Two Of A Kind

by RDF-J6

What would happen if Rick joined the RDF under similar circumstances as Lisa and Mimnei had first fallen for Rick? It might easy for Rick and Lisa to meet and fall in love but it's not as easy as you think and with an obsessed Minmei, it will be harder.

17. Chapter 17 You're the Devil In Disguise

I am back and quicker than expected too. This chapter is kind of long so please be patient and you will be awarded at the end. I do not want to give anything away but get ready for a real game changer at the end of this chapter. So, hold to your hats guys and gals, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

TWO OF A KIND

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

YOU'RE THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE

Lisa sitting in the cabin of the now shut downed shuttle jet was crying in emotional pain and agony.

"Why Rick? Why can't you understand the reason why I couldn't tell you I was leaving?"

An aide of Lisa's father came on board the jet. "Excuse me Commander Hayes. Your father is waiting for you out on the tarmac."

"Tell him I need a few minutes by myself lieutenant. I will be out in a few minutes."

"Yes ma'am."

Lisa stayed seated in her seat until the aide came back in.

"Ma'am your father is still waiting for you."

Lisa exploded. "DAMN IT LIEUTENANT I SAID I WILL BE OUT A FEW MINUTES! TELL MY FATHER IF HE CAN'T WAIT FOR A FEW MINUTES THEN HE CAN DAMN WELL LEAVE AND I WILL CALL FOR A CAR MYSELF!"

The aide jumped back as if he was trying dodge a striking rattlesnake. "Yes ma'am." The aide quickly left Lisa by herself. Less than a minute later the aide poked his head inside the doorway of the jet. "Uh…ma'am, your father said you can take all the time that you need. He'll wait for you.", the aide said meekly.

"Thank you, lieutenant. Lieutenant."

"Yes ma'am?"

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I know you're only doing your job and what you were ordered to do."

"That's quite alright ma'am. No need to apologize. Your luggage is stowed in the trunk of your father's limousine."

"Thank you, lieutenant."

After several minutes she knew she could not avoid seeing her father any further. So, she got up, straighten up her uniform, wiped her eyes of remaining tears, let out a sigh, put on her uniform overcoat and walked out of the shuttle jet. The wind was blowing, and snow was falling at a fast pace. Lisa shivered even though she had her overcoat on. Outside on the tarmac Admiral Hayes had a look of relief on his face.

"Lisa! Thank God you're finally off that flying death trap!"

Lisa did or said nothing as she walked down the short stairway of the jet. Her face was emotionless as she stopped a few steps short of Admiral Hayes, came to attention and snapped off a sharp and smart military salute.

"Admiral Hayes, Commander Hayes reporting to you on orders from Captain Henry Gloval sir."

"As you were commander. You're traveling light.", Admiral Hayes noticed that Lisa only had two pieces of luggage with her.

"I'm only planning on staying here several days sir."

"I see. Please, come with me.", Admiral Hayes as he held out his arm.

"Yes sir."

The aide ran to the limo and saluted both Admiral Hayes and Lisa as he opened the door.

"Lieutenant, can you sit in the front with the driver. The commander and I need to talk in private.", Admiral Hayes and he and Lisa returned the aide's salute.

"Yes sir.", the aide said before he closed the door after Lisa got in the back seat with Admiral Hayes. Very soon the limousine's engine came to life and started to drive away from the tarmac.

"It's good seeing you again Lisa."

"I wish I can say likewise sir.", Lisa said bluntly and to the point. Lisa was never known to lie or beat around the bush. She always spoke her mind and she did not care who it was to or if it offended anyone, even her own father.

"Lisa, I'm trying to be civil with you. Please, do not make this difficult for me. We have a lot to talk about and catch up on."

"Admiral Hayes"

"Oh, for the love of God Lisa! Will you stop with this song and dance routine? We are by ourselves for Christ sakes! I know you're only doing this to try to get back at me for what happened the last time we met!"

Lisa's facial expression and voice then went glacial cold. "Alright…very well then…father. Listen to me very carefully and clearly father, we have nothing to talk about or to catch up on. I am here on orders from Captain Gloval. My orders are to talk to you and the RDF, the UN, the UEG and the UEDC. I am not here to try to make amends with you. Once I am finished here, I am taking the first shuttle flight back to the SDF-1 and if you try to stop me, I will bring you up on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and violation of RDF Regulation 24.5 regarding nepotism so fast it will make your head spin and I do not care if you are my father. Just because you are the commander of the RDF it does not mean you can do whatever the Hell you want. The regulations apply to even you."

"Lisa, I know that, but I'm only concerned about your safety."

"Bullshit father! Your only concern is keeping me under your thumb to try to alleviate the guilt you have for not being there when I was a girl and about Karl! I am living my own life now! I don't need your concern!"

"That's not true Lisa!"

"It is true father! Karl meant the world to me and you couldn't stand the idea of me dating an officer whom you said was an anti-military peacenik just because he was against the war!"

"That is not true Lisa!"

"It is true father, and you know it! Do not sit there and lie to me! You had your own doubts about why we were fighting another world war!"

"Yes, I did but I always kept those views to myself! I've never tried to force my views on anyone else let alone my daughter!"

"Cut the crap father! Karl never was anti-military, nor did he ever tried to force his anti-war views on me! What views he had about the Global Civil War was his and his alone! Did you know he never tried to dissuade me from joining the military?"

"No, I did not.", Admiral Hayes said sheepishly.

"It's true father."

"Okay, I'll acknowledge that I had some misconceptions about Karl and I'm sorry for that."

"MISCONCEPTIONS?! Don't make me laugh father you were mistaken about Karl!"

"Alright, I'll admit that I made some mistakes about Karl, but Lisa I was only doing what I thought was best for you."

"Oh, really father! Were you doing what you thought was best for me when you slapped me in the face the night before I went into space?"

"Oh, Jesus Christ Lisa why did you have to bring that up? I had made a mistake alright! I did something that I should not have done and for that I am sorry! God damn it Lisa can you let it go?"

"No, I am not going to let it go father! You should be thankful that I didn't called the MPs and have you arrested on charges of assault and battery!"

