KathDMD - "Who's crazy now?" Yep, Romelle is not the first princess to put a blaster to her temple, but she is a freedom fighter at heart. Everyone should know that. I had the end of this episode in my mind for a while, and glad how it turned out. Christiane hit the nail on the head with what was to come...keep your eyes peeled in the future for this. But this next episode, while answering some questions, will raise even more.
Author's Note - This next story arc has been in the work for a while. I'm excited to write it. It did come with some heartache, but in the end, it'll all be worth it. Enjoy.
Theme Music : "What If" by Creed
Disclaimer - Voltron and all associated characters are the property of WEP. Space Marshall Lenora Hawkins is the property of KathDMD.
Episode 35 : What If
Dariana's eyes fluttered, awakening to not awakening. The moment she felt herself settle in, she realized she was no longer on Earth, but on Arus. She looked around and realized that Kovinx had been on her way down this hallway, but to where.
"Where are you?' she asked herself, hoping Kovinx could hear her, but something was different. She was in total control at the moment. She didn't understand….she felt alone, but extremely powerful. She blinked a few times, the whites in her eyes settling, then changing to the piercing yellow they usually were, then with a clear mind, continued down the hall. Suddenly, and elderly gentleman peeked out one of the doors.
"Kovinx!" he shouted. "Where have you been? The meeting is about to start!" He grabbed her arm and leaned into her ear. "Please, for the love of the lions and all of creation, please tell me you are going to talk the prince out of going on this dangerous mission." Dariana was ultimately confused, but tried to play along with it.
"I'll have to hear more of this before I make that determination," she replied.
"As the Ambassador of Arus," he said, "I implore you, please, do the right thing. I know you have trained him, but I don't want to see him die."
"I understand your concern, Ambassador," she replied, still playing the part. "I will do all that I can to make sure that doesn't happen. You have my word."
"Thank you, Kovinx," he replied, a hand on her shoulder. They walked into the room, and she saw the entire Voltron Force there, Alfor included. An empty chair sat to his left, awaiting her. Also seated at the table were some people Dariana had never seen before. She sat down next to Alfor, and the Ambassador began the meeting.
"I'm sure you all know why we are here," he said. Everyone looked around at one another. "Planet Pollux has declared war on the Arusian Alliance!" Everyone began to talk amongst themselves for a moment. The Ambassador cleared his throat, and they quieted down. Dariana continued to listen intently. "We have tried every means of diplomacy to try to reason with the Polluxian Monarchy. They will not yield."
"May I speak, Ambassador Gerod?" Alfor asked.
"Yes you may, your highness," he replied, sitting down as Alfor stood.
"My father built this kingdom on the fundamental concept of unity," Alfor said. "It was by his hand that this council was founded. It was under the might of Voltron that we have remained safe all these years. When evil arises in the universe, my father would look upon me and remind me of the power of freedom, and the will to change things. I ask you all now to come together in unity, as fundamental it is, to stop Pollux from its conquest of its surrounding kingdoms."
"Voltron is a defense force," one of them said. "How could we expect the Defender to outright attack Pollux?"
"The spirit of Voltron is ever evolving," Alfor said. "It's ever changing. There are things even our best scientists don't understand yet. But we can't turn our backs…not on our people. We need to take a stand and fight! It's what my father would want. It's what our ancestors would want." Suddenly, the palace shook.
"Are we under attack?" one of the ambassadors asked.
"Scramble the lions!" Alfor shouted, getting up from his chair. "Kovinx, you're with me. Grab yellow and meet up outside the castle."
"But…" Dariana said, nervous. "Yes, your majesty." She turned to run, but Alfor put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright, my love?" he asked her, whispering to her. She was taken aback, and didn't quite understand.
"I'm fine," she replied in a whisper. "We can discuss it later. Let's get to the lions."
"I have your back," he replied, taking off running. Dariana ran after him. They both ran through the control room, and the center pillar rose. Alfor ran into the number one chute. Dariana turned and looked at the numbered shoot, then made a beeline for number five instinctively. She grabbed the swing and zipped around it, going down faster and faster until she dropped into the transport. The hatch closed over her, and with a jolt of power, it began its journey to the Yellow Lion's den. She began to think to herself.
