fanfic_name = The Sit. Room Incident

chapter = 19

author = Dwparsnip

Rating = AP15

Type = Romance

fanfic =

 

 

As the old saying goes…you could cut the tension in the cave with a knife. Lisa looked at Sue Graham…Sue looked at Lisa Hunter…and the game began.

 

“Good morning, Admiral. How are we doing today?”

 

Lisa wanted so very badly to just walk up to Graham and physically remove that smug grin off her face, but reason prevailed over emotion. She was not in a position to do much of anything…yet. “All things considered, Commander”, said Lisa, keeping her voice neutral, “not too bad. And how are you?”

 

Graham laughed a little…a wicked little laugh that sent shivers down Lisa’s back. “I’m doing very well, Admiral Hayes.”

 

Lisa saw what she was doing and thought, ‘You little…’ The use of her maiden name was an obvious ploy aimed at getting her riled up, but Lisa refused to take the bait. “I see. Nice of you to drop by.”

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Admiral.” Graham had been watching Lisa intently for any sign that the use of her maiden name had bothered or upset her. Seeing that it hadn’t, Graham knelt down and rummaged around in the bag she had brought with her. She finally found what she was looking for, and when she pulled it out of her bag Lisa saw that it was a file folder.

 

Sue gave Lisa a little laugh as she stood up. “This is for you, Admiral.” She took a cautious step forward and threw the folder at Lisa’s feet, much as a zookeeper would throw food to a hungry, dangerous lioness. Lisa was tempted to make a grab for her to try to end this madness, but she was still too far away to guarantee success. She carefully reached down and picked up the folder. As she looked the folder, Graham stepped back to stand beside her bag. Sue looked at Lisa and said smugly, “Open it.”

 

Lisa waited a second and opened the folder. When she did, she found a memo from the SDF-3 communications center, dated and time stamped from last evening. She read it silently. ‘To all REF personnel, from Capt. R. Forsythe, commanding officer of the SDF-3…’She didn’t have to read anything else; Forsythe was commanding her ship. ‘…with profound sadness announces the passing of Admiral Lisa Hunter in a shuttle explosion…’

 

‘Calm down, Lisa’, she thought as she calmed her breathing and mentally reinforced the impassiveness on her face. Out loud she said, “All right, Sue, I’ll ask the obvious question: what’s the meaning of all of this?”

 

“As far as everyone is concerned, Admiral…”, she said, “you’re dead.” Her last two words came out musically, and seeing the dismayed look appear for a fleeting moment on Lisa’s face only made Graham laugh. “Oh yes, Admiral”, she said through her laughter. Then her laughter suddenly stopped and Sue Graham used her talent of crying on demand to let go a few tears, and as she wiped them away she said in a feigned mournful voice, “The decks are awash with the tears of your mourning crew.”

 

Lisa watched in amazement as Graham put her face in her hands and pretended to sob, but after a few seconds of it the sobs turned to back to laughter, and when Graham’s face stopped hiding in her hands, it was glowing. “You see, minutes after the explosion on the base, someone ordered the pilots in your shuttle to tell the tower that you were aboard and that you were going back to the SDF-3, for your safety naturally. Of course, by that time, you were unconscious and nowhere near the shuttle, but bless them, they did as they were told. And when they died when the shuttle exploded a few minutes later, they died doing their duty to protect you, or so they thought.”

 

“You told them…” Lisa’s hands started to tremble ever so slightly. A storm of fury was building up inside of her as Graham so coldheartedly described how she arranged the deaths of two REF pilots…two of her people.

 

“Anyway, Admiral, everyone believes you were aboard the shuttle when it blew up in space”, she smiled and added, “except for me, of course.”

 

‘And Angie’, thought Lisa as she tried to rein in her anger.

 

“You’ll never know how long I’ve dreamed of seeing you in a position like this, Admiral. Dreamed, hoped and planned. And you’ll never know the joy I feel in seeing you like this, chained to the wall of the cave where your husband was going to make love to me.” She raised an eyebrow and asked, “It’s fitting, don’t you think?”

 

Lisa was livid. “I think that you’ve gone over the edge, Commander, and unfortunately, you’re taking a good person down with you.” Lisa dropped the folder on the ground between them, daring Graham to come closer and pick it up.

