Author's Notes: The story starts after episode 2 "Defenders of Arus" and will be weaving between some scenes from episode 3 "Defenders of the Universe," but not too much. There is only one bit mentioned from episode 23 "Roots of Evil" though but that was it. What else? I was intrigued with Kala and her prickly interaction with Maahox as seen in the show so I thought something else must have gone wrong between these two.

Thanks keithandallura for the image since I messed up my own version. *grinz*

/words italized/ - means Kala's recorded message as recalled by Vela while following Zanir.

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron or any of the recognizable characters that populate this universe, the vehicles, and settings. All the other characters and planets created are sole property of the author. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment and relief from work. (lolz) I am not receiving money for this story.

Arus Eyes

CHAPTER ONE

The bond thrummed whenever he reached out for her through his thoughts, ever since he had come in to her life, Allura had associated the cool, steady, and tempered fire as Keith.

"Last minute royal duties?" Keith's hand was a feather touch on her shoulder, making sure he wasn't interrupting as she read the constable's report posted on the monitor. He pulled up a seat beside her and started accessing the same reports sent by Chief Andros. He also brought up several of Coran's side notes on the matter.

This had been customary for many years as Coran eased Allura in to the duties of a ruling monarch while carrying her responsibility as an integral part of the Voltron team. The transition years were long and trying. There was even a time when Allura heavily considered stepping down from piloting Blue, but she knew in her heart it wasn't time yet.

However, Allura understood she will one day give way to the new pilot, and once she came to realize this certainty and shared those thoughts with Keith, she had felt at peace. Coran and Allura agreed to do this transition until a suitable pilot came to take her place. Then Allura would take on the mantle as sovereign ruler which her father had left her.

It was moments like these that Allura took advantage without Coran hovering too much like a mother hen to keep abreast of her planet's affairs. It was a regular routine for her before she ended the day in the castle. Since Coran left Arus a week ago in order to attend a galactic assembly, the elderly statesman left some extra castle duties for Allura to oversee while he was away.

Allura's concern flared across her comely countenance while she tabbed the next report as she continued going through related news cases from another township. "Two cases from Lazar Province and two in town?" She belatedly acknowledged the masculine fingers interlacing with hers, successfully drawing her attention away from her console, and regarded the person seated next to her.

"It looks like they could be related." Keith affectionately squeezed her hand and she appreciatively reciprocated in return.

"I'd like to check this out and visit Chief Andros." She sent out an electronic message to the chief constable to expect her visit tomorrow.

Their mental touch was similar to the morning glow of the coming of dawn. It was warm, vibrant and enshrouding. Here, the internal life connection they shared made their hearts sing in glorious unison.

It could be described as ribbons of light. Well, it was how Allura imagined it when she explained the phenomenon to Keith before. She was grateful she found her knight from the stars. A smile broke across her countenance as she caught their reflection off Keith's monitor. Keith was grinning back and immediately pressed the button for the console's camera to take a photo of them.

"Sneaky." Allura chuckled and watched Keith type her pass codes, accessing her private archives to add a copy of their picture.

"I thought you needed one." He completed the file addition while maintaining his grin, "and since one-armed Lance will be busy with the cadets, I'm free to help." He smiled while he went to check the castle's array defenses.

"Thank you. I'll also see if I can get Larmina an early off from her studies. I need to teach my niece the other aspects of royal duties."

Keith chuckled. Allura heard him after all.

"Be insubordinate again, Captain, and I will be teaching you the finer things of the Haggarium quasar." Kala severed the commlink and bristled.

Commander Kala's statuesque frame reflected off the port-window of her office as she gazed out from the only relief of the ship's monotonous interior design. Having this window in the office was the only reason she would take this ship for extended space missions. She cannot remember how this quirk of needing a window was crucial for her, how it came about and why she could not get rid of it no matter how many 'sessions' she attended.

All the mind-numbing talk about examining choices and whatever made her tick had worn her down to the point that the routine meetings became tiresome. She felt violated admitting to her physician her unguarded thoughts, so silencing him was a prudent call. However, when assignments came, Commander Kala was surprised to have been assigned to the new star-cluster cruisers group, thus confirming the rumors that the walls of a so-called private clinic have ears.

The stars lengthened into straight beams of light the moment her ship went to hyperspeed. She needed the quiet to compose her thoughts, away from the curious ears of her command crew. She could not trust any of them even if her life depended on it. Yet there was one she could trust which made her skin crawl, because trusting another Drule was a foreign concept to her and she rarely shared trust among her peers.

Kala had had her fair share of dealings with DI (Drule Intelligence) agents before, but she had made an unlikely ally more than five years ago when Vela rescued her from a trap. Kala later found out Maahox had implemented it, but instead of tipping her hand to the scientist, she kept her mouth shut and started devising her plans. She knew the ranks within the intelligence community were rife with backstabbers and turncoats, which was why it befuddled her that she placed her trust in Vela. As always, whenever she found herself introspecting, she knew she was having a bad day.

She dismissed her dead-end musings and turned her attention to the portable tablets that miraculously piled into a mountain atop her table before checking the time on her chronometer. She still had time to make an audio message. A stubborn thought pushed out. She knew if one of Maahox's plans turned south, she was likely the next victim of convenient circumstance.

She brought a fist done on the desk, rattling the tablets from their neat stack. The need to outsmart Maahox has blinded her, and for two years his endgame still eluded her. A line of curses sprang from her lips. Time wasn't on her side now. She could feel the treacherous scientist had something in store for her,and there was nothing to quell the growing feeling of betrayal swirling at the pit of her stomach. She hated being pushed into a corner and realized that what she was going to do next was tantamount to her crying for help.

Kala switched the recorder on. She wondered if the intended listeners would be on the other side of this link once the code was cycled and activated. Vela and the other four had gone dark so many years ago and news of their whereabouts was always hazy. There was no turning back. She needed someone to know. Kala began her message.

/"If you have received this message then my life has been deemed forfeit."/

The Arusian night was a glorious evening, and it caught her breath when she decided to behold the sight for a few minutes. She was not familiar with these constellations yet relished the idea of spending time getting acquainted with these stars, perhaps even staying on this planet. She shook her head when her target made a sound below her. She had been following the man for an hour and was puzzled by his most circuitous route tonight unlike the previous week. She wondered if he had plans in going to the hideout at all. On the roof, she easily melted into the shadow as if it was a waiting lover.

Zanir, a man with a lumbering gait, stopped for the third time and turned around to check the darkened streets of the town. He was about to pass the last house when the prickly feeling that he wasn't alone came back again. He gulped. He wasn't good at this, and for the life of him he didn't know why he had to accept. No! He knew why. That Drule scientist had his daughter. He would do anything to keep her safe. His hand drew up and patted down the thin sheen of perspiration off his forehead with his sleeve despite the cool breeze entering the town. He hated these meetings. He quickly ducked behind the last house and made his way to the vacant and disused patch of land, then came up to a high wall. He walked the length of it and proceeded through one crumbling section, which opened onto a disused property.

Zanir shone his flashlight around for signs of being followed. He poked through the shadows as far as the beam would let him. He wasn't afraid of being seen now that he was out of the town limits. Now, suspicion was his ally since he owned the property even in its disused state. The wars had ravaged his finances, and his business as a jeweler hasn't picked up as he had hoped. With what little money he had he could care for the land, little by little. Satisfied there was no one else on his property, he trudged on.

The night deepened. The only remaining trees on the property provided ominous shadows on the ground. He almost thought a Robeast was out to claim his life. He stopped to steady his racing heart while he glanced up the gentle incline where the moon was a baleful watcher.

/"You will find all the information I have gathered since the last time we met face to face."/

A female hooded figure waited at the opening of the border wall and observed Zanir's slow progress up the incline. She watched him reach the top of the incline before disappearing completely from her sight. She sprinted the distance, keeping to the shadows until the shadows retreated from the moon's interfering grace. She hugged the ground and switched her visor on. The incline bottomed out to a dried riverbed, and Zanir walked along the bank until he arrived at an old well.

He was doing something on one brick that Vela could barely make out from her spot. Manipulating the compact control pad sewn to her vambrace, she managed to increase her visor's magnifying range. "Another different code," she pressed the recording button of her visor to enable the recording.

Vela lowered her head when the man glanced up in her general direction. Before she could snake her way down, she felt the pangs of her old pain sear her insides. The burn on her nerves left her gasping for breath and it took much of her willpower to clamp her mouth to prevent from crying out in pure agony. With trembling fingers, she adjusted her wrist medical scanner and was surprised at the level of toxins that had flooded her nervous system. She quickly assigned the necessary dosage and the portable device did the rest. She felt a small prick under her wrist and immediately her body stopped quaking, and soon she was able to lie on her back. She began to breathe steady and the wrenching pain in her chest dissipated into an echo until it was gone, replaced by a relaxed beat of her heart.

"Kala, what have you gotten yourself into." She breathed out to the stars, waiting for the antidote to take the numbing off her lower extremities. She finally turned on her belly and, as expected, the man had already left. She checked her scan and found a new blip several meters away from her position. "This is going to be a busy night." Quickly, she activated her shadow mode and sped down the incline. She reached the well in minutes. Vela reviewed the recording and entered the codes accordingly on the selected bricks.

/"Maahox has projects that Lotor is not privy to as of yet. One are these Haggarium plants he wishes to cultivate in various planets and Arus is one of them."/

The well parted in half, affording a glimpse of a secret stairway below. She crouched on the top of the gloomy stairway, old instincts coming to the fore, wary of any secret security feature and whatever else they might throw at her in a moment's notice. Convinced her scans were giving her green across the board, she swiftly descended the stairs and darkness swallowed her. The well was a mute bystander again.

/"Vela, it will fall on you to permanently terminate Maahox now."/