Chapter 15
Lisa looked down at the small video monitor before her. "Rick," she said, "you're exhausted. I thought they were giving you a vacation!"
Rick's image looked back at her from the screen. His face was smeared with oil, and his hair was messier than usual. "Well...yeah, I know," he replied. "But the air show's coming up, and I want everything to be perfect. Can't make any mistakes, you know?"
"I guess," sighed Lisa. "But... isn't there anything I can do?"
He smiled. "You'd probably be great down here. But I've got the mechanics helping me. You should keep your mind off work for a while, I think."
Lisa shook her head. She sighed with aggrivation.
"What?" asked Rick. "What's wrong?"
"Rick... how long is this going to take? I mean, really... you haven't called in weeks."
He nodded with downcast eyes. "Yeah, I know... I'm really sorry, but I just can't -- " The sound of crashing metal cut him off and he quickly turned away. "Hey! Watch it, we can't replace that!"
"Rick, what in the world are you doing over there?" she asked.
"I... well, I can't tell you. Not yet. But soon, I promise."
She waved her hand at the screen, her face red with frustration. "Nevermind. Just... forget it, don't even bother. I've finally got some time to relax, and all I wanted was to spend a litte of it with you. But it's quite apparent you've got other plans."
"Lisa, I'm sorry! I..."
"Don't apologize," she stopped him. "Just... do what you want."
Lisa threw herself to her feet, and fought to keep her composure. She grabbed the video monitor to fold it shut.
"Lisa! Wait!"
She flipped the screen back up. "What?!" she cried hoarsely.
Rick hesitated. He blinked and struggled, but finally took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Will you come to the airport tonight? I'll explain it all."
"Wh...what? What do you mean...right now?"
"Yeah... it's not that late, is it?"
"It's past midnight," said Lisa.
"Oh," Rick sighed. "All...alright, I'll let you go."
"Wait a minute!" she called in surprise. "I don't care what time it is. I'm going to see this amazing secret of yours."
Rick sighed. "Great! I'll send someone to pick you up. I really am sorry, Lisa... I hope you can understand."
"I hope you've prepared your case," she said with a wry touch to her voice, and closed the monitor.
The airstrip was lit with rolling military spotlights. The blinding lights passed over Lisa's taxi cab many times as it drove along the giant airplane hangars. A tense stillness hung in the air, but she knew it was a deceptive one. Armed soldiers slipped through the darkness, and RDF tanks and destroids were waiting in the shadows between the each complex. She felt as if she and her taxi were on some urban frontline, waiting to be the next casualties in a deadly skirmish.
The car slowed down, and soldiers appeared from the shadows to direct it on. A brilliant flash made Lisa gasp; a humvee was driving alongside her cab, and shining a spotlight into her window.
She was let out in the alleyway between two hangars. Two RDF soldiers walked at her sides, brightening up the pitch darkness with flashlights on their assault rifles. The night wind rattled the hollow sheet-metal structures around her.
The soldiers ushered her into a small doorway, and locked it from the outside. Rick was waiting for her in the office space within, covered with oil stains on his mechanic's jumpsuit. He tried a smile, and a sheepish wave that meant every bit of an apology to her.
Lisa could not help but return a little smile. But she folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. "All right, Rick Hunter," she said. "Now I'm here. Are you going to show me what's been keeping you away for the last few weeks?"
Rick nodded with some confidence. "Yes, yes I am!" He reached out his hand for her. "I was hoping I could finish it first, but I owe it to you. It's... sort of... a surprise for you."
She blinked her eyes in surprise. "...For me?" She slowly took his hand.
"Uh-huh," he replied nervously, and walked her to the far corner of the office. "Now, like I said, it's not exactly how I planned this. But... I haven't been fair to you... and this is something I need to do."
Lisa shook her head as Rick pulled her along. "This was for me?"
They stopped before a closed metal door. Rick inhaled a long breath, and he took both of Lisa's hands in his.
"Do you remember," he asked in earnest, "when I found you at the base in Alaska?"
Lisa swallowed, but her throat was growing dry. "Yes," she said. "Of course I do."
He searched her eyes carefully, and held her hands tighter. "It was a nightmare for me... for both of us. But I wanted you to know something... do you remember what it was?"
She grew nervous from his tense stare. "Yes... I do... you told me that I'd never be alone."
Rick smiled. "Well, I guess this is my way of saying... I remember too."
He swung open the door. The hangar was lit up with borrowed military spotlights, all converging on the middle of the room. A shining Guardian Veritech stood silently, bent forward, as if ready to strike. Its white-painted body was perfectly reconditioned. The glass on its canopy was polished to a shine. An outline of wide adhesive tape was present behind the glass, where a stripe of fresh yellow paint was drying. A majestic pair of wings spread from above the fuselage. The sturdy legs on which the Guardian stood were missing their painted sheet metal, exposing the Veritech's giant engines and hydraulics.
Lisa gasped deeply. She stepped back against the door frame. "Oh, Rick!" she whispered. "You... you built a Skull One! I don't believe it! Is this for the air show?"
Rick smiled, and he shook his head. His eyes were afire with excitement. "Lisa," he said. "That's it!"
She brought her hand against her lips. "Oh my gosh..." she breathed. "Rick... it can't be! It just can't!"
He let go of her hands. "I wanted you to see it at the show," he dropped his eyes meekly. "It's not much to look at now...but...I don't know, I guess it was kind of special to me. I thought you might feel the same way."
Lisa's eyes were filled with shining reflections of the craft. Her mind flashed back to better days, when Rick sat in that very cockpit. She watched him from the SDF-1, surrounded by her co-workers and close friends, nervous that something terrible would happen to the heroic pilot. And nervous that they might catch her in a fleeting daydream, distracted from her important duties by the smiling face on her video screen.
She drew a shaking breath. "It's beautiful," she said.
Lynn Kyle watched the night sky, from the top of a tall New Macross building. His eyes focused on a single star, the brightest one.
"Perhaps if things were different," he said to the star. "If the world wasn't so cold. If we didn't have to fight so hard to get what we deserve. Then perhaps we would have been together."
The distant sun grew brilliant. Its light spread out to the surrounding stars. And then it dimmed away, and disappeared from the sky.
Kyle stared silently at the empty void in the heavens.
Jameson Sever approached from behind; Kyle heard him coming. "It took you long enough," he said, with his eyes still on the dark night.
Sever met him at the edge of the roof. His RDF slacks and shirt were scratched and bloodied. A handgun was tucked into his belt. "I killed my guards," he said.
"I free you from prison," said Kyle coldly, "and the first thing you do is kill your parole officers?"
"You didn't leave me much of a choice," replied Sever. "That's what happens when you post bond for a convicted RDF felon."
Kyle shook his head. "Breaking you out would've been terrible for my public image. There's always the chance I'd get pinned on it."
"So you've got eighty billion dollars to spare, just in case?"
"All you need is a computer and a little time," said Kyle.
Sever looked down at the New Macross skyline. The wasteland of planet Earth was just beyond it, struggling to fight off its damnation.
"So," he said, "I suppose I've got a deal to keep my word on."
"We begin tomorrow," Kyle nodded. "It's imperative that we have the VF-1X immediately."
"Fine," said Sever. "Let's get it over with. But seriously, Lynn, don't you consider yourself a little hypocritical?"
For the first time, Kyle lowered his gaze from the sky. His cold eyes turned to Sever. "I beg your pardon."
"Well, come on. You tell the public that the Freedom Cross is anti-militant. A peace organization. And now you're killing RDF soldiers, freeing criminals, and planning to steal weapons of war." Sever grinned. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I'm acting in the defense of the Cross," said Kyle. "A Zentraedi warlord is threatening to attack us. I need the VF-1 for protection."
Sever laughed. "So you're finally getting it, aren't you? Well, congratulations! Looks like you've discovered the true secret of Malcontent life! Your stupid organization is just like the military after all, isn't it?" He pointed a finger in Kyle's face. "You're all just trying to survive. That's what it boils down to, Kyle. There's no good guys or bad guys out here... it's survival of the fittest!"
Kyle grabbed Sever by the wrist and twisted his arm. Sever flipped backward and landed roughly on the hard concrete. Kyle stepped over him, and placed his boot on the admiral's neck.
"Don't preach to me," he sneered. "This goes deeper than you know."
He lowered his arm at Sever's head. Kyle had stolen the pistol away. But he threw the gun aside, and let go of Sever's neck. "Besides," he said as he walked away. "I'm fitter than you."