 

Graham ignored the folder and never hesitated in confirming what Lisa was saying. She had to know it was Angie who had knocked her out, there was no other option. “I never forced anyone into anything, Admiral. Angie did what she did of her own free will.”

 

Lisa just shook her head. Before she even thought of asking the question that she already knew the answer to, it slipped out in an exasperated voice. “Why?”

 

The answer: Rick, of course.

 

Graham rolled her eyes and said, “Please, Admiral, I’m sure you’ve got it figured out by now.” Lisa just stood there waiting, carefully concealing her anger and shock. She knew Graham would be dying to gloat about what she had managed to accomplish and what she had planned to do next.

 

“Very well, Admiral…if you must have it spelled out for you. I’ve been planning this for months, since I kissed Rick in the Situation Room.”

 

Lisa saw a small smile form on Graham’s lips as she continued in a quiet voice. “I had a crush on him for a long time, Admiral. He was a larger than life hero, handsome and caring. When I became his official photographer, that crush became more. The more I saw of him, the more I heard his voice, the more I got to know him, the deeper my feelings became.” She looked at Lisa with a knowing look and said, “I’m sure you know what that’s like, Admiral.”

 

Honesty came to Graham’s eyes. “Believe it or not, Admiral, I had decided not to pursue him, even though I knew I loved him.” She looked to the floor of the cave and said in a strained voice, “I knew that he was happy with you, or at least he seemed to be.” She looked up at Lisa and continued. “But those weeks before that night in the Sit. Room, I could see that that was changing. I knew he was lonely that night, and many nights before that. He looked so alone, so I kissed him to show him how I felt…to show him he wasn’t alone…that somebody still cared and that somebody still loved him.”

 

Lisa laughed loudly. “Love!” Lisa laughed again and said pitifully, “You have no idea what love is, Commander. You’re obsessed.”

 

“No Admiral, it’s love.” Sue brought her fingers up to touch her lips. “His lips felt so right on mine that night.” Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Lisa standing a few feet from her. “But he didn’t think so. Despite how badly you’ve treated him, he was still loyal to you.”

 

‘How badly I’ve treated him?’, thought Lisa. ‘She is crazy.’

 

As if Graham could sense Lisa’s thoughts, she said, “Yes, Admiral, you’ve treated him badly, and I hate you for it. You put your ship and almost everyone else before him, and because of it he felt as though he were alone. On a ship full of people, Admiral, he felt alone.”

 

Despite her anger, Lisa heard some truth in what Graham had said, though she dared not show Sue any indication of it. More than once since the Sit. Room incident, she found herself wondering what she could have done differently before that night so that it wouldn’t have happened. She could have paid more attention to Rick, spent more time with him and showed him, and everyone for that matter, how much she loved him. Those thoughts were thrust aside as Graham continued on.

 

“You were right that night you came to see me after I went to him about my reassignment to Jupiter. I did arrange for Powell to find out about the Coperincus’ mission, and when he asked for his transfer, I made a pitch for the EoD’s.” She looked thoughtful. “We were actually understaffed, and that worked in my favor.”

 

Graham took a deep breath and said, “After you left that night, I was tempted for a very, very short time to give it up. But I couldn’t. He…I don’t know…he stirs something in me that I have never felt before.” Graham had one last button to push. She took a step towards Lisa and said tauntingly, “And when he gets over you, Admiral, I will be there for him.” A smile crept across Graham’s face as she took another little step towards Lisa and added, “I will hold him when he needs comfort…I will kiss him when he needs tenderness…and we will make love with a passion that will shake the ship. And there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it…Admiral Hayes.”

 

Lisa’s soul was on fire with an anger she had never experienced before in her life. It burned her, scorching all the defenses and all the barriers she had set up to keep the anger from escaping, and it moved through her body like a wildfire until it finally reached her right leg. It twitched with overwhelming anger, and her leg lifted a couple of centimeters from the ground and slammed down onto the floor, knocking the shackle she had unlocked off her leg, freeing it to shoot outward and upward in a classic karate kick to connect with face of her antagonist with a resounding and satisfying crunch. Lisa had no control over it…if she had, she wouldn’t have done it.

