Disclaimer: Voltron and its characters are the property of World Events
Productions. I own Sonia, Mia, General Anderson and Colonel Forrey.
Chapter 2. A Stranger and A Mystery
"Your Majesty." - pause --
"Princess Allura." -pause--
"Princess, please wake up".
Princess Allura awoke slowly to the sounds and gentle shaking of her maid Sonia.
"Is something wrong Sonia? Why are you waking me up so early?" Allura said sleepily, trying to shake off the last remnants of her dreams that threatened to claim her while Sonia headed to the closet.
"Your majesty, it's 8 am. Captain Keith asked me to remind you that he'd called a meeting at 8:30."
Allura quietly said some very unprincess-like things under her breath while she jumped out of bed and ran to brush her teeth. Her and Pidge had been up half the night searching departure logs of launch facilities of nearby systems to try and find out the identity or any information about their injured visitor. They had come up with nothing. Allura squinted at her watch and figured she probably got five hours sleep.maybe. She tried to push that thought out of her head while she dressed in her pink jumpsuit that Sonia handed her. Keith was expecting them all in fifteen minutes to update him on all their findings. Well, her findings wouldn't take very long, Allura thought, maybe she could catch a few more minutes of sleep after the meeting.
A knock on her door startled her out of her sleepy thoughts. Sonia opened the door to reveal an equally tired Pidge. " 'Morning Princess. I thought I would see if you wanted to head into this meeting empty handed together?" said Pidge rubbing his eyes.
"Sure. I'm almost ready". Within minutes Sonia had Allura's hair in a functional bun and she was ready to go.
When they arrived in the conference room Keith glanced up and them and motioned for them to sit down. "Ok, now that everyone's here let's start at the beginning. Coran did you find anything in the castle's sensors?"
"No Captain. The ship was either too small, or too far away for the sensors to pick it up. There were however some strange readings that we found in Pidge's sensor logs. There was some residual energy in the area of the ship but it didn't seem to be coming from the ship. I can't say much more about it though. I was hoping that maybe Pidge could have a look at them today and see if he could understand it."
Keith looked over the Pidge and Pidge nodded. "Ok, thanks Coran. Pidge, why don't you continue. Did you and the Princess find any flight plans that matched our ship?"
"No Captain. We checked all the systems within 10 light years of Arus. There was no flight plan filed that matched our pilot or the ship. With a ship that size, I don't think it could have flown more than 10 light years, especially since there were no supplies on board."
Keith shook his head in disappointment at the lack of data. "And any ship leaving from a planet in the Alliance must file a flight plan. What about you Lance? Did you and Hunk manage to find any information within the ship?"
Lance hung his head in disappointment. "Sorry Captain. All the ship computers have been wiped clean of any information. The navigational logs, the sensor logs, the databases.there's nothing in there. Whatever hit the ship fried the computer system. Our pilot is lucky that the backup life support systems were still active, but all they can tell us is that they were activated five hours prior to our interception of the ship."
"The blast marks on the ship do indicate heavy fire but I'm running some tests now to see if we can ID the type of weapons used" said Hunk. "There was one strange thing though" Hunk's eyebrows bunched together as he tried to figure out how to phrase his findings. "The inside of the ship is smaller than the outside of the ship, even allowing for shielding and armorment."
"What do you mean Hunk?" asked Keith.
"Well, after I walked around the ship to assess the damage and to see if there were any identifying markers, I did the same walk on the inside of the ship, but it took me a third of the time. So I did some calculations and the inside of the ship is significantly smaller than it should be. So I started looking around to see if there were any hidden compartments and the only thing I could find was a panel that was not quite flush with the others. It took me TWO hours but I finally figured out how to open it. There was a small latch between some rivets and.well nevermind. The point is that the latch caused the paneling to slide over and it revealed a hidden compartment. There was nothing in there except for some clothes all bunched in the corner. However, my point is the compartment was small. I think that the ship must have many of these compartments. Maybe she was a smuggler or something." Hunk looked down under Lance's glare.
"Don't you think that's jumping to conclusion Hunk?" Lance accused. "So she has some secret compartments in her ship, maybe she just doesn't like clutter?"
"Clutter?" Keith asked skeptically. "Ok well let's not get excited maybe-"
"Captain Keith." The intercom sounded loudly causing all six heads to turn towards the speaker.
"Yes" answered Keith after depressing the intercom button.
"It's Dr. Gorma. I've just finished with the pilot and there's some things I think you should see. Did you want to come down to the medical wing?"
"Sure, Dr. Gorma, we'll be down there in a minute" answered Keith. He stood up and motioned for everyone else to come along.
As a group they entered into the gray and white, medical wing main laboratory where Dr. Gorma was waiting for them. "Thanks for coming down so quickly. It's been a long night and I just wanted to brief you before I catch up on my sleep. She's recovering nicely, but I must say it was quite tricky there for a while." Dr. Gorma paused and pulled out a medical chart. "I believe she is partly human so I was able to make some educated guesses on how to treat her but she had significant internal bleeding. I suspect that she impacted against the console or something. She did hit her head resulting in a long gash along her forehead. I scanned her head but I can't make sense out of the readings. Her brain is active meaning the brain damage isn't likely but I have never seen those brain wave patterns before." Dr. Gorma pulled out a 2D image of the brain scan he had conducted earlier and handed it to Keith. "Medically speaking that's all the information I can give you for now. However.well maybe you should just see her for yourself."
