For the alien equivalent of a maximum security prison, things could get pretty lax in the mess hall. Especially at the midday meal, or as Lance referred to it, "Lunch".
He sat next to Dreks, poking at the food in front of him. Some square shaped... thing, a jello- like... thing, and something with the consistency of smushed up banana. Gross. I miss Coran's space goo.
Dreks was stirring up conflict with some of the other inmates, one leg on the seat and the other on the table. Those around him were either applauding and hollering or booing and yelling at him while he spouted out nonsense Lance wasn't listening to. Lance had his head propped on his arm, one leg crossed over the other, unaffected by the noise. He was thinking. Looking around, the inside of the mess hall may have been chaotic, but beyond the fences that surrounded it there were guards with blasters of some kind, ready to intervene if things became violent. Which they had on the first day Lance had been put there.
He'd been accused by one of the larger prisoners for being "the talk of the solar system", and they thought he thought he was some big deal around here now. Before Lance could do anything Dreks stepped in between them and 'defused' the situation. That's what Dreks called it, but he put the other guy in the medical wing along with two of his cronies, justifying his involvement later on by explaining that he understood what it was like to be ostracized.
If Lance were to try to break out, he would need a solid plan. He'd been thinking of anything he could use as a weapon; the utensil they were given to eat their food had been a candidate, that is until he saw the cooks counting them all before anyone was allowed out. The trays themselves were something, but a small blunt object against a blaster would not do anything. For a moment he was reminded of Keith's fighting skills. Ha, a guy like that wouldn't have spent a week and a half in a prison. He'd break out on the first day, assuming he was even caught.
The congealed banana stuff bubbled all of the sudden, and Lance blinked at it. If he'd been even the least bit hungry before, he wasn't now. Dreks plopped himself down in his seat, causing all of the treys at the table to overturn. Some of the prisoners threw their hands up in protest and groaned.
"'Ey, was' wit you?" He asked his human friend.
Lance flicked the food off his hands. "Nothin'. Just... thinking."
Dreks' laughter drowned out a good part of the chatter in the mess hall. Lance jumped. When he'd calmed down enough he wiped a tear from his eye. "You are a funny one, y'know that? 'Ey everyone?" He called to his buddies at the table. "This one 'ere's- "Ah, Just thinking". Ha!" Everyone else erupted in laughter.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ha ha, it's so funny. Real knee- slapper that one." He half forced a smile.
"Listen 'ere mate:" Dreks put a calloused hand on his friend's shoulder. "You can stop it now, 'ey? No amount 'a plannin' is gonna get you outta 'ere. Ever. Trust me, right? I tried." He held up five fingers. "Six times. Can never catch a break." He shook his head to his buddies.
Lance looked down at the ground. Then he rested both his elbows on the table, no longer caring about all of the 'food' splattered about. "Yeah I know... but do you know anyone who has?" This got everyone's attention. They all thought for a minute.
The smallest one, a red guy by the name of Galfogg with a slash across his upper lip and two antennae on his head. "I don't know anyone, how about you Nav?"
Nav shook his head, the tentacles that sprouted from it swinging around, and he took a sip from his cup. He looked at a stout guy, orange tinted and six bulging eyes.
"Why are you looking at me?" He shrugged. Everyone else at the table didn't bother responding to the newbie's question.
"See?" Dreks pressed. "I been 'ere twenty rotations. Twenty times this planet has gone around that big yellow star I been locked up 'ere. Thas' it then."
Lance stayed quiet. Everyone else enjoyed telling their stories until the meal was over and everyone was sent back to their cells.
...
Pacing always helped him think. Granted, there wasn't much space to pace on in a tiny seven by eight box. And he made a note to stay at least a foot away from the electromagnetic shield, just in case. But nothing more was coming to his mind. No more ideas. Why am I so useless? He kicked a wall. Maybe Dreks is right. Maybe this is it for me, at least until the Galra show up to kill me, and take over the solar system. Lance would single- handedly, and without much effort even, land seven planets in the Hell Hole that was the Galra Empire.
Something shook the ground, making him break away from his thoughts. The busy chatter from the rest of the block quieted down. Another crash echoed off to Lance's right. His mind flashed to Blue being hit by the asteroid, but he shook it away.
