JUST FRIENDS

Robotech and the characters of Robotech do not belong to me and I am not
making any money from this fanfiction.

This story takes place a few months after Dolza’s fleet destroyed most of earth.

Chapter 1

The training classes were in day 7 of 10 days. Almost 50 military men and women
from around the North American quadrant were in attendance to learn more about
Zentradi culture, use of protoculture mecha in police actions and, in general,
dealing with the newly settled Zentradi on earth.

Captain Rick Hunter finished his lecture and asked for further questions. He
answered the few questions with good humor, even though he was more than ready
to take a break. When there were no other questions, Rick adjourned the meeting
for lunch and the big crowd started filing out of the large conference hall.

Rick quickly gathered his notes as Lisa approached him at the podium. She had
given the group a number of the previous lectures and had her hands full of
notes and manuals also.

“We only have about an hour until the next session,” Lisa said as she approached
Rick, “Do you want to grab a quick bite in the mess hall?”

“Sounds great, I’m starved, “ said Rick. Whether or not they would dine
together was not a question. They ate together often. Lunch, dinner, even
meeting early for breakfast and going to work together. It was a habit both of
them enjoyed and took for granted.

They had grown to be close friends the past six months since ‘The Rain’. That
was what everyone called it. It seemed an inaccurate term for the almost
complete destruction of earth. But for anyone who had been on the earth’s
surface that day, the term was fitting. On that day, the sky did rain. It
rained a fiery death as far as the eye could see.

The survivors, both Zentradi and human, were left to rebuild the earth’s great
cultures. But those cultures would never be the same. Especially not in a
world where fifty foot giants were scattered across the globe. Even the
Zentradi who chose to micronize could be a threat. Many of them simply did not
take well to the “micronian” way of life and lashed out the only way they knew
how- with extreme violence.

Those very Zentradi were the reason for the training classes now taking place on
the SDF-1. The RDF was, by default, left to police the wastelands and the newly
re-established cities of earth. The only people with any previous knowledge of
Zentradi culture were on the SDF-1. Rick and Lisa in particular had been
considered foremost experts on Zentradi since they had been POWs of the Zentradi
years before. That and the fact that a few of their close friends were Zentradi
made them two of the most informative lecturers at the training classes.

The mess hall was packed. Rick and Lisa got their lunches and squeezed into a
small table by a window to eat. As soon as they were seated, one of the
officers from the training meeting, a Captain Jeff Wilson, approached the table
and asked if he could join them.

“Please do,” said Rick, scooting his chair over to make room for him. Rick had
met the man several times the past week between lectures and genuinely like him.
He was a few years older than Rick, tall and handsome with light brown hair and
an intelligent, friendly face.

Rick had thought of asking Jeff and some of his friends to join he and Max for
drinks one night, but so far had been too busy.

“I’ve enjoyed the training classes this week,” Jeff said as he took his seat,
“Especially the lectures by the two of you.”

“Thank you, “ said Rick and Lisa almost at the same time.

After the three soldiers shared small talk for a few minutes, Lisa asked, “So,
where are you stationed?”

“Well, I’m stationed in the South American quadrant now, but I’m being
transferred to Monument next month.” Jeff said. “That’s why I was sent here for
training.”

“That’s great, the troops in Monument need all the help they can get,” said
Rick.

The three continued to discuss various topics about the military, when Lisa
suddenly jumped and looked at her watch.

“Oh no, I forgot I have to pick up some updated manuals from my office before
the next session!” She exclaimed. “You two will have to excuse me, I’ve got to
run.”

“Sure Lisa, we’ll see you later,” said Rick.

“It was a pleasure talking with you,” said Jeff as both men stood up while Lisa
gathered her things.

As Lisa walked away, Rick noticed that Jeff was still standing up, staring at
her shapely figure as she made her way through the crowds and out the door of
the mess hall. He was still standing there staring at the door when Rick broke
his concentration.

“Uh…do you want to finish lunch?” asked Rick hesitantly.

“Oh yeah,” replied Jeff a little embarrassed, as he sat down.

