Chapter II





"Rick, you shouldn't have come for me," Lisa was saying on his intercom. "It is my destiny to stay here when the base goes up."

"Lisa, you're nuts! Why do you insist on dying here?"

"You have someone to go back to. I am alone, and probably always will be. You have Minmei, and she will miss you if you died. The only person who would mourn me would be Claudia. Go! Leave me!"

Rick flew into the command tower and burned a hole in the wall. "Lisa, I don't know what you're talking about. I'd miss you, too. Why are you isolating yourself?"

"Go away, Rick, I'm going to die here, alongside my father."

Rick dragged her along and aided her as they climbed into the cockpit. "I'm not leaving you behind. My mission parameters don't allow it, and even if it did, I am not leaving a friend behind."

"You…you consider me a friend?"

"It's more than that, Lisa. I'm not sure what it is, but I feel deeply for you. And it would hurt me to see you die like this."

They took off in the Valkyrie and aimed towards the opening at the far end of the cavern. Flames encircled the hallway, and a fireball boiled up from behind them. Wall segments started blowing out at random intervals, and punctured the cockpit. Glass flooded their vision, and Rick lost control of the
plane. "Aaaaaahhhhh!"

The plane shot out of the cavern and hit the far wall. They lay broken and bleeding on the valley floor, looking into each others eyes. "Lisa," Rick began.

"Yes?"

"I was wrong, when I told you that I didn't know what I was feeling for you. I think I'm in love with you." Then they kissed.

Rick sat bolt upright in bed, scared nearly senseless.

Despite a fit of nightmares, he got in a solid six hours of sleep. And then, dressed in jeans, a turtleneck, and a utility vest, he reported back to Admiral Gloval. "Admiral, I was hoping to talk to you privately before I departed on my mission, sir."

"Good morning, Commander Hunter. What is on your mind?"

"Sir, I may be speaking out of turn, but it seemed to me that you were highly agitated at the briefing last night. Is there any information that you feel I should be aware of that you couldn't tell me about?"

"You are remarkable perceptive, Rick," Gloval replied. The admiral thumbed a switch on his desk, and there was a momentary electronic whine in the room; probably some sort of eavesdropping prevention device.

"We had a suspicion that the raiders would return to Monument, but also believed that they had no base in the immediate area of the canyon. And, even if they swung up towards Monument, we also assumed that the shuttle could outrun the strike force. Apparently, we were wrong.

"It may not be related, but I have various…informants…around the city, as well as around the ship. Many of them have strongly indicated a growing anti-alien sentiment, almost a racist faction, forming among the people of Earth. Many of these groups are presumed hostile, and may also spread their hostility to humans whom they believe to be too sympathetic to the Zentraedi. I suspect that they may have a hand in this, but nothing confirmed beyond a few wild guesses. Aside from that, I just worry about my crew. Lisa and Claudia are good officers and are probably safe and sound, but it's Kim and Sammie that really worry me. I don't know how, or if, they can handle an incident like this. But the collective loss of talent, as well as their celebrity, is what really perturbs me the most. Please bring them back."

"Yes, sir," Rick replied, turning to leave.

"One more thing, commander," Gloval said.

"Yes?"

"Your sidearm," the admiral said.

Rick took the pistol out of his shoulder holster and handed it butt first to his superior. "As I suspected, a 9mm pistol. You do, of course, realize that this will be inadequate when dealing with any Zentraedi insurgents, correct?"

"Yes, sir. I was hoping Doctor Lang would have something more appropriate for me when I visited the research department."

The admiral pushed a button on his desk. "Please, send in Dr. Lang, and Lt. Commander Leeds."

The door to his office hissed open a few seconds later, and Vanessa Leeds, the chief radar officer, and Dr. Lang, head of R&D on the SDF-1, both entered the room. "Well, as it seems that we are all assembled, let us begin with the basics of Commander Hunter's mission."

"Please hold out zee left wrist, Commander," Lang said. Rick complied, and was handed a new watch.

"Is this a polite way of saying I don't know the time of day, or am I missing something here," Rick asked.

