Voltron's Mechanic (Keith x OC)

29) The Journey Within

"Maybe if we run this configuration," Shiro suggested.

"Still nothing. Allura, try the sonic wave," Pidge said.

"Okay, I'll try," she said. "It's still not working. And it probably won't work again until our power cores are recharged"

"Roger that. Well, our long range scanners still haven't detected any planets nearby. No star systems, nothing. Wren?"

"Still nothing. There's nothing to work with except the little we have in the Lions and it isn't enough"

I was sitting on the floor across from where Mom was trying to figure something out so we could contact someone. Kosmo was laying his head in my lap and I was brushing his head, hoping it'd keep me awake.

"Ugh. How long have we been out here?" Lance asked.

"Going on four movements," Romelle answered.

"And how long is it gonna take us to get to Earth at this speed?"

"I think Pidge said something like ten billion decaphoebs"

I laugh a little at Romelle's guess.

"I said one and a half Earth years," Pidge corrected.

"Whoa, Whoa. Wait, there's a big discrepancy between ten billion decaphoebs and one and a half Earth years," Hunk said. "Which one is it?"

"It's one and a half Earth years!" Pidge shouted. "We've gone over this several times, though there may be a margin of error of about a month, depending on any time dilation we encounter"

"Look, we knew this wasn't going to be an easy or quick voyage but replacing the Castle of Lions is our top priority," Shiro said.

"We just have to stay sharp and maintain discipline," Keith said. "We knew when we started this journey that we'd be low on power. We didn't plan on going through the galactic void, but we'll get through it"

"Don't worry, guys. We'll run into something eventually that'll turn this trip around," Lance said.

"What makes you so sure?" Hunk asked.

"If my experience in space has taught me anything... it's that something always comes along to try to kill us"

We kept floating through space, and eventually Mum gave up on searching and sat down, leaning against the side.

"Hey, why is it so dark out here?" Lance asked.

"I can't be sure, but my theory is that this area is surrounded by some kind of nebula that blocks most of the light," Pidge said.

"That seems about right," Mum said.

"Oh, yeah. Must be a patch of that dark matter I've heard about," Lance said.

"That isn't what dark matter is," Pidge told him.

"Although, when it's this dark, I guess it doesn't matter, right, guys?" Hunk asked. Mum laughed at the pun a little, laughing at how cheesy it was, hiding her laughter underneath her hand. "This is why no one rides with me anymore, isn't it?"

"Guys, I think I might have an idea on how to get the lions back to full power," Shiro said.

"And you're just now telling us this?" Lance asked.

"Well, I'm sorry, Lance, but I guess having my consciousness transplanted from the infinity of Voltron's inner quintessence into the dead body of an evil clone of myself has left me a little out of sorts for the past few weeks"