"Lisa, I slapped you because you made me angry by saying something that was not true, and you know it young lady! You know damn well that I have never stepped on anyone, used anyone nor did I ever kissed anyone's ass to get to where I am at today! I did it the same way you did; and that was by the goddamn book!"

"You are right father what I had said that night was out of spite I'll admit that but still that did not give you the right to slap me across my face FATHER!

Angry and frustrated that he could not carry on a peaceful conversation with Lisa, Admiral Hayes tapped on the partition glass that separated the back seat from the front of the limousine.

"Yes sir?", Admiral's Hayes aide said after the window slid down.

"Drop the commander off at the base lodge. She will not be staying at my quarters.", Admiral Hayes said tersely.

"Yes sir."

"That's fine with me father! I was not planning on staying with you anyway! When will I speak with you and the government?", Lisa said after the glass slid back up.

"The day after tomorrow at 0800 hours. How long will you speak with us?"

"I haven't written my presentation yet, but it should take less than an hour."

"Very well then."

The rest of the ride was spent in angry silence. Lisa and her father sat way apart from each other and not looking at each other. When the limousine stopped in front the base lodge, the aide opened the door.

"Your luggage is out of the trunk ma'am."

"Thank you, lieutenant. I'll take it from here."

"Yes ma'am."

"Commander Hayes.", Admiral Hayes called out.

"Yes sir.", Lisa said when she turned her body around and bowed down to look at her father.

"I'll have a car waiting for you to take you to the base so you can make your presentation."

"Thank you, sir.", Lisa said quietly before she gently closed the door.

Inside his limousine, Admiral Hayes was deeply saddened and tortured by the confrontation and the resulting heated exchange he had with Lisa. He knew that whatever hopes he had of mending his relationship with Lisa is now dashed forever. All he is to Lisa is just another senior officer that she must salute whenever she has to report to him or sees him in uniform. "Lisa, where did we go wrong?"

After checking in at the front desk and getting her room key card, Lisa walked to the elevator and pressed the button to the floor where she will be staying. After arriving at the door to her room, she inserted the card and waited for the light to turn green and hear the click of the tumblers of the lock turning to allow her to open the door to her room. Lisa turned on the light, set the case containing her laptop on the bed and zipped open the case. She then took out her laptop, set it on a desk, turned on the power and clicked on the lodge's Wi-Fi connection. She then opened the e-mail program, sat down in a chair and began typing an e-mail message to Rick with tears flowing from her eyes.

"My dearest Rick,

Please understand that I was not trying to deceive you. I was ordered by Captain Gloval not to tell anyone about my mission, not even you. I did not know that Captain Gloval told anyone else until Claudia stopped me in the passageway on my way to the hangar deck and told me that Captain Gloval told her about my mission. Since Gloval told Claudia, I knew it would be okay to let you know and I wanted to call you and let you know about my mission but by then it was too late to call you because I did not want the shuttle to be late in taking off.

I did not have any hidden agenda last night when we made love. I only wanted to be with you and to make love to you only because I did not know how long I will be on Earth or if my father will ever allow me to return to the SDF-1 and you. But I told my father just as soon as we met in no uncertain terms that if he tries to prevent me from returning to the SDF-1 I will bring charges against him for violating RDF regulations about nepotism. He knows me well enough to know that I will make good with my threat, so you should not worry about my father trying to keep me on Earth. He knows that even he must obey the rules like everyone else.

I will only be at Alaska Base for two days. Just long enough to talk to my father, the RDF and the government and I am taking the first shuttle back to the SDF-1 and no one, not even my father will prevent me from returning to you. Just as soon as I get back to the SDF-1, how about we get together so we can talk and try to work this misunderstanding out between the two of us. I love you with all my heart. See you in a few days.

Love,

Lisa"

Lisa proofread the message as best she could and then pressed the "Send" icon. After shutting down her laptop, she got up from the desk and let her body drop onto the bed. She was so emotionally drained and wiped out from the events of the day especially with the blow-ups between her and Rick, then herself and her father that all she wanted to do was to go to sleep but she knew that if she did not eat dinner by tomorrow morning, she will be starving, and she did not like going without food for a long period of time. So, she literally had to push herself up from the bed to grab her room card key and go the restaurant for dinner.

ON APPROACH TO THE SDF-1

Rick in the armored veritech called the flight deck. "Shortstop this is Voodoo Leader requesting clearance to land over."

"Roger Voodoo Leader you are cleared to land once I hand you over to the landing signal officer over."

"Acknowledged Shortstop. Voodoo Leader out."

"Wreaker you're less than 5 kilometers away, call the ball."

"Roger, Wreaker has the ball."

Rick lined up the veritech with the "meatball" of the Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System light until it glowed green.

"Roger ball, your glide path approach is good. You're cleared to land."

"Roger flight deck."

Rick then lowered the veritech's tail hook and braced himself for the violent landing. Rick was on the deck and stopped in a matter of seconds. He then was taxied onto an elevator where it took him to the hangar deck. As he was climbing out of the cockpit, his smart phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"Hi Rick, this is Claudia."

"Hi Claudia."

"Rick, Captain Gloval requests you that see him in his office as soon as you can."

"Okay Claudia, I'm on my way. Thanks for calling and letting me know."

"You're welcome Rick. Good-bye."

Rick immediately knew what Captain Gloval wanted to see him about and he wasn't interested on hearing Gloval's explanation on why he told Lisa not to tell Rick about her mission nor did he want to hear it, but he had to hear it because he was ordered to by Gloval. Rick reached Gloval's office door in a matter of minutes and knocked on the closed door.

"Come in Rick and have a seat. You don't have to report."

"Thank you, sir."

After Rick sat down, Gloval came out from behind his desk, found a chair, placed it across from Rick, and sat down. After several silent moments of wringing his hands, Gloval cleared his throat.