A round of mild amusement circulated the room. "No, Commander, zis is not merely a watch. Observe." Lang took a similar watch out of his pocket and pressed the knob that most people would use to wind the timepiece. A piton expanded, and Lang aimed it at the far wall, then pressed the indiglo button, which fired the piton, trailing along a thin wire as it connected to the far wall. "Not zee best demonstrahtion, Commander, but I trust you get zee point?"

"I think so, Doctor; I assume it is to be used for mountain climbing?"

"Only in extrheme situations, Rick. The high tensile wire can carry or hold up to 300 lbs, but it is not meant for continuous use. For that, you will be equipped with schandard mountain gear, such as ropes, hooks, and such. You will also carry standard survival rations, water, and sundries, as well as a stahte of zee art communications uplink, in this ear-sized fitting, piped directly into Commander Leeds' board, and untraceable by anyone else. You will have instant, static free contact with zee ship."

"This is all fascinating, Dr. Lang, but what about my armaments? I mean, what if I encounter some hostiles?"

Vanessa stepped forward with a huge grin. "A wonderful little device from our R&D department. It's a MOG, or Multiple Ordinance Gun," she explained as she handed him a slim, rectangular box. The main component was a pistol with an oversized chamber, alongside an attachable stock, barrel, external magazine, and scope.

"So, you're giving me a collapsible sniper rifle?"

"It's better than that, Commander, it is capable of expending any ammunition caliber, rifle or pistol, and can be used as either a rifle or a pistol, to maximize its usefulness," Vanessa remarked.

"You see, Rick," Gloval remarked, noting the startled look on the young pilot's face, "Commander Leeds, here, was the second member of the bridge crew to qualify on this weapon." The look on the admiral's face was pained, and Rick instinctively knew who the first bridge member was.

"Now, Commander," Gloval continued, "their last reported contact position was 100 klicks north by northeast of New Macross City. That is deep inside raider territory, lead by a renegade Zentraedi squadron leader named Kharfoux. He is personally responsible for the destruction and massacre at New Salt Lake City last month, and his reputation was made especially fearsome when he destroyed the hospital and all med/evac ships out of sheer boredom."

"That's insane," Rick shouted. "Has this been a shift in raider policy?"

"No, I don't think so. Through Breetai, we've received a transmission from Khyron condemning that attack, though only because micronized Zentraedi were killed in the confusion."

"He's all heart, I'll give him that." Rick looked at the map, and asked, "How am I supposed to get that far into enemy territory without being detected?"

"Kharfoux seems to have salvaged an impacted scout cruiser from the wastelands. He seems to have an almost unlimited supply of battle and fighter pods at his disposal, so this will fit in with the opening of our plan. We will send the Commanders Sterling up an hour before your insertion, and have them draw off the fighter support, then throw a Destroid unit at the raiders' main body, stationed just beyond the walls of the canyon. While the fight rages, we'll send you in via parachute from a high-flying cargo plane. Then, we'll send more Destroids to secure a retrieval zone about 5 kilometers from the wreckage site, where you can escort any survivors…" Gloval's voice choked for a moment. "The survivors back to friendly forces for evacuation."

"Thank you, sir," Rick said. "Vanessa, I'd like to test the comm unit before I leave, is that okay?"

"Aye, sir. Why don't you test it from the launch bay? I'm sure that if you can get a clear signal through all that noise and interference, it could work anywhere."

"Good thinking. We'll commence testing in 5 minutes."

"Good luck Rick," she said, and, saluting smartly to her superiors, departed for the bridge.

"Good hunting, Commander," Gloval said.

"Thank you, Admiral, Doctor," Rick replied, saluting. Then he, too, left the room for another destination.

*************

"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catalinam, patientiae nostra," Rick muttered to himself in the launch bay.

"Reading you loud and clear, Rick," Vanessa replied. "Now, would you mind telling me what the hell you just said?"

"A little Latin I picked up from an old friend. It's from an old Roman senator, Cicero, and it means, 'For how long, Cataline, will you abuse our patience?'"

"Ah. Well, the test was flawless. Ready to proceed?

"Yup. Just waiting for the green light from the bridge."

"Operation Retrieval is a go, Commander. May you have only clear skies and perfect shots."

"Thanks, Vanessa," Rick replied. The C-5A sped off towards the end of Prometheus's runway, and took off into the blue heavens above