"Was' the big deal?" Dreks shouted from the cell adjacent his. One of the other prisoners was knocked around by the impact and his shoulder hit the energy field. He yelled out in pain, making Lance take a few steps back from his own force field. Guards fled from one end of their block to the other, readying their blasters and barking orders at each other to 'be ready for anything'.
Another tremor shook the ground. Lance stopped a guard. "What's going on?" He asked as the guard ran past him. He just shook his head and ran faster. "What are they so afraid about?" Then a nauseating thought entered his mind. It's the Galra. They found me. Oh shit. Lance ran to a corner of the cell and brought his knees tightly to his chest. He'd hoped that literally anyone other than that parasite of an Empire would come for him. He didn't even care if that 'literally anyone' were space pirates. Space pirates were cool. He would much rather learn to wear eyepatches and never eat citrus again than be subject to the whims of a bunch of murderous purple cats.
"Lance, what d'ya think is 'appening?" Dreks asked him through the wall and over the sound of crumbling rock somewhere outside. "Is it- you don't think... is it the people you told me about?" No answer. Lance was trying not to panic. "Don' worry mate. I won't let 'em near ya." Dreks patted the wall.
Lance knew he was trying to make him feel better, but thinking about other unequipped people putting themselves at risk for him made him want to vomit even more. This is what he hated. Not being able to do things for himself, being incapable and having other people get hurt because of it. The ceiling of his cell cracked and some dust scattered on the floor and all over his hair. He coughed from inhaling it.
But then something odd happened. The crashing stopped. People outside yelled and one fired a shot somewhere. But just a single shot. Then everything was silent.
"What the hell..." Lance got up unsteadily. His senses were on high alert. No one moved.
Doors sliding opened and closed broke the silence. Guards pushed something through the corridors and through the cell blocks. Someone. And they were screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Why won't you listen to me!? The Galra are already on their way you idiots!" Wait a tick. Lance recognized that voice. He craned his neck enough to see the end of the hall, but not enough to get struck by the electricity. That was the voice of the moron who said he didn't remember him from the Garrison. That was the voice of the idiot who said that all of his intelligence could be stored in a paper airplane. This was the beautiful son of a bitch that claimed they'd had a 'bonding moment' that Lance denied having ever happened, but god dammit he had remembered every second of it. And this was the one and only Red Paladin of Voltron that turned the corner, with four armed guards tailing him. His hair was a considerable few inches longer, and terribly unkempt. He wore his paladin armor, only it was dented in several areas. And his silver eyes had dark circles around them.
Keith's hands were cuffed behind him. Lance jumped up and down from sheer happiness. He didn't care if him shouting his name would confirm his identity as the Blue Paladin, he wanted to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Keith!" He shouted over the other prisoners' muttering. Keith's head shot up.
"Lance?" He almost whispered. His eyes were wide and searching and he stopped moving, but one of the guards butted him with his gun and pushed him forward, They locked eyes for the first time in three months. "Lance!"
"I can't believe it's you! You have no idea how-" But Keith cut him off.
"Lance listen to me, the Galra are on their way for you, they know you're here! We have to get out- Get off of me!" The guards were basically dragging him away. "Get out of here Lance, you don't have much time!"
He wanted to respond, only whatever words he wanted to say were caught in his throat. His sight went away for a second, and he staggered back. The breaths became shorter, until he was hyperventilating. Keith's eyes widened even more. He knew what was happening.
And with that they turned another corner. Lance's heart fell. All of the prisoners stared at him with expressions of bewilderment and shock at the exchange they'd just witnessed. Lance forced a nervous laugh and turned around. His head reeled. Keith was here. Keith was here. And soon the Galra would be too. His breathing became rapid and choked. His smile vanished, and his vision became distorted. He fell to his knees. Oh no, not now, now is not the time for one of these. Too much stress, too many emotions. His friend was in prison with him, everyone knew who he was, the Galra were on their way. Who was he kidding; if ever there were an appropriate and justifiable time for an acute panic attack, this was it.
Oh shit. What the hell is going on? And where's Red in all this? Hopefully next chapter can shed some light on that...
(Thank you all for the support and the reviews, it means so much to me you have no idea xoxo)
