Here's chapter twenty one! Time to check back in with Keith, see how things are going with him. The answer? Not very well! In other news, we're a little less than a month away from season eight... how exciting! That's pretty much it from me this time, so I'll see you all next update~!

anomalous point

chapter twenty one

the captive

Groaning, Keith returned to consciousness slowly.

His head hurt, and his right wrist stung. His memories trickled back, recalling how Zethrid had slammed the former into the ground and had dug her claws into the latter- he was lucky it was still attached.

Guess Lotor wanted him in one piece.

Forcing himself upright, Keith quickly noted that he'd been cuffed. Glancing behind his back, he frowned- definitely not standard Garrison issue. Ignoring the pain in his right wrist, he tugged against the cuffs, but the energy beams would only let him move his wrists so far apart. Pulling his legs out from under him, he quickly assessed that the same was true for them- his ankles had been bound with the same type of cuffs.

Guess they weren't taking any chances.

Heaving a sigh, he closed his eyes. He hoped that Katie and Adam had at least been able to get away, and that maybe something in the information she had downloaded would lead her to her mother. He didn't want this whole mission to be for naught.

Kolivan would probably be furious with him.

Grunting, Keith brushed his fingers against his belt- his sheath was still in place, but predictably enough, his knife was gone. He was willing to bet they had found the ones he'd hidden in his boots too- tapping his right against the ground, he frowned. The false heel had been torn away, so they'd probably taken his jammer too.

And he hadn't exactly brought any com devices with him.

Great. Unless he could find a chance to escape, he would probably be stuck here.

At least he was able to determine where here was. The Galaxy Garrison was a military institution, and as such, had cells. The cell block was small and was far away from the main campus- while they were only meant to be interim holding cells, nobody wanted to put prisoners anywhere near the cadets. For that very reason, security here was top notch- and to his regret, it was the one place on base he had never bothered mapping out.

Blowing out a long breath, his bangs fluttered. At least it was a little more homey than your standard Galra cell- there was a cot and a toilet, but not much else.

Didn't matter. He'd camped out in worse conditions than this. He'd manage.

Besides, it wasn't the Garrison he was worried about.

Lifting his head, he made out the sound of footsteps. A set of lighter ones, military issue boots, flanked by a pair of heavier, metallic sounding ones. Someone from the Garrison, accompanied by a pair of sentries- he couldn't help but snort. They really weren't taking their chances.

Guess the only accurate thing they'd been told was the Blade of Marmora's reputation.

The cell door cracked open, flooding the room with light. Keith hissed, his eyes not taking the sudden change well. The contacts that had he'd worn to make his eyes appear more human had helped with that, but he was still better suited for low lit environments than he was brightly lit ones. While his time on Altea had certainly helped, adjusting between the two was still something of an issue for him.

"Cadet."

Right. He knew that voice.

"Admiral Sanda," the cell itself brightened as the door was shut behind the admiral, probably so she could see, "-been awhile."

Sure, he'd only met the admiral once, during the Kerberos launch. But she cut a pretty memorable figure- and the fact that she had been the one behind selling out Shiro helped. He wasn't about to forget the woman who had chosen to betray her own kind.

Maybe she thought she was doing it for the greater good, but it still didn't excuse it. Whatever offer the Galra Empire had given them, it couldn't have possibly been worth the lives of Shiro, Sam, and Matt combined- or even just one of them.

If the admiral had flinched at the sight of him, he hadn't seen it. He knew Adam had, this being the first time he'd seen him without his... cosmetic adjustments. Odds were, she'd probably already been briefed on the fact that he wasn't fully human.

"I'm sure you know why you're here." Admiral Sanda stated. "Falsifying data and infiltrating Garrison networks are both offenses punishable by law, not to mention breaking into a commanding officer's office with a non-Garrison civilian."

"Well," Keith couldn't help but grin, baring his teeth as he did so, "-human law doesn't exactly apply to me."

"Maybe not," Admiral Sanda freely admitted, "-but I imagine the law of your own kind does."

Yeah, she had him there. At least until they managed to dismantle the Empire, it would.

"I'm taking your silence as acknowledgment." Sanda remarked.

"Maybe," he told her in Galran, "-maybe not."

Narrowing her eyes, Sanda stiffened at the use of what she doubtlessly considered an alien language. "You will speak in a language that I can understand while you are in my custody, cadet."

"And how long will that be?" Keith asked, switching back to English. "I know Zethrid was here. That was the only reason you managed to catch me in the first place."

"Long enough," Sanda said, lifting her chin, "-you're the first alien human crossbreed in existence. We can't just turn you over to Prince Lotor without first running some tests."

