The Voltron Force gave Lucia a lift to the castle, where she was more than welcome to stay until such
a time that they could contact her brother. She graciously accepted the gesture and asked only that
she be allowed to take certain supplies with her that she was to leave behind in the Sparrowhawk.
Lance had opened his mouth to ask what they could be, but Lucia spoke before he could voice his
concerns. She had equipment with her that was not exactly fragile, but could easily be broken by the
careless and uninitiated. When she insisted that they not examine anything, they were somewhat
uneasy, but out of respect for her and her brother they agreed.

At first Coran had been hesitant to accept this strange pilot coming out of nowhere, but the former
space explorers vouched for her, and after a few good lines of reasoning, managed to allay Coran's
fears about her. Allura's Nanny selected a spacious guest room for Lucia's stay, one that had ample
storage space for the two small crates of equipment and the young pilot thanked her with a short bow
indicative of the Japanese side of her heritage.

Now Lucia found herself freshening up in her room in preparation for dinner. Princess Allura had
asked her to dine with her, Coran, and the rest of the Voltron Force, presumably to speak in greater
detail about her mission. There was not much to say really; not much that Lucia could afford to say.
Her journey from Earth had been nonstop, and while she had brushed over the details on their trip
back to the castle, she knew she would have to reserve the main portion of it for dinner. It gave her
more time to think, to cover all angles of their inquiry. She had not expected to find Sven anywhere
save planet Arus, but the unexpected could always happen, and in this case had done so. She had
learned to accept and swiftly incorporate such events into her modus operandi.

Lucia's gaze fixed on her reflection in the mirror, and she ran a brush through her thick hair. It was the
color of her father's hair, but it had what people called her mother's texture; full and vibrant. She
smiled sadly to herself as she set the brush down. The smile slipped away, replaced by the guard of
discipline, and she was confident that her journey would not be in vain.

She got up, catching sight in her peripheral vision of the small duffel bag that held all her traveling
possessions. Allura had asked that she change for dinner, perhaps into something more comfortable.
Lucia politely declined. The light blue pilot's uniform was rather bland, she could agree with that, but
she had not packed anything in the way of civilian clothing, or her dress uniform for that matter. If the
clothes fit, wear them, was her general rule. She was never quite comfortable with going out of her
way to make an impression of physical attractiveness. Lucia smirked. It was probably one of the traits
she shared with her older brother. And in this case she had an excuse for not dressing up.

                                     * * *

At dinner, Lucia sat to the right of Allura, the head of the table, and across from Coran. Keith, Lance,
Pidge, and Hunk occupied the rest of the modest rectangular table. This was to be an intimate dinner
among friends, not the formality it could have been. Nanny was serving her best, as was customary
with new and potentially important guests. As they ate, Keith explained the details of what had
happened to the five space explorers from the moment they had entered Arus airspace to Sven's
injury by Haggar to the discovery that Sven had been captured and found on planet Doom.

"After the battle was over he went back to planet Pollux with Princess Romelle. He needed to recover
and with Ebb in ruins that was the best place to go. The fall from the tower was nasty and it's a
miracle he survived at all," concluded Keith. "Since then Sven decided to remain there and help
Romelle as both a warrior and Pollux's political emissary. He no longer resides on Arus. I believe we
sent that information back to Galaxy Garrison not long after it was decided upon."

Lucia set her fork down beside her near empty plate. "Our family never received this information. Last
I heard, he was permanently stationed here as a member of the Voltron Force. I suppose it's possible
the message was supposed to be delivered and it got lost in transit, but I find that unlikely given the
Alliance's usual efficiency." Lucia lifted her fork and placed another slice on meat in her mouth. She
chewed and swallowed. "I can't imagine why they would keep it as classified information on Earth, so
far removed from the battles. You guys don't know this, but they rarely talk about you on Earth. I
mean as a team. They always talk about Voltron did this or Voltron did that, but they rarely if ever
give any names. If I had known that Sven had been injured and sent away..."

She trailed off, finding herself uncertain how to finish the sentence.

"So why are you here?" asked Allura gently. "And why did you come in a ship that was obviously
awkward for the journey?"

