5 Aprile 2005, Los Angeles, California, UEG
U.S. Air Force Admiral Donald Hayes standing against the window, slightly bent, put his hands on the back of his chair behind the desk of his office at the Robotech Flight Research Centre in Kern County, Southern California. He seemed to reflect intensely, his pupils dilated towards an imaginary target in the wall opposite.
He remained so for a few seconds, then pressed his fingers more intensely against the white skin of the chair, lifted one hand and ripped the earpiece from the pavilion of his right ear and left it softly on the table. Immediately afterwards, continuing to fix his lens in the wall in front of him, he repeated the gesture in reverse, wearing the earpiece in the same ear again: he shook quickly on the monitor on his right with four fingers.
"Lieutenant... contact my daughter," he sighed silently. The temperature in the hills that year had reached unbearable levels. The bushes and the sunlit glade had taken on the straw-yellow color that years earlier would have been unthinkable in April. The gentle green slopes where the roofs of the villas peeped out in the vegetation were only a memory for those who could remember. Now the yellow of the brushwood at the edge of the road and the asphalt grey of the incandescent asphalt were the only two colours together with the pale blue of the sky that chased each other along the hairpin bends that enveloped the hills. The traveler could pass by casting an oblique glance downtown imagining the incredible ferment of human lives that was stirring under neon signs and the huge advertising holograms that incredibly shone more than the immense and intrusive sun of that early summer. The billboard that gave those hills their iconic Hollywood name had collapsed like a ladder of dominoes in the night of the great visitor. It had no longer been restored in a kind of reverential fear of the unknown that had spared or protected the city from catastrophe.
It was four o'clock on a hot afternoon: the temperature on the dashboard was 18 degrees Celsius in the cockpit and +40 degrees outside, the temperature change was constantly creating condensation. Small round drops were magically forming on the smoked windows of the Mercedes.
"Is it too humid? Miss...Do you want me to open a window?
The driver put his cap on his forehead and felt it slippery on his white gloves: even the steering wheel slipped between his fingers despite its secure grip.
"Did you hear miss? Miss Hayes?"
The girl in the back seat jerked slightly and instinctively closed her legs, which she had spread slightly during the journey.
"No... no, it's all right," she replied hastily. Then she fell into that lethargic state just before, halfway between daydreaming and a languor stronger than sleep. Unconsciously she spread her legs again, got rid of the shiny leather moccasins, rolled her head to one side until she collided with the opaque glass of the window. She also felt her hands wet and wrinkled her palms on the folds of her skirt. A thought as sudden as a bullet went through her face and seemed to cut her breath. She closed her eyes as the car swerved before it passed through the gate of the villa. She felt she was blushing but knew the driver couldn't see her. The sun pierced the park around the house, which, despite the daily sprinklers, continued to turn yellow and dry.
The housekeeper came out with a huge white umbrella and approached the rear door, opening it wide and sticking her small head inside the car.
"come under Miss Hayes"
The girl found herself with the woman's face a few millimeters away, looking impatiently at her, frowned, wanted to push her away with her mind.
"What are you doing with that umbrella, it's not raining!" she said puffing. He wanted to push her away with both hands but she was too reserved to do it and wondered if one day he could.
The woman suddenly backed out and positioned herself almost martially to the left of the door.
-But Miss, it's 43 degrees out here," she stammered slightly.
-I'm going in the house!
Slipping with her loafers half tucked in, the girl walked away from the car a few steps, looking around in the glow of the sun struggling to keep her eyes open. She tightened the straps of her backpack with one hand and the tie of her school uniform in the other, leaving them both dangling softly along her hips. She wore a tight-fitting white shirt with the high school logo on the side of her heart and an amaranth skirt edged in yellow that grazed her knees. She held her honey-colored hair in a disheveled ponytail, some strands stuck to her neck for warmth. She squeezed her eyes green like those of a cat in the blinding light, her pupils as thin as pins.
-has my father arrived? -She asked distractedly
The admiral was already at the door wrapped in the cool semi-shade of the atrium
-Lisa! he only said in a loud, young, squeaky voice that few would have recognized - hurry up and come inside.
Lisa smiled spontaneously and ran down the steps of the hallway, leaving her backpack on the floor and entering the darkness to embrace her father.
The inner courtyard at the entrance to the villa was a huge, brightly colored, shiny mosaic that shone in contact with the light from the skylights that opened up high above the ceiling. The admiral made his way to the enormous hall to the left of the entrance where the half-light promised shelter from the heat outside. Lisa Hayes got rid of her moccasins for good and jumping, without stopping following her father, took off her white thread stockings with the school crest and left them abandoned on the floor. Behind her, the housekeeper with the girl's backpack already in her arms picked them up quietly and quickly and disappeared from the other side of the entrance. In a few seconds she was already in the room to take orders from the landlords. The admiral was in uniform but had taken off his jacket, a sign of his recent arrival, he abandoned himself on one of the dark brown leather sofas scattered in the hall. His daughter lay down on the complementary couch. They were facing each other, both getting used to the cool, dry temperature of the room.