Keith nodded and Dr Gorma led the team towards a small room located at the side of the laboratory. The doctor motioned for the group to gather towards an observation window just at the side of the door. Keith tried to hide his shock as he saw the slight figure of the pilot in a hospital bed. She was smaller that he'd first thought and much paler than when he'd seen her being carried out of the ship. But most of all her face was framed by long, dark, raven hair that stuck out from the bandage wrapped around her forehead.
"But she had red hair!" exclaimed Allura.
"Ah, yes, she was wearing a wig," said the doctor pointing to the red hair sitting on a pile of dark clothing on a chair in the corner. "She was also wearing significant coloring make-up to make her skin seem darker. Under her clothes she had uh.padding.I guess to make her body shape more.feminine.and she had brown colored contact lenses in her eyes. This lady went to various depths to disguise herself."
Keith shook his head. (He felt like he'd been doing that all morning). "So we have a partially human female, flying in a ship that our tractor beams can't hold, filled with secret compartments and no flight plan AND she's travelling in disguise. I'm sorry to say but Hunk's theory of her being a smuggler is becoming more and more probable. Were you able to get any identifying marks off of her Doctor?"
Dr. Gorma paused for a moment. "Well I took the usual fingerprints and DNA samples but the computers have not come up with a match so far. She has no tattoos or such if that's what you mean. Now her features do make her rather unique, but again there's no match so far. Oh, our pilot was wearing one personal item. I found this ring on her right hand." Dr Gorma reached into his pocket to remove a small envelope which he also handed over to Keith. Keith opened the flap and turned it upside down to slip a small ring out into his palm. It was a small gold colored band with a beautiful blue colored gem in the middle. The stone was cut in a peculiar fashion with many jagged edges, but the effect caused the stone to glitter. Keith held the ring up to his eyes for a closer look.
"Wait a minute, a think that there is something written on the inside of the band!"
"You're correct Captain," said the doctor. "The writing was a little small for my eyes so I used my microscope. It says, in English obviously, To Mia with love."
"So presumable that's her name?" said Lance silently mouthing her name under his breath.
Keith turned his dark eyes to Lance. "Well let's assume that for now and see if it helps us in our search for information. In the meantime."
"Oh wait I think she's waking up!" exclaimed Allura motioning to Mia's stirring. Dr Gorma immediately opened the door to her room and within seconds was checking her vital signs. Allura, Keith and Lance followed the doctor into the room while Pidge, Hunk and Coran elected to remain outside by the window.
Mia groaned softly before opening her eyes. Allura, who had taken up a spot at the foot of her bed, was the first sight that Mia's blue-green eyes gazed into. Unfortunately, the sight must have been upsetting for her because Mia immediately sat straight up and started talking very quickly in a language nobody could understand. It was obvious that she was very upset.
"Shhhhhh" said Lance trying to sooth Mia by laying a friendly hand on her arm. This only served to agitate her further because now she tried to jump out of bed. However, with the doctor on her right and Keith and Lance on her left she had nowhere to go. She looked back to the doctor and it looked like she was contemplating pushing him out of her way when Keith spoke up.
"It's ok, please calm down, we won't hurt you" said Keith. At the same time he raised his hands in the air and made no motion towards her. Mia had turned her piercing gaze towards Keith and then burrowed her eyebrows like she was trying to recall something.
"Where...where am I?" Mia said in strangely accented English, but making no moves to relax.
Keith motioned to the doctor that he would continue. "You are on the planet Arus. Your ship was badly damaged in space yesterday but we managed to bring it down here. Do you remember any of this?"
Mia shook her head.
"Can you tell me who you are?" asked Keith.
Mia's face changed into one of deep concentration. After a few moments, the look on her face changed back into panic.
"No. I can't. I don't remember.anything." Mia turned away from Keith and examined her surroundings. "I have to get out of here" and she once again tried to get up off the bed but the doctor intercepted her arm that was about to pull away the covers.
"Whoa, there Mia, I don't think you should go anywhere. You suffered major internal bleeding, a laceration to your forehead and now it seems like you have amnesia. We need to keep you under observation and run a few more brain scans to see if we can detect any damage. Don't worry, we won't hurt you, you are safe here."
Mia looked at the doctor skeptically and then turned back to Keith. "Is that my name?" she asked him quietly. Keith nodded and pulled out the ring from the envelope and gave it back to her.
"Does it sound right? We found it inscribed in this ring."
"I don't know. I guess, it sort of sounds familiar," Mia said turning the ring over and looking at the gem. She then tried it on her right hand, on the finger it had originally been on. "It looks familiar, I think, but." Mia shook her head in frustration and put a hand up to her forehead.
"Don't rush yourself too much" cautioned the doctor. "In fact I recommend that we let her rest and continue this conversation later."
Keith nodded and turned back to Mia. "We can talk later and fill you in on what we've found so far."
Lance, determined to make up for his blunder before added "and if you need anything, just let someone know, ok?" Lance felt his heartbeat quicken as Mia turned her stare towards him. She wasn't shy about sizing him up, her eyes traveling up and down his body before finally settling on his eyes. She merely nodded her acknowledgement before lying back down in the bed as Keith, Allura and Lance filed out of the room. Outside Keith turned to the rest of the Voltron force.
"Did you guys catch any of that?" Keith asked Pidge and Hunk. They both nodded and Pidge told him about the intercom that allowed them to listen in. "Ok, team. We still don't know anything about her but all the data that we've acquired so far doesn't bend towards trusting her too much. I want security on her all the time."
"I can take care of that" volunteered Lance. Keith nodded and turned to the other three. "Can you guys continue your research, and you Princess, as well whenever your duties permit?" The three nodded their agreement. Coran came up to the Captain and told him her would search the Galaxy Alliance database. Any planet that had incomplete flight plans that were more than 24 hours old had to notify the Alliance.
"I better go check on the sensor with Coran" said Pidge before turning and running to catch up with Coran who has started to walk towards the control room. The Princess had to go and catch up on some correspondence and Hunk went back to the landing dock to check on the weapons testing. As Lance was about to go set up the security detail, Keith stopped him.
"Lance, we need to talk," said Keith.
"Well, shoot Captain"
"She's not just another pretty face, you need to be careful around her" said Keith getting right to the point.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm always careful" replied Lance with his usual cockiness.
Keith eyed him skeptically. "Right. My point is, I think she is a dangerous person and we still know nothing about her including what brought her in the vicinity of this planet."
"Well I think you are worrying too much, Keith. Besides, even if she did come here with some bad intentions, she can't remember anything!"
Again the skeptical look crossed Keith's face.
"What you don't believe her?" asked Lance.
"I don't know" replied Keith warily. "English was obviously not her first language but she remembered it very well. She remembered what finger she wore her ring on. Plus she seemed very aware, like she was taking everything in and processing it. If she suffered damage to her head I would have expected her to be more confused. Instead she's acting like a caged animal."
"Well don't worry Keith, unless you sneaked off to medical school when I wasn't looking, then you are probably jumping to conclusions. Let the doctor figure out what's wrong with her and let me handle the security. Besides, maybe with my captivating good looks, I can charm some information out of her," said Lance with a wink.
Keith smiled at his friend. "Just be careful, that's all."
* * * * * *
Coran stood at the communication console trying to reach Galaxy Alliance.
"Arus Control, this is Galaxy Alliance Security, go ahead."
"Yes, thank-you. I was trying to access your Incomplete Flight Plan Database but the clerk there was having difficulty retrieving the information I asked for and so he passed me on to you. I was wondering if I could file my information request with you and you can contact me when the database is running again."
"Sure, go ahead, Arus Control."
* * * * * *
Later that afternoon.
"Hello Sunshine", said Lance as he opened the door to Mia's room while carrying a small bowl of soup. "The doctor asked me to bring this in to you. You must be starving."
Mia had been sitting up examining the ring on her finger but she looked up at Lance as he came in the room. "Thank-you " she said as he laid the bowl on her small bedside table.
Lance was about to turn around and head back out the door when he decided to speak. "Do you want any company?" he ventured.
Mia paused for a moment. "Sure." Lance moved the clothes and wig off the chair in the corner and brought the chair closer to her bed. Sitting down, he had a chance to look at her more closely than he did this morning. She had delicate features and big blue-green eyes that seem all the more startling because of the contrast of her dark hair. The bandages were still wrapped around her forehead, but it looked like she had combed her hair because he could see very fine streaks of navy blue in her black hair. Definitely exotic looking, Lance decided. Mia in the meantime had examined her soup and decided to taste a small sip.
"Is the soup ok?" asked Lance. Mia simply nodded. Lance found her gaze very unnerving when she turned it on him. Mia looked away. She then put her spoon down and paused another moment before speaking.
"You and your friends don't trust me," she said simply. Lance looked up at her questioningly and so she elaborated. "You've had someone watching me through that window since I awoke. I promise you and your friends that I mean you no harm."
Lance paused a moment to choose his words. He couldn't quite meet her bright eyes. "Well, you don't really remember if you mean us any harm do you?"
Mia conceded the point with a nod of her head and turned her gaze on him straight on.
"Plus the circumstances of your arrival here indicate that you were trying to hide something - yourself or your intentions" Lance went on.
Mia shook her head. "I really wish I could remember something. This is very frustrating. What exactly were the circumstances of my arrival, if I may ask?"
Lance proceeded to tell her how they found her ship badly damaged and brought it down to the planet. He motioned to her disguise sitting on the floor now when he was describing how they found her. He also told her how her computer systems were wiped clean providing no clues as to her identity and/or intentions.
"That would explain the security then," replied Mia in an understanding way. "So you were one of the pilots that brought my ship down in the mouth of a robotic lion?"
