fanfic_name = can a second chance change it all?

chapter = 9

author = Jo_anderson

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic = Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 8

“Fear and Ghosts”

Author: Jo

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters of Robotech; I’m just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man).

To: Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and to all the people that had encourage me to keep writing

Karl woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. He cleaned the sweat from his forehead and walked into the bathroom as he had done the last few nights. He washed his face with cold water, trying to clear his mind. He walked to the living room and rested his weight against the frame of the window, wishing that he could open it so the fresh air could stroke his face. But there was no fresh air on the other side of the window, only the vacuum of outer space where the SDF-1 was flying. In the distance he could see a large blue ball…Earth.

He looked at the stars and inhaled deeply, lowering his head as he tried to erase the angst that was tightening his heart and making it difficult to breath. He didn’t know what was causing it, but he had awaken in the middle of the night covered in sweat and feeling this painful angst. The pain in his chest made breathing hard and their was a potent fear…a fear of something that he couldn't name.

It had been almost a week since the first time he woke up at 3 am and it had happened day after day since then. He wanted to scream, to punch something, but he couldn’t. What bothered him the most was that he didn’t know why he was feeling this way. This wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened to him. The same thing happened to him years ago on Earth; when the war was going on. When he decided that he couldn’t take it anymore and made the decision to escape to Mars.

But this time things where different, he didn’t want to escape. He was where he wanted to be. He was with Lisa and he should have been happier than ever. All his wishes had come true. But still he didn’t understand this angst that didn’t allow him to sleep at night. And even when the war was around him and he saw people die everyday, it hadn’t affected him like it had on Earth. Maybe because the war wasn’t between humans…he didn’t know.

He walked to the bed again, knowing that he would not fall asleep anytime soon. On his way he saw a picture of him with Lisa. They had taken the picture recently with one of those robo-photographers at the Macross fountain. They both were in their uniforms, holding to each other and laughing. He couldn’t avoid a smile… he loved her. But things with Lisa weren’t going as fine as they should, not since he had been waking up in the middle of the night. For some reason, they had become distant from each other. Well, he had distanced himself from her and that frustrated him. He wanted to be with her more than anything in the world but when he was with her he started to feel this angst just as he felt when he woke up in the middle of the night. She had noticed his change, his awkwardness when she was with him. He hated himself for that because he knew that he was hurting her. Because he knew that he should probably tell her what was happening to him. He had always found it easy to talk with her about everything that was happening to him, but this he just couldn’t. This time he was afraid to talk to her and couldn’t understand why.

Karl sat on the bed and grabbed a file of his last project with Doctor Lang. Maybe work would keep his mind busy and release this tension.

Lisa was staring at the stars from the bridge, absorbed in thoughts of Karl. His recent behavior was baffling her. He was so distant, so cold, so…different. He had changed from one day to the other and was acting just like he did so many years ago…just before he left her. That scared her. She didn’t want to lose him, not this time, not after all they had gone through. But if he didn’t want to be with her then there was nothing that she could do. Just the thought of losing him hurt her deeply. It hurt her even physically; she could feel a lacerating pain in her chest and she noticed how her vision became blurry because of the tears that started to fill her eyes. She inhaled deeply and tightened her jaw to hold in the tears. Then her mind started to work fast and in disorder like it had been doing the last couple of days, trying to find the reason of Karl’s behavior. Maybe there was something that she had done, or something that she hadn’t done. Maybe she was asphyxiating him or maybe she wasn’t pay enough attention to him. Maybe it was all the attention that she paid to her job, or maybe it was because they hadn’t made love yet. Maybe… tons of questions filled her head and every one of them took her to the same conclusion. It was her fault…it was always her fault.

“SDF-1 to Lisa,” said Claudia for the tenth time before she finally caught Lisa’s attention.

“Were you talking to me?” asked Lisa, trying to focus on what was going on in the bridge and not in her mind.

“No, I was just talking with my imaginary friend here next to me,” said Claudia and put her hand on her waist in a reproachful attitude, “of course I was talking to you, Hon.”

“Sorry.. I was..” Lisa was saying when Sammie interrupted her.

“Daydreaming…but then again with a guy like Commander Riber, who can blame you Lisa?”

“So true…so sad that he has no brothers,” complained Kim.

