"Robotech - To The Stars: Aftermath - The First Year"
Chapter 20
February 19th, 2015

Lisa awoke and looked at the clock, which read 3am. She was experiencing some discomfort from the wound on her right side and decided to head to the bathroom to check on it.
She turned on the light in the bathroom and looked down at her side and saw that it was very red. At least the stiches didn't pop this time, she thought to herself. She sighed. She hated being out of commission and would much rather be working, and would much rather be able to be more mobile now that Rick was here.
She looked in the mirror and saw the stiches. They looked grotesque, reminding her of Frankenstein and she wondered if any type of plastic surgery would ever really make the scars completely invisible. She remembered Rick's words to her about it and even though they were reassuring, she felt as if she had failed him somehow.
"Minmei probably doesn't have any scars," Lisa said aloud, in a downcast tone. Just then the bathroom door opened wider and Lisa saw Rick standing there in the doorway.
Not saying a word, Rick took Lisa's hand and led her back out to the bedroom and over to a window. The light from the stars outside was bright enough to illuminate each other's faces and Rick looked into Lisa's eyes. Rick knew that he had to be careful about what he was going to do next.
Lisa waited for Rick to speak, but he didn't say a word. She wondered what was going on in his mind. Most likely, he had heard her comment about Minmei.
Lisa looked into Rick's baby blue eyes and was expecting to find a sympathetic look but instead she saw a look of confidence. Then, as an extremely pleasant surprise, she felt Rick parting her shirt and then slip it off her shoulders. She kept her arms still so the shirt could slip seemlessly onto the floor. Lisa's heart was pounding and she felt light-headed. She let out a sigh when Rick started kissing the places on her left shoulder that were not covered by bandages and she let out another sigh when she felt Rick's hands move around her sides, mid-torso, to embrace her gently.
After spending several moments on her shoulders, Rick moved his attention to Lisa's waiting lips and after a short while, Rick knew that he couldn't take too much more so he tried to calm things down slowly so as not to disappoint Lisa too soon and said, "I can't wait until these bandages come off, so that way I can have full access to these beautiful shoulders of yours..." then he hugged Lisa, trying not to hurt any of her wounds.
Rick's comment had gone a bit over Lisa's head because she was too pre-occupied trying to keep her breathing under control, let alone trying to keep herself from pushing Rick onto the bed. Once she thought about his comment and realized that he had momentarily put a halt to the direction they were heading in, she was both a tiny bit relieved and also disappointed at the same time.
Rick was silent and still but she could feel his heart beating against her skin and it was beating just as furiously as hers. She knew that being there, skin to skin with Rick, was not only sweet agony for her but most likely agony for him as well and it was taking a huge amount of complete self-control for Rick to restrain himself from taking things further.
After a few more moments, Rick couldn't stand it anymore and bent down to pick up Lisa's shirt and handed it back to her. Lisa started putting her shirt back on and chuckled when she saw Rick wipe the sweat off his forehead.
Rick let out a fake growl and said, "I don't know how much more of this I'm going to be able to take, my self-control is running verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry thin."
Lisa laughed and countered, "And you don't think I'm in the same boat?!"
"Oh, I'm sure you are! I'm a very irresistible guy," replied Rick with a smirk.
Lisa rolled her eyes then put her arms around Rick's neck and said quietly, "Yes you are very irresistable...and you're such a gentleman."
Rick kissed Lisa's cheek then said, "Well...I had treated you with such disrespect over the past several years, it's about time I do right and treat you with the utmost respect. But it's not merely because of guilt, it's because I love you, and I couldn't stand to treat you any other way but with the utmost respect...You are my queen, and I am your humble servant."
A knot stuck in Lisa's throat and she couldn't reply. She was immensely happy and wish that she and Rick could leave that moment and go away somewhere where they could be alone for months on end. She heard the nagging of duty in the back of her mind but bade it be silent and allowed herself a few moments to just daydream about what she and Rick would do and where they would go for a vacation.
After a few moments of silence, Rick sensed Lisa's weight starting to shift more onto him and he could tell that she was most likely starting to fall asleep, so he escorted her over back to the bed and helped her in then took his place next to her and brushed the hair away from her face and wished her goodnight and watched her until she fell asleep.
Rick couldn't help but worry as he gazed at Lisa. Claudia had told Rick that Lisa had a self-confidence problem, as far as matters of the heart went, and as already witnessed, it seemed her self-confidence was diminished by the injuries she sustained recently. Rick needed to figure out a way to show Lisa how desirous he thought she was yet at the same time not make it seem that he was doing it merely as a confidence booster. Hopefully, Rick thought, their past moments with each other had shown Lisa just how much Rick was attracted to her.
Rick looked at Lisa once again and his anxiousness started to disappear. He was where he belonged, with the person who was his soulmate, and he didnt' want to be anywhere else or with anyone else. He thought about the tough new RDF job ahead of him but knew that as long as Lisa was by his side, he could face things with more confidence than he could if he were without her, without her it would be so easy to give up. Rick smiled as he looked at Lisa one more time before closing his eyes and, after daydreaming about the woman by his side, Rear Admiral Rick Hunter drifted into a peaceful slumber.

* * * * * * *

BANG!!
Vanessa was tossed out of her bunk and landed on the floor, several objects from the one shelf she had in her room falling on top of her. As she covered her head to protect herself from the shower of books and nicknacks, she heard a deep, low moan come from the ship, then some creeking, and then all was quiet.
Vanessa waited for the alarms to sound but after sitting still for a minute, everything was still quiet. She got up and was about to start changing into her uniform when finally the captain came on the horn.
"Hello everyone, sorry for the rude awakening, it seems we ran into a little booby trap, but nothing to worry about. We have passed through the questionable area and a team is out doing inspections as we speak. If you see anything out of the ordinary or any damage, please report it to your section chief immediately. That is all."
Vanessa huffed her bewilderment and grumbled as she reached for her glasses, "...'nothing to worry about'?! We 'ran into a little booby trap'?! Nothing to worry about my aaasss! Something strange is going on here....."
Vanessa's phone rang and it was Captain Clemson.
"Good morning Captain, no doubt you heard my message. And no doubt you are headed on your way here to the bridge, but rest assured we have everything under control and your assistance is not required. You can come in at your normal shift time," said Clemson cheerfully.
"Begging your pardon Captain, but as Third Officer, shouldn't I be present ASAP? And isn't there suppose to be follow-up reports that I should be doing?" asked Vanessa, addressing the Captain with a little bit more irritation than she should have.
Clemson's tone changed and he said neutrally, "I appreciate your committment to duty Captain, but I can assure you, we have things under control. I shall have Finn give you a full briefing when you arrive on duty later this morning. Good day to you Captain."
"Yes sir, thank you sir, good day," answered Vanessa quietly.
After she hung up the phone Vanessa she regretted her tone with Clemson. She had gotten the little habit of talking back to superiors from Kim and had gotten away with it mostly everytime she did it, but that was back in Macross and here she was an outsider and didn't know how things really ran and had no wish to make any enemies, especially with the captain. And, if something were up, and the Captain were involved somehow, she would be putting herself in a precarious position if he thought she was on to him.
Vanessa sighed loudly and sat back down on her bunk. "I'm being paranoid again. Stop it V!" she said aloud. She knew that if she had one wish right now, she wished that one of her friends were there with her so she could talk about the situation. But she was alone. Well...not really...she had Joe and Zenta to talk to and they, especially Zenta, seemed to have the same something-is-up feeling as Vanessa did.
Vanessa thought to go and speak to one or both of them and so she popped her head out her door to see who was in the hallways. She found that there were quite a few people milling around and she thought she had seen Finn off in the distance. She decided to stay in her room until duty time because she didn't want to arouse any attention by seemingly whispering in the corner with other Officers. Especially if Clemson told Finn to keep an eye on her, it was best if she kept out of his sight.
"You're being paranoid again V," she said again. She laughed at herself but in the back of her mind she could not shake her apprehensions and suspicions. She laid back down on her bunk and hoped time would fly fast so that she could talk to Joe and Zenta at breakfast.

* * * * * * *

Miriya waited in the driveway for Claudia and when Claudia finally came out of the house, Miriya shouted, "Rise and shine Claudia!"
Claudia bit her tongue to keep from laughing. She smiled at Miriya and got in the car and said, "Miriya honey, you use that expression when you want someone to wake up or when someone is just waking up."
"Ohhhhhh," said Miriya. "Thank you for the correction. Aha! I can use that on Max tommorrow morning!"
Claudia grinned then made sure her seatbelt was secured tightly. Everyone knew it was a risk to ride in a car with Miriya behind the wheel.
"Did you hear the news about Rick? He accepted his promotion! Max told me last night," said Miriya excitedly.
"Yes, I heard that last night too, and he went up to the Satellite to see Lisa," added Claudia.
Miriya hit a pothole at a rather high rate of speed, causing Claudia to bump her head on the roof. Miriya didnt' seem aware of this and replied with a smile, "I'm sure Lisa was very happy to see him."
Claudia, rubbing her head, commented, "Yes, I'm sure she was." Claudia looked out the window then asked, "Miriya, where are we going?"
Miriya smiled and ran over a speed bump, causing Claudia to bump her head again.
"Lady Hialeah hath summoned thee," replied Miriya.
Claudia stared at Miriya and then asked, "Miriya, were you reading a Shakespeare book again?"
Miriya made a sharp turn, causing Claudia to slide against the door and then said, "I didst, last night yonder. 'Twas very enlightening I thinketh."
Claudia cleared her throat and tried to keep from bursting out laughing, "Miriya, people don't speak like that nowadays."
"Why not?" asked Miriya innocently. "I find the language useage very interesting."
"Well, it's...nevermind, I'll explain it some other time. Now, why are we going to Hialeah's? What does she want?"
Miriya sped up through a yellow light and said, "She wants to give you an award, for your bravery when you saved us."
Claudia scrunched her face in bewilderment but said nothing and made sure her door was locked so that she wouldn't fly out of the car during the next crazy turn Miriya made. After several more miles they came to Hialeah's office and Miriya pulled the car into the parking lot, apparently either not noticing or not caring that she ran over the concrete stopper slab and slightly hit the car in front of her. Claudia remained seated in the car wondering if she should make Miriya aware of the situation, but after thinking about it she just shrugged and got out of the car. Miriya had done this type of thing before and so there was no need to panic, Max always took care of the problem, some how.
"You sure do have a good insurance company," mused Claudia.
"What?" asked Miriya as she walked towards Hialeah's office.
"Nothing," chuckled Claudia as she followed Miriya through the door.

