Almost forgot to post this today.  Anyway, here it is...
-------------------------

Chapter 7



"Nanny put the alarm clock in our room," Allura mentioned at the nightly
briefing.  "We should have no trouble with attending early-morning Lion
practices, now."



Keith's face flashed a grimmace- he didn't want her to mention something
like that in public- but quickly resumed his usual calm.  "Noted.
Coran?"



"The election returns are in," Coran announced.  "While we haven't
finished an official tabulation of all the votes, we have a pretty good
idea for most of the results."



"What does the make-up of the council look like?"



"Many of them are people who held political office when the Assembly was
dissolved after the fall of your father, Your Majesty," Coran noted.
"About seventy-five percent of them, in fact.  The others are mostly
village leaders who've obtained office since then."



Keith frowned.  "I'm not too sure I like that majority.  Weren't many of
them the people who disarmed Arus in the first place, when Haggar did
her 'peace-goddess' bit?"



Coran sighed.  "Well, yes.  But before that they provided an effective
bureaucracy that administered benevolently for many years.  And I doubt
they will fall for the same trick twice."



"I hope they aren't really as gullible as it sounds they were," Keith
sighed.



"Well, there is little that can be done about it now," Allura said.  "We
didn't have time to review the candidates, or nominate alternatives if
we didn't like them.  There was not much choice."



Keith nodded, deferring to his wife.  "Just somewhat concerned about
what may happen if we have to leave the planet in their hands for any
extended period of time."  He gave her a significant look, trying to
hint at the likeliness of that possibility.



"They will be fine," Coran suggested.  "Provided there are no major new
interstellar conflicts ignited during your departure, they are more than
capable of handling Arussian domestic policy."



"I sincerely hope they are," Keith said.  "We'll most likely need them
to be before this war is over."



"They'll be ready, Keith," Allura soothed.  "We'll help them."



Keith nodded.  "Well, then, let's move on.  Pidge, how is that secret
project we talked about coming along?"



Pidge glared at him.  He knew that Keith hadn't had a chance to talk to
Allura about the mission he was sending the Space Mice on, yet, and now
he had to keep it from her, too.  "Well, we're on schedule.  How about
your end of things?"



"It'll be taken care of tonight," Keith said, grimmacing.  "Probably
right after this meeting, if all goes well."



Pidge nodded.  "Good."



Lance picked up on the hostility between Pidge and their commander, but
decided not to comment on it at that point- he'd ask Keith about it
after the meeting.  Changing the topic, he brought up Lion practice in
the morning, and that initiated some more mundane discussion for the
rest of the briefing.



"Anything else?" Keith asked as the discussion drew to a close.



"I'd like to talk to you in private after the meeting is closed," Lance
suggested.



Keith looked at Allura, who nodded.  "Very well," he said.  "Anyone
else?  No?  Then meeting adjourned.  Voltron force will reconvene here
at 0800 hours tomorrow morning.  Allura, I'll be with you shortly.
Lance?"



They waited until everyone else had cleared out of the room before Lance
approached him.  "So, Keith," he said.  "What is going on between you
and Pidge?  Why was he so upset at you all of a sudden?"



Keith relaxed.  "Oh, is that all you're worried about?  Well, I just
asked Pidge to do something for me, and he wanted me to talk to Allura
about it first."



Lance frowned.  "And what is it that Pidge thinks you should talk to her
about first?"



"I wanted to launch a special surveillance mission is all," Keith said.



Lance could tell that he wasn't saying everything.  "Hmm... I want
details.  Who, where, and why?"



"Uh, well, we need to get some surveillance of the Doomian forces going,
because however things turn out there's going to be a battle between us
and them in the end," he replied.  "And... well, I felt that if Haggar
can send her cat to spy on us, we can send our mice to spy on them."



Lance froze.  "Ah.  Well, I guess I'd better stick around to look after
the widow."



"Widow?"



"After your wife finds out about this plan, she's going to make herself
a widow by killing you," Lance quipped.  "She loves those mice, you
know- maybe even more than she does you."



"The mice will be fine," Keith noted.  "They're just supposed to go in,
place some electronics in key places, and get out.  They can take care
of themselves.  And I won't send them in unless they agree to do it."
He paused.  "And I'm telling Allura about it tonight- since we can't
send them until Pidge gets their mouse robot spaceworthy, there'll be
plenty of time for her to stop me without killing me."



