Published October 13, 2018
"Days in the Sun"
Our deepest hungers are not for food and drink, not for amusements and recreations, not for property and wardrobes, not for notoriety and gossip. We hunger for truth, we thirst to drink beauty, we yearn to celebrate, we stretch out to love and be loved. This is why anything less than Everything is not enough. ~ Father Thomas Dubay, Happy Are You Poor
Sam's time in the work camp was the lowest point of his life. Being separated from Shiro and Matt—especially Matt—was almost unbearable. They were no longer together to keep each other's spirits up.
Sam had lost everything, except his life, and it was hard to be grateful for that when there seemed to be nothing left to live for. But he knew Colleen and the kids would not want him to think that way. They would want him to live and find a way back to them.
Being transferred to the prison for scientists was a mixed blessing. The conditions were somewhat better—there was no vermin, and the labor was not painful or tedious—but being forced to research and develop weapons for the Galra was humiliating and demoralizing. Now they were being put to work that they knew was wrong, would benefit the Galra and hurt innocent people. When any of the scientists tried to stall or sabotage their work, they suffered for not meeting quotas. Worse, their fellow prisoners were punished in their stead.
Sam received a crash course in quintessence, a substance he had never known of. The other scientists were amazed by his ignorance, and that only made them all the more impressed by how quickly he memorized new information and mastered new skills. Sam had always enjoyed learning, and he wanted to learn as much as he could in order to help himself and, in the future, Earth; but he tried to slow himself down, knowing that the faster he progressed in this work, the faster the Galra's technology would advance.
The only news they received of what was happening outside the prison came from new arrivals, and they were few and far between. After Sam had been in the prison for some time—it was hard to tell how it compared to Earth's time, but he estimated it had been months—new prisoners started to share rumors of Voltron, a legendary superweapon that had been hidden for years and was now being used to fight Zarkon and his forces.
One day, a new prisoner arrive who gave Sam strange looks. He found an opportunity to discreetly approach him and whisper, "Are you from Earth?"
"Yes. Have you seen anyone like me? Another prisoner?"
"No, not personally, and not a prisoner. But they say the new paladins are from your home planet."
The words were meant as a warning. The prisoner who whispered them to Sam suspected that eventually the Galra would question him about Earth and whether he knew anything about these paladins.
But Sam's alarm was not for his own safety, but rather for Earth. When he and Shiro and Matt left, the people of Earth had been ignorant of any alien life in the universe. Had that changed? Had the Galra come to Earth and put it through the same horrors it imposed on other planets—occupation, exploitation of resources, eventually complete destruction?
Another time, after the roll call, a new prisoner asked him, "Holt, is it?"
"Yes."
"Do you know an Earthling named Matt Holt?"
Sam's eyes widened, and he felt more alert than he had in a long time. "My son. How do you know him?"
"He's making a name for himself as a rebel. He has a price on his head."
Fear and pride swelled up like twin waves. So Matt was free, and had found a way to fight the Galra. Maybe something similar had happened to Shiro. Maybe they were searching for him.
These scraps of news were like receiving a mouthful of water when dying of thirst. Then, one day, it was as though some floodgates opened. The alarms went off, but then the automated security system shut down altogether. The prisoners were bewildered. Those who were in their cells did not dare to come out.
Before they could decide whether to investigate, the intruders barged in. They were a trio of tall, female aliens in Galra armor, though they did not look entirely Galra. Perhaps they had mixed heritage. One of them wielded a small blaster weapon.
Was this an attack, or the rescue they had hoped for?
"We're looking for a prisoner from Planet Earth," the armed, blue-skinned woman said, her voice ringing over the work area.
Sam did not blame anyone for what happened next. He preferred to believe that the few who looked at him did so instinctively, not intending to betray him. It may not have mattered, since the part-Galra women seemed to register his appearance when they saw him. They looked at each other and nodded as though in agreement. They must have seen other Earthlings before. Had they seen Matt and Shiro? Or others from Earth?
"You're coming with us." The furry woman, the biggest of the intruders, looked at the other scientists. "You lot stay here. Anyone who comes out is going to get hurt."
