shining like the stars

18

"It looks like a Vertruian memory core," Coran reported, leaning forward above the display console. "At least, superficially. There are many structural differences, and I'm unsure of the significance of the upper portion made to look like a flame-"

"Great," Keith said, still standing in front of the obelisk, hands now on his hips.

"What's a Vertruian memory core?" Hunk asked from over the comm.

"The Vertruians were a race of warrior-scholars," Allura's voice said. "They utilized memory cores to explore all outcomes of a situation, by reliving it over and over. However, their civilization, like many others before them, were destroyed by Zarkon and their technology stolen for his own use."

"Okay," Keith said. "So how do we get Lance and Shiro out of the memory core?"

"That's where things get difficult," Allura said. "We're uncertain how this core has been constructed; it's clearly modeled from Vertruian's systems, but a goodly portion of the writing inscribed is Galra in origin."

"Okay," Pidge said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the obelisk, arms folded. "So how did the Vertruians get out? It's likely something similar."

"Thank you, Pidge," Allura said, a touch of annoyance slipping through the line. "I was just getting to that. Given that the Vertruians were destroyed thousands of years ago, their records are incomplete at best. We have no information on how people are released from its thrall."

"That's it," Keith said angrily, and stepped forward, hand out.

"Keith!" Pidge said, scrambling to her feet as Keith slapped his hand over the carved runes on the pillar.

Keith lifted his hand, then touched the pillar again. He smacked it with his hands open, flat, over the runes. "What," he said angrily, "the hell." He looked over at Pidge, who had put one hand out as if to stop him, then dropped her arm. "What did Lance do different!?"

"I don't know," she said. "Don't DO that, Keith!"

Keith slapped both his hands on the pillar again, then leaned forward and rested his helmet against it. "Perhaps you should come back to the ship," Allura said. "Eat. Rest a little."

"I'm staying," Keith said without lifting his head from the obelisk.

Pidge sighed and rested her hands on her hips. "Looks like we're gonna be here awhile," she said. "Maybe we should look at trying to move the memory core to the castle-ship?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Hunk said. "Clearly it doesn't run off of any electrical or ship systems, so it would just be a matter of finding how deeply set it is into the floor of the room and removing it."

Pidge nodded to herself. "Hunk, could you come down to the ship for me and take a look? Also, you might want to watch out in the main corridor; there are some bodies floating around."

"DEAD bodies?"

"Hunk."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming."

#

Shiro hissed out a pained breath when he pressed the palm of his right hand to the hand print lock outside the door. Lance was still under his left arm, supporting him as well he could, but the pressure against his palm sent electric shock tracing through the false nerves of his artificial hand. His Galra hand.

The door slid aside and presented them with an empty cabin, some kind of guard's quarters. Lance had shifted forward, the muzzle of his plasma rifle pointed directly in the room in case they surprised someone, but luck was on their side and they hurried through, the door automatically closing and locking behind them. Once inside and away from the repeating siren of a prisoner escape, Lance relaxed slightly, and helped Shiro to one of the chairs left lose around a table.

"Okay," Lance said, still standing. "Now what?"

"Now we wait to get captured again," Shiro said, propping his face against his left hand, elbow on the table as his right arm dangled.

"...what? No," Lance said. "No, that's a terrible plan."

"It's not a plan," Shiro said, palm pressed to his face. "This is – I remember this. I remember escaping my cell, and they catch me and take me back-" a shudder ran down his back and he didn't complete the thought, instead turning his face into his hand and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, remember what I just said about that being a terrible plan? That's a terrible plan, and we're not doing that."

Shiro lifted his head and looked at Lance, who was standing there still, watching him with some concern. "This is – I don't know how it is you're here, Lance, this is what happened..."

"I don't know what's going on here either," Lance said gamely, "but so what if it happened that way? I'm here now, things are going to go different.We're going to get you off this ship. What was your original plan?"

"I kept fouling up," Shiro said, and slowly lifted his right arm. "This was slowing me down, because it was new and it hurt." He winced a little at raising his arm, and then sighed and dropped it again. He'd been through this before. He'd been through pain worse, when they attached it that first time, to his nerves and sinew. The pain still dragged at him, weakening him considerably and providing a constant distraction. "I intended to get to a pod and try to get away."

"Okay," Lance said. "Get to a pod. That's a do-able goal." He took a step backward, his back to the door as he listened intently to the number of pounding footsteps. "It's a goal we should probably get working on sooner rather than later, because I'm willing to bet they've already secured the exit routes."

"Yes," Shiro said, despair in his voice. "They'll start a door-to-door check soon. Then we'll be discovered, like I was, in the library."

"Shiro," Lance said firmly, and Shiro lifted his face from his hand and looked up at Lance, surprised. "This might be your memory, but you're a paladin of Voltron now. And you've got me with you." He hefted his plasma rifle. "They're not going to be expecting us; and we're getting off this ship."

Shiro stared at Lance. The door to the library bursting open, several Galra and too many drone soldiers to count, dragging him by both arms as he nearly sobbed in agony, straight back to her quarters... Shiro covered his face with both hands, ignored the pain, elbows planted on the table. "I don't know if I can," he said, still shaking.

Carefully, Lance placed his plasma rifle on the table. "Shiro," he said softly, and touched Shiro's left shoulder with his hand. When Shiro didn't jerk his body away at the touch, Lance leaned a bit into him. "This is properly horrible," he said. "And I can't change what happened, but ... we've got a chance to stop it from happening again." He squeezed Shiro's shoulder and felt him go just a little still, under Lance's hand. "I will get you off this ship."

They both heard the heavy boot steps go running past, then slow up and return to the door where they were hiding. Shiro tensed up, but Lance reached forward and grabbed his plasma rifle. "You've forgotten, things are already different," he said. Shiro lifted his face from his hands, to look at Lance as he arranged himself, muzzle of his rifle pointed directly at the door. "This isn't the library," Lance said, and the door whisked aside.