Rick sat nervously in the back of his taxi cab. He'd spent more time than usual getting dressed, and finally decided that he didn't own anything remotely nice-looking. It had been ages since he'd been out socially. But a Veritech pilot rarely had the opportunity, especially one as over-worked as Rick was.
He'd finally decided on some casual clothes, though extremely nice by Rick Hunter standards. Max and Ben would notice for sure. And Rick wasn't in the mood to get ribbed by Ben Dixon all night about a blind date. He decided not to bring it up unless he needed to.
He was trying to think of viable excuses to leave the guys and meet his date. And he didn't seem to be getting anywhere, when his cellular phone interrupted him.
It was Max on the other end. "Hey Rick," he said. "Um...we've got a little problem."
"Yeah, I know I'm a little late," replied Rick. "I'm on the way now...can you wait up for me?"
"No...it's not you, it's us." Max stopped to yell something away from his phone. "I hate to say this...but Ben's car broke down."
"What! I told him to take a cab!"
"He insisted on driving. We're on the side of the freeway right now. Ben says he can fix it, but I called for a tow truck anyway. I don't think we're gonna make it to the movie."
Rick sighed and looked out the cab's window. The Macross Multiplex was just down the street. It had three floors of giant screens and stadium seating, unlike any other movie theater in Macross City. Tonight, most of the screens would be showing Space Battle, and it looked like Rick was about to watch it alone.
"Hurry up, Lisa! I bet the previews are starting already!"
Claudia waved to Lisa from down the hall, in the arms of her boyfriend, ace pilot Roy Fokker. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, we'll make it in time."
Lisa hung back, looking nervously around the multiplex's corridor. She passed the doorways leading to theaters, and heard the screams and explosions from within. They were powerful enough to shake the floor.
She cracked a weak smile at Claudia. "I'm coming," she said. "I just...um...I'm just a little bit..."
"Look, there it is! We're not too late!"
Near the end of the hall, two theater doors hadn't yet opened. They were right across from one another, and each one was labeled Space Battle. Long lines of people waited outside for the ushers to let them in.
As Claudia pointed the way, one of the theaters opened up. The crowd rushed inside to get the best seats. "Oh, good," grinned Roy, "looks like we didn't miss anything. I love that big shoot-out at the beginning..."
Lisa stopped in her place. "Oh! You know what...I completely forgot to buy some popcorn!"
Claudia thought for a moment. "Hmm...shoot, so did I."
"Can't have a movie without popcorn!" shrugged Lisa. "I'll be right back, I'll just go up to the concession stand."
She turned around, somewhat relieved, and headed back up the hallway. But Roy's voice called out and her heart sank again.
"Hey! Hold on, Miss Hayes, I'll go back and get some."
Lisa froze. "Um...no, really...I don't mind at all."
Roy caught up to her. "Don't worry about it. I've seen this movie a million times! Go grab some seats with Claudia and I'll meet you in there."
"But...I..."
She sighed inwardly and nodded at Roy. "Thank you," she smiled, and continued down the shaking hallway to her theater.
The lines had been ridiculous all night. Rick had pre-ordered his ticket, but apparently, so had everyone else seeing the movie. There was a line out the door just to get the tickets checked. The line to buy a ticket was non-existent; every showing of Space Battle was sold out.
Now he waited in another line, the one to enter the theater. Its doors were still closed, and the people in line were getting restless. They looked at their watches and complained about the late start. The theater across from them had started, and they could all hear the music beginning inside.
Rick could care less. He sighed despondently and looked over his shoulder, wondering if he'd see Ben and Max come through the entrance. Things didn't look good.
Something plastic bumped against his head. "Hey," he sighed, turning around.
Two young men behind him were dressed as characters from the film, Imperial Strike Troopers. They were covered in white plastic armor. Shiny, skull-shaped helmets were fitted tightly on their heads.
One of the trooper tapped the black bubble-eyes of his helmet. "Sorry!" he said. "I can't see a thing in here."
"We won't be able to see the movie!" said his friend.
"Why didn't you say so before?"
"I did say so before!"
Rick laughed. "Don't worry about it." He thought, at least somebody's going to have a good time.
He felt another bump against his head, but this one was more forceful. At first he thought it was just the Strike Trooper. But when he felt it again, he got a little aggravated. Once again, he turned around.
"Hey, come on now --"
A stiff, plastic human hand was directly in his face.
"Gyahh!"