 

Graham had seen it coming, but Lisa had moved so fast that she didn’t have time to react and defend herself, and as Lisa’s foot connected with her mouth, she chided herself for not anticipating Lisa’s ingenuity. Graham’s head snapped back, and she fell backwards and landed very hard on her back, with her head slamming into the rock floor with a force that made her see a multitude of tiny little stars floating around her head. She stayed there for a moment, trying to fight off the wave of blackness that was trying to overrun her mind. She rolled over onto her left side and moaned. She gingerly shook her head and blinked her eyes to try to clear them, and after a few moments the little light show of twinkling stars began to fade. It was then that she noticed a coppery taste in her mouth. She brought her hands up to touch her lip, and when she pulled her hand away and saw her blood on her fingertips she realized her lip was split…badly.

 

Sue looked at Lisa, standing there looking at her with a sense of subdued accomplishment. She had put her hands behind her back again and just stood there as though she was in total control of the situation. ‘Damn her!’, she thought angrily. ‘Why hasn’t she gone mad with fear and grief? Why?’ It was that thought that drove Sue to get up onto all fours and spit out the blood that had accumulated in her mouth. She brought her left leg forward and planted her foot on the floor, resting her left elbow upon her knee, with her hand against her cut lip. Lisa’s actions and fortitude in the face of all of Graham’s taunting only fed her hatred for Lisa, and she felt even more determined to make her see that Rick was going to forget her, and be with Sue.

 

“Well played, Admiral. I thought those restraints were tamper proof.” She stood up and rested against the side of the cave, bent over just enough to let the blood drip onto the cave floor instead of onto her flight suit. “I admire your persistence, Admiral. It looks like we have a couple of things in common.”

 

Lisa looked at Graham with blatant disgust and shock. After a moment of thought about the absurdity of her and Graham being similar in any way, she said through clenched teeth, “We are nothing alike, Commander.”

 

Graham looked at Lisa and said, “You’re wrong. We are different in many ways, Admiral, true, but we’re both very persistent; and besides that we do have at least one more very important similarity. We both love the same man. More than that, we both fell in love with Rick when he was in love with someone else.” Lisa struggled to control her temper as Graham continued. “You fell in love with him while he was in love with Minmei. I fell in love with him while he was in love with…well, with you.”

 

Graham walked a step closer to Lisa, ignoring the headache and blood dripping from her lip, but remained well clear of her striking distance. “But that is the end of it, isn’t it? You were content to let Minmei have Rick all to herself, content to be alone and pine away for him wherever it was that you were going to run to after you resigned, content not to fight for what you wanted, content to let her have him. I, on the other hand, am not content to be without him. I will fight for him, Admiral, and I will have him no matter what I have to do.”

 

Lisa slumped her shoulders slightly as the memories of Rick and Minmei in New Macross stung her heart. For a moment, she even wondered how Graham knew so much about those days. ‘Then again, everyone knew more about us than we knew ourselves’, it occurred to her. ‘Besides, she spent a lot of time with Rick in the last couple of years…I’m sure she asked questions.’ She shook her head and said quietly, “You’re so wrong, Sue. I wasn’t content, not one little bit.” Those terrible days of being without Rick threatened to overwhelm her, but she held them at bay. “But I was willing to let Rick decide what it was that would make him happy, what it was that he wanted. If that was Minmei, I would have accepted that, because it would have meant that he would be truly happy, and that is what love…true love, Commander, is all about.” Lisa looked Graham in the eye and asked, “Do you truly think Rick is happy right now?”

 

Graham swallowed, the taste of her own blood scorching her throat, and conceded, “No, he isn’t…but he will be.”

 

Lisa lowered her gaze to the floor of the cave. “He will never be truly happy again, Commander.”

 

“I think you overestimate your importance in his life, Admiral Hayes. He will love again…in time, just as he loved you after Minmei. He will love me when he sees how much I care for him.”

 

“You miss my point, Commander. Rick has never been one to worry about himself. He always put others ahead of himself. As such, he will worry most about his son, the little boy whose mother you have taken from him. Roy will be hurt terribly, and that in turn will haunt Rick forever.” Lisa let the words sink in. “You’ve hurt him, Sue.” Lisa looked Graham squarely in the eyes. “You’ve hurt him badly, and God help you when he finds out. And make no mistake, Commander, he will find out.”

