The city had published a telephone directory. I looked for any reference to Lin Minmei or Rick Hunter, but they were unlisted. There was a listing for the Lin family. I dialed the number.
"Hello?" asked a male voice.
I introduced myself. "I'm a reporter for the Associated Press," I said. "I'm looking for a Lin Minmei."
"I'm her uncle," said the man on the line. "What do you want?"
"I want to ask her a few questions about what she's been through."
"I'll let you talk to her."
oooooooo
Minutes later, I was at this building with this strange-looking door. It looked familiar, and then I remembered that I ate here the eve of the launch. Apparently the restaurant survived intact. I guess they would not be open for business though; it is awfully difficult to make Chinese cuisine with the ration bars the SDF-1 Macross crew was providing to us.
I went inside the restaurant and saw the empty tables and the scrolls with Chinese writing on it. This middle aged man came to greet me.
"Lin Max," he said, extending his hand. I shook it. "Minmei's uncle. She's in her room. I'll take you upstairs."
Max led me up a stairway and into a hallway. It looked like the hallway of a typical two-story house. I noticed the seams which indicated the building was torn apart and then reassembled inside the belly of SDF-1.
"Minmei," said Max, knocking on the door. "There's someone here to see you."
Minmei- a girl with black hair- came out. "What do you want?" she asked.
I introduced myself. "I'm a reporter with the Associated Press," I said. "I'd like to ask you a few questions about your recent recovery."
"Like what?"
"How did you get trapped under the ship?"
"It's a long story." Max and I followed Minmei into the bedroom. "Well, it all started when I saw this huge orange robot outside my window. Then the pilot came out and that was when I first met Rick."
"You mean the boy you were with?"
"Yeah. Anyway, he didn't know how to use it. He even damaged my room when he fell over. You can see the damage."
I looked at the ceiling and I noticed a seam. "Go on," I said, taking notes.
"Then this plane flew in and it turned into a robot. It was painted white and it had this skull painted on it. Anyway, the guy in that robot taught Rick how to fly those things. Then these other robots came. One of them almost stepped on me. Then Rick came in his airplane, and he took me for a ride. I even fell out once. The plane was damaged, so that other plane picked us up and flew us into this ship."
"How did you get stuck below the main deck?"
"Rick flew me in his own plane back to the island. Then there was this light and then we were in outer space. Rick flew us into a hole in the ship. We kept looking around, but no one was there. We spent two weeks down there, and if it weren;t for that accident, we would have starved to death."
I could understand how this young lady felt. After all, just a few days ago I was wondering how everyone on board the ship will be fed.
"Who's that?' asked a male voice that did not belong to Minmei's uncle. I looked and saw a boy with black hair.
I introduced myself and we shook hands.
"I'm Rick Hunter," said the boy. "I guess you're here to talk about me being trapped below the deck with her."
"Yes," I said.
"I flew in to the island to pay a visit to my friend Roy Fokker. He's a commander in the Army."
"The Spacy," I corrected him.
"Whatever. Anyway, I paid him a visit, one thing led to another and I found myself in this ship."
"You said you flew in. You were not from Macross City."
"That's right."
"Neither am I. I'm from New York; I flew in to cover the launch of the SDF-1. There's a lot of us here who weren't living in Macross City when it was taken to outer space. your friend Minmei told me you flew one of those fighters."
"I did. They're called veritechs. How was it like in the shelter?"
"I never went into the shelter. Like Minmei here, a pilot in one of those veritechs picked me up and brought me to the ship. Of course, she was military, and we didn't end up trapped below decks."
"I see."
"Anything else you want to say?"
"Not really. I'm just here to catch the ride back to Earth."
"Rick's not the talkative sort," said Minmei.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Hunter."
"Uh, okay," replied Rick Hunter. I walked a few steps to the stairs leading outside. "you know, maybe you should write your own experiences into a story."
"Why not?" I asked. I then left the restaurant.
oooooooooooo
The next day, I was passing out a newsletter. The cover article was my own personal experience as to how I got on board SDF-1. After I finished writing my article, I was inudnated by requests from people around the street. Some of them even offered their rations for my newsletter. I went to City Hall and printed out more and more newsletters.
Then someone wanted tio talk to me. I turned and saw a Spacy policeman.
"I'm out of copies," I said. "I can go to City Hall; they are letting me use their equipment."
