"A tiger cruise?" asks United Nations Spacy Captain Lisa Hayes.
She is inside a large room. A bookcase is along the wall, and beyond the window is a clear view of the Caribbean Sea on Planet Earth, with palm trees swaying. Framed pictures of interstellar craft hang on the wall.
The centerpiece of the room is a wooden desk, varnished, with a glass overlay on the top. A man sits behind the desk in a leather seat. He has black hair. His eyes are slanted, and his skin has the complexion of amber. He is clad is Class "C's"- a short-sleeved white shirt with ribbons pinned on the left wide and shoulderboards.
The man is her superior, Vice Admiral Shin Lung, commander of the 2nd Space Fleet, operating under the Robotech Expeditionary Forces Command.
"That is correct, Hayes," replies the admiral. "A tiger cruise is a cruise where the families of the crew accompany them on a short trip."
"Like the SDF-1 campaign," replies Lisa. She touches the SDF-1 Campaign Ribbon pinned to her chest.
"Much shorter, only a week," says Shin. "And I made sure to have transports on standby to ferry the passengers home in case something goes wrong with the fold drives. We're not going to leave the friends and family of the crew stranded for a year.
"The CSO wants a public relations campaign. He and his advisors believe that a tiger cruise would give civilians a taste of what we go through when we explore deep space."
"The survivors of Macross City have had two years of personal experience," replies the captain.
"We're spreading our wings out there, finding new worlds. The CSO and the Commandant of the Space Marines both agree that the families of the crew should at least know how our crewmen and Marines deal with day-to-day life. You will have all the support you need from Spacy Headquarters. You have three days to formulate a preliminary draft, Captain Hayes."
Ooooooooo
"A tiger cruise?" asks Commander Aaron Liebowitz.
Captain Hayes looks at the tall man sitting across from her inside the conference room. He looks pretty much the same as she remembers for the past two years- a close-cropped dark beard, hook-like nose. The commander, like the other officers in the meeting, is clad in short-sleeve service khakis, a durable service uniform for everyday work aboard ship. Lisa notices the ribbons, which includes the SDF-1 campaign ribbon. Commander Leibowitz had been the XO of the U.E.S. Tokugawa for two years.
"Yes, Commander," replies the captain. "We need to provide space and food for the guests."
"It will take some time , ma'am," says Liebowitz. "We will need to coordinate with Spacy headquarters."
"It should be doable," says the ship's quartermaster, a Spacy first lieutenant. "This ship is as big as the SDF-1 once was. The auxiliary berthing areas could accommodate a few extra hundred."
This does not surprise Lisa after a decade of service, with at least four years of deep space deployments. Deploying in deep space, the standard crew complement is always greater than the minimum needed to operate the ship, and the standard supply package and berthing space is greater than the number needed for the standard crew. There is no roadside assistance in unsettled space.
And so the officers of the Tokugawa began logistical planning and coordination with headquarters, Military Spacelift Command, and Logistics Command. Planning and preparation takes weeks. The Spacy sent out invitations to the families of the crew and the Space Marine detachment.
And finally it is time. The Tokugawa, fresh from a refurbishment at the U.N. Spacy's dry dock at the Robotech Factory Satellite, lands on Earth's Caribbean Sea, near the island of Barbados. Tender hover ferries from the U.N spacy base at Bridgetown ferry the officers, crew, and passengers to the robotech ship. Many of the passengers can see how large the ship is, over 3,700 feet in length, with a beam of over 1,400 feet. The brochure that they read informed them of the Tokugawa's exploits over the past two years, including the discovery of Planet Glorie.
A davit is used to haul the tender boats up to one of the airlocks. The passengers all board.
Captain Hayes waits to greet three of the passengers just on the other side of the airlock. Two of them arwe in the short-sleeve Spacy white service uniform, appropriate for the weather in Barbados. One of them is a tall, dark-skinned man, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, with his shoulder boards identifying him as a second lieutenant. The other uniformed person is a dark-skinned woman, appearing in her early thirties, with shoulder boards identifying her as a first lieutenant, and devices identifying her as a medical officer in the Spacy Medical Corps.
