Rick knocked on the door to Lisa's room and waited for her to grant him admittance. He was surprised to find a micronized Zoral in the room, talking to Lisa. Still half a foot taller than Rick, even in his micronized form, Zoral was considered to be quite striking looking even amongst the human female population, with his dark green hair and forest green eyes.

"Zoral, I didn't expect to find you here." greeted Rick, with a bit of displeasure in his voice.

If Zoral noticed the censure in his voice, he didn't react to it, responding back to Rick's inquiry. "Oh I couldn't wait to meet Lt. Cmdr Hayes as soon as possible, now that she has had a chance to recover. I didn't think she would be comfortable meeting me in my non micronized form. I wanted to welcome her to the Velaruse and to provide her with some entertainment while she recuperates."

Zoral indicated to the tablet on the bed and the latest music player available. "I thought it would be useful for her to look up on her own what has happened since she was last on the SDF-1."

Rick observed Zoral closely, he didn't know why Zoral's visit to Lisa bothered him, but Zoral seemed too interested in Lisa.

"Thank you Zoral for bringing those to her, they were on my list to provide her as well."

"Well, I am sure you two have much to talk about, so I will excuse myself." Turning back to Lisa he said, "I hope to enjoy your company more if that would be acceptable to you."

Lisa nodded her agreement and said goodbye to the Commander.

Rick waited until Zoral exited the room before approaching Lisa's bed. "I hope you are not too tired for another visitor and if possible, maybe we can continue our earlier conversation?"

"That would be fine,.. Captain, "came the soft reply from Lisa, "Please won't you sit?"

Rick reclaimed the chair he had sat in the day before and the two regarded one another before Rick broke the silence.

"Did Dr. Wu and Dr. Lang, talk to you about your condition?" he asked.

"Yes, I've been informed, they plan to keep me here for the next two weeks, to help me heal and regain some strength and then have me start some physical therapy."

Rick gave a nod of approval of the plans, "I'm sure you are aware that you on a Zentraedi battle cruiser right now. I would like you to stay on the Velaruse for the next two weeks before we have you moved to the Megaroad. I think in the long term you would be more comfortable there. I've also send a message to Admiral Gloval on your status and of your recovery."

Rick paused as if in thought on whether or not he should continue, but decided to go on, "Lisa, I know that we had many difficulties communicating with one another in the past, I think during our captivity we got to know one another a bit better and I'd like to think we would have become friends if we had both escaped at the same time. I hope that in time you will see me as a friend."

It surprised Rick to hear Lisa laugh after his statement. "Captain Hunter, I can unequivocally state that you are not the same Rick Hunter that I remember from before. Your manners and statements are too well thought out and polite. Nothing like the hot headed, pilot I knew."

Rick couldn't hold back a smile and ran his hand through his dark hair, "Well, yes, I guess you're right, the war, the reconstruction and the politics, has a way of forcing you to grow up fast. "

Lisa nodded her head in agreement, "I know, I was only 16 when I started at the academy. There were still so many pockets of unrest in the world and many anti-UEG attacks, that those of us who grew up in the military life, probably looked at things a lot different than other kids our age."

Rick had a pensive look on his face, "I remember thinking what a bitch you were, always calling me out during patrols and pointing out my mistakes. I just wished you would have lightened up on me a bit. All I wanted to be was a pilot, not caught up in some interstellar war fighting aliens that were bigger and had more technology than us."

"I'm sorry Rick, I shouldn't have been so hard on you. I'll admit I was still put out by that comment that you and Minmei had made about me. To you two, I must have been an ole sourpuss. We were all dealing with something new and I think we were all scared. I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course, it was a long time ago and honestly, I couldn't bring myself to think poorly of you after what you did on Dolza's ship. The way you handled Dolza and sacrificing yourself to let us escape, well let's just say that I've admired you for a very long time."

Lisa sighed a small sigh. She was emotionally worn out. The terror of the abuse suffered at the hands of Zentraedi seemed to be just a few shorts weeks ago to her and then to wake and find herself in the future. She felt like Alice in Wonderland, tumbling down the rabbit hole, wondering when she was going to land.

Rick could see that Lisa was tiring. Wishing her a good night, he promised to visit again soon.

Before returning to his quarters, Rick decided to stop by Zoral's quarters. Knowing that he was not in his usual quarters, due to his new micronized size, he asked for directions to Zoral's location.

As he entered the guest quarters Zoral took for himself, Rick wasn't surprised to find Zoral waiting for him.

"Your Lt. Cmdr. Hayes is quite interesting, I can why you and Captain Sterling held her in such high regards." Zoral stated as he offered Rick a seat.

Rick didn't comment, "Zoral, why didn't you tell me that you were planning to micronize yourself?"

"Hmm, I don't really know, it was a last minute decision, but I wanted to meet her for myself. I know that her loss has troubled you over the years and I had heard so much about her, I wanted to meet her myself. Have she told you much about her time on the Zentraedi ship?"

"No, I haven't been able to bring it up yet. You saw her, she's too frail right now. Dr. Lang let me know that her sleep is fitful and that she wakes once or twice in the night. I didn't want to make it worse."

"I understand Captain, but Kronik's files or what was left of them worry me. I think that we will need to press her about what she might have overheard and what she was interrogated over. Even though it was years ago, there maybe knowledge there that we may need for this trip."

Taking Zoral's words under consideration, Rick thank him and also wished him a good night. Zoral was right though, Lisa may have more knowledge of what Dolza was looking for information on and they should try and get that before they moved forward.

AN: Sorry for the late updates, it's been crazy busy. Thank you again for your continued reading and reviews!