 

“I haven’t come this far to be stopped, Admiral.” She wiped the blood from her lip. ‘Is it ever going to stop bleeding?’, she asked herself. She looked at Lisa and couldn’t believe the calmness she exhibited. “I have considered every conceivable variable and have numerous contingency plans ready. You have absolutely no idea, Admiral, how much thought, time and planning I’ve put into this.” She shook her head as though she just realized herself. “No idea. Time is the key, Admiral. More to the point…timing is the key.”

 

‘What does she mean by that?’, wondered Lisa. “Sue”, she tried, “if you end this now, I’ll do what I can to help you.”

 

The bitterness in Graham’s laugh was palpable. “Help me! Please, Admiral.” She held out her arms akimbo and asked, “Do I look like I need help?” She reached down, picked up her bag and fished out her flashlight, and then dumped its remaining contents onto the cave floor. “This should keep you going for a couple of weeks, ma’am.” She regarded the ration and water packs for a moment and then said, “It’s not the type of thing you’re used to, but I’m sure you’ll make do.”

 

“Why, Sue? Why keep me here? Why not just…”

 

“Why not just kill you, Admiral?” Despite the pain, Graham’s lips stretched into the most malignant grin, her blood only adding to the grotesqueness of it. It was the type of thing that should only be seen on the face of a demon that was getting ready to do some felonious work of its master. She shrugged her shoulders and said in a jovial tone, “What would be the fun in that?” Her look in her eyes turned serious, and when she spoke there was no longer any humor in her voice. “I want you to suffer, Admiral. For what you’ve done to him, and for what you’ve done to me, I want you to suffer.” She replaced the flashlight into the bag and put the strap over her shoulder. “I’ll be back in a few days, Admiral.”

 

She turned around and began to walk towards the cave entrance, pausing just long enough to say over her shoulder, “Try not to miss me too much, Admiral Hayes.” She let loose a banshee laugh as she continued on out of the cave.

 

Lisa watched her leave. She knew she had a chance and she missed it when her kick knocked Graham out her reach. Lisa realized with some shame that she let her emotions get the better of her, if only for a moment. It didn’t even help that she derived some sense of satisfaction in seeing Graham bleeding on the floor, . She wouldn’t…she couldn’t…let that happen the next time, and there would be a next time. Lisa knew Graham wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to torment her.

 

Moments later, Lisa heard an Alpha power up and take off. She looked around her cage and took stock of the situation. She still had lights, a heater and now plenty of food and water. Her eyes fell upon the folder Graham had left behind. She picked it up, sat down on the thermal blanket and read the announcement again. When she was done she threw the folder to the ground and finally got ready to let loose the tears that had been threatening to overtake her since she first read the report. Only for Graham watching her so closely, looking for any hint of emotional distress from her, she would have let the tears fall then. Her shuttle pilots and two Alpha pilots…killed, and why? So a psychopath could get her out of the way and make a play at her husband. But that wasn’t all. Not only get her out of the way, but keep her around to gloat and rub it in.

 

Then it occurred to her that Rick could be in danger from Graham. Despite her professions of love for him, she was obviously unstable. There was no telling what she would do to him when he spurned whatever advances she made…and there was no doubt in Lisa’s mind that he would rebuff her advances. More than that, if she managed to get close to Rick, she would also get close to her son. Her heart felt as though it were in a vice and someone with limitless strength kept turning the handle, squeezing the life right out of her chest. Lisa Hunter, the strong Admiral and the defiant soldier, became Lisa Hunter, loving mother and worried wife as the vice turned, giving her no other choice than to finally let it all go and cry.

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

Graham brought her Alpha out of the moon’s atmosphere and after achieving a safe distance away from the moon, she brought the Alpha to complete stop. Her head was pounding with a regular thump and her lip hurt like no other pain she had felt before. It was still bleeding, although the flow had slowed, so she reached for the small emergency medical kit on the side of the seat. When she found it she took out some gauze and placed it on her lip, using her upper lip to hold it there as she replaced the kit.

 

Graham found her squadron’s position on her radar, adjusted her course for rendezvous and moved the throttle forward gently. She toggled open the com channel and called Roberts. “Pegasus 5 to lead. Please come in.”

 

‘Go ahead, Commander’, came Roberts’ cheerful sounding reply.

 

She shook her head and said, “I’m back in the saddle, Lieutenant.” She checked her navigational computer and added, “I’ll be at your position in eight minutes.”

 

‘Roger that, Commander. We’ll see you then. Lead out.’