Claudia looked at Lisa and got closer to her, “Are you OK honey?” she asked, softly looking at her in the eyes.

“Yeah I’m fine…just sinking in a glass of water,” said Lisa and shirked her shoulders.

“If you need a lifejacket you know where to find me,” said Claudia with a smile and then walked to her station, “but then again work always helps to clear the mind,” she said and winked at Lisa.

“Yeah, I think the same way,” said Lisa and got back to her station and started to compare data with Claudia. Lately they were having problems with the electronic devices.

When the Captain arrived on the bridge, he sat in his chair and asked Lisa to report the current status of the ship. Then suddenly his attention was directed to the soft mumbling of Kim and Sammie.

“What is it?” asked the Captain with patience.

“I’m receiving a code message, and it appears that it came from Earth.”

“Put it on,” said the captain and everyone on the bridge listened carefully to the message.

“I can’t believe this! We’re expected to stay out here and be sitting ducks while they, they…oh forgive me,” said Claudia and covered her mouth when she realized what she had said.

But the captain didn’t reprimand her, he just remained in silence and then he added, “We’re changing our course.”

Lisa just looked at him, feeling guilty. She knew that her father had something to do with this. But there was nothing that she could do, except her job. Suddenly an alert message appeared on her screen; bad news never came alone.

“I detect enemy pods in sector XP-121 and getting closer to us. Vanessa, give me confirmation on the wide range radar,” said Lisa.

“Enemy pods' presence confirmed. They are getting closer and faster from sector XP to XT,” said Vanessa.

“All stations prepare for combat. I repeat, all battle stations prepare to combat. This is not a drill,” said Lisa and in a few seconds the VTs were flying to meet the enemy and the battle started. It was just a small battle like they all had been the last few days. Only a small reminder of the enemy so they wouldn't forget that they were there.

The battle was going on OK, if that could be said. They were not having too many losses and the enemy was on retreat so things were fine. But today wasn’t Lisa’s day.

“This is Vermillion team leader requesting permission to land,” said the voice of Lieutenant Hunter.

“Permission denied,” answered Lisa.

“One of my men was hit and he is losing fuel. We are returning to base,” said Hunter with determination.

“I repeat team leader, permission is denied. The VT doesn’t look that bad. I would prefer that you remain in your position,” said Lisa starting to get angry.

“I am the team leader and I am responsible for my men. We are going back.”

“Are you telling me that you deliberately are going to disobey a direct order?” asked Lisa.

“It seems that you already forgot what you learned in the academy and maybe what you told me the other day was just words. Aren't you supposed to take care of those who are outside and not just sit there comfortably giving all kinds of instructions while we are the ones who are risking our lives? Because that’s what you are doing, you are risking one of my men's life,” said Rick defiantly.

“Who do you think you are to tell me how to do my job?” said Lisa upset. The fact that Hunter was questioning her concern for the pilots was toomuch for her.

“Silence, both of you,” came the voice of Roy on the open channel, “This time Rick is right about Dixon’s VT. Vermillion team get back to base and Rick watch your mouth,” said Roy and gave a serious look at Rick.

“Vermillion team you have permission to land on deck C-22,” said Lisa in a stone cold voice.

“Roger that bridge,” said Rick with a triumphant smile, which made Lisa clinch her jaw.

“Skull leader, when your shift ends meet me at preflight,” said Lisa upset and cut her communication with Roy.

Roy started to walk towards the preflight room knowing perfectly well what was waiting for him. If the battle that had just occurred was dangerous, the situation waiting for him behind that door was even worse. Lisa probably would be so mad at him that he had seriously prefered to take an enemy shot than cross that door. But he was soldier, trained to face danger and this was pure danger. And someone would have to pay for putting him in this situation and he could only think of one Lieutenant…Rick was so dead.

“Commander Hayes,” said Roy when he opened the door and saw Lisa looking at the flight screen.

“Commander Fokker,” said Lisa coldly.

“Did you want to see me?”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the incident with Hunter,” said Lisa, crossing her arms.

“Look Lisa…” Roy was saying, but Lisa interrupted him.

