Allura lay awake on her bunk, listening to the light hum of the engine coming from below. Other than the occasional snore from Hunk, the cabin was quiet. They had been in the air for almost three hours and she still couldn't manage to fall asleep. Of course, sharing sleeping quarters with four men wasn't exactly what she was used to or what she had expected. Then again, she never imagined that she would be smuggled off of her own planet in a transport freighter. She rolled to her side and cursed the hard mattress beneath her.

Then she cursed herself for being such a crybaby. The pilot, Captain Marrow, had given her his cot, which also happened to be the only one on the ship. The other members of her team had been content with a few blankets tossed on the floor. With the only illumination in the room being from a low lit lantern in the corner of the tiny bunk area, she could easily make out each of their sleeping forms.

Idlely, she tried to remember life before they had come to Arus. Living in the rubble of her castle, scurrying like rats to find food and water. It had been a very difficult time. Then, suddenly, this rag tag group of young soldiers showed up at her gate. And from the moment she saw them, she knew that they would bring life back to her planet. She never expected the what had happened next. She smiled as she gazed at her heroes, each one holding a very special place in her heart. With those thoughts, she closed her eyes and slept.

She had no idea how long she had been asleep when the ship rocked violently startling her awake. She sat up blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the new bright light that invaded the cabin.

"What's going on?"

"Don't know yet." Lance was shoving his feet into his boots while Pidge and Hunk tripped over each other looking for theirs. She looked around for Keith, who was absent.

Not even bothering with her own boots, she jumped off the cot and quickly made her way towards the cockpit. Just as she was about enter, Keith appeared, grabbed her, and pushed her against the nearby bulkhead just outside the cockpit door. He put a hand over her mouth to silence her. He thrust a hand out at Lance who was heading toward them. Lance stopped in his tracks and motioned for Pidge and Hunk to do the same.

Allura's eyes widened with confusion at the sudden chaos. Keith leaned in close. She could feel his shallow breath on her neck. "Drule ships." He whispered.

She nodded that she understood and released his hand, but made no move to release her from his grasp. Her heart thudded in her chest. There was no way they could defend themselves against a Drule squadron. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when the ship jolted again.

"They're firing on us!" She whispered hoarsly.

Keith shook his head. "If they wanted to blow us out of sky, they would have done it already. They just want to get our attention."

"Well they got it." Lance whispered. He had been so silent in his movements that Allura hadn't even noticed that he was standing right next to her.

"Pidge, go down to the cargo hold and keep an eye on Lotor." Keith ordered.

The youngest member of the team nodded wordlessly and disappeared down the hatch that led to the bowels of the ship. They could now hear voices from the cockpit.

"This is a transport freighter. I have no weapons to combat you." The Captain Marrow's voice pleaded.

"I am 1st Commander Keurig of the Drule empire. We are looking for a ship carrying five Alliance allies and their prisoner."

Allura's heart stopped and she looked to Keith with terrified eyes. They were looking for Lotor.

"I have no such people aboard. This is a spice freighter."

"Prepare to be boarded."

There was another lurch. Keith held tight to Allura to keep them both from toppling over.

"Tractor beam." Lance observed quietly, pulling his pistol out of it's holster.

"Shit." Keith said under his breath.

Suddenly, a new voice entered the conversation. "What the hell is going on here?" A woman's voice demanded.

"Who are you?" Keurig damanded.

"That's not really important. What is important is that you are holding up my transport ship."

Allura saw the shock on Lance's face, as if he'd seen a ghost. "Deirdre?" He whispered at Keith. The commander only nodded, but did not seem at all surprised by the new voice.

"I am taking special cargo to your own General Clegg."

"What kind of cargo?" Keurig demanded.

"None of your business." She said. "If you would like to contact him, I'm sure that he would be thrilled to know that you were holding up his shipment. And if you even think about boarding my ship, some of that product might just mysteriously disappear, and I will be happy to inform General Clegg that you were the last person aboard."

There was a brief pause. "Hold your position." Keurig finally said.

Time seem to slow to a crawl as the Voltron Force waiting in silence. Allura's breath became shallow with anxiety. She glanced from Keith to Lance and found them both sharing her apprehension. Would Keurig believe the story? She jumped when the ship lurched again, indicating that the tractor beam had been powered down. They were free.

"You may maintain your course with our apologies." Keurig's voice dripped this animosity.

"Thank you." The woman's voice said sarcastically.

After a few more moments of silence, the Captain Marrow called to them. "They're gone, Commander."

Everyone in the back cabin let out a collective sigh of relief. They were soon gathered in the cockpit to find out what exactly had happened.

"Everyone okay over there?" The faceless voice addressed them.

"Yeah, we're fine." Keith announced. "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem."

"Deidre McMannus?" Lance was still in shock.

"Hey, Lance. You can wipe that dumbfounded look off your face. But i guess that's the way you always look, eh?"

Hunk snickered. They had no visual, yet she knew what expression Lance displayed. "What the hell are you doing here?" He interjected.

"Hello to you too, Hunk. Didn't Keith tell you?"

Keith's team turned to look at him in unison. He shrugged. "I was worried about making the trip without backup." He glanced at Allura. "So I contacted Deirdre yesterday, before we left."

Allura stepped forward. "Well, I'm certainly glad that you did. Thank you for helping out, Deirdre."

"Who is that?"

"I am Princess Allura of Arus."

"A Princess? Wow, Keith, you didn't tell me you were in the company of royalty. I'm impressed. I'm sorry that I can't bring up my visual. My comm has been acting a little hinky lately."

"What did you do to my ship?" Hunk growled.

"Your ship?" Deirdra admonished.

"Hey, little girl, half of the modifications made to that ship were made by me! She's just as much my baby as she is yours."

Deirdra laughed. "Well, maybe you can give her a litte TLC when we get to Earth."

"I would love to get my hands on the Siren again."

"Consider it done, Hunk." There was a pause. "Well, now that the drama's over, I need my beauty sleep. I'll be on auto pilot for the next few hours. Let me know if you need anything."

"Hey, Deidre," Lance called out. "How did you know that Keurig wouldn't call your bluff and board us anyway.? You had to know that he would check your story."

"Because I wasn't bluffing. Not really. There really is a shipment heading for General Clegg."

"Are you smuggling for the Drules now?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not. I may not have many scruples, but there are lines that even I won't cross."

"Then how did you...?"

"I was hanging out at a bar on Optimus Prime. You know what a seedy planet that is anyway. Something you've got to know about space pirates is that when they get drunk, they love to talk. So, I overheard this guy bragging about some huge run that he's making to General Clegg."

"Nice work, Deidre." Keith said.

"Thanks, now if you don't mind, I am exhausted. Keeping up with you guys will really take it out of a girl."

Allura snorted. "Tell me about it." Before she even realized she had said it out loud, the company in the cockpit all turned to look at her. She shrugged. "It's true."

"I'll contact you guys in a few hours. By then we shouldn't be too far from Earth."

The cabin fell silent again. Hunk yawned loudly. "Think that I will follow her example and get some shut eye."

"I think that's a good idea." Keith agreed. "Captain Marrow, why don't you let me take the helm for a few hours. Go get some rest."

The Captain nodded. "Yes, Sir." He relinquished his chair to the commander.

Allura turned to follow the others to the back. "You coming, Lance?"

"Nah, I think I'll hang out to keep Keith company for a little bit." He jumped into the co-pilot seat next to Keith.

She nodded and, feeling a new bout of exhaustion coming on, she turned to toward the back cabin. She decided that she might actually be able to get some decent rest with Keith and Lance at the controls. They were safe for now. She silenely prayed that circumstances would remain that way until they reached Earth.

"Deirdre, huh?" Lance glanced at Keith with amusement. "What's up with that?"

Keith kept a steady eye on the control panel."She's one of the few people that I trust not to be the mole in the Alliance. She was close and available."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "How did you know she was close enough to get to us in time?"

"I have my sources, Lance."

"Does she know that we're meeting Colonel Wade when we land?"

Keith continued to stare forward. "No, I haven't given her any of the details about our mission. She doesn't even know what our cargo is. The less she knows right now, the better."

Lance nodded. "I'm just surprised. Deirdre wouldn't have been the first person I would have thought of to contact."

Keith looked at his friend and gave him a smug smile. "That's why you're the arm, and I'm the head." He pointed to Lance, "muscle," then to himself. "Brains."

Lance wrinkled his nose at him "Ha ha ha..."

"Admit it, Lance, it's funny because it's true."

Lance sighed and turned back to the controls in front of him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah...it is good to know that you can admit that I am stronger than you, though. So what now, Chief? It's obvious that they're looking for us."

Keith nodded. "And when we get to Earth, I have every intention of finding out who is behind all of this.'' Unconsciously he gripped the contols tightly and furrowed his brow as he stared out at the stars in front of them. "And I will make them pay."

Yes, yes...I know that I named the commander after a coffee maker, and the Optimus Prime...? Well, sometimes I just get too damn lazy to come up with a reasonable sounding name for a random planet :) And since this is the only time that either will be mentioned in the story, I decided it wasn't worth getting my panties in a bunch over. Hope you enjoyed it.

Don't forget to Review! :)