He sprang the suggestion on them in the monitor room one afternoon, just two days before the big trip. Bursting with enthusiasm, Lance charged through the doors to find Sven at the main console with his boots propped up on the control panel, while Hunk tinkered with a glitching medi-scanner a few feet away.

Warming up with, "Have I got a deal for you," Lt. Calvin proceeded to describe their good fortune in glowing terms. Unfortunately for him, his friends weren't buying. LaChance bowed out for moral reasons; he just couldn't see keeping company with a young lady he wasn't at least engaged to. Ericksen was more pragmatic, but no less stubborn.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?!" Lance demanded, exasperated. "Are you crazy?"

"Nej," Sven replied with a slight shake of the head. "Nor blind, either. The last female you proposed to set me together with had a face like Hazaar's a…"

"Okay!" The lieutenant interrupted. "One mistake, I admit it. I was in too much of a hurry to do prior research then, but this time… Bro, you will not be disappointed. I swear on Keith's polka-dot jammies! What d' you say?"

"The same as before: nej." Leaning further back in his chair, the tall pilot folded his arms across his chest and added. "I have ten days monitor duty, followed by you, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah." Lance puffed out a desolate, gusty sigh. "Who'd have thought Keith would get so mad over a little thing like super glue? NO sense of humor, I swear."

Rising from his work, Hunk cocked an eyebrow. "That was y'all?" He inquired, genuinely surprised. "No wonder you two been getting' all them crummy patrol times." Then he grinned at them. "It was pretty funny, though."

Lance shrugged modestly. "Not my best work, but thank you, anyway. Now, about that camping trip…"

Shutting the newly mended scanner back into its case, LaChance shouldered the thing and turned to leave, saying,

"Nope. Thanks f'r thinkin' of me, Lieutenant, but that ain't the way I do things. You'll have more fun on y'r own anyways, I'm sure. Be seein' ya."

"Great!" Lance grumbled, watching Hunk stride away, "NOW what am I supposed to do?"

"You could always ask Keith," Sven suggested, smiling a little. "Yeah. And fill out my own court martial papers immediately afterward. You know how he feels about "corrupting the natives", Sven! No, thank you." And then, as he wandered off, deep in thought, "Maybe I'll just… offer to take her friend camping later. Yeah! There you go! Sharing myself is the least I can do, under the circumstances."

Deciding that Haggar's lair was too far from the Castle of Lions to make a good base, Lotor took ship again and found himself a better, closer site. It was a sheltered valley with steep walls of chalky limestone, located about a hundred miles south of Allura's palace. Densely wooded, the little valley boasted a fair-sized stream, a great many deep caves, and best of all, a hidden vein of scanner-inhibiting minerals.

"Perfect," the prince snapped, tossing the description sheet he'd been examining at his new field marshal. "Have our invasion forces…" Here he paused a moment, flushing angrily. Most of his army had deserted in the midst of battle less than a month before, earning Lotor yet another stinging reprimand from his father. Worse than the reproof though, was the humiliation. He'd sworn to do better than Yurak and the old witch had. He'd vowed to bring Arus to its knees in less than a thirty day. So far, though, things weren't going very well, thanks largely to the cursed Voltron Force.

They owed him. Very, very much they owed him, and Lotor meant to extract full payment, in blood. But first, he must establish a beachhead. "Summon men from my own fleet, this time, not father's," the prince hissed. "Then, take a cadre and search out a cave deep and capacious enough to hide our operation from those Grot-sucking lions! And see that you're quick about it, or I'll have you gutted and hung! Understood?"

Colonel Kirano bowed low, managing to salute, back out of the room, and fold away the paper as he did so. A talented man, Kirano; and very ambitious. "Yes, Sire! It will be done as you say."

Lance picked his date up by the newly repaired side gate, offering her his arm with a courtly little flourish. Alita giggled, tucking her small hand through the crook of his elbow.

"Thank you, Isamu Sir!"

"Lance," he corrected, grinning. "I'm only 'Sir' when my laundry comes out pink. Never on a date, though, and never, EVER on a camping trip!"

Pushing a tawny curl behind one ear, Alita smiled back. "Alright… Lance. How… how do I look?"