"Yes. Pidge was the other pilot. My name is Lance by the way."
"And who were the other people that were here this morning?" asked Mia.
Lance explained who they were and that Keith was the captain of the Voltron Force. "Does this jog any memories of why you were trying to come here?"
Mia shook her head. "No, and it's so frustrating. When you mentioned the Voltron Force it's like I could feel information, like you say 'on the tip of my brain' but."
Lance chuckled, "Actually I think you mean to say on the tip of your tongue, but I understand what you mean."
"I try and grasp at that feeling of remembering but that seems to just push it away. It's the same way I feel when I look at this ring. It's like I should know where I got it, but I can't!"
"Well don't stress yourself out too much, I'm sure that it won't help matters. Listen, I have to go. I really just came down to check on the security detail. I'm sorry that we can't completely trust you yet, so they have to stay but if there is anything else I can do to help you please let me know.'
"Thank-you Lance; for saving me and for the soup. I appreciate your honesty. I'm fine though."
"Ok, well I will be back in a few hours to see if you change your mind." Lance got up and went out the door, sorry to be leaving her unsettling gaze.
* * * * * * At Galaxy Alliance Building 407 (Headquarters).
" I need to see General Anderson, please" said a very impatient, slightly overweight, older senior officer.
"Just a moment while I see if he's available" was the bored reply from the middle-aged receptionist.
The Colonel slammed his fist on the desk and brought his face right up to the startled receptionist. "You tell him that it's Colonel Forrey and that he really should make himself available."
The secretary hastily got out of her chair and opened the office door behind her and stuck her head in. After some brief conversation the woman returned with a slight smirk on her face.
"General Anderson happens to be available so you can go right in." she managed to say in a snotty voice. Colonel Forrey huffed past her and stormed into the office. As soon as he shut the door behind him he turned to his superior with a stormy expression on his already heavily lined face. Anderson took in his expression and Forrey's white hair sticking up at odd angles from underneath his beret and motioned for him to sit down.
Instead, Forrey stayed standing but removed his beret and started to pace. "Did you get my message? She's not dead. What are we going to do?"
"You don't know for sure if it is her," replied Anderson going over to his private fridge and taking out some ice.
"Please don't insult my intelligence. The message from Arus is too specific. What really worries me besides the fact that SHE'S STILL ALIVE, is that we have no idea who she is. She was in disguise you know. Coran mentioned that she had small pointed ears and that her BLACK hair had dark blue streaks in it. She sounds like she's Sagarian!"
"That doesn't make any sense, Forrey. Why would they send someone here to break into my files" responded Anderson while pouring two drinks from his liquor cabinet. He picked up both glasses and walked over to Forrey and handed him one.
"Maybe they don't trust you?" stated Forrey.
"They trust me, " responded Anderson coldly. "I sent my transmission to them yesterday detailing all the operatives we have on Sagar. They should be very pleased to get that intel."
"Yesterday? What if she intercepted it or copied it and is exposing us right now?"
"Make up your mind, Chris. First you think she's Sagarian. Now you think she's working for someone else. And again why would she go to Arus? Do you think she's an Arusian spy?" Anderson tried unsuccessfully to hide a laugh at the thought of a spy from Arus! "I think you are trying to worry yourself. Besides though our spy was a redhead she was trying to conceal herself, why would she do that if she was wearing a wig?" continued Anderson. "And how would she get to Arus? My men engaged her just outside our solar system and they confirmed that her ship blew up."
"They didn't find any debris though did they?"
"No, but the energy from the explosion knocked their computers right out, not to mention the fact that it caused severe damage to the forward ship. Trust me she's dead, she could not have survived that explosion."
"You know with Operation Blue Prism about to unfold we can't afford any information leaking out. It could ruin everything." Forrey downed his drink in one gulp, while Anderson sipped his and eyed his companion.
"Everything is fine. We are right on schedule," concluded Anderson putting down his drink, standing up and going over to his personal washroom to adjust his tie in the mirror. "If it makes you feel better I will send someone in to take care of the visitor on Arus. In the mean time I suggest you finish off your orders to give your fleet. We need them in Sector 455 in one week."
Forrey glared at the General. "I know my job." With that Forrey stood up and tried to straighten out his tunic jacket, but it was hopelessly wrinkled.
"You know you should ask Wanda, my secretary, to take your uniform in for dry cleaning. There a shop just on the next street, they can have it back to you with an hour."
Forrey managed a glare at Anderson before replying "No thank-you, I will just go to my apartment and change. Let me know if there's any problems." After receiving a short nod from the General, Forrey exited the office leaving Anderson to sit back down and pick up his drink again. A line of worry creased his forehead as pondered the situation. Forrey was a fool, but as Commander of the largest fleet he was a necessary ally for now. However, the problem on Arus might pose a bigger problem than what he had let on. There was only one connection he could think of between the planet Sagar and Arus and it was thin at best. Thin, but deadly. Anderson shook his head not quite believing that there was any possible way that a ghost from the past could have reached her grip across the galaxy to spoil his plan. "She'll be dead soon anyways. Both of them will be," he said under his breath as he picked up his phone.
Chapter 2. A Stranger and A Mystery
"Your Majesty." - pause --
"Princess Allura." -pause--
"Princess, please wake up".
Princess Allura awoke slowly to the sounds and gentle shaking of her maid Sonia.
"Is something wrong Sonia? Why are you waking me up so early?" Allura said sleepily, trying to shake off the last remnants of her dreams that threatened to claim her while Sonia headed to the closet.
"Your majesty, it's 8 am. Captain Keith asked me to remind you that he'd called a meeting at 8:30."
Allura quietly said some very unprincess-like things under her breath while she jumped out of bed and ran to brush her teeth. Her and Pidge had been up half the night searching departure logs of launch facilities of nearby systems to try and find out the identity or any information about their injured visitor. They had come up with nothing. Allura squinted at her watch and figured she probably got five hours sleep.maybe. She tried to push that thought out of her head while she dressed in her pink jumpsuit that Sonia handed her. Keith was expecting them all in fifteen minutes to update him on all their findings. Well, her findings wouldn't take very long, Allura thought, maybe she could catch a few more minutes of sleep after the meeting.
A knock on her door startled her out of her sleepy thoughts. Sonia opened the door to reveal an equally tired Pidge. " 'Morning Princess. I thought I would see if you wanted to head into this meeting empty handed together?" said Pidge rubbing his eyes.
"Sure. I'm almost ready". Within minutes Sonia had Allura's hair in a functional bun and she was ready to go.
When they arrived in the conference room Keith glanced up and them and motioned for them to sit down. "Ok, now that everyone's here let's start at the beginning. Coran did you find anything in the castle's sensors?"
"No Captain. The ship was either too small, or too far away for the sensors to pick it up. There were however some strange readings that we found in Pidge's sensor logs. There was some residual energy in the area of the ship but it didn't seem to be coming from the ship. I can't say much more about it though. I was hoping that maybe Pidge could have a look at them today and see if he could understand it."
Keith looked over the Pidge and Pidge nodded. "Ok, thanks Coran. Pidge, why don't you continue. Did you and the Princess find any flight plans that matched our ship?"
"No Captain. We checked all the systems within 10 light years of Arus. There was no flight plan filed that matched our pilot or the ship. With a ship that size, I don't think it could have flown more than 10 light years, especially since there were no supplies on board."
Keith shook his head in disappointment at the lack of data. "And any ship leaving from a planet in the Alliance must file a flight plan. What about you Lance? Did you and Hunk manage to find any information within the ship?"
Lance hung his head in disappointment. "Sorry Captain. All the ship computers have been wiped clean of any information. The navigational logs, the sensor logs, the databases.there's nothing in there. Whatever hit the ship fried the computer system. Our pilot is lucky that the backup life support systems were still active, but all they can tell us is that they were activated five hours prior to our interception of the ship."
"The blast marks on the ship do indicate heavy fire but I'm running some tests now to see if we can ID the type of weapons used" said Hunk. "There was one strange thing though" Hunk's eyebrows bunched together as he tried to figure out how to phrase his findings. "The inside of the ship is smaller than the outside of the ship, even allowing for shielding and armorment."
"What do you mean Hunk?" asked Keith.
"Well, after I walked around the ship to assess the damage and to see if there were any identifying markers, I did the same walk on the inside of the ship, but it took me a third of the time. So I did some calculations and the inside of the ship is significantly smaller than it should be. So I started looking around to see if there were any hidden compartments and the only thing I could find was a panel that was not quite flush with the others. It took me TWO hours but I finally figured out how to open it. There was a small latch between some rivets and.well nevermind. The point is that the latch caused the paneling to slide over and it revealed a hidden compartment. There was nothing in there except for some clothes all bunched in the corner. However, my point is the compartment was small. I think that the ship must have many of these compartments. Maybe she was a smuggler or something." Hunk looked down under Lance's glare.
"Don't you think that's jumping to conclusion Hunk?" Lance accused. "So she has some secret compartments in her ship, maybe she just doesn't like clutter?"
"Clutter?" Keith asked skeptically. "Ok well let's not get excited maybe-"
"Captain Keith." The intercom sounded loudly causing all six heads to turn towards the speaker.
"Yes" answered Keith after depressing the intercom button.
"It's Dr. Gorma. I've just finished with the pilot and there's some things I think you should see. Did you want to come down to the medical wing?"
"Sure, Dr. Gorma, we'll be down there in a minute" answered Keith. He stood up and motioned for everyone else to come along.
As a group they entered into the gray and white, medical wing main laboratory where Dr. Gorma was waiting for them. "Thanks for coming down so quickly. It's been a long night and I just wanted to brief you before I catch up on my sleep. She's recovering nicely, but I must say it was quite tricky there for a while." Dr. Gorma paused and pulled out a medical chart. "I believe she is partly human so I was able to make some educated guesses on how to treat her but she had significant internal bleeding. I suspect that she impacted against the console or something. She did hit her head resulting in a long gash along her forehead. I scanned her head but I can't make sense out of the readings. Her brain is active meaning the brain damage isn't likely but I have never seen those brain wave patterns before." Dr. Gorma pulled out a 2D image of the brain scan he had conducted earlier and handed it to Keith. "Medically speaking that's all the information I can give you for now. However.well maybe you should just see her for yourself."
Keith nodded and Dr Gorma led the team towards a small room located at the side of the laboratory. The doctor motioned for the group to gather towards an observation window just at the side of the door. Keith tried to hide his shock as he saw the slight figure of the pilot in a hospital bed. She was smaller that he'd first thought and much paler than when he'd seen her being carried out of the ship. But most of all her face was framed by long, dark, raven hair that stuck out from the bandage wrapped around her forehead.
"But she had red hair!" exclaimed Allura.
"Ah, yes, she was wearing a wig," said the doctor pointing to the red hair sitting on a pile of dark clothing on a chair in the corner. "She was also wearing significant coloring make-up to make her skin seem darker. Under her clothes she had uh.padding.I guess to make her body shape more.feminine.and she had brown colored contact lenses in her eyes. This lady went to various depths to disguise herself."
Keith shook his head. (He felt like he'd been doing that all morning). "So we have a partially human female, flying in a ship that our tractor beams can't hold, filled with secret compartments and no flight plan AND she's travelling in disguise. I'm sorry to say but Hunk's theory of her being a smuggler is becoming more and more probable. Were you able to get any identifying marks off of her Doctor?"
Dr. Gorma paused for a moment. "Well I took the usual fingerprints and DNA samples but the computers have not come up with a match so far. She has no tattoos or such if that's what you mean. Now her features do make her rather unique, but again there's no match so far. Oh, our pilot was wearing one personal item. I found this ring on her right hand." Dr Gorma reached into his pocket to remove a small envelope which he also handed over to Keith. Keith opened the flap and turned it upside down to slip a small ring out into his palm. It was a small gold colored band with a beautiful blue colored gem in the middle. The stone was cut in a peculiar fashion with many jagged edges, but the effect caused the stone to glitter. Keith held the ring up to his eyes for a closer look.
"Wait a minute, a think that there is something written on the inside of the band!"
"You're correct Captain," said the doctor. "The writing was a little small for my eyes so I used my microscope. It says, in English obviously, To Mia with love."
"So presumable that's her name?" said Lance silently mouthing her name under his breath.
Keith turned his dark eyes to Lance. "Well let's assume that for now and see if it helps us in our search for information. In the meantime."
"Oh wait I think she's waking up!" exclaimed Allura motioning to Mia's stirring. Dr Gorma immediately opened the door to her room and within seconds was checking her vital signs. Allura, Keith and Lance followed the doctor into the room while Pidge, Hunk and Coran elected to remain outside by the window.
Mia groaned softly before opening her eyes. Allura, who had taken up a spot at the foot of her bed, was the first sight that Mia's blue-green eyes gazed into. Unfortunately, the sight must have been upsetting for her because Mia immediately sat straight up and started talking very quickly in a language nobody could understand. It was obvious that she was very upset.
"Shhhhhh" said Lance trying to sooth Mia by laying a friendly hand on her arm. This only served to agitate her further because now she tried to jump out of bed. However, with the doctor on her right and Keith and Lance on her left she had nowhere to go. She looked back to the doctor and it looked like she was contemplating pushing him out of her way when Keith spoke up.
"It's ok, please calm down, we won't hurt you" said Keith. At the same time he raised his hands in the air and made no motion towards her. Mia had turned her piercing gaze towards Keith and then burrowed her eyebrows like she was trying to recall something.
"Where...where am I?" Mia said in strangely accented English, but making no moves to relax.
Keith motioned to the doctor that he would continue. "You are on the planet Arus. Your ship was badly damaged in space yesterday but we managed to bring it down here. Do you remember any of this?"
Mia shook her head.
"Can you tell me who you are?" asked Keith.
Mia's face changed into one of deep concentration. After a few moments, the look on her face changed back into panic.
"No. I can't. I don't remember.anything." Mia turned away from Keith and examined her surroundings. "I have to get out of here" and she once again tried to get up off the bed but the doctor intercepted her arm that was about to pull away the covers.
"Whoa, there Mia, I don't think you should go anywhere. You suffered major internal bleeding, a laceration to your forehead and now it seems like you have amnesia. We need to keep you under observation and run a few more brain scans to see if we can detect any damage. Don't worry, we won't hurt you, you are safe here."
Mia looked at the doctor skeptically and then turned back to Keith. "Is that my name?" she asked him quietly. Keith nodded and pulled out the ring from the envelope and gave it back to her.
"Does it sound right? We found it inscribed in this ring."
"I don't know. I guess, it sort of sounds familiar," Mia said turning the ring over and looking at the gem. She then tried it on her right hand, on the finger it had originally been on. "It looks familiar, I think, but." Mia shook her head in frustration and put a hand up to her forehead.
"Don't rush yourself too much" cautioned the doctor. "In fact I recommend that we let her rest and continue this conversation later."
Keith nodded and turned back to Mia. "We can talk later and fill you in on what we've found so far."
Lance, determined to make up for his blunder before added "and if you need anything, just let someone know, ok?" Lance felt his heartbeat quicken as Mia turned her stare towards him. She wasn't shy about sizing him up, her eyes traveling up and down his body before finally settling on his eyes. She merely nodded her acknowledgement before lying back down in the bed as Keith, Allura and Lance filed out of the room. Outside Keith turned to the rest of the Voltron force.
"Did you guys catch any of that?" Keith asked Pidge and Hunk. They both nodded and Pidge told him about the intercom that allowed them to listen in. "Ok, team. We still don't know anything about her but all the data that we've acquired so far doesn't bend towards trusting her too much. I want security on her all the time."
"I can take care of that" volunteered Lance. Keith nodded and turned to the other three. "Can you guys continue your research, and you Princess, as well whenever your duties permit?" The three nodded their agreement. Coran came up to the Captain and told him her would search the Galaxy Alliance database. Any planet that had incomplete flight plans that were more than 24 hours old had to notify the Alliance.
"I better go check on the sensor with Coran" said Pidge before turning and running to catch up with Coran who has started to walk towards the control room. The Princess had to go and catch up on some correspondence and Hunk went back to the landing dock to check on the weapons testing. As Lance was about to go set up the security detail, Keith stopped him.
"Lance, we need to talk," said Keith.
"Well, shoot Captain"
"She's not just another pretty face, you need to be careful around her" said Keith getting right to the point.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm always careful" replied Lance with his usual cockiness.
Keith eyed him skeptically. "Right. My point is, I think she is a dangerous person and we still know nothing about her including what brought her in the vicinity of this planet."
"Well I think you are worrying too much, Keith. Besides, even if she did come here with some bad intentions, she can't remember anything!"
Again the skeptical look crossed Keith's face.
"What you don't believe her?" asked Lance.
"I don't know" replied Keith warily. "English was obviously not her first language but she remembered it very well. She remembered what finger she wore her ring on. Plus she seemed very aware, like she was taking everything in and processing it. If she suffered damage to her head I would have expected her to be more confused. Instead she's acting like a caged animal."
"Well don't worry Keith, unless you sneaked off to medical school when I wasn't looking, then you are probably jumping to conclusions. Let the doctor figure out what's wrong with her and let me handle the security. Besides, maybe with my captivating good looks, I can charm some information out of her," said Lance with a wink.
Keith smiled at his friend. "Just be careful, that's all."
* * * * * *
Coran stood at the communication console trying to reach Galaxy Alliance.
"Arus Control, this is Galaxy Alliance Security, go ahead."
"Yes, thank-you. I was trying to access your Incomplete Flight Plan Database but the clerk there was having difficulty retrieving the information I asked for and so he passed me on to you. I was wondering if I could file my information request with you and you can contact me when the database is running again."
"Sure, go ahead, Arus Control."
* * * * * *
Later that afternoon.
"Hello Sunshine", said Lance as he opened the door to Mia's room while carrying a small bowl of soup. "The doctor asked me to bring this in to you. You must be starving."
Mia had been sitting up examining the ring on her finger but she looked up at Lance as he came in the room. "Thank-you " she said as he laid the bowl on her small bedside table.
Lance was about to turn around and head back out the door when he decided to speak. "Do you want any company?" he ventured.
Mia paused for a moment. "Sure." Lance moved the clothes and wig off the chair in the corner and brought the chair closer to her bed. Sitting down, he had a chance to look at her more closely than he did this morning. She had delicate features and big blue-green eyes that seem all the more startling because of the contrast of her dark hair. The bandages were still wrapped around her forehead, but it looked like she had combed her hair because he could see very fine streaks of navy blue in her black hair. Definitely exotic looking, Lance decided. Mia in the meantime had examined her soup and decided to taste a small sip.
"Is the soup ok?" asked Lance. Mia simply nodded. Lance found her gaze very unnerving when she turned it on him. Mia looked away. She then put her spoon down and paused another moment before speaking.
"You and your friends don't trust me," she said simply. Lance looked up at her questioningly and so she elaborated. "You've had someone watching me through that window since I awoke. I promise you and your friends that I mean you no harm."
Lance paused a moment to choose his words. He couldn't quite meet her bright eyes. "Well, you don't really remember if you mean us any harm do you?"
Mia conceded the point with a nod of her head and turned her gaze on him straight on.
"Plus the circumstances of your arrival here indicate that you were trying to hide something - yourself or your intentions" Lance went on.
Mia shook her head. "I really wish I could remember something. This is very frustrating. What exactly were the circumstances of my arrival, if I may ask?"
Lance proceeded to tell her how they found her ship badly damaged and brought it down to the planet. He motioned to her disguise sitting on the floor now when he was describing how they found her. He also told her how her computer systems were wiped clean providing no clues as to her identity and/or intentions.
"That would explain the security then," replied Mia in an understanding way. "So you were one of the pilots that brought my ship down in the mouth of a robotic lion?"
"Yes. Pidge was the other pilot. My name is Lance by the way."
"And who were the other people that were here this morning?" asked Mia.
Lance explained who they were and that Keith was the captain of the Voltron Force. "Does this jog any memories of why you were trying to come here?"
Mia shook her head. "No, and it's so frustrating. When you mentioned the Voltron Force it's like I could feel information, like you say 'on the tip of my brain' but."
Lance chuckled, "Actually I think you mean to say on the tip of your tongue, but I understand what you mean."
"I try and grasp at that feeling of remembering but that seems to just push it away. It's the same way I feel when I look at this ring. It's like I should know where I got it, but I can't!"
"Well don't stress yourself out too much, I'm sure that it won't help matters. Listen, I have to go. I really just came down to check on the security detail. I'm sorry that we can't completely trust you yet, so they have to stay but if there is anything else I can do to help you please let me know.'
"Thank-you Lance; for saving me and for the soup. I appreciate your honesty. I'm fine though."
"Ok, well I will be back in a few hours to see if you change your mind." Lance got up and went out the door, sorry to be leaving her unsettling gaze.
* * * * * * At Galaxy Alliance Building 407 (Headquarters).
" I need to see General Anderson, please" said a very impatient, slightly overweight, older senior officer.
"Just a moment while I see if he's available" was the bored reply from the middle-aged receptionist.
The Colonel slammed his fist on the desk and brought his face right up to the startled receptionist. "You tell him that it's Colonel Forrey and that he really should make himself available."
The secretary hastily got out of her chair and opened the office door behind her and stuck her head in. After some brief conversation the woman returned with a slight smirk on her face.
"General Anderson happens to be available so you can go right in." she managed to say in a snotty voice. Colonel Forrey huffed past her and stormed into the office. As soon as he shut the door behind him he turned to his superior with a stormy expression on his already heavily lined face. Anderson took in his expression and Forrey's white hair sticking up at odd angles from underneath his beret and motioned for him to sit down.
Instead, Forrey stayed standing but removed his beret and started to pace. "Did you get my message? She's not dead. What are we going to do?"
"You don't know for sure if it is her," replied Anderson going over to his private fridge and taking out some ice.
"Please don't insult my intelligence. The message from Arus is too specific. What really worries me besides the fact that SHE'S STILL ALIVE, is that we have no idea who she is. She was in disguise you know. Coran mentioned that she had small pointed ears and that her BLACK hair had dark blue streaks in it. She sounds like she's Sagarian!"
"That doesn't make any sense, Forrey. Why would they send someone here to break into my files" responded Anderson while pouring two drinks from his liquor cabinet. He picked up both glasses and walked over to Forrey and handed him one.
"Maybe they don't trust you?" stated Forrey.
"They trust me, " responded Anderson coldly. "I sent my transmission to them yesterday detailing all the operatives we have on Sagar. They should be very pleased to get that intel."
"Yesterday? What if she intercepted it or copied it and is exposing us right now?"
"Make up your mind, Chris. First you think she's Sagarian. Now you think she's working for someone else. And again why would she go to Arus? Do you think she's an Arusian spy?" Anderson tried unsuccessfully to hide a laugh at the thought of a spy from Arus! "I think you are trying to worry yourself. Besides though our spy was a redhead she was trying to conceal herself, why would she do that if she was wearing a wig?" continued Anderson. "And how would she get to Arus? My men engaged her just outside our solar system and they confirmed that her ship blew up."
"They didn't find any debris though did they?"
"No, but the energy from the explosion knocked their computers right out, not to mention the fact that it caused severe damage to the forward ship. Trust me she's dead, she could not have survived that explosion."
"You know with Operation Blue Prism about to unfold we can't afford any information leaking out. It could ruin everything." Forrey downed his drink in one gulp, while Anderson sipped his and eyed his companion.
"Everything is fine. We are right on schedule," concluded Anderson putting down his drink, standing up and going over to his personal washroom to adjust his tie in the mirror. "If it makes you feel better I will send someone in to take care of the visitor on Arus. In the mean time I suggest you finish off your orders to give your fleet. We need them in Sector 455 in one week."
Forrey glared at the General. "I know my job." With that Forrey stood up and tried to straighten out his tunic jacket, but it was hopelessly wrinkled.
"You know you should ask Wanda, my secretary, to take your uniform in for dry cleaning. There a shop just on the next street, they can have it back to you with an hour."
Forrey managed a glare at Anderson before replying "No thank-you, I will just go to my apartment and change. Let me know if there's any problems." After receiving a short nod from the General, Forrey exited the office leaving Anderson to sit back down and pick up his drink again. A line of worry creased his forehead as pondered the situation. Forrey was a fool, but as Commander of the largest fleet he was a necessary ally for now. However, the problem on Arus might pose a bigger problem than what he had let on. There was only one connection he could think of between the planet Sagar and Arus and it was thin at best. Thin, but deadly. Anderson shook his head not quite believing that there was any possible way that a ghost from the past could have reached her grip across the galaxy to spoil his plan. "She'll be dead soon anyways. Both of them will be," he said under his breath as he picked up his phone.