Chapter 3, part 1
January 20th, 2015
Rick woke up and rubbed his eyes and then looked at
the clock. It read 6am. He looked around the room after his
eyes had adjusted to the light and he saw one of Lisa's suitcases and a
duffle bag sitting near the door. He sat there staring at the two
bags and wrestled with the unseen forces that were pulling so heavily on
his heartstrings. He felt depressed that she was leaving, similar
to the way he felt when she had left the SDF-1 to go to Earth to try and
convince the UEG to enter into peace negotiations with the Zentraedi, but
this time his depression was more saturating. Back then though, he
still had Minmei in his heart, and Lisa was eclipsed by his yearning for
Minmei. Now, he felt guilty on both fronts.
The first front was where he could not even begin
to forgive himself over his now knowing that he was the cause of so much
pain for Lisa. This weighed heavy on his mind and heart and he knew
it would take him quite some time to get rid of that weight, and perhaps
it might not even go away totally. The second front was a slight twinge
of guilt over how he had handled Minmei's phonecall the previous evening.
He remembered that he did happen to tell Minmei not to hesitate to call him.
Rick realized now that he promised too much and now he was going to have
to talk to her to clear things up about her assumptions regarding their friendship.
He always prided himself on being a good friend, on
being reliable, and on being able to stand by his word. He knew he
could continue to be all those things to any of his friends, but his situation
with Minmei didn't fall into the normal friendship type of relationship,
it was an 'ex-significant other' type of relationship and that particular
category needed to be handled very carefully.
He didn't feel much like thinking about Minmei anymore,
that part of his life needed to be put behind him now. He decided
that he would speak to her soon, so that way he wouldn't have anymore awkward
moments like the telephone call last night. He thought he should let
Lisa know that he intended to speak to Minmei and why, just incase word got
around that he had talked to Minmei. He didn't want her to feel as if
he had gone behind her back, and he needed to show Lisa that there wasn't
anything she needed to be jealous or insecure about. He knew that his
and Lisa's relationship, in its previous state, was littered with missed opportunities,
misunderstandings, and misconceptions; now he needed to make sure that their
relationship would not be littered with mistakes of the past.
Rick turned his thoughts again towards the suitcase
and the duffle bag on the floor. He wondered how many times he'd
see that same picture replayed, since Lisa was put in charge of overseeing
the construction of the SDF-3, that duty would most likely take her away,
to who knows where, perhaps the Robotech Factory Satellite, on many occassions
and what if he weren't allowed to go with her. How long would they
be separated and how frequently? Rick scolded himself for over-worrying
and tried to concentrate on the 'now' of things.
Now, he still felt depressed about Lisa leaving, even
if it were only for a couple of days. He had so much he wanted to
tell her but he understood that that probably wouldn't happen for quite
a while, since there was still alot of work that needed to be done for relocation.
He started thinking about the people of Macross.
For five years it seemed that all they did was spend their lives rebuilding
and relocating, five years they spent being displaced vagabonds. Although,
he thought, perhaps that wasn't so bad really, compared to the horrors the
Earth faced on "Judgement Day," courtesy of Dolza's grand fleet. He
admired the human spirit, the one that had the guts and resolve to rise
out of the ashes like the ancient Phoenix, and vowed that he would serve
to protect them, for the rest of his life.
Rick heard the door open and watched as Lisa walked
in, outfitted in camoflauge fatigues. He had not seen her in fatigues
before, only in her white uniform or her flight suit, and he took some
time to stare at her and her new 'fashion' look.
Lisa looked at him and smiled, Rick looked funny,
in a cute sort of way. Anyone could obvious tell he had just woken
up, he had this blank look on his face, and his dark, thick, wavy hair was
sticking up in every direction. Rick stood up and Lisa walked closer
to him and said, "Good morning Rick."
The sound of her voice had a calming effect on him,
having just been in deep thought a few seconds ago, now Rick felt comforted
to know that she was in his life, by his side, and that loved him.
He couldn't help but smile broadly, suddenly aware of how happy he felt
at that moment, and offered a gentle, "Good morning Lisa," in reply.
Lisa, equally as happy at that moment, moved closer
to him with the intent to give him a hug and to try and fix his hair a
bit. As she was about to put her arms around him, Rick ducked and
moved back from her a couple of steps.
Lisa felt anxious and hurt at the same time, but then
she saw Rick cover his mouth like a child who just ate something he didn't
want his parent to find out about, her hurt diminished a bit and she was
slightly amused at the scene. Rick had seen Lisa's initial expression
and was afraid he had hurt her feelings, but he couldn't react quick enough
to say anything. Then, as he saw her change expressions, he felt a
bit relieved and quickly said, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet," slightly
lifting his hand so his words wouldn't be a mumbled jumble. Lisa then
watched Rick head out the door and laughed and shook her head as she heard
him quickly walk down the stairs.
After several minutes, Rick returned and it looked
as if he had taken a couple spare moments to comb his disheveled hair and
shave his 5 o'clock shadow. Lisa gave him a quizzical look and Rick
fumbled for some sort of explanation.