"Listen Rick, I want to explain to you why I had to tell Lisa not to tell you about me sending her to Earth to talk to her father and the Earth government. When the three spies told us that they were willing to risk their lives to live among us in peace, I felt it was a good opportunity for us to talk to and try to persuade the Earth government to at least negotiate with the Zentraedi to see if there was any chance for us and the Zentraedi to stop fighting and Lisa would be the person to do it. But we needed to maintain the utmost secrecy and security for her mission to have any chance of it succeeding and that was the main reason why I told Lisa not to tell you. You did not have a need to know. I told Claudia only because she would be the most senior officer on the bridge, and she will be taking over most of Lisa's duties. I realized that when I told Claudia I violated the secrecy of the mission. I was hoping that Lisa would tell you before she left but obviously, she did not. I am sorry Rick, but you have to understand and appreciate the position I was in."

"Begging your pardon sir but did you even talked to the former spies to see if negotiating with the Zentraedi will even work?"

"No, I didn't Rick. I must admit that I really didn't properly thought this through, but I felt at the time that we needed to at least try something to find out why they are always attacking us and to need this war."

"Captain, with all due respect to you sir, I really don't think the Zentraedi will be willing to negotiate with us. You did not saw what they did to a planet like me, Lisa and Captain Dixon did. We saw them completely obliterate a planet with no compunction or consideration for the people who were living on that planet."

"I realize that Rick, but we have to at least try."

Rick sighed. He knew it was useless to try to talk any sense to Gloval.

"Is there anything else you need to talk to me about sir?"

"No Rick, there isn't. You're free to leave."

"Thank you, sir.", Rick said as he got up from his chair and saluted.

Gloval returned the salute and Rick walked out. After Rick closed the door, Gloval could do nothing but sigh. Rick made some valid points, and he knew that Rick at least understood why all the secrecy, but at the same time he knew that Rick could not accept the circumstances and the events surrounding it and personally, he could not blame Rick. He just hoped that he did had not damaged his professional relationship with Rick and it did not damage Rick and Lisa's personal relationship because he thought that Rick and Lisa made the perfect couple. He hoped that Lisa would try to talk some sense to Rick if she had not done it already. If she did not, Gloval hoped that she would talk to him once she returned from Earth, if her father would allow her to.

After Rick left Gloval's office, he did not want to go back to his quarters because he knew she would not be there to meet him, so he decided to go into the city and walk through the park so he could clear his head. Rick found a bench no one was using and sat down. Rick continued going over the day's events and what Gloval said in his mind. He can understand why Gloval did what he did, but he should had at least let Lisa tell him sometime before she left. It was the least he could have done. He could forgive for what Lisa and Gloval did, but he was still so upset and angry at them that he could not forgive either of them, at least not for now. What happened earlier in the day was so taxing to him that all he could do was to bow his head and prop his head in the palm of his hands. As he is stewing in his thoughts, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hi little brother."

Rick lifted head to see Roy looking down on him with Claudia next to him with her arm looped around Roy's.

"ROY!"

Rick leapt up from the bench and put his arms around Roy's neck. After a few moments, the two broke off their embrace and the three of them sat down on the park bench.

"What are you doing out here Roy?"

"I'm out of the hospital now. The doctors were so impressed with the progress of my speech that they allowed me to continue speech therapy as an out-patient." Roy said slowly and deliberately but quick enough not to make it look like it took him a minute to complete a sentence. His speech is improving.

"That's great to hear Roy."

"There's even better news Rick, especially for you. Tell him Roy.", Claudia said brightly.

"Captain Gloval has put me back on active status. I'm CAG again."

Rick face brightened even more. "That is great news Roy! I am so glad you CAG again! I didn't know how much more I could take being CAG."

"What are you doing here Rick?", Roy asked.

"Just going over what happened today with Lisa and Captain Gloval."

"Didn't the captain explained to you why he ordered Lisa not to tell you the reason why he ordered her to Earth?"

"Yes, he did Claudia and I understand why he did it…it's just that…I don't know…I…just don't know if I could accept it. You've heard the scuttle butt about Lisa's father wanting Lisa off the SDF-1."

"Everybody knows that Rick but just because Lisa's father is the commanding officer of the RDF doesn't mean he can do anything he wants. He knows the rules regarding nepotism. He must obey the rules and follow regulations just like everyone else. And I'm sure Lisa is going to remind him just that.", Claudia said.

"She's right Rick. You should not worry about that. There were plenty of things that Captain Gloval told Claudia that he ordered her not to tell me because I didn't have a need to know.", Roy chimed in.

"The same goes for me Rick. There were things that the captain told Lisa and he ordered her not to tell me and I work with both almost every day."

"I know…it's…just going to take me a while to sort all of this out in my head."

"Take all the time that you need. You have plenty of time in which to do it Rick.", Claudia said.

"Yeah, I know. So, what are you doing?"

"We're going to eat at a restaurant to celebrate Roy finally being out of the hospital. Care to join us since you are family and Lisa's not around? It's better than eating alone."

"Where are we going to?"

"To a steak place. Roy said that after spending months being cooped up in the hospital eating nothing but hospital food, he's starving for some real food."

"That's right. Right now, I'll shoot a cow if I can just so I can have some real meat.", Roy joked.

"Sounds good to me.", Rick said as the three of them stood up and began to walk.

"Hey Rick, why didn't you visited me in the hospital before I was discharged?", Roy asked jokingly.

"Oh, c'mon Roy, I've been busy."

THE JAVA JOINT COFFEE SHOP

MACROSS CITY

THE NEXT DAY

Still have not fully recovered from the shock of discovering that the men they had met at the discotheque really were aliens who were planted on board the SDF-1 to spy on them and the ship, Sammie, Kim, and Vanessa and the three former Zentraedi spies walked to the vacant BOQ rooms in complete silence. But as they were about to leave, the three enlisted girls agreed to meet the now alien defectors at a coffee shop after the three young women came off duty the next day. The three aliens developed a taste for coffee during their time on board the SDF-1.

"Do you mind if you can pay for our coffee? We are…how do you say it…broke", Rico said sheepishly.

The three girls did not mind paying since they had just received their mid-month pay. Sitting in a corner of the coffee shop where they knew they can talk amongst themselves without being overheard and after the sextet finally gotten around to introducing themselves, Sammie, Kim, and Vanessa began to bombard Bron, Konda, and Rico with questions.

"How did you get on board the SDF-1 in the first place?", Sammie asked.

Rico told Sammie how they got on board by a battle pod bending a loose armored plating on the side of the SDF-1 before they were deposited onto the ship.