Lance's grin broadened as he took in the pretty chambermaid's shorts-and-tank top clad form. "Like a gift from heaven, Sweetie! Now, let's go; the gear's in the flitter, and I've found this GREAT campsite. It's a valley, with trees, water, and…" the lieutenant's voice lowered a bit, "…privacy! Great place to stay off the palace scanners, Baby-doll. Nanny and Keith 'll never find us!"

Alita nodded, looking suddenly thoughtful. Nanny was a deeply dreaded figure to the palace staff, more akin to a force of nature than a mere employer, and her view of Arussian-Terran relations was even dimmer than Keith's. What would happen, should she learn that one of her maids was carrying on with the lion pilots, Alita didn't wish to learn.

"That is very well to know, Lance, though I would go with you, anyway." And she smiled so winsomely, then, that he kissed her soft cheek. It was going to be great.

Late that evening:

Lotor was on Arus, examining his chosen lair, when Kirano strode up with a vital bit of news. Garbed in camouflage battle armor, his sweat-dampened hair plastered to his skull, the colonel fairly vibrated with excitement. He had come young to his exalted position, owing to the desertion and executions of those above, and it showed.

"Sire, sensors detect an intruder! It seems that the perimeter probes have tracked a small flitter, bearing two passengers: male and female. There's more. According to eyewitness accounts…"

By the time the new field marshal finished his report, he had Lotor's full and complete attention.

"You're certain?!" The prince demanded tensely, golden eyes riveted to Kirano's face. In the dim confines of the cave, he looked like a hungry alley cat.

"Beyond a doubt, Sire," Kirano responded smoothly, pleased to be the bearer of good tidings. "One of the lion pilots has come to this valley, with an Arussi female. He is out of uniform, and nearly weaponless. Orders, Sire?"

Lotor smiled, grim and cold as a python.

"Why… let us be neighborly, Kirano, and pay the happy couple a visit."

As Lance had promised, the site was beautiful. Great fir trees rose tall and majestic, here and there framing slivers of twilit sky between swaying dark branches. The ground beneath them was mossy and soft, the valley walls a ghostly, cave-pocked white. Not far from the little campfire, a stream murmured away to itself, gentle as a sigh.

All of this Lance noticed in passing, for he was too busy trying to impress his date to pay much attention to their surroundings.

"So there I was," he said, in tones of the deepest gravity, borrowing his narrative from a favorite hunting song, "hanging from a dead branch by my bootlaces. Dad was off answering nature's call, and I was alone in thirty-degree, pre-dawn wind chill, with no way to climb back onto the hunting blind. And that's when I saw him," Leaning a little closer to the wide-eyed girl, he added, "…the Thirty-Point Buck! He was eight feet tall, weighed twelve hundred pounds, and whenever he moved, he shook the ground."

Alita's mouth fell open. "A very large animal, this was?" She whispered, suitably awed. Lance nodded, keeping the grin off his face with difficulty. "Godzilla with horns, Babe; battle-scarred and vicious. Fortunately, I still had Betty-Lou, my combination AK-47-Howitzer, triple-barreled, 30/30, ten-gauge, heat-seeking, laser-sighted over-and-under shotgun with a photon-phaser banana clip, and a cigarette lighter in the butt. Been in my family for three-hundred years!"

Alita merely nodded, her expression urging him on to still greater feats. "So I swung the gun around and pulled the trigger, filling the whole damn forest with smoke and noise. But the shell hit the buck's antlers and ricocheted, snapping my bootlace. I fell out of the tree right in front of that monster! It lowered its rack to charge, would've had me for sure, but Dad came stumbling back from the outhouse waving his rifle and reeking of beans and beer. The buck startled, cleared me in one enormous leap, and when I turned around, there he was… gone!"

Alita winced sympathetically. "So, you were unable to complete your rite of manhood then, Lance?" She inquired. "Who, me? Naw…! I shook it off, and went on to bag a cave lion, three bears, a couple of alligators, and a mastodon with rabies. In fact, I was voted the manliest hunter in all Ariel Territory, master of the land. For life."

Alita giggled, knowing better than to believe this foolishness, but enjoying herself, nevertheless. Oblivious to everything but the moment, Lance leaned in for a kiss…

"Well, well, well…" hissed a sudden voice, laden with more cold poison than a cellar full of snakes. "Is this not touching? The softer side of Lt. Calvin emerges at last!"

