shining like the stars

84

Lance let out a grunt when the Altean guard yanked down the hood of his cloak. There were a half-dozen of them, wearing full sets of light armor and carrying weapons; they had happened upon Lance and Keith skulking about in an alley near to the gates that walled the castle ship off from the rest of the city and closed in on them quickly. "Hey," Lance said, although a second guard had his wrists in a tight grip behind his back. "Watch the hair!"

The guard's face twisted in disgust at Lance. "What in the quiznack is wrong with your ears?"

"It's the latest fashion craze," Lance said. His next snarky comment was cut off as the guard holding his wrists activated magcuffs that were not dissimilar to the ones Coran had used in their training. The guard did not release his arm, though; and Lance didn't bother to try to struggle, instead twisting his head to look back at Keith.

Keith had his back to a wall, and seemed to have recessed even deeper into the improvised cloak. Lance could make out the glow of his eyes and little else. The guard who grabbed him was about to be in for a nasty surprise. However, Lance's attention was dragged away from Keith by the guard in front of him, more because the guard grabbed the cloak and pulled him forward a step. "You know that aliens are forbidden to set foot on castle grounds," the guard said sharply. "This is holy ground to us."

"Actually, I didn't know," Lance said. "But thank you. Now that I am aware, I'll make sure to steer clear." Lance tilted his head. "We just got lost, you see, we're looking for our friend-"

"Galra!" One of the guards behind Lance said in a shocked tone, and Lance sighed deeply, glancing back over his shoulder. Keith's hood had been pulled partially off — he had yanked away, although there was a guard on either side of him, one holding each arm and keeping him in place, the guard who had been pulling his hood back had a horrified expression on his face and had stepped away.

The other guards, including the one who held the front of Lance's cloak in a gloved hand, drew their weapons.

"All Galra found on New Altea are to be terminated," one of the guards behind Lance said, his weapon on Keith.

Keith tried yanking his arms free from the two burly guards who held him, but they had a good grip on him and he was not going anywhere. "Hey, hey," Lance said. "Look, buddy, I know you've had your differences but my friend there isn't Galra."

Everyone present looked at Lance in disbelief, including Keith himself. Lance shrugged his shoulders as well he could with his hands bound clearly behind his back. "I mean, he looks Galra, so I totally see where you're coming from, but he's not."

One of the guards looked to the one still standing in front of Lance, who Keith had figured out was their captain. "Boss?" he asked imploringly.

"Holster your weapons," the captain said reluctantly. "We'll take them before the Elders; if that one is truly not Galra then they can have the traditional punishment for trespassing on sacred ground."

"Oh boy," Lance said, full of artificial cheer. "Is that traditional punishment some grub? Because I am starving."

"And if it turns out he is Galra," the Altean guard said, yanking on Lance's cloak and pulling him forward, out of the alleyway. "Then the executioner will be collecting two sets of boots."

"Ah," Lance said, as he staggered after the guard like a dog on a lead. "Well, that sounds decidedly less fun."

#

The Galra prisoner transport ship was docked stationary alongside the waystation. There were a host of smaller ships docked there as well, some clearly Galra in design but most not; some traders, some mercenaries, plenty of tourist ships going through the waystation as a processing point between the moon of Eaphus and the exit point of a warp hole out of the system.