 

She leaned her head back against the seat and kept her eyes open, despite their insistence on the opposite. Eight minutes later, she brought her Alpha into a standard formation along with her squad mates.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Roberts’ voice came over the tac net. ‘Okay everyone…time to head home and let someone else have some fun. I have the lead.’

 

She watched as Roberts changed course to head for the ship, and the rest of the squadron, herself included, followed suit.

 

Twenty minutes later, she was slowly climbing out of her Alpha. When her left foot hit the deck she felt a wave of dizziness come upon her, and to keep herself from falling, she tightened her grip on the ladder. She brought her right hand to gently rub the back of her head, and noticed with some consternation that there was a sizable lump there. The dizzy spell faded, and as she released the ladder, she heard, “Are you okay there, Commander?”

 

She removed the gauze from her lip, took a breath, turned and responded, “Yes, Lieutenant…I’m fine.” When she looked at Roberts’ face she saw something that shocked and amazed her: concern.

 

“What the hell happened to your lip, Sue?” He stepped closer to get a better look, and she instinctively brought up her hand to hide it. “It’s nothing, Lieutenant. I…slipped getting out of my Alpha on the Med Moon…and my head shot forward into the fuselage.” She feigned a sheepish smile. “This is the result.” She could see that he had doubts about that story, but as he moved his hand up to remove hers, he seemed to accept it. After all, what else could have happened? When he got a good look at it he grimaced, and she was touched, genuinely touched by his concern.

 

Several seconds went by before she realized he was still holding her hand, and she gently slipped her hand out of his and said, “I’m fine, Lieutenant…Jonathon. Thank you.” She brought the gauze back up to her lip. “I should go and take care of this. See you later.”

 

As she walked past him he said, “You’re welcome, Commander. I hope…you’re feeling better.”

 

She kept walking but said, “Thank you.”

 

Graham walked as quickly as she could to her quarters, and once inside with the door closed, she fell onto the couch and moaned. ‘I better get some ice on this and try to get some of the swelling down’, she realized. She got up off the couch, her head screaming in protest, and moved to her refrigerator. ‘I knew this would come in handy’, she thought bitterly. After Lisa had decked her in her quarters before the MED, she went and got a reusable ice pack...though she had hoped she would never have to use it.

 

She returned to her couch, laid down again, and had just put the ice pack on her sore lip when a knock came on her door. ‘Go away’, she screamed to herself. It didn’t work, as a second later there was another knock. Holding the ice pack to her lip with her left hand, she got up and walked slowly to the door, took the handle in her free hand and opened the door. To her immense relief, the person standing on the other side was a friend.

 

Angela Marques looked at Graham with a mixture of concern and astonishment. “Sue…what happened?”

 

Graham turned around, walked back to her couch and assumed her previous position: on her back holding the ice pack to her lip with her eyes shut tight. Marques walked in, shut the door and slowly walked to the chair opposite the couch. She sat down, and after waiting several moments she asked again, this time in a stern tone meaning she wanted to know. “What happened?”

 

Graham never moved, and when she spoke her voice was muffled by the pack. “She got one of the shackles off and gave me a side kick to the face.” There was a muffled laugh and then, “I have to admit, she’s pretty fit for an older woman.” Graham went on to describe in detail her encounter with Lisa in the cave, her calculated taunting and Lisa’s reaction, namely her boot to Graham’s face. “I thought she would break emotionally, but she didn’t. She didn’t shed a tear, and even when I first got there, she just stood there looking so…I don’t know…commanding. It was irritating as hell.”

 

Graham opened her left eye enough to survey her friend, who had remained silent throughout her monologue, and noticed with some concern the waxen look upon her face. She closed the eye again and thought, ‘This is not good.’ Moaning to herself, she sat up to face Marques. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Angie and the serious doubts she was now obviously having, but she didn’t have a choice. “You’re not looking too hot, Angie. What’s up?”

 

Angie looked to the floor, wondering how to tell one of her closest, dearest friends that she thought that they had made a terrible, terrible mistake. “Admiral Hunter called me to his quarters today.” That got the reaction that Angie thought it would get. Sue perked right up and her attention level increased tenfold. “He wanted to talk to me. He’s devastated, Sue. He’s not even the same man anymore. He’ll never get over this, and it’s our fault.” Angie stood up and began to pace the floor in front of Graham. “They are a part of each other, Sue, and without her he’s not whole.” She stooped directly in front of Sue Graham, stared her straight in the face and said, “He will never love you, Sue. Even in death, she will always have all of his heart.”