"We have some copies of your newsletter," said the policeman. "Come with me."
oooooooooo
I was escorted out of the city and throuhg the SDF-1 corrdiors. I was taken into an office. It was a small office, with a desk and file cabinets and a personal computer. Behind the desk sat a woman with dark curly hair. The nameplate on the desk read LT. C. LASALLE (1)
"I'm Lieutenant LaSalle," she said. "I'm the provost marshal for this Robotech ship."
"Nice to meet you," I said. "Do you want an interview, madam?"
"No, I do not want an interview. Listen up, I read your story."
"It's all true, believe it or not. although a whole city living inside a huge alien spaceship is hard to believe."
"You mentioned a giant alien," said LaSalle, holding a copy of my newsletter close to her face.
"Yes, I saw its ship crash in front of my hotel. I then saw the fighter tha transformed into a suit of armor. That is where I met Jenna Murphy. She can cooroborate my story; I'm sure she can talk to you."
"The giant aliens are supposed to be secret," said the lieutenant. "No one except the top brass is supposed to know."
"Well, the aliens didn't keep themselves a secret."
"Listen up. You had better watch what you write. Otherwise, you won't be writing any newspapers at all."
"I see," I said.
"I'll have someone escort you back to Macross City," said Lieutenant LaSalle. "There's a chinese restaurant that's open. Why not write your next article on a review or something?"
So that was what I did.
ooooooooooo
On Lieutenant LaSalle's advice, I went to the Chinese restaurant. It was the same Chinese restaurant where that girl Lin Minmei lived. I decided to have a meal. After all, while the ration bars kept me alive, I was craving something else.
"Welcome to the first Chinese restaurant in space," said Lin Minmei as I approached the door.
I went inside and it was busy, unlike yesterday. The room was packed with people, both civilians and military. It looked like I would have to wait a while for a seat.
"Hey there," said Jenna Murphy, beckoning me to her.
"How are you doing, Jenna?" I asked.
"I decided to have lunch here instead of at the officer's mess. Sit with us."
So I sat with her and the other pilots around a circular table. They had already ordered Chinese food. I decided to have some chow fun. She introduced me to her wingmates.
"This is Lieutenants Hart, Taney, Ichijo, Reese, and Landry," she said. Hart and Taney were women; Ichijo, Reese, and Landry were men.
"I take it you're all Marines," I said.
"Our squadron was assigned to be the Marine air detachment to SDF-1," said Lieutenant Hart. "This was supposed to be a six-month tour of duty."
"I guess they misunderestimated the tour by half," said Ichijo (2). "Where are you from?"
"New York," I said.
"I'm from Hiroshima," said Lieutenant Ichijo. I just joined last year. These veritechs are amazing."
"So Jenna," I said, "What is it like?"
"Well, we get shifts from Colonel Beckett," she said. "We do stuff from directing maintenace to drilling in simulators to drilling in live exercises. Soemtimes we go out in patrol of the space around the vessel."
"How many in your squadron?" I asked.
"There's thirty of us," said Lieutenant Taney.
"So how long have you been a reporter?" asked Jenna.
"Two years," I said. "I've traveled the country and the world. I've been spending a lot of time out of New York. I guess my time here will be the longest deployment."
"When we get to communications range with Earth, you can talk to your family back home."
"you know," said Lieutenant Reese. "We attached an aircraft carrier to the ship."
"An aircraft carrier?' I asked.
"Yeah, the Prometheus was taken to space along with the island. Too bad everyone on board died when they lost atmosphere. We now luanch our fighters from its flight deck."
After a few minutes of eating, all of the Marine pilots got up.
"We have to go back to our post," said Jenna. "It was nice talking to you."
"I'll see you again," I said.
I left the restaurant and walked back to my apartment. I then heard an announcement over the public address system.
"There will be an important announcement for the citizens of Macross City," said the voice. "Lieutenant Commander Ward will brief you in the city plaza."
So that was where I went.
ooooooooo
The city plaza was a concrete plaza right across the street from City Hall. There was araised platform in the middle for speakers.
Lieutenant Commander Ward walked onto the stage, accompanied by Mayor Tommy Luan and some city officials and military people.
"Lieutenant Commander Ward has a very important message for us from Captain Gloval," said the mayor.