"Dammit, Kovinx," she said softly. "Where the heck are you? I don't understand! What is all this supposed to teach me? Why are you not in control?" The transport stopped, then raised her seat up into the yellow lion, then locking her in place. She looked at her arm, and noticed the voltcom was different….no place for a key. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she had been here. She reached to her chest and unfastened the key from the pin on her chest and placed it into the slot. It slit back and forth, locking into place, and she could feel the power of the engines as they surged and came to life. She could feel the soul of the lion awaken as it reared up, its eyes glowing, letting out a mighty roar. She suddenly felt a sense of peace…as if the lion knew this is where she belonged. But in reality, she knew this time is not where she belonged at all.
"Yellow Lion, launching!" Dariana replied, and Yellow ran from the cave and took off into the air. She looked down and saw a fleet of ships firing on the castle, with Black Lion the only thing in the way fighting back. She opened the com.
"Black Lion!" she shouted. "I'm here!"
"Kovinx!" Alfor shouted. "Take out the turrets on the command ships! The others are on their way to help. I'm gonna take out these drones." Suddenly, Dariana felt an overwhelming surge of energy.
"Alfor," she said softly. "There's something horrible on that ship." Suddenly, a white light enveloped her….
Dariana sat up in the dark, breathing heavily in a cold sweat. She ran her hand through her long grey hair from her forehead through the right side of her head, trying to clear it from her face. The dream had caused her to thrash so violently that she was twisted in her blankets, her hair strewn about.
"Another dream," she whispered to herself calmly. "I have to tell Seth." She began to untangle herself from the mess of covers, reaching to unweave the mess. It was when she ran her hand up her thigh, pulling the comforter from around her, that her hand brushed against her flesh. She realized she was naked. She began to panic slightly. She remembered going to bed in her nightgown, and thought maybe she had torn it completely off in a rage while she slept. But she noticed it felt different….she had woken up with her pulse racing, but it wasn't from fear. She covered her mouth and inadvertently breathed in a familiar smell.
It was excitement.
She climbed out of bed and almost stumbled. She turned on the light and pulled through the twisted blankets and found no trace of her nightgown. She went to put her hand over her mouth again, but froze. She turned around completely in the light, seeing her room was indeed the same as it always was except for one thing…her voltcom was different.
"I don't understand," she said, shaking from nervousness. Or was it the cold? She couldn't tell. She walked over to her closet and opened it, and found no normal outfits. Instead, a closet full of uniforms. She pulled one out, and saw it was leather, all one piece, with a single zipper down the front. She went to her drawers and looked through, and found no undergarments. No socks. Nothing.
"This is definitely not right," she said to herself. She grabbed the uniform and looked carefully at it. "I can't be walking around here like this." She slipped her legs into the suit and pulled it up around her, zipping it up to her neck. The suit was form-fitting, and seemed to hug her body tightly.
"This is strange," she said. The leather against her flesh, though cold and leathery on the outside, was warm to the touch. She walked back to the closet and found sets of black boots, which she also slipped into, zipping up the sides. Once they were zipped, the boots grafted to the legs, forming a tight seal, and they too became warm. Her heart finally began to slow, even though part of her was still in a panic. She walked over to the window and was about to open it when she heard banging on the door. She slowly approached the door.
"Who's there?" she shouted.
"It's me!" he shouted. She did not recognize the voice at all.
"Who's me?" she asked, scared yet angry.
"Dammit, Sergeant," he replied, "cut the crap and open the door!" She reluctantly opened the door. She saw a tall Drule officer in front of her. "The Space Marshall is gonna be livid when they find out we all slept in! Did you have another one of those nightmares again?" She blinked a few times in disbelief.
"Um…" she replied, "yeah."
"Well continue to keep it quiet," he replied, almost in a whisper. "If the Commander finds out about the racket or worse, the visions, you'll get expelled. Or worse!"
"I'll try," she replied, still confused.
"Oh, by the way," he continued, "I heard some of the last human colonies in the near universe are about to fall. Finally, the Empire will have control of the entire galaxy, and we won't have to fight over new planets anymore." She looked at him, disguising her confusion with a smile.
"That's great news," she said through her teeth. He smiled back.
"I better get going," he said. "See you in the repair hangar later!" He smiled again, pointing at her as he walked away. She breathed a sigh as she closed the door, locking it behind her. She slowly walked over to the window, and felt her heart beat faster.
This was fear.
She flung open the shades, and saw the entire garrison looked different. It was dark looking, lights all around, bustling with activity and Drule ships coming and going. She watched people coming and going as well….Drule people. She pulled the shades closed and turned around, taking a deep breath.