"How are you able to get down to human size since all of you are giants?", Kim asked.

"Through resizing.", Konda answered.

"Resizing, what's that?", Kim asked again.

"It's a process where our height can be adjusted. It's a complicated process but we will tell you all about it very soon, we promise."

"Why did you started spying on us?", Vanessa asked.

"Our superiors needed to know if you and your culture had any relationship to Protoculture.", Bron said.

"Protoculture what's that?", Sammie asked.

"Before we tell you what it is, I need to ask the three of you a question."

"Sure, go ahead Rico.", Sammie said.

"Are the three of you with RDF Intelligence or were you sent by them to interrogate us?"

"No, of course not. Why did you ask that question?", Kim said incredulously.

"Because some of the same questions you are asking, were asked to us by RDF Intelligence."

"No, we're just curious, that's all." Sammie said/

"And we want to know the three of you better." Vanessa interjected.

"Okay, fine. We'll tell you.", Rico said nodding his head in satisfaction at the answers. "Protoculture is a powerful energy source that we the Zentraedi use for just about everything. It's something that we depend upon for our very survival. Without it, we don't even exist."

"Where does protoculture come from?", Kim asked.

"That we don't know. Many things about protoculture our superiors don't tell us."

"Really?"

"Really, Vanessa. I am telling you the truth. We do not have what you would call a need to know. All we are, is lowly soldiers and bodyguards."

"Boy, do we know what that's like.", Kim said half humorously.

"So, what's going to happen to the three of us, any idea?", Bron asked.

"We don't know Bron because none of us know anything about the legal field nor do we work in it. I do know that Captain Gloval forwarded all your applications for political asylum up his chain of command. That will eventually land on the desk of the UEG. The JAG and civilian lawyers specializing in immigration are currently reviewing your requests."

"What will happen to us if our requests for political asylum are turned down?", Konda asked.

"Captain Gloval will declare all of you and your friends as political refugees and keep you here on the SDF-1, so I wouldn't worry about all of you being sent back.", Vanessa said confidentially.

"Well, at least that is reassuring.", Konda said.

'Say, is there anyway any of you can help us meet Minmei?", Rico asked.

"No, I'm afraid we don't Rico. None of us have any connections or contacts in the entertainment industry.", Sammie said.

"Ah.", Rico said sadly.

"Wait a minute, isn't Commander Hunter friends with Minmei?," Bron asked.

"Yes, he is Bron. As a matter of fact, they are real good friends, but Commander Hunter is very tight lipped about his friendship with Miss Minmei.", Kim said.

"Is there any way he can get ahold of Minmei and ask her if she is willing to meet us?"

"I think he can if we ask but we don't know where he is right now. Last I heard he is back on board after flying escort for Commander Hayes back to Earth."

"Can you at least call him?", Rico asked.

"Yes, I can. None of us has his cell phone number but I can call the BOQ. I know he still has his room in the BOQ even though he and our supervisor and friend Commander Hayes are dating.", Kim said as she pulled out her smart phone.

"Thanks Kim."

"You're welcome Rico.", Kim said as she was dialing the number to the front desk of the BOQ.

"Yes, hi, this is Petty Officer 2nd Class Kim Young. Can you connect me to Lieutenant Commander Rick Hunter's quarters please? Thank you."

After hearing the phone ring five times, Kim heard an automated canned message in her ear. She silently mouthed "Voice mail" to everyone.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Rick Hunter. I am not in right now. Please leave a message for me at the beep and I'll call you back as soon as I can."

"Hi, Commander Hunter, this is Petty Officer Kim Young. I have a favor to ask of you on the behalf of my three Zentraedi friends. Can you call me back as soon as you get this message? My cell phone number should be on your Caller I.D. Hope to hear from you very soon sir. Good-bye."

"So now what do we do?", Rico asked.

"All we can do is to wait until Commander Hunter calls me back Rico and see if he's willing to ask Miss Minmei."

"Do you think he will?", Konda asked.

"I'm fairly sure he will. He knows you are big fans of Miss Minmei."

"Hey, let us get something to eat everyone. It's dinnertime.", Sammie said looking at her wristwatch.

"Sounds like a great idea Sammie.", Vanessa said as everyone got up to leave the coffee shop. "Where do you boys want to go to eat?"

"How 'bout we go for hamburgers. Bron, Konda, and I have not had hamburgers in a while. What do you say guys?," Rico asked.

"Sure, why not.", Bron said.

"It sounds good to me, Rico.", Konda interjected.

"So, how 'bout it, Sammie, and Kim, does burgers sound appetizing?", Vanessa asked.

"Sure, but how about we go to that gourmet burger place down the street. I think I had my fill of eating in the dining hall.", Sammie said.

"I agree Sammie.", Kim added.

RICK'S BOQ ROOM

Rick turned the key to the door of his BOQ and opened the door. While he was glad that Roy was finally out of the hospital and was put back on active-duty status and he enjoyed the opportunity to eat out with Roy and Claudia, he did not feel like he belonged tagging along with them. He felt like the third wheel even though Roy and Claudia invited him to dinner with them. He was still upset at what happened between him and Lisa and at Captain Gloval. It was going to take him quite some time before he would be able to put what happened to him behind him. He turned on the light to the living room and the room felt empty and dead. Lisa is not here to spend the evening with him, and God only knows if he will be able see her again and when.

It was then he noticed the light on his telephone blinking. He had a voice mail message. When he pressed the "PLAY" button and started listening to the message, he had an incredibly good idea what the message was about. After listening and deleting the message, he looked at the Caller ID. Sure enough, Kim's cell phone number appeared on the screen. He picked up the phone and dialed the number. It only took three rings for Kim to answer.

"Hello."

"Hi Kim, this is Lieutenant Commander Hunter."

"Hello commander."

"I've just arrived home and noticed you left a message on my voice mail. What's the favor you're asking me to do?"

"Well commander, as you know Bron, Konda, and Rico are very big fans of Miss Minmei and they want to meet her and since you are friends with Miss Minmei, they're wondering if there is any chance of you arranging a meeting with them and Miss Minmei."

"I had a suspicion that was the reason why you called me. Sure, I will call Minmei right away and see if she is willing to meet them. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to meet them."

