fanfic_name = Time of Our Lives

chapter = Chapter 4

author = lisav

Rating = AP15

Type = Adventure

fanfic = Captured Alive

INTRO...

With the radar tower destroyed in the latest attack, the SDF-1 was flying in the blind. Captain Gloval ordered all engines stopped. Sammy reported that it would take at least six hours to have another tower up and running.

The enemy’s offensive strength had to be ascertained thus Gloval ordered a recon vessel to be deployed.

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

When Lisa Hayes had volunteered to pilot the Cat’s-Eye recon unit, she had never expected to be captured alive by the enemy. Killed, yes, but to be captured then transported through space by a fold to the other side of the galaxy was a bit unbelievable.

Yet here she was a prisoner and billions of miles away from any known civilization. More importantly she hadn't been prepared to loose someone under her command as promising and nice as Corporal Max Sterling.

Staring out of the window of the holding cell she had shared with Rick and Ben for the last three days she could see thousands if not millions of Zentraedi battle cruisers, ships and aircrafts of all sizes and shapes.

She wondered how Earth was ever going to defend itself when the enemy finally decides to attack.

We can't win against a force this big. It's impossible.

What would her father say if he could see her now? Would he believe her if she was to tell him everything she had seen and done in the last seventy-two hours?

Would he consider her weak for being scared and feeling hopeless? At times like this she wished her father would see her as his daughter too instead of always the soldier.

Taking another deep breath, Lisa signed again.

Why can't he ever just tell me that he loves me, is proud of me and misses me sometimes? Why does everything between us have to be so formal and uncomfortable? Why did he change?

Looking away from the window, she fought the urge not to cry and screamed at life for always giving her the short end of the stick.

A good example is the situation she finds herself in right now-- Ben, sleeping like he's away at camp and could careless about anything but when he's going to eat.

While Rick, well what could she say about him other than he resented her being on this mission. He had literally told her that she was incapable of taking care of herself when he said having her around made him feel vulnerable.

His words had hurt her deeply and she had withdrawn into herself for he had attacked the one sure thing she had and knew she was good at-- her job.

Looking at him now, it still amazes her that he was still blaming her for their captured and for ordering him to kiss her when the Zentraedi high command, Dolza had demanded a demonstration of what a kiss was.

It’s not as if I had wanted to kiss him in the first place! Oh... why does he infuriate me so yet I can’t stop thinking about him?

"You can stop throwing daggers at me, Lieutenant. Use your anger and energy effectively by thinking of a plan for us to escape."

He looked at her again but said nothing and rose from his sitting position. She watched him as he crossed the room and came to sit next to her.

"Actually I do have an idea on how we can get out of here if you're game?"

Lisa was taken back by his replied. She had expected him to disagree with her, even argued with her but she hadn't expected him to look so serious and talking to her like they were equal partners sharing a secret.

Maybe I've miss judged him. I guess he does have a brain after all.

"Remember how shocked and mortified they were when we kissed? Well why don't... um... we do the same thing when the guard comes back to take us for another round of their interrogation and that yucky mush they're trying to feed us?"

He quickly continued when he saw the suspicion in her eyes, "we could use his moment of speechlessness to make a run for it."

Lisa was shocked that Rick would even suggest such a thing and was about to tell him that his plan was simply stupid but she stopped herself.

"You do have a point, Lieutenant... but I..."

Rick however cut her off before she could finished, "Look if you have a better idea, Commander Hayes I'm all for it. It's not like I wanted to kiss you in the first place..."

He realized he had just made a big blunder when he saw her sparkling green eyes turned cold, clear and as sharp as flint.

"Lisa, that's not what I mean..."

"No need to hide how you truly feel about me, Lieutenant. I assure you the feeling is mutual,” she replied back in a frosty tone.

“Why don't you go and wake up Ben so you can clue him on the plan. I'm sure the both of us have better things to do than sit here and chit chat," and she turned away from him to stare out of the window again.

You just had to open your big mouth, Hunter! Idiot!

Rick mentally kicked himself in the butt and not knowing what else to say, he got up and went to wake up Ben.

I just don’t get it. What was it about her that pisses me off all the time and makes me do or say stupid things?

...Two hours later...

"Ready?" Rick asked and Lisa nodded. Looking at Ben, he got a thump up acknowledgement and a 'Go Get Her You Stud!' smile.

Rick felt like slapping that stupid smile off Ben's face but decided that this was not the time. He mentally made a note to himself to have a serious talk with Ben later about showing proper respect to his commanding officer and turned his attention back to Lisa.

As soon as the door opened, Lisa moved in closer to him and his arms automatically went around her. He pulled her deeper into his embrace and his mouth descended on hers. They kissed hastily but thoroughly and he found himself liking the taste of her.

It was Lisa who broke the kiss and quickly made a run for the door. He was not more than two steps behind her and Ben was already out the door when he heard a voice he thought he would never hear again calling out to them.