"Um…Lisa, well, you know, I mean, I'm sorry I pulled
away from you, well, you know morning-breath and all and if you were planning
to kiss me then, uh! What I mean was, I didn't assume you were going
to kiss me, I mean, it would be nice, oh, wait! No I mean, you're not
obligated to you know, only if you want to, I don't mean to be pushy or
anything and I don't to come off as if I'm rushing you or I…What I mean…"
Lisa held up her hand and showed him a calm-down type
of gesture, then couldn't help but laugh at him as he stood there with
an embarrassed look on his face. "Rick, it's alright. I understand
what you're trying to say. And thank you for being considerate enough
to brush your teeth, that was one thing Claudia would get annoyed at with
Roy for."
They shared a smile and each mentally replayed an
old fond memory of their dearly loved and departed 'Big Brother.'
Their reminiscent moment was interrupted by some commotion out in the hallway.
"I don't have to go to work for at least 3 more hours,
can't you be a little more considerate and keep it down!" hollered
Vanessa.
"Look who's being inconsiderate by yelling at the
top of their lungs at 6am like some crabby old mother hen! Besides,
you need to wake up and get a debriefing from Lisa about the investigation
and you need to get ready for your new command, aren't you nervous at all
?! You're a Captain now and you're in charge of—"
Vanessa wouldn't let Sammie win the argument and continued,
"Stop nagging me! Now you're the one who's a mother hen!"
Rick and Lisa looked at each other and Rick shrugged
and scratched his head and Lisa rolled her eyes. Suddenly Lisa clapped
her hands together lightly, as the tirade between Vanessa and Sammie continued
out in the hall, "I have an idea!"
Rick looked at her and asked, "You mean an idea how
to get them to shut up?"
Lisa nodded with smirk on her face, "But I'll need
your help Rick."
"Sure Lisa, anything to get them to stop the fighting,"
said Rick, now covering his ears, as Vanessa and Sammie hammered away at
each other.
Lisa was a little bit nervous at what she was going
to ask Rick to do, and for a couple seconds she hesitated over whether
she should use this trick or not, since it was very cold that morning,
but as the noise from the hallway refused to cease, Lisa forged ahead with
her plan.
"Rick, take off your sweatshirt."
Rick looked at her with a puzzled expression but decided
to do as she asked. Lisa was surprised, but she knew she shouldn't
have been, to see Rick with a long-sleeved shirt underneath his sweatshirt.
"Umm, Rick, take off your shirt."
Rick was even more confused but still complied with
her wish. When Lisa saw that Rick was wearing a t-shirt underneath
the long-sleeved shirt, she started to be aware of the hilarity of the situation
and it took all her willpower not to burst out roaring with laughter.
Rick saw her amused look and smiled, even though he had no idea of what
was so funny.
Lisa knew time was running short and she wanted to
play this trick on Sammie and Vanessa before they stopped arguing, thus rendering
the need for the trick very unnecessary. She said in a hurry,
"Rick, take off that t-shirt and whatever other shirts
you have on, quickly."
Rick stared at her for a moment. He thought
he would feel shy or anxious complying with her request, but he didn't.
Perhaps several years ago he would've felt adamantly against whatever she
was planning that required him to take off half of his clothes but somehow,
now, he had no anxiousness and felt completely comfortable around her, so
he took off his t-shirt and the undershirt he had on underneath it.
Lisa quickly turned him around by the shoulders, berating
herself for not stealing a look at him first, and pushed him towards the
door and told him, "Wait for their reaction, if it's the reaction I think
it will be, then you won't have to say anything. If that doesn't work,
then teasingly scold them about being too noisy."
"Uh…ok, sure thing," said Rick as he put his hand
on the doorknob; still trying to process the instructions Lisa gave him.
Out in the hall, Sammie and Vanessa heard the doorknob
turn and both women paused in mid-sentence to look and see who it would
be and how angry that person was.
They saw a shirtless Rick come through the doorway and both women's gawked
at him with dreamy expressions for several seconds before finding their
voices.
"Oh Rick! We're so sorry we woke you up!
We promise we won't make any more noise! Isn't that right Vanessa?!"
exclaimed Sammie as she elbowed Vanessa.
Vanessa still needed a few more split seconds to speak,
but then she started adamantly shaking her head and said, "Oh definitely.
Absolutely, we are so very sorry, we will keep the noise down and it won't
happen again and…do you sure look good." Vanessa was shocked at herself
for the comment and slapped both hands over her mouth and grew bright red.
Then they heard Lisa laugh from behind the door and she came out into view.
Vanessa looked as if she were struggling to find an apology or excuse for
Lisa but Lisa beat her to it.
She patted Rick on the shoulder and told him, "Thank
you Rick, it looks like our little trick worked," and then turned back to
Sammie and Vanessa with an amused grin.