Tests. The hair on the back of Keith's neck prickled at the mention, but he didn't let it show on his face. It brought to mind the religious cult that had sprung up deca-phoebs ago, back when he had first been assigned to guard Allura. They had worshipped the lions, viewing them as gods, unjustly chained to the command of mortals- in addition to trying to kill King Alfor and the other paladins, they had also tried to kidnap Princess Allura, all in the name of trying to understand the bond she had with the lions.

They had captured Romelle instead, but thankfully they had managed to spring her out of there before they got that far. Either way, it had been enough to leave a sour taste in his mouth, even if it wasn't him they had wanted to run tests on.

"What's the plan?" Keith asked, narrowing his eyes. "Cut me open? Try to figure out which parts of me are Galra and which are human?"

The admiral, to her credit, bristled at the implication, and he was pretty sure she had grown half a shade paler. "We're not savages."

No, they weren't. Odds were, they were probably aiming for blood and skin samples- maybe a tissue sample, at the absolute worst. Again, if Lotor wanted him, he probably wanted him in one piece.

"Now," Sanda began, "-I have some questions for you about our missing scout- not to mention the two missing cadets. It's clear to me that you and the Holts are working together, so I'll leave them and ex-Lieutenant Shirogane out for now."

"They're safe." Keith freely provided. "That's all I'll tell you."

"Do you have any proof?" Sanda inquired.

"I'm chained up in a cell." Keith deadpanned. "What do you think?"

The admiral merely inclined her brows. "Fair point. Now, on the subject of the former lieutenant-"

"You have a lot of nerve to ask me any questions about Shiro, given the fact that you tired to sell him out." Keith hissed, narrowing his eyes- and this time, the admiral did flinch, if only minimally. "But that wasn't enough for you, was it? No, you had to destroy his reputation too. You designed a craft that couldn't handle reentry, and he landed it anyways. But all you did to thank him was strip him of his rank and lie about it."

"What happened to Shirogane is... regrettable." Sanda admitted, but he didn't buy it. "But we couldn't let the public find out about the faults in the craft. It was never meant to return to Earth."

"So what was the plan?" Keith asked. "Announce them dead on Kerberos? Say that it crashed there? Do you even know what kind of deal you were making?"

"I was ensuring Earth's continued security." Sanda stated. "We can't risk being involved in a war where we're hopelessly outclassed. If that meant sacrificing three lives to save millions, then I was willing to make that sacrifice."

"You sold them out." Keith growled, his eyes flashing. "And not just them, either- where is she, Admiral? Where's Colleen Holt?"

It was in that instant, that Keith realized that the admiral had no idea what he was talking about. It was subtle- the admiral had a poker face that would give Kolivan's a run for its money- but he didn't miss the faint way her brows furrowed.

"Colleen Holt is a civilian," Sanda began, "-she doesn't fall under our jurisdiction."

Guess that was her way of saying that she was only willing to sacrifice those under her own command. Narrowing his eyes, Keith racked his brain- would she even believe him if he told her that Lotor was holding Colleen hostage? There was no question that he had her- he'd watched the video message himself, and Colleen had been it.

That Lotor would have acted without authorization from the Galaxy Garrison didn't surprise him. He wasn't the type to concern himself with that sort of thing.

He didn't know if he could convince Admiral Sanda that Lotor had kidnapped a civilian, or if it would even do him any good- but it was worth the gamble. Opening his mouth, he stopped short at the knock on the door, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Admiral Sanda," a voice he didn't recognize spoke, "-Prince Lotor is requesting your presence."

Frowning, Keith narrowed his eyes. The timing of that was too good. Was Lotor watching him from somewhere?

"Understood." The admiral said. "We're not done here, cadet."

"Looking forward to seeing you again, admiral."

She watched him for a moment longer, her gaze inscrutable. Turning on her heel, she knocked on the cell door, the two sentries that flanked her not giving him any chance to try and slip by while she slipped out of the cell. Even if he could, with his legs bound, he wouldn't exactly get very far.

With the admiral gone, the lights in the cell dimmed again. Taking a moment to adjust, Keith curled his legs up to his chest, pushing himself to his feet. Scanning the room, he tried to determine where he was being watched from- but if there were any cameras in here, then they were hidden well.

At least maybe he could do something about the cuffs around his wrists. He wouldn't be able to get them off, he knew, but he could at least make things a little bit more comfortable. Breathing in, Keith relaxed his shoulders.

He always hated this part.