"Thanks commander. I'll be waiting for your call back."

"You're welcome Kim. Good-bye."

"Good-bye commander."

Sitting at a table at the Blue Jay Gourmet Hamburger Restaurant eating their dinner, the three alien defectors were on pins and needles.

"Well, what did he say Kim?", Rico asked.

"Commander Hunter says he'll call Miss Minmei right away and ask her if she is willing to meet the three of you. He'll call me back with her answer."

"Oh, I hope she will say yes.", Rico said.

After breaking the connection, Rick dialed Minmei's smart phone number from his memory. The phone immediately began to ring but it rang five times before Rick heard Minmei's voice.

"Hello."

"Hi Minmei, this is Rick."

"Oh, hello Rick, how are you doing?"

"I'm…. doing well for the most part."

"Well, that's good to hear. I haven't heard from you in a long time."

"Well, I been busy as you know. Say, I'm calling you to let you know that Roy is out the hospital."

"HE IS? That is great news Rick. Thanks for telling me. That's wonderful news!"

"Yes, it is. Umm, Minmei I have a question for you. How's your work schedule looking like for the next few days?"

"Ah, I'm going to be kind of busy Rick. I am in the recording studio right now. As a matter of fact, that is where I am at right now. I am in the process of cutting another album but all I am doing right now is talking with the producer and I am reading several movie scripts because the movie studio wants me to start shooting another movie very soon since my first movie was a box office success. Why did you ask me that question Rick?"

"Well, you have heard about many of the Zentraedi defecting right?"

"Yes, I have."

"Well, the three spies who are responsible for causing many of the Zentraedi to defect wants to meet you."

"You're kidding me!"

"I'm not. I'm being serious."

"Rick, you're lying! Stop pulling my leg!"

"Minmei, I'm not pulling your leg. I am not lying. I am telling you the straight up truth."

"How did they get to be fans of mine when they never heard music before in their life?"

"Well, it is kind of long and complicated and I can't tell you much because much of it is still pretty much classified but if you want the short, unclassified version; after they were planted on board the SDF-1, they came to a concert and they heard you sing and that was when they became fans of you."

"Wow! That is unbelievable. And they want to meet me?"

"They want to meet you. That is the real reason why I called you. Will you be willing to meet them?"

"YES! I will be more than happy to meet them. Let me check my datebook."

Rick heard some rustling and zipping sounds before he heard Minmei's voice again.

"Well, like I said Rick, my schedule is pretty much full, but I can meet them…tomorrow around noon. Do they have a place in mind where we can meet?"

"No, they haven't but can I suggest that you meet them somewhere in private. If you meet them in public or on base, it's going to cause a circus because of the media."

"You have a point Rick. There is a private meeting room here at the recording studio. Where are they staying?"

"In vacant officer's quarters here on base."

"That's good. Okay, have them be outside the gate at 11:45am. I'll have a limousine waiting for them to take them to the studio and afterwards, I'll treat them to lunch."

"That's nice of you Minmei." 'Oh man, they're going to go nuts when I tell them that.'

"Say Rick, why don't you come along with them?"

"Uh, I can't Minmei, I'm on duty."

"Oh, c'mon Rick don't be a stick in the mud. We have not had a chance to talk in a long time, besides, are you going to spend another lunchtime eating at the officer's mess? I'm not going to bite or hit on you, Girl Scout's honor."

"Well…oh, alright. Who am I to turn down an offer for a free lunch? Besides, they need someone to be with them for protection."

"Why?"

"They and the other Zentraedi have been receiving death threats from people who are angry at us for giving them asylum because they blame them for their loved ones' being killed in the war. As a matter of fact, there have been reports of Zentraedi being attacked by roving gangs of thugs."

"Why that's terrible! That's not a reason for threatening them or beating them!"

"I know Minmei it's disgusting but what can you do? Some people are going to react with their emotions first instead of using their brain."

"I know Rick, it's just that I…I wish I can do something."

"You are Minmei. Look what your singing has done already. You have caused some of the Zentraedi to stop fighting and defect."

"You're right Rick. Thanks for telling me that, I didn't realize that until now."

"You're welcome Minmei. Okay, I must hang up so I can call them back and tell them the good news. Thanks for agreeing to meet them."

"Ah, it's not a problem Rick. I am always happy to meet my fans. Okay, I will let you go then. See you tomorrow at noon. And please tell Roy I'm glad to hear he's out of the hospital and I'll try to see him as soon as I can."

"I will Minmei. I'll see you tomorrow. Good-bye."

"Good-bye Rick."

After breaking the connection, Rick called Kim's smart phone.

"Hello."

"Hi Kim, this is Lieutenant Commander Hunter."

"Yes sir."

"I have good news for your friends. Can you put me on speaker phone?"

"We're eating at a restaurant right now and it's kind of loud in here sir."

"I see. Well, I guess you can tell them then. I called to let them know that Minmei has agreed to see them."

"I see sir."

Rick immediately knew what Kim was doing and smiled. 'She's going to surprise them.' "She has agreed to meet them. Have them be outside the gate at 1145 hours tomorrow. A limousine will be waiting to take them to the recording studio to meet Minmei. She is currently in the process of recording another album. She will have a private meet-and-greet with them and afterwards, she'll treat them to lunch."

"I see sir."

"I assume they will still have protection with them?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay, that's no problem. I'll be with them because Minmei's invited me also."

"I see sir."

"Okay, I'll let you go then. Enjoy the rest of your meal."

"Thank you, sir. Good-bye sir."

"Good-bye Kim."

"Well, what did he say Kim?", Bron asked anxiously after Kim put her smartphone in her purse.

Kim tried to keep a straight neutral face but before she knew it, she smiled a big smile.

"Miss Minmei has agreed to meet with you."

"YES!", Rico yelled as he clenched his fists in the air while Bron and Konda high-fived each other.

"You are to be outside the base's gate at 1145 hours tomorrow. A limo will be waiting for you to take the three of you to a recording studio where she is recording another album. There you will have a private meet-and-greet with Miss Minmei. Afterwards, Miss Minmei will treat you to lunch."

Rico, Bron, and Konda could not do anything but smile.