“Listen to me, Commander,” said Lisa to make it clear that this wasn't a friendly talk, “You might be in the air quite longer than I have been a flight officer and certainly you have more experience than me as a pilot. But when you are out there and I’m on the bridge I outrank you and I’m in command and I will not tolerate you passing over my authority or questioning my concern about the pilots that are out there.”

“It won't happen again Ma’am,” said Roy with serenity because he understood Lisa’s concern.

“If you have a suggestion you know that I’m open to listen- but on a private channel. Not on the open channel where the rest of the pilots can think that you have more power than me and that they can come to you every time they want to disobey a direct order.”

“I’m sorry Commander, it was my mistake and I apologize. It was never my intention to disrespect you. You know that I respect your command more than anyone I have served with,” said Roy honestly.

“I know…” Lisa was saying when her pager started to ring.

“Sorry,” said Lisa and checked her pager. It was a message from the bridge that told her that the laboratory of Doctor Lang had taken a direct hit during the last attack and that there were casualties. Lisa went pale immediately.

“Lisa, are you ok?” asked Roy with concern when he noticed the sudden change in her.

“I…I have to go,” said Lisa quickly as she walked fast to the exit door.

There was no better way for a rumor to run than put the word classified next to some news. It was just a few moments ago that a classified message from Earth had arrived for Captain Gloval, but the high level computer techs of Doctor Lang had found a way to hear what was on it.

When Karl listened to the rumors, he knew right then why he had been waking up in the middle of the night the last few days. He felt how the panic paralyzed him, how the panic took control of all his body and didn’t allow him to move.

He was trapped again but this time it wasn’t on the red planet, it was inside of a ship that was the main target of an alien enemy.

They couldn’t return to Earth. How long could they survive up here? How long until the same images that he had seen happen on Mars repeat again? How much time would pass until people started to kill one another for a piece of bread or a drink of water? He couldn’t go through that again, he just couldn’t. He prefered to die than go through that again.

He had never felt so much fear as he was feeling now. The same panic that had frozen him in front of the main observation deck of Doctor Lang's laboratory was the cause of his difficulties to breath. He could feel a lacerating pain in his chest and he could feel how the oxygen that he breathed wasn’t enough to reach his lungs. His vision became blurry but at the distance he still could see how Earth was getting farther and farther away with every movement of the ship.

Karl tried to think about something else, something that could stop his fear. As he did on Mars when everything went wrong he tried to think of Lisa, but this time he realized that she was here with him and they were both trapped on this ship. There will be no dream that may come true, this was the truth and it was a nightmare.

Suddenly someone grabbed him firmly a threw him away from the window. The next thing that he saw was the blast of the explosion, and the cracked glass from the main observatory deck.

Lisa ran as fast as she could to the laboratory. When she arrived it was in chaos. People were running from one side to the other, some of them were medical personnel, others were mechanics that were sealing the place so there would be no danger for the people that worked there. Some people of Doctor Lang's team were trying to retrieve important data.

Lisa looked in every direction, trying to figure out if she could see Karl, but in the mess and the smoke from the small fires that the explosion had caused she could barely see. She tried to get closer to the laboratory, but the MP stopped her. The mechanics were still trying to seal the place. Then Lisa saw one of Karl’s aides.

“Saunders, Lieutenant Saunders!” said Lisa and crossed the security area, not caring what the MP said.

“Ma’am,” said Saunders who was being checked by medical personnel.

“Where is Karl? Is he OK?” asked Lisa with concern.

“He...he is not here,” said Saunders almost in a whisper, not knowing how Lisa would react.

“What do you mean? Is he OK?" asked Lisa confused.

“I believe he was injured because of the attack, but he ran away from the laboratory right after the explosion. He looked different Ma’am. He was acting weird ever since he arrived at the lab,” said Saunders.

“Thank you Lieutenant,” said Lisa worriedly as she headed towards Karl’s apartment.

Lisa knocked at Karl’s apartment strongly, but no one answered.

“Karl, are you there?” asked Lisa while she knocked on the door again. Concerned she said, “Karl it’s me Lisa…open the door,” as she knocked again. She was worried. She could feel her heart beat faster and faster and the adrenalin pumping in her veins. She wanted to tear the door down to find out if he was OK. Then she remembered the emergency code to open Karl’s apartment door. She quickly punched in the code and opened the door slowly.