"Thank you, your Honor," said Commander Ward. "Citizens of Macross City; Captain Gloval has developed a new tactic. Because of the space fold that took us to Pluto, the main gun will not fire in the ship's current configuration. Because of this, we devloped a way for the ship to transform."
I took notes. "And this affects us how?" I said.
"The transformation will cause changes in the interior structure of the ship. We can not predict exactly how this will affect Macross City. Therre may be some damage. The SDF-1 Engineering Department worked with the Public Works Department to find sheltered areas where you can go in case we have to resort to modular transformation. We will distribute a brochure containing emergency routine details. We request your cooperation. We are in a warship, and the enemy that attacked us may try for round two."
"Who is the enemy?"
"We don't know yet."
"How long until we get back to Earth?"
"About twelve months."
A Spacy private handed out hundreds of copies of bulletins, and I picked one up. I wondered what was going on on Earth. Did the Global Civil War resume? And where were those giants from? Were they aliens or did some anti-UN faction create them? I would not get answers from anyone in the military, not even Jenna.
I looked at the bulletin. I saw that the nearest shelter to my apartment was the building it was in. I hoped that the Spacy was right about this.
I went home. By now my New York apartment would be rented out. I hope my family got all of my stuff and put it in storage. I sat in my apartment, which now had some old furniture recovered from the island. I wondered if years from now, someone will make an expedition to the island which is floating in space near Pluto.
Then the air raid siren blared. This must be a drill, I thought.
"I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" yelled a female voice.
So the enemy has spaceships. As far as I knew, none of the anti-UN factions had spaceships.
These were aliens.
After a few minutes, I heard another announcement.
"WE ARE BEGINNING A MODULAR TRANSFORMATION. ALL CIVILIANS TO DESIGNATED SHELTERS!"
My apartment building was a designated shelter. I just hope it would be an effective shelter for whatever happened. I looked out the window and I saw police cars driving down the streets. Police officers were giving orders to the citizens, giuiding them to the designated shelters.
And then I saw the bulkheads move about. The ship is transforming. Parts of the city shifted up and down, and some of the builkdings were demolished.
And then it was over. "MODULAR TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!" the voice said. I saw mabulances and fire trucks driving along the streets of the shattered city. I guess we have to rebuild again.
oooooooooo
I went to a press conference on the steps of City Hall. Much of the city was damaged due to the modular transformation. The mayor and his people were there on the steps, along with some military officers.
"Thanks to the crew of the SDF-1, we are safe," said Mayor Luan. "But our city was damaged in the process. The Public Works Department is working with SDF-1 Engineering to rebuild the city. And it will be rebuilt so it can survive the modular transformation with minimal damage."
oooooooo
I decided to volunteer for the clean up of Macross City. I got to meet some new people; I took notes of their various stories of how they came to be on board SDF-1. After a few hours of cleaning the rubble off the streets, the city looked cleaner already.
I went back to my apartment and I saw Jenna standing in front of the door.
"I just came to visit," she said. "I'm glad you're all right."
"I'm glad you're all right too," Isaid. "Did you have to fly out there?"
"Yes. It was a cruiser and some enemy fighters, but Knight Squadron was able to keep them at bay until Captain Gloval fired the big gun and blasted the enemy cruiser."
"So what does the ship look like from the outside?"
"It looks like a battloid," said Jenna. "At least your apartment's in one piece."
"It was the designated shelter for the transformation," I said.
"At least you'll have something to write about."
"What did the enemy cruiser look like?"
"It was green and shaped like a cigar. Listen, if the enemy attacks again, try watching from the observation deck. You'll have a better view."
"I'll keep that in mind. Do you have to go back to duty?"
"Not now," she said. "After I debriefed, we were relieved until tomorrow."
I opened the door and then dialed the number for the Chinese restaurant.
"Hello?" asked a female voice.
"Is your restaurant still open?"
"Why yes, it is."
I hung up the phone and then looked at Jenna. "How would you like dinner tonight at the restaurant. Just you and me."
"We just had a battle and now you want a date?"
"Why not? For someone like you, I think it'll be worth it. It's not like I have a girlfriend waiting for me in New York." I then wondered if Jenna has a boyfriend. He could be someone right here in Macross City.
"Okay then," said Jenna. "It's a date."
I took Jenna's hand and we left for the Chinese restaurant. "It just occured to me," said jenna. "This is the first time I went out on a date in outer space."
ooooooooooo
Author's Note: (1) (2) these names were taken from the original series.