Fusion 6
"Just what is it with meals that get me? I mean, every single time!" Rick remarked with mock-irritation.
True enough, it seemed that every time he and Lisa-Minmei shared one, some aspect of their past would always turn up and more often than not, it would be something that put him in an odd light. But Rick didn't actually mind much. Seeing Lisa-Minmei's amusement over him made all the embarrassment seem worthwhile. But Rick didn't ignore the fact that he remained safe from either woman's ire due to their being merged. It was the one sobering aspect that kept him from enjoying himself too much whenever they were together. He could only imagine what 'Lisa' would've said if she alone learned of the full extent of Rick's activities with Minmei during that fateful day when they were supposed to go for a picnic. Rick then chuckled slightly to himself as his thoughts grazed upon the possibilities if he chose to tell Bess about Lisa-Minmei's current predicament. He chose not to of course, as in all likelihood Bess would still berate him on the fact that he was getting away with double-timing the two women scot-free though such was not intentional on his part.
"And what seems to be so funny, Mr. Hunter? Care to let me in on it?" Lisa- Minmei asked as Bess left the table.
"Nothing, really; it's just that I know Bess wouldn't understand the whole thing even if I explained it to her," Rick replied, as he looked towards Bess as she entered the kitchen, his smile fading a bit.
"What would she NOT understand, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei pressed further.
"A lot. I mean, how would she take it if she learned that the woman I spent the whole day with and the woman I kept waiting at her café are now one and the same? She may have concluded that since you're wearing your uniform, you're Capt. Hayes. She's not aware of the fact that you're Minmei as well," Rick replied as his tone went a notch lower, indicating his uneasiness on the topic.
Lisa-Minmei on the other hand, saw Rick's discomfort and chose to change the topic of their conversation. She actually wanted to press on with it and ask Rick about what he actually felt now especially with her predicament. Rick beat her to the punch when he asked her another question.
"You like the food?" he asked.
"Yes, I do Rick. Like I said a while ago, the menu seems a little posh for a simple lunch," she replied.
"It's not special enough for someone who deserves more, in my opinion," Rick replied smugly.
Lisa-Minmei was touched even more by his reply. While she could tell that he was yet to sort his own feelings out, he WAS at least sure about one thing: that for him, she was very special. The rest of the meal passed by almost wordlessly with only a few remarks from either of them. Rick surprised her with his concern as he wiped an errant morsel from the corner of her mouth as she was praising Bess' culinary skills.
"When did he learn to be so thoughtful?" Lisa-Minmei asked herself, obviously touched deeply by Rick's act.
When they were done, Rick called for Bess in order to pay for his tab.
"Done already? Well I hope you people liked the food. I must admit it was rather special but then again, I was only following orders. I hope your fly- boy her was able to make up for his making you wait back then. You both take care now!" Bess chided as she said farewell while Rick and Lisa-Minmei stood up in order to leave.
"By the way Captain, kindly remind Commander Sterling about his tab. It's getting quite high," Bess added.
Rick groaned as he thought about Max while Lisa-Minmei chided him about it. They proceeded to the jeep and drove off.
Along the way, Rick noticed that the damaged shelters were yet to be repaired as most of the crew was focused on other pressing matters. He groaned inwardly as this meant that Lisa-Minmei would have to stay with him longer. It wasn't because he didn't like the idea at all; in fact he wanted to suggest it to Lisa when things quieted down after Khyron's attack. But that was just it: he wanted to be with "Lisa", not Minmei. Not that he didn't like Minmei anymore but as far as he was concerned, he had already made his choice. He could probably withstand the sight of a Minmei wordlessly reproaching him yet wanting him back if ever they met in the future but this woman beside him destroyed all his initial apprehensions and concerns, only to replace them with new ones.
"A penny for your thoughts, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei asked as she noticed him brooding somewhat. She swore Rick was quite surprised when she asked him but he was able to make a save nonetheless.
"Gee, is that all they're worth? I guess I'll have to charge you extra since I'm thinking of a lot," Rick jokingly replied as he did not want to discuss these things with her yet. Lisa-Minmei smiled at his reply and shifted her attention elsewhere.
They got home after a few minutes more of driving. Rick proceeded to drop down unceremoniously on the couch while Lisa-Minmei went to the kitchen in order to store the leftovers from their lunch. She heard the TV blare into life as Rick undoubtedly wanted to view the days' events. It was the usual fare of recapping the last salvage operations at Lake Gloval and morale- boosting propaganda of the RDF. She knew that Rick was usually against the whole idea ordinarily but seeing as the recent events were so taxing on everyone, he himself suggested it, albeit half-heartedly and with a few major alterations. Lisa-Minmei then heard herself singing, rather, a re- airing of her singing in the battle with Dolza and a few others of her songs that had a similar flavor as the RDF-network were banking on these and on her fame in order to prevent unrest from the general populace. She noted with a bit of sadness that even the humans now were suffering a similar fate as the disgruntled Zentrans were prior to Khyron's blitzkrieg.
Both she and Rick were rapt in their respective activities when they heard the phone ring. Rick was nearer so he got to answer it. Lisa-Minmei heard him mumble then the audible click as he put the phone down.
"Who was it, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei asked as she reappeared from the kitchen.
"It was Major Caulkin, reminding me of the meeting tomorrow," Rick replied as he switched off the TV, apparently having lost interest in whatever he was watching a few minutes ago. He stood up and went up to the bedroom in order to change.
"I guess they think I'll forget about it. Those guys just don't trust anyone. I'll change into something more comfortable. This uniform is getting really stuffy," Rick stated.
