Voltron: Legacy

Chapter 17

When we got to the med bay, I got my first real look at our prisoner. He was galra, but he didn’t look much older than me, and he was pretty short and scrawny. If he hadn’t been struggling against his restraints and spewing profanities, he wouldn’t have looked dangerous at all. I strode up to him.
“You yelling curses and threats at us isn’t going to accomplish anything and we both know it.”
“Bet you’d rather I told you all my secrets, huh, bitch?”
I ignored the insult.
“Not all of them. I don’t need to know about, like, your childhood or all the embarrassing personal habits I’m sure you have. But the more you tell us about Empress Sareth and how she’s controlling the Archanai, the easier this will be for everyone involved.”
“Easier. Yeah, right, like you’re not going to just get rid of me once I’m not useful anymore.”
“We’re not going to kill you, that I can promise. If we wanted to do that, we’d have done it already. You’re a valuable resource. If you tell us the truth, tell us what we need to know, then there might be something good in it for you.”
“Like what?” He asked suspiciously.
“Freedom, money, maybe even a position working for us once you’ve proved we can trust you. There’s always a spot for a good pilot around here, and we know you’re that.”
He smirked.
“True. What if I don’t do what you want?”
“Well, we do have other ways of getting information.”
What I meant by that was methods that didn’t involve him, but judging by his expression, he thought I meant torture. I sighed.
“We’re not going to hurt you, dumbass. We have consciences, in case you didn’t notice.”
“Yeah, right.”
The galra boy was about to say something more, but then he paused, sniffing the air.
“Hey. Is that . . .?”
Linnea and Xaroc walked over, carrying some of the flatbread from dinner and a few little bowls of steaming sauces. Xaroc nodded.
“Rikva sauce. The good kind, with extra spicy peppers. It’s my Mama’s favorite.”
The galra boy bit his lip.
“My Mama used to love that too. She couldn’t cook to save her life, though, so Dad always made it for her.”
“You want some?”
He nodded. “I’m starving.”
Xaroc undid the straps holding one of his arms and handed him a piece of flatbread smeared with sauce.
“Here.”
He devoured it like he hadn’t had a good meal in weeks. “Not half bad.”
We all just stood for a moment, watching him. Finally, I felt like I had to say something.
“You lost your parents too?”
He glared at me.
“What, you think I’m obligated to like you just cause we’re both orphans? And I didn’t lose them. I hate that word. They didn’t get lost somewhere, they got killed fighting your precious Voltron!”
“They were in Zarkon’s army.” Linnea said flatly.
“Yeah, because they got press-ganged. They didn’t have a choice. And the paladins slaughtered them anyway, blew their ship to pieces.”
“So you wanted revenge. That’s why you’re working for this Sareth lady.” Xaroc said.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes.”
“They might not have had a choice, but you do.” I said. “You don’t have to die fighting someone else’s war.”
“Oh, you think being on your side would keep me any safer?”
“I’m not asking you to fight for us. I’m just asking you for information.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell you what I know. But I joined her army pretty recently, so it’s not a lot.”
I nodded. “Anything helps. Thank you. I’m Karah, by the way.”
“I’m Rex. Short for Rexorus, unfortunately.”
So we stayed up most of the rest of the night, talking to Rex about supply chains, battle tactics, base layouts, and finally the actual people he worked with.
“They’re a pretty mixed bag.” He said with a shrug. “A lot of mercenaries and space pirates who are just there because Sareth pays well, some war orphans with grudges like me, and a few old guard Imperial loyalists. Only about half of us are even galra. She doesn’t seem to care who you are or why you join, as long as you stay loyal. If you turn on her . . .”
Rex gave a little shudder.
“If she knew I’d told you guys any of this, she’d probably let the Archanai rip me to shreds.”
“We won’t let them.” I assured him. “Can you tell us more about Sareth herself?”
“I don’t know much about her. I’ve never even met her, just a couple of her generals. They’re hardened killers, and even they’re scared of her, which should give you some idea. Some people say . . . well, it’s probably just a rumor, but they say she can do freaky Altean quintessence-magic stuff. I do know she’s working on finding a way to open wormholes, everyone’s excited about it because we’d be able to travel way quicker.”
I exchanged glances with my friends. Linnea looked very, very worried.
“The only way she’d be able to do that is if . . . she has alteans working with her.”
“Or if she’s altean herself.” Xaroc muttered. “Remember what Shiro told us about Honerva? Could be somebody like that.”
“Regardless of how she’s doing it, the fact that she could start using wormholes at any minute is urgent news.” I said firmly. “We should tell Shiro, and then we should probably get to bed. It’s after midnight.”
After we’d all gone to bed, my head was too full of racing thoughts and half-formed plans to sleep, even though I was exhausted. So I lay there in the dark, listening to Mari’s soft little snores next to me and the steady hums, rumbles and clicks of the Atlas’s various systems, tirelessly at work while we all rested. I couldn’t help feeling like there was still a big gap in our knowledge, in spite of what we’d just learned from Rex. We still didn’t know how Sareth was controlling the Archanai, or managing to use wormholes. There had to be a missing piece here.
I racked my brains, but eventually it was all I could do just to keep my eyes open, so I closed them and let sleep overtake me.

We left the waterworld the next morning after breakfast. I watched it fade to a speck in the blackness out the windows, feeling a little bit of confidence for the first time in a while. We’d already started figuring out our next targets using Rex’s information, three major supply route stops and a larger Archanai hive that doubled as a ship-repair yard. Although we were still being cautious about how truthful his information was, I was pretty sure the galra boy was genuinely trying to help, if only because there was something in it for him.
“Karah?”
I looked up to see Xaroc standing next to me. “Hey. What’s up?”
“I’m getting pretty worried, and I thought since you’re the leader and all, maybe you’d have some advice.”
“Oh. Well, I can’t promise it’ll be good advice, but I’ll try my best. What are you worried about?”
She sat down next to me, folding her long legs up to tuck her knees under her chin.
“Who we’re fighting. It’s looking like Sareth is galra after all, and so are a lot of the people working for her. If people find out about that, there’ll be even more backlash against my race than there is already.”
“I thought it had mostly died down after the war.”
Xaroc shook her head. “The nastiest stuff, yeah, but everything else? No. A lot of places I go, people still look at me funny, whisper, pull their kids away from me. I get why. I mean, it’s only been about twenty years since people who looked just like me were massacring entire civilizations. They’re just scared. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
“Do all galra get treated that way?” I asked, outraged.
“Yeah. I actually get less of it than most people, being part of the Blades and all. But I still get treated like a monster sometimes. Hell, even Keith has to deal with it, and he’s half human!”
“People are pretty stupid that way.”
She nodded. “I just wish they’d see that we aren’t all the same. I’m not Zarkon, any more than Leilah is Hitler or Trump or any other awful human.”
I reached over and hugged her. “I know that. All of us paladins do. And if we get through this, when we get through this, I promise that we’ll try to help with the idiots.”
I was interrupted by Mari tackle-hugging us both.
“Hi Karah! Hi Xaroc! Guess what?”
Xaroc laughed. “What, munchkin?”
“It’s Jason’s birthday! Leilah told me. Let’s have a party for him!”
I smiled. “That sounds like a great idea. Should we make a cake?”
“Linnea said she would. You guys have to help me find him a present!”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Xaroc said, giving an over-the-top salute.
Mari giggled. I stood up.
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go find a present for Jason.”
As we headed off, Mari holding hands with both of us and talking nonstop, I saw Xaroc mouth the words “Thank you.”. I nodded in acknowledgement. Maybe my talk with her had helped after all.