"Second Lieutenant Vince Grant, requesting permission for the three of us to come aboard, ma'am" says the man.
"Permission granted," replies the captain. "And how is Bowie?"
The medical officer holds a dark-skinned boy, clad in a T-shirt and denim shorts. The boy appears to be under 3 years old.
"This is Lisa, the captain of the ship," says Lieutenant Jean Grant, MD.
"Bowie's certainly grown since the last time I've seen him."
"It's just that you've been on duty since he was born," replies the doctor.
"And has Bowie been a good boy?" asks Lisa.
"Well as good as any boy just shy of his third birthday. Making messes, not wanting to pick up after himself, that sort of thing. And he certainly can say the word no very well."
"From what I have heard from the sergeants, the crewmen sometimes act like that."
"And has Vince been a good boy while on board your ship?" asks Jean, inciting Vince's eyes to wooden.
"A good boy?" asks Lisa.
"Well, you've known him longer than I have. You've known him since before his tes-" the doctor catches herself "-I mean, before his voice cracked."
"You're right about that," replies the captain. She remembers first meeting Vince Grant almost a decade ago, back when he was a boy turning into a man. He had been the legal ward of his older sister at the time.
"Shalom!" yells a voice.
Lisa and the Grants look towards the airlock. They see a man with plenty of gray in his black hair. He wears a white shirt, black hair, and black pants. Eyeglasses rests on his hook-like nose. He wears a black hat on his head. With him are a boy and a girl, a little older than Bowie.
"Dad," says Commander Aaron Leibowitz, hugging the man. The commander looks at his children. "are you going to be good?"
"We will, Daddy."
"If they behave better than you did, Aaron," says the commander's father, "the captain and her crew should be able to handle it."
"Welcome aboard, sir," says Lisa.
"I'm Malachi Leibowitz, Aaron's father," says the man. "I am honored to be aboard your ship, Captain. I definitely want to find out how my boy is doing."
"We are giving tours of the ship to the passengers," says Commander Leibowitz. "Being the XO, you won't be able to see me in action. But I am responsible for everything on this ship. It's part of being an XO."
"Mom! Dad!" asks a female voice.
"Shannon," a couple in their fifties reply. They go to greet their daughter, a blond-haired, fair-skinned woman in her mid-twenties, also clad in the white Class "C" service uniform.
Vince looks at them. He had known First Lieutenant Shannon Cole since his days as a student in Macross High School over six years before. After graduation, Shannon decided to enlist in the United Nations Spacy. She became a veritech fighter pilot, flying a VF-1A Valkyrie with Skull Squadron in several battles, including the Second Battle of Macross City and the Battle Over Earth.
"So this is what you do in your off time," replies Mrs. Cole.
"Flying in those transforming planes," says Mr. Cole.
"You should be able to see them in action," says Shannon. "An air show will be planned during the cruise."
"Vince," says Mr. Cole. "It's been years. We haven't seen you since your wedding."
"Hi, Mr. Cole," says Lieutenant Vince Grant. "I'm glad you're doing well."
"Shannon told us that you had a baby boy," says Mrs. Cole.
"He's almost three," replies Vince.
"Must be causing you a lot of trouble," says Mr. Cole. "Like Shannon did."
"Dad!" exclaims Shannon.
"Oh, honey," says Mrs. Cole. She and her husband speak with Jean and say hello to young Bowie.
"When are you going to have kids of your own?" asks Mr. Cole.
"Oh, Dad, says Shannon. "I..I haven't you know.. met anyone suitable yet."
"But Vince met someone," says Mrs. Cole.
"And I am sure you know the story of how Vince and I met," says Jean. "That method is … rather risky."
The Coles all understand. They recall how a splinter conflict from the Global Civil War made its way on board of the SDF-1 Macross….
"Okay, Shannon," says Vince, "how would you like a picture with little Bowie here?"
"Sure," replies the veritech pilot.
Jean lifts her son up and hands him to Shannon. Bowie starts crying.
"Go ahead," says jean, "you can take a picture."
And so Mr. Cole takes a few pictures with a Samsung smart phone. Shannon then puts the boy down.
"Oh, how cute!" exclaims Mrs. Cole, looking at the phone's screen.
"We got to get some prints of this," says Mr. Cole.
"And send copies to Vince and Jean as well."
oooooooooo
"VF Three Niner Five to Air Boss," says the pilot. "Requesting permission to land."
"You are clear," says the Tokugawa's air boss.
The VF-4 Lightning veritech fighter lands in the landing bay, its landing gears extended. The landing is arrested by powerful arresting cables. The ground crew, clad in blue overalls over their bodies and white helmets over their heads, follow standard procedure in the landing of an aircraft.
The pilot alights from the veritech with a small passenger. The ground crew all salute, as the pilot has a higher rank.
A man approaches the pilot and the little passenger. He is clad in the class "C" summer uniform. The three one-inch stripes on his shoulder boards identify him as a commander. The ribbons on his uniform include the SDF-1 Campaign Ribbon, the Second Battle of Macross City Ribbon, the Battle Over Earth ribbon, the Third Battle of Macross City Ribbon, the Titanium Medal of Valor, the Spacy Cross…
"Max," says the pilot.
"Miriya, Dana," Commander Maximilian Sterling says to his wife and daughter, hugging them.
"We go space, Daddy?" asks Dana.
"Yes, we will, darling," replies her father.
Lieutenant Commander Miriya Parino-Sterling removes her helmet, revealing a head with green hair flowing from her scalp, and looks at her husband. While he still has that blue hair and spectacles over his face, he has matured over the past five years, due both to becoming the commander of Skull Squadron as well as a father of a little girl.
"Us in deep space, Max," says Miriya. "Like we were five years ago."
It was one of the strangest love stories. Max had defeated Miriya in battle thrice. Third time had been really the charm.
Ooooooooooo
"Attention!" snaps Chief Master Space Sergeant Kwame Mugabe, the senior enlistee in the ship's crew. "Captain Lisa Hayes shall now address you."
The briefing room of the Tokugawa, normally only used by military personnel, is now packed with civilians clad in various types of clothes, all gusts of the officers, crew and Space Marines. The captain looks at the passengers.
"Welcome to the Tokugawa," says Hayes. "a battleship of the U.N. Spacy. Its mission is to explore deep space and find out what is out there. While on board, you will learn how our crew and Marines help this ship accomplish its mission.
"We will lift off from Earth and fold through hyperspace to System J-29. A scout ship had previously surveyed the system; it is uninhabited. External transit time to System J-29 should be sixteen hours. Once there, we will orbit the main star at about a distance of 100 million miles and we will proceed with our scheduled events. On the morning of the fourth day, we will fold back towards Earth orbit."
"Captain," asks an eight-year-old boy wearing jeans and a T-shirt, "are we going to visit that planet with the scalie people?"
"No, we are not heading there," replies the captain. "We will not be visiting the surface of any worlds. We will orbit some of the planets in System J-29."
"Will we fight aliens?"
"I hope not."
Ooooooooo
About an hour later, Captain Hayes walks onto the bridge of the Tokugawa. It looks like a typical ship's bridge, with uniformed officers and crewmen watching the readouts and indicators showing everything from engine temperature to hydraulic fluid pressure to external air pressure.
"Captain on the bridge," announces Commander Liebowitz, still clad in his white uniform.
"Status report," requests the captain.
"All systems are normal," says Lieutenant Vince Grant. "We are ready to lift off and await clearance from air traffic control." The lieutenant listens intently into the headset that he is wearing on his head. "We have clearance."
"Take us up," says Hayes.
"Aye aye, ma'am," replies Grant. He presses buttons and flips switches. The thrusters of the robotech battleship expel mass downwards, lifting the Tokugawa upwards from the Caribbean Sea, while leaving behind ripples along the blue surface of the ocean. The starship rises through Earth's thinning atmosphere. Blue fades to black at the carrier leaves Earth's atmosphere.