Published November 30, 2017

"Expecting the Unexpected"

Stars are beautiful, but they may not take an active part in anything, they must just look on for ever. It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was. So the older ones have become glassy-eyed and seldom speak (winking is the star language), but the little ones still wonder. They are not really friendly to Peter, who had a mischievous way of stealing up behind them and trying to blow them out; but they are so fond of fun that they were on his side to-night, and anxious to get the grown-ups out of the way. So as soon as the door of 27 closed on Mr. and Mrs. Darling there was a commotion in the firmament, and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out:

"Now, Peter!"

~ J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Keith was not certain where the event would take place, but whoever had made those carvings had based the astronomical calendar on their present location on Earth, so it would make sense for it to happen close to the cavern. He knew he would not sleep that night, probably should not.

Keith wondered if this was how prophets felt in the days leading up to the dates of predicted events: tense, excited, apprehensive, foreboding, afraid. It was hard to know how to feel, when both the fact and the nature of the event was in question.

What if nothing happened? Somehow Keith knew he would be disappointed if it turned out all his work had been groundless and fruitless. It would mean wasted time and wasted hopes—just like most of the good things that happened to him.

Maybe it was foolish to believe something was going to happen; but it seemed even more foolish to ignore all the signs pointing toward a momentous event. So Keith spent the preceding day getting ready, though he was not entirely sure how to do so.

He refueled and recharged his hoverbike and left it close enough to the front porch that he would be able to leap on it at a moment's notice if necessary. He took an inventory on all his supplies and made sure he had enough food and water to last a few days by himself or a shorter period with guests. It almost felt like preparing for an apocalypse, which made Keith wonder if he really was going crazy. While he worked, he listened to the radio for any unusual news bulletins, and continually checked the sky.

As the sun set and the stars became visible, Keith began his vigil. He planned to watch the skies more attentively than ever before (which was saying something, considering he had spent years aspiring to become an astronaut). He would stay awake all night, eating high-calorie snacks and sipping energy drinks to keep himself awake and alert. He would note every moving object in the sky, both aircraft and shooting stars.

He did not have to wait long. It was still only twilight when he saw the flying object. Its trajectory was not across a stretch of sky the way that of a shooting star, a ship en route, or a satellite in orbit would have been. The atmosphere around it glowed and seemed to be getting bigger and brighter, as though the object was approaching Earth.

Keith watched through his binoculars as the UFO came closer to Earth. It seemed to be a ship, but it did not look like one built by the Galaxy Garrison or any other known organization. He could tell from the changing colors that it was entering the atmosphere. A mixture of fear and excitement gripped Keith as he watched, breathless. He noted the cardinal direction in which it seemed bound to land, and realized it was in the same direction as the Garrison. Less than a minute after its appearance, he lost sight of it as it went below the peaks of the mountains on the horizon.

It had happened. Something—or possibly someone—had arrived.

Keith had never wanted to entertain the idea of aliens—he knew he was already enough of a conspiracy theorist without going that far—but now it seemed a plausible possibility. Either that, or some secret organization had made its own ships and sent them into space without the public's knowledge.

And for this to have happened less than a year after the Kerberos mission's crew disappeared … could it have something to do with them? Had they survived and found a way home? Keith was afraid to let himself hope for what he really wanted.

Keith did not know if the Garrison had been anticipating something like this, but now that it had happened, it would not be long before they got to the site of the crash. He would have to act fast. If he could not beat them to it, he would have to create a diversion to draw them away.

He loaded all his pyrotechnic equipment onto his hoverbike, which he brought to full speed, heading in the direction of the crash. He knew full well what anyone would think if they saw him now. They would consider him a madman, not just a conspiracy theorist but a menace. There was something almost satisfying about that idea. Maybe he would be arrested, then imprisoned or executed. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, if this turned out not to be what he was consciously or unconsciously hoping it was.

He found the crash site after the Garrison had already arrived. They were in the process of recovering the vehicle, and had set up a temporary building. Keith's extensive trips around the desert enabled him to find a good vantage point to watch them without being seen. He had to get inside and see what they had found; and on top of that, now was his chance to make fools of the Garrison.

Moving quickly on foot, he set up a string of explosives, then detonated them remotely so he could move in while the Garrison goons headed toward the explosions. They did not even leave guards in place, so Keith was able to enter undeterred.

Once inside the main room, the officers' medical equipment and hazardous materials suits revealed that the building was a hospital. Someone lay strapped to a gurney in the center of the room.

Keith knew they probably had the right stuff to knock him out, and then there would likely be no escape for him. So he attacked them first, knocking each of them to the floor before leaping over them to look at the gurney.

A tall, muscular man in dark purple clothes lay strapped to the table, unmoving. Keith pulled his bandana down from his mouth, leaned over, and turned the man's head toward him so he could see his face.

It was Shiro.

There was no mistaking him, yet he looked different: his skin was paler, a scar ran across his nose, and his bangs were white. He looked older, but only as much as someone who had gone through trauma, not as though there had been any weird time differences like in science fiction.

Through his shock, Keith knew he did not have time to rejoice or puzzle over Shiro's return. He had to get Shiro away from the Garrison, if they were going to keep him locked up like a criminal. The Garrison had separated Shiro from him before; Keith would not let them do so again.

He pulled out his knife and cut Shiro free, but before he could carry him out, another teenager barged in, flanked by two others, announcing he was there to save Shiro.

Keith had thought he was at maximum bewilderment, but this topped it. Who else would want to save Shiro? Who else could have known that Shiro was there and needed to be rescued?

The guy looked at him as though the answer was obvious. "Uh, the name's Lance?" When Keith did not respond, he pressed, "We were in the same class at the Garrison?"

It had been so long since he thought about his time at the Garrison, and Keith had so much on his mind tonight, that he could not immediately place this Lance guy in his memory.

Keith was not thrilled about having company, but he had no reason to reject help when it was offered. If these kids had both the ability and the desire to break into a high-security Garrison facility, they must have competent skills or pertinent information. And now they were also in trouble, crossing the line into criminal activity, so he could not very well leave them behind as the Garrison goons were returning from the explosion site. But they also added extra weight to his hoverbike, which was now their only means of escape.

Keith gained confidence as they flew down the treacherous terrain he had traveled over the past months. He knew this vehicle and these routes; he had made dangerous jumps across ravines and over cliffs before. He needed to adjust his movements and momentum for the extra weight of four passengers, but he knew he could manage it.

"What are you doing? You're gonna kill us all!"

"Shut up and trust me!"

They had asked him to provide a ride and get them out of the situation. If they did not like the way he did so, too bad for them.

Keith took a roundabout route back to his shack, hoping to throw them further off his trail. It was a good thing they did not already know where he lived: he and the other renegade Garrison cadets could lie low there while they waited for Shiro to wake up.

As uncertain as the situation was, and as apprehensive as he felt, Keith could not help also feeling satisfied. His research had paid off. He had been ready to act, and was still ready to act if necessary. Now he had his best friend, and three new acquaintances: four wild cards in the insane but thrilling adventure that his life was turning out to be.

Author's Note: To tell the truth, I'm not crazy about "The Rise of Voltron," because its pacing is extremely fast and chaotic, throwing out information and action sequences with hardly any time to process them. But every time I watch it, I gain new insights into both it and the show as a whole. Like how Keith's piloting the group while Shiro was indisposed foreshadowed the reckless leadership style he would exhibit when Shiro went missing.