 

‘Damn’, thought Graham. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to deal with this amount of doubt from Angie for at least another week or two. Despite her best assurances and her participation in her little conspiracy, Graham always knew that Angie would be the weak link, and that eventually she would bend, possibly even break. Of the three of them, Graham, Grace and Marques, Angie always had the stronger moral code. She had just hoped that if it were going to happen, it wouldn’t be yet.

 

She removed the ice pack, placed it on the couch next to her and said, “It will take time, Angie. We all knew that. We knew he was going to be hurt, for a while.”

 

“That’s just it, Sue. I don’t think he’ll get over this.” Angie looked up to observe Graham.

 

“But that’s where I come in.” She licked her lip and was irritated to find that it still hadn’t stopped bleeding. “When the time is right, I will help him, Angie. I’ll be there for him and I will give him all the love he needs.”

 

‘She isn’t budging’, Angela thought. ‘There is absolutely nothing I can say to change her mind. She’s in it until the end, full steam ahead.’ Realizing she didn’t have a chance of talking Graham out of continuing with the plan, Angie gave up. “All right, Sue. I just hope you can help him.” She stood up, looked at Sue, pointed to the ice pack and said, “Put that back on your lip. It’s still really swollen.” She turned and headed for the door opened it, and as she stepped through it, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that Sue Graham was staring daggers into her back.

 

She closed the door and began walking to her quarters, wondering all the way how she had ever agreed to be a part of the madness.

 

As Angie wondered about her involvement in Sue’s plan, Sue leaned her head against the back of the couch, placed the ice pack on her lip, closed her eyes and thought about the part of her plan that she had kept to herself. It wasn’t really part of the plan; it was more like one of her contingencies. Through her mind went time: days, weeks, months, cycles and a certain helpful little substance that very soon could be her new best friend.

 

Keeping the ice pack on her lip, she got up and went to her bedroom dresser, opened the bottom drawer and took out a metal box. She entered the appropriate code on the locking mechanism and opened the box. She checked the ammo level in her personal sidearm and left it on the dresser, replacing the box in the drawer and closing it.

 

She picked up her sidearm and regarded it appreciatively. “I’m sorry, Angie, but no one is going to stop me now.” She took a breath and let it out in a rush. “No one.”

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

After Marques had left Rick’s quarters, he sat there for hours replaying in his mind his life with Lisa. Max and Miriya came and went, and he was incredibly grateful for their unwavering support and companionship. In the early evening, Vince Grant came by with an update on what was going on in the Sit. Room. It was a relatively short brief, as nothing of consequence was really happening, other than the investigation into the explosion of Lisa’s shuttle. On that matter, Vince had nothing new to report.

 

After giving Rick the news he had come to give him, Vince stood up and prepared to leave. Max stood up as well to walk Vince to the door, and when they started to move Rick spoke up. “Guys, please sit down…there’s something we have to discuss.”

 

Max and Vince looked at each other, both wondering what was on their friend’s mind. They sat down in the seats they had just vacated and waited for Rick to speak. Instead, Rick reached for the communications panel, activated it and called the infirmary. “This is Admiral Hunter”, he said calmly, “Could I speak to Dr. Grant please?” The person asked him to wait, and a couple of seconds later Jean’s worried voice came through the speaker.

 

‘Rick, is everything all right?’

 

Realizing that Jean was spooked a little, Rick said reassuringly, “I’m fine, Jean. I’m here with Max and Vince. Could you join us please? We have something to talk about.”

 

He waited for her response, and when it came he could hear her curiosity. ‘Of course, Rick. I’ll be right up.’

 

“Thanks, Jean. Hunter out.” He looked to his friends and said, “Jean will be here soon, and Miriya should be back any second.” He got up and headed to the bathroom, and as he was closing the bathroom door behind him, he said to Vince and Max, “Then we can discuss the plans for Lisa’s memorial service.”