Grunting, he raised his arms above his head, biting down on his tongue to keep himself from making any noise as he dislocated both of his shoulders, bringing his arms around to the front. Drawing in a long breath, he forced his shoulders back into position, only then allowing himself to relax again, the pain ebbing away.

The Blade of Marmora were trained to endure pain, but it didn't mean he liked it. At least like this, he could properly assess the damage to his wrist- he guessed he had the Garrison to thank for treating it.

Closing his eyes, Keith rested his head against the wall of his cell. There was nothing else to do but try and think about his next course of action.

No one would be coming for him, he knew that much. That wasn't how the Blade worked. The last thing they needed was to risk sending anyone else after him. Besides, he'd chosen this. He was just paying the price for that.

If Lotor wanted him dead, he'd be dead already.

Although, given what the prince probably wanted with him, being dead might actually be preferable.

Ever since they had first made contact with the Galra Empire, dealing with extraterrestrial life had always left her with a sense of unease. At first, she had thought it was just because of their eyes- the aliens that they had dealt with up until that point appeared as if they had no pupils, making them appear almost uncanny.

But no. Even after they had begun their dealings with Prince Lotor and his generals, almost all of whom possessed visible pupils, the feeling hadn't faded.

And now it was stronger than ever. But at least this time, she could pinpoint the source.

She had only met Keith Kogane once at the Kerberos launch, while he had still been a cadet. The plans for the exchange had already been in motion even back then, so she had gone into it with a heavy sense of unease. As far as she was concerned, she was doing the right thing- those that they were sending off might be lost to humanity, but she had assurances that the Galra Empire would treat them well, and that they would become vital assets in their war against the Alteans.

The faster the Galra won the war, the less risk Earth was in.

She might have only met the cadet once, but he'd been hard to forget. She wasn't sure if it was out of guilt, or if it was because when he had smiled at Lieutenant Shirogane, he'd done so with far too many teeth, all of which were far too sharp. Either way, he'd left an impression.

In hindsight, perhaps she should have seen it coming. But to think that one of their own would have already made first contact and had not only failed to report it, but had also chosen to mate with said alien. That they were even successfully able to produce an offspring was something she was frankly still trying to wrap her head around, but one thing was clear- what they were keeping prisoner was no human.

That was an alien.

That information, of course, had been provided to her by Prince Lotor. When they had been forced to contact the Galra with information in regards to the death of Commander Trugg, it hadn't taken long for him to get into contact with them. He was the one who told them about the Blade of Marmora, a group of renegade Galra who had chosen to betray their own kind and side with the Alteans.

He had also informed him that the one known as Keith Kogane was one of these Blades, and that he had been tasked with protecting the daughter of the Altean leader- Princess Allura. And that if he was here, spying on the Garrison, then in all likelihood, the Altean princess was located somewhere on Earth as well, likely close by.

At the time, she was still reeling over the fact that they had unwittingly accepted an alien life form into their cadet program. Going through his files, she saw the inconsistencies for herself. Every record they had was in some way falsified- everything from his birth certificate, to his school records. Given that the latter she had been able to determine with just a phone call, it was obvious that someone had been covering for him.

She wasn't the least bit surprised when she found out it was Sam Holt. Maybe his father had been the one to introduce Keith to the Galaxy Garrison, but it had been Commander Holt who had vouched for the kid, getting him into the program.

All so that he'd be able to spy on them.

That bit of information she kept to herself. She didn't know what kinds of lies Sam had been told by these Alteans, but she didn't want to put him at any further risk than she already was. If the Galra found out about it, it wouldn't be from her.

Except the renegade cadet had managed to foil those plans too. And with the shuttle failing at reentry, she'd never be able to ask Sam herself.

The remaining Holts, alongside Lieutenant Shirogane, had been place under observation. If Cadet Kogane attempted to contact them, they would know.

Apparently not.

Now, seeing the cadet again for herself, she wondered how he had managed to go under the radar for so long. How he had managed to trick anyone into believing that he was a human. He might have Commander Kogane's blood in his veins, but the humanity that gave him only seemed to go so far.

But that wasn't what had left her with that sense of unease.

He'd asked about Colleen.

It made no sense. As far as she knew, Colleen Holt was at home- probably desperately worried about the disappearance of her son and daughter, the only family that she had left. Though given the fact that Katie Holt had been visually confirmed as being in cahoots with Kogane, perhaps not.

Either way, it was worth looking into.

It could be a trap, but she couldn't imagine as to how. Even if it was, it wouldn't be an issue to send out someone to check on Colleen. Better safe than sorry.