Upon entering Hialeah's office, both women went through their own flashbacks of what occurred the last time they were there.
For Miriya it was a strange feeling, she was still not use to the Micronian of letting past events prey upon her mind, but this event had and in particular the incident of rescuing Rick and Lisa from the Quadranos preyed upon her mind that sometimes she had insomnia. Max, the ever patient and loving husband, had tried to help her work through her feelings but the fact was that he just couldn't understand what she was going through. She thought about maybe going to see, what was that word the Micronians used for doctors who treated anxieties.....psychopologists? She thought about it some more and going to see a 'psychopologist' would make her appear weak and there was a certain stigma, she noticed, that seemed to be attached to people who needed treatment from a psychopologist. She didn't want to be stigmatized more than she was and so she decided that she'd take some time later in the day to try and figure out which of her friends could come the closest to understanding her troubles.
As for Claudia, she thought back to her surreal encounter with Roy. It was bittersweet and she could still remember nearly every word of their conversation. He wanted her to be happy, he wanted her to find someone... She smiled to herself and wondered if Roy would approve. Of course he would.
Claudia's thoughts were interrupted when Uradana's loud footsteps greeted them from the main hallway. Both women looked at Uradana with a slight sense of trepidation. For her part, Uradana simply nodded her head in acknowledgement and went into a nearby room. Claudia and Miriya traded relieved looks and then heard the approaching footsteps of, if they remembered correctly, Hialeah's servant, Jigo.
"This way please, Lady Hialeah is expecting you," said Jigo, motioning with his hand to follow them.
Miriya and Claudia followed him to a door then climbed up the long flight of steps to get to the Micronian walkway that led into Hialeah's new office.
Hialeah stood up and said, "Brave warrioresses, welcome to my new office. I designed it myself, isn't it spectacular?"
Claudia said politely, "Yes, it's very nice."
Miriya, on the other hand, blurted out, "You did the interior designing yourself?!"
Hialeah, pleased by Miriya's interest, replied, "Yes I did, and I must say it was most enjoyable. Do you do designing at your home Miriya?"
Miriya walked closer to Hialeah and started jabbering in Zentraedi, every once in awhile pointing to some items in the room. Claudia watched them for awhile and then sighed and sat on the edge of Hialeah's desk and dangled her feet absently and hoped that the two Zentraedis who had a penchant for interior decorating, would finish their little chit-chat soon.
Some 30 minutes later, Miriya and Hialeah remembered that Claudia was there and Hialeah quickly announced what her plans for reward were.
"My brave companions, I have a proposition for the both of you. Now, I know that you think I am going to ask you to macronize but you have already given me your answer regarding that and I understand. Let me just make a comment and say that if you ever change your mind, you are more than welcome to come to me for assistance. Now, what my proposition is is this. I would very much like for Miriya to take a position in my administration. She would still remain part of the RDF, nothing would change. The duties would be to act as a liason between the RDF and my local government and work on Zentraedi-related issues. From what I hear, you are already doing something similar within your own RDF. I believe it is called the Zentraedi Placement office? You would be doing the same work for me and you would have more authority in our side of the process. How does that sound Miriya?"
Miriya thought about it for awhile. She did enjoy the small amounts of work she did for the Zentraedi Placement unit and she was gaining an increasing awareness and wish to help the Zentraedi and their plights in a Micronian world.
Claudia watched Miriya and saw that Miriya was actually considering the opportunity.
"Lady Hialeah, what about RDF command? I do not know if they would allow me time off from my flight duties," pondered Miriya.
Hialeah waved her hand and said, "Do not worry about that, I have already spoken to your commanders and told them that I was going to offer you this position. They had no objections, that man, what's his name, Maistroff, yes Maistroff was the one I spoke to and he did not object."
Claudia and Mirya gave each other a puzzled look and Claudia sought clarification, "Begging your pardon Lady Hialeah, are you sure it was Maistoff whom you spoke to?"
"Yes, it was he, the one with the sour look on his face," said Hialeah.
Miriya and Claudia smiled at each other and Claudia replied, "Yes, that's the one."
Miriya looked at Hialeah and said, "Lady Hialeah, thank you for the offer, please allow me a few days to think about it."
Hialeah gave a pleased smile. Miriya did not say no right away, and that was a good sign. Hialeah decided to not overplay her cards so she didn't push Miriya anymore on the subject and turned to Claudia and stated, "Now, as for our brave Captain Grant, I have a reward for your brave deeds, displayed here several weeks ago. I do not let bravery go unrewarded. I would like to present you with the Quadrano Medal of Honor. I have had a micronian-sized one made for you."
Claudia smiled and thanked Hialeah and then noticed that Miriya was staring at her with a wide-eyed look, something that was rare from Miriya. Claudia chuckled and asked Miriya, "Honey, what's the matter?"
Miriya, still wide-eyed, replied, "The Quadrano Medal of Honor is one of the highest awards among Zentraedi, even I haven't received that award."
"I see..." said Claudia.
Hialeah had Togo bring out the medal and they went through a few minutes fanfare for the presentation. After the ceremony was over, Miriya told Hialeah that she would consider her offer and call her after she had a few days to think about it.
When they left the office, Claudia went to her side of the car but and was greeted by what looked like coolant, all over the floor near her door. She looked at Miriya who was busy getting her keys and said, "Uh...Miriya, girl, I think we might have a problem."
Miriya looked up with skepticism and asked, "What kind of problem are you talking about?"
Claudia motioned for Miriya to come over to her side of the car and when Miriya saw the coolant, she frowned then went to look at the front of the car. She studied the car for a few moments then opened up the hood and tossed her keys at Claudia and told her to start the car.
Claudia turned the key in the ignition and got a sputter and then the motor died. Miriya told her to try again and again the results were the same. Miriya closed the hood and came over to Claudia and said in an annoyed tone, "Not again. Ok, I know a mechanic just a few blocks from here, we'll take the car over to him and he should be able to fix it."
Claudia got out of the car and asked, "Ok, which tow truck company do you want me to call?"
Miriya looked at her as if she were crazy and said, "Tow trucks will charge me....'an arm and a leg' even though it's only a few blocks away. We can push the car over there."
"Push the car?!" exclaimed Claudia.
"Yes, it's only 3 blocks," replied Miriya.
Claudia looked down the street and then at Miriya and said, "Yes but those are long blocks."
Miriya waved her hand dismissively and said, "Nonesense, we will get there in know time, come on."
Claudia knew it was very difficult to win an argument with Miriya so she looked at her watch then called her aide to tell him that she was going to be late, and followed Miriya's directions and started pushing the car.

After 20 minutes, a very exhausted Claudia and Miriya arrived at the auto mechanic's garage only to find that it was closed, the mechanic had gone on vacation. Miriya muttered a curse and then sighed and said, "Well, I guess I'll have to call Max."
"Why didn't we just call him in the first place?" asked Claudia, wiping her brow.
"Because he told me the next time I break the car, he would make me pay for the repairs myself," replied Miriya with a pout.
"Miriya honey, how many cars have you gone through or broken?" asked Claudia.
Miriya started counting and answered, "I believe, since we settled in New Macross, 5 cars."
"Five cars?!!" said Claudia with disbelief.
"Is that bad?" asked a repentant Miriya.
"Yes honey, that's quite bad," answered Claudia.
Miriya sighed again and Claudia tried to say as sympathetically as possible, "Well, honey, you're going to have to get used to catching the bus."
Miriya stared at her with disbelief and said, "But Claudia, there is no way I can catch a bus, it is much bigger than I am, it will crush me!"
Claudia put her hand to her forehead then said, "Miriya, just call Max, I'll explain to you the 'catch the bus' idiom later."

* * * * * * *

Lisa opened one eye and then the other and saw the door slightly open and could smell the scent of her favorite flavor of coffee. She looked next to her and saw that Rick wasn't there and then she looked at the clock and saw that it was 8am. She could guess that Rick was the source of the smell of coffee so she went to the bathroom to freshen up and then walked out to the living room, where she saw Rick straightening his uniform jacket. He didn't know she was there and so Lisa remained quiet so as not to startle Rick. When Rick finally turned around he saw Lisa standing in the doorway and he smiled at her. Lisa walked over to him and gave him a good morning kiss.
"Well, Admiral, good morning to you too," mused a very content Rick Hunter.
Lisa was going to reply with something along the lines of Rick being an Admiral but decided to hold off and instead asked, "What are you doing today?"
Rick hugged her and replied, "Breetai and Exedore wanted to have a meeting with me then Kim was going to take me on a tour then I was planning on taking her on a little VT training run." Rick looked at Lisa and watched carefully to see what her reaction would be to the word "VT".
Lisa put on a poker face and shook her head and said, "Sounds like you have a busy day today."
Rick ran his finger over Lisa's cheek and said quietly, "Not really, I only have my morning time occupied. I expect that I should be able to get off work sometime this afternoon and I intend on spending the rest of the day with you."
Rick saw Lisa beam a smile at him and her eyes lit up. He knew he had made her happy and so he continued telling her his itinerary for the rest of the day.
"After my meetings I would come home and we can have an early dinner maybe, then if you're feeling up to it, I could take you for a walk around the new observation deck they put in. I saw it on my way here and it's really nice, I think you'll like it. Then after that, we can come back here and watch a movie or something and have dessert and just spend a nice quiet evening together. How does that sound, did you have anything else planned or that you wanted to do?" asked Rick.
Lisa shook her head and smiled, "No Rick, that sounds like a perfect evening to me."
"Very well then, we're all set for a nice relaxing date for tonight then. I'll call you around lunch time, or stop by if I can, so I can check and see how you're doing," smiled Rick.
Lisa held his hand as he walked to the door and before opening the door Rick asked, "So....do you need help with your bandages right now, I mean before I go to work? I could help you that's no problem you know I..."
Lisa slowly grinned at Rick, who looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Why Rick Hunter...do I sense an ulterior motive at work here...?"
Rick scratched his head and tilted his head to one side and stammered, "Well...I mean..."
Lisa chuckled and teased, "You want another hug like last night, don't you?"
"I...uh...well..." mumbled Rick.
Lisa laughed and started pushing him out the door, "You're going to be late for work, maybe, if you're good, you can have a hug later when you get home."
Rick smiled and winked at Lisa. Lisa rolled her eyes and blew Rick a kiss and Rick grinned and said, "Alright honey, I'll be home later."
Lisa closed the door and had to smile, she thought it was very strange, but very good to have gone through this little married-couple like exchange. She was going to stay home and Rick was going off to work. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this domesticated. For the past 10 years she had had very little time to relax and just be a normal person and appreciate the small, seemingly uninteresting things in life. Lisa sat down on the couch and sighed with contentment.
So far, Rick seemed to be accepting his new command and she had no doubt he could do the job well. He was here with her, if just for a few days, and she wanted to make the most out of their time together. She thought back to the hug they shared in the early morning and could not help but smile from ear to ear. They were becoming closer, they both knew it and could feel it and Lisa was overjoyed to know that finally, she was on the right track to happiness at last.
Lisa had the whole day ahead of her with nothing to do except read up on a few reports, so she thought that she was feeling strong enough and decided to try and do some things around the 'house.' She went to the kitchen and looked through the refrigerator and was pleased to find enough food in there that she thought she could come up with something for dinner. It had been awhile since she had last cooked and she thought she had better get reaquainted with the kitchen so she could cook Rick a meal every now and then.
Lisa stood in the middle of the kitchen and tried to formulate her schedule for the day. She spoke out loud and said, "First...have a cup of coffee, go take a nice hot shower, read a few reports, cook dinner, and wait for my honey to come home." Lisa smiled then set her eyes on the coffeepot and poured herself a cup, hoping it would give her the energy jolt she needed for the rest of the day.

* * * * * * *

"Hunter is here, incase you haven't heard by now," said the woman in an annoyed tone of voice.
"Yeah, I know," answered Kohl.
"The Boss isn't going to be happy about this," replied the woman.
"Don't worry, our goal is to keep Hayes and the mining operation delayed for a week right? We're almost there. Now that Hunter is here on a little visit, I doubt if Hayes will leave to go anywhere and will be spending all her time with him," said Kohl unconcerned.
"Very well, you seem quite convinced that we can accomplish our goal," said the woman.
"I am certain we can, and if things don't go as planned, I'm sure we can think of something to take care of the problem," replied Kohl, looking at his watch.
The elevator bell chime sounded and the nurse, not saying a word or giving a look at Kohl, walked out of the elevator and back to her nurses station.

