Chapter 4, part 2
From his vantage point, Rick could see Uradana standing
with her gun pointed at Claudia and Miriya and Hialeah in a heap, apparently
injured. He heard no noise but he saw Claudia fall to the ground.
Then he saw that Uradana was going back to where Hialeah and Miriya lay
and was going to fire when all of a sudden Miriya threw a dagger at Uradana's
hand, which succeeded in removing the weapon from Uradana's grip.
Miriya was up in a flash and tackled Uradana onto the floor while Hialeah
staggered to the gun and picked it up and kept it held on Uradana.
"Togo! You imbecile! Jigo! Where are you?!"
shouted Hialeah.
The two men appeared at the door and when they saw
what had caused such a commotion, they rushed to pin Uradana down.
"Where were you two?!" said an angry Hialeah.
"My lady, we thought the noises were from the jousting
match," explained one of the men.
Hialeah's anger did not subside, "You idiots!
Since when do we have micronian guns!?" Hialeah growled in frustration
and decided she'd deal with the men later. She looked at her left
shoulder and could see it was still bleeding, then she saw that Miriya's
wound was still bleeding as well. She went to the comm panel on the
far left wall to call for the medics and the authorities.
After determining that Uradana was no longer a threat,
Rick rushed over to check on Claudia.
"Hey there cutiepie!"
"Roy? Roy is that you?"
"Who else would be calling you cutiepie?? If there's
another guy calling you cutiepie you better tell me his name so I can punch
his lights out! Hahahaha!"
"Roy, what are you doing here?" asked Claudia.
She couldn't see anything. There was no light in the room and she
had no idea where she was, but she could certainly hear everything.
She also had her sense of smell. She could smell the smoke of Roy's
favorite brand of cigarettes in the air.
"Well, now I was about to ask you that question
myself," chuckled Roy.
"I...I don't know where I am and I can't see anything,
and I don't know how I got here or what happened before I woke up just
now."
"You can't see my handsome face at all?" asked Roy.
"No, I can't see anything," replied Claudia.
"Well...I know what that means then...and I'm quite
glad actually."
"What does it mean Roy? Am I blind?
Where am I?" Claudia was now very worried.
"No, don't worry. You'll see again, once we're
done talking."
"Done talking, but Roy. Where am I?"
"You'll know when you get back. Now listen
to me. There was a lot that was left unsaid when I left you.
And we never talked about it but I always had it in the back of my mind
to mention it to you, but I was superstitious and didn't want to jinx myself.
I guess I was jinxed anyways. Nevermind that, there's something I
want you to know." Roy's tone of voice became very serious with the
last sentence, and he continued his serious tone, "I know how hard it's
been for you to be alone. You're still young with your whole life
ahead of you, just like Lisa was when her fiancee died. What I'm
trying to say is, that if some nice guy comes along, I don't want you to
hold back on my account."
Claudia started to protest, "Roy-".
But Roy cut her off, "Don't even think of trying
to argue with me. Tell me this, if our situations were reversed,
wouldn't you tell me the exact same thing?"
Silence pervaded the darkness.
"Claudia...answer me, wouldn't you tell me to do
the exact same thing? Wouldn't you tell me, that if a woman came
along, someone that could make me happy, wouldn't you tell me to give it
a shot?"
"I...yes..." Claudia finally admitted.
"Claudia, it's time for you to go back now.
I want you to think about what I said. I don't want you to be alone
forever. We thought Lisa would never find someone after Karl died,
but she did. And we both wanted her to find someone right?
Well, you think about it and apply that to yourself."
"Roy, I can't..."
"Claudia," Roy's voice became gentle, "Everyone
knows you try your best to be strong but they know how unhappy you are,
and I don't want you to spend the rest of your life unhappy. I don't
have time to try and explain it more to you, but just make sure that when
you have some time, listen to this song. It's called 'The Visit.'
It's sung by a man named George Jones. I remember Pop Hunter listening
to that song often. It reminded him of his wife who died when Rick
was only a toddler. Eventually Pop Hunter did find someone who made
him happy but they understood that he still loved his departed wife very
much and everyone was ok with that. Just make sure you find that
song and listen to it. I think Rick might even still have it with
him. Ask him to play it for you sometime."
"But Roy..."
"No buts, I have to go now, please remember what
I said Claudia. And remember I'll always love you and I want you
to be happy."