"Hey guys, it's me, Max! Where are you guys going?"

--------

Opening his eyes, Rick realized he was lying on his back and he was soaking wet.

What happened? How did I get here?

Then slowly the memory of what happened came back to him.

Max was alive! He had some how managed to find them and then they-- all four of them were almost caught again but escaped. However they were separated during the escaped-- Lisa and he had run to the right while Max and Ben to the left.

Then one of the Zentraedi guard had caught Lisa in the weapons bay. The Zentraedi was squeezing her in the palm of his hand as if she was a toy.

He had seen red when he saw that she was crying. He still can't recalled how he managed to shoot the guard but he did and they took off running again.

That's when he felt himself falling for what seemed like an eternity and finally hitting the water, hard with his head first then there was blackness until Minmei, no... Lisa.

He was with Lisa and it was she who had pulled him out of the water, all the while whispering to him that he needed to wake up. He wondered how long he had been out and how she had managed to drag him out of the water. He felt foolish now for doubting her skills and abilities.

Running a hand through his wet hair, he turned and saw her sitting but a foot or two from him. Her hands were around her knees and her head was lying on her knees too but turned away from him. Her tightly coiled hair had come undone and it fell in long waves down to the floor.

He wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked.

His hand automatically reached out wanting to touch it when she turned and stared at him with her ever-changing green eyes.

His hand stopped in mid air and the image of having her glorious hair spread all over a pillow as she stared up at him with passion instead of sadness flashed across his mind.

He swallowed hard and mentally shook the image out of his head. Shocked and confused by his strong physical reaction to her mere hair being uncoiled, he let anger poured into his system.

Her! Why her of all the women on board the SDF-1 and... Minmei!

He hoped she never finds out that he had kissed Lisa not once but twice within a period of two days and despite his outwardly protest had enjoyed it.

Why does he always seem to be mad at me every time he looks at me? Lisa wondered and reached for the hand he had in mid air to help him sit up.

Relief shot through him as he realized Lisa had mistaken his outreached hand for assistance and he quickly grabbed onto hers and sat up.

Adjusting his eye to the semi-dark chamber, he noticed that there were debris and what looked like trash or empty boxes and crates everywhere.

Then he saw the pool of water and he remembered what she had done for him and his anger left him. If it hadn’t been for her he would have drowned.

"Glad to see you're back to your normal self again, Hunter. You know, it's not as if I pushed you down into this chamber..."

"Thank you for saving my life, Lisa", he said quickly as if not hearing the sarcastic note in her voice.

Embarrassed for always thinking the worst she dropped her eye contact with him and said quietly. "It was the least I could do. Let's just call it even, okay?"

He knew that she was referring to the Mars incident. Now that he knew her real reason for being at the base in the first place he softened towards her even more.

"I really am sorry, Lisa," he said gently and with a sincerity she had never heard from him before that she found herself telling him what she would never tell another soul.

"Eight years was a long time. I should have gotten used to it by then but I never really had a chance to say good-bye to him. One day I was talking to him; dreaming away at being his bride and the next, I was just told that he was gone as if he had never existed at all.”

Her voice broke and he could see the tears running freely down her cheeks now. “I knew what the odds were but I truly believed that he would still be there, waiting for me; just like how we planned it. I never let go of the belief that somehow love would make a difference... I loved him so much."

He watched and listened. For once in his life, he didn’t open his big mouth to insult her. Instead he did what he had wanted to do since he first saw her looking so alone and lost as she stared at Mars from the Prometheus's deck.

He pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried.

He hated to see women cry especially this woman who had always seemed so strong and in charged to him. Who was a short time ago, an old sourpuss who made it her life’s mission to humiliate and point out his shortcomings to him and everybody else in the RDF.

But now, all their arguments and constant verbal fights whether in person or over the tac net somehow seemed unimportant; meaningless to the knowledge that she trusted him enough to cry in his arms.

Women's tears had always made him feel inadequate and incompetent. But this woman's tears of lost dreams and broken promises hurt him deeply. He wished Roy was here now so he can talk to him. If there ever was a time he needed Roy's logic, reasoning and big brotherly advice that time was now.

After her tears had been spent and she still found herself being held by him she felt foolish, a bit embarrassed and wondered why a slight show of kindness from him had affected her so much and so deeply.

Slowly Lisa removed herself from his arms and blushed, not knowing what to say or do. But she knew something had changed between them. She didn’t know what it was but she could feel it. It was as if they’ve come to accept each other as human beings, fellow officers and even friends.

The silence stretched between them and still they said nothing to each other.

"Rick, I'm sorry about being too hard on you when you first joined up. I know that a lot of men have problems with assertive women in positions of authority..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rick interjected.