-So- said Lisa, deliberately dragging the vowels, taking the cadence and the language that only they meant. She had travelled a great deal in her 16 years, and her accent had gotten thicker. When she talked to her father she infused English with Japanese and Australian slang words, instinctively, and he responded in tone. He knew it was a way to keep her closer.
-To what do I owe the weekly intrusion?- She said as she was taking a vitamin and orange extract from the vax
He looked at her grateful that she was kindly disposed towards him.
He wondered if she would remain in that mood after hearing what he had to say. There was no way to postpone the speech and yet Admiral Donald Hayes lingered looking at the girl with a knot in his heart. She had grown so much in that year and a half in California. In three months, she'd be graduating from high school. He couldn't stop thinking about his only daughter despite the chaos she was constantly living in at the California base. There was only one way to keep her close, but she dared not ask so much of fate.
-So? So what? Is there something you wanted to tell me?- She went on to sit down, one knee crossed and one leg hanging off the couch.
She's still a little girl- surprised to think Admiral Hayes
-Nothing in particular- he said rudely, regretting the tone at once...
- I saw your grades Elizabeth, you're at the top of your class. Have you decided what to do after you graduate?
A fleeting shadow of disappointment ran across the girl's face and she immediately smiled embarrassed...
-No. Is that why you came back from the base early? On Tuesday? You wanted to talk to me about this?
-You don't? -Yes, I do. The admiral went on - well, in a few months you'll be discharged and... his gaze, as that morning he lost himself again at an imaginary point behind his daughter's head, and for a few seconds he couldn't think. Then out of the blue, with one of his lightning shots well known to his subordinates in the army, he stood up, arms crossed behind his back and an inquisitive look, he approached Lisa who looked back at him lifting her chin
-and tell me you don't have any friends at school? -Mm-hmm.
She slowly lowered her chin, then her head, and ended up staring at the tips of her bare feet sweeping the floor.
-No... and you know they make fun of my accent.
The Admiral frowned for a moment
-after two years!
-they say that my aussie accent is quite disgusting and... I don't know. Even the nuns say so.
Lisa was lying three-quarters of the way down again dangling her arm off the couch.
-You can speak four languages without an accent, Lisa.
-I'm sorry. How many of your classmates can speak Japanese? Huh?
The admiral smiled
-Papa kinishinai...
-Ima, kokka wa mohaya sonzai shimasen, Lisa...
The Admiral gave her a hand to invite her to get off the couch.
-Now the earth is united under one flag, continued in English
Lisa took her father's hand and pulled herself to her feet with difficulty, as if overwhelmed by a horrible heaviness. All her senses told her that the Admiral's presence there in the house at that hour and on that day had a motivation. She felt that something was hopelessly going to happen. She had always felt it. When they had left Australia after her mother died... and even before she left Japan, on the night of the Great Visitor, she had felt, she was just a child but... and now in terror she wondered if her intuition was so clear and infallible.
The Admiral made her approach the window next to him, turned around looking around the deserted room, knew that the guards were silently lurking behind the frames of every single door. Outside the garden was motionless, crystallized in a bubble of light.
-Nivu~en shushō ga ansatsu sa reta - he said in a whisper.
Lisa felt a chill climbing from her heels to the tip of her hair on her forehead.
-but when?
-this morning, we'll find out with the evening news.
The Admiral felt the salivation reset to zero, yet he knew he'd have to keep talking...
-I've been assigned to the high command for interstellar defense in Alaska
Lisa felt that the cold just before began to burn her back, her chest, her cheeks, she was right, that feeling was too familiar, she didn't answer, she couldn't look at it, she knew there was no remedy. A wave of salty tears filled her mouth, she didn't want to go.
- Watashi tachi ga saru toki? -she said in a whisper...
- Asunoasa Lisa- he turned around to look at her - but you won't come - continued this time in English, then bent over to look shyly into the green eyes of his daughter who had already filled themselves with tears.
-We're at war and I'm a soldier. But you have to finish your graduation, then we'll figure out what to do.
Lisa placed both hands on the glass, it was so transparent that she could see her palms shaking like in a mirror. She squeezed her fingers instantly hoping her father hadn't noticed her tremor.
-watashi wa gun ni sankashimasu papa - she said in a breath feeling that the crying would overwhelm her.
-Are you sure? He said, feeling a twinge in his chest, relief and guilt...
-I'm sure... there's nowhere else to go.
Lisa closed her eyes while a thousand thoughts crowded her mind without order or reason, simply splinters that drove her into a vortex of emotions. She thought about him, what she would say to him. The balance had now been reversed. But even so, with the news of her father going far away once again, the thought of him caused her heart to beat with pure happiness.
April 6, 2005 Los Angeles
Lisa Hayes woke up very early to say good-bye to her father. But she could honestly say she hadn't really slept that night. She was used to the admiral's movements, and after her mother's death she was more used than anything to being alone. Since the war had started and she and her father had changed for Los Angeles, she spent practically all of her free time from school in a lonely place. Her father wouldn't let her go to the city, of course. Her classmates didn't welcome her well and her house was surrounded by a 10-acre park. She couldn't see her neighbors even if she climbed to the top of the roof. In her two years in California she hadn't bonded with her classmates, certainly because of her shy and proud character: she was touchy, she had never forgiven her Australian accent and she couldn't forget how the whole class had teased her. But although it had happened years before, Lisa thought she had some unfinished business with those blonde, California girls who looked down on her. Her pride prevented her from lowering her guard, from asking for their benevolence: to feel considered was something she desperately wanted. Everything went on in this way, with Lisa punctually dismantling any approach to her. Then a few weeks earlier something had changed. Lisa closed her eyes in the darkness of the room, thinking how incredibly different her perspective was, the way she looked at herself. Not just the image she saw in the mirror. That morning had passed in a different way: she had been chosen to attend a meeting with the headmistress and professors at the institute's top seniors to prepare the graduation sermons. She was sitting next to a girl named Serena Seymour whom she knew only by sight and with whom she began to ridicule the project of the graduation ceremony which was going to be truly kitsch, accompanied by sacred choirs, Bible readings and George Washington's memoirs. Unwittingly Lisa laughed and sneered all the time at the pompous and sliced-up attitudes of the principal, realizing how in that school everyone seemed to forget that the world was at war.
It was the last hour of class, the bell tower of the Catholic institute Sacred Heart was beating one, the bell reproduced an anachronistic sound, like an old European cathedral. The avenue that led from the large wooden door to the gate was studded with blossoming almond petals, which fell contiguously on the lawn, on the cobblestones of the avenue and on the heads of the young students. The girls of the last year stayed in groups on the entrance steps or under the trees with shining peaks, giggling in the sun. Some of them had taken off their amaranth jackets with yellow borders and the school coat of arms: the most daring of them were melting their hair and pulling off their knee-length wire stockings. Classes for that day were over.
-Hey Lisa! - A loud voice behind her made her jerk, it was Serena emerging in the darkness of the hallway, the sleeves of her shirt rolled up to her elbow, her hair swinging on her shoulders.
Let's go to lunch with the others! At the cafe XXSiécle- she continued as he approached her on the stairs: she turned his head and looked her straight in the eyes, with a naughty look
-don't you want to come? It's full of soldiers at lunchtime!
-young RDF soldiers! -continued another blond-haired girl busy unraveling a large braid that fell on her back.
-but you should know, you're the Admiral's daughter! -I'm the AdmiralHayes' daughter!
The two girls broke out in a mischievous giggle.
Lisa smiled shyly, knew absolutely nothing about recruits and officers on the California base, but decided it was not appropriate to tell her friends.
-I've even met a couple - she said awkwardly in one breath - at an official dinner... at my house.
The two girls looked at each other holding their breath and laughing joyfully...
-What were they like? Cute? Tell me!
The three girls joined another group of boarders and headed for the gate. The school was in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the uptown. The sidewalks were so clean, they looked like hangar hallways. Long rows of trees and palm trees alternated with geometric perfection inside the flowerbeds: the girls walked holding arms and chatting animatedly in their smartphones. From time to time, they glanced brightly at the horizon where the shimmering blue of the ocean could be glimpsed. Near the end of the block, where a long avenue of luxury bars and restaurants began, Lisa saw out of the corner of her eye Lieutenant Miro, her father's driver, who was following her at a walking pace inside the Mercedes.
Oh to hell with it - she said to herself - if you want to wait for three hours for me, do it.
She sneaked into the hot tangle of the girls' bodies, impatiently slipping through the sliding doors of the XXSiecle.
The café was two storeys long, huge windows slightly tinted outward protected the privacy of the customers. The girls poured like insects between the sliding doors of the exposed elevators and rushed upstairs, foolishly jolting around. The place was a real surprise for Lisa. Meanwhile it was a huge open space furnished with great taste: a large oak counter with metal details stood out in the middle of the room, with climbing plants falling from the ceiling tangled with hi-tech chandeliers and monitors broadcasting the news in various languages. Small round tables surrounded by armchairs and sofas in shades of sand and brown made the atmosphere very chic. At the end of the room came the scents of the open kitchen where a Japanese chef sliced at a supersonic speed. The place was crowded, and Serena was right, most of the patrons wore an RDF uniform. The girls' eyes glistened as they took their seats on the sofas, unbuttoning their jackets and taking a detached attitude. Lisa took mental note of the details, trying to cross her legs with a casual gesture and loosening the yellow tie that squeezed her throat.