Rick stumbled back, almost tripping over a garbage can. He quickly looked up and scanned over the line, looking for the perpetrator, and found him right away.
It was a tall, pale and very thin man, probably a few years older than Rick. His beady eyes were magnified even larger behind a pair of thick glasses. He wore his frizzy blonde hair in a ponytail, and a patchy beard covered his chin.
But most unsettling of all was his clothing, another costume from the film. He was wearing a dull brown robe tied at the waist with a metal utility belt. The heroes of Space Battle, the Knights of the Republic, wore the same robes.
"Schhtand down!" said the man, with a nasal voice and a lisp that Rick already hated.
He stepped back up to the line. "Um...hi there."
The man pushed his hand in Rick's face again. It was a prosthetic limb.
"I said scchhhtand down, citizen! I muschht be allowed to take your placcce!"
Rick blinked stoically. "Yeah...see, I was kind of...standing here."
"I under-schhtand, young man, but this ischh a matter of galactic sccchhecurity!"
The people in line turned and giggled. But Rick wasn't in the mood for something like this.
"Listen," he began. "I got here, like, an hour ago. I've been standing in this line for twenty minutes. Just let me keep my place."
The man lifted his prosthetic hand in the air. "You schee this? I was wounded in the Hyperschhpace War! My presence commands a great deal of reschhhpect! Do you know who you're talking to?
Rick rubbed his chin. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say...Luke Starkiller."
"You're abschhholutely right!" the man spat in Rick's face. "Now relinquish your schhhpot, or I'll have to use my powerschh!"
An usher grabbed him by the shoulders. "Hey! Line jumping warrants removal from this theater!"
"Wait...no, wait! You can't do thisschh to me! I'm a Knight of the Republic! I deschherve my place here! I demand that you schhhtop!"
The young Luke Starkiller was dragged down the alley by his robe. He growled vehemently at Rick, and pointed with his good hand.
"You'll pay for thischh! I scchhhwear, you'll pay dearly for what you've done!"
The line of people laughed and applauded. They patted Rick on the back and congratulated him on defeating the "Knight."
"Whoa...what a nutcase!" said a Strike Trooper, bumping into the woman next to him.
But Rick didn't feel any accomplished. As the usher disappeared down the hall with the line jumper in hand, Rick remembered that he was still alone. And now, he felt worse than ever.
Laser-fire shot down a space ship's corridor. Rebel soldiers were hidden behind supply crates and doorways, engaged in a fierce crossfire. Strike Troopers poured in from a blown-out airlock, blasting everything in sight. They overtook the rebels and killed them all.
As the last Rebel soldier fell, the music grew bold and ominous. The smoke of laser burns began to clear. And from the darkness of the airlock, a shadowy giant of a man stepped into the ship's hallway. His steady, robotic breathing filled the air as he faded into view, a mechanical being draped in a long black cape. His angular black helmet turned from side to side as he surveyed the dead rebels around him.
Lisa shuddered away from the screen. She couldn't stand it anymore. The sounds were horribly loud and they came from every direction. Even when she closed her eyes, the gunfire and explosions shocked her.
Her hands were shaking and her throat was dry. She rubbed her face and tried to breathe deeply, but deep inside, she was bracing for the next shocking image on the screen.
"Cla...Claudia?" she whispered, squinting through tightly-closed eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm just not feeling well..."
Claudia and Roy were cuddling romantically, their arms around one another as they watched the movie. Her head rested gently on Roy's shoulders. The flashes of light from the movie shone on their faces.
Lisa looked down at the empty seat beside her. She sat back in her own place, as deeply into the cushions as possible, and wished it was two hours in the future.
"Lord Invader! We've searched the ship, and there's no sign of the missing droids!"
The dark, mechanical beast, Dark Invader, stood imposingly in the ship's control room. One of the Rebel officers was in his grasp; he held the man in the air by his throat.
"Where are the droids?" Invader growled.
Rick watched from his seat in the theater. He yawned and sat back, trying to get comfortable. I don't know, he thought. I'm just a navigation officer.
The Rebel choked and coughed. "I don't know...I'm just...a navigation officer!"
Invader's helmet looked the rebel coldly in the eyes. "You are not cooperating! Where are the droids!"
Please, thought Rick, I don't know.
The officer struggled to breathe. "Please! I don't...know!"
Dark Invader tightened his grip on the man, choking him to death. He dropped the still body onto the floor, and turned without remorse to address his Strike Troopers. At one time it was a shocking scene. But Rick had seen it a thousand times before.