Lisa-Minmei looked on for a while as he disappeared from view then went back into the kitchen. It was still about two hours before dinnertime so she decided to take a nap as all she needed to do for dinner was reheat the leftovers since Rick hadn't been to the grocer's yet. Lisa-Minmei recalled that his cupboard was almost bare the last time she was working in the kitchen. It now struck her that major moments in their relationship revolved around meals; good or bad, it almost always happened during such times. They were actually getting ready for breakfast the day that Khyron staged his suicidal attack on the battle fortresses. And it was during a Christmas dinner the night before that she (Minmei) kissed Rick voluntarily. Lisa-Minmei just sighed to herself as she settled into the easy-chair. As Rick got down, he noticed that Lisa-Minmei had fallen asleep on the easy-chair. He retrieved a small blanket from the bedroom in order to cover her. He was about to do so when he stopped in order to look at Lisa-Minmei closely. Indeed, the features of both women had blended so well into one and even as Rick noted a facial feature that was Lisa's originally, he also noticed a feature here and there that was Minmei's. All in all, it was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. Rick still felt like he was cheating on both women albeit, in an odd way but he ignored this notion for now as he focused on taking care of Lisa-Minmei for now.
The phone rang and Rick picked it up immediately since he didn't want the incessant ringing to disturb Lisa-Minmei's nap.
"Hunter here, who's this please? Oh Max. How's things?" Rick asked.
"I don't know; you tell me. I mean, how in the world am I to deal with 2 more Miriyas here?!!" Max replied with a bit of agitation in his voice.
"Hey-hey, may I remind you that you ALSO accepted their staying with you while they're here on earth?" Rick replied.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just kidding Rick. Things are quite well over here as far as 'well' goes. Miriya's showing her sisters everything and those 2 can't seem to get enough of 'micronian-culture' as they put it," Max added.
"I bet. You wait until they find out about dresses, make-up and all that other stuff. Zentraedi or not, women love to be pampered and dolled-up. I can only imagine the havoc it'll wreak on your expenses," Rick added jokingly.
"Don't remind me Rick, anyway, I'm outta here. I'm due at the gym to give a self-defense lesson to the cadets. Call you later," said Max as he hung up the phone.
"I guess I'm not the only one with woman-problems here," Rick thought as he tried to picture Max with the 3 Zentraedi women on a shopping spree.
Rick recalled Cpl. Sanders mentioning that Max and Miriya were involved in training the incoming batch of cadets. At least now, they would be better trained with those 2 heading the program. Among the batch that Rick himself was part of, more than half were dead now owing to the fact that their training was more of a crash-course rather than a formal one. Rick's survival was mostly due to the fact that he was already an airshow ace prior to enlisting in the RDF. Max on the other hand was a genius so between the 2 of them, they could survive lower-level skirmishes despite overwhelming odds. Still, having 80% of the fighter complements dead was a very sobering fact which showed glaringly the dismal state of the RDF's training program. It wasn't only this aspect of the RDF that needed a shot in the arm, but the whole RDF. Earth's forces needed a leader that understood every aspect of battle and war and all its aspects yet still remain in touch with the forces. He was thinking of who to suggest but each and every candidate he thought of were dead while the remaining ones were unfit for it as far as he was concerned. Roy Fokker would've been a very good leader had he survived. These thoughts coursed through Rick's mind as he went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Little did he know that tomorrow's meeting with the top officials would throw him into even more unfamiliar waters.
Meanwhile, Lisa-Minmei was having a dream while she napped on the easy- chair. The Minmei part of her was reliving the Christmas dinner that she and Rick shared. In it, she had just finished all the meal-preparations when she heard the door open. She headed towards it, expecting Rick to walk in. But it was Lisa who walked in wearing ordinary clothes with an apron on top of it, a grave look on her face which was rather unsettling. With a wave of her hand, Lisa made everything disappear and Rick's apartment was once again bare, as it would've looked after Lisa tidied up everything. In fact, Rick's apartment appeared in both women's dreams the way they last saw it in real life. The difference lay in the fact that Minmei dreamt of it as she wanted it to be: hers and hers alone thus, the idyllic Christmas dinner scene as opposed to Lisa's Spartan-recollection. Both women were actually dreaming lucidly save for the fact that Minmei was more in denial of what and how things really were. Lisa's dream was more or less a representation of her perception given her military upbringing. So Minmei's poster was there in her version of Rick's apartment: right-side-up.
Minmei tried to reassert her idea while Lisa did the same. The whole apartment seemed to coalesce and shift at the same time and in the end, it was split in half, one of Minmei recollection while the other of Lisa's.
"He was already mine, you know," Lisa declared.
"You took him from me! He wanted to have a peaceful life with me but you had to come along and tell him how you felt! What gave you the right to do that?" Minmei retorted.
"I never made him choose! He did that of his own accord, Minmei! All I wanted to do was to tell him and leave. I thought he already made his choice by staying with you," Lisa replied.
Minmei could form a reply to that last sentence. By now, more and more of Lisa's memories were opened up to her and vice-versa so she knew how Lisa felt when she saw Rick and Minmei together on that Christmas Day. True, it seemed that Rick did choose her already but then again, this was most likely because he thought he wasn't given a choice in the matter anyway. For all he knew, Lisa was lost to him already. But when he was faced with the knowledge of Lisa's true feelings, he could not deny that he felt the same way for her and that his strong infatuation with Minmei had lost magnitude. Slowly, the apartment shifted into one uniform appearance: that of Lisa's making. Minmei could argue no longer and thus her own idea dissipated. Lisa was about to walk out of the apartment in their dream when she stopped before opening the door.
"I don't know about you but if in case we never get to rectify this situation, you and I should have a long discussion as to how we'll both live. By the way, dinnertime's getting near so I suggest we wake up unless you want me to do all the cooking," Lisa declared as she opened the door.
Minmei was about to reply when she saw that her poster remained intact on the wall that Rick posted it. "What does that mean?" Minmei thought. If this scene was all Lisa's idea then why was her poster still there and right side up this time? The real one was upside down when she saw it that day she came to Rick and since he had no idea how it got that way, she never knew as well until now. While she wasn't about to give up, Minmei knew that any further discussion about their situation would have to wait. A sneaky idea came to her as Lisa was about to exit the room.
"Well I know he prefers kissing me," Minmei declared.
Lisa stopped on her way out and stood still for a while.
"You think so? You might be disappointed, Minmei," Lisa replied.
"I know so," Minmei replied.
"Then let's find out," Lisa said as she went out the door while Minmei rushed to follow.
Back in the waking world, Rick was still looking at Lisa-Minmei closely as she slept. He was about to stand up when he saw her open her eyes. These locked onto his eyes as well and she smiled. What was surprising was that Rick saw only Lisa's eyes that time.
"And what have you been doing there all this time, Mr. Hunter? Ogling a woman in her sleep?" she teased.
Rick was about to reply when she suddenly put her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Rick's initial surprise was heightened when he felt something else as they deepened their kiss: it was as if he was kissing another woman again. Rick distinctly recalled how Minmei and Lisa's kisses felt and it was quite unnerving to feel them separately even as the 2 were merged. Little did he know that in Lisa-Minmei's mind, they were registering his reactions.
"See? I told you he prefers mine," Minmei declared.
"Uh-uh, it's too early to tell," Lisa replied.
Rick was still dumbfounded as Lisa-Minmei broke their kiss.
"How'd you like that Rick?" she asked.
Rick was even more awestruck as he saw Lisa-Minmei's eyes change again this time, into Minmei's eyes. He then realized that the 2 women were testing him so he came up with a clever reply.
"I don't know. I'll need to sample the wares again if I'm to form an opinion as to which is better," Rick replied.
Lisa-Minmei obliged but this time, both women kissed him at the same time. The whole thing was too much for Rick for this was the first time he kissed Lisa-Minmei as one and as they broke their kiss, Rick's pulse rate was racing and he was quite dazed. The whole thing wasn't lost on Lisa-Minmei and she had to smile at what she saw. She then stood up and stretched out.
"I guess I'd better get dinner ready. I hope you don't mind restaurant leftovers, Rick," Lisa-Minmei stated.
Rick could only smile and shake his head as he observed Lisa-Minmei go into the kitchen. He could never really figure either woman out initially and was about to focus his attention on just one and now this predicament left him in the dark even more.
As they ate, Lisa-Minmei decided to strike up a bit of conversation.
"I really wonder what that meeting tomorrow will be about. I hope they'll address some key issues," she began.
"I hope they do. I suspect that they'll be promoting a few people to key positions as well. Who knows? Maybe you and I will be among them," Rick replied.
"Me? I highly doubt that, Rick. Given my current situation, I believe Maistroff and the others are dancing in joy at the fact that my career is somewhat on temporary hold," Lisa-Minmei replied.
"I know. But if there's any officer that should be promoted right now, it should be you. I mean, no one is more deserving than you," Rick added.
"Thanks, Rick. I'm happy you feel that way," Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick just smiled at Lisa-Minmei's reply and continued with dinner. He helped put away the dishes after they finished and noted how she was used to managing the kitchen.
"Did you always do this while I was away, Captain?" Rick teased.
"As a matter of fact, I did, Rick. Your apartment was always a mess whenever I inspected it. A virtual sty!" Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick looked at her incredulously.
"Like a pig-sty? Really? I always make it a point to tidy things up the best I can everyday. How can you say it was like that?" Rick queried.
"You tell me, Rick. Dishes and food scattered all around, pillows on the floor, blankets tangled on the bed, it's like a tornado hit your place," Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick stared at her blankly for a few seconds, and then his expression changed ever so slowly as realization dawned on him. He let out a few hearty laughs as all was made clear to him.
"Sterling," Rick declared.
"Max? What has he got to do with it?" Lisa-Minmei asked.
Rick explained that his quarters were nearer to headquarters so he allowed Max to use his place whenever his mission hours were too close together. Little did he know that when he said Max could crash into the place anytime, he literally did just that. Lisa-Minmei could hardly contain her laughter at Rick's revelation. She then chided him after that for rendering all her efforts useless.
"No wonder you never showed any appreciation for my efforts. And all the while I thought you were being an ingrate or was being insensitive. Who'd have thought that you let Max use your place? No wonder it always looked lived-in whenever I came by," Lisa-Minmei stated, with a mix of relief, realization and mirth.
"Yep. I suspect he also brought Miriya here every once in a while especially since our missions got varied after he was promoted too. I know now that the bridge-bunnies weren't kidding when I overheard them talking about how you often took care of this place when I was away. Thanks a lot, Lis-er---Min., well, thanks a lot," said Rick who faltered a bit since he was thanking Lisa specifically.
Lisa-Minmei just smiled at him though a bit weakly since 'Minmei' couldn't actually share in their joy immediately. This was an experience which Rick shared with Lisa and Lisa alone. The most she did for him was during that Christmas dinner they had and even then, this experience was too short- lived in comparison to what Lisa shared with Rick. Minmei also recalled the time when she and Rick were trapped in the holds of the SDF-1 but even then, it was Rick who eventually cooked the head of tuna.
After everything was tidied up, Lisa-Minmei went upstairs in order to shower and eventually turn in for the night. Rick watched a bit more TV but soon went up as well after he heard Lisa-Minmei exiting from the bathroom, signifying that she was done.
A quick shower and Rick was done as well. He saw that Lisa-Minmei was in the bed already as he started his night-time limbering.