Lucia again set her fork down, although this time it was plain that she would not pick it up again for a
while. "I have come to bring Sven back to Earth." As she expected, she earned stares from around
the oblong table. "It's not what you think though. Reassignment is hardly the thing. You see, our father
is slowly dying. He must be hospitalized by now. I don't know what to say. He was healthy, and then
a disease struck him. There's no known cure. I asked the Alliance for a ship to come and retrieve
Sven so that our family can be united one last time. Our father is a well known Alliance ambassador,
so my request was granted. But you guys" --she glanced to Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge--
"probably already know that. When the Alliance found an available ship, I took the first one that they
had. Would could I do? I had no time to waste. I am a capable pilot and I knew the risks. Because of
the conflicts with the Drule, the Alliance had little else to spare. It could be months before another ship
became available.

"Once on my journey I tried sending word ahead to Arus, but my communication system went
haywire. I tried to fix it, but as you already know from my transmission earlier today, it's still not
working very well. I could not contact you until I came within a certain range of your planet."

Lucia let out a breath and picked up her glass of water. She sipped quietly from the glass to moisten
her throat.

Lance lowered his gaze as he tapped his spoon against his plate. He looked up again, a sudden
thought lighting his eyes. "How did you get here anyway?" he asked. "A Sparrowhawk normally can't
fly this far. It runs out of fuel far too soon."

"I coasted a lot," replied Lucia. "There were several times I just cut the engines and allowed my
momentum to carry me. I plotted my course carefully, and if you're good about using planets and stars
for slingshots you can go a lot farther on a tank of fuel than normal."

"And the irregular bursts firing from your thrusters?"

Lucia shrugged. "As you know, my ship has been damaged en route. I ran into some of Zarkon's
ships on my trip here. I was forced to outrun them and then improvise repairs. Since I'm the only one
aboard, I had to do the best I could by myself. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I've had to be
self-reliant for a solo flight such as this from Earth to Arus."

Lucia quietly drank from her glass, watching everyone while pretending to be looking into her cup.
They all looked so... unsure of themselves. She had not meant to set any of them of edge, but Arus
was so isolated from the rest of Alliance. So enthralled were they in their own struggle the problems of
the Alliance as a whole were easily forgotten. Lucia knew her brother spoke about his friends with
some measure of pride, so she had expected they would help her. Now she was not so sure. Dealing
with Zarkon no doubt left this whole quadrant uneasy. But she was sure of herself and the new
equipment she had been issued by Galaxy Garrison.

"Lucia, your Sparrowhawk is being refueled and repaired tomorrow," said Keith, breaking the
momentary silence. "We can provide you with a map of Pollux and tell you where you can find Sven.
But I'm afraid that's about all the help we can give you. One of us would escort you, but you see, the
whole Voltron Force has to be together in case Zarkon attacks or we can't form Voltron."

She shook her head. "You would only be gone a short while though. Surely at least one of your lions
can be spared. What if I run into Zarkon's forces again?"

"You're a capable pilot. With a fully functional Sparrowhawk you should be able to outrun them. I'm
sorry, but we can't leave Arus unguarded."

Lucia nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I understand." But there was something sharp in her otherwise
compliant tone.

"We'll give you your supplies and anything else you need in the morning," stated Coran. "Perhaps you
should get a good night's sleep until then."

"Oh, yes!" Nanny said wholeheartedly, reentering the room in time to serve dessert. "You must be so
tired from your journey. I bet you didn't have a wink of sleep. Flying solo like that for so long--it is
such nonsense! The least the Alliance could have done was send someone with you."

"It was indeed tiring. I thank you for your hospitality," Lucia replied with a wan smile. "I hate to leave
before dinner is over," --she threw an apologetic look to Nanny-- "but do you think I could get some
rest?"

Nanny put her hands on her ample hips. "You'll miss the fruit cake."

Pidge snickered. "Not like that's a big loss."

Allura waved Nanny off and smiled to Lucia. "Yes, of course you can go. I'm sorry. We should have
taken your fatigue into account."

"It's okay," Lucia replied with nod. "I know it's not everyday something like this happens."

"Actually it happens more often than you- Ow! Who kicked me?" Hunk glanced around at the faces
of his friends.

Lance stood up, meeting Lucia's gaze. "Hey, uh... I'll escort you to your room."

                                     * * *

The long halls of the Castle of Lions were vacant save the few castle attendants still active this late in
the day. The spirited battle against Zarkon had done little to revive the glamor of courtly life or the
existence of a court at all. Lucia looked sidelong at Lance, expectant. They were alone, without a
servant to be seen or heard.

"So why are you here?" Lance finally asked.

"You heard the reason," Lucia replied evenly.

He shook his head slowly and stopped walking. Lucia continued on for a pace then turned to face
him.

"There's more to it than that," he said. "I can tell. You hid it pretty well at dinner, but now you're
different. You're guarding something. You look so tense your words have the impact of water from a
hose."

Lucia met his gaze without flinching. Her voice was sincere. "My ordeal has left me unnerved. It's not
easy flying all these light-years by yourself, knowing that your father is dying every minute that you're
gone."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said sternly.

Seeing that Lance looked considerably taken aback, her gaze softened.

"Look, I just need to attend to business, okay? I'm not normally this stuffy, but my nerves are all
frayed and I'm out of sorts."

She resumed walking and Lance sprinted to match strides with her. He did not look at her face when
he spoke next, sensing that any reaction she had she would want to keep personal. "I know I never
knew you well, but I've seen more of you and your family than anyone else on Arus. At dinner you
mentioned your family being reunited one last time. Does this mean you've found Sho?"

They had just reached her room and Lucia pressed the control panel by the door to slide it open. She
turned to look at Lance and her face was an impregnable mask. "No, it does not."

"All right," murmured Lance. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

As he started back down the hallway he heard her reply, "Yeah, tomorrow."

                                     * * *

Lucia did not sleep that night, though she had not lied to everyone when she said that her journey had
taken its toll on her. She hated going more than thirty-six hours without sleep, but such was life in the
military. Sometimes measures had to be taken. She did not have much time. Now that she had
embarked on this reckless journey she conceivably had less time than her father.

In the stillness of the wee hours, she opened the large closet she had been given to house her stuff.
The "stuff" in question was actually two large metallic boxes that were roughly three by three foot
cubes. The Voltron Force physically had to lug them in, though they were not heavy for two people,
but Lucia merely removed a hidden panel from the both of them and pressed the small red buttons
concealed underneath.

The boxes floated up into the air as padded balloons inflated beneath each of them. Lucia continued
to remove panels and latched the two boxes together with them, using hooks and wedges that were
likewise hidden. Now the two boxes would float behind her as their own hovercraft, silent save for the
barely audible whooshing of air.

Even that seemed too loud for Lucia, but there was no other way she could get around it. She would
need the equipment inside those boxes. The Voltron Force didn't know it yet, but the ship she took
was set to be scrapped by the Alliance. Without the classified equipment she had stored in those
boxes, the Sparrowhawk would never have flown. Considering how she barely made it to Arus, she
doubted she could take off again even with her equipment. If only she had not run into Zarkon's
forces! Then perhaps she would not have to take this desperate measure. There was no way the
Sparrowhawk would be ready by tomorrow. It was as close to space junk as possible without
actually being the junk.

She crept out of her room and took a deep breath. Even though her plans had their setbacks, Lucia
now knew her next course of action. There was no time to waste. Lucia had learned a lot about
Voltron from public propaganda as well as some classified knowledge while back on Earth. Keith and
Allura had added to her knowledge during her dinner with them.

She entered the control room, which was dim from lack of any planned usage for it in the dead of
night. The young pilot strode over to the control console Coran would usually activate and left her
boxes floating just outside the range of the cylinder she knew would lift out of the floor. Lucia tensed,
knowing full well that several alarms might go off the instant she tried to active the chutes that lead to
the mechanical lions.

But danger had never stopped her before. The Voltron Force had already established themselves on
Arus before she graduated from the academy, and they did not know the reputation she had set up
since they left. She had risen through the ranks quickly, always dancing between a court-martial and
becoming the pride of the Galaxy Alliance. Reckless and daring were meager words to describe her
exploits. Calculated risks she called them, but the Alliance tolerated her because her actions were
unfailingly geared towards the best interests of Galaxy Garrison.

However, there was a loyalty she placed above the Alliance; her family. And she was willing to break
any rules to see their wishes fulfilled. Normally calm and controlled, Lucia could feel herself getting
dangerous. Now was the time for action.

Lucia swiftly punched in her commands on the cylindrical computer console, skillfully bypassing the
passwords and procedures Coran had devised to prevent the stealing of the Voltron lions.

"This is child's play," she muttered. "No wonder the new flight and infiltration squadron was assigned
to me."

She tapped in a few more commands. Satisfied that the alarms would be held at bay, she then
ordered the circular platform to rise. But it did not. She frowned, certain that her procedure had been
correct. Lucia hurriedly pressed a few more keys, trying to figure out what was going on. A warning
message flashed to her and she squashed the alert before it could be sounded. The platform began to
rise. It had been close, but soon she would be on her way.

If Sven had been here she would not have to do this, but she needed the capability of space flight her
classified equipment did not have and the firepower her Sparrowhawk could not give. She set the
console on a timer to lower itself back down in one minute. If she covered her tracks well enough, the
Voltron Force would not discover her tampering until they tried to find her in the morning.

For Father. For Sho.

Lucia jumped off the platform and landed in a practiced crouch. She stood and grabbed hold of the
hovering boxes as she turned to regard the numbered chutes. Which chute was it now? Ah, yes,
number four. That was the one that lead to her brother's lion.

She sprinted around the cylinder with a silent grace and shoved the boxes into the chute with the
number four lit above it. The boxes swiftly began to float down at a controlled speed. Then she leaped
and grabbed the handlebar that dangled in the chute behind the open arch. The bar began to quickly
spiral down the chute in response to her weight.

Lucia and the boxes landed on the back of the underground shuttle meant to take the pilot to the Blue
Lion. She quickly stowed the boxes inside and took her place in the pilot's seat. Allura's uniform was
in the shuttle. Perfect. Lucia snapped the key off of the pink and white uniform and put the shuttle in
gear. As an afterthought she took the accompanying laser gun as well.

A short distance of sealed tunnel passed, then she found her route submerged beneath the lake
surrounding the Castle of Lions. The water rushed by at exhilarating speeds, held back by the clear
hard plastics that lined her path. The shuttle fast approached a pyramidal structure with a plateaued
top. On that top rested the crouched form of the Blue Lion. The shuttle entered the base of the
structure and the window above its cockpit opened. A long metal track reached down, hooking itself
to her seat and loading it up through the pyramid and the lion's belly. The hovercraft with her
equipment followed. With a click the track released her seat and another set of rollers brought her to
the cockpit in the lion's head.

Breathless and wondering how the Voltron Force could stand all the chair sitting while getting ready
for battle, Lucia lifted the lion's key in her hand. Now came the tricky part. From what she had heard
from Princess Allura, the lions would not let just any person fly them. She seemed to recall hearing
about a certain Prince Bokar who tried stealing the Blue Lion. The ghost of King Alfor appeared to
him, prevented the lion from operating.

Lucia shrugged herself out of the Alliance pilot's uniform she had been wearing to reveal a tight-fitting
one-piece light blue jumpsuit that completely covered her from her neck to her feet, leaving only her
head and hands free. Various metal rings and plates were sown into it and a firm titanium backing.
Lucia yanked on a pair of white gloves and opened one of the two boxes behind her. She pulled a
matching white helmet out of the box and shut it.

The helmet was beak-shaped, like that of a hawk, and was designed to cut down of air resistance. It
would completely encase her head and she was careful to place all her hair in it when she put it on.
She tapped a button on a plate of metal that tightly surrounded her wrist and she felt the gloves and
helmet seal themselves against her jumpsuit, pressurizing it. Now dressed in the combat uniform of the
newly formed AFIS (Armored Flight Infiltration Squadron), she felt ready to handle anything.

Lucia dropped herself into the pilot's seat and snapped in the key to the Blue Lion. The key
reconfigured itself and the lights of the controls came to life. The lion was activated, much to her relief.
So much for this talk about a dead king's ghost.

"All right then," she told herself. "Next stop, Pollux."

The Blue Lion erupted out of the lake around the Castle of Lions, and was out in space while the
other pilots still slept.