"Robotech - To The
Stars: Aftermath - The First Year"
part 1
Rick couldn't raise anyone
from flight control to receive directions as to where to go or what to do next,
so he set his VT down near the lake's edge, got out, and just stared in frozen
terror as he watched the scene before him. He was only vaguely aware of the
buring ruins of New Macross City that surrounded him and for one of the few
times in his life as a protector of the people, he let himself think about his
own problems first, before theirs. He stared at the lake, in the center of it
was a burning, sinking, mangled SDF-1. The sentinel that had protected the people
of Macross for so long, like the city now, would not be rebuilt...would not
be resurrected, because resurrection was not possible this time.
Half of the lake was on fire from the various oil spillages, despite that, Rick
could see the rescue crews trying to their best at trying to find survivors,
if there were any. The lake had already started to burn because of the demise
of the SDF-2, any survivors in the water trying to flee wouldn't have had much
a chance once Khyron's ship rammed into the SDF-1.
"Rick! Get out of here! Khyron's going to ram us! Go!!" Rick had heard
Lisa's warning but didn't listen and had used up all his ammunition trying,
in vain, to slow down Khyron's fiery javelin of death. Rick could only fly away
just in the nick of time before the large initial explosion and he had just
narrowly escaped several concussion waves before Max and Miriya caught up with
him. "Don't worry Rick, the rescue crews will find them," said the
ever-positive Max. "I hope you're right Max," Rick mumbled with tear-filled
eyes as he strained to see what kind of progress the rescue crews were making.
"Rick!" someone called from behind him. When he heard the voice he
wasn't sure who it was, a female's voice but his mind was in such a whirlwind
at the moment that the voice didn't register in his mind. His heart started
to pound as he turned around to see who it was.
Before him he saw Minmei walking rapidly towards him. She ran the last few steps
towards him and hugged him, "I'm so glad you're safe Rick!" Rick stood
motionless in her embrace. Minmei immediately picked up on it and backed off,
"I'm sorry Rick, I... I'm just so happy you're alright." "That's
ok Minmei, thank you for your concern. How is everyone? Max, Lina, Jason?"
Minmei folded her hands and informed him that they were all fine and safe in
the shelters. Rick nodded then turned his attention back to the lake. He could
hear Minmei walk up to him once again and in a moment heard her say, "I...I
know they'll all be OK Rick, please let me know as soon as you hear word about
Lisa." Minmei turned to leave and had taken a few steps when Rick shook
out of his stupor and hastily said, "Minmei, thank you for your concern.
I'm glad you're alright. Remember, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate
to ask, alright? We are still friends." Minmei was a little bit taken off
guard and Rick was surprised to hear himself utter the words as well. He figured
it was probably the feeling of guilt over dumping Minmei. Minmei smiled and
waved as she turned to make the walk back to the shelter.
The snow began to fall and Rick had no time to think any further on any particular
topic when his radio chimed. He rushed to his VT and leaped into the cockpit
to see who was calling. "Rick! It's me Max. We have received orders to
go to the Harrison Airfield that's about 20 miles from here. They have setup
a makeshift air command station there. " "But what about the rescue
efforts here?" stammered Rick. "We need to refuel and re-arm do we
not Captain?" asked Miriya in her Zentraedi fashion. "Yes, yes, Miriya"
was all Rick could mutter back. Rick gave one sad glance back at the lake of
fire and proceeded to join Max and Miriya at the Harrison Airfield. He had to
join them, there was nothing he could do here at the lake with no ammo and no
fuel, but he vowed silently that he would return the first instant he could.
* * * * * * *
"Kim!!" screamed
Sammie. Sammie was in the oil-saturated water, flailing her arms and trying
to stay afloat as best she could. "Kim!! Vanessa!! Claudia!! Lisa!! Admiral
Gloval!! Somebody answer me!!" Just then another wave enveloped her but
she quickly managed to keep her head above the surface, spitting and sputtering
out salt water that was mixed with slick, sticky oil. Sammie didn't know what
else to do and started to cry. "Sammie, now's not the time to be crying!"
Sammie's eyes widened and she flailed around looking in all directions, trying
to find out where the voice was coming from. She didn't see anyone and let out
a scream when Claudia popped out of the water next to her. "Claudia!!!"
Sammie started to cry again and latched onto Claudia's neck with a near chokehold.
"Calm down! We're not safe and sound yet," said a slightly annoyed
Claudia, "let's swim around a bit and see if we can find the others."
The two women waded around trying to avoid large oil slicks when, after about
10 min, they came upon what looked like the wreckage of a boiler. They also
saw a pair of hands clinging to the wreckaged and Claudia called out, "Who's
there!? Hello!" They saw another pair of hands latch onto the wreckage
along side the first pair but didn't hear any noise, so Claudia and Sammie swam
around the wreckage to see who was clinging onto the other side. When they got
around the corner, they were relieved yet at the same time shocked to see Kim
and Vanessa, clinging onto the wreckage, almost completely covered in oil. Vanessa
coughed and choked and tried to speak but Claudia told her to not try and talk
for she appeared to have a head injury as they could see blood dripping from
her forehead. Kim, for the most part, appeared to be in shock. Claudia instructed
Sammie to take care of Kim and Claudia herself took hold of Vanessa and the
four women waded through the water, away from the approaching flames.
The weary women had been wading for some time when they suddenly heard the sound
of helicopter blades above them. All of them, including Kim, looked upward and
Sammie and Vanessa began to wave their arms wildly at the chopper. Thankfully
the chopper crew saw them and the rescuers swooped down to extract the four
tired women from the increasingly dangerous waters.
Once inside the chopper their concern shifted to Kim. "Kim honey, what's
wrong??" asked Claudia with sisterly concern. Kim, wearing a blank stare,
muttered, "Under the water....dead....dead people...." The medic that
was seated with them said, "She probably saw some intense things under
the water, it's traumatized her. When we get back to the hospitals we have the
psychiatrists who will be able to promptly deal with this, don't worry, she
will get all the medical attention she needs." Claudia silently said to
herself, "I hope you're right." It must've taken quite a shock to
silence the always-vocal Kim. Claudia couldn't help but be a little more than
concerned at the moment.