"Commander Hunter will be with you because she invited him to lunch also."

Just then three young teenaged toughs spotted the six and went to the table where they were eating.

"Hey! I have seen the three of them on the news! They are the three alien bastards who supposed to have defected. You son-of-a-bitches I ought to kill you! You're the fucks who killed my brother on Mars!"

But before the three punks could do anything threatening, the restaurant's manager got in between them and the table and stopped them.

"Alright you three stop it! Leave right now!"

"But"

"I said leave right now or I'll call the police! You're not going to turn my restaurant into an MMA ring!"

The three begrudgingly began to leave but one of the punks stopped and pointed his finger menacingly at them. "You're lucky you alien piece of shit that I can't get near any of you! You better hope we don't meet up again!"

"I SAID MOVE IT YOU PUNK!", the manager yelled angrily as he roughly shoved the punk in the shoulder to help induce him into leaving.

"Don't shove me asshole I'm going!", the punk yelled as he swung his shoulder away.

After the manager escorted the punks out of the restaurant, he returned to where the sextet was seated at the table. "I'm sorry I have to do this to all of you, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask all of you to leave. I am sorry but I cannot afford to have my restaurant damaged again. I managed to survive the riot, but I don't think I can afford another raise in my insurance."

"We understand sir. We are finished eating anyway. How much is the check?", Vanessa asked quietly.

"No, it's okay miss, don't worry about paying the bill. It's on me.", The manager said with a wave of his hand.

"But sir."

"No, don't worry about it. It is the least I can do after forcing you to leave when clearly it was not your fault. After doing something I did not want to do, it's the least I can do for you and your friends miss."

Everyone was genuinely touched by the manager's gesture. "Thank you, sir." Vanessa said.

THE NEXT DAY

Bron, Konda, Rico and Rick along with the armed escorts walked outside to find as Minmei promised, a limousine parked on a curb of a sidewalk and waiting to take the four men to the record studio. The driver opened the rear door and the four went inside while the escorts went to a black SUV. Once inside the limo, the three ex-spies' jaws dropped to see how big and spacious the back of the car was. Rick just smiled in amusement.

"First time in a limousine?", Rick asked.

"Yes commander.", Rico said.

"Please, call me Rick."

"Thank you, Rick. Were you in a limousine before?"

Rick nodded his head. "It was over a year ago when I was Minmei's escort at the Miss Macross Pageant. She had a limo picked me up to take me to the pageant and back to the base. It was the first time I was ever in a limousine. It was nice ride I have to admit."

The limo's engine roared to life and began to pull away from the sidewalk.

"How did you meet Minmei.", Konda asked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story but the short of it is, we first met on the day when we were…uh…attacked and had to go into space. I had just arrived on Macross Island and I was ordered into combat. Well, having never flown a veritech before I almost destroyed Minmei's uncle's restaurant. Minmei and I were flying back to the SDF-1 when the ship had to do the hyperspace jump. We were out in space, but I managed to get the veritech inside the ship and we were trapped inside one of the SDF-1's cargo hold for over a week. After we were rescued, we promised to keep in touch with each other and we did, and we have been friends ever since."

"Wow, that's some story.", Bron said in wonderment.

"Yeah, it is come to think of it. It was amazing how Minmei and I met and became friends."

"We haven't had the chance to say this to you Rick, but…thank you for speaking up for us in the conference room.", Rico said.

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "Think nothing of it guys. I was glad to do it."

"If you don't mind me asking you this question, but…why did you do it?"

"No, I don't mind. My father, whom all of us called "Pop" taught me to always see the good in people and to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and I saw something good in you. Besides, what we did may start something to end this war."

"How true. We are glad that you did speak up for us. Thank you, Rick." Rico said as Bron and Konda nodded in agreement.

"You're welcome guys.", Rick said with a smile.

Rick and the three aliens continued talking small talk all the way to the studio and Rick was enjoying it. He learned a lot about the Zentraedi and before he knew it, he made three more friends. The limousine stopped in front of the recording studio where an executive was waiting for them. After Rick got out, one of the guards came up to Rick.

"Commander Hunter."

"Yes."

"We're going to a nearby restaurant to eat lunch. We will be nearby when your meeting with Miss Minmei is over. Can you call us on this radio to let us know you're ready to leave?", the guard asked as he gave Rick a walkie-talkie.

"Yes, I will.", Rick said nodding his head.

"Very good. Our call sign is "Whipper", your call sign is "Eagle". This radio has a range of three miles, but we will be well within its range, so you do not have to worry about dropped transmissions. It's encrypted but still say something that is cryptic yet still clear enough for us to understand what you're saying and wait inside until you see our car and the limo."

"Will do. I know and understand radio discipline."

"Enjoy your meeting with Miss Minmei and your lunch commander."

"Thank you."

The executive escorted Rick and the three defectors to a private room where the four sat down at a table. At exactly 12:00pm Minmei walked in.

Immediately the four stood up. The three ex-spies could do nothing but stand in stunned silence when they finally saw Minmei.

"Hell…hello…Min…I mean…Miss Minmei. It's an honor to meet you.", Rico said in a shaky, stuttering voice.

Minmei smiled a warm smile that put the three aliens at ease. "You can call me Minmei boys. Please, go ahead and call me Minmei. I don't mind.", Minmei said as she held out her right hand.

At first Rico did not remembered what she was doing when she put out her hand nor what it meant. Finally, after realizing what she was doing was a human gesture of greeting each other, Rico took Minmei's hand and shook it gently. "Hello Minmei. My name is Rico."

"Hello Rico."

"Hello Minmei, my name is Bron."

"Hello Bron."

"Hello Minmei, my name is Konda."

"Hello Konda." She then went to Rick and hugged him. "Hello Rick."

"Hello Minmei. Thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome Rick."

Minmei then gestured with her hand to the table. "Please, have a seat. So, tell me how you first heard me sing and became my fans."