Lance shook his head.  "Sheesh- just one day after you're wedding, and
you're already about to send yourself into the doghouse.  Well, good
luck, man."



Keith sighed.  "Thanks.  I'm going to need it."  He paused.  "Was there
anything else?"



Lance smirked.  "Not unless you want to tell me about how your beloved
royal was in bed last night- I figure something big was happening, since
Alfor himself was protecting you two."



Keith stood up and started heading for the door.  "No, I don't think I
do.  You have the first watch tonight.  See you tomorrow at 0800."



Not waiting for Lance to try launching another joke his way, Keith
darted out of the briefing room and made his way with utmost speed for
the quarters he now shared with Allura.



He practically gawked at his new wife as he entered their room.  She was
wearing some flimsy, frilly, nearly see-through piece of lingerie.  It
was so... so alluring that he couldn't believe it was her.  Then again,
considering her name, perhaps he could.



"Uh," he said intelligently.



"Hi, husband," Allura greeted, smiling up at him.  "Is now a good time
to try talking you into changing your mind about waiting?"



Not answering her immediately, he sputtered, "Where- no, HOW did you get
that thing?"



"What, this?" she said, pulling the fabric of her teddy, stretching it
slightly tighter than before, before letting is snap painlessly back.



Keith's eyes boggled at how much that little tug emphasized her curves.
"Uh, well, yeah, that."



Allura shrugged, a motion which once again tightened the cloth against
her body.  "I asked one of the castle maids to go and get it for me when
she went out to vote earlier today."



Keith closed his eyes and  groaned.  He knew the moment he allowed her
to try and convince him to abandon their plans to wait that she'd
eventually succeed.  He was hoping to be able to appease her with little
things for a few days, at least, though... and it didn't look like that
would worke any more.  "You're going to make this hard, aren't you?"



"I think that's the idea," Allura laughed.  "Making it hard is an
essential part of the process, isn't it?"



He just shook his head, grinning wryly.  "That's not what I meant and
you know it."  He looked at her, sighed, and continued, "And,
unfortunately, I have to talk with you about something serious before...
well, anything else can happen."



Allura frowned.  "Business-type serious or our-relationship-type
serious?"



"Business-type serious," Keith said.  "But it could lead to a
relationship-type serious thing."



"I don't think I like the sound of this.  How serious a
relationship-type serious?"



"Well, when Lance found out about this, he thought you'd be making
yourself a widow before the night was out," Keith noted jokingly.



Allura shook her head sadly.  "Great.  I knew things were going too good
for it all to last."



"I didn't WANT to tell you about this," Keith admitted.  "I thought it
would be kinder to you if you didn't find out until it was over and they
came back safe and sound, but Pidge convinced me that I should tell you.
Actually, he demanded that I do so...."



Allura sniffed regally.  "Well, since you haven't told me what 'it' is,
yet, I don't know whether you were wrong or not.  TELL me, already."



Keith chewed his lower lip, trying to think of the best way to break it
to his wife.  "I'm intending to send a special surveillance mission to
Planet Doom."



Allura nodded.  "That sounds dangerous, but I can certainly understand
why.  But why didn't you want to tell me about it?  Are YOU going to be
on that mission?"



"No," Keith hesitated.  "But you're close.  I was thinking of sending
the Space Mice."



"You were WHAT?!" Allura cried.



Just then, the alarm klaxons started sounding.



"Damn," Keith said, glaring at the alarm system.  They had to talk about
this- now was not the best of times for an emergency.



Allura glanced up at him.  She knew he had his reasons, and that he wasn
't heartless- he must have had some real reason for thinking the Space
Mice would be the safest way for the surveillance mission to succeed.
Trying to show him she wasn't mad, she gave him a quick peck on the
lips.  "We'll talk about this later.  Go, I'll be right behind you as
soon as I get dressed."



Keith nodded, darting out the door.  He arrived in Castle Control
seconds later, seeing the others already there.  "What's going on?"



"A large mass has been detected on the outskirts of the system," Coran
said.  "Unless I miss my guess, the Vehicle team is here."



*          *          *          *          *



Jeff was in a hurry.  The meeting had let out not too long ago, and now
they were almost at Arus.  He hadn't been able to concentrate on
anything that had been said in the meeting- not that he really needed
to, anyway.  It was an attempt to discuss tactics for fighting the other
Voltron- something he was planning to stop them from doing.



Now, he just HAD to find Lisa.  The things they had been talking
about... he couldn't imagine anything ever effecting him more.  He
needed an answer- did she want something to happen between them, or not?



He tore around a corner and nearly collided with Ensign Sparks, the
communications officer.  "Mr. Sparks!" He snapped.  "Watch where you're
going."



Sparks looked at him oddly.  "Are you okay, sir?"



Jeff shook his head absently.  "Yes, yes- just be more careful in the
future."



Sparks shook his head.  "I don't mean from our collision, sir- is
something on your mind?  You seem... not yourself."



Jeff grit his teeth.  Every second spent wasted with this man was
another second he didn't have to get his answer from Lisa.  "It's a
personal matter," he said.



Sparks nodded.  "Can I help, sir?"



Jeff sighed.  There was just no getting away from this man, but maybe he
knew something.  "Do you know where Lisa is?"



"I haven't seen her for a few hours, but I suspect the other girls know.
They're down the hall, in Pilot's Lounge Green Two."



Jeff nodded brusquely.  The 'other girls' would have to include Ginger,
and he didn't want to talk to Ginger right at that moment- he wasn't
exactly happy with her right now thanks to her ultimatum.  He might be
VERY unhappy with her depending on Lisa's answer... but to get that
answer he had to find Lisa.  "Thanks, Mr. Sparks.  I suggest you head to
the bridge- we're almost at Arus, and may need your skills soon."



Without waiting for any kind of acknowledgement, Jeff brushed passed the
Ensign and nearly ran down to the corridor in hopes of tracking down the
person he was looking for in time to get some answers before they were
both called to action.  He HAD to know, dammit, and having to search the
ship to ask her was just getting him more agitated.



The ferocity with which he burst into the lounge startled everyone in
the room.  Not caring at the seven or eight faces turned his way, he
pinpointed the location of Ginger and Cinda and marched straight to
their table.



"Um, is there something you want?" Cinda asked hesitantly.



Jeff didn't even look at her, instead sending an icy glare Ginger's way.
The blond-haired girl blinked, not sure what in the world was going on.
"Jeff?" she inquired.



"Do either of you two know where Lisa is right now?" he asked, a growl
buried deep in his throat.



Ginger swallowed nervously, almost frightened by the desperate look in
his eyes.  "Um... I think she said she was going to run a few
simulations with her fighter to help adjust to the recent computer
upgrades."



Jeff didn't say a word, he just spun around and practically ran out of
the room.  Cinda turned to Ginger and said, eyes wide, "What was THAT
all about?"



Ginger shook her head.  "I don't know... he seemed mad at me."



"Are your sure he was mad at you?" Cinda asked.  "He was rather...
fiercely... asking about Lisa, after all.  Do you think she's going to
be alright?"



Ginger thought about it.  "It might have something to do with me telling
Lisa that if she and Jeff don't get together, I'm going to do something
to make them get together."



Cinda blinked at her.  "Did it not occur to you that they may not
appreciate being interfered with?"



Ginger shrugged.  "If I didn't say something, do you really think they'
ll ever do anything?"



Cinda paused.  "You have a point.  But perhaps you could have been more
subtle."  Then she remembered who she was talking to.  "Never mind- you
don't do subtle, do you?"



Ginger grinned.  "Nope."  She paused, glancing at where Jeff had
disappeared.  "I have a feeling it worked, too."



Meanwhile, Jeff was rushing to the Sea Team's fighter bay.  Finally, he'
d be able to talk to Lisa again.  He'd been waiting almost eight hours
for this conversation, and now he was finally about to have it.



It was then that the worries started hitting him.  What if she said she
wasn't interested in him?  What if she said she WAS?  If she wasn't,
well, then why was she always there for him when he needed her- it didn'
t make any sense.  But if she really WAS, then why hadn't she done
anything about it before?



And, if she was, where did they go from there?