And he'd always seen it alone. He could probably recite the entire movie line for line, but he'd always been forced to see it by himself.
He looked down at the empty seats beside him and sighed. I can't do this anymore. I might as well just give it up.
It wasn't easy getting out, but he managed to make it to the aisles without bumping into everybody. A group of young girls pointed at him as he passed, and quietly laughed to one another.
The door slid shut as he stepped out of the theater. He could still hear the sound effects coming from inside, and the audience's gasps of excitement.
I'm done with that, he thought, with an aching heart. No use sitting around in there, wishing it were any different. Might as well suck it up and go home...
But as Rick stepped into the hall, he saw the theater across from him. Space Battle was scrolling on the marquee sign above the door.
My date! he groaned. She's in there with Roy, waiting to meet me! I can't just leave when a beautiful girl wants to meet me...that sure doesn't happen every day.
He'd made up his mind, though. There was no going back to the movie. After some deep thinking, and lots of awkward standing-around in the hallway, he decided to find something to eat and come back.
As he left his Space Battle movie behind, patting his pockets to find his wallet, he noticed a familiar sight. It was a beautiful girl with dark brown hair, and he was almost sure he recognized her from somewhere. But how could he know her? He spent his days at the RDF base, and his social life was limited to late-night drinks with Max and Ben.
Still, he was almost sure he'd at least seen her before. He stopped and tried to get a glimpse of her face, but he couldn't. She was curled up against the wall, slumped forward, with her face covered by her hands. Her blouse and skirt were wrinkled from sitting on the floor. Rick could hear her breathing from where he stood; it seemed short. And it almost looked as though she were shaking.
Naturally, his brain worked double-time, trying to find an acceptable excuse to approach her. I was just concerned, he finally decided. That sounds fine. After all, I am concerned! She's alone, she doesn't look happy and I'm concerned. She just happens to be absolutely gorgeous, that's all!
Rick choked away his nervousness and knelt down beside her. "Um...excuse me..." he managed. "Are...are you all right?"
She gasped and quickly lifted her head. Rick was absolutely shocked; it was Commander Lisa Hayes. But even now, he still barely recognized her. She was swollen and red from shedding tears. Strands of hair fell on her wet face, and stuck there. Her deep green eyes grew wide when she saw Rick, and then she quickly covered her face again.
"...Go away," she whispered from a dry mouth. "Just...go away."
Rick nodded and eased back. But something kept him from leaving her.
"Uh...listen," he said quietly. "You're probably not in the mood for this...but I need to apologize for last night. I've kinda been over-worked lately...and I guess I've been a little short-tempered. I'm really sorry."
Lisa sat with he face covered by her hands, and barely moved.
"Well...that's it, then," Rick smiled uncomfortably. "I'll leave you alone."
A movie-style explosion roared from down the hallway. Lisa cried out and scrambled up the wall, trying to get on her feet. She lost her balance and stumbled forward. But Rick was still on his knees, and he caught her, however roughly. Her fall made him clap hard against the floor.
He felt a headache coming on as he gathered her into his arms. "Hey, come on..." he breathed. "Hey, it's all right..."
She shuddered with panic-stricken eyes, panting for air. Rick was beginning to worry.
"It's okay, it's okay..."
She gripped his shoulders as tightly as she could. Rick felt her fingernails scratching him. I...can't breathe! she gasped. I can't breathe...
"All right...you're gonna be just fine, okay? Just fine...do you have...some kind of medicine?"
Another sound effect bommed through the hallway. Lisa Hayes held him tighter, and hung her face low. I just...want to go home...
Rick looked back at his movie theater, and to the one opposite it. Roy was there with Rick's date for the evening. He doubted he'd get another chance with her. A beautiful girl was finally interested in him, and he was about to walk out on her.
When Lisa Hayes looked up with her deep green eyes, he smiled. "Me too," he said gently. "Come on, I'll get you back home."
a/n:
I know what you're thinking... Will Ben Dixon ever fix his car! The suspense is killing us all!
So it looks like we've got the makings of a "villain" here, eh? The appearance of the dreaded Space Battle Geek! I think every Star Wars fan has at least a little of that guy somewhere in him; some of us are just afraid to admit it!
Anyway, next chapter will be much more light-hearted. Things will start looking up for Rick and Lisa...as long as they can get outta that theater! And before they can, they'll have to match wits with a mischief-causing little guy you might recognize from the old "Wings of Steel."
It'll be more fun than a barrel of womp rats!