* * * * * * *
Lisa opened her eyes to
semi-darkness and felt as if she were floating. She then felt something soaking
her feet and looked down and saw there was a leak in the compartment she was
in. She was disoriented and couldn't remember how she got in the predicament
she was currently in. Her survival instincts kicked in immediately and she knew
she had to find someway out of the compartment that was slowly flooding. She
pushed at the door and it took several heavy pushes before the hatch finally
popped open but as the door flew open, so did Lisa fly with it and into the
water. The water instantly chilled her to the bone and she hurried back up to
the surface, gasping for air once she broke through. She looked around and saw
that she was in some sort of storage hold. She looked behind her and saw light
in the distance. She looked up at her surroundings again and suddenly the location
registered in her mind....... Prometheus!
Slowly, what had transpired before she lost consciousness came back to her.
They were going to be rammed by Khyron and had to abandon ship. Kim and Vanessa
were in the first escape module out, then Sammie and Claudia, and lastly Lisa
and Admiral Gloval. As Lisa and Gloval's escape module wa about to launch, the
bridge was rocked by the concussion of an explosion several floors below it.
Gloval threw the eject switch but the module was stuck as well as damaged. Before
Lisa could shake off her horror, Gloval exited the ejection module and closed
the door behind him. Lisa, wide-eyed with fear, started shouting his name and
asking him what he was doing. Gloval didn't reply and then Lisa started hearing
and feeling him kick the module, trying to dislodge it from where it was stuck.
Lisa had shouted in panic, "Admiral no!!", and was trying to open
the door to get out, but as she was fumbling with the door handle the module
lurched forward and she was thrown into the wall. As the module start to accelerate
she scrambled back to her seat to try and get the safety harness and then that
was the last thing she remembered.
Gloval had saved her life and lost his in the process. She didn't want to hear
the theory, "the captain goes down with his ship", that wasn't suppose
to apply to Gloval. Admiral Henry J. Gloval had been more of a father to her
than her own flesh-and-blood father, Admiral Hayes, had been. The thought of
Gloval being dead just would not register in her mind. She felt cold, as if
she had been thrown into a freezer, she refused to accept his death. Before
she could do anymore dwelling on the subject, she was reminded of her current
environment as she heard the straining of steel above her. Despite the frigid
water, she managed to make her way towards the opening in the wreckage and found
herself alongside one of the port's docking landings.
Lisa was not alone as there were several dozen other survivors floundering in
the water, waiting for rescuers above to pluck them from the water. "Captain
Hayes!" someone shouted to her from topside. "Captain! Over here,
we'll get you out of there right now." the male voice was not familiar
to her. She looked up and didn't recognize the face either. As she started to
make her way towards the area where people were being taken out of the water
she noticed that most, if not all of them, were injured, whereas she was unscathed
save for a few bruises. She saw the male soldier waiting for her to make her
way and shouted to him, "I'll wait, get the injured out of here first!"
The soldier, a lieutenant from a Phalanx squad it seemed, was stammering a protest
about her being needed to immediately fly to the new command center. She shouted
back, "I appreciate it, but I must repeat my order Lieutenant, please see
to the injured first." The Lieutenant looked at the rest of the people
in the water and knew she was right, so he turned his attention to those immediately
within his reach.
"Captain, don't you think it's imperative you get to a command center as
soon as possible? From the looks of things, it seems the top brass' location
took a direct hit, you might be our only high-rankers left...." She turned
around to see who it was that was speaking to her and saw it was a woman of
the rank of Commander from the MP division. Lisa looked at the woman as she
remembered Gloval's heroism and replied, "Admiral Gloval didn't put his
own life before his subordinates today, he put his subordinates lives before
his own. To not do the same as he has done today would be a disgrace to his
memory." Lisa said soberly, still in shock and denial over his death. The
commander looked at her with a fearful expression, "Captain...you don't
mean Admiral Gloval is...." Lisa didn't answer, couldn't answer, and just
turned away from the woman. The woman was keen enough to understand that that
was Lisa's reply. Knowing how close all the bridge crew was to the Admiral,
the woman offered a meek, "I'm sorry Captain..." and then pressed
on, "Captain...what about the others on the bridge?" Lisa tried to
steady her voice before replying, "They made it out before me, I hope they
are in better condition than we are." And as Lisa said that she looked
around her and the devestation she saw was just too much for her to even begin
comprehend. She breathed a silent prayer that the other girls *were* much better
off than she was at the moment.
* * * * * * *
At Harrison Field, a makeshift
triage was setup in one of the large conference halls. Claudia and Sammie were
sitting in near Vanessa who was resting on a cot after having her head bandaged
up. She was going to be alright the medic said, but they were going to run a
CATscan just to make sure. On the other side of the great hall was the area
for patients who were in need of psychological attention. From where she was
sitting, Claudia could just barely see Kim. From the looks of it, Kim was still
in shock and not talking to anyone about anything. Claudia breathed a silent
prayer that Kim would be able to snap out of it, and soon.
With the lack of commanding officers around to keep an eye on what he was doing,
Rick took the liberty to rush over to the triage center while his VT was being
refuled and repaired. After many minutes of inquiring around, Rick managed to
find his way to Claudia, Sammie, and Vanessa. Rick's voice caught in his throat
as he caught site of the three women. Seeing them meant that the bridge crew
managed to escape in time. Claudia stood up as she saw Rick hurry towards them
and before he said anything he gave her a hug, which surprised Claudia, since
it was the first time since Roy's funeral that they had hugged. Rick saw Vanessa's
dazed look and bandaged head and knelt down beside her and asked her if she
was alright. She had too much of a headache to say anything and just nodded
her head, but it did manage to register through the numbness, that Rick genuinely
looked very concerned for her.
Rick looked around them and Claudia read his mind and replied before he could
utter the main concern he had, "We haven't seen her yet Rick." Claudia
tried her best to not sound worried but that didn't stop Rick from worrying.
"I have to find her!....I...." Rick stopped and looked around him
again, then looked at Sammie and Vanessa and his mouth dropped open and his
eyes grew wider before he could finally get out, "Kim!" Claudia put
a calming hand on his shoulder and pointed in the direction of where Kim was
currently being treated. Sammie said quietly, as if trying to keep a secret,
"She's in shock, she hasn't said one word since we've been here,"
then Sammie began to sniffle, "I'm so worried about her..." Rick cast
a worried glance in Kim's direction then looked around him again. Just then
a paramedic was passing by and Rick grabbed him by the arm and asked him, almost
as a plea, "Have you seen Captain Hayes?!" The man said, "I havent'
seen her Captain, I'm sorry." and went on his way. Rick ran his hand through
his hair and let out an exasperated sound and then said, "SOMEONE must've
seen her by now!" he started to pace around and then the three of them
heard a small cry escape from Vanessa. Claudia moved to her side and asked her
if she were in pain and needed the doctors attention but Vanessa nodded in the
negative and Sammie and Claudia were trying to get her to tell them what she
was crying about. Rick went to her side as well and worriedly looked her in
the eyes and asked her what was wrong, she turned away from him without a reply
and Rick grew even more worried, "Vanessa, is it about Lisa? Vanessa!"
Rick was now extremely worried, his heart was racing and an equally alarmed
Claudia asked Vanessa, "Vanessa please tell us if you know something about
Lisa and Admiral Gloval, they might need our help, if you know something you
have to tell us, please!"
Vanessa was now completely in tears and tried to compose herself and speak despite
the terribly painful headache she was also enduring. She looked at Rick and
felt her courage starting to fail her until Claudia said her name, firmly, but
not sternly. Vanessa sniffled then started, "Their escape module....I saw
it as Sammie's and mine were leaving the chutes....it...it..." Vanessa
started crying again and Rick was now terrified and nearly shook her out of
her bed had not Claudia restrained him. She continued after taking several minutes
to get up the strength to speak again, "....it was damaged." Claudia
felt a chill rush through her entire body and asked tonelessly, "What do
you mean damaged?" Vanessa looked from one to the other and then said,
"one of the beams had fallen across the chute pathway, I....if they were
to make it down the chute, someone would've had to remove the beam manually
because I don't think the escape module had enough power to break through it
on its own...."
Everyone sat motionless for what seemed like an eternity. Rick looked as if
he hadn't heard a word Vanessa had said but was just frozen in place. Claudia
seemed to be analyzing the escape module situtation and Sammie had started to
cry again. Suddenly Rick nearly shouted, "I have to find her! I have to
find Lisa!" and then he took off running towards the airstrip. No one tried
to stop him, because they knew if there was one person who could find and rescue
Lisa, it was Rick.
Rick's mind was in total chaos, he couldn't think of anything but finding Lisa.
When Max and Miriya spoke to him as he was readying his VT for takeoff, it was
as if he hadn't heard a word they said. Max was desperately trying to get Rick's
attention but to no avail.
Max had seen Rick this way before, like during the Minmei rescue from Khyron,
but at that time he had still managed to get replies from Rick. This time Rick
seemed totally unaware of anyone and everything around him. Max didn't press
the issue because he knew that it if were Miriya in danger, he would be the
same way. Max relayed to his wife that they were going to escort Rick and keep
an eye on him.
* * * * * * *
By the time Lisa had finally
been pulled out of the water, she was shivering so much her teeth were chattering
and she wasn't feeling well. The lieutenant that had spoken to her earlier wrapped
her in a blanket and escorted her to a waiting military jeep. "Get her
to the new command post ASAP," he ordered the driver. With that the driver
sped off.
Lisa felt increasingly dizzy as the jeep headed towards its destination and
the driver, noticing her slightly swaying where she sat, inquired if she were
ok. Lisa began to answer that she was when everything went black and she lost
consciousness and started to fall towards where a door would normally be. The
driver, quick as lightning, held the wheel with his left hand and grabbed Lisa
with his right and pulled her securely into the car. He radioed ahead and told
them that he thought Captain Hayes was injured and that a medical team should
be standing by for his arrival. He put switched off the radio, gave Lisa one
more look to make sure she was securly in the car, then floored the gas pedal.
When the driver got to the command post, the medical team rushed in collected
Lisa and then rushed into the building. The temporary command post was about
5 miles from Harrison Field. The command post was separated from the airfield
because Harrison Field had the better capacity to treat those in need of medical
attention and would be full to the gills with injured and could not spare anymore
room, not even for a command post.
General Maistroff had been present when Lisa was brought in for medical attention
and he had come back an hour later to check on her progress. With more than
half of the high-ranking officers killed or wounded, they were in desperate
need of intelligent and capable officers. Maistroff, upon consultation with
the only remaining high-rankers, was instructed to promote Lisa on the spot,
from Captain to Admiral, effective immediately. Thirty minutes prior, Maistroff
had ordered one of his aides to scare up someone in the uniform office and have
them come up with Lisa's new Admiral's uniform. Black would be the base color,
since it was the standard color for Admirals' uniforms, but there was a loss
as to what the trim color would be. General Reinhardt had said matter-of-factly,
"Emerald green, just like her eyes." The three officers that were
present, Maistroff included, looked at Reinhardt strangely and he just answered
them with a simple, "Is there a problem?" None of the men answered
him and just turned to leave to do their various duties. Maistroff took a moment
to reflect on the oddity of it all and decided he had more important things
to ponder at the present time.
The doctor came out of Lisa's room and told Maistroff, "She will be fine
sir, she just has a slight case of hypothermia, nothing serious. She should
be on her feet within a few hours." Maistroff just grunted his acknowledgement
and entered Lisa's room as the doctor left to tend to other patients.
When Maistroff entered the room Lisa sat up straight and then tried to get out
of bed, Maistroff stopped her by holding up his hand and saying in a somewhat
flat tone, "No need for a salute now Hayes, save your strength because
you're going to need it with all the work coming up." Lisa wasn't bothered
by Maistroff's lack of bedside manner, knowing as well as everyone on the base,
that Maistroff was one of the least liked officers in the ranks.
Maistroff didn't waste time and told Lisa, "Captain Hayes, in the wake
of all the losses in the chain of command, the other high-ranking officers and
I have decided to promote you to the rank of Admiral. Effective immediately.
Your new uniforms will be ready in a couple of hours and you will be appointed
an aide, to be chosen at your discretion. The doctor said you should be well
enough to be released in a few hours, so when you are released we expect to
see you at the command post, we have a huge job ahead of us." With that,
Maistroff left her room.
Lisa sat there, trying to process what Maistroff had just gruffly told her,
let some time go by before it sank in. She thought more of Maistroff's insensitivity
more than her promotion and could feel herself growing angrier by the minute.
Despite her knowing of Maistroff's abrasiveness, she slowly started to let it
bother her. There was no, "I hope you are unhurt," "I am so sorry
about Admiral Gloval", "Is there something I can do for you?"
none of it. Instead, the stuffed shirt had marched into her room and ordered
her to get herself out of her hospital bed as soon as possible and take charge,
as if this were just any other day. Lisa angrily shook her head and slowly got
up from her bed and tried to take a few turns around the room to try and get
her sense of balance back. She walked over to the phone and found that it wasn't
working, then she looked around the room for her cellphone but that was gone
too. So much for trying to find out how her friends were. She had no other choice
but to sit and wait for her uniforms to arrive because she surely go out in
her hospital gown.
* * * * * * *
Rick set his VT down a
few hundred feet from where Lisa had been pulled out of the water a couple of
hours earlier. The Skull squadron had been ordered to patrol for any leftover
renegade Zendtraedi so Rick had been delayed in his search for Lisa. By this
time, all the survivors that had been wading in the waters like Lisa, had been
transported to either the hospitals or Harrison Field and there was no one left
on the docks.
Rick was pacing back and forth wondering what to do next when he saw a jeep
driving by. He flagged it down and asked the driver about Lisa. The driver had
been the same one that had driven her to the command post and so told Rick exactly
where to find Lisa. Rick asked the driver if he could take him there and the
driver readily agreed. Rick took a few moments to secure his VT then jumped
in the jeep as the driver burned rubber out of the docks.
As they sped towards the command post, Rick grilled the driver as to Lisa's
condition, her appearance, her injuries, and everything else he could think
of. The driver for his part, knowing of the Hayes-Hunter soap opera, thought
to be a bit nosey and asked Rick, "Excuse me for saying Captain but I am
a bit surprised you're so concerned for the Captain, I thought you couldn't
stand her." The driver knew he was out of line but took his chances. Upon
hearing the driver's words, Rick flinched as if he had been smacked across the
face but didn't answer.
Rick became lost in his thoughts, reliving the day's events: Lisa coming to
his house to say goodbye, telling him her true feelings, running away from him,
finding her laying in the street as the buildings around her crumbled and burned,
watching the SDF-2 take a direct hit, hearing her voice coming from the SDF-1
bridge, hearing her scream at him to leave as Khyron was preparing to plow into
the SDF-1, the collision between the SDF-1 and Khyron's ship, the destruction
of both ships, the fear that gripped him in the moments that followed when he
didn't know if Lisa were alive or dead, hearing the news that she was alive.
All these played in his mind in a jumble that he didn't even notice the jeep
had stopped. "We're here now Captain, " announced the driver. Rick
shook out of his thoughts and thanked the driver as he jumped out of the jeep.
Then as he started looking for someone that could direct him towards Lisa.
Rick found someone who gave him directions as to where to find Lisa and as he
walked towards her room his mind and emotions were in complete shambles. Never
had he felt so sad and happy at the same time. For all his confusion, one thing
Rick was sure of, he wanted nothing more than to hold Lisa in his arms.
Rick's reunion with Lisa was delayed some 15 minutes due to wrong turns and
stopping to ask for the correct directions to her room, but finally, Rick opened
the door to her room without knocking. Lisa, finishing buttoning her new Admiral's
uniform jacket, was surprised to see Rick in front of her. With all that had
been going on, the loss of Gloval and her new responsiblities as Admiral, she
hadn't had time to dwell on the situation with Rick.
Now that Rick was standing in front of her, Lisa was not sure what to think.
She was afraid that Rick had come to the realization that his confession to
her was made in haste and that he had come back to tell her that he was going
back to Minmei. But his next action dispelled all her fears.
To her great surprise, and relief, Rick walked quickly up to her without saying
a word and held on to her tightly and said, "Lisa! I'm so glad I found
you, I was so scared..." and squeezed her even tighter to the point where
it was a bit of a struggle for her to breathe. Rick just concentrated on the
feel of her as he held her. The last time he had hugged her was when he had
rescued her from Alaska Base but it had been such a quick hug that he didn't
remember what it had felt like. Now that he had her here in his arms, he held
on tightly, relishing every second of it. One sentence kept playing in his head
as he held her, "I love you, I always have...and I always will!" Rick's
mind was a shambles, tormented by both guilt and sadness and blessed by relief
and love. Lisa was nearly gonna faint from lack of oxygen and, confused herself,
pushed out of his embrace instead of thinking to verbally tell him he was holding
her too tightly. The action scared and surprised Rick at the same time and when
Lisa saw the look on his face she rushed to explain her actions lest he should
turn around and run out the door.
"Rick, I'm sorry, I couldn't breathe, you were squeezing me too tightly,"
and with that Lisa stepped to him and hugged him to reassure him that there
was nothing to apologize for. Rick, greatly relieved, held onto her very gently.
Lisa couldn't believe she was being hugged by Rick. After all the years of longing
and frustration, perhaps this was all just one big dream, she had thought to
herself. She let herself relax in his arms, resting her head on his strong shoulder,
afraid to say anything for fear he might leave her. Lisa didn't have time to
dwell any further on anything because someone had just come into the room, without
knocking, "Admiral Hayes....oh....I'm sorry for interrupting."
It was the same aide that had given Lisa her new uniform earlier. The aide,
a woman about Rick's age looked genuinely sorry for interrupting their heartwarming
embrace, most likely having had heard about the Hayes-Hunter saga, because,
who hadn't? Well, only Rick Hunter of course. "It's alright Lieutenant.
What is it?" The Lieutenant stated that Maistroff wanted Lisa back at the
command post but then she added, "I'll tell him you'll be there in half
an hour." Even though the command post was only 10 minutes away. Rick caught
onto the Lieutenant's intentions and smiled broadly and thanked her. The Lieutenant
looked like she were proud of herself and left the room but not before winking
at Rick and Lisa. All of a sudden Rick finally noticed that Lisa had a different
uniform on and remembered how the Lieutenant had addressed Lisa. "Admiral?!"
Lisa wasn't initially sure if Rick was happy or upset at the realization. She
looked at him shyly, trying to hide her pride, "I..uh.. with the loss of
many of the high-ranking officers...they promoted me to Admiral...." remembering
the loss of Gloval made the tears well up. Out of a longstanding habit, Lisa
turned away from him to try and hide her tears, and took a deep breath to try
and keep from crying out loud. Rick said quietly, "Gloval...." and
he saw Lisa nod her head, "...He saved my life... he was like a second
father to me, and now he's gone..." Lisa let out a sniffle and heard Rick
approach her and waited to see what he would do.
Rick still needed a lot of time to get used to the idea that he and Lisa were
now a couple, after knowing each other for so long and going through so much
together, their relationship had finally changed from being friends to being
much more than friends. Though he was still a bit scared of the idea, he didn't
have any regrets. When he had spoken to Minmei at the lake, he knew that they
weren't meant to be together, they were too different with different priorities.
In fact, Rick had come to that realization before seeing Minmei at the lake
and even before Minmei suggested they get married. Now, looking at the woman
who he had been through so much with, the woman who had always stayed by his
side and listened to him whenever he needed someone to just listen and not judge
him or turn the conversation towards themselves as Minmei had so often had,
he felt an overwhelming feeling of wanting to protect her and show her how much
he appreciated her and how much he cared for her. These were all new feelings
for him, as well as the feelings of guilt and shame. How many times had Lisa
been there for him when he needed her yet he most often then not, couldn't see
that she needed him. How many times, too numerous to count really, had he gone
to Lisa's place to rant on about Minmei, when all the while Lisa had been in
love with him. Rick knew that he couldn't stand it when Minmei talked about
Kyle, now he couldn't even begin to imagine what it must've been like for Lisa
to hear him talk about Minmei day after day, month after month, year after year.
Lisa was half absorbed in her grief for Gloval and also half conscious with
wonder over how Rick was going to respond to her moment of grief. In the past,
when she showed her grief to him, the last time being when they were trapped
together during a Transformation, a very long time ago, he had offered her a
handkerchief, but that was alright with her, she surely didn't expect him to
comfort her with a hug at that time. Now she wondered if Rick would keep a careful,
hands off approach towards her for awhile or if he'd try and make up for lost
time, which she was secretly hoping he would. She remembered how he had hugged
her several minutes earlier and was hoping he would do so again. After a few
more seconds of wondering, several which seems to feel like years, she finally
got her wish.
Rick came over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind and buried
his face against her neck and whispered quietly, "Go ahead Lisa, let it
out, it's ok."
The moment was bittersweet for Lisa, she was devastated by the loss of her second
father, yet at the same time she was relishing being in Rick's arms. Perhaps,
she thought, Gloval was smiling down on them from somewhere up above. She let
herself cry, quietly, not wanting to make a scene since they were still in a
public place technically. She tried to keep her grief bottled up, push it out
of her mind for the moment, until she was in the private, alone with Rick, just
the two of them, to finally let out all of her pain. So, she focused on Rick.
His arms were strong, yet gentle at the same time, and his hair was soft against
her face. She let her hands rest on his warm hands and she let herself stay
like that with him, letting her self cry and sniffle quietly. Finally, after
several minutes of just letting herself cry and be held by Rick, she thought
she was ready to get back to her duty. However, though unintentionally, or rather
maybe perhaps subconsciously, Lisa leaned her head back a bit and sighed.
Rick hadn't been thinking of anything except Lisa as he held her. His mind had
been replaying the long soap opera that they had shared as well as how natural
and good it felt to hold her in his arms. He remembered back to just recently
when he had held Minmei in his arms. The feeling wasn't the same. At the time
it had seemed as if his dreams had been realized, he finally had Minmei's attention
and love, but it just didn't feel right. He couldn't bring himself to relax
and relish it, it was as if there was something or someone haunting him, and
there was, Lisa.
He remembered one time, a couple of days before New Year's Eve, after dinner
he and Minmei danced to a few songs. The first couple songs were dance tunes,
medium-paced type of songs, but the third song was a slow dance song. From the
start, it didn't feel right. Minmei laid her head on his shoulder as they danced
but to Rick there was something wrong with the picture. He didn't feel happy
like he thought he should have. That nagging feeling was so overwhelming to
the point that it was annoying. What was it? he just couldn't put his finger
on it. Then he looked across the room at the framed poster of a Stealth bomber
flying through the clouds. It was a gift Lisa had given to him, just out of
the blue. She had come over one day, a few months after the reconstruction had
begun, and had brought along a present with her, the first of many presents
she had bought him. Lisa understood him, more than Minmei ever could, and then
at that moment it flashed into his mind that it was Lisa who was dancing with
him instead of Minmei. He heard Lisa's light laugh in his ear. It was a laugh
he didn't get to hear often but he had heard it enough to know what it was suppose
to sound like. Then he heard her sigh. He had heard that plenty of times and
when his mind wasn't occupied at the time he heard it, it made his heart beat
just a little bit faster. These two imagined sounds, coupled together, made
Rick stop in his tracks. "Rick, is something wrong?" Minmei's voice
brought him out of his imaginings, "Uhh, no Minmei, I'm fine." Minmei
giggled and chirped, "Oh, you silly guy!" and resumed their dance.
Rick stared at the poster again and imagined seeing Lisa standing in front of
it, giving him the same, slow, shy smile that she had when they first hung up
the poster, and then she faded from sight.
Back in the present, Rick picked up on Lisa's movement and his mouth had fallen
squarely onto her neck when she had moved. Now, he couldn't stop himself, nor
did he want to stop himself, from kissing Lisa on the neck. Lisa was in shock,
she still had not been convinced that this visit from Rick was all just a dream.
Had she actually died on the SDF-1 and gone to heaven? Just now Rick had kissed
her, without having been ordered to do so. Lisa's mind and heart were racing.
Surely she thought, she must've died and that this was just a big dream. But
it wasn't a dream, it was real and Rick kissed her again, this time just under
her jawline. Lisa was glad Rick was holding her or else she might have fainted.
When Lisa sighed again, Rick thought he was going to faint. Suddenly they heard
two short and rapid knocks on the door then the sound of the door opening. They
turned together to see who it was that had interrupted them.
In the doorway stood Sammie, wearing a new uniform, similar to Lisa's old one,
but instead the turtleneck shirt was teal-colored and the uniform trim was black.
The stripes indicated that she was now a Captain, she had been promoted. Small
as she was, Sammie presented a new, confident look in her new uniform. However
there was no mistaking the look of shock on her face when she saw her superiors,
her friends, in a loving embrace. Sammie stood there staring at them, still
too surprised to utter a word. Lisa didn't rush to step out of her embrace with
Rick and was disappointed when he stepped away from her, she wanted to stay
in his arms for however long they could and just forget the destruction that
was around them.
"I....I....uh..." Sammie was still too surprised to put her sentence
together and when she finally realized that Lisa was wearing an Admiral's uniform,
Sammie's military training brought her out of her stupor and she snapped a salute
and said clearly and loudly, "Admiral! Captain Samantha Porter, Air Logistics
Chief Officer reporting for duty ma'am, Central Command requests your presence
in conference room 3 at once." Rick and Lisa stared at her in surprise,
and Lisa had an amused smile on her face as she asked, "Sammie....where
did that come from?" Sammie blushed, she had not unnecessarily addressed
Lisa formally for several years now, their strong friendship, dispelling the
need for that. "I...I don't know Lisa..." answered a slightly embarrassed
Sammie. Lisa laughed and said, "Show off!" teasingly. Rick and Lisa
gave congratulatory hugs to Sammie. It was the first time Rick and Sammie had
ever hugged and after Rick released Sammie, she said dreamily, "Wow....no
wonder why Lisa fell in love with you...." Rick and Lisa looked at each
other, sharing a smile, as Lisa blushed slightly. "Oh, Rick, they want
you to attend the meeting too," said Sammie, finally shaken out of her
daydream. Rick bowed gentlemanlike and then opened the door for them, "Shall
we go ladies?" Sammie and Lisa left the room with Rick following closely
behind him.
A few paces down the hall Sammie could no longer contain herself and shook Lisa
by the arm, "Lisa!! Is it true?? Did I see what I thougth I saw just now??
Are you and Rick...." Sammie was cut off by Rick, "Yes we are Sammie,"
said Rick with a smile and a touch of pride in his voice. Lisa still couldn't
believe it and she returned a happy, tearful smile as they continued down the
hall. "Finally!!" shouted Sammie. Lisa gave her a sidelong glance
and, "Sammie," warningly. Sammie knew what that meant, in other words,
"Don't go yacking the gossip all over the base." "Oops, I'm sorry
Lisa." said Sammie with an apologetic and innocent look on her face. Lisa
saw that Sammie wouldn't cause any harm and turned her thoughts to duty as they
continued towards the conference room, Sammie filling Lisa in on the news about
Claudia, Vanessa, and Kim.
* * * * * * *
General Maistroff had rambled
on for about twenty minutes, talking about procedures on how to perform mass
evacuations, how to work with local authorities, and other topics that the officers
present already knew how to do well, because it had been done several times
before. Finally, General Reinhardt had had enough, "Thank you General Maistroff,
I believe the officers present are now very informed of what needs to be done."
With that he folded his hands on the table and proceeded onto the subject of
duty assignments. "As everyone is aware by now, we are saddened by the
loss of Admiral Gloval...." Lisa felt a knot in her stomach and the tears
start to well up. Rick looked at her and saw her emotions start to bubble up
and reached under the table and held her hand. Lisa was surprised but instantly
felt comforted by the gesture. Reinhardt continued, "...and we have lost
several top officers as well, thus the need to fill those ranks immediately,
so that we may relocate and rebuild as quickly as possible. Therefore the following
promotions have been given and now the specific duties will be assigned, all
are effective immediately."
"Captain Elizabeth Hayes, promoted to Admiral. Duties will include, supervision
of the construction of the SDF-3." Lisa, Rick, Claudia, and Sammie gasped
at the announcement. It had been not more than 8 hours since the SDF-2 had gone
to its grave before even making a test flight, and now they were already talking
of an SDF-3. Lisa didn't know what to feel, the thought of another SDF being
built so soon after so much destruction and loss had just taken place overwhelmed
her and she absolutely had no emotion regarding the matter. Rick looked at her
and knew that she was confused, as would anyone else be.
Reinhardt continued, "Commander Claudia Grant, promoted to Captain. Duties
will include, supervision of the relocation of the residents of New Macross
to Monument City, in partnership with General Mark Stuart of the Army Defense
Forces." Claudia sat quietly as everyone looked at her for a reaction.
Her job was probably the most difficult but if anyone could do the job, and
do it well, it was Claudia Grant. Her interpersonal and public relations skills
were the best in the RDF and she had everyone's respect.
"Lt. Commander Samantha Porter, promoted to Captain. Duties will include,
Chief Officer of Air Logistics. We have confidence in your ability to handle
the job, Captain Porter. You have proven that ability many times, we know you
will do your job well." Sammie stood up and snapped a proud salute, "I
will not let you down General!" Everyone looked at Sammie and saw that
she had grown into her own skin finally. Despite her shaky start as Lisa's backup
on the SDF-1, it didn't take Sammie very long for her to become nearly as good
an air controller as Lisa was. As Sammie's skill developed, so did her confidence
in herself. There were no more jokes by the pilots about Sammie having them
fly into each other, she had now justifiably earned the pilots respect, something
she was proud of and worked hard to maintain.
"Lt. Commander Vanessa Leeds, promoted to Captain. Duties will include,
under the direction of General O'Brien, Chief Officer of Radar and Telemetry."
Upon hearing the news via a video conference link to her hospital room, Vanessa
was surprised at the assignment, she always knew she did her job well, but didn't
ever think she was really anything special. Even though Lisa, Claudia, Gloval,
and O'Brien had told her she was the best Radar specialist in the RDF.
Reinhardt read off several more promotions and assignments and had finished
the pilot promotions and assignments and much to Rick's great relief, he wasn't
promoted nor assigned anything new. Lisa caught Rick sighing with relief and
felt a wave of disappointment. She knew he was capable of handling any new assignment
that was given to him. She felt that Rick being passed over for reassignments
and promotion was a slight to Rick's leadership capabilities. She realized that
she was angry about the situation, but then it dawned on her that Rick was happy
he wasn't going to be doing anything but fly. She suddenly had a bad feeling.
She thought Rick could be so much more than just a regular pilot, but she saw
he was quite comfortable with that role. How was she going to convince him otherwise?
She knew that, as stubborn as they both were, this was going to be an issue
in their relationship and would most likely cause problems.
"As for Lieutenant Kimberly Young, I believe we need to wait and see what
her mental status is before we can make any determination as to where to assign
her, but, honestly speaking Admiral Hayes, we were at a loss as to where to
put her. Perhaps you have some suggestions?"
Lisa thought about it, Kim didn't particularly have one speciality that she
excelled at like Vanessa or Sammie had. Kim was a Jack-Of-All-Trades and not
by of her own choosing and it was Lisa's notion that Kim's constant back-talking
to Maistroff might have had something to do with her stagnation in the ranks.
Maistroff was a pompous windbag who only had his own intentions of power to
look out for and he'd raise hell for anyone that got in his way or made him
look foolish. Kim had made him look foolish nearly a dozen times during meetings
and the scowl on his face each time it happened was all one needed as proof
of his disdain for her. "Sir, it was said that the choice of my aide would
be left to my discretion correct?" asked Lisa. "Yes that is true Admiral."
answered Reinhardt, already knowing what she was about to propose. Lisa stole
a glance at Maistroff, who already had a frown on his face, "Sir, I would
like to appoint Lieutenant Young as my aide. I think that since she and I have
worked together for so long, it is a logical choice. However, I would need to
have her rank as a Commander, so that way she may carry out certain functions
I would most likely need her to do for me." Maistroff let loose a small
growl and everyone at the table stared at him, so he tried to cover it up by
pretending to cough and clear his throat." "Craphead!" Lisa thought
to herself as she watched Maistroff's pathetic cover-up. Reinhardt called for
anyone who objected to speak up and no one dared speak up so it was formalized
that Kim would be promoted to Commander and become Lisa's aide.
"Now as to the question of housing arrangements, if you'll please speak
to Lieutenant Montgomery before you leave the conference room, she will set
you up with the arrangements." With that, Reinhardt adjourned the meeting
and those who hadn't set up housing arrangements yet went over to speak to Montgomery.
Claudia wasn't standing in line having already managed to squeeze in as the
fifth person in a house she would share with her brother and sister-in-law,
Vince and Jean Grant and their son Bowie, and Max, Miriya, and Dana Sterling.
"Claudia, how are you going to manage to sleep in a house with two kids?!"
wondered Sammie. "Well Sammie, the house is pretty big so at least it's
not cramped quarters and I am always willingly on-call to babysit my nephew,
so to not have to walk or drive far to get to him is surely a nice convenience."
Ahead of Rick, Lisa, and Sammie was an officer, who looked to be around his
early 40's, who was rather getting upset at Montgomery. "I'm sorry Commander
but there are only two of those houses left and those are reserved for higher-ranking
officers." "But I have 4 teenage kids, there's no way I can squeeze
them and my wife into a shared apartment." Then another person spoke up,
this time a woman, "My husband and I just got married, we would very much
like to have an apartment of our own." Montgomery was looking haggard and
overwhelmed as Rick, Lisa, and Sammie moved closer towards the commotion.
"What's the problem Lieutenant," asked Lisa in a tone that showed
she was sympathetic towards Montgomery's stress. "I'm very sorry for the
holdup Admiral, it's just there's too many people and not enough housing, I'm
trying to accommodate everyone as best as I can with the limited resources I
have." Sammie stepped up to the table and took the sign up and assignment
sheets. There were only 3 dwellings left. One large one, which already had Lisa's
name on it. It was large enough to accomodate five people. The other large dwelling
was almost identical to the one with Lisa's name on it and had the names of
the Trio on it. Then there was a small apartment. Doing quick mental calculation,
Sammie found that there didn't seem to be any housing left for Rick. A sly smile
formed across her face as she exclaimed, "I think I've solved everyone's
problems!" She smiled at everyone, noticing their skeptical looks. But
Sammie remained proud and continued, "See look at the list, Lieutenant
Gordon and his family can move into this large house here, it holds 5 people.
Then Lieutenant Stevens can move into the apartment with her husband, and me,
Kim, Vanessa, Lisa, and Rick can take the last big house! It works perfectly!
That's if you don't mind Lisa. The other big house is suppose to be yours..."
