fanfic_name = Separate Lives

chapter = 5

author = LisaVang

Rating = O18

Type = Angst

fanfic = CHAPTER FIVE

“Lieutenant Stiller! Can you hear me?” Lisa said into the intercom from her protective armored cocoon. “Anyone there? Hello! What’s going on? Answer me, Stiller!”

She knew the battle was over for she didn’t feel the shuttle taking on any more hits but they were still moving however the shuttle’s two pilots had stopped talking to her.

It’s not like them to be so quiet. They’ve been keeping me informed of the battle since the attack; to have them suddenly so quiet now makes no sense. Something’s wrong...

Pushing with all her might, she pulled the emergency release lever down and the protective shielding swung back with a thud. Pushing her hair out of the way, she looked out of the viewport nearest to her and she paled.

There were four pods next to her, directly outside the shuttle! Quickly she ran to the other side and saw five more pods.

No! This can’t be happening!

Her heart thudded in her chest and apprehension flooded her mind and body. Running to the hatch door that separated her compartment from the two pilots, she tried to open it but it was jammed.

“Come on, open!” she screamed at the hatch door and began banging on it with her fists. “I said open, you piece of garbage!” she grated in frustration. Looking around she saw nothing that would aid in opening the door.

After awhile, exhausted and spent, Lisa went back to her seat and waited. She knew she was once again a prisoner of war however this time, she was alone; no Rick, Ben or Max.

Rick, where are you? Find me, please, find me.

---------------

He was staring at the photograph in his hand. Wondering when she was going to arrive and how he should greet her. He knew she hadn’t been too happy or pleased with him the last time they’d met and talked.

His baby girl... she’d turned out better than he had ever hoped. How proud her mother would have been of her. How proud he was of her.

Admiral Donald Hayes smiled then and closed his eyes, remembering happier times, times before the alien ship had arrived and even before his wife’s death. He was remembering the day of Lisa’s birth, the day she first opened her big green eyes and stared up at him with such blinding trust and innocence; the day she stole his heart and knocked him breathless with her beautiful baby smile. The day he knew he would do everything in his power to make sure she would always be protected and kept safe, the day he understood what it meant to become a father.

So deep in thoughts he hadn’t heard the buzz of his intercom until his aide’s voice came through. “Admiral, we just received an encrypted message from the SDF-1, it’s for you, sir.”

“Patch it through, Lieutenant.”

When the encrypted message showed up on his com screen he put in the requested password and within a few seconds later, he was reading the message:

-- COMMANDER HAYES CAPTURED. MISSION ABORTED. --

Admiral Hayes shook himself.

So close! She was so close in coming back to his protective circle again. After so long of him arguing with her to leave the SDF-1 and to have her finally coming to her senses only to be captured... No! I refused to believe that she is dead.

----------------

“Tear the damn door open!” Khyron yelled impatiently at Grel, his second in command.

“But sir, won’t that damage it?” Grel asked, afraid to look at his Commander.

“It’s not the ship that I’m interested in, you idiot! It’s what inside. It’s got to be important or those micronian pilots wouldn’t have fought so hard to protect it.”

Grel frowned. “Oh, I'm sorry, sir, I didn’t think…”

“Enough!” Khyron interrupted.

Raising his hands Khyron pushed at the shuttle, rocking it back and forth for a couple of minutes then grabbing the door of the shuttle he tore it off its’ hedges in one smooth action.

“But sir, if you ..." Grel started to say, but froze when he saw a tiny micronian female coming out of the shuttle. She seemed to be having a hard time maintaining her balance.

In an instant, all the surrounding Zentraedi soldiers took a couple of steps back and grasped in horror when she opened her mouth to speak to them. They had heard the rumors about micronian females but none of them had ever seen one before and they didn’t know what to make of her. She looked like some of their Zentraedi female warriors with her long hair and slender build but she was so tiny that they didn’t know how she could possibly stand without her legs breaking or for that matter, be alive.

“Are you fools trying to shake me to death!?” Lisa yelled up at them once she was able to catch her breath. Pushing her heavy hair away from her face, she straightened her uniform and stared up at her captors. She was scared to death but refused to show it.

“I am Commander Lisa Hayes, First Officer of the SDF-1! I refused to answer any questions you may want to know about the SDF-1’s defense so you might as well kill me and get it over with. I will not break no matter what …”

Before she could finish, Lisa saw a sinisterly handsome Zentraedi with wavy blue hair and purple eyes reaching for her. She fought the urge to scream and bit her lip. She told herself to stay calm but had closed her eyes when she felt his hand tightened around her.

In less than a minute, she felt herself being let go and when she opened her eyes again, she was in a glass cage and being carried off the landing deck by the blue haired Zentraedi.

“Wait, what about my pilots? Please won’t you check on them?” she asked but no one paid her any attention. When they turned the corner, she looked back at the shuttle again and saw that both the windows in the cockpit were broken.

No wonder I couldn’t open the door. They must’ve have jammed it from their side to keep the oxygen in my compartment from escaping.

Defeated, Lisa Hayes slowly slid down the glass wall and sat down.

---------------------------

In the officers' mess hall on board the SDF-1, Max sat across from Rick and toyed with his now empty coffee cup.

“Lieutenant, I'm sure Commander Hayes is fine. We’ll find her somehow, sir," Max said cheerfully, trying to lighten Rick’s mood. “She’s a very resourceful and courageous officer. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she got the Zentraedi to surrender to us in the next couple of days.”

Rick turned away from him. “Thanks Max, for trying to cheer me up but I would like to be alone, if you don’t mind.”