Vanessa caught on quickly and offered a sincere apology,
followed by Sammie's equally sincere apology. Lisa mentioned to Vanessa
that she wanted to go over a few things with her before she left and then
Lisa and Rick went back into the room.
Once there, Rick asked Lisa, "Lisa, are you sure I
can't go with you? Central America is very dangerous right now, they
have so many problems with the Zendtraedi in South America also. I
just have a bad feeling about this mission. I'd feel so much better
if I could come along and keep an eye on you."
Lisa dearly wished she could take Rick along with
her and she would definitely feel comforted knowing he was there to get
her out of any scrapes she might run into, but she rationalized the situation
and decided that there really wasn't much threat in the area anymore since
Ghost Squadron had already secured the area.
Lisa put her hands on Rick's shoulders and tried to
show him her bravest smile and said, "Rick, please don't worry. You
know I'd love to have you come with me, but you're needed here and I should
be in good hands."
Rick knew she was right and couldn't resist the urge
to hug her and quietly said, "I'll miss you, please don't stay longer than
is necessary."
Lisa didn't say a word but tightened their embrace
and tried to listen to Rick's heartbeat when she realized that the poor guy
had cold-induced goose bumps on his skin. She felt guilty and told
him, "I'm sorry, it's so cold, I should've
thought of a different plan, but I couldn't think of anything else that
could shut them up."
Rick chuckled and told her, "Don't worry about it.
I must admit, I really don't mind living here with them, at least for now
anyways. It's like having a bunch of nosey and noisy sisters."
They parted their embrace as both realized Lisa needed
to hurry up and finish getting ready and debrief Vanessa before leaving
on her mission. Rick also wanted to accompany Lisa to the airfield
to watch her departure but she told him it wasn't necessary and she would
feel guilty for dragging him out into the cold air twice in one morning.
Reluctantly, Rick agreed and put back on his layers of shirts as Lisa went
over to talk to Vanessa.
Vanessa made herself and Lisa each a cup of green tea
and took a seat at the small table that was in the kitchenette. She
still was feeling guilty for her outburst over how Rick looked and she
wanted to make sure Lisa wasn't mad at her about it.
"Lisa, I really am sorry, I just-"
"Vanessa, it's perfectly fine. Don't worry about
it. I'm not mad at all. It was kind of funny actually, and
it was the only thing I could think of to get you two to stop fighting."
Vanessa laughed and said knowingly, "Oh yea, just
throw a handsome man in front of us and we'll drop everything."
Lisa smiled and sipped her tea and then started the
debriefing.
"I really haven't had anytime to do anything much
except move the array over to a hanger on the outskirts of Monument.
We started a preliminary investigation which needs to be finished ASAP
because we need to repair it quickly and get it back online. I have
most of the investigation documents here, the rest are with Vince Grant,
whom I've had assist me, since he's one of our top radar mechanics.
The physical evidence-gathering should take about another couple of days,
then after that you can probably begin the in-depth investigation."
Vanessa looked at the large stack of folders and was
trying not to feel overwhelmed by the task. She looked at Lisa and
asked her, "From what you've seen so far, what do you think happened?"
Lisa looked around her to make sure no one was heading
towards their direction and then said in a hushed voice, "Don't mention
this to anyone yet, but from what I've seen so far, I think this might've
been a case of sabotage."
Vanessa kept up the hushed atmosphere and said, "Do
you really think so?"
"Yes, I think so, and if it's true, there could be
big trouble ahead."
Vanessa sat back in her chair and exhaled loudly,
"Oh boy. This is going to be a very interesting couple of months."
"If you need any help, let me know, and remember,
not a word to anyone, only Vince and I, and now you, are privy to this."
Vanessa nodded and started sorting the stacks of manila
folders and Lisa thought to add one last topic to their conversation.
"Um, Vanessa…" she started a bit hesitantly, "Rick
says that he has a bad feeling about my trip to Costa Rica, and I didn't
tell him, but I also have this strange feeling about it as well. Can
you please make sure that if there's trouble out there, and Sammie has to
send reinforcements, tell her to use Rick as a last resort, in fact, if it's
something that can be manageable, then there's no need to let him know at
all. He's already worrying about me and I don't want him to runoff and
try to rescue me if someone else can do it."
Vanessa looked a bit confused and asked Lisa, "But
hasn't Rick always been the one to rescue you?"
"Yes I know. But you see, things are different
now, he's mine now, and if something happened to him…"
Vanessa nodded her head, "Yes, I understand what you
mean. Lisa, you don't know how happy we all are for you, really we
are."
Lisa took her friends hand and gave it a squeeze and
said a simple but sincere, "Thank you."
The alarm clock went off and Claudia turned around
and mashed her face in the pillow. She wish she could pickup the clock
and throw it against the wall and then go back to sleep for the next two
days, but she knew that she had an important duty to perform and she so she
dragged herself out of bed, put on her robe, and then headed out towards
the living room.
When she entered the living room she was greeted with
the aroma of Miriya's 'Cappachin' and had to laugh over the mispronunciation
of the word. She shuffled to the kitchen and there was Miriya, sitting
with Dana on her lap as Max tried to feed the toddler some oatmeal.
When Miriya saw Claudia enter the room she immediately got up, dumping
Dana on the chair with a light thud, and stood up to salute.
"Captain Grant, Captain Miriya Parino Sterling ready
and waiting for the commencement of our mission."
Claudia, still not yet fully awake, returned her salute
and sat down as Max gave her a warm and friendly good morning greeting.
Dana smiled at Claudia mischievously and then as Claudia was rubbing her
eyes, trying to get them to keep open, Dana launched a spoonful of oatmeal
that hit Claudia on the forehead. Claudia didn't make a sound as Dana
squealed with laughter and Max tried to scold her, although to no real effect.
Miriya watched Dana's prank and could think of nothing
to do but ask Claudia, "May I get you a cup of Cappachin?"
Claudia finished rubbing her tired eyes, which were
still red from lack of sleep and told her, "Yes please, just as long as
you don't pour it on me."
Miriya looked stunned, "Claudia, I would never do
such a thing to you!"
Claudia saw that she had made a mistake with her little
joke, "Calm down honey, I didn't mean it literally, it is a joke.
It's a bit of sarcasm, since Dana threw her food at me, then it would be
wise to suspect that anyone offering me food might throw it at me…," she
saw that Miriya still didn't understand and so Max told Miriya that it was
yet another figure of speech that he would have to explain to her some time.
Lisa put her suitcase and duffle bag down near the
front door as she waited for Sammie to return from the kitchen. Vanessa
was upstairs taking a shower and Rick was standing in the living room looking
like a kid who's pet had just runaway. Lisa saw the sad look on his
face and went over to give him a hug. His voice sounded desperate
as he said to her, "Please be careful. I almost lost you a couple
of days ago and it was such a horrible feeling, please, I can't go through
that again."
Lisa looked at him and brushed his bangs away from
his blue eyes so she could look straight into them and say reassuringly,
"I'll be alright, please try not to worry so much." Then she stood
up on her tiptoes only slightly and kissed him slowly and tenderly.
When she looked at him and saw he wore a glazed look, so to try and snap him
out of his daze, she told him, "You didn't think I'd let your brushing your
teeth go unappreciated did you?"
They laughed a little bit then Rick said in an amazed
tone of voice, "You know, it's just so…I don't know how to explain it really…sometimes
I can't keep myself from wanting to kiss you, and other times I get shy
all of a sudden, it's difficult to explain."
Lisa gave him a lopsided smile and told him, "I know
what you mean, I feel the same way. I don't know whether to kiss you
sometimes because I don't want you to think I'm being too forward, but then
there's times when I just can't help myself."
Rick ran his hand through his hair and then said,
"You know what?"
"What?" Lisa replied.
"You can kiss me aaaaany time you want to."
Rick winked at her and they laughed again. Just then Sammie came
back into the living room, munching on a donut, and waited for Lisa by
the door. Rick held Lisa's hand as they walked closer to the door
and he picked up her suitcase as she picked up her duffle bag and then rejoined
hands again and walked to the driveway where Sammie's military-loaned car
was waiting. Rick helped Lisa load her baggage into the backseat
then closed the door and leaned his head through the open window and told
Sammie, "Sammie, you take good care of Lisa ok?"
Sammie finished what she was chewing on and gave him
a salute, "You bet sir, I won't let anything happen to her," then she started
up the motor but Rick wasn't ready to let Lisa leave just yet.
"Hold up a sec Sammie," said Rick as he stuck his
head back into the car again. He then returned Lisa's kiss of a few
minutes prior and then, "Alright Sammie," and then stepped a couple paces
back from the car.
After she had backed the car out of the driveway and
started down the road, Sammie told Lisa, "I never thought I'd see that happen,
I'm so happy for you Lisa! It seems he's trying so hard to makeup for
everything that's happened in the past. It must be so wonderful to
have such a boyfriend as Rick."
Lisa smiled and said, "It's like a dream. I…it's
still so hard to believe. It's such a strange feeling too, to have
this type shift in our relationship. It's just so weird that I don't
have to order him to kiss me."
The two women chuckled in amusement and headed towards
their destination and the mission that awaited them.
Claudia finished her coffee and went to shower and
get dressed and then she and Miriya headed for Claudia's office, one of three
different offices she now split her time between. Once at the office,
they went over their plan.
Claudia thought that the easiest and safest place
for the relocation of the New Macross citizens would be several miles outside
of Monument. This way, incase of another medium-scaled Zendtraedi
attack like Khyron's, the cities might be able to help defend each other.
She needed to gain the support of as many Monument City council members
as possible, because they were already so reluctant to let the New Macross
people stay in their city, perhaps at least they would cooperate in building
an alliance of twin cities.
Claudia and several others would work on trying to
convince the human council members of the feasibility and advantages of the
idea and Miriya would try and negotiate with the Zendtraedi members.
Claudia had originally thought Exedore would be able to fulfill the role
of ambassador, but he was needed by Breetai for some secret project and
also for the fact that perhaps a female Zentraedi would have better luck,
since 3 out of the 4 members were female.
Today, Miriya would try and set up a meeting with
Lady Hialeah, the most prominent member of the Zendtraedi council members.
Miriya had heard a little bit about Lady Hialeah, but aside from the hearsay,
she really had no idea who she was. When she was serving under Azonia,
Miriya had heard Azonia complain about Hialeah and about how she was glad
that they were serving in different galaxies. Apparently, Hialeah
looked down on Azonia for some reason, and Azonia despised her for it.
Claudia and Miriya both agreed that it would be a
good idea for Miriya to brush up on her etiquette and negotiating skills,
so both women grabbed something for breakfast and decided to head to a small
wearhouse a few blocks away from Claudia's office, that held a volumous
collection of Micronian-sized, Zendtraedi civiliazation books. Half
of the treasure trove of books had been a gift from Breetai and Exedore
had had a hand in many translated volumes. The other half of the books
were donated by many of the Zendtraedi themselves, who gave them to The
Zendtraedi Information Center, who in turn, set out to produce translations
in the hopes that the Micronians could have a better understanding of their
former enemies, the Zendtraedi.
After a couple of hours at the makeshift library,
Miriya felt she was ready to throw down the first of what would most likely
be many bargaining chips. She looked at her wallet photo of herself,
Max, and baby Dana to give her strength and then took a deep breath and
started the drive towards Lady Hialeah's office.
"Very good Commander Young. You've made excellent
progress in the past couple of days, it's amazing. I'm sure that
Admiral Hayes will be glad to have you back at work."
The doctor jotted down a few more notes on Kim's medical
chart and then clicked his pen and put it back in his top pocket.
Kim watched him, and tried to have a confident look
on her face, still trying to forget her nightmare from a few hours before.
"So doctor, when can I leave this place?"
The doctor inclined his head upwards looking at the
ceiling and thought for a moment, then he said, "Well
now…I need to consult with a couple of the attending psychiatrists, but
I believe you should be able to go home sometime tomorrow."
Kim wore a triumphant smile as she watched the doctor
leave her room. She then inclined her bed so that she could watch
TV comfortably and tried to flip through the channels to find a station
that wasn't reporting about Khyron's attack. Having no luck finding
such a station, she turned off the TV and decided to call 'home' and see
if there was anyone there.
"Hello, this is Captain Rick Hunter," said the voice
on the other end.
Kim paused for a moment, remembering the part Rick
had played in the nightmare from a few hours ago.
"Hello?" Rick said again.
This time Kim managed to speak, trying to sound as
cheerful as possible, "Hey Rick! It's me, Kim."
"Hey there Kim, how are you feeling today?"
"I'm fine Rick, I'm trying to convince the doctors
to let me go home ASAP."
Rick frowned with brotherly concern and asked her, "Just
make sure you'll ready to come home, don't try and rush it."
"Yes, dad," answered the ever-impertinant Kim.
Rick laughed and asked her, "What can I do for ya?"
"Oh nothing really, I just wanted to call and see
if anyone was home because I'm really bored."
Rick thought for a moment, then told her, "Hey, why don't
I come over and visit you for a bit. I don't have to be at the airfield
for another hour and I'm already to go and I was sitting here kind of bored
myself. I'll come over and keep you company."
Kim was still trying to get used to the fact that
Rick and Lisa were now finally a couple and that she would no longer have
to gripe about what a blind jerk Rick was. She thought this might
be a nice time to start getting to know the nicer side of Rick Hunter, since
she'd have to live with him for an undetermined amount of time.
"Hey Rick that sounds great. I'll see you in
a bit."
"Sure thing, Kim, I'll be there in about 15 minutes.
Bye"
Kim hung up the phone and then walked over to the window
and peered outside, hoping that it would not be very long before she could
be out there herself and try and get her life back to normal like everyone
else was trying to do.
"Captain Porter, I have Major Edwards on the line for
you."
"Thank you Ensign Burdein, put him up onscreen."
"Yes ma'am."
Sammie snapped a salute as Edwards' face began to
materialize on the medium-sized viewscreen.
"Major Edwards, this transmission is just to let you
know that Admiral Hayes' group has just left and will be at your destination
at about 14:00 hours."
Edwards nodded his head once then monotonously said, "Thank
you, Captain," and then ended the transmission.
The ensign looked up at Sammie and said, "Not very
friendly is he. I'm glad I don't have to go over there and work for
him."
Sammie hoped that the mission would be over soon so
that way she wouldn't have to talk to Edwards anymore.
Sammie cued up the audio link to Lisa, "Admiral, we're
about ready to go on radio silence. Remember, at the first sign of
any trouble, let me know ASAP and I'll send you some backup."
Lisa, to appease Sammie, told her she would call her if the group ran
into trouble. This was still new to Sammie and Lisa tried her best
to make the task easier for her, as well as eliminate the need for Sammie
to prematurely run to Rick for help.
Edwards walked from his makeshift barracks, a tent
basically, over to the small, narrow, grassy strip that would serve as the
runway for Lisa's arriving team. He stood next to his aide who was
surveying the area with binoculars and gruffly told the aide, a marine of
about twenty years of age, "Make sure
that this area is absolutely secured. The last thing I want is for
Carruthers and Maistroff to come down here and try and take over my mission."
"Yes sir."
Edwards continued, "Here's the plan for today.
When Hayes gets here we'll take a group over to that creek that we saw yesterday,
and we'll see if we can get her to OK that as the spot for the post.
Keep telling her, though don't make it obvious, that that spot is the optimal
spot. But then again, she's smart enough to see that herself, still
though, I don't want to take any chances. I have to have that spot."
Edwards walked back to his tent and mulled over the
arrival of "Admiral" Hayes. He thought it was his good luck that
they sent her, instead of someone else. He knew Lisa slightly, by
way of Lisa's father. Edwards had been an unofficial aide to Lisa's
father, but hadn't been too acquainted with Lisa, and had only met her in
person a handful of times. He foresaw this mission as being a good
opportunity for him to try and build the same type of trust with Lisa that
he had done with her father. This way, whenever the need arose, Edwards
could use this to his advantage in his neverending quest for power and prestige.
He thought about it and he didn't feel guilty, because
there actually was some validity to the trust that Lisa's father had put
into Edwards. Lisa's father was probably the only man whom Edwards
had any ounce of respect for, and they got along rather well. He didn't
really have any reason to dislike Lisa, unlike everyone else he came in
contact with. He had heard a great many of good things about her and
he had seen the progression of her beauty in the photos that her father
would proudly display in his office.
There was just the small grudge he had against her though.
He put his hand over the metal plate that covered the damaged parts
of his face. He watched as Hayes and Hunter managed to escape from
Alaska Base, leaving him behind. Really though, he blamed Hunter for
the problem and couldn't bring himself to be angry at her, maybe because
she was Admiral Hayes' daughter, or maybe because he felt sorry for her that
she had watched her father die right before her eyes, or maybe because she
was a woman, or maybe because he found her attractive.
Edwards smirked to himself, maybe having Lisa there
wouldn't be so bad after all.
Rick knocked on Kim's door and when he heard her call
for him to enter, he first poked his head through the door slowly,
wanting to make sure he wasn't intruding on any visitors that might've stopped
by. He also felt a little bit nervous, as he had during the past couple
times he'd come to visit her, but at least Sammie was always with him and
did all the talking; now it would be just he and Kim. He didn't really
know Kim all that well.
Among the Trio, Kim had had the least experience with
flight ops and thus, was hardly ever heard from by the pilots. Whereas,
Sammie was heard from any time Lisa wasn't on duty, and Vanessa was often
heard from frequently because of un-asked for, but very much appreciated,
'bogie-spot' heads ups she always gave the pilots during skirmishes.
Rick hoped that it wouldn't be too awkward a
visit and that they could find something in common to talk about because
he didn't want to bore her more than she already was.
"Hey there Rick," said a cheerful Kim.
Rick greeted her and pulled the chair up near
the side of the bed, "So did the doctors say specifically when you could
go home?"
"Not yet exactly, but as soon as one comes back
here, I'm going to nag him until he signs my discharge papers!"
Rick shook his head as he laughed, "You girls
are really something."
Kim raised an eyebrow, "Aha…so let me guess,
Sammie and Vanessa were yelling at each other early in the morning, Vanessa
was complaining about Sammie making too much noise, only she was making just
as much noise as Sammie was by yelling at her, and it went on and on until
you either had to yell at them at the top of your lungs or show them a magazine
picture of a handsome man?"
Rick's surprised look revealed to Kim that she
had been absolutely right on the money with her prediction.
"Believe me, living with those two clowns for
the past 7 years, I know them like the back of my hand," said Kim, waving
her hand dismissively.
After a few seconds of silence Kim asked, "Hey
so, how's the evacuations coming along?"
"They're going pretty well actually, in fact,
much better than when we first were relocating off of the SDF-1 two years
ago. I think it's because they finally put a competant person in
charge this time."
Kim shook her head in agreement, "Having someone
competant in charge makes all the difference in the world."
Rick leaned back in his chair and continued,
"Claudia is doing an excellent job, they couldn't have picked a better person.
I sure don't envy her, it's a difficult job."
Kim cringed at the thought of all the work Claudia
was responsible for and said, "I'm sure glad they didn't give me something
to be in charge of. And I'm glad they didn't promote me to Captain
either. I don't want all that responsibility, just let me do what
I know how to do well and I'm more than happy with the situation."
Rick sat up from his laid back position and
shook his finger at her and told her, "You know…I absolutely totally
agree with you. Just let us do what we were trained to do and what
we do best and leave us alone to do our job."