"I want to go back to the dream," she said softly. "Kovinx, what in the world happened?" She thought to herself. "I have to find out. There has to be some way to understand this." She walked over to her Voltcom and snapped it on. She felt something strange. Her eyes suddenly went white. Moments later, her eyes changed back to yellow. "The Garrison Library. If I can check the archives, I might be able to understand why everything is as it is." She ran to the door, unlocking and opening it, then slamming it shut as she left.
Dariana walked quickly to one of the library terminals. She was glad to see that the terminals were one of the things that were still familiar to her in this world. As she began to key in commands, she started reading up on historical events.
The Drule Empire had been at war with Earth for a short period before occupation. The defense of Earth and surrounding planets was minimal, as they had barely reached the point of advanced interplanetary travel. Top personnel were taken into custody and publicly executed.
Dariana read down the list of people executed….Space Marshall Graham….Commander Steele…..First Officer Wade...Chief Scientist Dr. Loring...Commander Hawkins. Her eyes could not believe the list….but was even more fascinated with the execution date…taking place prior to the launch of the original mission to Arus. The very mission that was supposed to not only be a rescue operation for Arus, but to find and reactivate Voltron. She read on, but could find no record of Voltron at all, as if the legend had been wiped out of existence.
"This can't be," she said softly, still looking through the records. "Without Voltron, there's no Project Defender. No Project Defender, no Jet Voltron Force." She looked through personal records, and found her mother's name amongst many that had migrated from Drule, which had exploded. She also found her own record…Dariana Kovinx, Rank of Sergeant, Interplanetary Affairs. She turned off the terminal. "I don't know why I'm seeing all this. Is this all part of the dream? It can't be." Her mind wandered to Seth…Where is he? I have to find him. She began to walk out of the library, and then gasped.
"Time," she said. "Something in the past deviated from what was supposed to be. But how? And why? I have to find the others. It's the only way." She knew it would take time to find everyone…especially Seth, but she felt her best chance was to find JC. Many Human settlements still existed as part of a deal struck between the Empire and local governments. Perhaps she could find him amongst the settlements in his hometown.
Dariana stepped off the transport, looking up and down the street. She felt a chill up her spine, but the fear motivated her. This hidden force inside her knew she was in the right place. She walked up the street, observing the surroundings...everything on the surface appearing happy and normal, but in the short distance concrete walls and barbed wire fences. She walked down the street, and it wasn't until she began to walk past a modern, modest white house that a wave of feelings came over her.
"This is it," she said softly. She walked up to the front door and gently knocked several times. Moments later, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman looked out at her.
"I'm sorry," she said in a nervous voice. "We don't have our tax money ready today. Please, just give us one more day..."
"You don't understand," Dariana said, trying to stop the woman from breaking down. "I'm here to see Jonathan Grend." The woman became even more nervous.
"He's not here," she said. "We don't know where he is. I've told them time and time again, he ran away and never came back! You're wasting your time. You won't be arresting my son today." She slammed the door shut. Dariana was confused...not knowing what to do. She turned in disbelief and began walking away. She then heard a noise around the side of the house. Curious, she walked over to the side of the house and peered around the corner. At first she didn't see anything. Then she turned and came face to face with who she was looking for.
"You don't look like military police," he said, looking into her eyes. "You are Drule though. Who are you?" She suddenly felt a surge of dread...knowing, indeed, something had been altered, and that JC no longer remembered her.
"My name is Tech Sergeant Dariana Kovinx," she replied. "No, I'm not military police. I'm just a student. But here's the part you won't believe...I'm your friend." He looked at her and started laughing.
"That's a riot!" he laughed. "A Drule that thinks she's friends with a human!" He laughed harder and harder. Dariana continued to listen, until finally her fearlessness broke down, and she began to cry. When JC saw this, his laughter slowed...then stopped. "Now don't go doing that." He wiped her eyes. "You're serious? Sergeant Kovinx, honestly, before today I never ever seen you."
"I know," she said. "But it's true. I'm going to tell you something you probably won't believe. I woke up this morning, and the entire world changed. This planet...it wasn't supposed to be ruled by the Drule Empire. There isn't even supposed to BE a Drule Empire anymore. Something changed...and now time is all screwed up."
"Wait," he said. "Are you saying time itself has changed?" He thought for a moment. "I used to see stuff like this on shows on TV...well, before the Empire outlawed TV on Earth. But that can't be possible!"
"There's not a mention of Voltron at all in the history books here," she said. He tried to quiet her down.
"You need to keep your voice down," he said. "You of all people should know that all talk of...well...that, was outlawed by the Empire. The decree came down from Empress Twyla herself."