* * * * * * *

Zenta stretched and yawned then dropped her pen on the floor. Vanessa reached down to pick it up for her and while trying to retrieve the pen, Zenta put a note into Vanessa's hand and whispered, "Read it when you go to the bathroom."
Zenta then sat up in her chair and cheerfully thanked Vanessa for getting her pen for her. Vanessa had a very brief report of the 'boobytrap incident' from the XO when she arrived on the bridge and was not pleased with the skimpy briefing. The note from Zenta sounded as if it promised to be some bit of information that the XO nor Captain Clemson had mentioned to Vanessa and so Vanessa, eager to read it, waited 10 minutes then headed towards the bathroom to read Zenta's note...

Word is, there was flooding in the torpedo bays and damage to number 2 reactor. Dispose of this message completely.

Vanessa re-read the note several times and was trying to keep herself calm, although she was fuming like a bull. She couldn't understand why she had not been informed of the damage and decided to do a little investigating to see who knew what and who was covering up. She returned to her station and kept quiet until it was lunch time and Captain Clemson was making his way off the bridge.
"Captain Clemson sir, I ate a big breakfast and wasn't planning on having lunch so would it be alright if I go and take a look at the torpedo bays? I have yet to see them," said Vanessa, trying to sound innocently curious.
Clemson gave the XO a quick look then turned Vanessa and smiled, "I'm sorry Captain, but they are doing some maintenance in the bays now, perhaps tommorrow?"
"Sure no problem Captain," replied Vanessa.
"Thank you for being understanding Captain, oh by the way, Finn is coming with me so you have the bridge, good day," said Clemson and he tipped his hat then left the bridge with Finn following behind him.

* * * * * * *

"Miriya, didn't I tell you you have to be more careful, especially if you're parking in spots that have concrete stoppers," said a weary Max.
"I know Max, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting," explained Miriya.
Max looked at Claudia who only shrugged. Max took out his phone and then called for the tow truck, which arrived 10 minutes later.
"I'll take the car in, you girls can use my car for now," said Max as he pulled the keys out of his pocket.
"But Maximillian how will you get back to the base?" asked Miriya.
"Don't worry, I'll most likely hop a ride on the bus, because I think all the rental cars in the city are still all rented out," said Max.
Max was about to hand the keys to Miriya but then he snatched them away at the last minute and said, "On second thought...maybe...Claudia, will you do the driving today please?"
"But Maximillian! Please, let me drive!! I promise to be careful," whined Miriya.
Claudia stared at Miriya; she had never seen her act that way before.
"Miriya, no. Now, we cannot affored to be without both cars alright? Let Claudia drive and when I get back to the base and it's time for us to go home, I'll wait for you and I'll drive us home," said Max as if he were talking to a disobedient child.
Miriya gave Max a small pout then went to the passenger side of the car and got in and slammed the door close and waited. Max handed the keys to Claudia with a chuckle. Claudia looked at Miriya again and then at Max and then whispered to him, "That was the scariest thing I ever saw."
Max laughed and asked, "What, you mean Miriya whining and throwing a temper tantrum?"
Claudia nodded her head.
"It IS very scary isn't it. And you know what, she picked it up from Dana. When Dana turned Terrible Two and started throwing tantrums, Mir asked me, 'Maximillian, why does Dana do that?' and I told her it was natural for people to throw tantrums sometimes when they wanted something. And Mir asked me if it worked, and I made the HUGE mistake of telling her that sometimes it did actually work. I tried to tell her that it's never good to throw a tantrum, but I think her hearing shut off after I said that tantrums worked sometimes," said Max.
Claudia whispered again and asked, "So you mean...does Miriya throw a tantrum on a regular basis?"
Max wore a huge grin and replied, "Not anymore thank goodness, not after I told her that throwing a tantrum was a sign of weakness and that it was a 'micronian disciplinary problem'. But, once in awhile, like today, she forgets."
"Maximillian! What is the holdup?" shouted Miriya from the car.
Max lightly pushed Claudia along, telling her, "You better go before she gets mad at you too."
Claudia smiled and then quickly got into the car and started the motor, aware that Miriya was watching her driving routine.
After about a mile of driving, Miriya said, "I'm a good driver you know."
Claudia smiled at her then turned her eyes back to her driving.
"Do you not think I'm a good driver Claudia?" asked Miriya.
Claudia was now put on the spot and she needed to think quickly, "I...I have not been in the car with you long enough to be able to give an adequate assessment of your driving skills Miriya."
Miriya rolled her eyes and said, "Have you been hanging around Exedore too much? That sounds like something he would say."
Claudia remained silent for a moment then said, "Hey, Miriya, you used the phrase 'hanging around'!"
"I did?" asked a surprised Miriya.
"Yes yes, you said, 'Have you been hanging around Exedore too much?'" replied Claudia.
Miriya sat up straighter in her seat, "Well, that's right, I did!"
Claudia smiled in amusement at Miriya's childlike pride in her accomplishment and breathed a sigh of relief that she, for the moment, escaped having to tell Miriya that she was a bad driver.

* * * * * * *

"Admiral Hunter, we are very pleased to have you aboard the Satellite," said Exedore in his usual diplomatic manner.
"Thanks Exedore, it's good to be here. I really didn't get much chance to look around the last time I was here," replied Rick.
Kim went around the table pouring everyone a cup of coffee then looked at the videolink monitor and said to Breetai, "Sorry Commander Breetai, looks like you miss out on some good Cappuccino."
Breetai looked at her with a perplexed look then asked her, "Is that the same thing as this 'Cappuchin' thing that Miriya keeps emailing me about?"
Kim laughed and answered, "Yes sir, it is."
Breetai nodded his head, "Ahh I see, well, the next time I am micronized, I shall make sure to try some."
Kim smiled then sat down and fixed a few papers before starting her slide presentation.
"Admiral Hayes has asked me to gather your opinions on these personel assignments," started Kim, then she went through giving a small report on about 3 dozen people that Lisa requested be assigned to the SDF-3 construction project.
After taking several hours to evaluate all the recommendations and decide on a list of candidates who should be called for an in-person interview with Breetai, the group dispersed and Rick told Kim he wanted to pick something up for lunch for Lisa.

As Rick and Kim were walking down the hall, they heard a holler from behind them and turned around to see two men walking towards them, one of them at a jogging pace.
"Hey Rick! Oh...excuse me, Admiral Rick," said a jovial man in his late thirties.
Rick clasped the man's hand as soon as the man was near enough and gave it a hearty shake, "Brent! I didn't know you were stationed up here? How are you? I haven't seen you since the SDF came back to earth! How is your girlfriend?"
Brent gave a loud laugh and replied, "Not girlfriend, wife. And I am still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad thing," then he burst into loud laughter again.
Rick and his friend spent a few moments catching up on old times when Brent remembered he needed to introduce people.
"Hey, sorry, let me introduce you to Lieutenant Kirk Kohl, he just got assigned to me today," said Brent.
Kohl held out his hand but Rick froze. Kim looked back and forth at both men nervously. Finally Rick stiffly held out his hand and shook Kohl's hand, saying, "Kohl...aren't you the pilot who brought Admiral Hayes up here?"
Rick stared at Kohl and Kohl stammered, "Yes...I was the one. I'm very sorry Admiral, I, there's no excuse for my lack of ability. That's why I've been reassigned."
Kohl glanced over at Kim with a look that seemed to say, 'help me out here' and Rick picked up on it looked at Kim from out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.
Rick, remembering Lisa's request not to get upset at Kohl and Rick not wanting to cause any trouble himself, satisfied in knowing that Kohl was relieved of his previous duties, tried to calm his anger and simply said, "Brent, it's nice seeing you again, we'll have to grab lunch sometime before I leave, which...actually is the day after tommorrow. Good day gentlemen."
Rick started to walk away and Kim followed but Kim called out, "Commander Young, could I speak to you for a moment?"
Kohl studied Rick's reaction and saw Rick give Kim a confused and somewhat irrate look. Kim remained in her spot and when she saw that Kohl wasn't going to leave and was in fact heading towards them, she decided to keep as much distance between Rick and Kirk as much as possible and so Kim headed towards Kohl to see what he wanted.
"Hey, do you want to go out to lunch or dinner today?" asked Kohl, trying hard not to snicker and keeping his eye on an irritated Rick.
"No, I do NOT want to go out to lunch or dinner with you alright? Now please don't ask me again," returned an annoyed Kim.
"But I thought we were friends," replied Kohl.
"Well, we're not friends friends, we're just like acquaintances you know. And if you thought otherwise then I'm sorry to have mislead you," said Kim, hoping Kohl would not press her on the issue.
Kohl sighed then pepped up and smiled, "Ok, if that's the way it has to be, but if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to look me up," then he playfully gave her a gentle sock in the arm and walked away.
Kim didn't want to turn around, she was afraid of the angry look she expected to see on Rick's face. When she finally did turn around the look was there and Rick was walking towards her.
"What the hell was that all about, how could you be fraternizing with the guy that nearly got Lisa killed?!" said an angry Rick.
Kohl, on his walk down the opposite end of the hallway, managed to hear a commotion going on behind him and could not help but smirk.

"I...I..." mumbled Kim.
"You what?! My gosh do you flirt with everyone, no matter who they are?!" said Rick.
Kim didn't know what to say and so she stormed away, wanting to get away from Rick.
"Kim, wait!" called out Rick as he followed after her.
Kim quickened her pace and Rick had to sprint to catch up to her. There were people coming down the hall so Rick sighed tiredly and said, "Ok, let's just go pickup lunch for Lisa and we'll talk about this later."
Kim nodded and they walked in silence towards the elevator. Rick stood in front of the elevator with his hands in his pockets and said, "Alright look, I'm sorry."
"It's ok. But I just want you to know, I'm not dating him or anything, even though he wants to. I mean, I just had a dinner or two with him and I told him just now that there's nothing more and that I don't want him asking me out anymore," explained Kim.
She could see the hurt look on Rick's face and she knew too that she was somewhat in the wrong for being too friendly with the man who nearly got Lisa killed.
"Listen, let's just forget it for now. You're gonna have to lead the way, I dont' know my way around here. We need to pickup some lunch for Lisa. And...if you still want to, we can go on that VT training run," said Rick as he leaned against the wall.
"Are you sure? I mean, wouldn't you rather spend that time with Lisa?" asked Kim.
"I had already told her my plans for the day and she knew we were suppose to go out on that run, so we might as well go, or else she'll get suspicious and when we go see her try and be cheerful, I don't want her to know we had this little spat. You know how perceptive she is, if even one of us is frowning she'll figure it out," answered Rick.
Kim nodded then punched the appropriate elevator button and she and Rick headed towards the one and only Deli on the Satellite.

Kim opened the door to Lisa's quarters and she and Rick walked into the living room. The television was on but they didn't see Lisa anywhere. Rick headed towards the couch and saw that Lisa was asleep. He smiled as he sat down on the armrest. Kim came over and whispered, "Should I leave?" Rick shook his head no and then Kim whispered again, "You're going to wake her up?" Rick was still looking at Lisa and still smiling and shook his head yes.
Rick put the lunch bag down on the coffeetable then knelt down on the floor so he could see Lisa's face. He gently brushed the hair from her eyes and said quietly, "Lisa. Lisa wake up."
Lisa mumbled and Rick kissed her on the cheek and said again, "Lisa wake up. Lunch is here."
Lisa's eyes managed to focus and she saw Rick's handsome face smiling in front of her.
"Hey there sleepyhead, we brought you lunch. How long have you been asleep?" asked Rick.
Lisa, with Rick's help, sat up carefully and looked at the clock then replied, "Only for about a half an hour."
Rick laughed and said, "Suuuuuuure. I'm sorry I woke you up but I couldn't help it." Then Rick put his arms carefully around Lisa's waist and kissed her.
Kim quickly pulled out her cellphone and snapped a picture of Rick and Lisa as they were kissing. The couple heard the sound and looked behind them. Kim shrugged and said, "Hey well, I mean, come on, I have to have something interesting to send back in my daily email to Sammie."
Rick and Lisa laughed then Kim announced, "I'm going to my quarters to change into my flight suit. Rick, just come over and knock when you're ready to go."
Kim left and Rick turned to Lisa and asked her, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling pretty good, actually, I was thinking of cooking dinner," replied Lisa with a smile.
"Cook dinner? For me?" asked Rick with a dopey look on his face.
"Not just for you, for me too, and Kim, if she wants to take some home with her, which I'm sure she will," replied Lisa with amusement.
"That sounds great, what are you going to cook?" asked Rick.
"Well, I have stuff here for Lasgna, but I think maybe you need to stop and get something for dessert," answered Lisa, trying to remember what she saw in the refrigerator.
"Dessert is no problem, in fact, I think someone named Kim Young owes us a cheesecake," said Rick, nodding with a get-even gleam in his eye.
Lisa laughed and then asked Rick, "How long will you be?"
Rick thought for a moment then replied, "We shouldn't be more than 2 hours."
Lisa nodded then tried to stand up. After a little help from Rick, she made her way to the kitchen and said, "Then, I better get started on the Lasgna now."
Rick followed her and asked, "Are you sure you're alright, I mean, I don't want you to overdo it now."
Lisa nodded, "No, I'm fine. I need to start moving around more. We're already behind schedule and I know Breetai wants to make that space fold as soon as possible."
Rick carefully slid his arms around Lisa's waist and said, "Yes ma'am. I was just checking. I worry about you you know."
Lisa took Rick's right hand then turned around into his arms, "I know and thank you for looking out for me."
Rick smiled then gave her another kiss then headed off to change into his flight suit as Lisa started her preparations for the Lasgna.

* * * * * * *

"Are you ok back there?" asked Rick over his shoulder.
"Affirmative," answered Kim.
"Ok, now, I'll take us out of here, then hand the controls over to you so you can get used to them," stated Rick as he checked his instruments.
"Alright. Say, Rick...?" said a wary Kim.
"Yeah what is it?" replied Rick distractedly.
"Are they sure the sector is clear? I mean, I don't want to get caught in a situation like Lisa did or anything like that. I wouldn't know what to do and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help you much," said Kim quietly.
Rick initially had his feelings hurt but as he analyzed Kim's comment more, he realized it had nothing to do with her lack of confidence in his flying abilities, rather she most likely was afraid of being caught in a perilous predicament, and she had surely had her fill of those recently. Rick tried to calm her nerves by replying, "Please try not to worry. Remember, I'm an ace pilot and I'll be especially careful since I have precious cargo onboard. At the first sign of any trouble we will hightail it out of here."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply-" stuttered Kim.
"I understand Kim, I understand why you're a little bit nervous," said Rick in a comforting tone.
"When I flew to Costa Rica I slept the entire trip, but this is different," replied Kim.
Rick looked in his rear view mirror and was serious as he asked, "Kim. If this is making you too nervous, we can cancel today and try another time."
Kim remained quiet for a moment then shook her head, "No. I...I think this training will come in handy and there's no one who'd I'd rather train with than you Rick."
Rick nodded then said, "Just remember, if things are making you too nervous, just let me know and we'll head home."
"Roger," answered Kim, trying to cheer herself up.

"Ok, time to switch the controls over to you now Kim, are you ready?"
"Yes sir, I'm ready!" replied Kim enthusiastically.
Kim flew for about 30 minutes without event then Rick said, "Alright, now switch us over to Gerwalk mode, it will buck a little bit but don't be afraid, it will smooth out quickly."
"Aye aye captain," saluted Kim, then she flipped the switch.
Kim flew them around for ten more minutes then Rick checked a few instruments before saying, "Now, listen very carefully. We are going to switch seats. This can only be done in space, or else when me and Sammie had gotten ambushed on the way to New Portland, we would've done it. Now, make sure your suit and helmet are on absolutely perfectly. There can be no leaks anywhere. Once you're done checking that then I want you to put us carefully down over there on that small piece of meteor over to your left and I'll open the canopy so we can switch seats."
"Got it," replied Kim a bit nervously.
Rick picked up on it and asked one more time, "Kim, we don't have to do this if you don't want to, just let me know."
"I'm ok, let's do it!" said Kim, trying to put on a brave front.
Kim followed Rick's instructions exactly and the switch went off without a hitch. Rick smiled and said, "Ok, now I want you to switch to Battloid mode. Then we'll go through some exercises that will really give you a workout."
"Sounds good to me. Actually, B mode is my favorite of the three. We had a short orientation when you guys were testing those Armored VTs, but it was very brief. I think I'm really looking forward to this," said Kim confidently.
Rick chuckled then said, "Is that so? Well then I won't have to worry about being too tough on you then, sounds like you're up to a little bit of strenous exercise. There's a set of exercises that mimick Judo, it's really tough, a real workout, but I'm sure you're up to it."
"I'm up to it man!" shouted Kim.
"We shall see...." teased Rick.

After 30 minutes of battloid training, Kim said she was too tired to continue and Rick agreed that it was time to call it a day.
"Hey, let's call Lisa and have her look out the window so she can see us pass by," said Kim.
Rick agreed and they had Lisa go stand near the window. Kim was still piloting in Battloid mode and when they got near the window Kim made the battloid wave to Lisa.
Lisa laughed in amusement and then headed back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner.
Kim switched back to fighter mode and Rick talked her through the landing, which she executed perfectly. As they were walking back to their quarters, Rick remarked, "You did great today Kim, you're a natural. You did a lot better than Sammie did when I let her fly to New Portland, but don't tell her I said that, I don't want her to get mad at me."
Kim snickered and said, "Oh come on, you mean you want to deprive me of my chance to gloat?!"
Rick gave Kim a pleading look and Kim relented, "Alright alright, I won't rub it in. Anyways, Sammie can't help it if I'm better than she is."
Rick rolled his eyes and continued down the hallway. When they got to Kim's room, Rick said, "Kim, listen, about what I said this afternoon, that thing about Kohl..."
Kim held up her hand and said, "It's already forgotten."
"I didn't mean to make it seem like I thought you were-," started Rick.
"...a nondiscriminating flirt? to put it mildly..." finished Kim.
"Well what I meant-" stammered Rick.
"It's alright. I know, maybe in the seedier quarters, guys think I'm easy, but I'm not and neither are Sammie and Vanessa. We are all just talk. In fact, we hardly do anything at all with the guys we go out with. We have alot of integrity, even though it probably doesn't show," explained Kim.
"I know you girls are good girls and are really just all talk," said Rick with a wink.
Kim winked back and then said, "Thanks for the training. I think it's important for me to be up-to-date with mostly just about everything, since I am Lisa's aide and all, I have a very important responsibility."
Rick smiled and said, "I know that with you around, Lisa's in good hands."
Kim looked around, making sure no one was in their immediate vicinity and said, "Hey, so speaking of Lisa, how are you guys getting along now??"
"I think we're doing pretty well now. We talked about things and I think we'll be ok," said Rick with a confident smile.
"That's good to hear. So...how did she manage with her bandages last night, did you help her?" asked Kim with a mischievious gleam in her eye.
"What?" mumbled Rick, then his mind started wandering back to the previous night and his intimate moment with Lisa.
Rick seemed to be in a daydream and Kim waved her hand in front of Rick's eyes, "Yoohoo, Rickie boy. Earth to Rick, come in Rick."
Rick shook himself out of his daydream, "What?"
Kim giggled and said slyly, "From the look on your face, I take it that you helped Lisa with her bandages eh?"
Rick blushed and Kim laughed wickedly before saying, "Ok, you two, don't forget that my bedroom is right on the otherside of Lisa's bedroom, so try and not be too noisy if you guys decide to get extra comfy with each other, 'cause I have an early meeting tommorrow."
"Wha?!" exclaimed Rick.
Kim put her hand on her hip and gave Rick a 'don't-you-know-what-I'm-talking-about' look.
"Uhhh, Kim...I don't think Lisa is up to it right now...she's still injured you know..." replied Rick.
Kim shrugged, "Yeah I guess you're right. Still though, you never know."
"Kim..." said Rick warningly.
Kim held up her hands, "Alright, alright, sheesh, you're such a gentleman!"
"Is that bad?" asked Rick.
Kim shook her head, "No, in fact, I'm proud of you 'Little Brother'," and then she gave Rick a quick peck on the cheek and quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I did that! I hope Lisa won't get mad at me!"
Rick laughed and said, "No, don't worry about it, 'Big Sister'. Oh...damn, you know what, I forgot to pickup dessert."
"You guys are having an early dinner, or late lunch if you can call it that. Are you going to eat again later on?" asked Kim.
Rick thought about it for a moment then looked at his watch, "You're right, I guess both Lisa and I weren't paying attention to the time. Well, let's see, we can eat this late lunch now then grab something later on tonight I guess. So we'll still definitely need dessert."
Rick looked at Kim anticipatingly and Kim knew what he was thinking, "I owe you and Lisa a cheesecake don't I?"
Rick nodded and then added, "Oh, another thing, we have some Lasgna for you to take back to your quarters. Lisa said she was going to make enough for the three of us."
"Really?? That's sweet of you guys. Hey, I got an idea, let me go change, and then I'll head down to M-block and pickup dessert for you guys and bring it over and while I'm here I'll pickup my Lasgna," offered Kim.
"Sounds like a good plan to me, just come on over when you're ready, no need to call," said Rick cheerfully.
Kim opened the door to Lisa's quarters and told Rick, "Here you are Prince Charming, your princess is waiting."
Rick smiled and thanked Kim then went through the door and found Lisa standing near the small dining table. He put his helmet down on the counter and then walked up to Lisa and put his arms around her and held her. "How are you feeling," he spoke softly into her ear.
"I'm feeling better, especially now that you're here," replied Lisa.
"Cooking didn't tire you out too much did it?" asked Rick.
"No, it didn't. It was quite fun actually, and I drank plenty of coffee so I'm kind of wired right now," said Lisa with a chuckle.
Rick raised his eyebrows and said, "Well, it sounds like you have plenty of energy for the rest of the day."
"I do believe so," answered Lisa confidently.
Rick winked at her then said he was going to take a shower and change. Lisa waited until she heard the shower turn on then decided to sneak over to the bathroom and quietly steal all the towels. She made her way back to the living room and laughed outloud. After another ten minutes, she heard the shower turn off and went back to the bedroom and waited to see and hear Rick's reaction.
Rick got out of the shower and looked around and noticed there were no towels. "Wait a minute, this seems like a fishy case of deja vu," he said outloud. He walked to the door and peeked through the opening and saw that Lisa was sitting on her chair near her desk and then he spied the towels in the far corner of the room. Rick shook his head in amusement and realized that Lisa was starting to become mischievious like the Trio. He stood still for a moment, trying to figure out what he should do.
Rick poked his head through the door and said, "I suppose you think this is funny don't you?"
Lisa burst into a fit of laughter.
"I swear, Kim is having a bad influence on you, I'm going to have to have her reassigned or something," said Rick with a grin.
Lisa didn't comment and continued laughing.
Rick shrugged, secretly he was happy to see her having a giggle fit. "So...I suppose you expect me to come out there and get my towels, or are you going to get them for me?" asked Rick.
Lisa stopped laughing and realized that she was actually faced with a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly. She thought about it for a few seconds more then turned herself around so that she would be facing away from Rick and then motioned with her hand that he was to go and get the towels himself.
Rick opened up the door and saw that Lisa was looking at a picture on the wall in front of her and teased, "Hey babe, you're missing a great show here. I've got a great body you know."
Lisa rolled her eyes and said in a fake annoyed tone, "Yeah, whatever!" Then she slowly and carefully looked over her shoulder and saw Rick walk back into the bathroom and smiled then went back to the dining table.
Rick got dressed and came to the table and noticed that Lisa was smirking at him. Rick sat down and narrowed his eyes at her and asked, "And dear Admiral, what are you looking so smug about?" then he took a drink of water.
Lisa returned Rick's narrow-eyed look and replied, "I always knew you had a good ass."
Rick choked on his sip of water and Lisa started laughing when Rick actually looked frightened. She couldn't resist the urge to tease him and said, "What's the matter, you were the one who told me I was missing a good show and that you 'had a great body'."
Rick remained quiet and Lisa went into another fit of laughter. After she caught her breath she said, "Oh don't worry Rick, I didn't see everything."
Lisa laughed when she saw Rick let out a sigh of relief. Then Rick pretended to be defensive and said, "Well, you know, I wasn't serious when I meant you should look, you know, I mean..."
Lisa giggled and pointed at Rick, "You should've seen the look on your face!"
Rick was embarrassed but couldn't help smiling and returned, "You are bad you know. And I still have yet to get even with you, but just you wait. We'll see who will be the one laughing."
Lisa snorted, "Oh yeah, I'm so scared I'm shaking as we speak. Well, what about last night?"
Rick held up his hands, "Hey, I didn't see anything. I was tempted to look, believe me but I didn't."
"Awww, Rick you're such a gentlemen," teased Lisa.
Rick shook his head and said, "You're impossible you know that?"
Lisa smiled proudly then proceeded to start eating her dinner. After a few forkfuls of Lasgna, she said matter-of-factly, "Really though, I'm serious. You got a cute butt. You better watch out, I might be stealing your towels more often."
Rick grinned and said, "So this is the second time now, I can only imagine what other hijinks you might have in the works."
Lisa shook her head, "Well, the first time was Kim's idea. Oh and by the way she saw everything. Why do you think Sammie and Vanessa came over here right away after that trick we pulled on you."
Rick dropped his fork, "What did you say?!"
"Yeap. She used the old mirror trick, pretty clever. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself," said Lisa.
"She saw everything?!" said a shocked Rick.
Lisa looked at Rick's face only briefly, she was on the verge of having another fit of laughter because of the expression on his face. "Come on Rick? You guys aren't embarrassed about things like that, it's no big deal for you guys."
Rick held up his finger, "Uh well, that's not quite true..."
Lisa put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hand and smiled at Rick and mustered an alluring voice and said, "Oh come on Rick, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."
"How...how do you know that?" mumbled Rick.
"Well, Kim told me of course. And you know how picky she is, if she gave you her stamp of approval, then I take her word for it," Lisa winked at him and Rick cleared his throat nervously.
"So do I get your stamp of approval?" asked Rick.
Lisa resumed eating her Lasagna and said, "Oh, from what Kim has described to me, most definitely."
"Described?" said Rick.
Lisa cleared her throat to keep from laughing and pretended to keep eating, "Yes, Rick. Now stop worrying and eat before your dinner gets cold."
Rick started to chuckle and Lisa asked him what was wrong. Rick replied, "I think we could call this a late lunch don't you think?"
Lisa looked over at the clock, which read 2:30 pm, and Rick laughed when a dumbfounded look swept over Lisa's face. "We'll just eat again later on this evening," said Lisa with an embarrassed smile as she got up to start clearing off the table.
Rick got up quickly and helped Lisa clear off the table, "Go ahead and sit down, I can take care of things here."
Lisa shook her head defiantly, "Nonsense. I'm not an invalid, and I need to start moving around a lot more a lot quicker if I want to be ready to get back to duty next week."
Rick was about to reply but he knew well enough to know that there was no dissuading her in the matter. Rick stopped what he was doing to stare at Lisa. Lisa looked up at him and asked, "What?"
Rick took the dishes from her hands and put them back down on the table and said quietly, "You know, that's one of the many things I always admired about you. You have a lot of guts and determination."
Lisa gave Rick an appreciative smile then decided to show her appreciation even more by walking up to him and kissing him.
"Alright, here's the cheesecake, now give me my Lasa...ooops!" said Kim as she came through the front door. She rolled her eyes and added, "My gosh, are you guys at it again?! I swear, there's going to be a little Hunter around here before we know it, followed by another and another, and it wouldn't surprise me if there were a whole VT squad...or bridge crew of little Hunters ten years from now..." Rick and Lisa smiled, they knew their friend was good-naturedly teasing them.
Kim handed the cheesecake over to Rick and said, "Sorry guys, I should've knocked first."
Lisa shook her head, "Don't worry about it."
"I'll go get your Lasagna, hang on a sec," said Rick as he headed to the kitchen.
While Rick was fixing Kim's dinner, Lisa told Kim about the latest bath towel stunt she pulled and when Rick came back to the living room he saw identical mischievious grins on Kim and Lisa's faces.
"Oh no...," he said as he handed Kim a large tupperware container.
Kim turned to Lisa and said for Rick's benefit, "I'm sure proud of you Lisa. Next time, don't forget to get a picture, that way I can send it to Sammie and Vanessa."
Rick's face started turning red and Kim hefted her tupperware bowl then patted Rick on the shoulder and said, "Now now Rick, nothing to be embarrassed about, you should be proud of yourself. Anyways, I gotta run, thanks for the Lasgna, Lisa I'll check in with you tommorrow!"
Rick watched Kim exit the room and locked the door behind her then he let out a deep breath, "I'm not going to live this down am I?"
Lisa patted Rick on the stomach and said, "No you're not. Rick, listen, I'm still full, why don't we go and take a look at that observation deck now and then have dessert when we get back."
Rick put his arm around Lisa's shoulder and said, "Sounds like a good plan to me."
Lisa went into the bathroom to freshen up and then put on a comfortable pair of clothes and shoes (since she was still in her pajamas) and then the pair were on their way.

"Rick, look at this," said Lisa as she held Rick's hand.
Rick looked to where Lisa pointed and saw a beautiful row of flowers just outside the entrance to the observation area.
"Well, I'll be..." Rick walked over to them and smelled them and added, "They're real!"
Lisa gave him a surprised look, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, wait, hang on a second," said Rick then he looked around and quickly picked off a flower and handed it to Lisa.
"Rick!" exclaimed Lisa, who was both impressed and worried at the same time.
"Don't worry about it, I'll just tell them I didn't see the sign that said, 'Do not pick the flowers.' " said Rick with a laugh.
"It smells wonderful!" said Lisa, then she held it out to Rick to smell.
"It does indeed smell good. Well, here we are," said Rick as he showed his ID to the sentry at the door. The door slid open and Rick and Lisa's eyes lit up when they saw what was inside.

* * * * * * *

Vanessa and Zenta didn't make eye contact with each other throughout Vanessa's discussion with the Captain and they continued their non-communication for the rest of the shift incase there were snitches or spies around. As the shift was almost over Joe suddenly sat up straight in his chair, his attention riveted to his sonar.
"What is it Joe?" asked Zenta.
Joe gave her a frightened look then quickly turned around and got out of his chair and headed towards Vanessa.
"Captain, you better take a look at this," said Joe, trying to sound as calm as possible.
Vanessa walked quickly over to the sonar and looked at the monitor then put a set of headphones on and listened to them for a few seconds then threw them off and called for a nearby Midshipman to call for Captain Clemson. Vanessa then quickly went to the Captain's platform and put the bridge on Yellow Alert then opened up a comm channel to the torpedo room.
"What's your status down there?" asked Vanessa, sweat starting to form on her forehead.
"We can give you the sardines Captain, but the big sharks we can't send out yet because of the damage to main tube 2," replied the torpedo room crew chief.
"That's fine, those guppies are more mobile anyways, they have better chance of taking out those battle pods than the big tubes do," replied Vanessa.
"Yes ma'am, that's absolutely right. Alright Captain, they are being loaded as we speak, we will standby for your orders ma'am," said the man in a professional and cooperative tone.
"Hopefully we won't have to use them and I expect Captain Clemson to be here any minute to resume command, thank you Chief," returned Vanessa.
A few seconds later a tech announced, "Torpedos armed and loaded Captain, awaiting firing on your command."
Vanessa nodded as she studied several overhead navigation monitors then called out, "Helm, see if you can take cover there behind that reef, it's less risky if we just hide from them rather than try and engage them. They have the mobility we don't."
"Yes ma'am!" said the helmsman loudly.
Shortly after that Clemson and Finn arrived on the bridge. Finn immediately ordered the Yellow Alert cancelled and Clemson ordered the helmsman to move away from the reef and head out to engage the Zentraedi battlepods.
Vanessa protested, "Captain sir, those pods are much more mobile than we are and even though there are only 3 of them, I strongly recommend we try and avoid them instead of engage them sir."
"Nonsense Captain, 3 pods are no match for us, and would you have us look like cowards by hiding behind a giant rock? Your recommendation is noted in the record Captain," said Clemson dismissively.
Vanessa's was shaking with anger. This was just like talking to Maistroff. Joe saw that Vanessa was upset and stood up from his station and put his hand on her shoulder to get her to sit down near Zenta. Vanessa wiped her forehead and gave a loud sigh then turned to onlook over Joe's and Zenta's shoulders to monitor the battlepods' location.
Almost immediately after Clemson brought the sub into view did the battlepods head straight for the sub, laser cannons blazing.
"Torpedo room, load up!" shouted Finn.
"Sir, we're already loaded up with the guppies and ready to fire on command," answered the Torpedo room chief.
"Loaded up?? Already?? Who gave the order?" asked Clemson. But before anyone could answer him a panicked voice said, "Captain! They're firing, we'll be hit head on sir!"
"Evasive!" shouted Clemson.
"Trying sir!" replied the frightened helmsman.
Vanessa shot up out of her chair and yelled, "Close the tertiary bulkhead!"
"Closing Captain!" replied a tech.
Vanessa looked at Finn and Clemson and was shocked, wondering why they hadn't ordered the weapons fired and was about to give the order herself when finally Finn acted.
"Fire torpedoes!" yelled Finn, but his order was too slow.
There was tremendous jostling and creaking and shouts from every corner of the bridge and everyone could feel the ship listing to starboard.
"Damage reports!" barked Clemson.
"Secondary frontal hull ruptured, but overall frontal integrity intact Captain, thanks to that tertiary bulkhead," said the Damage Control officer.
"Location on those pods!" ordered Finn.
"Looks like they are going to try and come around sir," said Joe.
Clemson cursed then said, "Get us behind that coral reef while their backs are turned on us."
Vanessa ran back to the Sonar section of the bridge and asked Zenta to get up from her seat, then Vanessa sat down and started furiously tapping keys on her control panel. She looked over at Clemson and asked loudly, "Sir, can you order a silent running, now? I have a jamming pattern that I believe will work but I need this ship to be on silent running."
Clemson gawked at her for a moment then shook his head and quickly ordered the silent running.
The sub stayed positioned directly beneath a large, deep coral reef for approximately an hour until a wave analysis expert determined that the pods had probably moved out of the area. The ship slowly made its way back to the area where they had their run in with the pods and were relieved to find the area clear. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Clemson and Finn walked over to Vanessa's station. She got up, saluted, and was ready for a tongue-lashing, but instead Clemson surprised her by saying, "That was some excellent quick thinking Captain. You saved this ship. I shall be making special note of your smart thinking when I write up my report. I would invite you to dinner right now, but I have a terrible headache and am going to make the damage rounds and then file my report and then...go to sleep."
"Thank you sir, it is quite alright," replied Vanessa trying to stay calm.
Clemson left the bridge and Finn took command. After half an hour of 'cleanup' operations, the bridge crew was relieved by the next shift. As Vanessa, Joe, and Zenta walked down the narrow corridor, Joe asked Vanessa, "Say, Captain, would you like to join me for dinner?"
Before Vanessa could answer, Zenta said in a rush, "Well, it's been a tiring shift, to say the least. I am going to turn in now, you two have a good evening," then she quickly walked in the direction of her quarters.
Vanessa looked at Joe with confusion. Joe simply shrugged and repeated his offer. Vanessa was dead tired and as much as she would've enjoyed dinner with Joe, she decided that she needed some peace and quiet to reflect on the days events. She smiled and thanked Joe for the offer and told him she would just take dinner in her quarters. Joe nodded his understanding and escorted her to the cafeteria and then back to her room.
As he turned to leave, Joe said, "Captain, you really did do a good job up there today. You did save the ship. I didn't even know about that tertiary bulkhead, and I don't even know if Clemson and Finn knew about it either."
Vanessa waved him off and said, "I'm sure they did. But it's so rare that it ever needs to be used that I think people forget it's there. The only reason why I thought to use it was because we always seemed to have to use it on the SDF-1. For some reason hull damage can be more severe in space than it can be underwater. And from what I read, there haven't been any reports of any sub having to use it for quite some time. Why the secondary hull buckled though, is a concern to me. I hope we find out cause soon. I just called for the tertiary to be put up because it was alway standard procedure when we were testing the SDF-2."
Joe folded his arms to his chest and said, "Well, thank goodness for the tertiary. I'll keep my ears open for any news on the secondary and let you know as soon as I hear anything. I'm sure you've noticed that important information doesn't necessarily get relayed in a timely manner on this boat."
Vanessa gave Joe a knowing look and said, "Yeah, tell me about it."
Joe unfolded his arms and put his hands in his pocket and said, "Well....I guess, I better be going....so...see you tommorrow."
"Sure thing, see you tommorrow," replied Vanessa with a smile.
Joe stood in the hallway still and looked as if he wanted to say something more but instead he just shrugged and said, "Ok then, goodnight Captain Leeds."
Vanessa smiled and said, "We're off duty, you can call me Vanessa."
Joe shook his head and returned her smile, "Sure thing, well, goodnight then Vanessa."
Vanessa waved at Joe from the doorway and said again, "Goodnight." Joe started walking away but turned around one more time to wave to Vanessa and he ran into a pipe.
Vanessa gasped and was about to go see if he was alright when Joe held up his hand and said, "I'm alright, I'm fine, don't worry about me, goodnight!"
Vanessa let out a small laugh as she watched Joe rubbing his bruised cheek as he walked down the corridor. She closed and locked her door and then took a hot shower and settled down to eat her dinner. So many things played through her mind at the moment that she didn't know what to dwell on first. She had eaten half her dinner and felt so tired that she decided to just lie down for a bit but ended up falling asleep.

* * * * * * *

Miriya waited outside the hanger door for Max to finish signing out then the husband and wife headed down the hallway in a leisurely manner.
"Hey, Mir, I didn't get to ask, what were you and Claudia doing out there in that part of Monument when your car broke down," asked Max as he opening a candy bar.
"We had just come from visting Hialeah," answered Miriya plainly.
"Uh oh...what her ladyship want this time?" asked Max with trepidation.
"She gave Claudia the Quadrano Medal of Honor," said Miriya with a bit of a pout.
"The QMH?!" gasped Max.
"Yes, the QMH. Even I haven't received that award," said Miriya with a sigh.
Max smiled and put his arm around Miriya's shoulders and tried to cheer her up, "And you rightly deserve one too, although Claudia did save several people's lives. I think she rightly deserves the medal."
"Oh yes, I do not dispute that. It's just, I'm feeling a bit jealous," said Miriya smiling. "It' is a strange feeling, this micronian emotion of 'jealousy.'"
Max held out his candy bar so Miriya could take a bite and told her, "Yes, it is a strange feeling and not a very good one either. It does no good to harbor such a feeling, so I always say, just be grateful what you have and not worry about what other people have."
Miriya kissed Max on the cheek and said, "Maximillian, you are so wise. I am so fortunate to have married you."
"And I am so fortunate to have married you," replied Max with a toothy smile.
Miriya blushed and said happily, "Stop it Max, you're embarrassing me."
Max laughed and said, "Come on gorgeous, let's go pick up our little girl and go out and eat a nice steak dinner."
Miriya gave her approval and as they headed out to the parking lot, Miriya thought she'd try her luck and asked, "Can I drive Max?"
"No," was Max's firm answer.
"Oh well, it was worth a try," sighed Miriya, then shrugged off her disappointment and smiled at Max as he opened the door for her.

* * * * * * *

"Oh Rick, this is so beautiful!" said Lisa in a dreamy voice as she looked around the enormous room.
"You can say that again," was all Rick could say as he looked around in wonderment.
"I heard about this but I didn't think they could come up with something so beautiful!" replied Lisa in amazement.
"Well, if the Zentraedi up here have gotten bitten by the gardening bug like Miriya has, then this shouldn't suprise us," poked Rick.
Lisa smiled and Rick led her to an empty table near a small garden. The deck, being exclusively for Micronians, and with the complete micronian crew still not yet arrived, and it being still during 'business hours', with everyone still on duty, the deck was not very crowded. Rick walked over to the refreshment stand that was nearby and bought he and Lisa both a cup of tea. As Rick handed Lisa her cup he looked towards the direction of the 20 foot high glass viewport and caught a glimpse of Mars. Lisa took her cup from Rick and watched him as he stared at Mars. She turned around to see what he was distracted by and she saw it too.
Lisa had a brief flashback to what happened on Mars, and who used to be there. She realized her thoughts were drifting towards Karl Riber and she quickly tried to push them away and replace them with memories of when Rick saved her there. She decided to look away from the red planet and found that Rick had stopped looking at Mars and was watching her. Lisa felt confused and could not keep the emotion from transferring itself to her countenance. She began a rushed apology, "I'm sorry Rick-"
Rick cut her off, "There's nothing to apologize for."
Lisa continued, "It's just that...I guess, that place will...it's just..."
"You don't have to explain Lisa, I understand," said Rick gently.
Lisa shook her head then motioned for Rick to come closer to her, when he was close enough she kissed him and he could feel her desperately trying to show him that it was he whom she loved and not Karl Riber, not anymore. After the kiss Rick looked at her and he could see traces of confusion still in her eyes so he decided to see if he could get her to talk about it, "Lisa, what are you thinking? Please tell me," he said quietly and calmly.
Lisa avoided looking at Rick and looked down at the table and tried to make sense out of her confusion, "I guess...it's such a strange feeling really. I mean, that's where you first rescued me and also where I realized that Karl was never coming back. I guess...it was sort of like the death of an old dream and the beginning of a new one. Do you understand what I mean?"
Rick smiled and said, "Yes, I understand. When you left Mars, it was the end of your life with Karl and the beginning of your life with me...is that right?"
Lisa smiled, pleased that Rick understood and was able to articulate for her exactly what she had been confused about just a few moments ago. "Yes, that's right Rick, you said it perfectly."
Rick became serious as he leaned a little bit closer to Lisa and said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure Rick, ask me anything you want," answered Lisa, a little bit worried about what Rick was thinking of asking her.
"I know that I really don't have any business asking you this but I really want to know...if...if Karl came back, would you go back to him? I mean, you two are, were, engaged and all and..." Rick didn't know what else to say and just looked down at the floor. He felt bad for asking Lisa such a difficult question but he needed to know for sure.
Lisa looked at Rick and she knew how he was feeling because she had felt it so many times herself, that feeling of insecurity and having to compete against the set-in-stone memory of a first love. At least Rick didn't have a physical person to compete against, but she knew too well that competing against a memory could be just as difficult.
Lisa reached across the table and took Rick's hand, "Rick, if Karl came back right now...I would not go back to him. I would need some time to say goodbye to him because I feel we needed a proper goodbye. But I would not go back to him. And do you know why?"
Rick looked up at her with watery eyes and shook his head. Lisa squeezed his hand tighter and continued, "Because, like you and Minmei, Karl and I are just not compatible anymore. We've outgrown each other as I've gotten older. The ideals he held when he was alive are very much like the ones Kyle holds now. And if Kyle and I can't get along, I don't think getting along with Karl would be too much easier. You know...often times throughout the years I've thought about it and realized that Karl didn't really love me. Because if he did, why did he leave me? Why did he ask me to marry him and then leave me, not knowing when was the next time we'd be able to see each other? Now, I think I understand why my father was so angry at Karl after he left...."
Rick felt his anger grow. He was angry at Karl for leaving Lisa and causing her so much grief. But then he remembered how much grief he himself had caused her and he said quietly, almost in a whisper, "I'm sorry, it seems like you get stuck with selfish jerks all the time. You deserve so much better..."
Lisa tried to lighten the mood and chuckled, "Well, don't worry, I think right now I've gotten 'stuck' with the man of my dreams, one who's a Prince Charming. I guess it was good that I went through what I did with Karl, it was painful and somewhat damaging, but it taught me a lot of life lessons."
"So, you wouldn't go back to him, I mean, if we passed by Mars and he came running out from underground somewhere and wanted to marry you on the spot?" asked Rick one more time.
Lisa smiled, "No. I would break off the engagement."
"But what if he decided to change his ways and try and make it up to you," persisted Rick.
Lisa gave Rick a lopsided somewhat impatient grin, "Rick. YOU are the one I was destined to be with. No doubt about it, and you are the one I want to be with, so please, don't worry. I love you more than anyone I know or have known."
Rick gave her that dimpled smile that she loved so much and she wanted to lighten up the mood and get away from the serious topic of Karl Riber so she carefully stood up and said, "Let's go check out the rest of the deck!"
Rick followed her lead and they marvelled at the vitality and beauty of the flowers and plants that they saw.
"It's so amazing, there's some flowers here that I never thought I'd see again," mused Rick.
"I wonder where they found some of these plants, I thought they were surely extinct after Dolza attacked," said Lisa as she stared at a row of shrubs.
Rick nodded and lead Lisa over to a small water fountain, he took a penny out of her pocket and held it out to her and said, "Here, toss it in and make a wish."
Lisa smiled at Rick as she took the penny, paused for a few seconds to think about what she wanted to wish for, then tossed the coin into the water. Rick held his own penny and then threw it in. They both listened to the coin plop in the water and the relaxing sound of the fountain. Rick saw something off in the distance and pulled Lisa by the hand, "Come on, over here!"
After a walk of a few dozen feet, Rick exclaimed, "I don't believe it, they have a Koi fish pond!"
Lisa looked into the pond and saw beautifully colored fish. "Look at how fat that one is!" said Lisa as she pointed a very plump, orange fish.
The couple spent about 10 minutes watching the fish in the pond then Rick spotted another garden attraction and led Lisa over to his new find. Off in a corner of the massive room there was a small round pond that had a few miniature motorized boats. Rick read the instructions that were printed on a sign nearby and then clapped his hands together and said, "Alright lovely lady, let's see how good your boat racing skills are!"
Lisa narrowed her eyes challengingly and said playfully, "You're on mister. Don't forget, I've been Navy since I was born."
Rick rolled his eyes and snorted, "Yeah, whatever."
Lisa giggled and said, "Oh so you don't believe me huh? Why don't we make a bet."
Rick shook his head, "Alright, alright, you like to take gambles don'tcha? I'm game for a bet anytime sista!"
Lisa put her hands on her hips and said, "Ok then, so what are we betting on?"
Rick scratched his head, "Good question....Uh....I'll think of something later."
Lisa rolled her eyes and shrugged and then read the directions on the sign and went over to her controls and waited for Rick to go to his. The controls were simple, a lever to adjust speed and another lever to switch between forward and reverse, then there was a small pedal on the floor to be used as the brake and finally a miniature wooden steering wheel like those used in the olden pirate days.
"Alright, mister, prepare to lose big time," said Lisa smugly as she gripped the wheel and idled her ships motor.
"Whatever woman," retorted Rick as he revved up the motor on his miniature ship.
The green light flashed and the two managed to keep an even pace after 3 laps around the pond's circular course, but then Rick decided to play a bit dirty and tried to ram Lisa's ship. Lisa saw it coming and managed to dodge out of the way in time, causing Rick's ship to run into a miniature bouy and lose his momentum and was never able to catch up to Lisa after 3 more laps.
Lisa smirked as Rick sulked in defeat.
"Remind me to believe you next time," said Rick with a groan.
Lisa smiled in return and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone I kicked your ass at miniture boat racing. Although I should, because you were playing dirty."
Rick gave her a crooked grin and said sarcastically, "Oh you're just too kind."
Rick took Lisa's hand then started leading her back to their table, "It was fun though, even though I lost." Rick mused.
"Cheaters never win," teased Lisa.
The couple spent another hour at the observation deck just talking about simple things, then they decided to head back to Lisa's quarters so she could lie down for awhile and rest.

* * * * * * *

Max's mouth watered as he saw the waiter set down his T-bone steak. He was happily carving his steak into pieces when Dana started throwing peas at him.
"Dana, stop that," Max said, pointing at her with his fork.
Dana laughed and Miriya laughed too. Dana threw another pea at Max and Miriya decided that Max should be allowed to eat in peace so she took the plate away from Dana and gave her a dinner roll to chew on.
"Maximillian," said Miriya as she was poking at her salad.
"Yes Mir," answered Max, not bothering to look up from his plate.
"Hialeah asked me to act as a liason between her office and the RDF. She says I don't have to macronize, I can stay as I am and she already got approval from Maistroff to let me split my duties between Hialeah's and RDF HQ," explained Miriya, wondering how Max would react.
"You mean she actually got approval from Maistroff??" asked Max with surprise.
"Yes, I can't believe it either. I...think it's a good opportunity...and perhaps I should take it while Maistroff is still agreeing to it...before he changes his mind," said Miriya cautiously.
Max looked up at his wife and noticed that she was looking a little bit timid, something that only occured when she was afraid Max would disagree with her about something she really wanted to do, like when she wanted to go rock climbing a few years back.
"You know, this would mean that you'd be too busy to go on patrol..." said Max.
"Yes, I've thought about that. I'd only be flying in emergency situations," replied Miriya.
"And you're ok with that?" asked Max neutrally, not wanting to sway her one way or the other.
"I...I need to think about it some more but I really want to take this job Hialeah offered, I think I can do more good for people if I take it rather than just sit in my VT forever," said Miriya calmly.
Max rubbed the bridge of his nose then chuckled, "You know, you sound the opposite of Rick."
Miriya smiled nervously and then Max reached across the table and took her hand, "Mir, if you want to take this job, then go right ahead. I think it's a good idea too, and I'll support you 200%."
Miriya grabbed Max's hand and shook them, "Thank you Max!" She was going to say something more when suddenly Max got hit in the forehead with a dinner roll. They looked over at Dana, who was squealing with delight over her latest food toss.
Max shrugged and winked at his wife, "Oh well, maybe we should enroll her in pee wee football."
Miriya looked at Dana and then back at Max and said, "I think she will do wonderfully, it's the Quadrano blood in her that makes her excellent at agressive sports."
Max raised an eyebrow but kept on eating and Miriya suggested, "How about we sign her up for boxing too?"
Max immediately said, "No."
"Wrestling?" asked Miriya.
Max replied again, "No."
Miriya sighed and said to Dana, "I'm sorry little one, but your father has other plans for your sports career."
"What sports career?" asked Max.
"Well, I was thinking when she's old enough, she can start training for the Quadrano Olympics. Did you know that I competed in them myself several times? It would be a shame that my daughter would not get the same experience of competition as I have," said Miriya.
Max sighed, "Well, if it means that much to you, we can pick a sport for her and if she likes it then we'll send her for more lessons and see what happens from there."
"Boxing?" asked Miriya enthusiastically.
"No," said Max firmly.
Miriya thought for a moment then suggested, "How about volleyball?"
Max dropped his fork and said, "Excellent idea. It will teach her teamwork."
Miriya smiled and said to Dana, "Well now, it seems your father and I finally agree on something. Now, tommorrow we shall go and buy you a volleyball. And we'll have your father put up a net for you, then we will find you a uniform to wear and then you'll need shoes and I'll tell you some background about the Quadrano Games......"
Max shrugged and went back to eating the rest of his dinner.

* * * * * * *

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty," said Rick as he watched Lisa's eyes flutter open.
Lisa looked at him with confusion, "What time is it? How long have I been asleep?"
Rick laughed and said, "Ohhhhh let's see...it's around 9pm right now, you've been out for a couple of hours."
Lisa sat up carefully and gasped, "That long?!"
Rick shrugged, "Well, I guess those antibiotics have some pretty strong stuff in them."
Lisa sighed and said, "Oh Rick, I'm sorry I slept so long."
Rick held up his hand, "Nonesense. Don't even think about apologzing. You are still injured and still on medication and you've had a pretty long day so far, I was surprised you didn't fall asleep over at the observation deck."
Lisa sighed again, "But you'll only be here for one more day and I want to spend as much time with you as possible."
Rick scooted over on the couch and put his arm gently around Lisa's waist to comfort her, "Please don't worry about it, Lisa. Hey, you know what, I had Kim go and pickup dinner for us an hour ago, she brought over some Greek food. You hungry?"
Lisa's eyes lit up and Rick smiled then went to retrieve dinner from the kitchen. The couple ate dinner and then had dessert and after dessert was finished they rested for a few minutes, lightly chatting about the observation deck and how they planned to revisit it the following day.
Lisa wondered if the Karl Riber issue was still bothering Rick, he seemed a tiny bit quieter than normal. She sat quietly thinking for a moment then got up off the couch and told Rick she would be back in a few minutes. When Lisa walked into her bedroom she quickly got on the phone to Kim.
"Kim, Miss DJ, I need a song," said Lisa.
"Sure thing, Kim Young aka Miss DJ Extraordinare at your service, what kind of mood are we talking about?" asked Kim with enthusiasm.
"Well, I need something to cheer Rick up, he's in one of his I'm-not-worthy-of-you moods I think," said Lisa quietly, looking over her shoulder at the door to make sure Rick wasn't wandering outside.
Kim paused and thought for a moment, "Hmmmmm.....well, you definitely need something slow paced, since you're still too injured to handle anything fast right now...let me see...aha! I've got it! Ok, in your desk drawer, the third one on the left, I stashed a bunch of CDs there for you. Hang on, let me look it up on my list here...ok, you'll pull the one labeled SJ, that stand for 'slow jams', SJ-3. And it will be song #14, 'Beautiful U.' If you want to take a lyrics before hearing it then look over on your bookshelf on the 2nd from the bottom shelf. There's a binder there conveniently called 'Lyrics.'"
Lisa told Kim to hang on then went to her desk and looked for the CD, after finding it she went to the bookshelf and pulled the lyrics binder and scanned the table of contents, all the while marvelling at how efficient and resourceful her aide was. After reading the lyrics she smiled and put the binder back on the shelf, went back to the phone and said, "Kim, you are a genius."
"I know," said Kim smuggly.
"This song is great, it's perfect. Thanks," said Lisa.
"No need to thank me, now get out there with your man and slow jam," said Kim, then she hung up the phone and went back to feasting on a large piece of cheesecake.

Lisa came out of her room and saw Rick sitting on the couch, seemingly lost in thought. "Rick..." Lisa said quietly. Rick quickly got up from the couch and headed towards Lisa. "Rick, would you like to dance?" asked Lisa.
Rick grinned and then became a little concerned, "Are you sure you feel up to it?"
Lisa shook her head confidently, "Absolutely. It's a song that Kim labeled something called 'slow jam' so I assume...it's 'slow.'"
The couple broke into light laughter and Rick took the CD and put it in the player, Lisa telling him which track to set it to.
As the song began to play, Lisa put her arms around Rick's neck and Rick slid his arms around Lisa's slender waist...

Though I have loved it was never enough
Until the day you came, I was not the same
You brought the love out of me never seen, by anyone
I can't explain about how I'm feelin'
You touched my soul, made me whole
You're beautiful
(1)

Rick knew why Lisa had picked this song, and he tightened his embrace.

Chorus:
Beautiful you, no one compares to you
They can't measure, forever, let's stay together
Beautiful you, no one compares to you
They can't measure, forever, let's stay together

Lisa heard Rick clear his throat and she smiled as she pressed her cheek to his, glad of the fact that they were close in height.