Lisa had been trying to work on the flight sim for her fighter, but she
just couldn't concentrate on it.  At the moment, she was sitting in the
powered-down cockpit, thinking back to her conversation with Jeff from a
few hours beforehand.  She hadn't been able to answer him, and she wasn'
t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  Her immediate reaction
to the conversation had been that she'd blown any chance of having a
relationship with him, but she wasn't sure about that.  If she did, she
wasn't even sure if THAT was a good or a bad thing.  She was just...
confused.



"LISA!" Jeff called as he burst into the room.  "Are you here?!"



Lisa jumped in surprise, nearly hitting her head on the roof of the
cockpit when she heard his voice.  What was he doing here?  "Jeff?"



He looked over to where her voice was coming from.  "Can you come out
here for a bit?  I want to talk."



Lisa took in a deep breath.  He wanted to talk already, and now she wasn
't sure what to say.  She considered hiding out in the cockpit until he
went away, but then remembered that she'd already given away her
position.  "Um... I'll be right there.  Hold on a second."



Jeff waited impatiently as Lisa shut the computer for her fighter down
and made her way out of the fighter.  Slowly, she left the fighter and
walked up to him without looking in his direction.  She just couldn't
meet his eyes.



"You wanted to speak to me, Jeff?" she said softly, her voice cracking.
She knew what he wanted to talk about- now all she wanted to do was buy
some time to sort out her thoughts.  Not that she'd been able to sort
them out in the previous eight hours or so, but still....



"You didn't finish answering my question."



"Oh?" she said, almost laughing with nervousness.  "What question was
that?"



"You know perfectly well what question I'm talking about, Lisa," Jeff
said, his gaze boring down on her.  She ducked shyly to hide her face
even more.  "Do you want something to 'happen' between us- yes or no?"



She gulped.  Apparently, she was being given another chance, and this
time she couldn't afford to blow it.  But how to answer?  What to say?
How to explain?



"That question has been running through my head since you left," she
admitted.  "And I'm still not sure what I want to say.  I know what I
FEEL, but how to express it is another matter."



Jeff frowned.  "How about just saying 'yes' or 'no?'  After you get that
far, the rest will work itself out... eventually."



She still didn't want to answer him, and so instead challenged him.
"How about you?  Do YOU want something to happen between us?  Yes or
 no?"



Jeff had been so tormented about her answer, he'd completely forgotten
about his own part in this whole situation.  However, when he realized
just why he was so tormented, the answer flashed in front of him like a
bolt of lightning.  "Yes, I do.  More than anything else in this
universe."  At Lisa's shocked expression, he grinned halfheartedly and
continued, "Now, since you know how I feel, what is your answer?"



The alarm klaxons started going off the second Lisa opened her mouth to
answer, still without looking at him.  She groaned- not again.  Maybe it
just wasn't possible for her to answer him about this.  Maybe this was
some divine being's way of just making things complicated for them.



"All hands to battlestations," Ensign Sparks voice announced over the
public address system.  "Repeat- all hands to battlestations.  This is
not a drill."



"Go- we've got to be in position before anything happens.  We'll just
have to talk about this again later," Lisa lamented.



Jeff shook his head.  "No.  I just said that this was more important
than anything else- I won't be able to get through this until I know...
so I'm not moving until I have your answer."



Lisa finally looked at him, and finally saw how determined he was to
find out what she felt.  And suddenly she knew how she felt, and couldn'
t remember any of the reasons she didn't know, before.  "Yes, Jeff.  I
want something to happen."



He grinned.  "Good," he said.  Before she could react, he grabbed her,
pulled her in, and gave her a fierce kiss.  She didn't have time to
really respond before he released her, stepped back, saluted, and ran
off to his station.



Lisa just watched him go, her hand slowly reaching up to cover her
tingling lips.



*          *          *          *          *



"Our robeast will be there in a matter of minutes, Sire," Haggar
cackled.



"Is it powerful enough to destroy Voltron?" Zarkon snapped back at her.
"If it isn't, then the situation is useless."



"Oh, it's my most powerful yet, your Majesty," Haggar grovelled.  "It
might even be a match for BOTH Voltrons, if they happen to be fighting
together."