Lotor, with what looked like half a regiment. Quick as thought, Lance leapt to his feet, pivoting in mid-air and reaching for his non-existent sidearm. Like the uniform and his lion, though, Lance's pistol was back at the castle. His hand slapped nothing but hip. There was a rifle in the flitter with the cooking gear, some twenty yards away. Shoving Alita in what he hoped was a safe direction, Lance dove for the little air car, only to be stunned unconscious before he got halfway. He didn't even have time to cry out before the combined electrical jolt and wet-cement concussion plunged him into darkness.

A time passed; ten minutes, maybe fifteen. He heard the cursing before he felt the kicks. That, and a pail full of cold stream water brought him around again, groggy and furious. Lance opened his eyes, found himself lying on his back with his hands bound, very surrounded. An instant later, it occurred to the lieutenant to wonder about Alita. Twisting a little, he saw her. They'd tied the girl to a nearby tree. She was pale, but seemed unhurt.

Then someone hauled him roughly to his feet, whipping him around to face the smiling prince.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant Calvin. You had a pleasant rest, I trust?"

"Bite me, Lotor!" Lance snapped, struggling forward a bit. "Tell these goons to back off, and I'll show you how rested I feel!"

The Galran prince chuckled, caressing the hilt of his laser sword.

"I'm sure you'd like to think so, primate. Unfortunately for you, though, I have other plans. You will now get on the comm and summon your teammates for me. Ericksen and LaChance, specifically. Once I have the three of you together, I will build myself a lovely bonfire. Clever, am I not?"

Before Lance could respond, another Galran interrupted Lotor's fantasies. "Sire, perhaps it would be wiser to bring this one back to the Throne World. There he may be held under tight guard until…"

The prince whirled on his underling like a maddened cur. "Are you contradicting me, Kirano?" He snarled.

The young officer backed down immediately, golden eyes wide with surprise and dismay.

"No, Sire! Of course not!"

"Good. Because there are a hundred better men eager to wet their blades and take your position…Colonel." And then, once again icily calm, Lotor turned his attention back to Lance. "As I was saying, Lieutenant, you will summon Ericksen and LaChance for me. There is a small matter between us that I mean to see settled here, tonight."

Twisting in the grip of his captors, Lance spat in Lotor's face.

"No."

He expected another explosion, but didn't get one. Shrugging, the prince merely smiled, drew his sword, and strolled over to Alita. The girl bit her lip, but said nothing, even when Lotor ignited his blade and brought the tip close to her throat.

"Well, what d' you know?" Lance called out, voice cracking a little. "All of a sudden I'm feeling chatty! Where's that comm?"

Lotor's smile broadened, displaying fangs like a lion's. Dousing the sword, he sheathed it again, saying, "I thought you'd see things my way, Lieutenant. Now, over to the air car, and remember: one slip-up, one hint of what is actually occurring here, and your female loses her head."

Lance nodded miserably, trying hard to come up with something clever as he was dragged over to the flitter. How was he to warn Hunk and Sven without getting Alita killed?

Hunk relieved Ericksen on monitor duty just after nine PM.

"Hope it's quiet tonight," the big man rumbled, grinning. "I need my beauty rest. Gonna take a mob of them little ones ta the village f'r some treats, first thing tomorrow."

Rising from his seat, Sven gave an impolite little snort.

"For den female, you mean. You spend more time looking at the candy seller's daughter than eating, and for you, det'r saying something."

Hunk's jaw dropped, and hung. He couldn't think of anything to say though, but, "You… that ain't… just keep that business under y'r hat, Lieutenant Commander! Rae's got nuthin' ta do with why I'm out there! The kids want treats, is all. But don't you say nuthin' ta Lance about this, okay? He'll never leave me alone. Not that it's true, or nuthin'…"

Sven threw him an amused, slightly pitying look.

"No problem, Lieutenant. I'm out of it. She ar very pretty, though."

LaChance looked concerned, suddenly.

"Hey, you ain't… You don't want…?"

Ericksen shook his head.