Kim shook her head approvingly, "You said it!"
There was a knock at the door and then a doctor
came into the room. Rick stood up and moved the chair out of the
way.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you and your visitor
Commander Young. Is this your brother?" asked the doctor.
Rick and Kim looked at each other with bewildered
but amused looks.
"Oh no, this is a friend of mine," replied Kim,
still surprised from the concept of she and Rick being brother and sister.
"Ah, I'm sorry. My mistake, you two resemble each other a
bit so I thought you were related," said the doctor apologetically.
Kim said nonchalantly, "Nah, don't worry about
it doctor, I can see now, actually the Captain and I do sorta look related,"
and then switched her tone to a determined, almost orderingly, "So, I am
going home tommorrow is that right?"
The doctor paused for a moment, thinking.
"I'm ready to go home anytime doc, isn't that
right Rick?" and Kim started to nod her head up and down.
Rick caught on and started nodding his head too, "I
think she's ready to go home doctor."
The doctor looked from Kim to Rick and then the doctor
smiled mischieviously and said, "Actually, that was what I had come to
tell you. The other two doctors and I had a small discussion and
we decided that we can let you go home, not just because you seem to be
much better now, but also because we desperately need more rooms to put
the incoming patients. It's seems there's an epidemic of a delayed
post-traumatic stress disorder among those who were on the SDF-1 and SDF-2
when Khyron attacked, particularly those who were in the water for an extended
period of time, like yourself. We have a couple of patients who seem
absolutely zombie-like. It's rather scary, I just hope we can help
them recover quickly."
Rick gave the doctor a confident, "I'm sure you can
doctor."
The doctor nodded his appreciation and told Kim that
she could leave as soon as the nurses station was processing her discharge
papers, but he also reminded her, "Commander Young. It is absoultely
imperative that you come and see either myself or doctors Hill or Luna,
twice a week, until we say you can discontinue the visits. And if you
should have any sudden relapse, you are to come see us at once. Please,
this is very important."
"Yes doctor, I understand."
Rick spoke up and said, "Don't worry doctor.
The rest of her friends and I will keep an eye on her."
"Thank you Captain. Good day to you two," and
with that the doctor closed the door behind him. Kim smiled at Rick, "Maybe
the doctor's right…maybe you are my brother, you're sure acting like one."
Rick blushed a little bit and scratched the back of
his head. Then he remembered that Kim didn't know where the house
was and wouldn't have a way to get home unless she called a cab, which was
quite difficult at the moment, since many of the roads were clogged with
traffic caused by people making the migration between cities.
"Kim, I better take you home, you and a cab driver
might have a tough time getting there. I know a couple of the side
streets we can take, it won't take very long at all. Lemme just call
Claudia and tell her I'm going to be a little bit late."
"Rick are you sure? I can wait in the lobby
or cafeteria, or I can even walk home, just give me the directions," said
Kim hurriedly, not wanting to impose on Rick too much.
Rick shook his head, "No no, it's fine. We'll
have you home in no time."
Kim looked at him for a moment then smirked, "Alright.
Thank you little brother."
Rick laughed and was about to say that he hadn't been
called 'little brother' since Roy died, but there had been so much death
in the past few days that he was glad he bit his tongue in time to prevent
himself from sticking his foot in his mouth.
Kim said she'd start to pack and change and Rick decided
to go down to the cafeteria and get some coffee and then wait for her in
the waiting room.
Vanessa stood outside near the heavily guarded radar
grids and couldn't stop her teeth from chattering. There was a cold
artic blast coming down from the north and she had been standing outside
for only 5 minutes but she thought she was about ready to freeze to death.
She had been waiting for Vince Grant to arrive because she wanted to
talk to him for a few minutes before they went into the hanger to take
a look at the grids. Once inside, with the swarm of security personel
around them, she wouldn't be able to ask him the questions she wanted to
ask.
"My goodness, what on earth are you doing outside
in this weather?!" The voice was booming but not frightening.
Vanessa turned around to see Vince Grant, Claudia's
younger brother, approaching her.
If Claudia was tall, then Vince was super tall.
When he stood up straight, he was a reported 6 foot 7 inches tall and weighed
around 240+ pounds. He was a 'gentle giant' as Claudia liked to often
call him. When looking at them, you knew the two were related, even
though they didn't resemble each other very much as far as their facial
features went, but they had size, speed, and strength and were incredibly
intelligent and cool under pressure, but once their anger was ignited, watch
out!
"Hey there Vince," said Vanessa as cheerfully as she
could, despite feeling as if she were about to be overcome with frostbite
any second.
As soon as he was close enough, Vince stood at attention
and saluted, "Lt. Commander Vince Grant reporting for duty ma'am!"
Vanessa managed to return his salute even though it
took her awhile to get her hand up near her brow since it was shaking from
the cold.
Vince looked at her with one eye and told her, "Didn't
Santa Claus buy you gloves for Christmas?"
