fanfic_name = Shooting Stars

chapter = Chapter V

author = Cicero_Phelps and KnightsTemplar

Rating = AP15

Type = Action

fanfic = Chapter V

The success of the meeting between Russian and Allied forces on the Akagi, a lot had been made of it all across the world, by all the new outlets and every nation. To most it was seen as a turning point in the grand scheme of the Global Civil War.

But for everyone who had been there, it was nowhere near as heroic and symbolic as it had been made out to be. A lot of good people had died, whether they are Japanese, Chinese, Russian or American, there had been too many people killed, and it played on Rick.

‘I suppose that’s the loneliness and responsibility of command,’ he told himself as they made their way back to Hawaii, where they would all debrief, and try to get back on with their lives.

But things seemed so different now, where life had seemed like it was just one happy party, to happy party, with some actual schooling in between. It seemed so far away that they would ever have to actually go into combat despite the fact they were all in college ROTC’s, which meant they would be in the service for years after college.

It was just something that they hadn’t anticipated on having to deal with so early, especially before they graduated. This wasn’t to say that they hadn’t all been prepared for it on some level, something that they all knew deep down and deep within themselves that it could always be a possibility.

Rick lined his fighter up for a landing, and was pulled away from his combination of grief and turmoil. But as he followed the man with the lights, pointing out where he needed to taxi his fighter, he was struck with a sudden thought.

They were simply expected to go back to the normal swing of things, to go back to a life that had been changed for them. They had all seen combat and death on some level; they had been through their baptism by fire that every greenhorn went through. It occurred to him then and there that they were no longer as innocent as the next person at school, no longer just another person.

Rick pulled the canopy lever and it rose up, exposing him to the warm, salty air that he and all his friends had been accustomed to. It felt pleasant on his face, but something else brought him crashing back to reality.

“Lieutenant Hunter,” a voice called for him, approaching his fighter at a rapid pace, looking like one of those officious pricks that you knew from high school who was the one proud of the fact that he ran the audio-visual aids.

He heard the man call for him, but he didn’t care too much, he was just far enough off for him to pretend that he hadn’t heard him. Finally the man was upon him, and Rick could no longer pretend.

“Lieutenant Hunter,” the nasally, grating voice said once again, “Lieutenant Hunter, the Commandant would like to see you immediately.”

Rick looked down at the man who he didn’t recognize, “Why,” was all Rick could manage.

He man gave him an annoyed shrug, wearing a look that told Rick that the man was annoyed at having to even go looking for him. Rick didn’t care what the man felt, or for that matter, if he made him mad. To that end, he dismissed the man, as if he were merely just a servant.

The man either didn’t care, or was in too much of a hurry because he started off at once, and began to approach others and talk to them in turn also.

Rick climbed down the ladder and started to walk towards the building that all ROTC cadets had come to either fear or love. For Rick, it was the latter; he had run into “some trouble” as a Cadet, well, “some trouble” was a nice way of putting it. Rick smiled as he admitted to himself that he was a troublemaker, but a damn good one.

Rick looked over and saw Rodney, Alan, Ben, Max and the Navy ROTC cadets they had met that night. He smiled at his friends, as they got closer.

“Well guys, this should bring back some memories,” Rodney told them, also a troublemaker in his own right, maybe even more so than Rick, but Rick would never admit it.

“You remember the time that we all snuck out after curfew and they ended up chasing us all across the city,” Alan said, laughing.

All the men laughed as they remembered the night.

They had all just completed their first year, and it was the night after they had finished with all their exams, and to them they felt like they all deserved a nice night out, womanizing and drinking.

“Well, Rodney you were supposed to the designated driver that night, but nooooo, you had go with that woman from the bar,” said Max in an accusing voice.

The women followed behind, far enough back to disassociate, but close enough to hear the story. Lisa for her part listened to the scene with some interest, hoping to glean whatever she could about Hunter she could from the conversation.

Her attention shifted from Max, the one with blue tinted hair, to Rodney, the man she remember holding Karl that night.

Rodney looked at Max with a shocked expression, “Look, she was a ten, and she wanted me, you expect me to say no to that? Designated Driver be damned, I was not going to say no.”