Lisa waved her hand dismissively, "Your plan is perfect Sammie, I don't
need such a large house all to myself anyways. Lieutenant Gordon you and your
family are more than welcome to take it." Gordon and Stevens were ecstatic
and thanked Lisa wholeheartedly. Montgomery looked completely exhausted but
completely relieved.
As everyone left the room to head towards their old quarters to collect their
possessions among the increasingly dangerous rising radiation levels, Claudia
pulled Sammie off to the corner and pointed her finger at her, "You did
that on purpose didn't you?!" Sammie beamed proudly, "I sure did!
And just you wait to see the look on their faces when I hand out the room arrangements.
There's only 2 large bedrooms, so Kim and Vanessa and I will have to try and
squeeze our twin beds in one room, the largest room of course, and Rick and
Lisa will have to share the other room, and Montgomery just told me that the
heating in the house isn't working at the moment!!!" Claudia slapped her
own forehead, as she often did many hundreds of when hearing of Sammie's shananigans,
smiled, and groaned, "Girl, you ARE such a bad child." Sammie beamed
proudly and said matter-of-factly, "I know!"
* * * * * * *
It was near midnight when
Lisa managed to arrive at the hospital to check on Kim and Vanessa. She had
spent a good many hours alternating between helping out Claudia and Sammie with
their various duties. With her primary assignment, the SDF-3, not even looking
like it was going to start its early stages for some time until after the relocations
were complete, Lisa felt rather awkward at the moment with her old duties stripped
from her. She felt like a as if she weren't doing enough, and started to wish
that they had designated a specific role for her to occupy during this immediate
need. However, this perhaps was not as bad as she thought initially, now she
had some discretion as to how and where she could work without anyone really
objecting. So she decided that tommorrow she would continue to assist Claudia,
since her duties were more of a dire importance. Sammie seemed to have been
able to handle her duties today without too much chaos so Lisa didn't feel quite
that guilty leaving her alone.
Lisa saw Sammie sitting in the waiting room and went over to take a seat. "Well,
Vanessa should be out of here in about 4 days, but Kim will need more time.
The doctors say they've been making progress with her." Lisa was a bit
perplexed, they all had seen death before, especially Sammie and Kim, who had
had to watch people die right in front of their eyes on their monitors. What
was it that had shocked Kim so badly she wondered. "They said that they
think she has a mental block, and that once she breaks it, she will be ok. But
they couldn't give me an estimate of how long that could be." said Sammie
disheartened. "Can I see Kim and Vanessa?" asked Lisa. Sammie shook
her head, "I don't think so, the nurses kicked me out about an hour ago.
I was waiting for you though, maybe if you asked them they would let you see
them, since you're an Admiral now." Lisa decided that she needed to see
her friends before she could get any rest and walked up to the nurses station
to see if they would let her see Vanessa. Kim was in another nursing unit a
few floors above them so they would visit her after visiting Vanessa.
Lisa had no problem getting permission from the nurses to see Vanessa and as
she peeked through the door she saw that Vanessa was sound asleep, so not wanting
to wake her, she quietly closed the door and went back to the waiting room.
Lisa managed to speak to the one of Kim's doctors and he gave her permission
to look in on Kim. When she opened the door she found Kim to be apparently sleeping.
She walked closer to Kim's bed and looked at her more carefully. In the darkness
she couldn't tell if Kim were awake or asleep so she decided to leave the room
so that she wouldn't wake Kim up if she had happened to be asleep. The doctor
held the door open for Lisa and they both stepped out into the hall and were
slowly walking back towards the nurses station when they heard a scream come
from Kim's room.
Lisa, the doctor, a nurse, and Sammie ran back to Kim's room and rushed inside
to find her huddled on her bed crying. The doctor gave some encouraging news,
"She's broken the mental block!" Sammie rushed to her best friend,
and tried to console her. Kim held onto her and uttered the word, "Gloval,"
through her sobs. "Admiral Gloval is dead, I saw him under the water...."
So that's what had shocked Kim, Lisa realized. She was relieved that Kim was
past her mental block, but now there still left a lot of sessions with the psychologists
to get her back to the person she was. Hopefully Kim's spirit and the support
from her close friends would make Kim's recovery swift.
After spending about an hour with Kim, Sammie and Lisa wearily headed back towards
their new home. They were both dead on their feet and were looking forward to
dropping onto the couch the minute they walked through the door, but when they
got through the doorway, they saw Rick sprawled on the couch, fast asleep. He
had offered to move everyone's belongings to the new house, since he wasn't
in immediate need for patrols, the numerous trips back and forth by car, in
heavy traffic, had wiped out his energy completely.
Sammie stood there gawking at Rick. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and
regular blue jeans and his hair was tossed away from his eyes revealing his
strong brow that accented his already handsome features. Sammie grabbed Lisa's
arm and whispered, "Lisa! He's so gorgeous! I never really knew how gorgeous
he was. Oh you're so lucky! I'm so happy for you!" Lisa gave her friend
a hug and Sammie told her that she was going upstairs to take a long hot bath.
Lisa went to check out her room and when she came back Rick was still asleep
and probably would stay on the couch until he awoke in the morning so she went
back and got him a couple of blankets and covered him up and then headed towards
the second bathroom that was located on the lower level to take a hot shower.
Thank goodness, she thought to herself, that there were 2 bathrooms in the house
because knowing the Terrible Trio, they would hog up one bathroom for several
hours of the day.
Lisa felt refreshed and relaxed from her shower and checked on Rick one more
time before going upstairs to her room. She wanted to talk to him and hold him,
but she knew how tired he was so she let him continue sleeping and hoped that
he was still there in the morning, hoping that he wouldn't get up in the middle
of the night and leave and head back into Minmei's arms.
As Lisa pulled the covers over her shoulders she thought of all that had happened
that day but felt herself drifting of to sleep almost immediately.
* * * * * * *
Notes:
1. Yes, as you noticed I changed the ending of To the Stars a bit, just to make it more dramatic ;)