"Nej. I have almost more than I can handle, as it is. She's all yours… if you ever work up the nerve to ask her, that is." And with that, Sven gave him a lazy smile and sauntered off.

Hunk was still trying to formulate a response when the call came through. The locator pegged it as being transmitted from Lance's flitter, somewhere off to the south. That was kind of odd, because the lieutenant had indicated that he wanted to be left alone. Thinking that some sort of medical emergency had come up, LaChance called Sven back over and hit the receiver.

"Arus control, go ahead."

The comm screen flared to life an instant later, transmitting Lance's pale, tense face. Forcing a smile, the lieutenant said,

"Why… LaChance, Ericksen, it's just super to see you! Alita and I are certainly having a swell time over here, and I was just thinking that maybe you two would like to snag your girlfriends and join us. I can guarantee you, Ericksen, a great time will be had by all. There's plenty to keep you occupied. We could hunt, Ericksen, trap, and fish. So, what d'you say; want to help me entertain some friends?"

Sven frowned, started to snap out something blunt and probably disastrous. Then Hunk elbowed him aside, saying,

"That sure sounds like fun, Lance. We'll be along in a little bit, just as soon's we arrange ta cover our duty stations. See ya then!"

Lance nodded once, and then the screen went abruptly dark. Worried, Hunk tried to reach the lieutenant again, got nothing but static.

"Something ar wrong," Sven decided, doing a masterful job of stating the obvious. LaChance gave up trying to raise their teammate, and turned to look at Ericksen.

Tapping his forehead with one thick finger he asked, "Was you able to pick up any… you know, mental stuff?"

Ericksen nodded. "Ja. A little. Dar var too much emotional interference to read through very well, though. He's worried, more about the girl than himself."

Hunk rubbed at the side of his jaw. "Whut d' you suppose is going on, LC? I thought it might be a broken arm or a rippin' case of the bean squirts, at first. Now I ain't so sure. Anything else stand out, 'sides the fact that he sure warn't talkin' like himself?"

"One thing… We don't have our real girlfriends here, he knows that. Mine ar on Earth, and you have not got one, period."

Hunk blushed a little, but didn't say anything, so Ericksen went on. "And Lance never calls me 'Ericksen' anymore. But now he did it three times."

"Hmmm…. Whut' d he say right after each time he called you that?"

Sven ran over the message again in his head. "Ericksen it's…. Ericksen a…. Ericksen trap…. It's a trap. And I'll bet a year's salary that the 'friends' he needs help with ar Lotor's crew."

Instantly galvanized, Hunk surged toward the door. "Right. I'll get Keith n' Pidge."

But Sven stopped him in his tracks with a sudden sharp thought.

"Nej! Wait, please. Lance ar not supposed to be away from the castle grounds, especially with a native female. If Keith learns of this… he'll be off the team for certain. I thought we could handle this…" and here he made a sort of downward patting motion with both black-gloved hands. "…Quietly."

Released, Hunk breathed again, then pointed out, "Long as 'quietly' don't end up killin' him. Whut d'you got in mind?

"Have to assume that Lotor var forcing him to speak, and that the skit-prince doesn't know him well enough to pick out how strangely he var sounding. So… we sneak in, take out the guards, free Lance and the girl. Simple."

"Dunno, LC. Sneak n' peek might take longer 'n we got. They's expectin' us pretty soon, remember? If we come in all bold, actin' like we ain't suspectin' nuthin, we could catch Lotor with his pants down and make off with the hostages all sudden, like."

Sven frowned again, radiating confused suspicion. "Why wouldn't they just shoot us down as soon as our flitter appears? Det'r what I would do."

"Yeah, 'cause you ain't Lotor." Hunk replied patiently. "That boy's about as forgivin' as a back woods Bible-thumper. 'Less I miss my guess, he wants ta get back at us f'r that business you made up about the bomb. He'll want ta catch us, and make a big deal about gettin' revenge. Trust me."

Sven gave up. Knowing little about the back woods, and even less about Bible-thumping, he decided to take Hunk's word for it.

"Jaha. You get some gear and weapons together, then, and I'll get our 'girlfriends'. Let Pidge know what's going on, so he can cover for us and keep Keith off the scent. Meet you back in thirty minutes."