“Oh yes I remember her,” Alan said with a sly grin, “and do remember the pain in the ass it was for you to get from her place the next morning back to the base for roll call?”

Rodney rolled his eyes, “Well, yeah, but not as hard as it was for you to try and convince that crazed cop that you were actually ROTC cadets and they would have your ass if you didn’t get back soon.”

At this point, Rick held his hands up and smiled, “Look, let’s just leave it as this, Rodney is a sex-crazed freak who found himself a smokin’ hottie that night, and did what any of us would have done, he went for it.”

There was a murmur, and a lot of head shaking.

Ben looked to Rodney, “You never told us what she looked like, buddy,” he said his voice full of excited mischief.

“And you’ll never know,” Rodney said with a laugh, and they all stopped at the commandant’s building. Bad enough some have an office; this man had a damn building.

Rick walked up to door and held it open for everyone, “Ladies first, and I don’t mean you Ben,” Rick said with a smirk and the Air Force guys laughed.

They walked through the corridors, and they all began to feel that sense of foreboding.

Lisa leaned over to Rick, “So how many times have you been here, hot shot,” she asked him thin-lipped, but with a light tone. He smiled.

“More times than I can tell you, darlin’,” Rick said with a cocky smile and his Oklahoma accent that so many women found to be alluring, he hated it.

She gave him a slight smile, and they stopped in front of the busy secretary, who briefly looked up and gave the men a once over, “You boys again?”

The women suppressed laughter, and the secretary, who was no more than thirty looked at Alan and gave him a hungry look, and a slight wink. Alan gulped.

She pointed to some seats not far away and told them to sit down, “The commandant will see you soon, don’t you worry, you’re not in trouble, I don’t think.”

They all sat down and looked at one another, they waited for a few minutes and the silence that had fallen on them was deafening. They all started to look to one another and began to whisper slightly.

But the pleasantries were soon over as the very pissed off, and very angry commandant opened to door, and pointed an angry finger at Lisa, “You,” the man said in an angry, surly tone, “come into my office.”

Lisa got up smartly and followed him in. The Commandant was a tall man, perhaps six foot three or taller, with a beer belly, and a balding head. He looked tired and worn, as if the entire world had been playing on his nerves.

He gestured for Lisa to sit down, and as she did, he took out a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and an alka-seltzer. He popped the alka-seltzer into his mouth and chewed quickly, and then took several gulps of the Pepto. Lisa looked disgusted but hid her thoughts.

‘My god, I hope I never get that bad,’ Lisa told herself. ‘I wonder if dad has gotten to that point yet, lord I hope not, the man is utterly hopeless at caring for himself.’

He put the bottle down, and looked at Lisa, “Sorry, ulcers kill, and I don’t have the time to get something done about it.”

Lisa nodded, but was still shocked that a command job could be so…corrosive.

He sat down, searched for some papers, and then looked at her with a hard look on his face.

“Cadet Hayes, as you know, Cadet Riber has been AWOL for over twenty-fours hours now, and you know why, am I correct?”

Lisa nodded, “Yes sir, I do know, sir. Cadet Riber was charged with rape, sir, and fled the base in hopes of not having to stand trial for those charges sir,” Lisa said with all her conviction.

Karl may have turned out to be a piece of shit, but she had loved him, and still now, even with hate for Karl consuming her, a small, illogical part of her held out some emotion for him.

“Do you know what happened that night, Cadet Hayes?”

“Yes sir, I do, myself, and three other Navy cadets went off to find Cadet Riber at a location we were told he would be at, when we arrived…” Lisa hesitated, not knowing if she should bring Hunter into this, but she knew that if he was here, then he was already involved.

“When we arrived,” Lisa continued, “we met up with some Air Force Cadets who were in the process of looking for the woman that accused Cadet Riber of rape,” Lisa failed to mention the part about how the woman was Hunter’s girlfriend, or how Karl was her boyfriend.

“Upon meeting them there, we, three of the Air Force Cadets, and the Navy Cadets went to the room to confront Cadet Riber,” Lisa said coolly, her voice betraying her mind.

‘Confront is hardly what I think we all had in mind,’ she told herself.

