance’s confused, emotion-filed dark eyes. “And as second-in-command it’s your responsibility to take over for him.”
“Coran’s right, Lance,” Pidge finally piped up from his seat, causing all eyes to turn to him. His lower lip was trembling and his glasses were fogged over, hiding his eyes. “Keith was like a big brother to me, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to have him back, but we can’t keep on waiting in limbo like this forever. This is what he would want you to do.”
Hunk silently nodded in agreement.
The Princess said nothing, but she stood up and walked in front of Lance, her blue gaze lost and far away, as if she were reliving a distant memory. Then she focused on him and gave a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes, holding out her hand to him.
Lance drew a sharp breath, then released it on a shuddering sigh. Reluctantly he took the Princess’ hand and knelt before her, kissing it lightly and silently pledging his loyalty to her and her planet and accepting the responsibility for its defense, in the same way that Keith had done so many months ago.
He let the Princess’ hand go, stood up and looked around the table, his face breaking into a ghost of a grin. “Well, now,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Aren’t you guys worried about what a power-hungry, daredevil tyrant like me will do to abuse my temporary position?” he joked.
“Oh, I’m sure that between Hunk and me, we can stuff you in one of Nanny’s kitchen garbage bags and throw you into the lake if you get any ideas,” Pidge cracked back, causing everyone to let out a small chuckle, even the pensive Princess. It was the first laugh any of them had had in days.
Coran nodded in approval. It was good to hear the young ones get some of their spirit back.
“I called you all in here because of something else,” Coran said, after they had all sat around the table again. A three-dimensional holograph map of the Denubian Galaxy appeared on the table before them. He shifted the focus on one of the small moons of a nearby planet called Shiloh.
“Our sensors say that there has been an unusually large amount of energy being expended behind this moon of Shiloh for the past 24 hours,” he explained. “Considering the recent attack on us only two days ago, it’s easy to surmise that Zarkon’s forces could be behind this energy build-up as well.”
“And he’s up to no good as usual,” Hunk interjected, balling his hand into a fist and pounding the table, causing the hologram to waver and then fade out, earning a reproachful glance from his friends. “Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Allura said with a perplexed frown, the first words she had spoken since she had greeted everyone a good morning before the conference started. “They must know that we don’t have Keith – so why are they giving us time to regroup instead of attacking us while we’re practically defenseless?”
“I thought that, too, Princess,” Lance said with a dark frown of his own. “It also doesn’t make sense that they didn’t kill Keith off instead of kidnapping him and taking you instead.” His eyes began to sparkle with a battle-hungry glint. “Unless… unless they plan to use him for something else other than bait.”
“Wait a sec.” Pidge looked from Lance to the Princess’ hopeful face. “Look, I don’t mean to be a wet blanket here, but you’re assuming that Keith really was kidnapped,” he pointed out. “His disappearance and the energy build-up behind Shiloh’s moon could be totally independent events. Maybe it’s wrong for us to hope that he’s been taken in ali… ”
“Pidge, you have a genius IQ – and it doesn’t
take someone to be a genius to figure that the two events are related,”
Lance cut in before Pidge could finish his sentence, his voice rather irritated.
Allura shook her head vehemently, then reached
out to touch the younger boy’s hand. “It’s never wrong to hope, Pidge,”
she said solemnly, looking reassuringly into his eyes. “I know it’s a small
hope to clutch at, and you’re afraid to do so, but having this hope is
better than having nothing at all.” She smiled, although it obviously took
much effort. “He’s alive, Pidge. I believe that.”
“So what are they waiting for? They can already have us as it is,” Hunk said, scratching his head. “Without Black Lion, there’s no Voltron; without Voltron – well, you guys know what happens then. Why are they holding off?”
“Possibly because they’re not yet ready. Whatever it is Haggar is planning still hasn’t fallen into place,” Lance said slowly. “If they had brought as much firepower in this area two days ago, they would not have been able to pull off that ambush because we would have been on to them. And there’s a big possibility that Keith will play a big role in whatever it is that that old witch is cooking up for us.”
“So what are we supposed to do now?” Pidge asked, raking his small hand through his hair in frustration. “Are we just supposed to sit here like sitting ducks, waiting for Haggar to attack?”
“Why don’t we rush them first then?” Hunk asked
impatiently. “Let’s blast them out of the sky before they have everything
in place! Let’s get them first.” He smashed his fist on the table yet again.
“At least this way, we might be able to save Arus from the damage.” He
suddenly smiled. “Hey… I actually have my appetite again!”
Pidge nodded eagerly at the suggestion. “We’ve
faced those ships before and had them running, even without forming Voltron.
We stand a better chance out there than in here. I say we go.”
Lance turned to Coran. “I agree with them all – although I’m warning you that I can’t promise to fly Black Lion as well as Keith can,” he said. “Besides, after Haggar's amassed enough forces, she'll attack here anyway, in which case the Castle will become Arus’ last line of defense. We might as well do this the fun way. ”
“But what if Keith is really being held hostage on one of those ships?” Allura asked quietly, her eyes moving from one excited face to another. “Would you risk blasting him out of the sky as well?”
A heavy silence fell upon the table as the import of the Princess’ words hit them.
Lance sighed, his shoulders slumping. “You’re right there, too, Princess. But we have to choose, we have to move, ” he finally said.
“Do you really think he would agree to those terms if it had been anyone else in the team captured?” Allura exclaimed, distraught now. They could see her trembling. “Do really think he would risk any of you?”
“Given this situation, yes, if it had been anyone but you, Princess,” Lance countered firmly, his tight hold on his temper slackening. “Do you think it’s easy for me to make this decision? Keith is my best friend – and it was my decision to leave him behind, orders or no orders. If he dies, that’s a burden I will have to live with for the rest of my life. But for the sake of our sanity, we have to hope that, if he has been taken by Haggar, he’s been transported to Doom.”
At Allura’s stricken expression and tear-filled eyes, Lance took her hand in his reassuringly. “Tell you what, Princess, we’ll wait out tonight and see if Haggar will contact us for the terms for Keith’s ransom,” he said, looking at the others for their approval.
They all nodded and Lance went on. “If by tomorrow morning there is no word and no change in Doom activity, we attack them and go for Keith after,” he concluded. Allura was biting her lip and holding back tears. “This is what Keith would want us to do. You know that, Princess.”
Allura nodded reluctantly. She looked from one
face to another, seeing her fear for Keith reflected in each of her friends’
eyes. She took a shuddering breath. “If – if you would please excuse me...
I would like to… to retire,” she said, her voice wavering. Before the others
could stand and bid her a proper farewell, she stood up abruptly and swept
out of the room. Once the door swished closed, she leaned against it, breathing
deeply, hiding her face in her hands in a futile attempt to stem the hot
tears streaming down her cheeks.