Keith shook his head as Larmina put Vince on the ground yet again. "Balance, Vince. She's going to keep knocking you down if you don't…"

"No offense Keith, but she's going to keep knocking me down unless I get to start fighting her with a Lion." Vince rubbed his neck with a grimace as he stood with a hand from Larmina. "Could we maybe take a break?"

"Yeah, my arm is getting sore from helping Vince up," Larmina added.

"All right. Ten minute break. Get some water and be back here ready to…"

A beep from his Voltcom interrupted him. "Keith! We've got a problem. I need you in the Control Room right now."

"On my way, Pidge." He sprinted through the door, aware that the cadets were on his heels. It was hard not to be a little proud. "What's the…" He paused in the doorway, both cadets bumping into his back.

Allura was already in the Control Room, leaning over Pidge as he typed frantically. Keith focused his attention from the distracting rear view to what she was saying with a note of panic in her voice, "How can there be no signal? Where are they?"

"There's too much interference from the explosion to get a clear signal. I can't get even get a clear read on Red Lion's tracking beacon. We may just have to give it a few minutes."

"What if they can't wait that long? What if they need us?"

"Then we'll be there." Keith settled a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't even turn to look at him. He asked, "What's the situation?"

Pidge's fingers never stopped flying over the keys as he said, "The base Lance and Daniel were investigating had some kind of automatic self-destruct that blew up the planet shortly after they arrived."

Hunk was suddenly standing on Keith's other side and he realized that he still had his hand on Allura's shoulder. Hunk didn't seem to notice him quickly pull it off, as he was squinting at one of the video displays. "Did you just say a planet blew up?"

Pidge frowned. "It was small and uninhabited, most likely due to the volcanic activity. That's probably why Wade picked it, too. I have no idea what he could have been developing that could have produced that kind of blast."

"What about Lance and Daniel?"

"I'm working on it."

Keith decided to take matters into his own hands, shouting into his Voltcom. "Lance? Lance, do you read me?" When nothing but static came in reply, he nodded emphatically. "Right. Pidge, send their last coordinates to Black and Yellow. How long will it take me to get there?"

"Don't you mean us?"

He had to stop himself from smiling when he turned to confront Allura. He found it hard to argue with her when she put on her 'queen face,' as Lance called it. It was really a whole aura that she seemed to be able to turn on at will. Her chin jutted out ever so slightly and her eyes shone. She even seemed taller. Of course she would want to be there for her teammates, but if something had gone seriously wrong…Keith didn't want to see a different shine in her eyes. No. He refused to let himself think the worst. Besides, it was Lance – luck was practically part of his genetic makeup. Like Pidge had said, it was just a matter of interference. Keith straightened his shoulders. No matter what her title, he was the commander of the Voltron Force. "Hunk and I will go, Princess. We shouldn't leave Arus unprotected before all the ball guests have left. If Doom attacks and no one is here to defend…"

"Fine, Hunk can stay. I'm coming with you to…"

"No. Only Hunk and I are going. You, Pidge and the cadets will remain here to…"

"Keith, I won't just sit here while…"

The comms suddenly crackled to life. "Pidge? Pidge! Where the hell are you?"

Allura was the first to respond, "Lance! Lance, are you okay?"

"Little banged up, but otherwise fine. So's Daniel. Red conked out on me for a minute when the blast hit and I had to reboot. We're holed up in a cave on one of the bigger asteroids in the field near Ikaria. Does anyone have some idea what's happening out there?"

"It's tough to get anything concrete right now." Pidge seemed to be typing faster than ever. "It's going to take time to sift through all these readings. It might be safer if you stay where you are until we have a better idea of what's happening. There's a ton of debris out there and I still have no idea what could have caused the entire planet to explode."

"The whole planet exploded? Well, that explains a lot." The channel was still jumbled, but Lance's sarcasm came through loud and clear. "So we should just hang out? And here I forgot to pack my deck of cards."

"I'll keep you updated."

"Yeah, that's…" The channel suddenly cut out.

"Lance? Lance?" Allura again sounded almost panicked.

"It's okay, Princess. Just more interference from the explosion." Pidge struck a few keys before finally taking a break. "It looks like communication is going to be spotty for a while, but I have a clear lock on Red's tracking beacon. We'll have a pretty good idea of what's going on with them."

Keith folded his arms, feeling much better about the situation. "Should we rendezvous with them in Black and Yellow?"

"Not if they can make it out on their own. I think it might be best to stay out of the Faros sector for a while, at least until I've had a chance to analyze all the data. There was something strange about that explosion."

"All right." He turned to Hunk. "Be ready to launch once Pidge gives us the all clear or if we hear anything serious from Lance. Cadets, I think your break is over."

He tried to follow a grumbling Vince and Larmina, but his path was blocked. Allura was getting a lot of use out of her queen-face this morning. "I'm sorry, did you just say we're going to wait and see what happens rather than mounting a rescue mission right now?"

"You heard Lance. They don't need to be rescued."

"Well, I think the fact that he's keeping Red in a cave rather than speeding through the wreckage of a planet like it's a fun new obstacle course means the situation is pretty serious. Just because he isn't saying it doesn't mean he doesn't need us."

Keith found her logic hard to debate, but "Princess, if we go in before we have all the information, we could put the whole team at risk. Give Pidge time to figure out what caused the explosion."

"Can't we find a point closer to the Faros sector where we can wait? That way we'll be able to get there faster once we know it's safe to go in?"

"We have no idea how long it's going to take for…"

"Whoa."

Keith was thankful for the interruption, as he felt he was losing ground in his argument with Allura. "Something you'd like to share with the rest of us, Pidge?"

"What? Oh, sorry. It's just that I think I know why the bang was so big. According to these readings, the reactor inside the base was ardillium-based. There are strict regulations on the amount of ardillium that can be used in any power source and this one surpassed them by at least an order of magnitude. I didn't even realize this much ardillium existed in one place outside the Qirillian singularity."

Allura looked as if she'd received a small electric shock. "Did you say Qirillian?"

"They're a minor empire that just recently entered the Galaxy Alliance. Is there something important about it?"

"No, no. It's just…the Qirillian royal family was here for the ball. It was the first time I'd even heard of them. But it's just a coincidence." She shook her head in a way that told Keith she didn't believe it.

He decided to ask her about it later. "What about this ardillium? Is it dangerous?"

"It's highly reactive." Pidge called up a graph on the holoscreen. "It produces energy like almost nothing else in the galaxy, but it can only be used in small quantities because it's so hard to control. The explosion not only destroyed the planet, but released a lot of gamma radiation. Red's specialized shielding should be enough to protect Lance and Daniel for a short time, but I don't think the rest of our Lions would have enough shielding to keep out that much radiation."

Keith couldn't help but feel justified in his caution. "And that, Princess, is why we won't be flying into the Faros sector."

"Pidge would have been able to warn us long before we got there." She narrowed her eyes at him before turning away. "Pidge, you said Red's shielding would protect them for a short time? How long, exactly?"

"Several hours. The next time a communications channel opens, I'll let them know they need to get out as soon as it's safe enough to fly through the debris field. And Red will have to go through decontamination before landing on Arus."

"I'll get the scrubber ship ready!" Hunk proclaimed. "Vince, Larmina! It's not a Lion, but you should still know how to fly it." The cadets followed him out of the Control Room before Keith could tell them hand-to-hand would continue once they got back.

Allura had taken a seat beside Pidge. "How long until we can reestablish comms?"

"I'm trying to find a band that can cut through the radiation with minimal distortion. It could take a few minutes."

"Keep me updated." She suddenly stood and ran from the room.

"Same here," Keith shouted to a disconcerted Pidge as he followed her out of the Control Room. "Allura?" He saw a flash of blonde hair rounding a corner. "Allura, wait." She seemed to be heading in the direction of her room, so he took a shortcut. He stepped out in front of her just before she reached the staircase. "Allura, are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine." She finally looked up at him. It was heartbreaking. "I just…there was something I needed to talk to Lance about but I didn't see him before he left this morning and then I was angry at him and when I thought…oh, Keith." She suddenly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. After a moment's hesitation, he returned the hug. "What if something had happened and I never…" She buried her face in his shoulder.

He waited a moment for her to continue before saying, "Lance is fine. So is Daniel."

"I know. I just…" She abruptly pulled back and he noted that her eyes were shining in the way he'd feared. If a tear dropped, he was fairly certain he would brush it away and then…this was not the moment for those thoughts. She blinked and her eyes seemed to clear. "I'm sorry. The thought of losing any of you, especially after…everything was supposed to be better, you know?"

"It will be." He gently pulled her into another hug; she didn't resist. "We've taken care of Wade and we'll find all his bases. In spite of what happened today, he's not a threat anymore. And we'll defeat Lotor and Doom again. Besides, you'd get bored sitting on a throne all day."

"I don't even have a throne."

"You know what I mean." He smiled at her as he stepped back. "Arus is rebuilding, Voltron is back. There's nothing to worry about."

"As long as Red Lion comes back safe."

"I've known Lance for a long time. Nothing will prevent him from completing the mission."

"I know. Sometimes I wonder which one of you is more stubborn."

"I think you could give us both some healthy competition there." That finally got a smile from her. "Want to head back to the Control Room?"

"Yes. Gods, what must Pidge think of me right now?"

"You could tell him you really had to use the bathroom." Her laugh was like music to his ears. They had almost reached the door of the Control Room when he remembered something that had bothered him – something not about how concerned she was about Lance. "By the way, you mentioned that the Qirillians were here. Was there something about them that bothered you?"

"Other than their overly obsequious prince? Not…not really. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"No you're not."

"Okay, but…even if they are the only source of this ardillium, it doesn't mean they were working with Wade. And even if they were, he could have been blackmailing them somehow. I mean, look what he did to Ebb."

Keith had to concede that it was entirely possible. "Still we should be careful around them."

"Agreed. Let's see if Pidge has been able to get back in touch with Lance yet."

Keith noticed that her smile when she saw that Pidge had established a video link to Red Lion was different than the ones she had given him. She was probably just happy to see Lance safe.