“Upon entering the room, sir, we found only the woman in question to be there crying, myself and the Navy Cadet’s left the room, knowing that there was nothing there for us.” Lisa told him.

The commandant stopped her there, “Why were you cadets even there in the first place?”

“Um, well, you see, Sir…”

“Cadet Hayes, are you telling me that you and Cadet Riber are romantically involved?”

Oh, hell, he was going to find out anyway. “Yes, sir,” she said, glancing at the ground. “We are, sir.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble for that. This isn’t the first instance of such an occurrence at this post, and it won’t be the last. Just tell me the truth: are you answering my questions based on what you know to be true, or based on emotions for your fellow cadet?”

“I am telling you the truth to the best of my ability, sir.”

“From what it sounds like to me, you don’t believe there was a rape at all, is that what you’re telling me Cadet Hayes, don’t mince words with me either.”

Lisa looked him full in the face, “No sir, I don’t believe a rape had occurred; when we arrived, she was not hysterical, she was not hurt, she was just sitting on the bed, crying, mumbling about being sorry.”

He nodded, “Cadet Hayes, I only have one question left for you: Do you think Cadet Riber raped the woman, was capable of raping her?”

“Sir, people are capable of anything, but no sir, I don’t think he raped her, and I don’t think he would be able to either, sir,” Lisa told him, all her emotions now welling up inside of her.

He looked at her, and exhaled, “Thank you Cadet Hayes, you’re excused, please go and tell Cadet Hunter I would like to see him.”

*********

Rick watched the clock nervously and suppressed his anxiety, and strangely enough, his lust. Something about the brunette woman made something stir in him, and not in the usual way pretty women made that stir. It felt oddly…gratifying.

‘Wow, this is sad, I don’t even know her name and I want to get in her pants…but to he honest, is that really a surprise,’ he asked himself, and he knew the answer, ‘men will be men.’

He hadn’t noticed the door open, and he was even more surprised when she walked over to him and told him that the commandant wanted to talk to him.

“What about,” Rick asked, looking her over and examining her looks with more scrutiny then he had ever before. She was very well concealed in her uniform, but that just made her better looking to Rick, who always appreciated a good woman in an equally good uniform.

“I can’t really say, but all I can tell you is that it’s nothing we did,” Lisa said, studying Rick now, and wondering on some level if maybe he would be willing to help her out of a jam.

“I’ll wait here for you,” she said, and when that drew a startled look, she hastily added, “I just wanted to ask something.”

Rick smiled and gave her a roughish wink, and Lisa rolled her eyes, wondering if she was making the right decision by considering asking him for help.

Rick gave a few knocks on the door and heard a sharp “Come in,” and he opened the door and saluted.

“Cadet Rick Hunter, reporting sir,” he said smartly, and dropped his salute as the commandant lazily returned Rick’s.

He sat down and looked at the commandant, someone he talked to so many times before, so he was nearly on a first name basis with the man.

“So, Larry, what’s the deal,” Rick asked, knowing that he wouldn’t care being addressed by his first name.

“Well Rick, it has to do with the other night, when Anna filed rape charges against that Riber cadet from across the way, you know, one of those squids,” he said, meekly gesturing towards the general area where the Naval ROTC was.

Rick sighed, not really in the mood for any of the usual hard head question and answer bullshit that usually went along with these types of things.

“I know you and Anna have been close for a while,” Larry said. “Did she and Riber do the hoochie-coo in the motel before you got there?”

“Yes, they were,” Rick said. “Look Larry, as much as I don’t like the little prick, I can tell you what I saw, and what I know. When we got into the room, she was crying, she didn’t say anything about being raped, which I think she would have if we had all gotten into the room,” he finished, recalling the events of that night, keeping a cool demeanor, and air of indifference, almost blasé, but on inside, he was feeling the pain.

“So are you saying that she made it all up,” Larry asked, his voice bordering on incredulous.

Larry was a little put off; here was another person who was saying the same thing. That Anna was lying, but he knew that he it wasn’t enough on it’s own to dismiss it all, not that it was his to dismiss.

“Well, in that case, do you think he raped her Rick,” Larry asked him.

Rick thought a minute and knew that he had to shoot it straight with Larry, they were buddies, and went way back, or as far back as Rick got here.