She couldn't see his face, but she felt his presence
and she knew he was right next to her. She wanted so badly to see
him and to be able to hold him, and she reached out her arms to try and
feel him but then she felt his presence gone, and she was left alone once
again.
"Claudia! Claudia! Are you alright?!"
She knew she heard the voice before but couldn't
put her finger on it that particular moment, then she felt someone gently
touch her on the shoulders, "Don't worry Claudia, you're going to be ok,"
said the voice, which she now recognized as Rick's.
Claudia tried to sit up but Rick restrained her,
"You're not goin' anywhere until the medics take a look at you. You
don't seem to be wounded anywhere, but I don't want to take any chances."
"What happened?" asked Claudia, still recovering
from her daze.
"From what I could tell, you fainted. You
probably bumped your head, that's why you blacked out. I didn't hear
her fire a shot, so I think she probably thought you were dead when you
fell, so she just left you alone after that."
Claudia looked around, "Wait, where's Miriya?!"
"She should be fine. The medics already too
her and Hialeah to the hospital. Uradana got off a shot that hit
them both in the shoulder. Miriya was pushing Hialeah down just as
the shot went off, so it went through Miriya's shoulder, then Hialeah's.
They should both recover in no time."
Claudia's face suddenly wore a look of dread, "Oh
my god, Max is going to kill me."
Rick raised an eyebrow then thought for a moment,
"Well, maybe not. You did tell both he and Miriya not to take any
risks for these negotiations. If anyone, he'll be mad at Miriya."
"I know but he'll blame me for not keeping an eye
on her and preventing her from macronizing."
"Don't worry, Max knows his wife well. I think
he'll be upset initially, but he'll let it go. You know Max."
Claudia sighed, "I sure botched this one up.
Now what is Hialeah going to say, 'Damn micronians and their scheming plots,
almost got me killed.'"
Rick managed to smile, "Hialeah didn't seem all
that upset, in fact, she went ahead an called the paramedics for you, I
didn't even have to ask her to do it. She even asked to be notified of
your condition."
Claudia looked surprised and said, "Maybe she's
not that bad after all...," and then she pased out.
* * * * * * *
Lisa and Edwards had been wandering down a dark narrow
passageway for over an hour. The passageway looked like it had been
once used as a mine tunnel because they could see some remnants of the
mine cart tracks and picks and shovels every few hundred feet. The
place smelled dusty and damp and every once in a while they would hear
a strange noise or two. They also could hear rumblings from overhead;
they suspected that the Zentraedi still might be using the area as a target
range, although there really wasn't anything around except jungle and trees.
They finally started to see a light at the end of
the corridor and when they got there they were surprised to find a concrete
chamber with several stone statues scattered about the room. The
room was an eerie greenish glow and after walking around the room a bit
they also found some stelagtites and a small stream of water, flowing in
from an unknown source.
The room was very cold, causing Lisa to shiver a
bit and zip and button up her fatigue jacket as far as it could go.
"Do you want my jacket? You can have it if
it's too cold in here for you," offered Edwards, with just a tiny hint
of concern.
Lisa shook her head and told him, "Thank you, it's
fine. I'll be alright. It was just the sudden change in temperature
that caught me off guard."
Edwards looked at her for a second and then just
nodded and continued looking around the room. His eye caught sight
of something that looked like a lever and so he headed straight towards
it.
Lisa caught sight of his movements and followed
him with her eyes, making sure she had her pistol with her, just in case
anything dangerous should come from him pulling on the lever.
Edwards drew his pistol, then looked over at Lisa
for an order. She nodded her approval and he pulled down the lever.
For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen, then they heard a rumbling
noise, like that of a large slab of concrete moving. They looked
around but couldn't see any new opening, so they drew their guns with a
defensive stance and slowly inspected the room, each taking one side.
"Over here!" shouted Lisa.
Edwards came over and crouched down next to Lisa.
They saw a small rectangular opening of about 5 feet long by 3 feet wide
that seemed to lead to another chamber. Without waiting for any authorization,
Edwards crouched down a bit and walked through, then Lisa followed him.
Once they were able to stand to full height they
saw a very large room that was mostly invaded by the surroundings of the
cave, that seemed to go on for several hundred feet. The light in
the room was much better than the previous room and they could make out
most of what they were looking at. There was still that sound of
some type of stream of water flowing, but they couldn't immediately see
any type of brook or fountain anywhere.