"Hunter! Shut up for once and listen to what I have to say first before you open your big mouth. I'm trying to apologize here but like usual, I'm wasting my time. I don't know why I even try!" Lisa glared at him and got up.

Taking a deep breath, she extended her hand to him.

"Come on, I feel a breeze coming from the tunnel up ahead. Lets check it out and see if we can get out of this place and go back home."

Kicking himself for his stupidity, he quickly grabbed Lisa's hand and gave her an uneasy smile. Once up, they made their way from the chamber into the tunnel and he felt the breeze getting stronger as they approached the light at the end of the tunnel.

He hoped that Max and Ben were able to escape as he and Lisa did and that where ever they were, they were okay. He knew without a doubt that if he and Lisa were to find a way back to the SDF-1, they would never leave Max and Ben behind. They would go back and find them, some how.

Suddenly they heard running footsteps in the back of them, fearing that it's the enemy he grabbed Lisa's hand and they started to run as fast as they could towards the light.

When they got there he realized that they were stuck. They were still on the same battle cruiser they had been in since their captured three days ago but somehow that cruiser was now inside a humongous ship whose docking bay can hold up to hundreds if not thousands of Zentraedi battle cruisers.

The sheer size of the spaceship boggled his mind and all he could do was watched in awe.

Holy crap! Who would have believed such a ship could exist.

He felt Lisa pulling him to the left and they couched down behind some crates. They waited in silence for their pursuers but became speechless when they realized who were chasing them-- Max and Ben!

Lisa and he jumped from behind them, surprising them and yelling their names out loud. Suddenly they were all hugging each other excitedly and laughed with pure joy at the knowledge that they were all still alive.

Ben even joked that all of this running around was making him very hungry while Max took a second look at Lisa, again and gave Rick a very 'oh I see now' smile as if he had just seen Lisa, the real Lisa for the firs time.

Rick groaned, knowing that it was hopeless now to convince Max that the kiss he had witnessed back there at the holding cell was only a diversion used to stun the Zentraedi guard. He was hoping to keep his attraction for Lisa a secret, just for a little bit longer anyway for it was still too new.

But he knew if Max hadn't guessed it now he would later. Max Sterling was a very astute and intuitive person besides being a genius who can handle his VT like no one Rick had ever met before.

He just hoped that Minmei would never find out for he still saw and thought of her as his girlfriend whether she had wanted to admit it or not.

Granted they have not been able to spend as much time as he would liked together and doing couples stuff like the movies, walking hand-in-hand in the park or having quiet romantic dinners and maybe sharing a few kisses here and there but that was to be expected.

She was after all, Miss Macross and busy working on her debut album. While he was a squadron leader now with responsibilities that could not be dismissed just because he felt like taking the day off.

But dammed, he missed her! It’s been forever since they had listened to each other talk about their hopes and dreams; victories and defeats. He especially missed listening to her sing for him and only him.

As they sat there and stared at the sight in front of them, Lisa noticed a battle cruiser taking on a lot of supplies as if it was going on a far away mission. She came up with a theory and after much debating; they all agreed that they would find a way to board it for anywhere was better than where they were now.

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"Hurry up guys! We're going to be left behind," Lisa said as she turned back down to look at them.

Ben was pushing down on a paddle with all his might but it not moving at all until Max jumped on to help him while Rick busied himself with switching on a stick that looked like navigational control.

They were suddenly moving and she could hear Rick telling Max and Ben to keep doing whatever it was that they were doing because he could now control the pod’s leg.

"The door is closing!" he heard Lisa hollered from where she was looking out and he knew they would not make it to the door in time.

"Hold on everyone, we're going to have to make our own door!" he yelled and pressed with all his might on a button as big as both of his hands together next to the navigational stick and blew a hole right in the side of the docking bay.

Space quickly sucked their pod out along with four others before an invisible shield was activated to stop the lost of air pressure on the Zentraedi battle cruiser.

They all cheered loudly and Rick could almost feel the anxiety and fear as well as the excitement of being home again from everyone in the pod.

From the lookout view Lisa could see that a battle was being fought. But it was far enough that they would be safe in the pod without being fired upon. She prayed her theory was right. That the cruiser they had stole away on was heading back Earth’s space.

Quickly she jumped down from where she was and ran to a consol that looked like the communication panel. The panel looked familiar to her but if her life was to depend on guessing what every button did, she knew she would not live to guess the next button.

Through trial and error, she finally figured it out how the panel worked and started sending out her SOS in Morse code to the SDF-1 in a ten minute intervals.

After what seemed like hours they finally heard Command Fokker's voice coming through the communication panel letting them know that they have been heard and will be rescued.

Max, Ben, Lisa and he hugged each other again and he felt tears burning his eyes. Turning to look at Lisa he caught her eyes.

'What's changed, Rick?'

'I don't know, Lisa.'

But the both of them knew that something had changed. Life for them would never be the same again for they were both aware now of the energy that flowed between them.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes