May

The glass window has a great view of Barbados's Carlisle Bay. Various types of boats float on the deep blue water, and palm trees sway in the breeze on a beach next to the bay. Cumulus clouds litter the sky above. It is always a great view to go to in the mornings.

Sitting on a leather chair behind her desk, Captain Lisa Hayes looks over the most recent supply reports. The office is spacious, which is typical for a Spacy captain assigned to a shore post.

And Barbados is one of the choice posts, Lisa had thought when she received her orders to take her post here, at the headquarters of the Second Space Fleet, about four months ago.

She glances at a wall-mounted clock to check the time. Just before she can translate the position of the hands into a position, she hears the door open.

A dark-haired woman stands at the door. She is dressed in a short-sleeve white shirt and white pants, with a black tie around the neck- typical dress for an enlistee assigned to an office.

"What is it, Corporal?" asks Lisa.

"Ma'am, the admiral wishes to see you now," replies the corporal.

"You are dismissed, Corporal," says Lisa even as she leaves her office. The admiral she is going to see is Vice Admiral Shin Lung, the commander of the Second Space Fleet. In a few minutes, she stands before double-oak doors, both doors finely carved.

She enters into an office that is as big as her living room on base. A soft blue carpet covers the floor. The window reveals an even better view of Carlisle Bay. A bookcase filled with books stands on the left side of the room.

The centerpiece of the room is a huge mahogany desk. The papers and the laptop computer are well organized and tidy. Sitting behind the desk is a dark-haired man dressed in short-sleeve khaki. Lisa does not even have to see the three stars on his collar before standing at attention.

"Captain Lisa Hayes reporting as ordered, sir," she says.

"I have some bad news for you, Captain Hayes," says Admiral Shin, his English heavily accented. "I regret to inform you that you will not be able to participate in the racquetball match with our Space Marine counterparts. Furthermore, you will have to clean out your desk."

"Is that all, Admiral?"

"You are to take a new assignment, Captain. You will be commanding officer on board the Tokugawa."

Lisa had heard of the Tokugawa; it was one of the many interstellar starships being constructed.

"The Tokugawa is nearly finished," continues Shin. "As you know, Second Fleet was assigned to REFCOM's space component. I made the recommendation that you be assigned as its commander. Your first order of business is to tour the ship. It's at the Roswell Fleet Yards, in New Mexico."

"And what would be my second order of business, sir?" asks Lisa.

"Submit personnel recommendations to me," answers the admiral. "The Supreme Command and REFCOM want the Tokugawa's shakedown cruise to start before the week is over. And your third order of business is to get Commander McKinney up to speed. He will fill in for your old post for now."

"Then I shall make travel arrangements to go to Roswell."

"I've made those travel arrangements already, Captain Hayes. You leave at 0500 tomorrow. You are dismissed."

"Aye aye, sir," replies Lisa.

Oooooooooo

"We just got the interior lighting turned on yesterday," says Lieutenant Commander Cavit as he walks down the corridor of the huge starship. "And just a week ago you had to wear a hard hat and overalls to be in this corridor. Some of the areas of the ship are still hard hat areas."

"That one up there seems to be burned out," says Captain Lisa Hayes, looking up at the ceiling.

"There might be a loose wire somewhere."

Lisa had arrived at the Roswell Fleet Yards in Roswell, New Mexico at around noon. The Spacy had suborbital aircraft that could have gotten her here from Barbados in less than an hour, but one would have to be a flag officer to reserve such flights. The warm dry air greeted her briefly as she walked from the plane to the car.

As she was sitting in the car, she could see the Tokugawa. The ship is almost as big as the SDF-1 Macross was. Commander Cavit greeted her when the car reached the ship. She had been acquainted with Cavit, who had been an engineering officer on the Macross during the SDF-1 campaign.

"I wonder why it's being launched from Earth instead of from orbit," says Lisa.

"If this baby can't take off from Earth's gravity well, it won't survive in space," replies the commander.

They walk into a room with stainless steel tables and shelves and counters. Pots and pans hang from racks.

Commander Cavit turns a faucet, and a stream of water comes out. He puts a plastic cup under the faucet and drinks the water.

"Can't have a fully-manned spaceship without fresh water," says Cavit. "Water's even more important than PC."

Lisa nods; that was one lesson she had learned back at the Academy and while serving on no less than two different spaceships.

The two of them walk through some more corridors, going up some elevators. They reach a door.

"Go ahead, ma'am," replies Cavit.

Lisa opens the door and finds a studio apartment inside. The bed is in the back, and a coffee table and a sofa is near the front door. There is a small alcove with a miniature version of the ship's main galley.

"Those would be your quarters, Captain Hayes," says the engineering officer.

"It was a lot more spacious than when I was stationed aboard ARMD-10," says Lisa. "I and four other girls had to sleep on shelves in a closet."

"The ARMD's were cramped," says Commander Cavit. "The captain's quarters on those were as big as…well, that door back there leads to a private head; that should give you a clue as to how big the captain's quarters were. Now I should show you to the bridge."

After walking through more corridors, Lisa enters the bridge of the huge ship. The ship has all sorts of consoles to monitor everything from engine temperatures to environmental cultures. The captain sits down on a leather chair.

"I could get used to it, Commander," says Lisa.

"No problem," replies Cavit. "Time to go now, ma'am. The ship is not officially yours…yet."

Ooooooooo

The brakes on the blue Toyota Avalon slow the tires and cause the car to come to a complete stop near a hangar. Captain Lisa Hayes steps out, greeted by air considerably cooler than the air in Barbados or New Mexico. There is a veritech fighter parked next to the hangar- a VF-4 Lightning. Another VF-4 Lightning, in its battloid mode, stands next to it as technicians access the engines located in the lower legs. A sergeant salutes the captain, and Lisa returns the salute.

"Lisa!" yells a male voice.

"Good afternoon, Rick," replies Lisa. "How are things going here?"

"We're wrapping up the test flights on the Lightnings," says Captain Rick Hunter. "Some of the squadrons have been assigned Lightnings, and I've sent instructors TAD to easy the transition from the Valks. I spoke to Max about it; he was excited to fly this."

Lisa looks at Rick, a dark-haired man of average height. He is wearing a brown jacket over his service khakis. Captain Hunter had served in the military for five years, ever since he entered Basic and then the accelerated VF flight program on board the SDF-1 Macross. His current assignment is the Lightning Project headquartered in the United Earth Forces Joint Test Flight Center near Astrakhan, Russia.

Rick is a captain and a chief test pilot- and Lisa's lover.

"I'm glad you are wrapping things up here, Rick. That means you'll be available for a new assignment."

"What assignment, Lisa?"

"I've been assigned to command the battle cruiser Tokugawa. I'm making personnel recommendations to Admiral Shin, the commander of the Second Fleet. I am recommending that you be assigned as CAG."

"Are you doing this for purely professional reasons, Captain Hayes?" asks Rick.

"No," admits Lisa. "But you are well-qualified. You managed to lead Skull Squadron just a year after you joined up. The only other person I know of who could lead the Tokugawa's air wing is Max."

"But Max has only been a commander for less than a year, and the CAG position needs a captain or colonel to fill it," says Rick.

"Ultimately, the final decision is with Spacy Headquarters," says Lisa. "But they do give great weight to a captain's personnel recommendations- especially for those who would work closely with her."

"Count me in," says Rick. "I want to talk to you more about other things. Are you available to meet at the O-club when I get off at around 1730?"

"My flight does not leave until tomorrow morning," says Lisa. "I'll see you there."

"I have to admit, though. Barbados would be such a nice place to work. It was sure a surprise to me when I visited two months ago. Here, the snowplows were still plowing some of the taxiways. To be greeted with warm tropical air…"

Memories of that March weekend in Barbados surface in Rick's mind, especially the evenings. He snaps back to the present to continue his duties.

Oooooooo

You're gonna walk this way.

The digital jukebox inside the bar is playing classic rock from the 1980's. The bar has a wooden floor, with pennants of various sports teams. The backlit color LCD Zeniths are tuned to sports from around the world- and even beyond it. The happy-hour crowd is gathered in here, all having drinks from beer to whiskey at reduced prices.

"That's three for the screwdriver," says Vincent Grant, giving the mixture of vodka and orange juice to a man in his thirties.

"Vince, how's your wife and boy?" asks the man, clad in blue jeans and a plaid shirt, paying for the drink with cash.

"Great," replies Vince. "Little Bowie's learning how to talk now. Jean is working at the hospital."

Vince had been working at this bar in Beaufort, South Carolina for two years. He had learned the fine art of serving drinks when he was living in Macross City during the SDF-1 campaign. His choice of living in South Carolina was based on the climate here and the fact that he has surviving relatives here, including one grandfather.

A man in a short-sleeve dark blue uniform enters the room. Vince recognizes the uniform.

"Is there a Lieutenant Vincent Grant here," asks the man, a Spacy sergeant.

"Well, I'm Vincent Grant, though only Second Lieutenant Vincent Grant one weekend a month," replies the bartender. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, sir," replies the sergeant. "I'm from the Reserve Center, and I have deployment orders for you."

The sergeant hands Vince an envelop with the U.N. Spacy seal.

Looks like I'll have to tell the boss to hire a temp.

Ooooooo

"Vermilion Leader to Vermilion Flight," says the VF pilot. "We have made contact with enemy fighters. Vermilion Four, cover my six. Vermilion Two and Three, cover the bomber's three and nine."

"Copy that," says a voice.

The Vermilion flight Leader takes the stick. She can see her wing mates taking position escorting a huge bomber. Their mission is simple- escort a high-altitude bomber to its bombing run.

"You know, ma'am, I wonder why we'd need to escort the bomber. I mean, we could just bomb targets from orbit."

"Sometimes orbital support is not available," says Vermilion Leader. "Get ready."

One of the enemy fighters flies towards the bomber. Vermilion Leader gets the enemy in her crosshairs and fires a missile. The enemy is in flames. "Scratch one."

She watches her radar screen as her team engages the enemy.

"You've got one on your tail, Vermilion Four!" yells a pilot.

"I know, I can't shake…"

"We lost Vermilion Four," says another voice.

"I copy," says Vermilion Leader. She presses the pedal and turns the control yoke. She sees another enemy fighter, and makes short work of it with a little cannon fire. "Where did the others go? There were five of them."

"I can't see them, but they seem to be close by," says Vermilion Two.

Suddenly the leader sees the engines of the bomber aflame.

"Your mission failed, Vermilion Team," says a male voice.

And then everything goes dark. The canopy lifts up to reveal a ceiling.

First Lieutenant Shannon Cole steps out and stands at attention to her commanding officer.

"You could not see the enemy coming up from above?" asks Commander Max Sterling, commander of the Skull Squadron.

"You should not blame her, sir," says one of the other pilots. "Azure Flight is simply better."

"Your flight shot down the bomber, Lieutenant Ikazuchi," says Max. "But there is still room for improvement. Commander De Gaulle and I will review this exercise."

The two flight leaders look at their squadron commander. His blue dyed hair stands out much more so than his glasses. Max Sterling has been one of the aces of the First Robotech War, scoring more kills than any of the other fighter pilots. Much in his life had changed during the SDF-1 campaign.

"Is there anything else, sir?" asks Lieutenant Cole.

"You're all dismissed," says Max.

As the veritech pilots leave, a young woman enters the room. "Commander Sterling," she says. "Captain Goldstein wishes to speak with you and Commander De Gaulle."

Max and Lieutenant Commander Claude De Gaulle leave the training room and walk into one of the conference rooms. The conference room is simple, with a main wooden table and a side table where pitchers of water or coffee would sit.

An image appears, that of a man with a prominent big nose. He is dressed in service khakis.

"Commander Max Sterling here," says Max. "How may I help you, sir?"

"Commanders, your squadron is being deployed into space," says Captain Harmon Goldstein. "You will be assigned to the air wing of the Tokugawa. The ship was just finished and is ready for its shakedown flight. My office will e-mail you with further details. That is all."

Max picks up a phone and dials a number. "Corporal, have all pilots meet me in the briefing room now," he says.

Ooooooo

As the sun sets, Max drives to his on base home at the air station near Lemoore, California. Skull Squadron had been reassigned here about four months ago. Already, the day air is warm. Max had heard that summertime temperatures frequently top one hundred degrees.

He enters his home- a typical house for a commander stationed shoreside. The living room would be spacious if it was not packed with babies' toys.

Max turns on the TV, which reveals a baseball game. He hears the front door open.

"Max," says a green-haired woman holding an infant.

"Miriya," says Max, kissing his wife. "Was little Dana any trouble?"

"Not today," replies Miriya.

Max sits down, admiring the woman's figure. Miriya Parino is a lieutenant commander and XO of a training squadron located on base. Few would believe him if he told them how they met. The night they first met, she tried to kill him.

"I've something to tell you," says Max. "My squadron's being deployed."

"Where?" asks Miriya. "Afghanistan? Brazil?" They both know that renegade Zentraedi are hiding out in those places, and the United Earth Forces are trying to root them out.

"We're being deployed to the Tokugawa," says her husband. "It's going to have a shakedown cruise." He sits down on the couch. "This would be the first time I've been away from you for long."

Dana walks towards him. The one-year-old had recently learned to walk on her own two feet.

"We'd better make the best of it before you ship out," says Miriya.