Lisa put down her backpack with some relief.
The thing was rather heavy and cumbersome but she was glad that she brought
it with her because it looked as if they were going to have to at least
spend one night in the caves.
Edwards tried yet again to raise anyone by radio
or phone and was greeted with the same failure. They hadn't been
able to raise anyone at all since the Zentraedi attack and Lisa hoped that
there existed a search party that was out there looking for them.
It had now been some three hours since they had
first sought protection in the caves and they were both getting hungry.
Lisa offered Edwards something to eat but he said he would wait until later
and instead go try and find the source of the sound of water that they
heard.
Edwards had walked at least three hundred feet when
he noticed that the sound of the water had become louder. He shone
his flashlight in the darker regions of the room and finally found a sizeable
waterfall yet no sign of any outside light. It appeared as if the
source of the water was within the cave somewhere and Edwards looked in
vain for any sign of daylight, a sign that would point them to a way out.
He then looked inside the small well at the base of the waterfall.
His eye caught sight of something and he brought his flashlight into play.
He started to smile as he stuck his hand in the water and rummaged around
the soil at the bottom. When he held up his hand he was greeted with
the glint of a gold nugget. He then quickly put the nugget with the
others that was in the pouch in his pocket, and then fished around in the
water for more, but came up empty-handed. He saw that there was a
corner of the base that he had not searched yet and was going to stick
his hand in the water when he heard Lisa call out for him, "Major Edwards,
are you ok over there?"
Edwards answered back, "Yes, I'm fine, I'll be right
there."
Edwards turned around to leave the area when he
saw a small brook on the opposite side of the cave. He hesitated,
tempted for the moment to go and checkout the stream but he heard Lisa's
approaching footsteps and quickly went to meet her.
"There's a small waterfall over there, but I checked
it out thoroughly and I still can't find any sign of a way out yet," explained
Edwards.
"Well then, I guess the only thing we can do is
to keep on walking," said Lisa.
Edwards looked at the brook one more time, promising
himself that he'd return to check it out when he could.
* * * * * * *
"How is she Jean?" asked an anxious Rick.
Jean looked at Rick and sighed, "Well, she hit her
head harder than she thought. In fact, she also injured her neck
as well."
Rick's eyes went wide, "Will she be alright?
She didn't say anything about pain so I thought she wasn't hurt that badly."
"It seems she has a concussion as well as a sprained
neck, she'll be fine, but she'll be out of action for awhile," answered
Jean.
Rick thought for a moment, "Oh boy, I don't think
Stuart can handle the relocation project all by himself..."
Jean wore a small smile as she said, "Actually,
Claudia had mentioned something about asking you to fill in for her."
Rick's mouth dropped open, "Me?!"
Before Rick could start protesting, Jean patted
Rick on the shoulder and told him, "You talk to Claudia about it, but not
today, she needs her rest. Now, about Miriya. The Zentraedi
doctors at Breetai Memorial Hospital tell me that she has a shoulder wound
but that it should heal without any problems. Now the thing is, they
are recommending she not be micronized until the wound has started to heal,
they estimate she'll have to remain macronized for at least a week."
Rick's mouth dropped open again, "A week?!! Max
will have a fit!"
"Let's hope not. At least we can give him
the good news that the macronization process hasn't seemed to have had
any adverse effects. That's a very good sign we believe."
"But there still might be the possibility of some
side effects down the road right?" asked Rick.
"Well there could be, but we'll make sure to have
her visit the doctors regularly so we can monitor and catch any abnormalities."
Rick nodded his agreement and asked, "So has Max
been told yet?"
Jean said that he hadn't and waited to see if Rick
would catch on.
"So you want me to tell him?"
Jean smiled and nodded her head, "Yes, please."
Rick returned her smile, "Ok, I'll tell him for
you guys."
Jean flashed him an appreciative smile and said,
"Thanks Rick."
* * * * * * *
Miriya heard a knock on her door and called for the
person to come in. She looked to see who it was and saw that it was
Lady Hialeah, being pushed in her wheelchair by Togo.
When she was wheeled up right next to Miriya's bedside,
Hialeah said, "Miriya Parino. I thank you for saving my life.
And I want to thank the brave micronian who saved both our lives."
Miriya nodded but said nothing.
"That micronian must be insane!," continued Hialeah,
"I would think what she did today would be called a 'death wish' in micronian
terms, if I'm not mistaken. She would be an excellent officer if
she were a Zentraedi!"
Miriya cringed a bit at Hialeah's recommendation
and quickly spoke up, "I don't think she would consider macronizing, Lady
Hialeah."
Hialeah laughed, "No no, of course not. It's
such a shame too. But what can you do. Well now. Don't
think that your bravery will not go unrewarded. I have already talked
to the other council members and we have all agreed to allow your people
to relocate several miles north of us. We will help with the transportation.
However, we can only take 75% of the migrating population. The other
25% will have to relocate somewhere else, perhaps New Detroit?"
Miriya had to let everything sink in before replying.
It was pretty much a win-situation, but the idea of 25% of the New Macrossers
not being able to relocate to Monument would cause some problems.
Still, 75% was much better than nothing, so she thanked Hialeah.
"Your Excellency, we greatly appreciate your generosity."
Hialeah waved her off, "Nonsense, it was you and
the micronian who made this possible. Such display of bravery, especially
from the micronian, is very admirable. When everyone is recovered,
I shall throw a party to celebrate!"
They heard a knock at the door and Togo reappeared,
"My Lady, it is time you return to your room, you need your rest."
Hialeah looked at him for a moment then threw up
her hands, "Very well, take me back to my room."
Miriya breathed a sigh of relieft when Hialeah left
the room. She mulled over what she heard one more time and decided
that it was a good outcome, even if she and Claudia did end up injured
because of it. Now she needed to muster up her courage to face her
husband. She wondered how he would react when he found out what she
had done and that she was macronized.
* * * * * * *
"Hey Rick, where are we going?" asked a confused
Max. He and Rick were in a jeep nearing the parking lot of Breetai
Memorial Hospital.
"Don't worry Max, just wait and see when we get
there," replied Rick, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. Even
though he and Max were best friends, he had no idea how Max would react
to Miriya's new 'condition.'
They finally reached the designated lot for micronians
and walked through the micronian entrance, flashing their identification
cards for the security officer. Rick walked up to the checkin desk and
handed the attendant a piece of paper. The attendant read the name on the
paper and gave Rick a room number and visitor's pass and one for Max as
well. Then they followed the signs for the micronian route
around the hospital and made their way to the room number Rick was
given. When they got outside Miriya's door, Rick stood silent for
a moment, wondering what he should tell Max.
"Max, I guess you're probably wondering what we're
doing outside this room huh?"
Max gave him a confused look, "Yea well I was just
a little bit curious."
Rick took a deep breath and then began his explanation,
"Ok Max, this is Miriya's room."
Max's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open and
before Rick could react, Max rushed through the door and was gaped at the
site of his wife, fifty feet high, standing the middle of the room,
"Miriya!!" he yelled. She turned around and saw Max standing
on the micronian catwalk and walked towards him, shaking the catwalk with
each footstep.
Miriya looked at Rick and asked him, "Did you tell
him?" Rick shook his head.
Miriya looked at both Rick and Max for a moment
then said, "Rick, would you please wait outside while I speak to my husband?"
Rick didn't say a word and left the room in a hurry.
"Max, before you get upset, please listen to my
explanation." The look on Miriya's face seemed so pleading that Max
did not protest.
"Max, as you can see I am wounded, but it's just
a slight wound to the shoulder. The doctors say I will be fine. And
also, as you can see, I am my full height again. I chose to macronize
of my own accord. No one told me I had to, so please don't get mad
at Claudia or Rick or anyone. I went behind their backs and yours,
and macronized because I thought it was the only way to get some action
from
Lady Hialeah, and, it appears to have worked. I know you must
be angry at me for taking the risk but I was following what I thought was
right. Please try and understand why I did what I did." Miriya,
still untrained in micronian emotions, felt her eyes start to tear up and
tried to compose herself so that a sob would not escape her.
Miriya rarely cried, but when she did, it had a
gut-wrenching effect on Max every time. Sympathy replaced his brewing
anger and he let out a sigh before saying, "Miriya, please don't cry.
I'm not angry. I'm just a bit... well, I wish you would've told me
first."
Miriya wiped a tear from her left eye and asked
him, "But even if I told you, would you have allowed me to macronize?"
Max looked at her and let out another sigh, "Well...I
don't really know if I would've agreed with your plan or not, I can't really
say. I think we could've discussed it and made a decision together."
"But you were against the idea in the first place
though," replied Miriya.
Max looked at her and shook his head, "I know.
Well, listen Miriya, let's just agree on one thing. The next time
something like this comes up, we will talk to each other about it and try
and work out a compromise. I'm sorry that I was too inflexible that
you had to go behind my back. I promise I'll hear you out next time."
They shared a smile then Max asked, "So what happened
anyways?"
Miriya raised an eyebrow then said, "It's quite
an unbelievable story, I'll tell you about it. Oh...what about Rick, will
he be waiting out there the whole time?"
Max looked at her, "Maybe I should tell him not
to wait for me?"
Miriya nodded her agreement and Max went out of
the room to tell Rick he didn't have to wait for him. When Max came
back to the room he saw Miriya reach out her hand and then felt her pick
him up. She brought him to her eye level and started to laugh and
then tossed him on the chair and continued to laugh as she watched him
bounce and tumble before finally managing to sit up.
Max couldn't help but laugh himself as he said,
"You think that's very funny don't you?!" Miriya laughed again and poked
him in the stomach gently, but still managing to knock him down.
She let him sit up and waited for him to reply.
"Now I know where Dana gets her mischieviousness
from," shaking his head in amusement.
* * * * * * *
Vanessa, are you sure Kim will be ok? Should
we have consulted her doctor first?" asked Sammie.
Vanessa looked into her cup of coffee, thinking,
then said, "I guess we will just have to find out sooner or later.
But you know her, even if we didn't let her go, she would've gone anyways."
Sammie agreed, "Yea, you're right."
Sammie and Vanessa were sitting in the Officer's
lounge, drinking a much needed cup of coffee. Kim was now three hours
into her flight to Costa Rica and so far it was smooth sailing, so Sammie
had felt it safe enough to take a break and had managed to get a hold of
Vanessa so she could join her.
"I just can't believe Antell didn't give you any
trouble over this little mission," said Vanessa with a tinge of disbelief.
"I know!!!" said Sammie quickly, almost choking
on her coffee. "I couldn't believe it! She didn't say one word!
I wonder what she's up to."
As if on cue, Antell opened the door, coffee mug
in hand. "May I join you Captains?"
Sammie and Vanessa looked at each other before Sammie
said, "Sure Lieutenant, come over and take a seat."
Antell seated herself and waited for someone to
speak.
"So, Lieutenant Antell, I hear you are an expert
when it comes to music," said Vanessa nonchalantly.
Sammie opened her mouth and then shut it quickly
to keep from screaming. She gave Vanessa a quick, 'did you have to
get her started?' look but remained silent.
"Well I don't know if I would call myself an expert
but there are some aspects that I am quite familiar with. I am a
big fan of Minmei's, as well as Lynn Kyle," said Antell matter-of-factly.
Sammie rolled her eyes and then stomped on Vanessa's
foot. Vanessa jumped in her chair a bit and was glad that Antell
had not noticed.
"Yes, I thought that this first remix of Stagefright
was pretty good. It's sold over 200,000 already, I think."
As soon as Vanessa had finished her sentence, Sammie stomped on her foot
again.
Antell cleared her throat and put down her coffee.
"Well, actually, she's sold over 300,000 as of yesterday. And she
also has had several remixes of Stagefright before. Her first album had
a hidden track which was a shortened version of Stagefright and it was
a remix. Then the soundtrack for Little White Dragon also had a remix
of Stagefright. Then Macross Records put out a compilation of songs
that were popular during the time the civilians had spent on the SDF1 and
that included a new remix of Stagefright. The one that is currently
popular now will be the fourth remix of the song. And then that
doesn't include the bootleg remixes that they play in the clubs."
Vanessa stared at her blankly and Sammie was trying
her best not to laugh.
Antell continued on, "Now, I just recently heard
some rumors that they will be re-releasing the Stagefright maxi-single
and they will be adding two more new remixes. So as far as Minmei
remixes go, Stagefright would've been the most remixed song of hers.
Now if you compare that to what they did with My Time to Be a Star then-"
Sammie jumped up, "Oh look at the time! I
have to go now, you two enjoy the rest of your break! Bye!" and then
she scampered out the door.
Vanessa was staring at the door as Antell continued,
"Now, as I was saying..."
Vanessa sipped her coffee blankly and tuned out
whatever Antell was saying and thought to herself, 'Alright Sammie, now
I've learned to keep my mouth shut around this girl.'
* * * * * * *
"YOU LET HER DROWN! YOU COWARD!!"
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Kim as she flailed
her arms.
"Commander?! Are you alright?!!" exclaimed the pilot
seated in front of Kim.
Kim looked around her with a bewildered and wild
look. She found that she was sitting in the co-pilot seat of a VT.
"I'm fine, I just had a bad dream that's all," said
Kim absently.
"Are you sure Commander? If you need to, we
can stop off somewhere."
"I'm fine. We need to get to Admiral Hayes
as soon as possible. No stopping."
"Yes ma'am."
Kim exhaled loudly and sat back in her seat.
She hated being haunted by this dream. She hated being thought of as 'unstable'
or needing someone to 'keep an eye on her' or the idea that she was 'in
a fragile state of mind.' She had always been tough and she was proud
of that. Now she wondered if people thought of her as a basketcase
and it made her angry and determined to get rid of the stigma as soon as
possible.
* * * * * * *
Lisa and Edwards had been walking for the past two
hours, taking an occassional rest stop here and there. They were
now in a part of the cave that was once again very narrow and dark, but
this time they were wading knee-deep. In either direction there seemed
to be no sign of light anywhere.
"Maybe we should head back," suggested Edwards.
Lisa shook her head, "I think we should keep going,
maybe there's something at the end of this tunnel.
Edwards looked towards the end of the tunnel.
There didn't seem to be anything down in that direction except darkness.
He would rather go back and stay close to the area that had the gold nuggets,
but he couldn't tell the Admiral that and he didn't want her to think him
a cowards, so he shrugged and continued walking down the tunnel.
After several minutes more they started hearing
and feeling bubbling in the water they were wading in. They shone
their flashlights down into the water but couldn't see anything, then suddenly
they heard a loud rumbling, and a few seconds later they saw a large rush
of water heading in their direction. They
took off running as fast as they could but soon the wave caught up
with them and lifted them up and carried them down the tunnel.
They were swept several hundred feet before they
saw a small circle of light. As they continued being swept towards
it, they saw it was an opening of some sort. Both were trying desperately
to keep their heads above water, and of the two, Lisa was the stronger
swimmer.
They were now about to go through the opening and
waited to be deposited into whatever lay through the opening.
They felt themselves falling, even while the water
was still raging around them, it was falling with them. Lisa tried
to look at her surroundings but the water was too volumous that she couldn't
see anything.
They felt as if they had fallen five hundred feet
before they felt themselves splashdown into some type of pool, the rushing
water still cascading down on them.
Lisa remembered that this had felt similar to what
had happened to she and Rick when they were POW's on Breetai's ship.
She managed to break the surface after several strong
strokes. She looked around her and saw that the water was still rushing
into the pool from the opening above. She looked in all directions and
didn't see Edwards. She waited a about five seconds more then dove
back under the water to see if she could spot Edwards.
She saw him about 20 feet from her, making his way
to the surface, so she surfaced too.
The two managed to find a wade over to one side
of the large pool and pull themselves up onto the concrete deck.
Lisa took off her backpack which she had miraculously managed to keep with
her during her harrowing water ride. She then took off her jacket
since it was soaked and weighed her down.
"Major, after that wild ride we just had, I think
perhaps we should rest up for a few minutes before searching this room."
Edwards, extremely out of breath from his unexpected
scuba dive, concurred and lay on his back to catch his breath.
* * * * * * *
Kim jumped out of the VT and ran to the staging area
for the search party. The person in charge of the rescue team was
one Anatole Leonard, second in command of the small, but growing base in
New Detroit, informally dubbed 'The Army of the Southern Cross.'
There were about 20 people on hand and when Leonard
saw Kim and her pilot heading towards them, he waited for her to be seated
before speaking. "Welcome Commander. To get you caught up on what's
been going on so far. Several of our Phalanx and VT squads have managed
to push the Zentraedi out of the area. We feel it is secure for now
and will be proceeding full force with our rescue operations. You
came just in time, in a few minutes we are going to start searching at
the coordinates where Admiral Hayes and Major Edwards last reported from."
It was now 6pm, and though she had been feeling
some of the effects of jet lag, Kim was eager to get started with the search.
She gathered up everything she need and waited for someone to give her
the coordinates.