 

He shut the door before he heard the expected protests, and moved to the sink. He turned the cold-water faucet and let it run, and as it ran he looked at his reflection in the mirror. ‘Damn, I look like I’ve gone ten rounds with Breetai.’ Despite the fact that had slept the previous night, it didn’t seem to be doing him any good. ‘Or maybe it was just Angie’s visit, and thinking of Lisa sitting in that damn shuttle as it explod…’ He cut off the thought, cupped his hands together and reached down to the sink, letting them fill with the cold water, and when he had enough in his hands brought them up to splash the water on his face. He repeated this several times, until his hands began to tingle with the chill. He turned off the water and looked at himself again. ‘That didn’t help one little bit’, he thought sourly. He studied his image more closely and saw many little lines around his eyes that weren’t there a couple of days earlier, and if he didn’t know better, he was sure that there was a few specks of gray hair around his temples that never used to be there.

 

Not for the first time in the last few weeks, Rick Hunter thought to himself, ‘You’re getting old, Rick.’ He was tired, very tired. The emotional pounding he had been taking for the last twenty-four hours was taking its toll on him, and while he realized that, while he understood that it was happening, he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

He sighed loudly and wiped off his face with a towel, and after placing the towel in the hamper, he opened the door and walked out into the living room, only to find Miriya Sterling sitting in the recliner all by herself. He looked around, and unable to find the Grants or Max, he asked confused, “How long was I in there?”

 

Miriya smiled and stood up, adopted her best “at attention” stance and reported, “Admiral… Captain Sterling, as the senior officer present at the time, decided it was getting late in the day and ordered Commander and Dr. Grant to leave. I volunteered to remain with you, sir, so he also departed. Sir.”

 

“Miriya”, began Rick, but seeing her still standing at attention, he waved his hand and said, “as you were, or something.” She relaxed, but stood in the same place. “Miriya, I wanted to talk to you guys about Lisa’s memorial service. Max knew that.”

 

Her expression softened, and she looked at him with green eyes filled with sorrow. “We didn’t think it was a good time, Rick.”

 

“I can handle it, Miriya, it’s got to…”

 

“Perhaps you can handle it, Rick”, she interrupted. She rubbed the tears from her eyes before they had a chance to fall, and she looked at Rick, deep into his eyes and said, “But we’re not sure we can.” She hesitated for a second, lowered her eyes to the floor and added softly, almost in a whisper, “I’m not sure I can.”

 

Rick was floored. He looked at Captain Miriya Parino-Sterling, former Zentraedi Quadrano leader, ace Veritech/Alpha pilot, and wondered why he never realized how thoughtful and sensitive she was. “I’m sorry, Miriya…I never thought...” He took a deep breath, walked up to her and put his arms around her shoulders. As she slipped her arms around his waist and settled her head into his shoulder, he repeated, “I’m sorry.”

 

“Maybe tomorrow, or the next day…but not today”, she suggested in a whisper. Miriya leaned back and looked at Rick. “There is no rush to say good-bye to her.”

 

He nodded solemnly, and when he didn’t say anything Miriya asked, “Can we talk about her some more, Rick?” She stopped and added, “If you feel up to it.”

 

Rick smiled. “There is nothing that I would rather do right now, Miriya.” He released her and headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll get the tea if you get the blankets”, he said as he went, and when he disappeared into the kitchen, she smiled and headed to the closet to do her part.

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

Lisa tried for hours to remove the shackle on her left leg, but her heart just wasn’t in it. It was with Rick aboard the SDF-3. Unknown to Graham, her visit had left Lisa deeply shaken. As she worked she rotated between feelings of despair, anger and hopelessness. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t find anything positive in her situation as it stood, other than the fact that she was alive, but even that was barely positive with the expectation that Graham would keep taunting her with news of Rick. The fleet, including Rick and her friends, thought she was dead and wouldn’t be looking for her. She knew the patrol routes flew by the moon, but they never landed…there was no reason to.

 

More than all of that, some of what Graham had said hit home for Lisa. Had she ignored Rick in favor of her ship? Had she spent more time concentrating on the mission instead of her marriage? Was Rick really feeling alone? The questions haunted her as she tried to rest, and she didn’t want to think about it too much in fear of the answer.

 

Lisa closed her eyes and thought of her husband, and as her memory made him appear before her, she told him, “Watch out for Sue, Rick…be careful…and be strong.” A lone tear drifted down her cheek. “You will have to be strong, my love.” She took a shaky breath and said lovingly into the emptiness of the cave, “Remember, I will always love you.”

 

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

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