She realized that it wasn't just her companions who were interested in the military, but it was mutual, from looks to military and non-military greetings. High school girls and cadets were laughing at each other with winking glances.
-Lisa, do you know any of them? -Mm-hmm?- sneakily asked Serena, feeling privileged because of her new friendship with Lisa.
-Hey! -She raised one hand slightly and carelessly waved two or three fingers in the direction of two officers leaning against the counter, her smile faded, turned not sure to which of them, encouraged them both to approach in their direction.
-God! they're coming here! -Serena wrinkled Lisa's knee, who was practically at the mercy of events, not knowing what move to make, if she had to make one.
-But you know them? -Mm-hmm?- she sighed in distress
Serena opened her eyes wide - a little bit - the taller one is called Alex Louan and the other with black hair is called Karl, corporal Karl Riber Fruhuling.
-Good morning, miss Serena
-Good morning soldiers! She cried out standing up and swaying the folds of her skirt.
The two young men made a military salute to which Serena flirtatiously replied, starting to chat in a leisurely manner. Lisa felt the look of the two boys on top of her head and on her knees still crossed. She decided that she would get up and imitate her worldly friend as much as possible.
She felt her cheeks on fire, not because he'd never seen the military, he'd seen more of them than anybody else in there.
And she didn't realize that Serena was already making the introduction.
-And she - she said, taking her gently by the shoulders and releasing a giggle - well surely you already know her! She's Admiral Hayes' daughter!
The two soldiers bent over imperceptibly, looking curiously at the girl standing in front of them, Lisa lifted her eyes slowly praying all the skies not to blush too much.
She looked fleetingly at the two men, wearing a black beret edged with blue, the uniform jacket perfectly taut on their shoulders and chest. A belt with a metal buckle came out of the jacket, which they kept open informally. Her eyes were captured by the deep gaze of corporal Riber: it was only a moment when she felt dragged into an abyss.
-Elizabeth? - He said it softly, then she became confused and mumbled - uh, I mean... Miss Hayes.
Lisa felt a heat wave slowly suffocating her.
How? Do you know my name...? - she thought hazily
She forced herself to look back, even tried to smile, but a crooked, slightly frightened smile came out - Just...Lisa- she said trembling. At that moment everything had disappeared around them: Serena, Louan, the sofas, the huge window of the XXSiecle café, the human and mechanical voices in the background, the blinding sun.
They shook hands and reality came back to them in an instant.
I am Corporal Riber Fruhuling... Just... Karl- he said, making the noise and holding her hand between his fingers.
Lisa got tangled up in the sheets, sinking her face onto the pillow. The memory of that morning still made her gasp for breath.
Admiral Donald Hayes was standing in front of the window in the same martial position his body had accepted as physiological.
Lisa already dressed in her uniform, her hair tied in a thick braid that pulled her temples and looked over her shoulders.
Papa! said slowly to make him turn around
Lisa! Good morning!
The admiral smiled at that slim little girl, he was leaving her.
-I'll do my best to be present at the graduation ceremony, I know you'll give a speech- he said proudly.
Lisa made a desperate face as she approached him...
-Can't you wait to hear something from me? she said offense- I hate your informants!
The admiral allowed himself to smile, took her right hand- I'm very proud of you. We'll be in touch every day. You'll have access to my classified channel. Always call me Lisa.
Lisa heard a sudden wave of crying that burned her eyes out - kiwotsukete... Dad.
The Admiral wore the hat and the jacket with the frogs. Though it was only eight o'clock in the morning, the day was shaping up to be sultry. Standing in front of the car, he saluted the housekeeper and the butler.
Ah Ross ... - the woman turned with the apprehensive look that always whaled when she was face to face with the Admiral. He lowered his head, and his voice, in a whisper...
-never, under any circumstances, let anyone stay in the house after curfew
The woman opened her eyes wide and nodded vigorously. Of course, Admiral, of course. There's no need to...
-Understood- he said, coldly.
He sat in the back seat of the car, and as the lieutenant maneuvered out of the parking lot, Admiral Hayes caught her eye in the rearview mirror.
-Ah Miro- said trying to sound casual- in which case Riber Fruhiling and Lisa... uh my daughter... will be go on dating..
The Lieutenant gave him an accomplice look back, but he didn't say anything
-Keep an eye on him, always
-Yes, sir
The mercedes disappeared silently at the bottom of the estate.