He sat there for a few seconds then gestured toward the door where Lisa exited
and asked, “So tell me…are you two an item?”

Rick almost choked on his drink of water. “What? Lisa and I?” Rick said with
amazement, “No, no, we’re just friends. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, some of the guys said there’s a rumor going around that you and Hayes are a
lot more than friends.”

Man, the gossip factory around here beats it all,” said Rick with aggravation,
“Cant’ a man and woman just be friends without everyone spreading rumors?”

“I understand, I’ve had a few women friends myself, everyone always tries to
make more out of it than it is.” Jeff said,” But I enjoy having female buddies.
My lady friends have even helped me with my love life before.”

“Yeah, Lisa helps me too, “ replied Rick, thinking of all the advice and
encouragement Lisa had given him regarding his relationship with Minmei.

“So, tell me about her.”

“Who?” asked Rick, still thinking about Minmei.

“Lisa, of course. Tell me about her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“Uh…no, not really.” Said Rick uncomfortably. For some reason, he did NOT like
that question.

“Great! So tell me…what does she like?” asked Jeff. “Come on, help me out,
you’re her friend. Give me the inside scoop.”

“Well…” Rick began hesitantly.

Jeff, noticing what he took to be a protective look in Rick’s eyes, added
quickly, “I know, I know. I understand. I told you, I’ve had female friends
before, too. After awhile you start thinking of them as sisters and you want to
protect them.”

Jeff saw Rick looking confused, so he waited a few seconds before continuing, “I
assure you my intentions are honorable. Sure, I’ve had my share of women. And
I’ll admit, most of them I only wanted around for some fun, then I was ready to
get rid of them. But I’m sick of all of that. I’m looking for something more
meaningful at this point in my life. I think a beautiful, intelligent woman
like Captain Lisa Hayes may be exactly what I’ve been looking for. “

Rick was still looking at Jeff with a confused look on his face. Did he think
of Lisa as a “sister”? All he knew was that Jeff was trying to make him feel
better about his questions, but he was only making Rick feel more uncomfortable.

“Don’t get me wrong, that body of hers doesn’t hurt,” Jeff continued,” I mean,
MY GOD, I didn’t know an RDF uniform could look so good!” He laughed.

Rick finally spoke, saying the only thing he could think of. “Well Jeff, Lisa’s
been through a lot in the past year. And she’s a very busy person with lots of
responsibilities. I don’t know if she wants in a relationship right now.”

“Well, I’m just saying I would like a shot at it,” Jeff said, talking low and
looking Rick in the eyes to convey his seriousness.

“OK, but you should know,“ said Rick, still trying to think of something to
dissuade Jeff,” Lisa is not always the easiest person to be around. Yeah, she’s
my friend, but she can be a bitch sometimes and a real ice queen, too.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that about her,” Jeff replied with a chuckle. “Not a problem,
I like the difficult ones. I’ve found that women like that are usually full of
fire and passion. Besides, I get the feeling she just needs someone to care for
her. I’ve only had the chance to talk to her a few times, but I see kindness
and compassion in her eyes. She just needs someone to show her some attention.
You know, treat her like a lady should be treated.”

Rick just sat there as if he were trying to think of something else to say, so
Jeff continued, “Anyway, I’m thinking of asking her out for Friday night. So…
does she like French food?”

“Yeah, I think so,” said Rick, still with a confused look on his face.

“Good, now what do you think, Should I send her some roses to soften her up? Or
would she think that I was coming on too strong?”

“Oh…yeah, definitely too strong.” Rick said quickly, not knowing why he said it.
Would Lisa like flowers from a guy she just met? Well, she might, Rick admitted
to himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell that to Jeff.

“Ok, I think I’ll spend the rest of today working up my courage, then I’ll ask
her out tomorrow for Friday. Or, do you think I should ask her to lunch tomorrow
first, then ask her out for dinner the next night?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” said Rick, thinking that it wasn’t a very good idea
at all.

“Well, we better get going.”

“Yeah, yeah, right,” Rick said absently.

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