They were about to hand a high profile prisoner over to Prince Lotor. In exchange, he'd promised to extract the information they needed from him- the whereabouts of their scout, as well as the two missing cadets, Garrett and McClain. Their safety was paramount.

Her only objective was to keep Earth safe. To that extent, she would do everything in her power to ensure it remained safe- that was why she had cut a deal with the Galra Empire in the first place.

But she could at least consider the chance that she had been lied to.

The med techs came and went. He offered little resistance, allowing them to obtain their samples without protest. It still creeped him out, but it was better to save his energy for when he actually had a chance to escape.

Besides, the last thing he wanted was for them to put him under.

He'd prefer they didn't treat him like he was some kind of a spectacle, though. Yeah, he got it- first crossbreed in existence. Cool. Didn't mean they could gawk at him.

Even Lance hadn't gawked at him when he'd found out. He'd accused him of lying, right up until he had removed one of his contacts, at which point he'd- okay, yeah, he'd actually gawked a little, now that he thought about it. But there was a difference between what he'd done and what the med techs had been doing, and he'd stand by that.

Maybe he'd taken Shiro and the Holts' easy acceptance for granted.

Heaving a sigh, Keith rested his hands on his knees. At least he'd given them a shock when they realized he'd relocated his arms in front of him. Even if he did hear one of them mutter something about x-rays, it was worth it to see them turn that shade of pale. They hadn't made an attempt to cuff his arms behind him again, probably afraid that he would use the chance to escape.

Well, they weren't wrong.

It had probably six vargas since he had regained consciousness. He had no way of determining just how long he had been unconscious, nor what time it was- his internal clock was good, but it wasn't that good. He was willing to bet it was morning now, though.

It meant that unless Lotor was already somewhere in the cell block, that he probably wouldn't be getting a visit from him until evening. Somehow he didn't think that the Garrison just let him walk around in the open- and that Lotor was pretending to comply. He didn't know how they had explained away last night's events, but he was willing to bet that they had swept the whole thing under the rug.

He wondered how his mom and everyone were doing.

He hoped they'd made some kind of breakthrough in Colleen's abduction. But now that it seemed that even Admiral Sanda had no clue about it, that was looking less and less likely. At the very least, it didn't seem like they had caught Adam or Katie, which meant that they had to have gotten away safely.

Katie would probably be mad.

Making out the sound of footsteps, Keith lifted his head, frowning. It didn't sound like more med techs- but it didn't sound like sentries either.

Crouching, Keith raised his guard. He didn't like uncertainty.

They weren't a med tech or a sentry- or even Admiral Sanda. He did recognize them, though.

"Iverson?"

Keith stared. He couldn't help it. He didn't think Iverson's clearance was even high enough to know what was going on, beyond the fact that he had interfered with numerous Garrison affairs since being removed from the cadet program.

Ironically, the official excuse that they had given for removing him was that he had punched Commander Iverson. He couldn't help but wonder if Commander Iverson knew about that.

"Cadet," Iverson began, his one good brow arching as he met his eyes- or well, eye, in Iverson's case, "-guess the rumors were true."

Narrowing his eyes, Keith felt himself tense. Standing up to his full height, he tried to get a read on the Commander. What was he even doing here?

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." Iverson stated.

"You're letting me out on good behavior?" Keith ventured.

"A sense of humor. Didn't think you had one of those." Iverson noted, and he couldn't help but glower. Why did everyone seem to think that? "Seeing as you were once under my supervision, the admiral wants me to make you talk."

"You?" Keith asked, tilting his head. "I don't exactly recall us getting along."

"No, but it was either me or Officer Warner, and since he was apparently helping you and is now missing in action, then yes," Iverson said, "-it's going to be me."

Missing in action. Good. That meant Adam had got away.

"If it's about the cadets," Keith began, "-then I already told the admiral that they're safe. The scout is too."

Well, the scout was actually frozen in a cryopod, but the Garrison didn't need to know that.

"I'm afraid that's not good enough, cadet." Iverson told him. "The scout aside, it's nearly been three weeks since the cadets disappeared. That's three weeks we've gone without anything to say to their families. Let us bring them home."

"If you want them so badly, why don't you just ask Prince Lotor where to find them?" Keith asked.

Iverson's blank expression was all he needed.

"Oh. Guess the prince hasn't told you that he sent one of his generals to raid our ship two nights ago." Keith said. "Maybe he's the one you should be questioning, not me."

He felt himself stiffen under Iverson's gaze, unconsciously standing up straighter. It felt like he was being assessed- but for what, Keith didn't know. Honesty? Where best to cause him pain, so that he could make him talk? Joke was on him, he was trained to withstand torture.