“No Larry, I don’t think he did anything, besides, Rodney saw him sneaking out of the window, no clothes, no nothing to hide who he was, what kinda idiot would be that stupid,” Rick said.

Larry looked at Rick again and just nodded his head, “Get outta here Rick, and stay out of trouble. Oh, and Rick,” Larry said, looking at him seriously now, “be careful with that one Rick, she’s an admirals daughter, you don’t want to piss off an admirals daughter.”

It took Rick a second to figure out that he was referring to Lisa, and he nodded and flashed him a thumbs up, “No worries Larry, I’ll be fine, you know me.”

Larry made a sour face, “Yeah, that’s what bothers me, now, git on outta here boy, git, git, git,” he drawled in his southern accent.

Rick walked out the door and looked at Rodney and jerked his thumb towards the door, and Rodney gave a loud groan.

He got up and looked at Rick with a sad face and walked into the office that they had all been in so many times before.

Rick walked over to Lisa and sat down next to her, but as soon as he sat down, she got up and nodded for the door. Rick, for his part, groaned and got back up and followed her out of the building.

They continued to walk, and talk to one another about things, nothing in particular, but everything in general. She finally stopped them having found their way to the beach, and now stood solemnly together.

“Look, Lisa-“ Rick started, but she held out a hand. Neither could deny that there was some mutual attraction there. But both knew it was too soon, and that they could nothing more for each other now than fill some emotional void left by each others no most recent ex.

“Rick, I was wondering, if it isn’t too much of a bother,” she started, her voice failing, but she had to ask. But it was hard, she and Karl had planned on doing this together, and now that he was gone, she needed someone to do the senior showcase with her.

“Will you do the senior showcase with me Rick,” Lisa asked, not having felt his awkward asking someone in this manner since being in middle school and asking her first boy on a date.

Rick gave her a slightly surprised look, and smiled, “Depends,” he said, his voice full of man mischief.

“It’s a dance,” she said, and saw Rick blanch slightly.

But as he made the face, other thoughts of a Lisa in a tight leotard, and skin tight clothes excited Rick.

“Sure Lisa, I’ll help,” he said, not caring what it was, only caring to catch more glimpses of Lisa in something more…flattering.

Rick smiled, but he could see that Lisa was tearing up, and some of those tears had already run down her face. Rick was shocked, he was thinking of anything he may have said that might have been offensive, but he couldn’t think of any.

He pulled her into a hug, and held her tightly, surprising himself and her too.

She pulled back a little, and looked at Rick, seeing the same pain in his eyes, but also caring and kindness. She smiled weakly.

The smile was all Rick could take as he leaned in and slowly kissed Lisa, something he had thought about since he had seen her at the football game. To his utter surprise, and a wonderful boost to his already burgeoning male ego, she didn’t resist him, and seemed to melt into the kiss.

Lisa’s mind raced, she hadn’t expected him to kiss her, but she didn’t complain when he had, and to her utter amazement, she actually felt herself enjoying it.

‘How long has it been since I’ve been with a good man,’ Lisa asked herself and then she remembered it had been years.

But she knew it was bad, not the kiss, oh no, not the kiss, she liked it very much, but the timing was very bad. She pulled away, and looked at him. She quickly placed a hand to his lips and smiled at him.

“Listen hot-shot, you may be cute, but I don’t think now is a good time, maybe some other time,” she said with a wink that said something else, and an alluring wave good-bye.

Rick found himself admiring her more now than he had moments before as she walked away from him. He was attracted to her in a bad way, and he was almost certain she was attracted to him too.

‘If she looks back again, she’s got it for you too,’ Rick said to himself excitedly.

Lisa gave another look back, and smiled at him once more, considering the idea of walking back to him and maybe just seeing where things went.

‘No, Lisa, don’t do that now, if things hold, he’ll be around later,’ she said confidently.

As she walked away from Rick, she failed to see him pump his fist and then turn and watch her walk away. She was too busy thinking about how much she had actually enjoyed the kiss.

AN: Chapter Five is finally up! And now the greatest love story of a generation has its roots revealed at last. Enjoy, folks. Reviews needed/welcomed.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = Lightsaber01ATHotmail.com