Chapter 23 – A Comet by the Tail

I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender. I'm taking the characters out for a spin. This chapter includes The Hunted, A Hole in the Sky, and Tailing a Comet.


Adam sat at his station on the bridge as he stared out the viewscreen in the direction the lions had flown off. His stomach knotted and tightened as he frowned. He tapped his fingers on his leg. Something tugged on his pants leg.

It's only nerves he told himself. However, the pulling at the cloth didn't stop. It moved, and he leaned over to find Chulatt climbing up his leg. He blinked at first but lowered his hand. "How about a hand?" he asked as the mouse hopped off his leg onto his hand.

Chulatt ran up his arm to his shoulder and squeaked in Adam's ear. He tried to pat the human's cheek and then let out a tirade of squeaks.

"I don't understand you, but I guess your fussing at me about the beard. Well, I just don't feel like shaving it anymore." His eyes turned away from the mouse, and he released a sigh. "I don't feel like doing much of anything anymore truthfully."

He forgot he had an audience on the bridge as he talked to the mouse. "And why is that?"

Adam turned his gaze to Thace. "It's a little complicated, but with Shiro gone, I don't feel like continuing anymore. My chest hurts all the time."

Coran appeared at Adam's shoulder. "I understand, my boy. Losing a loved one does hurt. I still remember the day when I lost my wife and son." His eyes seemed to glaze over as he spoke as he remembered his family. "Even though Altea was technologically advanced, still some things could not provide us with a cure. Like the Altean Flu. My wife was a good woman but had a difficult pregnancy with our son. She died after she caught the flu, and my son, who wasn't born yet, died with her." The man sniffed as he wiped at his eyes.

"I threw myself into my work as King Alfor's royal advisor and friend. Then Princess Allura was born, and she helped to ease the pain in my heart. But I still think of my wife and wonder what my son might look like had she survived."

Adam bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Coran. I didn't mean to cause you pain."

Coran waved a hand in his direction. "Don't worry about it. Instead, I've gained a new family, with all of you humans." He chuckled. "Though I'm still trying to understand some of your ways. But it's a definite learning curve."

Adam nodded. "I suppose we are difficult to understand at times. But I've found learning Altean to be a bit difficult in itself."

Thace chuckled. "Altean is a pretty simple language to learn. Galra, on the other hand, is difficult. Friends had told me before the war started."

Adam nodded. "I suppose it is." He ducked his head as images of Takashi trying to teach him Japanese at the Garrison came to mind. He couldn't stop the tear that traced down his cheek. The dam finally broke, and more tears followed.

Thace alarmed by this behavior opened his mouth, but Coran shook his head. He stepped over to the Blade of Marmora member. "Allow him this release. He needs it."

Chulatt rubbed his face against the side of Adam's neck. He squeaked softly into the man's ear.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking down like that." He brought a hand up and wiped at his eyes.

Coran shook his head. "Nonsense. You needed that."


Allura stood at her station as the Castle of Lions flew through space. She stated at the screen as an alarm went off, but it was an emergency alarm. It was something else entirely different.

Keith sat in Shiro's spot as the new Black Paladin. "What's going on?"

Pidge nodded in agreement. "Yeah, these have never gone off before."

Lance turned his gaze toward the princess. "Allura, what is it?"

Hunk scratched at his scalp as he gazed at the pair of Alteans. "Looks like you guys just saw a ghost."

Coran finally moved in answer to Hunk's statement. "That's just the thing. It's an old Altean distress code. One used by King Alfor's ships."

Coran's words seemed to bring Allura back to life as she clasped her hands together. "Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?"

Keith leaned forward in his seat. "Wait. What if someone is cloning the signal to try and lure us in?"

Adam gazed over at Allura. "I agree with Keith on this. No telling what lengths Lotor would go to try to lure us into a trap."

Thace dipped his head in a sign of respect to the princess. "I agree with Adam and Keith."

"I've taken your words under advisement. The signal is from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it." Allura activated the Teludav, and the Castle flew through the wormhole and out the other side into a different area of space.

They all saw what looked the tail end of a ship stuck in a glowing hole in space. Allura stared at it. "That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle. One of my father's deep space vessels."

Coran ran the ship's ID through the Castle's database. "According to the ship's identification code, it's Commodore Trayling's ship. But I don't see any records of its destination or mission."

Lance asked, "What happened to it?"

Hunk gazed at the screen. Is it stuck in a wormhole?"

Coran shook his head. "That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen."

Pidge studied her holographic screen. "There's a massive amount of energy emanating from it, centered right where the ship is stuck."

Allura stared at the screen. "We have to see if anyone is aboard. They may need our help."

Pidge threw out a suggestion that came to mind. "We could send a probe over to it, see if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is?"

Keith glanced over at Adam. He wanted his opinion before committing to anything since he still worried that it might be a trap of some kind.

Adam gave him a subtle nod. It was a sound idea.

Keith turned his gaze back to Pidge. "Do it."

The Green Paladin launched the probe and studied the readings that came back. "The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay, and it's not thermal."

Hunk stared at his screen. "It's not gravitational, our probe is steady on course, and the light is radiating out, not in, like it would in a black hole."

Pidge frowned. "But out from where?"

Coran gazed at the readings he received from the before he tilted his up at the screen. "That energy signature, I know it." His eyes brightened and grew as he finally figured it out. "It's radiating quintessence."

No one asked Coran what he meant. Instead, they kept their eyes on the probe as it hit the glowing energy. It didn't explode. It just seemed to disappear as all transmissions from it stopped.

Hunk said what was on all their minds. "Ooh! That's weird."

Lance gaped, and his eyes grew as he stared at the screen. "Okay, well, let's not go anywhere near there."

Allura wasn't in the mood to take no for an answer. "We must!"

Hunk shook his head. "Hold on. Didn't you see what happened?"

Allura kept her eyes on the screen. "Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in the universe. We received an Altean distress call, which must mean that someone is alive on the ship. We are Paladins of Voltron, and we must help."

Keith turned in his seat. "Princess, I still think there's a case that this whole thing is a trap."

Coran turned around. "Even if it's not a trap, it's far too dangerous to go in there."

Allura frowned as she stepped away from her spot. "I'll do it myself if I have to."

Keith stood as she walked away. "We'd better go with her."

Adam stood up quickly. "Keith, Lance," he began but couldn't say anything else as his voice faltered.

Pidge seemed to understand what he was trying to say. She jumped up from her seat and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his middle. "We'll come back. Don't worry."

Adam gazed down into her honey brown eyes. "I hope your right." He sucked in a breath as he turned his gaze to the other paladins. "I don't know what I would do if I lost all of you, too."

Hunk threw his arms around Adam, followed by Lance and Keith.

They broke up the group hug.

Adam gazed at Keith. "Keep your comms open, so we know what's going on, okay."

"Sure."


The lions flew away from the Castle and formed Voltron. As they flew closer to the Altean ship, Keith's voice came over the bridge's speaker. "All right, let's take it slow. Pidge, any chance you can explain what I see right now?"

"The Euclidian space around the ship is some kind of anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding of how reality works."

Adam snorted. If she didn't understand it, then they were all in trouble. He rubbed at his chest, trying to loosen the non-existent band that seemed to be tightening itself.

Hunk's voice was next. "I'll scan the ship for biorhythms." A couple of ticks of silence followed. "That's strange. I'm not picking up any signs of life on the ship."

Allura replied for the first time since she stalked off the bridge in a huff. "Maybe not on this half, but there is more to this ship than we are seeing. We need to go through there."

Adam rose from his seat as his chest tightened more, and his eyes grew. "No," he managed to whisper.

Lance replied, "The glowy, explodey area?"

Keith replied, "Pidge, keep an eye on Voltron's vitals. Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get hairy."

Hunk replied, "Roger that. Ready to abort immediately."

Voltron started to enter the energy field. Pidge's voice came over the speaker. "Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Technically we should be torn apart. But somehow, Voltron is completely unaffected by the stress of the spatial distortion."

Voltron disappeared through the spatial distortion. Visual vanished from the screen. Coran gasped then shouted out, "No!"

Adam swayed on his feet as though he were going to fall. He held his head in his hands. The room seemed to spin.

Thace turned his head and gazed at the human. "Adam," he called out as he raced over to the human. He put his hands on the man's arms and noticed he was trying to say something, but no sounds came out of his mouth.

Coran turned around and gazed at the pair. "Get him to sit down." He pulled out his medical scanner and ran it over the human. He frowned at the readings. "The stress is putting a strain on his body. Stay with him. His blood pressure is too high." The Altean ran off the bridge.


After several dobashes, Coran returned and pressed a device against Adam's neck. It hissed as the medication entered his bloodstream. "There that should do it."

Thace, who knelt beside Adam, turned his gaze up to Coran. "What did you give him?"

"A light sedative. It should help to relax him." He scratched at the back of his head. "Though I was in such a rush, I didn't check to see if it might have an adverse reaction to his system."

"This is going to be fun." Thace shook his head.

Coran ignored the comment and went back to his station at the helm of the Castle. All four mice sat there as he ran his fingers over the screen, trying to figure out what happened to Voltron. Platt held Chulatt as the other two mice squeaked to each other and then up at the Altean. "I've tried every scan and test I can think of. There's no sign of Voltron anywhere."

The other two mice squeaked up at him.

Coran leaned over them. "How could I have stopped her? You know how she is."

The mice squeaked again.

"I can't understand anything that you're saying, but I'll assume by your tone that what you said was an insult." He straightened up to see the ship disappear through the hole and vanish. "Not good."

Adam's voice caused him to turn around and gaze at the earthling. "C-Coran, what d-did you give me?"

"A mild sedative. You need to relax."

Adam leaned back in his seat. "If I could stand, I'd punch you."

"What?"

Adam tried to focus on the Altean, but he saw two Coran's standing at the helm. "I'd rather get drunk the old-fashioned way instead of feeling like I've been melted and poured in this seat."

"Hmm… well, I didn't consider the side effects. But you are relaxed now."

Thace chuckled as Adam managed to stick his tongue out at the Altean.

Voltron appeared in their reality with a giant rock. Coran cheered. "You're back! Oh, thank the ancients!" He began to hail the huge mech. "Paladins, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Before he could say anything else, an explosion rocked the Castle of Lions. Coran stared at the screen as Lotor's ship appeared, and a couple of smaller vessels hooked cables to the rock and pulled it into hyperspace as Lotor's ship also jumped.

Allura sounded weak as she answered his hails. "Coran, we're here."


Thace helped Adam down toward the human's quarters as Lance and Hunk approached. Adam's tongue wasn't correctly working properly. "I-I tell you Thace, it's criminal."

The Galra chuckled. "If you say so."

Adam nodded as his knees gave out on him again. "It is. I'd rather have drunk several shots of vodka or whiskey to feel like this."

Lance stopped and stared at the pair. Adam's unfocused eyes and sagging demeanor told him something was wrong. He pointed at his cousin. "What happened?"

Thace stopped, and Adam groaned when he heard his cousin's voice. Thace turned his attention to the teen. "When he saw Voltron disappear, his blood pressure went up. Coran gave him a sedative, and since then, he's been like this."

Adam shook his head. "It's criminal. I didn't get a drop to drink. I never got a chance to get drunk."

Lance tried to keep from laughing. But it burst out of his chest with force. He leaned on Hunk to hold himself up.

"Uh, Lance. I don't think it's so funny. You remember what he said on the bridge before we left."

Lance nodded as he wiped at a tear that came to his eye. "Yeah, I do." He sobered quickly and took a breath. "Sorry for laughing, Adam."

Adam squinted as he tried to focus his eyes. "Laugh it up, but you all gave me a scare. I thought I'd lost you all."

Lance straightened up. "Come on, Hunk, let's get him to his room before he turns into a crying drunk."

Booth teens got a hold of Adam and helped him to the shared room. They eased him down on the bed. Lance grabbed his boots and slipped them off his feet while Hunk helped him lay down.

Adam gazed up at them. "I'm glad nothing bad happened to any of you."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, we are too. Get some sleep. You need it."


Adam felt the dip in the bed beside him, but he couldn't open his eyes, afraid that he was dreaming when he heard words come being spoken between Takashi and Keith. It had to be a dream, he told himself.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was Zarkon trying to take over the Black Lion. It told me to use my bayard. Then nothing. I woke up, and I was back on a Galra ship."

"Well, you'd unlocked the Black Lion's ability to teleport. Could it have teleported you? Maybe it was trying to save you."

"By teleporting me back into Galra hands?"

Keith sighed. "Maybe Zarkon forced it to. I mean, he was trying to control the Black Lion up until the very last moment, right?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, the rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and around again. They need you. You know."

"Yeah, I'll try."

Adam sighed next to Shiro. "Kashi."

Shiro jerked slightly in the bed and gazed at Adam. "What's up with him?"

"He's had a hard time of it since you disappeared. For days he didn't eat, didn't sleep. And well, Coran said he gave him a sedative, and well, he didn't check it out first to see if it was compatible with human physiology, and it made him drunk."

Shiro chuckled. "That I would have given anything to see. Adam could drink me under the table."

Keith chuckled. "Okay, we'll be on the bridge whenever you decide to get up."

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"How many times are you gonna have to save me before this is over?"

A small smile pulled at Adam's mouth at Keith's reply. "As many times as it takes."


The door to the bridge opened as Shiro and Adam stepped over the threshold. Shiro gazed at everyone on the bridge. "Great job out there, everyone. You've turned the tide in this war. I'm glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone."

Lance smiled. "You're looking better. How are you feeling?"

Shiro reached up and raised his hand to the side of his head. "Good. Trying to get rid of this weird headache."

Pidge perked up, cutting off anything else he was going to say. "Guys, I think have something here! So, I downloaded intel from the Galra base we just defeated. I untied the quantum-folded encryption, and I found something on Lotor."

Shiro turned to Adam. "Who's Lotor?"

"Zarkon's son."

Keith folded his arms across his chest. "Do you know where he is?"

"Well, not exactly, no, but the last three sightings of his command ship have been in the Va'Kar quadrant."

Shiro gazed at the teenager. "Nice work, Pidge. Although, those quadrants are massive." He turned his gaze to Allura and Keith. "How will we pinpoint his location?"

Hunk, who knelt next to Pidge, looked up at her. "Hey, that comet is made from the same material as Voltron. Maybe I can scan the emission spectrum for Fraunhofer lines, like when I found the Blue Lion!"

Pidged leaned forward slightly. "But you know those emissions are subject to free induction decay. Those are exponential drop-offs."

Hunk frowned. "Yeah, but if you could find a way to amplify the sensors— No, there'd be way too much interference. What if, instead, we increase the SA magnitude?"

"The spires of the Castle!"

Hunk's eyes brightened. "Genius!"

The two teens jumped up and took off to get to work.

Lance gazed at Keith. "I have no idea what either of them just said."

Shiro gazed at the others. "Let's set a course for the Va'Kar quadrant while they get started on that detector. We need to work fast. Who knows what Lotor has planned for that comet."

Allura smiled at Shiro. "Agreed, and it's good to have you back."

Adam nodded but frowned when he caught Lance's sad expression. He thought his cousin would be overjoyed to have his idle back. He'd have to talk to him later.

Keith broke away from the others and strode over to Shiro and draped an arm over his brother's shoulder. "It is good to have you back. You walking and talking granola bar."

Shiro's eyes grew. "K-Keith, what are you talking about?"

"I haven't forgotten Adam calling you Kashi while sleeping off the sedative. And since there's a brand of a granola bar—"

Lance burst out laughing as he pointed at Adam. "Y-You didn't!"

Adam sighed. "I was asleep and thought I was dreaming!" He turned his gaze toward Shiro. "I'm sorry about that. But in my defense, it was Coran's fault for giving me the sedative in the first place."

Coran opened his mouth, but Shiro held up his hand as he chuckled. "It's okay, everyone."


Hunk sat at his station. "Okay, we're gaining on it."

Shiro stood next to his old spot on the bridge. "Make sure we stay back far enough to be undetected."

Pidge studied her holographic screen. "Looks like the signal stopped in the Ulippa System. Activating long-range scanners."

Thace nodded. "There's a Galra base there on an ice planet."

Pidge brought up images of the base bringing a ship into focus on the main screen. The ship they saw was a Galra cruiser.

Keith leaned forward and then stood up. "That's not Lotor's ship."

Hunk gazed at his holographic screen. "But, the comet is in there."

Shiro and Keith turned to face the others, and both began speaking at once. Keith stopped and gazed at his brother. "Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Shiro."

"We need to get that comet. They must be transporting it into that base. It'll be vulnerable during the transfer. That's the best time to strike."

Several jaws dropped when the cruiser opened fire on the base.

Lance cocked his head slightly. "Who the heck are these guys?"

Shiro frowned as he sat down in his old seat. "I don't think they're moving the comet to that base. We need more information."

Keith nodded as he placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder. "You're right. You take the Black Lion. I'll stay with Coran, Thace, and Adam in the Castle and provide support."

"Keith, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Adam didn't smile, but the former Red Paladin had grown while Shiro was gone. Keith was growing up.


Shiro's voice came over the speaker on the bridge. "Keith, I'm gonna need you to lead this mission."

"What? What is it? What's wrong?"

"The Black Lion isn't responding to me. It looks like you're its true paladin now."

Keith's shoulders hunched as he lowered his head. "I'm coming down."


Shiro stood on the bridge next to Coran. He still wore the Black Paladin armor. Though Adam liked to see him in that armor, but also behind the controls of the Black Lion, this seemed awkward.

Everyone on the bridge gazed at the dots that were the Paladins speeders as they raced through a canyon that gave them cover from the ship. Shiro spoke to them. "The most important thing is for you to get eyes on that comet. Second is figuring out who we're dealing with."

Keith's voice came over the speakers. "Shiro, we've just boarded the ship. There's no crew in sight. Moving forward with the search."


The roof opened on the Galra base. Shiro stared at the screen. "Coran, give me a closeup look at that." The image on the screen cleared up. "Is that—"

Coran's eyes grew. "The Teludav! What in the name of King Groggery the Infirm is going on?"

Shiro frowned. "Get in touch with the Paladins." He was rewarded with Pidge's face on the screen. "Guys. There a piece of the Teludav inside the Galra base."

Lance shoved his face in Pidge's way. "The one we used to wormhole Zarkon's ship?"

Allura's voice came over the speaker. "But they would never be able to operate it without an Altean—" she gasped. "Zarkon's witch! She had Altean markings."

Hunk asked, "Is anyone else freaking out?"

Adam didn't say it, but internally he was freaking out as he remembered the face of the witch.

Lance replied to Hunk, "Yep, Mark me down for one freak out."

Keith's voice was next. "Lotor must be nearby. We need to find him and take him out for good."

Shiro placed his hands on his hips. "Team, you cannot let Lotor get that ship. You need to get back to your lions. You need Voltron."

Keith's face appeared on the screen. "Why take out one ship when we can stop all of this by taking out Lotor himself. We can't let him keep outsmarting us."

Adam shook his head. And I thought he was growing up. He still has that one-track mind.

Shiro dropped his hands off his hips. "That's exactly why we can't risk letting Lotor have that ship. This is too important."

Allura sounded like she was trying to be the voice of reason. "Keith, I want to stop Lotor as badly as you, but Shiro has a point."

"Okay, you guys go back to the lions. I'm gonna search the ship for Lotor."

Shiro shook his head. "Keith, you need to stick together."

Lance spoke up. "Yeah, I'm with Shiro on this one."

The others agreed.

Keith didn't sound happy being overruled. "Fine. Let's move."


Shiro stared at the screen as the enemy ship locked onto the lone piece of the Teludav with a tractor beam. "We have to stop that ship."

Coran nodded as his fingers flew over his controls. "On it." Before he could get the Castle closer, a smaller ship flew out of the cruiser. "That must be the ship made from the comet."

Shiro stared at the screen. "Then let's be careful. Raise particle barrier. Fire the Castle defenses."

The ship dodged the beams from the Castle. Coran gazed at it. "A quick little bugger, isn't it?"

Shiro replied, "I've never seen anything like that size move that fast."

It evaded every blast from the Castle. It spun around and fired several beams testing out the Altean ship's defenses. A second blast came from the comet ship and struck the particle barrier. The Castle rocked as part of the barrier was destroyed.

Shiro threw his arms out to keep his balance.

Coran stared at the screen. "That blast tore right through the particle barrier."

Adam rolled his eyes, but he wondered where Voltron was.

Shiro stood up straight. "Team, where are you?"

Coran grunted as the particle barrier took another direct hit. "We can't take another hit like that!"

The comet ship powered up its primary weapon again, but a blast from elsewhere in space cause it to fly away. Voltron appeared where the comet ship had been before.

It raced toward the Castle of Lions. Voltron gave chase.

Keith growled. "It's too quick."

Shiro replied. "Guys, the cruiser is escaping with the Teludav!"

Keith grunted. "I thought taking down the comet ship was the most important thing."

"We still can't let Lotor get away with the Teludav."

Allura jumped in. "Shiro's right. We need to destroy it."

Keith let his frustration get the best of him. "But the comet is right here! We need to take it down!"

Shiro called out, trying to get the former Red Paladin's attention. "Keith, the cruiser is getting away!"

Voltron was pinned down by the comet ship. Shiro spoke again. "You're going to have to lower your shield, shoot the cruiser, and deal with the consequences."

Keith again argued. "We can beat this ship first and then get the cruiser."

Shiro shook his head. "There's not enough time! You need to make a decision!"

Keith growled. "Hunk, get your bayard ready. On my cue, we're gonna lower the shield and shoot the cruiser. Ready?"

All the paladins answered him. "Ready!"

"Go!"

As the comet ship fired, Voltron moved back and let the blast from the comet ship strike the Teludav destroying it. The comet ship fired again, striking Voltron.

The paladins wanted to go after the comet ship, but Shiro overruled them. "No, get back to the Castle. Something strange is going on, and we need to figure it out."

Shiro headed for the door to walk off the bridge when Adam joined him. The pair entered the elevator. "You were pretty hard on Keith."

Shiro nodded, "I know, but he needs to learn that being the leader of Voltron isn't easy."

Adam cocked his head, and his eyes narrowed. "Are you sure that's it or that the Black Lion didn't respond to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you aren't the Black Paladin anymore, and Keith is."

Shiro sighed. "That has nothing to do with it at all, Adam. He needs to learn that there's more to being the leader than just flying the lion. He's got the welfare of all the other paladins under him, and he needs to learn that."

"Takashi, you can't push so hard with Keith. You don't know what he went through while you were gone, how he searched for you every day, and nearly worked himself to death trying to find you. It's time for you to talk to him and explain it to him because I'm sure he's completely confused."

Shiro nodded. "Your right again. But let me get out of this armor, okay."

"Sure, and I'm going with you to make sure you do a good job with it."


Shiro walked up to Keith, who stood gazing out the window of the Observation deck. He placed his prosthetic hand on the new Black Paladin's shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to step in back there."

Keith left his arms crossed over his chest as he gazed down at nothing in particular. "I thought I had it under control."

"You need to learn to pick your battles. Sometimes you have to make hard choices."

Keith didn't look at Shiro. "I'm not good at this."

"Yes, you are," Keith raised his head to gaze at Shiro as he continued to speak. "It was your quick thinking that prevented Lotor from getting away with the Teludav. You're gonna get there." Shiro smiled. "The Black Lion has chosen you. I'm proud of you, Keith."

Adam smiled at the pair as they embraced. It was a good sign that things were going to get better.