"It better be, witch," Zarkon growled.  "Or else we're going to fall.
And I promise you that I'll destroy you before we do."  He paused.
"Start preparing more robeasts.  There'll be the other Voltron to deal
with, not to mention the entire Alliance fleet, even if you are lucky
enough to succeed."



"What can I do, father?" Lotor asked.



"You?" Zarkon snorted.  "You're useless.  Just go and play with your
harem girls... or call that woman I tried to engage you to- Merla, I
think it was.  Even if she has turned good, she still seems to like you
for some odd reason."



Lotor grimmaced.  "That woman... now that she's gone over to THEIR side,
she can't seem to do anything outside of try and turn me as well.  She
just disgusts me, now, the way she wallows in their morals."  He paused,
and thought, 'Though I really do wonder, sometimes, what it would be
like to turn good for her.  Especially now since it seems Allura has
chosen another, and is no longer untouched, Merla's physical form
intrigues me.  Perhaps the only way to have it would be to turn good
after all...'  He paused.  'Yeah, right.  Like I COULD become good.'



"King Zarkon!" Haggar's gravelly voice said, intruding on his thoughts.
"My robeast has arrived- come, let us finally watch Voltron's demise.  I
will project it for you...."



*          *          *          *          *



Aboard the flagship of the Polluxian battle fleet, Prince Bandor paced
back and forth in the front of the bridge with a posture and stride
which would have been intimidating had he been at least a foot taller.
As it was, he looked like a kid pretending to be a grown up, but the
rest of the crew knew that he was not.  They knew that he was acting
like an adult because he was in a very adult position- command of a
powerful military force on a mission of protection and liberation from
one of the most powerful forces of evil ever known- that of Planet Doom.



Even so, normally he was a rather pleasant and approachable person to be
around.  The current situation with the communications disruption
throughout their region of space, however, was obviously disturbing him
greatly.  For this reason, no-one risked approaching him for fear of
disturbing his concentration and putting him in a bad mood.  The
communications officer, however, found something that demanded his
immediate attention, so there was no choice but to risk his temper and
intrude on his thought-filled pacing after all.



"Prince Bandor, sir," he said, stepping in front of the young prince.



Bandor blinked up at him.  "Eh?  What?  What is it?" he said quickly,
startled.



"Sir... we're picking up a faint transmission.  We're barely able to
make it out, but it seems to be a distress signal.  It's coming on an
alliance frequency... what should we do?"



Bandor thought about it hard.  This could be a trick- some attempt to
lure his fleet away from Pollux in preparation for an attack.  It could
also be a real distress signal, however, and he had no desire to abandon
someone in trouble.  "Can you tell what kind of distress?"



"Negative, sir," the communications officer said.  "There's too much
interference."



Bandor frowned.  "Damn," he cursed.  The other people on the bridge
looked at each other in surprise- they hadn't heard him curse since...
well, before Avok was turned into a robeast.  And even then was a rare
occasion.



"Orders, sir?" the flagship's captain asked hesitantly, unsure of what
sort of response he'd get from an obviously disturbed prince.



"How far away is the ship?  Could a fighter reach it?" Bandor asked the
communications officer.



"Uncertain, sir, but I'm guessing it's too far away for an interceptor
or short-range fighter."



Bandor rolled his eyes.  "Great.  Just what I wasn't hoping for.
Contact the fastest battlecruiser in the fleet.  Have it close in on the
source of the signal as rapidly as possible, and see if they can get
more information."



"Aye, aye, sir," the communications officer said, running for his
station.



"Captain, this whole radio blackout is disturbing me," Bandor noted.  "I
want you to contact engineering.  See if you can co-ordinate the fastest
and most effective way for establishing a set of communications bouys
that will be able to penetrate all this interference."



"Right away, sir!" the Captain said.



Bandor resumed his pacing, but was stopped again a few moments later by
the same communications officer.  "Sir, signal from our battlecruiser.
They're relaying the complete message from that alliance ship, and I
think you should here it."



The young prince nodded.  "Pipe it through."



"...tion, Planet Pollux.  This is Space Marshal Jonathan K. Graham.  I'
ve got two emergency situations here, but you'd better handle this one
first...."



-------------------------
David A. Tatum
http://davecon.anifics.com
desaix@anifics.com



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