"Empress?" Dariana asked, confused. "Even that's wrong. You see? It isn't supposed to be like this, JC! We aren't supposed to be a bunch of people scattered across the universe. We're the Voltron Force!"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You and I are pilots from the Galaxy Alliance Academy", she said. "We stumbled upon a project based on Voltron...I wish Lenora was here..."
"Wait..." he said. "Lenora Holgersson? One of the leaders of the underground resistance?" Dariana put her hand over her mouth. The change was even more drastic than she first suspected.
"Yes," she said, hoping her theory was right. "She's the one that commissioned us. You and I graduated together. Now something is all wrong and it never happened!"
"Listen," he said, "I don't know where you came from or how you know me, but I believe you when you say you are my friend." He took her hand. "Not a word of this to anyone...I'm working for the Resistance. I'm young, but I learned real quick how to pilot a ship."
"You were one of the best," Dariana said.
"I can take you to the Den," he said, "but I can't guarantee they will believe your story. They may kill you."
"I have to," she replied. "If I don't, I'll never see you or my friends again...not the way they used to be. I have to try."
"Then follow me, but keep a low profile," he replied. "The Resistance has a deep distrust of Drules. And after talking to you...I hate the idea I might be walking you to your own execution."
"I trust you," she replied. They started to walk through his back yard and through a door in the fence.
"In this 'other time' you talk about," he asked, "what am I?" She smiled.
"Force Leader Lieutenant Jonathan Carter Grend, Pilot of Jet Black, Leader of the Voltron Force." she replied. He raised an eyebrow.
"Lieutenant?" he asked inquisitively. "I like that. Let's go. Just be careful." She followed him through the streets of the town, heading for whatever destination he was leading her to.
"Stay close," JC said as Dariana carefully followed him through the sewers underneath the town. After walking through a twisting and winding tunnel, they came to an opening. When they walked inside, they saw they were in an old transport shaft.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Beneath the old transit station on the outskirts of Topeka," he replied. "It's one of the few transports that are still in operation since the occupation. It's a way we can get around without being detected by the forces above. Come on, step into one of the tubes. And word of advice…" They stepped into the tubes and they closed. "Close your eyes."
"Why's that?" she asked. Suddenly they were blasted through them, her eyelids fluttering. She closed them tightly as instructed, and felt her body sliding, reaching tremendous speeds. At one point, she actually felt warm, then the moment passed. When she came to a stop, the tube opened, and she and JC stepped out.
"The short range portion uses compressed air and evaporated chemicals to move you along," he said. "But then there's a matter transfer beam that actually accelerates you for the long trip. That's how it was so fast." They walked up to one of the walls.
"What is it now?" she asked. He placed his hand on one of the panels.
"Three, two, one, gamma, beta, alpha," he said, and the wall slid open to reveal a door. They both entered, and she felt another strange feeling as they moved out of the light into the darkness.
"Is this it?" she asked softly.
"Almost," he replied. They both entered another door, and found themselves in the center of a technological marvel…completely built in this underground area. As they walked in, several of the people spotted the, and pointed their blasters. JC and Dariana stopped.
"What the crap is this?" Lance said.
"Relax, McClain," JC replied. "She's with me."
"A prisoner?" Keith asked. "We shouldn't be bringing prisoners into the Den. You know this, cadet."
"Keith," he said, "this woman isn't military. She is Dariana Kovinx. She is my friend, and I trust her." They looked at him funny.
"Commander Kogane," Dariana said softly, "please believe us, I'm not here to cause harm. I'm part of a horrible time disturbance…one that caused reality to change. Things are not supposed to be this way."
"Did you call me, 'Commander'?" Keith asked.
"Yes, sir," she replied. He laughed.
"Either she's playing stupid," Lance said, "or she's completely delusional!"
"Please, just let me speak to Lenora!" she said. Suddenly, two people walked intot he room.
"What is going on out here?" the woman asked.
"Cadet Grend brought a Drule into the Den, ma'am," Lance replied. Dariana recognized her right away.
"I know you don't remember me," Dariana said. "But you have to trust me. From one Tech Sergeant to another….please." Dariana looked into her chocolate brown eyes, and after a minute of silence, she spoke.
"I'm Force Commander Lenora Holgersson," he replied. "And this is my husband and First Officer, Sven Holgersson." She looked her back in the eye. "Come with us. If you really are who you say you are, maybe you can help us." Dariana followed them into the next room. She knew if there was anyone that could help her sort out this mess, it would be her Space Marshall.