“Karl?” asked Lisa with concern when she saw through the darkness that surrounded the apartment. The living room was a complete mess. “Karl?” asked Lisa again as she moved to turn on the light.

“Leave it off,” said Karl in a whisper that came to Lisa’s ears from the darkness.

“Ok,” said Lisa and started to walk to where Karl’s voice were coming, “Are you OK? Doctor Lang's laboratory was hit directly on the last enemy attack and when I went there they said that you left and that you were injured,” said Lisa worried when she got closer to him.

“I’m fine,” said Karl, avoiding her and walking next to the window. The light that came from the window allowed Lisa to see his face.

“Oh my God Karl, your face! You have blood on your face!” said Lisa concerned as she moved next to him and removed some hair from his face to see him better.

“I’m fine Lisa,” said Karl upset as he took a step back.

“We should go to the hospital,” said Lisa, getting closer to him again.

“I’m fine Lisa,” he said so strongly that Lisa took a step back, “It’s just a small cut.”

“I’m just worried about you,” said Lisa with hurt in her voice.

“Well don’t be. I’m fine,” said Karl and turned his back to Lisa, leaving her frozen in the middle of the living room.

“Shouldn't you be on the bridge?” asked Karl without even looking at her.

“Yes, but I asked permission to leave to see how you were,” she said softly, confused because of his behavior.

“Well, you see me and I’m fine, so why don’t you go back to the bridge?” said Karl coldly.

“I guess I better get back to bridge then,” said Lisa and as she said the last words her voice started to break. She looked at him, but he didn’t even move from his place. Lisa opened her mouth to say something but she couldn’t find the words, so she turned in the direction of the door and began to walk out. When she had already opened the door, she suddenly turned in his direction.

“What is it Karl? What have I done wrong?” asked Lisa, finally turning in his direction and closing the door.

“You have done nothing wrong,” said Karl, finally looking at her.

“Then what is it? Why are you behaving like this? Why this sudden change?” she asked and felt that her heart was getting tighter and tighter as she waited for him to answer.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m changing person,” he said, biting his lower lip and again looking away from her.

“I see,” said Lisa and bent down her head, “I thought that we were fine…”

“I need some time Lisa,” he said and then looked at her.

“You need time?” said Lisa and took a deep breath, trying as hard as she could not to cry, “I don’t know what to say, I thought we were fine. I thought that everything was like it was before.”

“That’s the problem don’t you see it?” said Karl and got closer to her.

“No, I don’t see it. I thought that you were happy with me.”

“Is not that Lisa, it’s just that things have changed.”

“So what is it? You don’t love me anymore?” asked Lisa with a broken voice. She had asked the question, but she didn’t want to hear the answer- it frighten her too much. The time seemed to freeze while she waited for him answer.

“Why can’t you see it Lisa, I’m not the same Karl that left Earth and you are not the same Lisa that I left there. We cannot pretend that we can just pick up our relationship from the same place that we left it.”

“I have never pushed you,” Lisa defended herself.

“Come on Lisa, you still think that I’m the same Karl but I’m not. I spent almost eight years prisoner on Mars and I experienced things that I would not wish not even on my worst enemy. What I’ve seen and lived changed me Lisa, but you don’t want to see that. You still think that I’m your father’s aide.”

“How can you say that?” said Lisa with great hurt. She couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Because it’s the truth, because it’s how I feel.”

“So it’s my fault?” said Lisa and her pain turned into anger, “How do you want me understand what happened to you on Mars if you haven’t said a word to me about it? And don’t you think I have changed too?”

“Because is not about what happen to me on Mars it's about how I changed because of it. I am no longer the naïve boy that I was on Earth. Maybe I’m not even the guy you fell in love with anymore. You have changed too.”

“Yes I have, I have grown up Karl but you don’t seem to understand that either, you still think that I’m this girl that needs to be taking care of,” said Lisa and wiped one tear that was about to fall down her right cheek.

“Maybe I’m doing the same, but that’s why I need some time Lisa,” said Karl and tried to get closer to Lisa but she took a step back.

“So you want to runaway again, don’t you?” said Lisa to hurt him.

“I prefer to step back than kill this from within,” he said coldly.

“And that’s what I’m doing?”