Sam did not resist as they seized him and led him out; he knew only too well the not only he but the other scientists would suffer if he tried to fight.
Outside, he saw that the automated sentries had been dismembered. These part-Galra women must have fought they way through the prison's defenses. Were they acting outside Galra law?
They kept Sam bound or handcuffed aboard their ship. They spent a long while traveling before the pilot, who seemed to be their leader, opened a communication frequency. "Emperor Zarkon."
Sam, who had been alternating between deep thinking and lethargy, snapped to attention at the sound of that name. Were these women high-ranking enough that they could contact their emperor so easily?
"What do you want?" Zarkon's voice was full of contempt and distrust.
"We have something in our possession we think you'd be interested in. We are willing to trade it for our safe passage back into the Galra ranks."
There was only a brief pause before Zarkon replied, "I'm listening."
The colorful Galra with an antenna-like appendage on her head pushed Sam into view of the screen.
So this was Zarkon. Sam thought he looked more like a machine than an organic being. He wore some kind of mask or helmet as well as armor that looked like it was being powered by quintessence.
What could the Emperor want with him? Did they have a special assignment for him? Or would they use him as a test subject in their experiments? He had heard gruesome rumors about that. If Zarkon wanted information, Sam was not sure he would be able to withhold it under torture or duress. If they threatened Shiro or Matt or the planet Earth …
The trio's leader introduced him. "Records say this is Samuel Holt from Planet Earth, the same planet as the paladins of Voltron."
"The Green Paladin asked the Puigians to contact her if they had news of him. Apparently she's been asking all their allies about him."
She? Who could they be talking about? Colleen? One of his female colleagues from the Galaxy Garrison? He wondered, again, if Katie was now old enough to be enrolled at the Garrison.
They took him away from the screen, so Sam did not hear the details of their arrangements, but before long, Sam was brought face-to-masked-face with the Galra Emperor, the creature responsible, at the highest level, for his imprisonment and the exploitation and destruction of so many worlds. He was the one who had ordered that Sam, Shiro, and Matt be brought in for interrogation.
"Paladins of Voltron."
Sam's eyes widened, and he tried to lift his head, but the colorful alien pushed it back down, hard.
"I am making a one-time offer. I have someone of value to you." Zarkon stepped to the side so Sam and the female Galra were visible. Sam took this as his cue, and probably only opportunity, to raise his head and look at the screen.
There they were: five Earthlings and two human-looking aliens in a large, white-trimmed room. He did not recognize most of them, but Shiro stood near the front, and Matt stood next to a chair—in which Katie was seated.
There was no mistaking them, though their appearances had changed as much as Sam's during their separation. Shiro's bangs were white, and his left arm looked like it was made of metal. Matt looked like a soldier turned hobo, his hair shaggy, and his clothes mismatched and rugged. Katie, his sweet Katie, sporting some of Matt's hand-me-down clothes, now had short hair and wore what looked like Matt's glasses.
She stood up from the chair, stricken with horror. "Dad." Her voice was unmistakable even in that one syllable.
"I will hand him over, and in exchange, you give me my son Lotor."
Sam had heard about Lotor, even caught a glimpse of him once or twice when the scientists' prison was under his command. His reputation among the prisoners was mixed: he was said to be more merciful than the average Galra officer or soldier, but he was still feared for his cunning and fighting prowess.
Dozens of questions and hypotheses churned in Sam's mind. How had the paladins ended up with Lotor in their custody? Was he their prisoner? Their ally? How strange, trading one party's father for another party's son.
"Bring me Lotor and the prisoner is yours. Meet my demands if you want to see the Earthling alive." With that, Zarkon turned off the screen and ordered that Sam be taken to a holding cell.
Sam wished he had more information, wished he knew what was going on. He hated being ignorant of the relevant facts, and he hated feeling helpless. The desire to take action was one of the things that drove him as a scientist and military officer. Now there was nothing he could do except wait to see what move his captors and allies decided to make. But he once he found out, he promised himself, he would do whatever was in his power to get back to his kids and get them all back to Earth.
Music: "Days in the Sun" from Beauty and the Beast (2017).
