Voltron and its characters belong two WEP, I own the rest.

"Lance."

Lance looked up from the computer console to see his mother frowning at him. His father stood next to her, an almost identical expression on his face.

"Mom, Dad, what's up?" He smiled disarmingly.

Brenda marched over to her son. "Don't you 'what's up' me. You should be in bed." She grabbed Lance by the chin and looked deeply into his eyes. He was still pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes. "Dorma or not, you've still got a concussion."

"I'll be fine Mom." Lance broke free of her grasp. "I just talked to Sven. He wanted to come to the services, but I convinced him to stay on Pollux. Romelle needs him. Where are the girls?"

"Kim is resting, now that Cliff is stable." Brenda answered.

"How is Cliff?"

"Better. He's floating in and out of consciousness, but that's normal considering the amount of painkillers we have him on."

"And Annie?"

"She's pretty upset. Apparently she and Pidge were alot more serious than any of us thought. She was planning on transferring here when she graduated from Med-school next year." Harrison told him.

Lance closed his eyes as another wave of grief washed over him. "I'll go talk to her."

Brenda shook her head. "Not until after you march your butt to sick-bay. I want to have a look at you."

"I'll get there as soon as I can."

Before Brenda could start again, Alex stepped forward. "What are you working on son?"

Lance shrugged and turned back to the computer. "Nothing. Just doing a perimeter sweep to make sure Haltor didn't leave us any other surprises." He refused to meet their eyes.

Brenda glared up at her husband. Alex winked at her. She sighed in resignation, then turned to her son. "I mean it Lance. I want you in sick-back within the hour, is that understood?" Her tone booked no argument.

"Yes ma'am." Lance replied. Brenda marched from the room.

Alex waited until the door was closed before turning to his son. "So, what's really going on?"

"I told you Dad, nothing." Lance replied cagily.

"Don't lie to me Lance Edward."

Lance sighed. "I can't tell you Dad, not yet."

"When?"

"I don't know. Trust me Dad."

Before Alex could reply, the door opened and Hans, Dreana and Troi walked in.

Lance started in surprise. "Troi, what are you doing out of bed?"

The young man was pale, and leaned heavily on Hans, but spoke up clearly. "Palda, I found Vahloo Keith."

"What!" Exclaimed both Lance and his father.

Troi stepped forward and punched in a few commands on the computer. The view-screen above them changed to show a small white blip. Troi pressed a few more buttons and a series of co-ordinates appeared. "He's there."

Lance and his father peered up at the screen. "That's the backside of Deylinus, one of the moons." He turned to face the three cadets. "What am I looking at? Where did you get this?" Lance demanded.

Hans stepped forward. "Standard Shadow technology Sir. All operatives are required to activate a homing beacon in the event of capture."

"How do we know this isn't a trick of Haltor's?" The Admiral asked.

"The frequency Sir. All Shadow beacons carry the same energy signature with a separate code to determine identity." Dreana added.

"And you think this is Keith?" Harrison sounded skeptical.

They nodded. "Yes Sir. That's his signature." Hans told him.

Harrison sighed wearily. "I know you kids want to believe Keith's still alive…"

"Dad, it's him." Lance spoke up. His father turned to him in surprise. "Dorma doesn't feel that he's dead. If he was, she'd know it. And so would I."

Troi nodded. "I have the same feeling." He said quietly. Now it was Lance's turn to look surprised. "Sa Palda, I have it too, Kach'Ara Delindra. Vahloo Keith is alive. I feel he is in terrible danger, but alive."

"What convinced you to look for him?" Lance asked, eyeing them shrewdly.

Hans met his gaze fearlessly as Dreana blushed and looked down at her feet. "Sir, we heard you and Lady Dorma talking on the balcony earlier. We decided to search for the signal but couldn't find it, so we enlisted our resident computer hacker." Hans nodded at Troi. Lance smiled proudly at his son

Harrison stared at the four of them. "Are you sure about this? Really sure?" He asked skeptically. They nodded. "Does Allura know?"

"Yeah, she and Dorma are the ones who convinced me." Lance answered.

Harrison looked thoughtful. "And you three found him by yourselves?"

Hans nodded. "Dre and I remembered the homing beacon. Troi's the computer whiz. He homed in on the frequency."

Troi looked down, blushing. "Commander Sheffield would have been able to do the same."

"But with him injured, we had to try Sir." Dreana finished.

Harrison paused a moment longer, looking up at the screen. Then he turned to Lance. "All right then, what's your plan?"

Lance shrugged. "We hadn't gotten that far yet. We had to find him first." He turned to his son and smiled. "And now, thanks to you three, we have."

"I suggest you keep this between us." The Admiral told them. "Just in case."

"I agree." Lance nodded. "Now, you three get going. Let us handle it from here."

"Yes Sir." Hans snapped off a quick salute, and together the three of them started to leave.

"Cadets!" They turned to face the Admiral. He broke into a grin. "Good work. I'll see to it that the brass at Headquarters hears about all you've done to help." They beamed with pride and left the room. Harrison turned back to Lance. "Call Dorma and Allura in here. It looks like we have a rescue mission to mount."

Lance took a deep breath and opened the sick-bay doors. He walked inside and made his way over to the ICU ward. Kim looked up as he entered. "Lance…" She ran into his arms.

"Easy sis." He held her close. "How's he doing?" Lance asked, nodding in Cliff's direction.