“Lisa why don’t you understand, I have other things to deal with than our relationship. God, I was stuck on Mars for eight years, fighting everyday to survive. I watched my friends die and wished that they would die so the rest of us, the ones that were healthy could have more chances to survive. I prayed that someone would rescue us and when finally our prayers where answered, we were rescued by a ship that’s in the middle of the war. Only God knows when it will arrived again on Earth. So now I’m stuck here…” Karl said, pacing across the room.

“And you are stuck with me, too,” finished Lisa.

“That’s not..” Karl was saying, but Lisa interrupted him.

“Yes Karl, that’s what you were implying,” she said and gave him a sad smile, “God, I must be really stupid, I…not even in my worst nightmare did I see this coming.”

“Lisa, this is not about you…it’s about me. I need to take a break from this.”

“I thought that you were happy with our reunion.”

“I thought that, too.”

“So all this was fake?” asked Lisa and as she asked , she felt her heart tearing apart, “All the 'I love you's' where a lie?” asked Lisa and she could feel the sobs in her throat but she fought them back.

“No Lisa, every time I said 'I love you', I really meant it. You are very important to me. It’s just that…”

“You need time…” she finished and held her tears strongly again.

“It’s just that when I was on Mars, all I wished was to be with you again, and now… now that I’m here I feel like I’m drowning. I feel that we are two different people and that you are not the same person that I fell in love with,” he said and then he remained in silence, avoiding her gaze.

Lisa was frozen. She couldn’t process Karl’s words. All she could feel was the pain in her chest and the knot in her throat. She tightened her jaw in order not to cry. Suddenly Karl looked at her and tried to get closer to her. He put one arm softly on her shoulder and let it slide down until he grabbed her hand.

“Lisa…” he said softly.

“I have to go, they need me on the bridge,” said Lisa and released herself from his grasp. “I have to go,” repeated Lisa and walked away from him without even looking at him. She opened the door and closed it carefully.

Lisa had ran for a few meters, but she couldn’t do it anymore. She felt that she couldn’t breath, not because of the run, but because she felt her heart was actually breaking. She rested her back against the wall of the hallway. She tried to breath normally, to block her mind, to not cry. She had work to do, she had to be on the bridge where she was needed. But it hurt her so much, the words that Karl had said to her… how he could say those things to her?

She felt her knees tremble, as if they weren’t strong enough to hold her. The tears were about to fall down her cheeks; she led her hands to her face. All she wanted to do was cry, but she couldn’t; she couldn’t because she still didn't understand what had happen in Karl’s apartment.

Then someone ran past her. She tried to pull herself back together but before she could, the same person came back toward her.

“Are you OK, Commander?” asked the concerned voice of Lieutenant Hunter.

“Yes, I’m just…” said Lisa and wiped her eyes as much as she could, “I just felt a little dizzy, but I’m fine,” she added, avoiding his gaze.

“Are you sure Ma’am?” he asked skeptically.

“Yes. I better hurry, they need me on the bridge,” said Lisa when her pager started to ring.

“Sure,” said Rick.

“Have to go,” said Lisa with the saddest smile that Rick had ever seen as she started to walk away from him.

Rick remained standing in the hallway for a few seconds, looking at her get away. Then he realized who lived down that hallway. He looked at the door of Commander Riber's apartment. Could he be the reason for Commander Hayes sad smile? Well, he didn’t have time to ponder that question, he had to change quickly because he had a date with Minmei in less than an hour.

Lisa entered the bridge, avoiding everyone's gaze. She went directly to her console and started to retrieve data. The enemy was moving away from them and it didn’t seem like they were taking combat position. Since the Captain was on the bridge, no one asked her about her trip to Dr. Lang's lab.

No one spoke to her until Claudia got closer to her to ask if she had on her screen an asteroid next to the enemy fleet.

“Yes, I have it on my screen too. Do you think it will get in the way of our new course?” asked Lisa.

“Not if I correct the course now. Just a couple of degrees...” said Claudia and smiled.

“Everything went fine in the lab?” asked Claudia.

“Yes,” said Lisa seriously.

“And with my stone head flyboy?” asked Claudia amused.

“What?” asked Lisa with confusion.

“With Roy. You were supposed to meet him at preflight.”

“Oh yeah it went…” Lisa was saying when Vanessa spoke.

“The enemy is opening fire.”

“What?” exclaimed the Captain and before anyone could respond, pieces of the asteroid started to hit the SDF-1.

The situation on the bridge was complete chaos. They had to pay attention to the asteroid fragments as well as the enemy. The red alert sounded and the ship's course was corrected, but pieces of asteroid hit the ship badly and most of the systems went blank. Backup power maintained the bridge and the rest of the energy was diverted to maintain the pin point barrier system to defend Macross City.

“Enemy destroyers! Confirm enemy fire-laser-bolt signatures” said Vanessa.

“Brace yourselves!” said Gloval and even before he could end his words a direct hit shook the SDF-1. The hit was so strong that neither Lisa or Claudia could remain at their post and Lisa fell hard onto the floor.

“Is everyone OK?” asked the Captain as he placed his cap back on his head.

“Yes Sir,” said Lisa and stood up. All that she could see from the window of the bridge was destruction. She could have died right there and maybe it would have been best; she had nothing to hold on to anymore, not now that Karl had broken up with her.

“Lisa are you OK?” asked Claudia with concern when she saw the look in Lisa’s eyes.

“I’m fine,” said Lisa and looked at her screen. She needed to clear her mind, she needed to do her job. That was now the only reason to be alive, to accomplish her work.

“I want the status of the ship,” ordered Gloval, “and Claudia, stop the engines. There’s no point to continue moving, we have to save energy.”

“Yes Sir,” said Claudia and the rest of the girls started to report the status of the ship to the Captain.

“Sir, the main wide range radar has been destroyed and the entire control crew has been wiped out,” said Lisa.

“Can we raise Skull Leader?” asked the Captain.

“Negative,” said Lisa.

“Do we have any lecture of the wide range auxiliary radar perhaps?” asked the Captain.

“No Sir,” said Vanessa.

“The technical repair unit is reporting right now,” said Lisa and after a few seconds she added, “estimates of ten hours to effect minimal repairs,” said Lisa slowly, knowing what that meant. They were blind and with no power in the middle of an asteroid rain. With the enemy ready to attack again.

The Captain remained quiet until the timid voice of Sammie interrupted the silence.

“Sir, I’m receiving a weird message and it doesn’t seem to come from Earth.”

“Put it on,” said the Captain confused. On the speakers the message started. As they listened, everyone on the bridge was more and more surprised.

“In the name of the Zentraedi forces, I order you to surrender. The last attack on your ship was a warning of what we will do. You cannot escape. If you wish to save the lives of your crew, you must surrender at once.”

“My God! It’s the aliens!” exclaimed Claudia.

“I can’t believe it,” said Lisa as the message started to repeat again.

“Turn it off,” ordered the Captain. He was as surprised as the girls on the bridge were, “Claudia, keep close observation on the enemy.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Claudia.

The Captain got close to the window, trying to figure out what to do. How to fight this battle? But one thing was clear, he couldn’t fight it blind.

“Lisa prepare to go out. You will be our eyes,” said the Captain finally.

“What?” asked Lisa in disbelieve.

“You will go out on a Cat’s Eye to retrieve data. You will be our eyes out there.”

“But Sir…” Lisa began. She wasn’t in any condition to go out in space, not in her current mental state

“Lisa, it’s an order. You are the only one who can do this job.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Lisa and after checking all of her screens, she abandoned the bridge.

Lisa was standing in front of her Cat’s Eye. She was the one that would fly it because every available pilot was already in the air to protect the SDF-1. She had her flight suit on and all the emergency supplements on too. The preflight had already taken place and all that was left was to climb up to cockpit. But she couldn’t; she needed to clear her mind first. She needed to concentrate completely on the mission and leave all her personal problems behind if she was to get back to ship alive. She also didn't want to endanger her copilot, a young second lieutenant that had only served on the gladiator defense force. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she needed to concentrate.

“Are you ready Commander?” asked Rick.

“Excuse me?” asked Lisa and turned in his direction.

“We have our window. Are you ready to take off Commander?” asked Rick again.

“Yes, just a second,” said Lisa and put her helmet on.

“If you are not ready we can wait for the next one,” said Rick. He wasn’t sure that she could fly no matter what Roy had said. He didn’t think she was capable, especially after seeing her in the hallway about to faint only a few hours ago.

