Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron, Star Trek, or anything else that belongs to WEP or Paramount. What I do own are the crew of the Berlin, (except for Mordock and Scotty), the fighter, Thunderwing, and the story itself.
Star Tron: Hidden Dangers
Chapter 5
Coran glanced down at the control panel, where the "incoming transmission" light had just flashed on. Checking the identification, he opened the channel, saying, "This is Castle Control, go ahead, Lance." But no words came across the comm link. Instead, there were odd scuffling sounds and muffled grunts. "Lance, are you there?" Coran asked urgently.
There was a burst of static, and the signal cut out. Coran's head jerked up in surprise, and his hand instinctively slammed down on the alarm switch. Klaxons sounded throughout the castle, and within moments, Keith and Adam came sprinting into the Control Room, followed closely by Allura. Hunk and Pidge arrived a minute later as Coran explained, "Lance is in trouble. He tried to signal us, but the connection was cut."
"Did you get a fix on his position?" Keith asked.
Coran nodded, calling up a map of the castle grounds. "He's half a kilometer southwest of the castle, here," he pointed to a spot just beyond the treeline in a wooded part of the grounds. "I can direct you from here."
Keith whirled to face the others. "Adam, Hunk, Pidge, you're with me," he barked, already heading for the door. "Princess, you stay here with Coran."
Allura sputtered in indignation, but before she could protest, Keith and the others had gone.
Coran laid a comforting hand on her shoulder as she returned to the console, frowning. "We don't know what's happened, Princess," he said soothingly. "They just want to keep you safe."
Allura didn't reply, but kept scowling while she watched the boys on a side monitor as they dashed into the woods.
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The four pilots charged into the woods, weapons drawn. They paused as Adam glanced down at the tricorder he was sweeping from side to side, scanning for Lance. "Got him, Keith," he said. "Dead ahead, seventy meters."
Keith nodded and led the group quickly down the path, constantly scanning all around for any sign of danger. Within a few moments, they reached the spot Adam had indicated but found nothing there.
Keith directed the others to fan out and search the area. Almost immediately, Pidge called, "Keith!" The commander turned to see the boy holding up the smashed remains of Lance's communicator.
Keith walked over to Pidge and took the device from him. He looked it over for a moment, then dropped it and looked around. "Lance?" he called. "Lance, can you hear me?"
Hunk and Pidge started searching the brush nearby as Adam scanned the area. Several minutes passed, until Hunk called out, "Hey, guys, over here!"
Keith, Pidge, and Adam ran over to Hunk, who had knelt down beside a bruised and battered Lance. Adam scanned him with his tricorder, and confirmed that he was alive. Keith nodded, and began looking around, his eyes carefully gauging each bush and shadow, looking for any sign of trouble while the others took care of Lance. Whatever happened, it had happened fast and without warning. Next to himself, Keith knew Lance was the most vigilant member of the team, even though he didn't always act like it. For something to have overcome him like this…
While his companions took care of their wounded comrade, Keith began searching the area nearby for clues about what had happened. But all he found were a few nondescript bootprints and assorted forest detritus.
"Okay, Keith, we're ready." Adam and Hunk had fashioned a stretcher out of a couple of branches and shirts, and were ready to lift Lance onto it. Keith nodded, and helped the other two move Lance.
As they laid him down, Pidge glanced back at the spot where Lance had been. There, pressed into the ground, was a knife with what looked like a piece of paper tied to the handle. "Wow, Keith, look at this," he said, picking it up carefully between his index fingers and handing it to Keith.
Keith scowled at it, but there was no time to deal with it now. Tucking it into a pocket on his jumpsuit, he said, "We'll look at this later. Let's get Lance back to the castle."
With that the two pilots joined Adam and Hunk, and the four carried Lance back to the palace.
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From a thicket only a few meters away, Commander Torka and his squad had watched quietly as the Voltron Force came and took their comrade away.
Finally, one of the men asked, "Commander, why did you not let us take them? We could have been rid of the Voltron Force once and for all."
Torka regarded the man with the condescending look of one who knows more than he's allowed to let on. "Patience, Razin. Now isn't the time to strike. We must not reveal our plans just yet."
"But sir, King Zarkon…"
"Is light-years away," Torka hissed venomously. "He trusts me to act as I see appropriate, and so should you, Razin. We will have done with those space explorers in due time. Now come, we still have work to do." Torka turned and led his squad away, deeper into the woods, away from the castle.
Indeed, it had been an unlucky chance that had brought the space explorer across their path. But then, it became an unexpected opportunity in and of itself. Besides, Torka thought, pushing away the dull ache in his ribs where the man had hit him, he had it coming for that one.
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Allura came jogging into the hospital wing, her skirts flying around her legs. She'd only just got word about Lance, and had come as quickly as possible. She found the boys standing around in the waiting room, which could only mean that Lance was with Dr. Gorma.
Keith briefly described to her what had happened in the woods, as well as his own thoughts about what had happened during the attack. When he mentioned the knife, Allura's eyes widened. "He wasn't stabbed, was he?"
"No," said Keith. "The knife was underneath him, with something tied to the handle."
"What?" she asked.
"Yeah, Keith, what was on that thing?" Pidge asked.
"I haven't had a chance to look at it yet," Keith replied.
"Doesn't look like we're going anywhere right now," said Hunk.
Keith nodded and pulled the knife out of his pocket. It was the same type of flattened throwing knife that Commander Wright had shown them aboard the Berlin. Keith pulled the scrap of muddy paper off the handle and unrolled it. The others watched as he began to frown and his lip curled in anger.
"What's it say?" Driscoll asked.
Keith thrust the paper in to Hunk's hand, casting a glance at the closed door to the examination room. Hunk read the message aloud:
You are warned.
No one is safe from the Konogg Brigade.
He is only the first.
"What?" Pidge asked incredulously. "Who're the Konogg Brigade?"
"Probably those spec ops bastards that've been hitting us lately," said Adam.
Keith had turned his back on the group. To him, the message was clear. The attack on Lance had been a warning. They wanted the Voltron Force to know that they were not afraid to come to the castle itself, something few of Zarkon's agents had attempted in the past. The Konogg Brigade wanted the Voltron Force to believe that even the Castle of Lions was not safe from them.
"Keith, you're not gonna let 'em get away with this, are ya?" Hunk asked.
Keith turned to face him, and was met by a glare that could freeze Hell. Hunk was mad. Downright pissed off, even, and as Keith looked around at the others, he saw similar expressions on their faces.
"We gotta get 'em back for this one, Chief. Now it's personal," Hunk said.
Keith nodded, but before he could say anything else, Dr. Gorma came out of the examination room. When he saw their expectant glances, he smiled. "Lance will be fine. He's got a nasty lump on the back of his head and a few bruises, but nothing serious. He's already awake, but I want him to rest her for a few hours."
"Can we talk to him?" Keith asked, edging toward the door.
Gorma shot him a look, and Driscoll had to choke back a laugh. He'd seen Dr. McCoy give Jim Kirk the same look more than once. Must be a doctor thing, he concluded.
"I believe I just said that Lance was to rest here," Gorma said, ignoring Driscoll's brief outburst. "Is there some part of that you don't understand Commander? Just because you never listen to me doesn't mean the same for others."
Keith knew better than to argue the point with Gorma. He could wait a couple hours to talk to Lance. So he just nodded and led the group out of the infirmary and headed off toward Castle Control. Coran turned to face them as they entered, and Keith told him what Gorma had said. "Has there been anything unusual while we were in the infirmary?"
"No, everything seems fine," Coran replied, looking over his boards again.
"They were in the woods, Coran. Why didn't we know about it?" Keith asked in a growl. To anyone else, it might have seemed like he was accusing Coran of slipping up, but the Force knew better. They were all just as interested as Keith, but he took the commandos' attack on Lance more personally. He and Lance had set up most of the security measures they now had in place, and he wanted to know how the enemy defeated them.
"I don't know, Commander. I've been looking into it ever since you left to find Lance, but all systems are in perfect order. I'm just as confused as you are."
"Maybe…" Driscoll muttered.
Keith turned to look at him. "What is it?"
"Well, I'm no expert on cloaking technology, but these guys can cloak their fighters, and there's a race, the Jem'Hadar, who fight for the Dominion…"
"What's your point?" Keith prodded.
"Jem'Hadar soldiers can cloak themselves. They call it 'shrouding'…" he waved his hands in front of himself. "Point its, they can do it, and maybe these Doomies can do it too."
Keith considered this a moment. Troops that could evade detection were not something he'd heard of before. But then, neither were invisible fighters. And if Haggar was involved in any of this… "So how would we find them?"
"That's the problem. Most tactical means of cloak detection rely on tachyon beams or tracking exhaust particles from a ship's engine. You'd have to talk to Scotty."
Keith nodded, then glanced at Pidge and Hunk. "I think it's time we put our technical wizards together again. It worked pretty well for your ion dart launchers."
"Sure as hell did," Driscoll agreed.
"Okay, then. Let us know when you can arrange to get together with Mr. Scott. Meanwhile, Coran, I think we should double the security for the time being."
Coran nodded. "I agree."
"Princess, take Adam and patrol the area from the air. Maybe you can find something we missed."
Allura nodded. "Right," she said, shooting a look at Adam, who nodded. Coran raised the launch tubes, and Allura ducked into hers while Adam made for the repair bay.
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Outside the castle, Torka and his men were nearing their goal. In this part of the forest, the trees were thinner, and there were scorches and bits of debris on the ground. A few minutes later, they saw their destination.
The fighter, or what was left of it, lay crumpled amongst several half-fallen trees. It's yellow and red paint scorched, and several chunks of its hull missing. As they drew nearer, they could see the clustered holes in the engine and fuselage that had brought the fighter down. Each hole was big enough for the men to put a finger through. This was the mark, Torka knew, not of the Lions, but of Thunderwing.
This fighter, however, was very important. It had been assigned, not to join in any attack, but to deliver a package to the commandos, who had been waiting on the other side of Olessa several days before when this particular raid struck. And they had watched in dismay as the fighter was engaged and downed by the Starfleet fighter before it reached them.
Picking their way through the wreckage, they came to the small cargo bay of the fighter. It took them a long time to work the doors open, but when they finally succeeded, Torka was relieved to see the cargo still intact.
The red space coffin sat in the cargo bay, thrown against the side bulkhead, but whole and undamaged. A quick check of the monitor panel showed that the coffin's occupant was still alive and well.
The commandos pulled the casket out of the hold and laid it on the ground. This robeast was very special. It was equipped with the same sort of cloaking technology that their fighters had. Even though their own gear hid them from most sensor scans, this robeast could evade any sensor or human eye.
"Shall we release the robeast, Commander?" Razin asked.
"No, not now," was Torka's hasty reply. "Our orders are to place the robeast near a town and we will be signaled when to release it." Torka walked to the head of the casket and bent down, gripping a handle. The other five men followed suit, and the commandos carried the space coffin away.
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Driscoll and Allura returned to the castle later that evening, after finding nothing on their patrol. They had seen no sign of the Konogg brigade, and suggested to Keith that they had abandoned their plans after encountering Lance. Keith just grunted noncommittally and muttered, "Maybe."
Driscoll looked at Keith. "Whatcha thinkin', boss?"
"They were trying to pull something. They wouldn't come all this way just for the fun of it."
"Recon, maybe?"
"Maybe, but why? Zarkon's attacked us so often, they must know all about our defenses, and we've had to deal with more than one agent who's seen plenty from the inside." Keith shook his head and looked up at a security monitor. "Something's up."
"So what should we do, Keith?" Allura asked.
"Unfortunately, Princess, there's not much we can do," Keith said with a sigh.
"We have already added extra guards to all the entrances, and we have patrols out on the grounds," said Coran. "We are doing everything we can at this point."
Allura nodded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I'd like to stop in and see Lance before I go to bed."
Keith nodded, while Coran and Adam bade her good night, and she left the chamber.
The three men stood in silence for a moment, until Driscoll sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Damn, I'm getting sick of this."
Keith huffed. "You think you're the only one?"
"No, but… Ah, I don't know! There's gotta be something else we can do!"
"If you figure it out, let me know," Keith replied with a weary smile. Just then, Hunk and Pidge walked in carrying a couple of folders filled with reports on the commandos' fighters.
Driscoll glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly time for their meeting with Scotty. Nodding to them, he asked, "Ready?"
"Yep, should have everything we need right here," said Pidge, waving the folder he was carrying.
"Okay, then, let's go." He walked up beside the other pilots and tapped his combadge. "Driscoll to Berlin, three to beam up."
Keith watched his friends disappear in the transporter effect and turned back to Coran. "Why don't you get some rest, Coran? I'll take the watch tonight."
Coran nodded. "Very well, then. Good night, Commander," he said, surrendering the console.
"Good night, Coran," Keith replied, settling into the seat and immediately starting a full security scan of the area around the castle. It looked to be a long night.