Rico began to tell Minmei the story of how after first being inserted into the SDF-1 to begin their spying mission, they stumbled upon the Amphitheatre and hearing her sing and how her voice that was so mesmerizing to them, they thought she had special powers. Minmei was so amazed by the story Rico told her that she asked them other questions. After for what seems to be over an hour, Minmei gave Rick and the three aliens a tour of the recording studio and then invited the four to the studio's café for a catered buffet lunch. The three aliens were amazed at the amount of food that was before them that they took more than what they thought they wanted. After some time, the three pushed their plates away with still a good amount of food left on their plates.

"Had enough to eat boys?", Minmei asked with a smile.

"Yes Minmei, we definitely had enough. I think we need a nap.", Bron said as he rubbed his stomach.

"Do you think you can wait until we get back to the base guys?", Rick said.

"Yes, I think we can."

"Okay, I call our escorts and the limo and tell them that we're ready to leave."

"Wait, before you do Rick, can I speak to you in private?"

"Yeah, sure Minmei."

Minmei led Rick to a nearby room and closed the door.

"What's up Minmei? What do you want to speak to me about?"

"Are you doing okay Rick?"

"Yes I am. Why do you ask?"

"Because when you called me last night and I asked you how you're doing, you hesitated and said you're okay for the most part."

"Yeah, so?"

"Rick, I've known you long enough to know when you're telling a fib and I know you were lying. So, what's going on with you?"

Rick let out a big sigh. "Okay Minmei I'll tell you…Lisa's back on Earth."

"Oh no! What happened?"

Minmei was genuinely shocked and surprised at the news but while her mouth may have said one thing, her mind was saying something else. 'Oh really. The bitch is gone and is back on Earth, isn't she? Well, this is certainly interesting."

"Lisa was ordered by Captain Gloval to go to Alaska Base to talk to her father, the RDF and the Earth government to try to negotiate with the Zentraedi to end this war."

'Really. Thank you, Captain Gloval.' "So, what has you so upset?"

"Lisa was ordered by Captain Gloval not to tell me but I found out later that Gloval told Claudia so that should have cleared Lisa to tell me but neither one of them even told me until she was on her way to Earth, and I've been upset about it ever since."

"So, what are you going to do for the time she is on Earth?"

"I don't know Minmei. To tell you the truth, I really have not given it much thought. I could ask my friends Max and Ben if we can go out on the town and do things like we did back at the academy but they have their own squadrons, duties and responsibilities so I do not know if I can ask them. Roy and Claudia have their own lives and worries, so I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Well, why don't you let me be with you during your off-duty time? We could do a lot of the same things we did before my life became crazy with this fame business."

"Really Minmei? I really do not want to impose on you. You have a busy life also."

"Rick, you're being silly. Sure, I have a busy life, but I have some down time too. C'mon let us do some fun things together like we used to. What do you say?"

Rick took some time to think it over. "Sure, why not. It's better than staying in my quarters moping that Lisa's not here."

"That's the spirit. And to start things off, why don't I invite you to dinner? I'm paying."

"Minmei, you've done enough already. You've paid for mine and the others lunch."

"Oh that? Humph, that is on the studio's tab. I had nothing to do with lunch. Okay, be outside the gate at 6:00pm tonight and we will go to someplace nice to eat. What do you say?"

"Sure, 6:00pm it is."

"Great. See you then Rick.", Minmei said as she hugged Rick's neck.

"Okay Minmei.", Rick said as he reached for the secure radio.

Minmei followed Rick out of the room but did not followed him to where the three aliens were standing. She left the four by themselves for a while.

"Do you know where Minmei went to Rick?"

"No, I don't Rico."

Minmei came back several minutes later with a box. "Before you leave boys, let me give each of you a present."

"What is it Minmei?", Konda asked.

"It's one of the recruiting posters I did for the RDF that is personally autographed by me and an autographed CD of my first album.", Minmei said as she was handing out the gifts.

The three aliens were surprised and touched that Minmei would give them a gift just for visiting her and to tell her they are big fans of hers. They each hugged Minmei as they whispered "thank you" to her.

"Whipper, this is Eagle."

"Go ahead Eagle."

"I and the eaglets are about the leave the roost."

"Acknowledged Eagle, Whipper out."

The limousine and the SUV arrived at the front door of the recording studio in a matter of seconds. After saying their "good-byes" to Minmei, Rick and the three ex-spies climbed into the back seat of the limo and rode away from the studio in seconds. On the ride back to the base, Rick noticed that the three still had big smiles on their faces.

"Enjoyed meeting Minmei guys?"

"Yes, we did, Rick. Thank you for all your help.", Rico said.

"You're welcome guys. I was glad to do it."

6:00pm

Rick was walking towards the gate when he saw a black limousine driving towards the curb and parked with the engine running. As he walked out the gate, he saw the limousine's back window started to come down. In the back seat was Minmei and she was calling his name and waving her hand.

"Hey Rick! I'm over here!"

Rick smiled and was about to open the back door when the driver seems to have appeared out of nowhere and opened the door.

"I got it sir."

"Oh, thank you sir." Rick said as he climbed in.

"You look nice.", Minmei said with a smile on her face as the limo began to driver away from the curb.

Rick was dressed in a dark blue suit and tie. "Uh…yes, when you said that we're going to someplace nice to eat, I figured it wouldn't be a fast-food place, so I thought I should dress up a little for the occasion."

He then noticed that Minmei was dressed in a short length pastel yellow sleeveless, thin strapped mini evening dress with open-toed white shoes. "You look nice yourself."

"Oh, thank you Rick."

"So, I guess you'll be riding around in limos from now on."

"Yes. Vance is worried about my safety so now I am stuck with being chauffeured around in limousines. I do not mind it sometimes. It is a nice perk and all, but sometimes it is a pain in the butt because I cannot do the things that I used to do, like walking with my friends and talk with them. I still have bodyguards, but I persuaded Vance not to have them so close to me and not to have them be with me all the time. As a matter of fact, I've let my bodyguards have the night off because you're with me."

"Where're we going to eat?"

"Ruth and Chris' Steak House."

Rick whistled. "Wow! That is the most expensive place to eat in Macross City. How did you managed to get reservations?"

"Well, when you have money and you're a celebrity, it's easy to get reservations.", Minmei said with a smile.

"I bet.", Rick said with a laugh.