Iverson reached into his pocket, and Keith went on his guard. He didn't know what he was reaching for, and he didn't know how much of a fight he could put up like this, but damned if he wasn't going to try. Whatever he was trying to pull, he'd-

Keith froze.

Blinked.

"...is that my jammer?"

"Pulled it out of evidence storage." Iverson remarked. "We've probably got five minutes before they notice the feeds been cut off, so I'll make this quick, Kogane. We sent one of our officers to the Holt place first thing this morning, and nobody has seen Colleen Holt in days. What do you know?"

Keith blinked. He didn't exactly expect the admiral to follow through on what he'd said.

"I- Lotor has her." Keith said truthfully. "He wants Princess Allura in exchange for her freedom."

"This Princess Allura," Iverson frowned, "-she's your commanding officer?"

Technically, that was either Ulaz or Kolivan, but sure. Let's make this simple. Opting not to say anything, he just nodded his head.

"I'll ask one other question." Iverson said. "How is former Commander Kogane involved in all this?"

Keith frowned. "He's my father."

"So that part was true." Iverson stated. "You're scheduled to be turned over to Prince Lotor this evening. If what you said about Colleen Holt is true, that's when we'll make our move."

"But you'll still be turning me over." Keith observed.

"Nothing personal." Iverson stated, though he sounded a bit... strained, Keith couldn't help but notice. "The safety of Earth citizens simply takes priority. Exchanging you will buy us some time."

Time? Time to do what?

Keith scoffed at that. "Oh, so now that matters."

Iverson frowned, narrowing his good eye. "What do you mean by that?"

"What, Admiral Sanda didn't tell you?" Keith asked- and in that moment, decided to take another gamble. If he was going to be stuck here, he should at least do what he could- even if about the only thing he could manage was sowing seeds of doubt.

"The Kerberos mission was a sacrifice," Keith told him. "-three of Earth's best and brightest in exchange for Earth's guaranteed security. All orchestrated by Admiral Sanda."

"Is that true?" Iverson asked.

"What good would it do me to lie at this point?" Keith asked. "You're just going to turn me over to Lotor anyways."

Iverson stared at him for a long moment in consideration, before he returned the jammer to his pocket. Guess time was up. "That's all, cadet."

Watching Iverson leave, Keith narrowed his eyes. He didn't know if Iverson would believe him or not- but if he did, it might be worth the risk. If they could get the Galaxy Garrison on their side, it would give Allura an advantage over Lotor.

Slumping against the wall, Keith slid down, letting out a long breath. Even if they did, it would probably be too late for him. Biting down on his lip, he tried not to think about it- but it was no good. There wasn't much to do in this cell but think.

How long could he hold out against Narti for? Resisting interrogation, enduring torture- these were all things that he had training for. But there was no amount of training that could prepare him for Narti's power.

He shivered, shutting his eyes. He should have known this was a stupid idea, but he just thought... Katie was right, this was all his fault. If that was the case, he should at least do something to help her for a change- he'd already taken her father from her, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her mother too.

He knew how it felt to be powerless.

How many Blades had they lost? It weighed on him every day he was here. Being on Earth was practically like a vacation, at least up until recently. Here, they were far away from danger, safe from the war, the same war his fellow Blades were willingly giving their lives to fight.

And what had he been doing? Posing as a cadet, living the life of a normal human teenager. It didn't seem right.

That was why when his cover was blown, he was almost glad. At least he would be doing something now, instead of just sitting around, keeping tabs on a primitive space exploration program. But where had that gotten him? Now he was just being held prisoner by the same people he'd been tasked with spying on.

Even worse, once Lotor got his hands on him, he could only imagine that the prince would make use of him. Biting down on his lip, a low rumble began deep in his chest, causing him to snap his eyes open in shock.

No- nope. He wasn't afraid. Please- he was a trained Blade, what could he possibly have to be scared of?

But the rumbling didn't stop. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Keith buried his head in them, too ashamed to show his face. He wondered if Lotor was watching right now, since he was apparently actually being monitored. He wondered if he could hear the sound he was making, like he was some kind of frightened youngling again.

How pathetic.

Maybe Shiro was right- maybe he was more human than he thought he was. Human enough to still be a helpless child, frightened and afraid, not the elite Blade he was meant to be. He really was pathetic, if something like this could scare him.

And fuck it- that's what he was. He was afraid. Afraid of what was to come. Scared that he might hurt the people he cared about. Frightened that they might have to hurt him- or at worst, kill him- and would have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

He wasn't afraid of Lotor.

But he was terrified of Narti.