"You always do that before bed, Rick?" she asked as she observed him going through the motions of what looked like a blend of tai-chi, slow calisthenics and a few martial-arts moves.
"Yes. It helps me a lot especially after a long day or a grueling mission. Big-brother taught me how," Rick replied.
"I see," she replied.
"It helps a lot especially since it stretches me out and helps me work out my kinks and exhaustion. I don't shift much in bed when I fall asleep so I often woke up sore when I did so in the wrong way," Rick elaborated further.
"I guess I would've benefited from those exercises had I known how to do them. You can only imagine how much stress you gave me during those missions, not to mention the sass," Lisa-Minmei remarked.
Rick had to stop his routine at Lisa-Minmei's last remark. He looked at her long and hard until she buckled and started laughing really hard at him. She did so for the next few minutes until her laughter simmered down to a few giggles.
"Oh I'm sorry, Rick. But I had to do that just to see the look on your face. I swear, that was one of the fastest shifts in facial expression I've ever seen," Lisa-Minmei stated.
Rick couldn't bring himself to be upset though, since he knew all too well how true her statement was as far as he was concerned. Though his judgement more often than not, proved to be the sounder, the fact remained that he was quite insubordinate in doing so. He recalled overhearing Roy and Claudia discuss him and how he was frustrating Lisa with his lack of decorum during his first few missions as a wingman. There were of course, many more incidents that followed but the most vivid for him were two distinct instances where Lisa gave more or less the same order but for drastically different reasons. The first was when he saved her at Mars Base Sara and the other was when he saved her at the Grand Cannon Installation in Alaska. In both events, he went directly against her orders but got different reactions from her: at Mars, she was angry at him but in Alaska she was elated.
"I'm sorry CAPTAIN, I wasn't aware that you felt that way but I guess I deserve it," Rick mockingly replied.
"But I promise I'll do my best to make sure that there won't be any future incidents like those. God knows how much you've been through and I wouldn't want to add to that," Rick added but with more honesty than his last statement.
Lisa-Minmei was touched by last statement and her giggling died down.
"Thanks, Rick. I really appreciate that," she replied.
Rick gave her a small smile then proceeded to finish his exercises. He was about to get his pillows and the extra blanket when Lisa-Minmei held his arm and gave him a slightly pleading look, signifying that she still wasn't ready to sleep alone as she was scared of her nightmares. They settled into the bed and Rick reached over to turn off the lights, giving one last statement as he did so.
"Anyway, it's not like I'll be outranking you anytime soon. But if that happens, then YOU get to frustrate me with being insubordinate and sassy, eh?" Rick stated as Lisa-Minmei elbowed him. Little did he know that the following day would throw him for another loop.
Rick left early that day and headed for headquarters for the meeting. Lisa- Minmei opted to stay behind as she knew that her presence would be redundant and decided to oversee the ongoing restorations. Rick dropped her off at Mayor Tommy Luan's house a few minutes ago. Upon arriving, he handed the jeep over to a junior officer so that he could proceed straight to the ready room. He was greeted by the sight and sounds over Col. Maistroff and his staff arguing with Breetai and Exedore. Rick wondered how Breetai could be inside unless he was micronized but upon opening the door, saw that Breetai joined the meeting through video-conference.
"Ah, Captain Hunter. I'm glad you made it. Come in. We were just wrapping things up," Breetai declared even as Rick saw that Col. Maistroff's face was quite red.
"Captain Hunter reporting as ordered, sir! If I may ask, what decision has the board reached?" Rick asked as he settled into his seat.
"As you well know, most of the senior officials from both the RDF and Zentraedi fleet were killed in action or missing. Though searches are still being conducted, it seems highly unlikely that any survivors will be found especially with the RDF whose officials were mostly in Alaska's Grand Cannon Installation. While Col. Maistroff, Major Edwards and Cmdr. Leonard are more than qualified and able officers, their time is also taken up with various duties and as such, are stretching themselves too thinly. An officer needs to fill up the space in the chain of command," Exedore explained.
"The division most in need of a head-officer is that of the expeditionary fighting forces, which was Admiral Gloval's position then. We have studied the various candidates for this position and we've come up with one name that suits the description best. We could not get an officer who stayed on earth even if he had the rank as he wouldn't be aware of the whole situation in space neither could we get a Zentraedi who also would've been qualified since he wouldn't be aware of earth-politics and there's still resistance in accepting them with some factions here," Exedore added. He then shifted and motioned for Rick to direct his attention to Breetai's image on the screen.
"We have decided that best candidate for this is you, Captain Hunter. You will take Admiral Gloval's vacant position as head of the newly formed Robotech Expeditionary Forces. Your counterpart in the RDF is Col. Maistroff who effective today, is promoted to the same rank as Rear Admiral. I extend to both of you my congratulations," Breetai finished.
Rick was still quite dazed as various members of the staff went over to him and congratulated him as well. Last night's conversation with Lisa-Minmei was still fresh in his mind and he didn't know how to break the news to her. He was cut from his catatonic-state by Exedore who went to him after the others were done.
"Congratulations, Captain Hunter. I believe, this is one of the fastest promotions to be ever given if I am to base it on your planet's military history. But I know you're more than up to the task for it," Exedore declared as he motioned for his aide to hand over Rick's additional bars and stripes.
Rick was about to sit down when he locked gazes with Maistroff gave him congratulating look as well but he knew that this was just a façade for underneath that look was a huge feeling of irritation as being only of the same rank meant that they would be at loggerheads over issues more often than not.
There wasn't much to do after the discussions over the newly formed REF were done. As it stood, Rick had a free hand in choosing his future staff and he knew he needed help in the matter. So the new rear admiral headed home to the very person who could help him make heads or tails of the whole issue: Lisa-Minmei.
"Just what is it with meals that get me? I mean, every single time!" Rick remarked with mock-irritation.
True enough, it seemed that every time he and Lisa-Minmei shared one, some aspect of their past would always turn up and more often than not, it would be something that put him in an odd light. But Rick didn't actually mind much. Seeing Lisa-Minmei's amusement over him made all the embarrassment seem worthwhile. But Rick didn't ignore the fact that he remained safe from either woman's ire due to their being merged. It was the one sobering aspect that kept him from enjoying himself too much whenever they were together. He could only imagine what 'Lisa' would've said if she alone learned of the full extent of Rick's activities with Minmei during that fateful day when they were supposed to go for a picnic. Rick then chuckled slightly to himself as his thoughts grazed upon the possibilities if he chose to tell Bess about Lisa-Minmei's current predicament. He chose not to of course, as in all likelihood Bess would still berate him on the fact that he was getting away with double-timing the two women scot-free though such was not intentional on his part.
"And what seems to be so funny, Mr. Hunter? Care to let me in on it?" Lisa- Minmei asked as Bess left the table.
"Nothing, really; it's just that I know Bess wouldn't understand the whole thing even if I explained it to her," Rick replied, as he looked towards Bess as she entered the kitchen, his smile fading a bit.
"What would she NOT understand, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei pressed further.
"A lot. I mean, how would she take it if she learned that the woman I spent the whole day with and the woman I kept waiting at her café are now one and the same? She may have concluded that since you're wearing your uniform, you're Capt. Hayes. She's not aware of the fact that you're Minmei as well," Rick replied as his tone went a notch lower, indicating his uneasiness on the topic.
Lisa-Minmei on the other hand, saw Rick's discomfort and chose to change the topic of their conversation. She actually wanted to press on with it and ask Rick about what he actually felt now especially with her predicament. Rick beat her to the punch when he asked her another question.
"You like the food?" he asked.
"Yes, I do Rick. Like I said a while ago, the menu seems a little posh for a simple lunch," she replied.
"It's not special enough for someone who deserves more, in my opinion," Rick replied smugly.
Lisa-Minmei was touched even more by his reply. While she could tell that he was yet to sort his own feelings out, he WAS at least sure about one thing: that for him, she was very special. The rest of the meal passed by almost wordlessly with only a few remarks from either of them. Rick surprised her with his concern as he wiped an errant morsel from the corner of her mouth as she was praising Bess' culinary skills.
"When did he learn to be so thoughtful?" Lisa-Minmei asked herself, obviously touched deeply by Rick's act.
When they were done, Rick called for Bess in order to pay for his tab.
"Done already? Well I hope you people liked the food. I must admit it was rather special but then again, I was only following orders. I hope your fly- boy her was able to make up for his making you wait back then. You both take care now!" Bess chided as she said farewell while Rick and Lisa-Minmei stood up in order to leave.
"By the way Captain, kindly remind Commander Sterling about his tab. It's getting quite high," Bess added.
Rick groaned as he thought about Max while Lisa-Minmei chided him about it. They proceeded to the jeep and drove off.
Along the way, Rick noticed that the damaged shelters were yet to be repaired as most of the crew was focused on other pressing matters. He groaned inwardly as this meant that Lisa-Minmei would have to stay with him longer. It wasn't because he didn't like the idea at all; in fact he wanted to suggest it to Lisa when things quieted down after Khyron's attack. But that was just it: he wanted to be with "Lisa", not Minmei. Not that he didn't like Minmei anymore but as far as he was concerned, he had already made his choice. He could probably withstand the sight of a Minmei wordlessly reproaching him yet wanting him back if ever they met in the future but this woman beside him destroyed all his initial apprehensions and concerns, only to replace them with new ones.
"A penny for your thoughts, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei asked as she noticed him brooding somewhat. She swore Rick was quite surprised when she asked him but he was able to make a save nonetheless.
"Gee, is that all they're worth? I guess I'll have to charge you extra since I'm thinking of a lot," Rick jokingly replied as he did not want to discuss these things with her yet. Lisa-Minmei smiled at his reply and shifted her attention elsewhere.
They got home after a few minutes more of driving. Rick proceeded to drop down unceremoniously on the couch while Lisa-Minmei went to the kitchen in order to store the leftovers from their lunch. She heard the TV blare into life as Rick undoubtedly wanted to view the days' events. It was the usual fare of recapping the last salvage operations at Lake Gloval and morale- boosting propaganda of the RDF. She knew that Rick was usually against the whole idea ordinarily but seeing as the recent events were so taxing on everyone, he himself suggested it, albeit half-heartedly and with a few major alterations. Lisa-Minmei then heard herself singing, rather, a re- airing of her singing in the battle with Dolza and a few others of her songs that had a similar flavor as the RDF-network were banking on these and on her fame in order to prevent unrest from the general populace. She noted with a bit of sadness that even the humans now were suffering a similar fate as the disgruntled Zentrans were prior to Khyron's blitzkrieg.
Both she and Rick were rapt in their respective activities when they heard the phone ring. Rick was nearer so he got to answer it. Lisa-Minmei heard him mumble then the audible click as he put the phone down.
"Who was it, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei asked as she reappeared from the kitchen.
"It was Major Caulkin, reminding me of the meeting tomorrow," Rick replied as he switched off the TV, apparently having lost interest in whatever he was watching a few minutes ago. He stood up and went up to the bedroom in order to change.
"I guess they think I'll forget about it. Those guys just don't trust anyone. I'll change into something more comfortable. This uniform is getting really stuffy," Rick stated.