Finally, after another 10 minutes, an aide of Leonard's
came over and handed her a map with several coordinates highlighted in
yellow. She looked at the map carefully and then looked around her
to see if anyone was looking in her general direction. She saw that no
one was paying attention to her so she slowly started to move away from
the clearing and into the jungle. When she was sure that no one had
detected her departure, she took off running as fast as she could, "I'm
coming Lisa, I won't let you down Admiral. I'm not a coward!" she said
aloud as she crisscrossed through the brush and jumped over tree roots.
Lisa opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. At first she was disoriented but she quickly remembered where she was and sat up. Several feet away she saw T.R. Edwards, still asleep apparently. She had intended to rest her eyes but as she checked her watch she was surprised to find that she had been asleep for several hours. She got up and looked at Edwards. He seemed to still be alive, but sleeping soundly, so she decided to leave him where he was and start exploring the room on her own.
* * * * * * *
Rick, having been informed by one of Hialeah's aides
that they would now be helping with the relocation, found himself relieved
of duty for the rest of the day. At first he protested but Hialeah's
aide insisted that they could handle the evacuations, and after making
a quick call to General Stuart to confirm the new partnership, Rick headed
back towards his temporary home.
When Rick got home he expected Kim to be there and
was planning on asking her what everyone would like to eat that evening
so he could cook for them, but he found that there was no one at home.
He figured that Kim might've gone out for a walk so he went upstairs to
change his clothes and take a shower then went back downstairs to watch
TV.
Rick couldn't watch tv for very long because his
growling stomach kept interrupting him so he decided to call Kim on her
cellphone. when he got no answer he left a message and then decided
to call Vanessa.
"Hey Vanessa, it's Rick. Do you know where
Kim is?"
Vanessa remained silent, trying to think of something
to tell him.
"Vanessa?"
"Rick...Uh...she...Lisa requested that Kim go to
Costa Rica. She needed her help on something. I think it was nice
of Lisa to show her confidence in Kim so soon. I think that will really
boost Kim's spirits don't you think?" Vanessa tried not to let Rick
hear her sigh of relief when Rick agreed with her. She was proud
of herself for coming up with a good coverup and as soon as she was
off the phone she had to call Sammie to make sure they had consistant
excuses.
Rick asked Vanessa what they wanted for dinner and
she told him that Sammie would eat anything and that she herself wasn't
too picky but had been craving Italian for a few weeks. Rick hung
up the phone with a smile and decided to sit down and make a list of the
ingrediants he would need. He looked forward to showing off his culinary
skills, something that they didn't know about.
As he thought about it more, he realized
that he hadn't cooked for Lisa all those many evenings that she would come
over to his place to go over duty schedules or just chat. He put
down his pen and stared at the table. He felt a wave of guilt overtake
him again and he stood up to try and a walk off a sob that was welling
in his throat.
============
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the delay! It's been a busy week for me. :)
1. CLAUDIA LIVES!!! Of course, I could NEVER EVER kill off her character. I hope the Roy-Claudia conversation wasn't too cheesy or sappy. It's part of something that has always nagged me. The books mention Claudia going down with the SDF1 because she had nothing to live for and I thought that was really sad. Of course there can be no one who could ever replace Roy, but I also wouldn't like the fact that Claudia would be sad and alone for the rest of her life. She's too great a character and has too much spunk to just waste away. There'll be a development in her life very soon and I think it will be a good compromise for those who don't want to see Claudia with anyone but Roy and for those who don't want to see her be sad for the rest of her life.
2. If Lisa's and Edwards little excursion seems Tomb Raider-like, it is. I got the idea after watching my cousins play the Tomb Raider games on PS2. :) I know it's a rather unoriginal idea, but it is fun. :)
3. I'm working on a small website for the story that will have some character bios and charts. I will start to put my chapter notes there starting next time probably. Because sometimes my notes get too long and makes the word count rather inaccurate since the notes aren't techincally part of the story :) I will also have a questionaire, and the responses will help me decide where to go with the different characters :)
4. To Aikiweezie: Yes, Rick will find out that Lisa spent her Christmas in a bar, and also find out what happens when she's drunk. Stay tuned! :)
5. No, I haven't forgotten that everyone's suppose to be grieving over Gloval. That will be coming up soon. They are just all so busy right now that it hasn't hit them yet.
6. It looks like I will have to take this chapter to 3 parts. If i tried to finish the day in this part here, it would take me another week :)