Vanessa cracked a smile, only slightly for fear anything
wider would be frozen in place for the next 8 hours, "Sammie stole my gloves!"
Vince shook his head and asked her, "Is there a reason
why you're standing out here in the cold or were you just trying to see
if there's such a thing as a human popsicle?"
"Yuh-yuh-yuh-yes, I wa-wa-wanted to ask you a few
questions b-b-before we go inside," chattered Vanessa.
"Alright then well make it fast because you're gonna
get hypothermia any minute."
It struck Vanessa that Vince seemed oblivious
to the cold and she envied him at that moment, but continued, "Lisa told
me what her theory is. I haven't had a chance to go through most of
the documents yet, is there something that I should sp-sp-specifically look
for when we g-g-go in there right now?"
"As a matter of fact, there is, but hang on
a second." Vince then walked around her to a trash can that was nearby
and threw away some tissue papers he had in his pocket and then pretended
to wave to someone out of sight. Vanessa could see that he was shifting
his eyes in ever direction to not make it obvious that he was looking around
to make sure no one was listening. He slowly made his way back to
her and told her in a hushed voice, but not looking at her when he
spoke, "Look for scratches around the keyhole on the main lock." He
waited for Vanessa to give an indication that she had heard him, which she
did by saying, "Got it." And then he told her, "Wave." And he and Vanessa
pretended to wave to someone off in the distance and then he turned back
to her and said, "Shall we Captain?"
"Yes, let's get the hell out of this freezing
cold before I turn into an icicle," retorted Vanessa, thankful that she
would be out of the winter chill.
"If she can get there safely and in one piece, that's good enough," Max had once explained to Rick.
Miriya was barreling down the highway, on the shoulder, to the great annoyance of many of the other motorists who were stuck in traffic. There were some shouts at her car, but she was in a military jeep so she didn't take any offense because she was on official military business and thought she had a right to drive on the side of the freeway so she could get to her destination in time.
"Your Excellency, Lady Hialeah...Madam Councilman Hialeah..oh no that's wrong, Madam Councilwoman Hialeah...Your Honored Councilwoman...Lady Hialeah...Madam Hialeah..." Miriya wondered which greeting to use. She had not been trained very much in formalities since she was a grunt soldier under Azonia and Azonia didn't demand any formalities from her because Miriya was her ace pilot.
When Miriya had visited Breetai at the Factory Satellite, she just copied whatever way Exedore addressed Breetai. Now she was on her own, no Exedore to mimic, and she needed to make sure she made a very good first impression on Lady Hialeah.
Miriya sighed, pulled out the family picture again and looked at it for more strength and then put it away and floored the gas pedal, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.
============
Author's Notes:
1. Thanks to everyone for the reviews! :) I'm pretty sure I'm not one of the Macross writers but boy would that be the perfect job or what?! :) I think my writing style has been brought about by the characters themselves. That is the thing I have always loved the most about the Macross saga, the characters are SO realistic, so human, that you can view it as something more than just a 'cartoon.' I really love the characters (well, not Minmei though ;) ) for their personability and uniqueness. Compared to some of the regular soap operas I've seen with human characters, the Macross characters sometimes are still more human and believeable! Ahhh, gotta love those characters! And I've always had some ideas for how I wanted Rick and Lisa's romance to develop. There wasn't enough Rick-Lisa scenes in The Zendtraedi Rebellions novel for me, and of course, being the huge Rick & Lisa fan that I am, I can never get enough of them anyways. :) I could write forever about those two, but I also wanted to concentrate on the supporting characters too.
2. I will definitely plan to put out any S.O.S signals and call for suggestions when I get stuck, I somewhat already forsee a future SOS for ideas for Max's character, but I will soon sit down and write something for Max and we'll see if I get stuck or not :)
3. I've started to include dates, I think it will make it easier to keep track of time. Chapter 1's date should be, January 18th, 2015. Chapter 2's date is January 19th, 2015. And the Chapter 2 part 2 is January 20th (early morning), 2015. I chose the beginning date of January 18 because it seems to be about the time that episode 36 would take place. According to the McKinney novels, Rick had been on vacation for a few weeks after Minmei arrived, so though I am not familiar with how military vacation taking works, as far as a general rule, the average vacation is sometimes 3 weeks. :)
4. I encourage people to write fanfics! Even if you've never tried it before, I think once you've written something you will see that it's really fun and rewarding! :) (I'm making a special request for Rick-Lisa Sentinels era fanfics, I can't remember seeing very many of those out there).
5. I keep forgetting to mention that you might see a more Rick-oriented slant to some of the Rick and Lisa scenes. This is done because we've always been able to know what Lisa's emotions were, the novels and the episode narrations even, gave us plenty of that. This is sort of a little bit of payback for Rick ;) Now he's going to be the one head over heals in love, and I think it would be interesting to see him go through some of the lovesick moments that Lisa had to go through, although Rick's will be in a good way type of lovesick ;) , not the angsty, forlorn lovesick that Lisa had to go through ( poor girl!) .