Lisa-Minmei looked on for a while as he disappeared from view then went back into the kitchen. It was still about two hours before dinnertime so she decided to take a nap as all she needed to do for dinner was reheat the leftovers since Rick hadn't been to the grocer's yet. Lisa-Minmei recalled that his cupboard was almost bare the last time she was working in the kitchen. It now struck her that major moments in their relationship revolved around meals; good or bad, it almost always happened during such times. They were actually getting ready for breakfast the day that Khyron staged his suicidal attack on the battle fortresses. And it was during a Christmas dinner the night before that she (Minmei) kissed Rick voluntarily. Lisa-Minmei just sighed to herself as she settled into the easy-chair. As Rick got down, he noticed that Lisa-Minmei had fallen asleep on the easy-chair. He retrieved a small blanket from the bedroom in order to cover her. He was about to do so when he stopped in order to look at Lisa-Minmei closely. Indeed, the features of both women had blended so well into one and even as Rick noted a facial feature that was Lisa's originally, he also noticed a feature here and there that was Minmei's. All in all, it was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. Rick still felt like he was cheating on both women albeit, in an odd way but he ignored this notion for now as he focused on taking care of Lisa-Minmei for now.
The phone rang and Rick picked it up immediately since he didn't want the incessant ringing to disturb Lisa-Minmei's nap.
"Hunter here, who's this please? Oh Max. How's things?" Rick asked.
"I don't know; you tell me. I mean, how in the world am I to deal with 2 more Miriyas here?!!" Max replied with a bit of agitation in his voice.
"Hey-hey, may I remind you that you ALSO accepted their staying with you while they're here on earth?" Rick replied.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just kidding Rick. Things are quite well over here as far as 'well' goes. Miriya's showing her sisters everything and those 2 can't seem to get enough of 'micronian-culture' as they put it," Max added.
"I bet. You wait until they find out about dresses, make-up and all that other stuff. Zentraedi or not, women love to be pampered and dolled-up. I can only imagine the havoc it'll wreak on your expenses," Rick added jokingly.
"Don't remind me Rick, anyway, I'm outta here. I'm due at the gym to give a self-defense lesson to the cadets. Call you later," said Max as he hung up the phone.
"I guess I'm not the only one with woman-problems here," Rick thought as he tried to picture Max with the 3 Zentraedi women on a shopping spree.
Rick recalled Cpl. Sanders mentioning that Max and Miriya were involved in training the incoming batch of cadets. At least now, they would be better trained with those 2 heading the program. Among the batch that Rick himself was part of, more than half were dead now owing to the fact that their training was more of a crash-course rather than a formal one. Rick's survival was mostly due to the fact that he was already an airshow ace prior to enlisting in the RDF. Max on the other hand was a genius so between the 2 of them, they could survive lower-level skirmishes despite overwhelming odds. Still, having 80% of the fighter complements dead was a very sobering fact which showed glaringly the dismal state of the RDF's training program. It wasn't only this aspect of the RDF that needed a shot in the arm, but the whole RDF. Earth's forces needed a leader that understood every aspect of battle and war and all its aspects yet still remain in touch with the forces. He was thinking of who to suggest but each and every candidate he thought of were dead while the remaining ones were unfit for it as far as he was concerned. Roy Fokker would've been a very good leader had he survived. These thoughts coursed through Rick's mind as he went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Little did he know that tomorrow's meeting with the top officials would throw him into even more unfamiliar waters.
Meanwhile, Lisa-Minmei was having a dream while she napped on the easy- chair. The Minmei part of her was reliving the Christmas dinner that she and Rick shared. In it, she had just finished all the meal-preparations when she heard the door open. She headed towards it, expecting Rick to walk in. But it was Lisa who walked in wearing ordinary clothes with an apron on top of it, a grave look on her face which was rather unsettling. With a wave of her hand, Lisa made everything disappear and Rick's apartment was once again bare, as it would've looked after Lisa tidied up everything. In fact, Rick's apartment appeared in both women's dreams the way they last saw it in real life. The difference lay in the fact that Minmei dreamt of it as she wanted it to be: hers and hers alone thus, the idyllic Christmas dinner scene as opposed to Lisa's Spartan-recollection. Both women were actually dreaming lucidly save for the fact that Minmei was more in denial of what and how things really were. Lisa's dream was more or less a representation of her perception given her military upbringing. So Minmei's poster was there in her version of Rick's apartment: right-side-up.
Minmei tried to reassert her idea while Lisa did the same. The whole apartment seemed to coalesce and shift at the same time and in the end, it was split in half, one of Minmei recollection while the other of Lisa's.
"He was already mine, you know," Lisa declared.
"You took him from me! He wanted to have a peaceful life with me but you had to come along and tell him how you felt! What gave you the right to do that?" Minmei retorted.
"I never made him choose! He did that of his own accord, Minmei! All I wanted to do was to tell him and leave. I thought he already made his choice by staying with you," Lisa replied.
Minmei could form a reply to that last sentence. By now, more and more of Lisa's memories were opened up to her and vice-versa so she knew how Lisa felt when she saw Rick and Minmei together on that Christmas Day. True, it seemed that Rick did choose her already but then again, this was most likely because he thought he wasn't given a choice in the matter anyway. For all he knew, Lisa was lost to him already. But when he was faced with the knowledge of Lisa's true feelings, he could not deny that he felt the same way for her and that his strong infatuation with Minmei had lost magnitude. Slowly, the apartment shifted into one uniform appearance: that of Lisa's making. Minmei could argue no longer and thus her own idea dissipated. Lisa was about to walk out of the apartment in their dream when she stopped before opening the door.
"I don't know about you but if in case we never get to rectify this situation, you and I should have a long discussion as to how we'll both live. By the way, dinnertime's getting near so I suggest we wake up unless you want me to do all the cooking," Lisa declared as she opened the door.