Though some may ask why, you and I are together
'Cause they don't know what we hold (what we hold)
It can't be told (can't be told), love's in need of us both
So let's try to make it right (make it right)
Future-wise we can go to a place no one knows
You're beautiful

repeat chorus

You are a dream, I have always dreamed
I'll do anything to bring you joy, so much joy
You are a dream, I have always dreamed
I'll do anything to bring you joy, so much joy

repeat chorus x2

The song started to fade out and Lisa could feel a teardrop from Rick's cheek roll down onto her cheek. No word were said because nothing needed to be said. They stayed in each other's arms for what seemed like eternity, wishing they could stay like that forever. But the phone rang and they stepped apart and Lisa went over to answer the phone.
"Admiral Hayes speaking," said Lisa, a little bit annoyed at having been interrupted.
"Lisa?..."
"Kim, is that you?? Kim what is it?" asked Lisa as Rick came over closer to where she was standing.
"Lisa..." said a very scared sounding Kim.
"Stay there, we're coming," said Lisa quickly and hung up the phone. She looked at Rick with fear in her eyes and said, "It's Kim, we need to go over there, she sounds very scared. She must be having flashbacks again."
Rick didn't even have to answer, he grabbed Lisa's hand and the two hurried out the door. When they got to Kim's door, which was only a few paces away, Lisa punched in the access code but the door wouldn't open. She tried it again but it still didn't open. She hit the speakerphone and said, "Kim, it's me Lisa. Rick is here with me. I can't open the door, let us in."
They waited for several seconds, then Rick went on the speaker again, "Kim, it's me Rick. Lisa and I are here to help you, let us in."
They heard the click of the speakerphone and after a few seconds of silence they heard Kim say in a quiet voice, "Are they with you?"
"Who's with us? It's just me and Lisa. Kim, open the door," said Rick as he looked at Lisa with a worried look.
"The ghosts...are they with you?" asked Kim.
Lisa buried her face in her hands, "Oh no Kim...not again..." she said in a pained voice.
"Kim, there are no ghosts with us, it is just me and Lisa, please open the door," pleaded Rick.
They heard the door open and rushed in to find Kim standing off to the side, hugging a pillow. The room was dark except for the glow from the television. Rick and Lisa each took one of Kim's hands and carefully helped her sit down on the couch.
Lisa was feeling very upset, she hated to see her friend in such a state, especially Kim, who had always been such a strong-willed person, suddenly reduced to the demeanor of a frightened child.
Rick saw the helpless look in Lisa's eyes and decided to take control of the situation. He crouched down in front of Kim and held her hands, "Kim, Lisa and I are here to help you, we're your friends remember. Now, please tell us what happened."
"There's ghosts here," whispered Kim, as if trying to keep it a secret.
"What do you mean Kim?" asked Rick patiently.
"I was sitting here watching TV and then I heard a rush of water, like I did that time in the hotel. Then I saw these...ghosts...in the room. They were very faint but I could see them. Soldiers, pilots, sailors, Admirals, like the SDF-1, all gone. Underwater. Ghosts..."
Lisa shook her head in despair and was trying not to cry. Rick thought to try one more thing. He grasped Kim's hands firmly and said, "Kim. The ghosts are gone now. And they are not coming back. Do you understand me?"
Kim nodded but she still wore a frightened look on her face. Rick decided to try to scare Kim into snapping out of her stupor and turned to Lisa and said, "Well, I guess you better call Jean and tell here that we are going to have to send Kim back to Monument so she can be admitted to the hospital."
Lisa, picking up on Rick's plan immediately, nodded and stood up and pretended to head over to the phone to make the call.
"No!" shouted Kim. She got up quickly and went to try and stop Lisa, saying, "Please, don't send me down. Listen, I don't know what's wrong with me, I just need to rest maybe. Maybe I was hallucinating or something, it's been a long day. Please don't send me away!"
Lisa hung up the phone and said sadly, "Kim...this is very serious. You need to get some help before it gets worse."
"Look, haven't I been just perfectly fine for awhile now, I mean, I've been doing good for a long time now. I guess I just had a little relapse or something, please, just give me another chance," pleaded Kim.
"Kim, we can't ignore what just happened," said Rick quietly.
"I understand that, look, there's a psychiatrist onboard right now isn't there?? Tommorrow I'll go over and see him and tell him what happened ok? Please don't send me back to Earth! I want to stay here and do my job!" said Kim. She looked at Rick and Lisa and saw they were unconvinced and tried to regain some of her old self and said, "Hey, I'm sorry I bothered you two this evening, I hope I wasn't interrupting something...ahem...you know...like were you two smooching again?? I bet you were! So, I think I'm ok now, why don't you two go back and do what you were doing. I'll be ok here," said Kim, trying to act like her old self.
Rick and Lisa went over to the kitchen to talk about it and came back and told Kim their plans.
"Kim, we've decided that it would be best if someone stayed here with you tonight, so Rick is going to stay on the couch, just incase," said Lisa.
"No no no, I don't want to inconvenience you like that, you two only have 1 more day together, I don't want to be in the way," protested Kim.
Rick and Lisa consulted each other again and then Lisa announced, "Alright, how about if you come over and sleep on our couch. We would feel better if you weren't alone tonight."
Although she didn't articulate it, Kim felt relieved by the plan and accepted it without any hesitation. Kim went to get her pillow and blanket and then followed Rick and Lisa back to Lisa's room. Rick tucked Kim in and she smiled up at them mischieviously and said, "Ok you two, now, if you're going to do anything, please don't make too much noise. I'm trying to sleep here." She winked at them then turned over on her side and closed her eyes.
Rick and Lisa looked at her for a moment then went to their bedroom. Lisa sat on the bed and sighed, "I really do not know what to do about her. There's only so many second chances I can give her."
Rick sat down next to Lisa and sighed as well, saying, "Hopefully she'll be alright tonight. And tommorrow I will personally escort her down to see the doctor. I dunno what to think, could she be right, she's hallucinating because she's tired?"
Lisa shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is that I'm very worried about her. She need to be ok mentally before we go on this mission, if not...then I just might have to leave her here."
"That will break her heart," replied Rick.
"I know, but having a momentary broken heart is better than having permanent psychological damage," said Lisa quietly.
"Yes, that's true. Well, let's just see how she does tonight. I'll go and check on her every couple hours or so, then in the morning I'll take her down to see the doctor," said Rick as he started pulling off his t-shirt.
Lisa got up and announced she was going to take a shower and Rick nodded, already digging in his duffle back to try and find his pajama pants.
Rick heard the shower turn on and had changed into his pajama pants when he was struck with an idea that he hoped would not backfire on him. He thought Lisa needed some distraction from her worries about Kim, so he stealthly creeped into the bathroom and took all the towels he could find. After another 20 minutes the shower turned off and Rick picked up a book and jumped onto the bed and pretended to be reading. The door opened and Lisa poked her head through the door. After one look at her face, Rick bursted out laughing.
"Shhhh! Be quiet, Kim will hear you!" scolded Lisa, a little bit upset that Rick had decided to play his little trick so soon after their most recent trouble with Kim.
Rick saw that Lisa wasn't too pleased with his prank and he went over and picked up a few towels and walked towards Lisa and said, "Here you are. I'm sorry. I was just trying to cheer you up."
Rick started walking back to the bed but Lisa stopped him by saying, "Wait Rick...could you help me with my bandages again?"
Rick turned around very slowly and searched Lisa's face to make sure she wasn't joking. He saw that she was serious and he nodded and he picked up the bandage box from the desk as Lisa walked into the room, one towel wrapped around her waist, another she held up to her chest to cover herself.
Rick finished pulling off the bandages and was about to put on the new ones when he paused to look at all the damage on Lisa's back and sides. It caused a knot to form in his throat and he could not stop himself from walking around to face Lisa and hold her in his arms.
Lisa took a long time deciding whether or not to drop the towel she was holding up. She remembered that Rick would only be with her for one more day, then they would be separated for about 6 weeks, so she decided to drop the towel, pulling away from Rick just a little so the towel could fall to the floor. Lisa heard Rick gasp and then he tightend his embrace. After a few moments she felt his lips brush hers.
CLICK!
"What the hell?" said Rick as he headed towards the door.
Lisa quickly picked up her towel and followed after him.
In the living room the two saw Kim sitting on the couch with a smug smile on her face. "I'm sorry, but I just had to have a picture."
Rick and Lisa looked at each other and then back at Kim, but neither could bring themselves to be angry at her. "Alright," said Lisa, "just make sure that that pic is only seen by Vanessa and Sammie. If I ever see that picture in a tabloid, we'll fry your butt."
Kim shrugged her shoulders and said, "Ok, so does that mean you won't be sending me back to earth at any time, is that right?"
"Hey, that's blackmail!" exclaimed Rick.
Kim laughed, "Oh come on, you've hurt my feelings, I'd never do that."
Rick and Lisa looked at each other skeptically then Lisa took Rick's hand and let him back to the bedroom, calling out over her shoulder, "Kim, remember, that picture is only seen by Sammie and Vanessa, or we'll have a blowtorch on your butt so fast...."
"Yes ma'am, I gotcha," said Kim as she put her camera down and settled back under her blankets.

Back in their room, Lisa chuckled at the look on Rick's face, "Come on Rick, she'd never do something like that."
"Yeah I know, I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about her camera getting lost or that picture getting stolen or her email getting stolen or something, I think that's the last thing we need right now is to open up a tabloid and see that picture in there. Not that I am embarrassed by the picture or anything but I know about those tabloids, because of my involvment with Minmei and all..."
Lisa patted Rick on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I know what you mean. Remember the ones that came out after we escaped Dolza's ship?"
Rick covered his eyes and moaned, "Don't remind me."
"What was that one? Oh yeah, 'Hayes and Hunter put on a kinky show for the Zentraedi.' We never found out who started that, and how did people get word of the kiss being a diversionary tactic anyways?" wondered Lisa.
"Must have been that a--hole Maistroff!" blurted out Rick.
Lisa laughed, "Well, at least my father never saw those tabloids. He'd tow me back to Alaska Base at the speed of light."
Rick laughed with her an finished bandaging up her back and was disappointed when she put her shirt back on quickly.
"What was she doing outside our door right now anyways?" wondered Rick.
"She was probably trying to listen to see what we were going to do with her," said Lisa as she walked over to the door and made sure it was locked.
Rick went to lie down on the bed and locked his hands behind his neck and said, "You know, if I told you I wasn't dissapointed by the interuption, I would be lying."
Lisa came over and sat down on her side of the bed and said, "I know, me too. But what can we do. It seems to be a given that we'll always be interrupted by someone or something."
"That's why I can't wait for you to come back so we can take a vacation and get away from everything and everyone," said Rick.
"I know, same here. Hopefully these 6 weeks will go by fast. I don't know how I am going to stand being away from you so long," said Lisa as she lay down on her stomach and draped her arm around Rick's waist.
Rick rolled over on his stomach and faced Lisa and kissed her gently. "We'll both be going crazy for six weeks," said Rick with a quiet chuckle.
Lisa winked at him and said, "People better watch out when we're reunited after these six weeks."
Rick winked back at Lisa and said, "Fireworks will be flying babe."
They kissed each other one more time then Rick set his watch to alarm in two hours so he could check on Kim and the couple tried to get some sleep.

===================

Author's Notes:

Song (1) : ISYSS - "Beautiful U"

I didn't expect for this chapter to be so HUGE! LOL! It's my longest chapter so far. Next chapter will be one more downtime chapter then the action will begin, and I'm talking about some crazy action too. Stay tuned!

This was a heavily Rick-Lisa centered chapter because after all, they will be separated for several chapters, so I had to get in the mushy stuff now! LOL! :)

Sorry if the Vanessa submarine skirmish is a bit skimpy. Like I said, I'M NOT A MECHA WRITER :) and I'm not familiar with submarine terminology. It looks like I am going to have to rent some submarine movies to help me out. I remember watching "K-19 Widow Maker," "Crimson Tide," and "Hunt for Red October." Anyone got more suggestions? :)