Kim turned and tried to smile. "They've got him stabilized. He woke up a little while ago."

"That's good." He walked over to stare down at his friend. Cliff was pale, and covered in tubes and wires. "Does he know about Keith?"

Kim shook her head. "I didn't want to upset him. He wasn't awake long enough to talk anyway."

"Don't tell him." It came out sharper than Lance intended. Kim looked up at him startled. Lance smiled. "Not yet anyway. Let him get stronger." "How are you feeling…Mom?" He grinned at his little sister.

Kim blushed. "Fine, just tired. Mom and Annie have been keeping an eye on me."

"Yeah, me too." He muttered, fingering the cast on his arm.

She smiled, then sobered. "Keith's really dead, isn't he?" Kim's hazel eyes filled with tears.

Lance took his sister in his arms again. "Don't think about it Kimmy. Just take care of yourself."

"You're in denial."

Lance shook his head. "No it's just…Look I can't go into it right now, but don't give up on him."

Kim stared at him a few moments. "You know something. He's alive?" Her hazel eyes lit up with hope.

Lance shook his head. "We're not sure yet."

"But how did you find him?" She looked up in surprise. "The homing beacon!"

Lance nodded. "Your nephew and his partners in crime found him."

Kim narrowed her eyes shrewdly. "So that's what they've been up to." She sighed and looked down at Cliff's sleeping form. "I should have remembered. I could have found him."

Lance took her hand. "You've had other things on your mind sis." Lance smiled at her.

"Where did they find him?"

"He's on Deylinus. Kim, I need you to keep Mom off my back. Dorma, Allura and I are going to look for him." Lance said quietly.

Kim nodded. "I'll do my best." Lance kissed the top of her head and started towards the door. "Lance?" He turned. "Be careful."

"I always am. Take care of him." He nodded at Cliff and left the room.

Dorma found Lance in Keith's office, a few hours later. "Svavaliadeelin, I have been looking for you."

Lance smiled wearily as he looked up from the computer screen. "I figured if I hid out in here, everyone would think I was cleaning out his office."

Dorma walked over to him. "And what are you doing?"

Lance sighed. "Pinpointing the information the kids gave us. Troi is downloading his search program into our com-bands so we'll be able to track Keith when we land on Deylinus. I told Jeff what we're up to. He's probably told Crick by now. They're going to take care of things on this end." He leaned forward and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

Dorma placed her hand on his shoulder. "You are still in pain. You need to rest." She said softly.

Lance nodded. "I'm finished here anyway." He stood up and swayed as the room spun around him.

"Lance!" Dorma quickly eased him back down into the chair. She placed her hands on his head. "Relax, let me in."

Lance took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He saw a bright burst of light in his head, and his vision cleared. "Thanks Babe." He smiled up at her.

"You are overtaxing yourself." Dorma frowned down at her husband.

Lance shrugged. "I had no choice. But I'm done now." He got to his feet, more carefully this time, and held out his hand. "Come on, we could both use some sleep."

Dorma linked her fingers in his. "Ke svavalia Lance."

Lance kissed her softly and rested his forehead on hers. "I love you too Babe." They started off down the hallway towards their rooms.

"Lance, I am not a 'Babe'."

Haltor sat on his throne, twirling a goblet of wine in his hands. His brow was creased in thought, and he stared out at nothing.

Haggar interrupted his thoughts. "The poison is working. He should complete the transformation in a few more days." Haltor nodded, not really listening. Haggar glared at him. "Don't tell me you actually believe what Keith told you about your father?"

Haltor turned to look at her. "I'm not sure what I believe."

"Prince Lotor was a good man! His father, Zarkon, was murdered by Hazar's minions. Many times, Lotor and Zarkon held out the hand of peace to the people of this galaxy, and it was knocked away every time." Haggar told him.

Haltor snorted. "I'm not a fool witch. Even I have heard the stories of how he lusted after Arus and the Princess."

Haggar shook her head. "Allura was betrothed to your father. Together they were going to peacefully rule the galaxy, side by side. When the Voltron Force landed, they turned her against him."

Haltor got up and paced the length of the room. "Why did my father never call for me?" He asked finally.

"Keith killed him before you were old enough to rule by his side." Haggar replied easily.

Haltor was quiet a few minutes. "Why did the Blue Lion crash? I told you she was to be left alone."

"They both had a part in Lotor's death, why should they live?" Haggar responded.

Haltor shook his head. "She was not to be harmed. No child should grow up without its mother." Haltor faced Haggar, his face a mask of anger. "She is to be left alone. We have Montgomery, that is enough."

"But Haltor, they all wanted Lotor dead. Keith, in his new form, will finish them off, and you can have Arus to rule as your father would have wished."

Haltor marched up to her, his face a mask of fury. Haggar backed away in fear. "I never wanted Arus witch! You promised me my father's murderer. I have him and you won't let me kill him!"

Haggar composed herself. "There is still Commander Hazar to be dealt with. He is a traitor to his own people. Let Keith's Robeast destroy them all, then you can have Keith for your own."

Haltor pondered her words for a moment. "Very well witch. But no more deviations from my plans, is that understood?" Haggar nodded. "Good, leave me. I wish to be alone." She slunk from the room.

Hazar stood in front of the window, gazing out at space. One of you is lying. And I intend to find out who.