Max persisted. "Rick, it’s not your fault and besides, it unhealthy to be so gloomy. What do you say you and I go play some video games or better yet, catch Minmei’s live performance at the…”

But before he could finish, Rick got up and walked away.

‘What did I say?’ Max thought to himself and shrugged.

Fifteen minutes later, Rick found himself outside Lisa’s quarters and was just about to knock when he realized she was not inside.

She was gone and it was his fault! I should have been there to protect her. I should have insisted on escorting her. If only I would had gotten there in time...

Hesitant for only a brief moment, he put in the codes she’d given him last night and walked into her quarters. He half expected Lisa to be sitting at her sofa and smiling up at him but all he saw and felt when her hatch door closed behind him was emptiness.

Walking into her sleeping quarter he saw Lisa’s bed and everything in him stopped. This morning, he’d been so eager to get her some flowers that he’d forgotten to make her bed. He stared at it for a long time, seeing her there-- smiling at him, laughing with him and welcoming him to her with happiness in her green eyes.

Slowly he walked to her bed and began smoothing the sheets to make up the bed, his hands lingered upon them, and he touched the pillows tenderly, remembering her head on them and his own.

Lisa, I should have told you how special and important you are to me. I should have told you that I love you.

------------------

“Wake up! For such a tiny little thing, you certainly sleep a very long time. I said, wake up, micronian!”

Slowly Lisa opened her eyes. At first she didn’t know where she was but slowly everything came back to her and she quickly stood up to face the Zentraedi warrior who was now knocking on her glass cage.

“Who are you and what do you want? I demand to know what is going to happen to me. I have rights, you know, even if I’m a prisoner,” Lisa yelled to him. She crossed her arms over her abdomen, exhaled in disgust, and donned a petulant expression to continue biding her time while awaiting a defensive opportunity.

“Rights? You have no rights, micronian other than what I give you,” he spat and his cold purple eyes darken in anger in response to her body language.

Looking into his eyes, Lisa’s brief spurt of courage failed her. She took a backward step, her heart hammering fearfully in her chest but she refused to back down.

“I’m not afraid of you, you over grown giant!” she gazed coolly at him.

“You may yell at my men but don’t ever yell at me or demand anything from me or I will crush you! I am Khyron, Lord Khyron to you; maybe you’ve heard of me?”

“No. I’m sorry I have not.”

Undeterred, he smiled broadly. “I’m sure that will be corrected shortly. Now, tell me, micronian, why are you so important and what possible use could you be to me? Think carefully on your answer, for it will determine whether I should let you live.”

She ignored him then for she suddenly realized she was hungry-- very hungry but mostly thirsty.

“Answer me!”

“I’m very thirsty. Do you Zentraedi drink?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked levelly after a slight pause.

“Water, you know, H2O? I find myself very thirsty,” Lisa said inelegantly, getting up to pace restlessly in the glass cage. “If you’ll give me some water and possibly some food for I find myself also very hungry, maybe then, you and I can talk.”

“Now just a minute!” His fisted hand came slamming down on the table and the vibration knocked Lisa down. Looking up at him she could see his eyes blazing with anger and his jaw clamped to a hard line. “I told you, you have no right to ask or demand anything, micronian!”

“Go ahead, crush me! I would rather die fighting than being a coward like you who enjoys bullying those weaker and smaller than you!” She faced him with more confidence than she was feeling inside. “And by the way, my name is Commander Hayes, not micronian!”

Khyron glared balefully across at her, feeling a strong urge to crush her and rid the Universe of her presence. He could see in his mind a thousand ways how he could kill her and make her cry out in agony and pain; a pain so deep she would beg him for death. Staring at her, he could see anger and fear mingling in her green eyes but he also saw intelligence and stubbornness; a cold smile crossed his handsome face. He had to applaud her for her recklessness and misguided courage. No one he knew had ever defied him so blatantly before and lived.

Maybe she doesn’t know what I can do to her? Maybe she doesn’t know that I can pull her little head off with two of my fingers without even trying?

“Do you care so little for your death, micronian?” he asked in a cold low voice.

Lisa’s heart thudded in panic but she knew keeping him angry and confused was her only defense. “Why should I care, you’re going to kill me whether I talk or not,” she scoffed haughtily at him. “My name is Commander Hayes!”

Defeated, Khyron hissed and left.

‘Starved, Commander for all I care! Maybe then you won’t be so courageous,’ Khyron laughed to himself and once on the bridge quickly barked to Grel to find out from their vast database of contacts with other races what micronians eat.

“Lord Khyron... umm, Commander Azonia asked that you contact her as soon as you can. It seems, sir, that she knows about the micronian,” Grel said and quickly left to do as he was commanded.

“Damned that annoying bitch!” Khyron swore in anger and ordered his communication officer to patch him through to her.

“Khyron, you were given a direct order to not lead anymore attacks the SDF-1!” Commander Azonia said before her image could even be focused clearly on the screen monitor. “Breetai will have your head once he gets back...”

“Shut up!” Khyron interrupted. “Are you blind as well as stupid? I did not attack the SDF-1. It was merely a convoy.”

“I see,” Azonia said and tapped a finger on her desk. “In that case, you wouldn’t have any problems in turning over the micronian to me. I have a few questions I’d like to ask her.”

“No.”

“No? No, you don’t have a problem or no, you will not turn her over to me?”

“No,” Khyron said again and reached out to cut off the communication.

Stew on that, bitch! I have plans for my little prisoner. She and I are going to be the best of friends. By the time I’m through with her, she’ll tell me anything I want to know, even where the Protoculture is located on that blasted ship.

Laughing loudly to himself he left the bridge as his men and officers looked on, wondering what he has planned for them and the tiny female micronian he has caged in his ready room.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes