I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.
Chapter Two
"They still haven't called to try and negotiate with us. They can't possibly think that they can come up with a cure for the virus," Maahox muttered as he tinkered around his workshop on Planet Doom.
"They're fools, you of all people should know that, Maahox," Lotor muttered from his Haggarium bath. "And why did you put out that you wanted the armor back? You should have demanded the princesses. They're worth more."
"To you," Maahox muttered under his breath. "My Lord, that armor was a stunning new prototype which was working quite well until the Black Devil was able to bring you down with that well placed strike. It was in fairly good condition yet and I hated leaving it behind, but a retreat was in order. It had much potential."
Lotor sighed, guzzling the last of his drink. "Then, I suppose we must get it back. Why are you so willing to negotiate for it? You should just create a robeast and attack for it."
"My Lord, such a valued item to us would be locked away in one of their most secure vaults. Do you honestly believe they would leave it out where any of our soldiers would stumble upon it? No, they are not complete idiots, Sire. But, they do value the life of one of their own." He held up a vial of translucent blue liquid. "They will negotiate for this."
"Is that truly the cure for what you gave to Keith?" Lotor inquired as a slave girl refilled his glass.
"It is," Maahox admitted with a nod.
"Why can you not give them something and let them believe it is the cure?"
"My Lord, if it were them holding a cure for you, would you let go of something they desired without ensuring that you are getting what you are promised?"
"Hmm. You do have a point, Maahox," Lotor agreed. "But, we must not allow them to bring Keith back. They are weak without him."
"I wasn't planning on allowing them to escape with the cure, My Lord. You see, when they call, and they will call to negotiate, we will arrange to meet them on an isolated planet. Only two will be allowed to come. They will not bring the Lions because your Haggarium infused armor will affect them, so they will have to bring a Fractal. Once we have the armor, they will leave and your armada will ambush them, destroying two of their pilots and the cure!"
Lotor laughed. "That is absolute pure genius, Maahox!"
Maahox chuckled, rubbing his hands together before him. "Yes, My Lord. It absolutely is."
The rumors had spread. There was a cure out there, but it wasn't due to the hard work of the Baltans or Doctor Gorma's staff.
Pidge hated admitting defeat, especially on such a challenging puzzle. If there was one thing the Baltans enjoyed, it was a challenge, but there was a life on the line and breaking this puzzling virus just wasn't happening fast enough for him or for Keith. "He just can't stay in cryostasis forever while we puzzle this thing out. If we can get this cure, we could decipher it so much easier…" He sighed, then made his way to Lance's office, knocking lightly on the door.
"Come," came Lance's voice through the door.
Pidge opened the door and silently closed it behind him, moving to the desk, waiting silently before it.
Lance looked up. "Oh, hey, Pidge. Have a seat," Lance offered, waving to a chair.
Pidge nodded and sat. "Thank you, Lance."
Lance watched his younger teammate. "I don't like that look on your face."
"I don't like what has put it there," Pidge answered.
"The cure."
Pidge nodded. "My people have been working around the clock trying to crack this virus for months now, Lance. If there was a way to crack it, they would have found it by now."
"You think…"
"I don't want to believe it, but if that message from Maahox is true it would make creating more of the cure for ourselves and cracking this things DNA a lot easier," Pidge admitted.
"Pidge, Keith wouldn't want us to…"
"I know that, Lance. I don't want us to, either, but right now…" Pidge shook his head. "We don't really have a choice. Gorma says his vitals are slipping. Not by much, but they are still going down, even being in cryostasis. This virus is still alive in the cold. If we don't find something within a month…"
Lance leaned back on the back to legs of his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "We'll lose him."
Pidge nodded. "Yes. We can't afford that."
Lance thunked his chair back onto all four feet and stood, dropping his hands to his sides. "Well, then, let's go tell my wife and her aunt the good news, then."
Pidge looked up at him, puzzled as he got to his feet. "This isn't good news…"
"Sarcasm, Pidge. Sarcasm," Lance stated and led the way out of his office and down the hall to Allura's.
Allura looked up from a treaty that Coran had sent. Ever since Keith had been put into cryostasis, Duvessa hadn't returned to Earth to do the treaties, so Coran had stepped in, taking over the treaty talks. "I'm very glad Coran was able to get Alpha Centauri under penalties for what Randall did to us on my wedding night," she murmured.
"Yes, that was a stroke of diplomatic genius," Duvessa murmured, still looking over another treaty across the desk from her. She looked up. "Randall's father was furious at Randall's betrayal of the Alliance and accepted the sanctions and oversight with grace. So, it was only Randall, not the king himself."
Allura nodded. "I know. I've heard that they finally found Randall."
"Yes, according to the report, face down in the back alleys on Dradin, a knife in his back," Duvessa answered. "A very ironic turn of events there."
Allura smiled. "Very. Knifing his allies in the back by attempting to steal a princess only to get a knife in the back himself, literally." She looked to the door as someone knocked. "Come in."
Lance and Pidge walked in.
Lance smiled. "Hi, beautiful. Busy?" he asked as the two walked closer.
"Treaties can wait a few minutes for you, love," she answered. She noted Pidge's expression. "What's up?"
Pidge sighed. "I don't know if you've heard, but Doctor Gorma is growing more concerned with Keith's condition."
Duvessa set the treaty down in her lap. "His vitals are coming down, very minimal drops, but lowering all the same," she murmured.
Pidge nodded. "Yes. And his staff and my own people cannot seem to crack this virus that he has. Perhaps if we were to get this cure, ensure that is really is what Maahox claims, we might be able to reverse engineer it and crack this thing's code."
Duvessa sighed. "Our worst fears realized," she stated softly. "Maahox is wanting that armor he and Lotor left behind that you've been studying. What is so important about it?" she asked, looking to Pidge.
"From what I've been able to gather, it was a prototype. A lot of experimental systems went into it, nothing Doom has ever tried using before. And along with the Haggarium used to power it…" Pidge shrugged. "I can see why Maahox is eager to get his hands back on it."
"Well, I, for one, don't think we should give it back to him," Lance stated, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Lance, it's either give them the armor or Duvessa and myself, you know how Lotor works," Allura stated. "And you're a jealous man, you don't share."
"Damn right, I don't," Lance agreed. "But, I do see your point."
"None of us like this deal," Duvessa conceded. "But, Keith's life is in danger, can we honestly sit back and…" She choked on the words briefly. "Watch him die?"
"No, that's not an option, either," Lance snarled, starting to pace. "Dammit!"
"Then, it seems, we don't have a choice," Pidge stated sadly, shaking his head. "I can crate up the armor tonight, but we can't send it in the Lions. It will have to be transported by Fractal. The Haggarium still messes with the Lions pretty bad."
Duvessa nodded. "I'll go in the Fractal. Pidge, if you can show me how to test the cure to make sure it is what it is supposed to be…"
"You're not going alone," Lance growled. "Keith would kill me if I let you go alone."
Duvessa looked at him, nodding. "Very well, if they will allow it. But, you listen to me, Lance. Anything happens, you make sure you get back here to Allura. Arus will need an heir if something goes wrong."
Lance blinked, shocked, then looked to Allura. "Good grief, why do I keep forgetting the two of you are…"
"Princesses? It would be good if you eventually figured that out, love," Allura teased with a grin.
Pidge snickered.
Lance shot him a dark look.
Pidge cleared his throat. "So, Duvessa, if in an hour or so, come down to my workshop and I'll show you how to run the tests and stuff…"
Duvessa nodded. "I will be there," she assured him.
Pidge nodded back, then nodded to Lance and Allura, turning and leaving the office.
Lance sighed, running his hand over his face. "I can't believe we're actually going to do this," he muttered. "Ok. I'll go to Control and send the message. I'll let you know what they say." He turned and left the office.
Duvessa sighed and looked back to Allura. "I really don't like this."
Allura nodded. "I don't either, but, honestly, what choice do we have?"
"That's the problem. We don't have one. I wish we did," Duvessa whispered and looked back to the treaty on her lap sadly.
"It's about time," Maahox murmured, reading the transmission from Arus. "Took you long enough to realize that my blending of viruses wasn't going to be easy to crack." He sent his well worded reply to Arus, then sent a message to Lotor. "My Lord, they have finally come to the realization that their science is no match for mine. I'm sending our reply, I would advise you to prepare your armada for immediate departure."
"Very well, Maahox. Be ready within the hour."
"I will be, My Lord," Maahox assured him and cut the channel. "I will be."