Minmei was about to reply when she saw that her poster remained intact on the wall that Rick posted it. "What does that mean?" Minmei thought. If this scene was all Lisa's idea then why was her poster still there and right side up this time? The real one was upside down when she saw it that day she came to Rick and since he had no idea how it got that way, she never knew as well until now. While she wasn't about to give up, Minmei knew that any further discussion about their situation would have to wait. A sneaky idea came to her as Lisa was about to exit the room.
"Well I know he prefers kissing me," Minmei declared.
Lisa stopped on her way out and stood still for a while.
"You think so? You might be disappointed, Minmei," Lisa replied.
"I know so," Minmei replied.
"Then let's find out," Lisa said as she went out the door while Minmei rushed to follow.
Back in the waking world, Rick was still looking at Lisa-Minmei closely as she slept. He was about to stand up when he saw her open her eyes. These locked onto his eyes as well and she smiled. What was surprising was that Rick saw only Lisa's eyes that time.
"And what have you been doing there all this time, Mr. Hunter? Ogling a woman in her sleep?" she teased.
Rick was about to reply when she suddenly put her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Rick's initial surprise was heightened when he felt something else as they deepened their kiss: it was as if he was kissing another woman again. Rick distinctly recalled how Minmei and Lisa's kisses felt and it was quite unnerving to feel them separately even as the 2 were merged. Little did he know that in Lisa-Minmei's mind, they were registering his reactions.
"See? I told you he prefers mine," Minmei declared.
"Uh-uh, it's too early to tell," Lisa replied.
Rick was still dumbfounded as Lisa-Minmei broke their kiss.
"How'd you like that Rick?" she asked.
Rick was even more awestruck as he saw Lisa-Minmei's eyes change again this time, into Minmei's eyes. He then realized that the 2 women were testing him so he came up with a clever reply.
"I don't know. I'll need to sample the wares again if I'm to form an opinion as to which is better," Rick replied.
Lisa-Minmei obliged but this time, both women kissed him at the same time. The whole thing was too much for Rick for this was the first time he kissed Lisa-Minmei as one and as they broke their kiss, Rick's pulse rate was racing and he was quite dazed. The whole thing wasn't lost on Lisa-Minmei and she had to smile at what she saw. She then stood up and stretched out.
"I guess I'd better get dinner ready. I hope you don't mind restaurant leftovers, Rick," Lisa-Minmei stated.
Rick could only smile and shake his head as he observed Lisa-Minmei go into the kitchen. He could never really figure either woman out initially and was about to focus his attention on just one and now this predicament left him in the dark even more.
As they ate, Lisa-Minmei decided to strike up a bit of conversation.
"I really wonder what that meeting tomorrow will be about. I hope they'll address some key issues," she began.
"I hope they do. I suspect that they'll be promoting a few people to key positions as well. Who knows? Maybe you and I will be among them," Rick replied.
"Me? I highly doubt that, Rick. Given my current situation, I believe Maistroff and the others are dancing in joy at the fact that my career is somewhat on temporary hold," Lisa-Minmei replied.
"I know. But if there's any officer that should be promoted right now, it should be you. I mean, no one is more deserving than you," Rick added.
"Thanks, Rick. I'm happy you feel that way," Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick just smiled at Lisa-Minmei's reply and continued with dinner. He helped put away the dishes after they finished and noted how she was used to managing the kitchen.
"Did you always do this while I was away, Captain?" Rick teased.
"As a matter of fact, I did, Rick. Your apartment was always a mess whenever I inspected it. A virtual sty!" Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick looked at her incredulously.
"Like a pig-sty? Really? I always make it a point to tidy things up the best I can everyday. How can you say it was like that?" Rick queried.
"You tell me, Rick. Dishes and food scattered all around, pillows on the floor, blankets tangled on the bed, it's like a tornado hit your place," Lisa-Minmei replied.
Rick stared at her blankly for a few seconds, and then his expression changed ever so slowly as realization dawned on him. He let out a few hearty laughs as all was made clear to him.
"Sterling," Rick declared.
"Max? What has he got to do with it?" Lisa-Minmei asked.
Rick explained that his quarters were nearer to headquarters so he allowed Max to use his place whenever his mission hours were too close together. Little did he know that when he said Max could crash into the place anytime, he literally did just that. Lisa-Minmei could hardly contain her laughter at Rick's revelation. She then chided him after that for rendering all her efforts useless.
"No wonder you never showed any appreciation for my efforts. And all the while I thought you were being an ingrate or was being insensitive. Who'd have thought that you let Max use your place? No wonder it always looked lived-in whenever I came by," Lisa-Minmei stated, with a mix of relief, realization and mirth.
"Yep. I suspect he also brought Miriya here every once in a while especially since our missions got varied after he was promoted too. I know now that the bridge-bunnies weren't kidding when I overheard them talking about how you often took care of this place when I was away. Thanks a lot, Lis-er---Min., well, thanks a lot," said Rick who faltered a bit since he was thanking Lisa specifically.
Lisa-Minmei just smiled at him though a bit weakly since 'Minmei' couldn't actually share in their joy immediately. This was an experience which Rick shared with Lisa and Lisa alone. The most she did for him was during that Christmas dinner they had and even then, this experience was too short- lived in comparison to what Lisa shared with Rick. Minmei also recalled the time when she and Rick were trapped in the holds of the SDF-1 but even then, it was Rick who eventually cooked the head of tuna.
After everything was tidied up, Lisa-Minmei went upstairs in order to shower and eventually turn in for the night. Rick watched a bit more TV but soon went up as well after he heard Lisa-Minmei exiting from the bathroom, signifying that she was done.
A quick shower and Rick was done as well. He saw that Lisa-Minmei was in the bed already as he started his night-time limbering.
"You always do that before bed, Rick?" she asked as she observed him going through the motions of what looked like a blend of tai-chi, slow calisthenics and a few martial-arts moves.
"Yes. It helps me a lot especially after a long day or a grueling mission. Big-brother taught me how," Rick replied.
"I see," she replied.
"It helps a lot especially since it stretches me out and helps me work out my kinks and exhaustion. I don't shift much in bed when I fall asleep so I often woke up sore when I did so in the wrong way," Rick elaborated further.
"I guess I would've benefited from those exercises had I known how to do them. You can only imagine how much stress you gave me during those missions, not to mention the sass," Lisa-Minmei remarked.
Rick had to stop his routine at Lisa-Minmei's last remark. He looked at her long and hard until she buckled and started laughing really hard at him. She did so for the next few minutes until her laughter simmered down to a few giggles.
"Oh I'm sorry, Rick. But I had to do that just to see the look on your face. I swear, that was one of the fastest shifts in facial expression I've ever seen," Lisa-Minmei stated.
Rick couldn't bring himself to be upset though, since he knew all too well how true her statement was as far as he was concerned. Though his judgement more often than not, proved to be the sounder, the fact remained that he was quite insubordinate in doing so. He recalled overhearing Roy and Claudia discuss him and how he was frustrating Lisa with his lack of decorum during his first few missions as a wingman. There were of course, many more incidents that followed but the most vivid for him were two distinct instances where Lisa gave more or less the same order but for drastically different reasons. The first was when he saved her at Mars Base Sara and the other was when he saved her at the Grand Cannon Installation in Alaska. In both events, he went directly against her orders but got different reactions from her: at Mars, she was angry at him but in Alaska she was elated.
"I'm sorry CAPTAIN, I wasn't aware that you felt that way but I guess I deserve it," Rick mockingly replied.
"But I promise I'll do my best to make sure that there won't be any future incidents like those. God knows how much you've been through and I wouldn't want to add to that," Rick added but with more honesty than his last statement.
Lisa-Minmei was touched by last statement and her giggling died down.
"Thanks, Rick. I really appreciate that," she replied.
Rick gave her a small smile then proceeded to finish his exercises. He was about to get his pillows and the extra blanket when Lisa-Minmei held his arm and gave him a slightly pleading look, signifying that she still wasn't ready to sleep alone as she was scared of her nightmares. They settled into the bed and Rick reached over to turn off the lights, giving one last statement as he did so.
"Anyway, it's not like I'll be outranking you anytime soon. But if that happens, then YOU get to frustrate me with being insubordinate and sassy, eh?" Rick stated as Lisa-Minmei elbowed him. Little did he know that the following day would throw him for another loop.
Rick left early that day and headed for headquarters for the meeting. Lisa- Minmei opted to stay behind as she knew that her presence would be redundant and decided to oversee the ongoing restorations. Rick dropped her off at Mayor Tommy Luan's house a few minutes ago. Upon arriving, he handed the jeep over to a junior officer so that he could proceed straight to the ready room. He was greeted by the sight and sounds over Col. Maistroff and his staff arguing with Breetai and Exedore. Rick wondered how Breetai could be inside unless he was micronized but upon opening the door, saw that Breetai joined the meeting through video-conference.
"Ah, Captain Hunter. I'm glad you made it. Come in. We were just wrapping things up," Breetai declared even as Rick saw that Col. Maistroff's face was quite red.
"Captain Hunter reporting as ordered, sir! If I may ask, what decision has the board reached?" Rick asked as he settled into his seat.
"As you well know, most of the senior officials from both the RDF and Zentraedi fleet were killed in action or missing. Though searches are still being conducted, it seems highly unlikely that any survivors will be found especially with the RDF whose officials were mostly in Alaska's Grand Cannon Installation. While Col. Maistroff, Major Edwards and Cmdr. Leonard are more than qualified and able officers, their time is also taken up with various duties and as such, are stretching themselves too thinly. An officer needs to fill up the space in the chain of command," Exedore explained.
"The division most in need of a head-officer is that of the expeditionary fighting forces, which was Admiral Gloval's position then. We have studied the various candidates for this position and we've come up with one name that suits the description best. We could not get an officer who stayed on earth even if he had the rank as he wouldn't be aware of the whole situation in space neither could we get a Zentraedi who also would've been qualified since he wouldn't be aware of earth-politics and there's still resistance in accepting them with some factions here," Exedore added. He then shifted and motioned for Rick to direct his attention to Breetai's image on the screen.
"We have decided that best candidate for this is you, Captain Hunter. You will take Admiral Gloval's vacant position as head of the newly formed Robotech Expeditionary Forces. Your counterpart in the RDF is Col. Maistroff who effective today, is promoted to the same rank as Rear Admiral. I extend to both of you my congratulations," Breetai finished.
Rick was still quite dazed as various members of the staff went over to him and congratulated him as well. Last night's conversation with Lisa-Minmei was still fresh in his mind and he didn't know how to break the news to her. He was cut from his catatonic-state by Exedore who went to him after the others were done.
"Congratulations, Captain Hunter. I believe, this is one of the fastest promotions to be ever given if I am to base it on your planet's military history. But I know you're more than up to the task for it," Exedore declared as he motioned for his aide to hand over Rick's additional bars and stripes.
Rick was about to sit down when he locked gazes with Maistroff gave him congratulating look as well but he knew that this was just a façade for underneath that look was a huge feeling of irritation as being only of the same rank meant that they would be at loggerheads over issues more often than not.
There wasn't much to do after the discussions over the newly formed REF were done. As it stood, Rick had a free hand in choosing his future staff and he knew he needed help in the matter. So the new rear admiral headed home to the very person who could help him make heads or tails of the whole issue: Lisa-Minmei.