“I’m ready Lieutenant, we will not miss our window,” said Lisa and started to climb into her Cat’s Eye. Maybe it wasn’t bad news that Hunter was her escort, he knew how to upset her and maybe being upset right now was better than being heart broken. “We’ll take off first. You will be my wingman, Hunter. Sterling and Dixon will watch the rearguard,” added Lisa in her command voice.

“As you say, Ma’am,” said Rick and climbed into his VT.

Lisa started the engines and as soon as she took the stick in her hands all the pain of her heart disappeared. She was completely focused on the mission; she was the SDF-1's eyes.

“Keep an eye on the asteroid fragments Lieutenant and I’ll take care of bringing us back home safe,” said Lisa.

“Count on that Ma’am,” said Lisa’s copilot.

“Ironic, isn’t it Commander,” said Rick as he appeared on Lisa’s right commo screen, “that I should end up as your wingman?”

“Certainly,” said Lisa seriously.

“Can I ask why the Captain sent you for this mission Ma'm?” asked Rick curiously.

“Maybe because he thought that I needed a ride outside away from the safety and comfort of the bridge. That way I can see what I do to the pilots,” said Lisa sarcasticly. Rick didn't respond, knowing perfectly what she was referring to. “Maybe it’s because I’m the best for the job and whether you believe it or not, I do know how to fly one of this things in addition to analyzing radar data for the bridge.”

“Of course Ma’am,” said Rick, deciding he should shut his mouth.

“I detect boggies at 4 o’clock,” said Max.

“Roger that. Let them go, our mission is stay with the Cat’s Eye,” said Rick.

“Don’t worry about me Lieutenant, I’ll be fine.”

“But I…”

“Really, I’ll be fine”

“Max and Ben, intercept the enemy. I’ll stay with the Cat’s Eye,” said Rick.

“The enemy outrange your men Hunter, go with them and intercept the enemy. That's an order,” said Lisa in her stern tone of voice.

“Roger that Ma’am,” said Rick and moved his VT next to Max.

“How is the reading of the asteroid fragments doing?” asked Lisa to her copilot.

“Fine Ma’am, but two clicks ahead is a very big one. We might need to change course,” said the copilot.

“Let me check it. And the transmission to the SDF-1? How is it going?”

“Everything is in order.”

“Lieutenant, this is too big to be an asteroid fragment.”

“Oh my God,” said the Lieutenant.

“What is it?” asked Lisa.

“I think it's the enemy ship,” said the copilot and in his voice his fear could be heard.

“Don’t worry about it, just keep focusing on the asteroids. Tell me where they are,” said Lisa, trying to calm him down but she got no answer. She could hear the fast breath of the kid; he was frozen of fear.

“Lieutenant, talk to me,” said Lisa but she got no answer, “Lieutenant, talk to me. I can’t do this alone, talk to me,” said Lisa, calmly trying to keep her attention on her screen and trying to avoid the asteroid fragments.

“Lieutenant,” said Lisa in her most authoritarian tone of voice, trying to get a response from her copilot. But nothing, he still would not respond. She needed to move the Cat’s Eye away from the enemy ship, but there were just to many fragments around them and she could not see all of them without her copilot’s help. She could see ahead on her radar screen but not above. Above the plane was the most delicate part of all because that was where the radar antenna was from where they transmitted data to the SDF-1.

But she managed it; she managed to fly the Cat’s Eye between the fragments. The only problem was that the enemy ship seemed to get closer and closer to them with every move that she made. If only she were flying a VT and not this gigantic antenna with engines.

“To the left! to the left!" the copilot finally yelled, but it was to late. A huge piece of the asteroid was coming in their direction above the antenna and outside the range of Lisa’s radar. When she tried to move the plane, it was too late. The gigantic rock hit the antenna and smashed it before impacting heavily on the cockpit. The last thing that Lisa could see was the flying fragments of glass and the drops of blood that floated in front of her.

To be continued...

Author’s Note: I’ll be waiting for your reviews at Jo_anderson19ATyahoo.com and I have something to said in Karl’s defence…Posttraumatic Disorder… remember that he was trapped on Mars for almost 8 years and suddenly he is back into normal life. Well I just hope that you have enjoy the chapter.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = jo_anderson19ATyahoo.com