"Robotech - To The
Stars: Aftermath - The First Year"
Chapter 3, part 1
January 20th, 2015
Rick woke up and rubbed
his eyes and then looked at the clock. It read 6am. He looked around the room
after his eyes had adjusted to the light and he saw one of Lisa's suitcases
and a duffle bag sitting near the door. He sat there staring at the two bags
and wrestled with the unseen forces that were pulling so heavily on his heartstrings.
He felt depressed that she was leaving, similar to the way he felt when she
had left the SDF-1 to go to Earth to try and convince the UEG to enter into
peace negotiations with the Zentraedi, but this time his depression was more
saturating. Back then though, he still had Minmei in his heart, and Lisa was
eclipsed by his yearning for Minmei. Now, he felt guilty on both fronts.
The first front was where he could not even begin to forgive himself over his
now knowing that he was the cause of so much pain for Lisa. This weighed heavy
on his mind and heart and he knew it would take him quite some time to get rid
of that weight, and perhaps it might not even go away totally. The second front
was a slight twinge of guilt over how he had handled Minmei's phonecall the
previous evening. He remembered that he did happen to tell Minmei not to hesitate
to call him. Rick realized now that he promised too much and now he was going
to have to talk to her to clear things up about her assumptions regarding their
friendship.
He always prided himself on being a good friend, on being reliable, and on being
able to stand by his word. He knew he could continue to be all those things
to any of his friends, but his situation with Minmei didn't fall into the normal
friendship type of relationship, it was an 'ex-significant other' type of relationship
and that particular category needed to be handled very carefully.
He didn't feel much like thinking about Minmei anymore, that part of his life
needed to be put behind him now. He decided that he would speak to her soon,
so that way he wouldn't have anymore awkward moments like the telephone call
last night. He thought he should let Lisa know that he intended to speak to
Minmei and why, just incase word got around that he had talked to Minmei. He
didn't want her to feel as if he had gone behind her back, and he needed to
show Lisa that there wasn't anything she needed to be jealous or insecure about.
He knew that his and Lisa's relationship, in its previous state, was littered
with missed opportunities, misunderstandings, and misconceptions; now he needed
to make sure that their relationship would not be littered with mistakes of
the past.
Rick turned his thoughts again towards the suitcase and the duffle bag on the
floor. He wondered how many times he'd see that same picture replayed, since
Lisa was put in charge of overseeing the construction of the SDF-3, that duty
would most likely take her away, to who knows where, perhaps the Robotech Factory
Satellite, on many occassions and what if he weren't allowed to go with her.
How long would they be separated and how frequently? Rick scolded himself for
over-worrying and tried to concentrate on the 'now' of things.
Now, he still felt depressed about Lisa leaving, even if it were only for a
couple of days. He had so much he wanted to tell her but he understood that
that probably wouldn't happen for quite a while, since there was still alot
of work that needed to be done for relocation.
He started thinking about the people of Macross. For five years it seemed that
all they did was spend their lives rebuilding and relocating, five years they
spent being displaced vagabonds. Although, he thought, perhaps that wasn't so
bad really, compared to the horrors the Earth faced on "Judgement Day,"
courtesy of Dolza's grand fleet. He admired the human spirit, the one that had
the guts and resolve to rise out of the ashes like the ancient Phoenix, and
vowed that he would serve to protect them, for the rest of his life.
Rick heard the door open and watched as Lisa walked in, outfitted in camoflauge
fatigues. He had not seen her in fatigues before, only in her white uniform
or her flight suit, and he took some time to stare at her and her new 'fashion'
look.
Lisa looked at him and smiled, Rick looked funny, in a cute sort of way. Anyone
could obvious tell he had just woken up, he had this blank look on his face,
and his dark, thick, wavy hair was sticking up in every direction. Rick stood
up and Lisa walked closer to him and said, "Good morning Rick."
The sound of her voice had a calming effect on him, having just been in deep
thought a few seconds ago, now Rick felt comforted to know that she was in his
life, by his side, and that loved him. He couldn't help but smile broadly, suddenly
aware of how happy he felt at that moment, and offered a gentle, "Good
morning Lisa," in reply.
Lisa, equally as happy at that moment, moved closer to him with the intent to
give him a hug and to try and fix his hair a bit. As she was about to put her
arms around him, Rick ducked and moved back from her a couple of steps.
Lisa felt anxious and hurt at the same time, but then she saw Rick cover his
mouth like a child who just ate something he didn't want his parent to find
out about, her hurt diminished a bit and she was slightly amused at the scene.
Rick had seen Lisa's initial expression and was afraid he had hurt her feelings,
but he couldn't react quick enough to say anything. Then, as he saw her change
expressions, he felt a bit relieved and quickly said, "I haven't brushed
my teeth yet," slightly lifting his hand so his words wouldn't be a mumbled
jumble. Lisa then watched Rick head out the door and laughed and shook her head
as she heard him quickly walk down the stairs.
After several minutes, Rick returned and it looked as if he had taken a couple
spare moments to comb his disheveled hair and shave his 5 o’clock shadow.
Lisa gave him a quizzical look and Rick fumbled for some sort of explanation.
“Um…Lisa, well, you know, I mean, I’m sorry I pulled away
from you, well, you know morning-breath and all and if you were planning to
kiss me then, uh! What I mean was, I didn’t assume you were going to kiss
me, I mean, it would be nice, oh, wait! No I mean, you’re not obligated
to you know, only if you want to, I don’t mean to be pushy or anything
and I don’t to come off as if I’m rushing you or I…What I
mean…”
Lisa held up her hand and showed him a calm-down type of gesture, then couldn’t
help but laugh at him as he stood there with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Rick, it’s alright. I understand what you’re trying to say.
And thank you for being considerate enough to brush your teeth, that was one
thing Claudia would get annoyed at with Roy for.”
They shared a smile and each mentally replayed an old fond memory of their dearly
loved and departed ‘Big Brother.’ Their reminiscent moment was interrupted
by some commotion out in the hallway.
“I don’t have to go to work for at least 3 more hours, can’t
you be a little more considerate and keep it down!” hollered Vanessa.
“Look who’s being inconsiderate by yelling at the top of their lungs
at 6am like some crabby old mother hen! Besides, you need to wake up and get
a debriefing from Lisa about the investigation and you need to get ready for
your new command, aren’t you nervous at all ?! You’re a Captain
now and you’re in charge of—“
Vanessa wouldn’t let Sammie win the argument and continued, “Stop
nagging me! Now you’re the one who’s a mother hen!”
Rick and Lisa looked at each other and Rick shrugged and scratched his head
and Lisa rolled her eyes. Suddenly Lisa clapped her hands together lightly,
as the tirade between Vanessa and Sammie continued out in the hall, “I
have an idea!”
Rick looked at her and asked, “You mean an idea how to get them to shut
up?”
Lisa nodded with smirk on her face, “But I’ll need your help Rick.”
“Sure Lisa, anything to get them to stop the fighting,” said Rick,
now covering his ears, as Vanessa and Sammie hammered away at each other.
Lisa was a little bit nervous at what she was going to ask Rick to do, and for
a couple seconds she hesitated over whether she should use this trick or not,
since it was very cold that morning, but as the noise from the hallway refused
to cease, Lisa forged ahead with her plan.
“Rick, take off your sweatshirt.”
Rick looked at her with a puzzled expression but decided to do as she asked.
Lisa was surprised, but she knew she shouldn’t have been, to see Rick
with a long-sleeved shirt underneath his sweatshirt.
“Umm, Rick, take off your shirt.”
Rick was even more confused but still complied with her wish. When Lisa saw
that Rick was wearing a t-shirt underneath the long-sleeved shirt, she started
to be aware of the hilarity of the situation and it took all her willpower not
to burst out roaring with laughter. Rick saw her amused look and smiled, even
though he had no idea of what was so funny.
Lisa knew time was running short and she wanted to play this trick on Sammie
and Vanessa before they stopped arguing, thus rendering the need for the trick
very unnecessary. She said in a hurry, “Rick, take off that t-shirt and
whatever other shirts you have on, quickly.”
Rick stared at her for a moment. He thought he would feel shy or anxious complying
with her request, but he didn’t. Perhaps several years ago he would’ve
felt adamantly against whatever she was planning that required him to take off
half of his clothes but somehow, now, he had no anxiousness and felt completely
comfortable around her, so he took off his t-shirt and the undershirt he had
on underneath it.
Lisa quickly turned him around by the shoulders, berating herself for not stealing
a look at him first, and pushed him towards the door and told him, “Wait
for their reaction, if it’s the reaction I think it will be, then you
won’t have to say anything. If that doesn’t work, then teasingly
scold them about being too noisy.”
“Uh…ok, sure thing,” said Rick as he put his hand on the doorknob;
still trying to process the instructions Lisa gave him.
Out in the hall, Sammie and Vanessa heard the doorknob turn and both women paused
in mid-sentence to look and see who it would be and how angry that person was.
They saw a shirtless Rick come through the doorway and both women’s gawked
at him with dreamy expressions for several seconds before finding their voices.
“Oh Rick! We’re so sorry we woke you up! We promise we won’t
make any more noise! Isn’t that right Vanessa?!” exclaimed Sammie
as she elbowed Vanessa.
Vanessa still needed a few more split seconds to speak, but then she started
adamantly shaking her head and said, “Oh definitely. Absolutely, we are
so very sorry, we will keep the noise down and it won’t happen again and…do
you sure look good.” Vanessa was shocked at herself for the comment and
slapped both hands over her mouth and grew bright red. Then they heard Lisa
laugh from behind the door and she came out into view. Vanessa looked as if
she were struggling to find an apology or excuse for Lisa but Lisa beat her
to it.
She patted Rick on the shoulder and told him, “Thank you Rick, it looks
like our little trick worked,” and then turned back to Sammie and Vanessa
with an amused grin.
Vanessa caught on quickly and offered a sincere apology, followed by Sammie’s
equally sincere apology. Lisa mentioned to Vanessa that she wanted to go over
a few things with her before she left and then Lisa and Rick went back into
the room.
Once there, Rick asked Lisa, “Lisa, are you sure I can’t go with
you? Central America is very dangerous right now, they have so many problems
with the Zendtraedi in South America also. I just have a bad feeling about this
mission. I’d feel so much better if I could come along and keep an eye
on you.”
Lisa dearly wished she could take Rick along with her and she would definitely
feel comforted knowing he was there to get her out of any scrapes she might
run into, but she rationalized the situation and decided that there really wasn’t
much threat in the area anymore since Ghost Squadron had already secured the
area.
Lisa put her hands on Rick’s shoulders and tried to show him her bravest
smile and said, “Rick, please don’t worry. You know I’d love
to have you come with me, but you’re needed here and I should be in good
hands.”
Rick knew she was right and couldn’t resist the urge to hug her and quietly
said, “I’ll miss you, please don’t stay longer than is necessary.”
Lisa didn’t say a word but tightened their embrace and tried to listen
to Rick’s heartbeat when she realized that the poor guy had cold-induced
goose bumps on his skin. She felt guilty and told him, “I’m sorry,
it’s so cold, I should’ve thought of a different plan, but I couldn’t
think of anything else that could shut them up.”
Rick chuckled and told her, “Don’t worry about it. I must admit,
I really don’t mind living here with them, at least for now anyways. It’s
like having a bunch of nosey and noisy sisters.”
They parted their embrace as both realized Lisa needed to hurry up and finish
getting ready and debrief Vanessa before leaving on her mission. Rick also wanted
to accompany Lisa to the airfield to watch her departure but she told him it
wasn’t necessary and she would feel guilty for dragging him out into the
cold air twice in one morning. Reluctantly, Rick agreed and put back on his
layers of shirts as Lisa went over to talk to Vanessa.
Vanessa made herself and
Lisa each a cup of green tea and took a seat at the small table that was in
the kitchenette. She still was feeling guilty for her outburst over how Rick
looked and she wanted to make sure Lisa wasn’t mad at her about it.
“Lisa, I really am sorry, I just-“
“Vanessa, it’s perfectly fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m
not mad at all. It was kind of funny actually, and it was the only thing I could
think of to get you two to stop fighting.”
Vanessa laughed and said knowingly, “Oh yea, just throw a handsome man
in front of us and we’ll drop everything.”
Lisa smiled and sipped her tea and then started the debriefing.
“I really haven’t had anytime to do anything much except move the
array over to a hanger on the outskirts of Monument. We started a preliminary
investigation which needs to be finished ASAP because we need to repair it quickly
and get it back online. I have most of the investigation documents here, the
rest are with Vince Grant, whom I’ve had assist me, since he’s one
of our top radar mechanics. The physical evidence-gathering should take about
another couple of days, then after that you can probably begin the in-depth
investigation.”
Vanessa looked at the large stack of folders and was trying not to feel overwhelmed
by the task. She looked at Lisa and asked her, “From what you’ve
seen so far, what do you think happened?”
Lisa looked around her to make sure no one was heading towards their direction
and then said in a hushed voice, “Don’t mention this to anyone yet,
but from what I’ve seen so far, I think this might’ve been a case
of sabotage.”
Vanessa kept up the hushed atmosphere and said, “Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I think so, and if it’s true, there could be big trouble ahead.”
Vanessa sat back in her chair and exhaled loudly, “Oh boy. This is going
to be a very interesting couple of months.”
“If you need any help, let me know, and remember, not a word to anyone,
only Vince and I, and now you, are privy to this.”
Vanessa nodded and started sorting the stacks of manila folders and Lisa thought
to add one last topic to their conversation.
“Um, Vanessa…” she started a bit hesitantly, “Rick says
that he has a bad feeling about my trip to Costa Rica, and I didn’t tell
him, but I also have this strange feeling about it as well. Can you please make
sure that if there’s trouble out there, and Sammie has to send reinforcements,
tell her to use Rick as a last resort, in fact, if it’s something that
can be manageable, then there’s no need to let him know at all. He’s
already worrying about me and I don’t want him to runoff and try to rescue
me if someone else can do it.”
Vanessa looked a bit confused and asked Lisa, “But hasn’t Rick always
been the one to rescue you?”
“Yes I know. But you see, things are different now, he’s mine now,
and if something happened to him…”
Vanessa nodded her head, “Yes, I understand what you mean. Lisa, you don’t
know how happy we all are for you, really we are.”
Lisa took her friends hand and gave it a squeeze and said a simple but sincere,
“Thank you.”
* * * * * * *
The alarm clock went off and Claudia turned around and mashed her face in the
pillow. She wish she could pickup the clock and throw it against the wall and
then go back to sleep for the next two days, but she knew that she had an important
duty to perform and she so she dragged herself out of bed, put on her robe,
and then headed out towards the living room.
When she entered the living room she was greeted with the aroma of Miriya’s
‘Cappachin’ and had to laugh over the mispronunciation of the word.
She shuffled to the kitchen and there was Miriya, sitting with Dana on her lap
as Max tried to feed the toddler some oatmeal. When Miriya saw Claudia enter
the room she immediately got up, dumping Dana on the chair with a light thud,
and stood up to salute.
“Captain Grant, Captain Miriya Parino Sterling ready and waiting for the
commencement of our mission.”
Claudia, still not yet fully awake, returned her salute and sat down as Max
gave her a warm and friendly good morning greeting. Dana smiled at Claudia mischievously
and then as Claudia was rubbing her eyes, trying to get them to keep open, Dana
launched a spoonful of oatmeal that hit Claudia on the forehead. Claudia didn’t
make a sound as Dana squealed with laughter and Max tried to scold her, although
to no real effect.
Miriya watched Dana’s prank and could think of nothing to do but ask Claudia,
“May I get you a cup of Cappachin?”
Claudia finished rubbing her tired eyes, which were still red from lack of sleep
and told her, “Yes please, just as long as you don’t pour it on
me.”
Miriya looked stunned, “Claudia, I would never do such a thing to you!”
Claudia saw that she had made a mistake with her little joke, “Calm down
honey, I didn’t mean it literally, it is a joke. It’s a bit of sarcasm,
since Dana threw her food at me, then it would be wise to suspect that anyone
offering me food might throw it at me…,” she saw that Miriya still
didn’t understand and so Max told Miriya that it was yet another figure
of speech that he would have to explain to her some time.
* * * * * * *
Lisa put her suitcase and duffle bag down near the front door as she waited
for Sammie to return from the kitchen. Vanessa was upstairs taking a shower
and Rick was standing in the living room looking like a kid who’s pet
had just runaway. Lisa saw the sad look on his face and went over to give him
a hug. His voice sounded desperate as he said to her, “Please be careful.
I almost lost you a couple of days ago and it was such a horrible feeling, please,
I can’t go through that again.”
Lisa looked at him and brushed his bangs away from his blue eyes so she could
look straight into them and say reassuringly, “I’ll be alright,
please try not to worry so much.” Then she stood up on her tiptoes only
slightly and kissed him slowly and tenderly. When she looked at him and saw
he wore a glazed look, so to try and snap him out of his daze, she told him,
“You didn’t think I’d let your brushing your teeth go unappreciated
did you?”
They laughed a little bit then Rick said in an amazed tone of voice, “You
know, it’s just so…I don’t know how to explain it really…sometimes
I can’t keep myself from wanting to kiss you, and other times I get shy
all of a sudden, it’s difficult to explain.”
Lisa gave him a lopsided smile and told him, “I know what you mean, I
feel the same way. I don’t know whether to kiss you sometimes because
I don’t want you to think I’m being too forward, but then there’s
times when I just can’t help myself.”
Rick ran his hand through his hair and then said, “You know what?”
“What?” Lisa replied.
“You can kiss me aaaaany time you want to.” Rick winked at her and
they laughed again. Just then Sammie came back into the living room, munching
on a donut, and waited for Lisa by the door. Rick held Lisa’s hand as
they walked closer to the door and he picked up her suitcase as she picked up
her duffle bag and then rejoined hands again and walked to the driveway where
Sammie’s military-loaned car was waiting. Rick helped Lisa load her baggage
into the backseat then closed the door and leaned his head through the open
window and told Sammie, “Sammie, you take good care of Lisa ok?”
Sammie finished what she was chewing on and gave him a salute, “You bet
sir, I won’t let anything happen to her,” then she started up the
motor but Rick wasn’t ready to let Lisa leave just yet.
“Hold up a sec Sammie,” said Rick as he stuck his head back into
the car again. He then returned Lisa’s kiss of a few minutes prior and
then, “Alright Sammie,” and then stepped a couple paces back from
the car.
After she had backed the car out of the driveway and started down the road,
Sammie told Lisa, “I never thought I’d see that happen, I’m
so happy for you Lisa! It seems he’s trying so hard to makeup for everything
that’s happened in the past. It must be so wonderful to have such a boyfriend
as Rick.”
Lisa smiled and said, “It’s like a dream. I…it’s still
so hard to believe. It’s such a strange feeling too, to have this type
shift in our relationship. It’s just so weird that I don’t have
to order him to kiss me.”
The two women chuckled in amusement and headed towards their destination and
the mission that awaited them.
* * * * * * *
Claudia finished her coffee and went to shower and get dressed and then she
and Miriya headed for Claudia’s office, one of three different offices
she now split her time between. Once at the office, they went over their plan.
Claudia thought that the easiest and safest place for the relocation of the
New Macross citizens would be several miles outside of Monument. This way, incase
of another medium-scaled Zendtraedi attack like Khyron’s, the cities might
be able to help defend each other. She needed to gain the support of as many
Monument City council members as possible, because they were already so reluctant
to let the New Macross people stay in their city, perhaps at least they would
cooperate in building an alliance of twin cities.
Claudia and several others would work on trying to convince the human council
members of the feasibility and advantages of the idea and Miriya would try and
negotiate with the Zendtraedi members. Claudia had originally thought Exedore
would be able to fulfill the role of ambassador, but he was needed by Breetai
for some secret project and also for the fact that perhaps a female Zentraedi
would have better luck, since 3 out of the 4 members were female.
Today, Miriya would try and set up a meeting with Lady Hialeah, the most prominent
member of the Zendtraedi council members. Miriya had heard a little bit about
Lady Hialeah, but aside from the hearsay, she really had no idea who she was.
When she was serving under Azonia, Miriya had heard Azonia complain about Hialeah
and about how she was glad that they were serving in different galaxies. Apparently,
Hialeah looked down on Azonia for some reason, and Azonia despised her for it.
Claudia and Miriya both agreed that it would be a good idea for Miriya to brush
up on her etiquette and negotiating skills, so both women grabbed something
for breakfast and decided to head to a small wearhouse a few blocks away from
Claudia’s office, that held a volumous collection of Micronian-sized,
Zendtraedi civiliazation books. Half of the treasure trove of books had been
a gift from Breetai and Exedore had had a hand in many translated volumes. The
other half of the books were donated by many of the Zendtraedi themselves, who
gave them to The Zendtraedi Information Center, who in turn, set out to produce
translations in the hopes that the Micronians could have a better understanding
of their former enemies, the Zendtraedi.
After a couple of hours at the makeshift library, Miriya felt she was ready
to throw down the first of what would most likely be many bargaining chips.
She looked at her wallet photo of herself, Max, and baby Dana to give her strength
and then took a deep breath and started the drive towards Lady Hialeah’s
office.
* * * * * * *
“Very good Commander Young. You’ve made excellent progress in the
past couple of days, it’s amazing. I’m sure that Admiral Hayes will
be glad to have you back at work.”
The doctor jotted down a few more notes on Kim’s medical chart and then
clicked his pen and put it back in his top pocket.
Kim watched him, and tried to have a confident look on her face, still trying
to forget her nightmare from a few hours before. “So doctor, when can
I leave this place?”
The doctor inclined his head upwards looking at the ceiling and thought for
a moment, then he said, “Well now…I need to consult with a couple
of the attending psychiatrists, but I believe you should be able to go home
sometime tomorrow.”
Kim wore a triumphant smile as she watched the doctor leave her room. She then
inclined her bed so that she could watch TV comfortably and tried to flip through
the channels to find a station that wasn’t reporting about Khyron’s
attack. Having no luck finding such a station, she turned off the TV and decided
to call ‘home’ and see if there was anyone there.
“Hello, this is Captain Rick Hunter,” said the voice on the other
end.
Kim paused for a moment, remembering the part Rick had played in the nightmare
from a few hours ago.
“Hello?” Rick said again.
This time Kim managed to speak, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, “Hey
Rick! It’s me, Kim.”
“Hey there Kim, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m fine Rick, I’m trying to convince the doctors to let
me go home ASAP.”
Rick frowned with brotherly concern and asked her, “Just make sure you’ll
ready to come home, don’t try and rush it.”
“Yes, dad,” answered the ever-impertinant Kim.
Rick laughed and asked her, “What can I do for ya?”
“Oh nothing really, I just wanted to call and see if anyone was home because
I’m really bored.”
Rick thought for a moment, then told her, “Hey, why don’t I come
over and visit you for a bit. I don’t have to be at the airfield for another
hour and I’m already to go and I was sitting here kind of bored myself.
I’ll come over and keep you company.”
Kim was still trying to get used to the fact that Rick and Lisa were now finally
a couple and that she would no longer have to gripe about what a blind jerk
Rick was. She thought this might be a nice time to start getting to know the
nicer side of Rick Hunter, since she’d have to live with him for an undetermined
amount of time.
“Hey Rick that sounds great. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Sure thing, Kim, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes. Bye”
Kim hung up the phone and then walked over to the window and peered outside,
hoping that it would not be very long before she could be out there herself
and try and get her life back to normal like everyone else was trying to do.
* * * * * * *
“Captain Porter, I have Major Edwards on the line for you.”
“Thank you Ensign Burdein, put him up onscreen.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Sammie snapped a salute as Edwards’ face began to materialize on the medium-sized
viewscreen.
“Major Edwards, this transmission is just to let you know that Admiral
Hayes’ group has just left and will be at your destination at about 14:00
hours.”
Edwards nodded his head once then monotonously said, “Thank you, Captain,”
and then ended the transmission.
The ensign looked up at Sammie and said, “Not very friendly is he. I’m
glad I don’t have to go over there and work for him.”
Sammie hoped that the mission would be over soon so that way she wouldn’t
have to talk to Edwards anymore.
Sammie cued up the audio link to Lisa, “Admiral, we’re about ready
to go on radio silence. Remember, at the first sign of any trouble, let me know
ASAP and I’ll send you some backup.”
Lisa, to appease Sammie, told her she would call her if the group ran into trouble.
This was still new to Sammie and Lisa tried her best to make the task easier
for her, as well as eliminate the need for Sammie to prematurely run to Rick
for help.
* * * * * * *
Edwards walked from his
makeshift barracks, a tent basically, over to the small, narrow, grassy strip
that would serve as the runway for Lisa’s arriving team. He stood next
to his aide who was surveying the area with binoculars and gruffly told the
aide, a marine of about twenty years of age, “Make sure that this area
is absolutely secured. The last thing I want is for Carruthers and Maistroff
to come down here and try and take over my mission.”
“Yes sir.”
Edwards continued, “Here’s the plan for today. When Hayes gets here
we’ll take a group over to that creek that we saw yesterday, and we’ll
see if we can get her to OK that as the spot for the post. Keep telling her,
though don’t make it obvious, that that spot is the optimal spot. But
then again, she’s smart enough to see that herself, still though, I don’t
want to take any chances. I have to have that spot.”
Edwards walked back to his tent and mulled over the arrival of “Admiral”
Hayes. He thought it was his good luck that they sent her, instead of someone
else. He knew Lisa slightly, by way of Lisa’s father. Edwards had been
an unofficial aide to Lisa’s father, but hadn’t been too acquainted
with Lisa, and had only met her in person a handful of times. He foresaw this
mission as being a good opportunity for him to try and build the same type of
trust with Lisa that he had done with her father. This way, whenever the need
arose, Edwards could use this to his advantage in his neverending quest for
power and prestige.
He thought about it and he didn’t feel guilty, because there actually
was some validity to the trust that Lisa’s father had put into Edwards.
Lisa’s father was probably the only man whom Edwards had any ounce of
respect for, and they got along rather well. He didn’t really have any
reason to dislike Lisa, unlike everyone else he came in contact with. He had
heard a great many of good things about her and he had seen the progression
of her beauty in the photos that her father would proudly display in his office.
There was just the small grudge he had against her though. He put his hand over
the metal plate that covered the damaged parts of his face. He watched as Hayes
and Hunter managed to escape from Alaska Base, leaving him behind. Really though,
he blamed Hunter for the problem and couldn't bring himself to be angry at her,
maybe because she was Admiral Hayes' daughter, or maybe because he felt sorry
for her that she had watched her father die right before her eyes, or maybe
because she was a woman, or maybe because he found her attractive.
Edwards smirked to himself, maybe having Lisa there wouldn’t be so bad
after all.
* * * * * * *
Rick knocked on Kim’s door and when he heard her call for him to enter,
he first poked his head through the door slowly, wanting to make sure he wasn’t
intruding on any visitors that might’ve stopped by. He also felt a little
bit nervous, as he had during the past couple times he’d come to visit
her, but at least Sammie was always with him and did all the talking; now it
would be just he and Kim. He didn’t really know Kim all that well.
Among the Trio, Kim had had the least experience with flight ops and thus, was
hardly ever heard from by the pilots. Whereas, Sammie was heard from any time
Lisa wasn’t on duty, and Vanessa was often heard from frequently because
of un-asked for, but very much appreciated, ‘bogie-spot’ heads ups
she always gave the pilots during skirmishes.
Rick hoped that it wouldn’t be too awkward a visit and that they could
find something in common to talk about because he didn’t want to bore
her more than she already was.
“Hey there Rick,” said a cheerful Kim.
Rick greeted her and pulled the chair up near the side of the bed, “So
did the doctors say specifically when you could go home?”
“Not yet exactly, but as soon as one comes back here, I’m going
to nag him until he signs my discharge papers!”
Rick shook his head as he laughed, “You girls are really something.”
Kim raised an eyebrow, “Aha…so let me guess, Sammie and Vanessa
were yelling at each other early in the morning, Vanessa was complaining about
Sammie making too much noise, only she was making just as much noise as Sammie
was by yelling at her, and it went on and on until you either had to yell at
them at the top of your lungs or show them a magazine picture of a handsome
man?”
Rick’s surprised look revealed to Kim that she had been absolutely right
on the money with her prediction.
“Believe me, living with those two clowns for the past 7 years, I know
them like the back of my hand,” said Kim, waving her hand dismissively.
After a few seconds of silence Kim asked, “Hey so, how’s the evacuations
coming along?”
“They’re going pretty well actually, in fact, much better than when
we first were relocating off of the SDF-1 two years ago. I think it’s
because they finally put a competant person in charge this time.”
Kim shook her head in agreement, “Having someone competant in charge makes
all the difference in the world.”
Rick leaned back in his chair and continued, “Claudia is doing an excellent
job, they couldn’t have picked a better person. I sure don’t envy
her, it’s a difficult job.”
Kim cringed at the thought of all the work Claudia was responsible for and said,
“I’m sure glad they didn’t give me something to be in charge
of. And I’m glad they didn’t promote me to Captain either. I don’t
want all that responsibility, just let me do what I know how to do well and
I’m more than happy with the situation.”
Rick sat up from his laid back position and shook his finger at her and told
her, “You know…I absolutely totally agree with you. Just let us
do what we were trained to do and what we do best and leave us alone to do our
job.”
Kim shook her head approvingly, “You said it!”
There was a knock at the door and then a doctor came into the room. Rick stood
up and moved the chair out of the way.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you and your visitor Commander Young. Is
this your brother?” asked the doctor.
Rick and Kim looked at each other with bewildered but amused looks.
“Oh no, this is a friend of mine,” replied Kim, still surprised
from the concept of she and Rick being brother and sister.
“Ah, I’m sorry. My mistake, you two resemble each other a bit so
I thought you were related,” said the doctor apologetically.
Kim said nonchalantly, “Nah, don’t worry about it doctor, I can
see now, actually the Captain and I do sorta look related,” and then switched
her tone to a determined, almost orderingly, “So, I am going home tommorrow
is that right?”
The doctor paused for a moment, thinking.
“I’m ready to go home anytime doc, isn’t that right Rick?”
and Kim started to nod her head up and down.
Rick caught on and started nodding his head too, “I think she’s
ready to go home doctor.”
The doctor looked from Kim to Rick and then the doctor smiled mischieviously
and said, “Actually, that was what I had come to tell you. The other two
doctors and I had a small discussion and we decided that we can let you go home,
not just because you seem to be much better now, but also because we desperately
need more rooms to put the incoming patients. It’s seems there’s
an epidemic of a delayed post-traumatic stress disorder among those who were
on the SDF-1 and SDF-2 when Khyron attacked, particularly those who were in
the water for an extended period of time, like yourself. We have a couple of
patients who seem absolutely zombie-like. It’s rather scary, I just hope
we can help them recover quickly.”
Rick gave the doctor a confident, “I’m sure you can doctor.”
The doctor nodded his appreciation and told Kim that she could leave as soon
as the nurses station was processing her discharge papers, but he also reminded
her, “Commander Young. It is absoultely imperative that you come and see
either myself or doctors Hill or Luna, twice a week, until we say you can discontinue
the visits. And if you should have any sudden relapse, you are to come see us
at once. Please, this is very important.”
“Yes doctor, I understand.”
Rick spoke up and said, “Don’t worry doctor. The rest of her friends
and I will keep an eye on her.”
“Thank you Captain. Good day to you two,” and with that the doctor
closed the door behind him. Kim smiled at Rick, “Maybe the doctor’s
right…maybe you are my brother, you’re sure acting like one.”
Rick blushed a little bit and scratched the back of his head. Then he remembered
that Kim didn’t know where the house was and wouldn’t have a way
to get home unless she called a cab, which was quite difficult at the moment,
since many of the roads were clogged with traffic caused by people making the
migration between cities.
“Kim, I better take you home, you and a cab driver might have a tough
time getting there. I know a couple of the side streets we can take, it won’t
take very long at all. Lemme just call Claudia and tell her I’m going
to be a little bit late.”
“Rick are you sure? I can wait in the lobby or cafeteria, or I can even
walk home, just give me the directions,” said Kim hurriedly, not wanting
to impose on Rick too much.
Rick shook his head, “No no, it’s fine. We’ll have you home
in no time.”
Kim looked at him for a moment then smirked, “Alright. Thank you little
brother.”
Rick laughed and was about to say that he hadn’t been called ‘little
brother’ since Roy died, but there had been so much death in the past
few days that he was glad he bit his tongue in time to prevent himself from
sticking his foot in his mouth.
Kim said she’d start to pack and change and Rick decided to go down to
the cafeteria and get some coffee and then wait for her in the waiting room.
* * * * * * *
Vanessa stood outside near the heavily guarded radar grids and couldn’t
stop her teeth from chattering. There was a cold artic blast coming down from
the north and she had been standing outside for only 5 minutes but she thought
she was about ready to freeze to death.
She had been waiting for Vince Grant to arrive because she wanted to talk to
him for a few minutes before they went into the hanger to take a look at the
grids. Once inside, with the swarm of security personel around them, she wouldn’t
be able to ask him the questions she wanted to ask.
“My goodness, what on earth are you doing outside in this weather?!”
The voice was booming but not frightening.
Vanessa turned around to see Vince Grant, Claudia’s younger brother, approaching
her.
If Claudia was tall, then Vince was super tall. When he stood up straight, he
was a reported 6 foot 7 inches tall and weighed around 240+ pounds. He was a
‘gentle giant’ as Claudia liked to often call him. When looking
at them, you knew the two were related, even though they didn’t resemble
each other very much as far as their facial features went, but they had size,
speed, and strength and were incredibly intelligent and cool under pressure,
but once their anger was ignited, watch out!
“Hey there Vince,” said Vanessa as cheerfully as she could, despite
feeling as if she were about to be overcome with frostbite any second.
As soon as he was close enough, Vince stood at attention and saluted, “Lt.
Commander Vince Grant reporting for duty ma’am!”
Vanessa managed to return his salute even though it took her awhile to get her
hand up near her brow since it was shaking from the cold.
Vince looked at her with one eye and told her, “Didn’t Santa Claus
buy you gloves for Christmas?”
Vanessa cracked a smile, only slightly for fear anything wider would be frozen
in place for the next 8 hours, “Sammie stole my gloves!”
Vince shook his head and asked her, “Is there a reason why you’re
standing out here in the cold or were you just trying to see if there’s
such a thing as a human popsicle?”
“Yuh-yuh-yuh-yes, I wa-wa-wanted to ask you a few questions b-b-before
we go inside,” chattered Vanessa.
“Alright then well make it fast because you’re gonna get hypothermia
any minute.”
It struck Vanessa that Vince seemed oblivious to the cold and she envied him
at that moment, but continued, “Lisa told me what her theory is. I haven’t
had a chance to go through most of the documents yet, is there something that
I should sp-sp-specifically look for when we g-g-go in there right now?”
“As a matter of fact, there is, but hang on a second.” Vince then
walked around her to a trash can that was nearby and threw away some tissue
papers he had in his pocket and then pretended to wave to someone out of sight.
Vanessa could see that he was shifting his eyes in ever direction to not make
it obvious that he was looking around to make sure no one was listening. He
slowly made his way back to her and told her in a hushed voice, but not looking
at her when he spoke, “Look for scratches around the keyhole on the main
lock.” He waited for Vanessa to give an indication that she had heard
him, which she did by saying, “Got it.” And then he told her, “Wave.”
And he and Vanessa pretended to wave to someone off in the distance and then
he turned back to her and said, “Shall we Captain?”
“Yes, let’s get the hell out of this freezing cold before I turn
into an icicle,” retorted Vanessa, thankful that she would be out of the
winter chill.
* * * * * * *
Miriya was halfway to her destination and was practicing her salutations as
she was driving, rather recklessly. It appeared that she didn't drive very often,
and Max had not been strict with making sure she obeyed the rules of the road.
"If she can get there safely and in one piece, that's good enough,"
Max had once explained to Rick.
Miriya was barreling down the highway, on the shoulder, to the great annoyance
of many of the other motorists who were stuck in traffic. There were some shouts
at her car, but she was in a military jeep so she didn't take any offense because
she was on official military business and thought she had a right to drive on
the side of the freeway so she could get to her destination in time.
"Your Excellency, Lady Hialeah...Madam Councilman Hialeah..oh no that's
wrong, Madam Councilwoman Hialeah...Your Honored Councilwoman...Lady Hialeah...Madam
Hialeah..." Miriya wondered which greeting to use. She had not been trained
very much in formalities since she was a grunt soldier under Azonia and Azonia
didn't demand any formalities from her because Miriya was her ace pilot.
When Miriya had visited Breetai at the Factory Satellite, she just copied whatever
way Exedore addressed Breetai. Now she was on her own, no Exedore to mimic,
and she needed to make sure she made a very good first impression on Lady Hialeah.
Miriya sighed, pulled out the family picture again and looked at it for more
strength and then put it away and floored the gas pedal, leaving a cloud of
dust behind her.
============
Author's Notes:
1. Thanks to everyone for the reviews! :) I'm pretty sure I'm not one of the Macross writers but boy would that be the perfect job or what?! :) I think my writing style has been brought about by the characters themselves. That is the thing I have always loved the most about the Macross saga, the characters are SO realistic, so human, that you can view it as something more than just a 'cartoon.' I really love the characters (well, not Minmei though ;) ) for their personability and uniqueness. Compared to some of the regular soap operas I've seen with human characters, the Macross characters sometimes are still more human and believeable! Ahhh, gotta love those characters! And I've always had some ideas for how I wanted Rick and Lisa's romance to develop. There wasn't enough Rick-Lisa scenes in The Zendtraedi Rebellions novel for me, and of course, being the huge Rick & Lisa fan that I am, I can never get enough of them anyways. :) I could write forever about those two, but I also wanted to concentrate on the supporting characters too.
2. I will definitely plan to put out any S.O.S signals and call for suggestions
when I get stuck, I somewhat already forsee a future SOS for ideas for Max's
character, but I will soon sit down and write something for Max and we'll see
if I get stuck or not :)
3. I've started to include dates, I think it will make it easier to keep track of time. Chapter 1's date should be, January 18th, 2015. Chapter 2's date is January 19th, 2015. And the Chapter 2 part 2 is January 20th (early morning), 2015. I chose the beginning date of January 18 because it seems to be about the time that episode 36 would take place. According to the McKinney novels, Rick had been on vacation for a few weeks after Minmei arrived, so though I am not familiar with how military vacation taking works, as far as a general rule, the average vacation is sometimes 3 weeks. :)
4. I encourage people to write fanfics! Even if you've never tried it before, I think once you've written something you will see that it's really fun and rewarding! :) (I'm making a special request for Rick-Lisa Sentinels era fanfics, I can't remember seeing very many of those out there).
5. I keep forgetting to
mention that you might see a more Rick-oriented slant to some of the Rick and
Lisa scenes. This is done because we've always been able to know what Lisa's
emotions were, the novels and the episode narrations even, gave us plenty of
that. This is sort of a little bit of payback for Rick ;) Now he's going to
be the one head over heals in love, and I think it would be interesting to see
him go through some of the lovesick moments that Lisa had to go through, although
Rick's will be in a good way type of lovesick ;) , not the angsty, forlorn lovesick
that Lisa had to go through ( poor girl!) .