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Star Tron: Louder Than Words Chapter 5: Preparations As the Arusian sky began to brighten with the first light of dawn, Allura rose and dressed in her flight suit, then headed for Castle Control.When she got there, she was surprised to see Keith talking with Coran, wearing his usul red jumpsuit, rather than his flight suit. The Voltron Force commander looked up as she approached. "Practice is cancelled today, Princess."
"Why?"
"Because there's a Federation envoy arriving in four days, Your Highness," Coran said. "The Commander and I have many arrangements to make."
Allura moved closer to the console, scanning the instruments as she asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"At present, nothing, Your Highness," Coran replied. "But we will have a better idea of what must be done shortly."
Allura nodded. "All right, keep me posted." She decided that if there was nothing to do, she might as well enjoy the morning. And it wasn't like she didn't have other things to attend to.
After a leisurely bath followed by breakfast with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, Allura went to her study to review the progress of the various rebuilding projects in the surrounding towns. She was very proud of the way her people had set about rebuilding Arus after the arrival of the Voltron Force, but she was surprised at how fast the projects were progressing with all the help that the Starfleet people were providing.
It was after noon before she heard anything from Keith. He summoned her to the Control Room, where she found Coran and Keith discussing something at one of the side consoles. They looked up and saw her just as two pillars of light shimmered into existence and coalesced into the forms of Captain Driscoll and Commander Gredar.
"Good, everyone's here," said Keith.
"What's the story?" Driscoll asked.
"I notified Galaxy Garrison about your people coming here," Keith replied.
"And what did the Garrison say?" Allura asked.
"Space Marshall Graham himself will be coming here," Coran replied. "Along with two members of the Alliance Senate. They want to have the treaty ready to sign by the time they arrive."
"What?" Driscoll gasped. The look on his face was one of utter disbelief.
"That would be difficult," said Gredar. "We have not even addressed all areas of concern."
"You must understand, Commander, that Marshall Graham and the Alliance Senate are anxious to reach a formal agreement with the Federation."
"So they're just going over our heads?" said Driscoll. "Coran, Nechayev and those guys aren't coming to negotiate a treaty. They're here to see how things are for themselves. It's an inspection tour, not a diplomatic envoy."
"I realize that, Captain," said Coran. "But Marshall Graham was adamant about that point."
"Great. So we've gotta frame up a major treaty within four days?"
"Apparently so, Captain," Gredar replied.
"I'm sorry, Adam. I told them it was just an inspection, but they want to meet with Admiral Nechayev and your Council members to talk about the treaty," Keith said.
"The military aid, thing?" Driscoll asked.
Keith nodded.
"Dammit. Okay, so we've gotta put up four different versions of this treaty by what? Saturday?" Driscoll asked.
"That is the Terran equivalent, yes," said Coran.
"Great. So what do we do?" said Adam.
Coran cleared his throat. "I would suggest that we meet in an hour to discuss the treaty," said Coran, already slipping into "diplomacy" mode. "I'll have Nanny start working on the appropriate preparations here."
Allura nodded, while Keith, Adam, and Gredar voiced their agreement. Then she excused herself and headed toward her room, but she wasn't alone.
"Hey, Allura! Hold up!"
She turned and saw Adam jogging up behind her. He fell into step beside her and asked, "Do you believe this?"
"I've seen worse," she admitted.
Adam sighed, and looked her in the eyes. "Listen, about last night…"
Allura stopped and looked at him. "I hope you're not about to apologize," she said, an edge of anger creeping into her voice. "Because if you or anyone else apologizes for some assumed impropriety one more time…"
Adam held up his hands defensively. "Uh, no, and I'll remember not to. What I wanted to ask was if you were okay. After that dream and all."
"Oh," Allura said, and the two resumed walking. "In that case, yes, I am, thank you. And you were right. I did need someone to talk to. Thanks."
"Hey, what are friends for? By the way, how peeved is Nanny?"
"Well, I'd steer clear of her for a while, if I were you."
"So she was royally pissed, huh?"
"I haven't seen her that mad since Lance came to dinner in his boxers."
"What? Oh, man. I oughta add a mark to my fuselage for that one."
The two arrived at her door, and Allura stopped and faced him. "I think Nanny's in there, so maybe you should leave before you become a mark on her fuselage."
"Point taken. See you later."
"Bye," Allura replied, watching him disappear around a corner before entering her room.
Down the hall, Lance shook his head. Oh, boy, Keith, you've got competition.
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On Planet Doom, Zarkon sat, as usual, atop his throne, looking down at his son below. In the shadows at the far side of the room, Haggar stood, the green glow of her eyes and those of her blue cat being the only things that betrayed her presence.
"It would seem that the Federation has rejected your offer, Lotor," said Zarkon.
"What do you mean, Father? They haven't replied."
"Didn't you read the intelligence report I sent you? Perhaps if you spent less time with your harem, you'd be more attentive to your responsibilities. How do you ever expect to become king?"
Zarkon's remark cut deep, causing Lotor to sneer at his father in anger and disgust.
When Lotor didn't reply, Zarkon continued. "There is to be a meeting on Arus in a few days between the Federation and the Galaxy Alliance. They will be signing their treaty."
"It cannot be," Lotor said incredulously. "Father, I warned them not to, and those weaklings couldn't possibly have the gall to defy me so blatantly."
"Perhaps they are not so weak as you assume. But if you warned them of the consequences, then you must follow through."
"I will, Father. They will learn the price of defying us."
Zarkon paused. Same speech, different day. He turned to Haggar. "And I assume you have something that will help?"
"Indeed, sire," the witch replied, stepping forward into the light. "I have analyzed the way the Federation ship fights, and my newest robeast is designed to counter it."
"Good, Haggar. I don't have to tell you that the Berlin must be destroyed, and her captain must die, along with the Voltron Force."
"No, sire. And you may rest assured that they will soon meet their fate."
"Good. Go now, and draw your plans."
Lotor and Haggar bowed and left, and Zarkon was alone.
These new developments troubled him. At present, Doom had no way to defend against a threat like the Federation. There were projects in development, but they were still in the planning stages.
The key, he knew, would be to try to arrange a separate peace with the Federation, or at least a nonaggrassion agreement. But if the Federation entered the war against Doom, the outcome would be mixed at best. But if they could be stalled somehow, kept at bay, Doom could gain an advantage.
For now, he would let Lotor have his fun. There were ways he could turn that to his advantage. But he could no longer be secure in his dominance of the Denubian Galaxy. He would have to be more cautious, and take greater pains to secure his empire and its influence.
The next four days, he knew, would change the fortunes of the Doom Empire, and possibly the Drule Empire as well. But how, not even Haggar could tell.
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Pidge's eyes scanned back and forth across the panel in front of him. He had the afternoon shift in Castle Control, and as he monitored the sensors and communications system, he worked on tracking down a minor glitch in Yellow Lion's navigational computer. For some reason, the computer kept omitting Pollux from its star charts.
Normally, Coran would be on duty now. He liked to run Castle Control during the day, with one of the Force members assisting, then the guys would rotate on watch after dinner until practice the next morning.
But Coran, Keith and Allura had been busy during the past two days. They, along with Captain Driscoll and Commander Gredar had worked long and hard from just after sunrise until late into the night, and they were well into it today. Keith had thus far cancelled practice for an unheard-of three days in a row. Not that that was hard to understand. Pidge had seen all three of them as they shuffled out of the conference room yesterday. He couldn't tell about Gredar, but the humans definitely looked exhausted. Allura had even given Adam a room to use after Lance discovered the captain asleep on the sofa in the lounge. As far as he knew, Adam hadn't been back to the Berlin since the afternoon that Keith told him Graham was coming.
Pidge scanned the instruments again. No comms, and nothing out there but the Berlin. Really, he didn't even need to watch the sensors, because the Federation ship would always alert them to incoming raids, even though they never interfered.
Hearing the hourly chime, he thought, Three bells, and all's well.
As the echo from the last chime died away, Allura walked in, wearing her flight suit, followed by Adam and Keith.
"How's it going?" Pidge asked.
"We're finished," Allura replied.
"Finally," Adam added, rolling his eyes. "God, I wonder if Sarek ever had to deal with this kind of pressure. Aw, hell, he was a Vulcan. It wouldn't have bothered him."
"Who's Sarek?" Pidge asked.
"Later. Am I clear for a beam-up?" Adam asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Where's Gredar and Coran?"
"Coran went to lie down," said Keith. "He's exhausted."
"And I sent Gredar to touch base with the ground crews working on the towns. The brass is gonna wanna see some of that, so we need to know where to take 'em."
"Pidge, Lance will be up to relieve you in an hour," said Keith.
"Gotcha, Keith."
"Can you raise the launch tubes, please, Pidge?" Allura asked.
"Sure, Princess. You going up?"
Allura smiled. "Yeah. Adam and I are going to practice dogfighting again," she said enthusiastically. For a second, Keith felt a pang of jealousy for all the time Adam was spending with the Princess, but it passed quickly as his soldierly instincts suppressed it.
Pidge smiled back at her and touched a control, raising the console and exposing the launch tubes.
Once Allura was gone, Adam tapped his badge. "Driscoll to Berlin, one to beam directly to the shuttlebay."
"Acknowledged. Stand by."
"Later, fellas," Adam said with a wave. "Berlin, Energize." A moment later, he disappeared in a shimmering column of light.
"You look beat, Keith," said Pidge.
"Yeah. Diplomacy's not easy. What's going on up here?"
"Not a thing, unless you count the mice trying to steal my sandwich. That Cheddar's getting tricky. Besides that, I've almost got Hunk's navicomputer problem figured out. Looks like a recurrent problem in the orbital calculator. It keeps misaligning the orbital trajectory of Pollux, so it doesn't' register in the primary display pallet or factor into the astronavigation computation cycle."
"Uh, yeah. Great." Keith absorbed only a little of what Pidge had just said. He was competent enough with computers, but parts and programs were Pidge's specialty. That kid had probably forgotten more about computers than he'd ever learn.
Just then, Lance walked in. "I just saw the two-legged crocodile in the hall. You guys done?"
"Yep. All four versions are final. Coran's going to have them printed up overnight, and they'll be ready for the higher-ups to decide on the starbase and military aid issues. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call Commander Gredar a 'two-legged crocodile'. Adam warned me that Gorn don't appreciate being compared to Earth reptiles."
"Yeah, sure, Skipper." Lance turned to Pidge. "You can go if you want. I'll take over."
"You sure? You're an hour early."
"Yeah, no problem. You can owe me later if I need an early out."
"You got it," Pidge replied. The boy made a final check of the monitors, then left.
Keith looked Lance over suspiciously. He knew Lance well enough that it was impossible for the lieutenant to fool him when he was up to something. And he was up to something right now. "What are you planning?"
Lance held up h is hands innocently. "Nothing."
"Why do you need Pidge to owe you an hour?"
"I don't. What's wrong with getting a little ahead? So if something does come up…"
"Blond or Brunette?" Keith asked.
Lance covered his chest with a hand, as though he'd been stabbed. "Aw, Keith, I'm hurt."
Keith gave Lance a skeptical look. "Yeah, sure you are. Which one?"
"If you must know, she's a redhead."
"Lance…" Keith said in exasperation. He'd warned all the guys to be careful of romantic entanglements, because of their celebrity status. They had to play it straight and clean, since they were in the public eye. Yet Lance still managed to have a different girl every month or two. Luckily, there hadn't been any problems yet.
"Keith, you don't have to worry. It's all totally clean. Everything's on the up and up."
"Good, make sure it stays that way." He glanced at the clock. "I'm going to get a shower before dinner. Call me if anything happens."
"Will do, Keith," Lance replied. Keith turned and headed out the door while lance settled into the watch.