As the limousine was approaching the restaurant, the driver did not stop in front of the restaurant, instead he went to a side entrance so Minmei and Rick can avoid the paparazzi. As Minmei and Rick were getting out of the limo, Rick told Minmei about his concerns that they may not be able to eat in peace because of the paparazzi.

"Don't worry, Rick. I had the reservations made under a pseudonym and I made sure that we are away from a window. Besides, I had an assistant make the reservation and the restaurant has a policy that management and staff do not yak to the tabloids about who eats here or what happens here or else they're fired."

Rick let out a sigh of relief. He can still vividly remember the day after the Miss Macross Pageant when he and Lisa went to a French bistro to eat when they were photographed by a paparazzo whom by happenstance, managed to take a picture of him and Lisa eating at a window of the bistro. It was his real first date with Lisa and even though he enjoyed it and remembered it with fondness, it would have been more memorable had not their privacy been violated by a snoopy celebrity photographer looking to make a quick buck.

Minmei and Rick entered a restaurant where the maître d' met them at the door and led them to a table. When they sat down, he handed them the menu. When Rick started to look at the menu, his eyes went wide with surprise at the expensive prices of the dinners. And it did not include drinks, salad, and dessert.

'You got to be kidding! Look at the prices of these dinners. I'm glad I'm not the one that's paying the bill.'

After a few minutes, Minmei looked over at Rick. "You've decided on what you want yet Rick?"

Rick shook his head. "Not yet Minmei but I think I'm getting close to making a choice."

"Well, don't order the cheapest dinner on the menu, alright? I can afford to pay for it.", Minmei said with a smile.

"I won't Minmei."

After a few more minutes of indecision, Rick decided to order the New York Strip dinner with salad, baked potato, and water. Minmei ordered the petit filet mignon dinner with buttered rice, a salad, and a bottle of sparkling water. After a waiter served them their dinner, Rick intentionally ate his dinner slowly. He never had an expensive steak dinner and he wanted to savor every bite. Rick and Minmei did a little small talk as they were eating but they mostly ate in silence. When the waiter came to take away the dishes, he asked them if they want dessert. Rick usually does not eat dessert but since he is not paying, he figured he might as well go for the gusto and order dessert. Rick ordered chocolate cheesecake with drizzled white cream sauce while Minmei ordered orange sorbet. After finishing dessert, the waiter came with the bill. Minmei paid the tab and told the waiter to keep the change and left a little extra money for the waiter as a tip for the good service.

"Thanks for paying for dinner Minmei. I really enjoyed it.", Rick said as they were outside near the limo.

"Oh, think nothing of it, Rick. I was pleased to do it. So…what do you want to do now?"

"I am thinking about going back to the base."

"RICK, it's not even 8:00pm yet and you're thinking about going back to base and go to your quarters?!"

"Yes, I was.", Rick answered sheepishly.

"And what are you going to do? Sit inside your quarters all night like a hermit and mope and sulk that your girlfriend's not here?"

"Of course, not Minmei!", Rick said defensively. Minmei knew Rick was lying but she let it go. "It's just that I wasn't really planning on doing anything else after dinner. What do you want to do?"

"Let's go dancing."

"Dancing?!"

"Yes, we haven't gone dancing or done anything fun together in ages."

"I don't know Minmei."

"What is it Rick? You're scared that if you dance with me, or if you ask a pretty girl to dance or if a girl asks you for a dance, you'll be cheating on your girlfriend?"

"NO! Of course, not Minmei. It's not that…it's just that"

"Oh, good grief Rick! You are not even married yet, and you are already acting like a henpecked husband. Just because you will be dancing with me or with another girl at a club, does not mean you are cheating on your girlfriend! C'mon Rick loosen up and live life a little for Pete sakes!"

"I know that Minmei…it's just that…I'm not a good dancer."

"Now you're being silly! I have seen you dance before, and you are incredibly good on your feet. C'mon Rick, will you stop acting like you are scared that Lisa will find out that you have spent the evening with me. She is not going to find out! Have some fun, even if it's for a little while."

"Oh…alright, you win. Let us go dancing."

"Rick stop it! Do not agree to go dancing with me just because you do not want to have a fight with me! If you really want to go home, I'll tell the chauffeur to drive you back to base!"

"No, you don't have to do that. I am sorry for being a pain in the neck Minmei, I just been through a lot today. Sure, I'll go dancing with you."

"You're sure, Rick?"

Rick nodded his head. "I'm sure. I need to do something to take my mind off things anyway."

"Okay. Let us get in the limo then."

The chauffeur opened the back door and Minmei and Rick climbed in.

"Where to Miss Minmei?", the chauffeur asked after he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Vapors."

"As you wish Miss Minmei."

"Vapors, we can't go in there!", Rick said in a shocked tone of voice.

"And why not?", Minmei asked incredulously.

"It's one of the most exclusive night clubs in Macross City. The velvet ropes are made of silk. Besides, they serve alcohol in there Minmei! You're not 21!"

"So what? They serve alcohol at the restaurant also and we were served. Besides, I am not going in there to drink. I'm going in there to dance."

"Minmei, the bouncer will card you."

"No, he won't! I've been in there plenty of times and they have always let me in without carding me."

"How?"

"I know the owner of the club. He knows I do not go in there to drink, I go in there to dance, cut loose and be myself, and have fun. I do not need alcohol to have fun. Besides, I've gotten to know and become friends with the bouncers."

"Really?"

"Hey, being a celebrity has its advantages you know.", Minmei said with a mischievous smile.

All Rick could do was laugh and shake his head. Minmei has turned into a precocious person ever since she won Miss Macross.

"Okay, here we are Miss Minmei. Vapors night club. How long do you want me to wait?", the chauffeur asked.

"Hmm. You do not have to wait for us. Rick and I will find a way home. Please do not let Mr. Hasselwood know that I had let you go so early. He will be more than upset with all of us if he finds out. He'll probably want to skin me alive."

"Don't worry Miss Minmei. I'll only let my boss know that you've let me go early and just to be safe, I'll fudge the logs a bit so that your agent doesn't get suspicious."

"Thank you. We'll let ourselves out."

"Okay Miss Minmei. Have a good evening."

"You have a good evening also."

The techno-dance music was so loud, it can be heard in the limousine even though all the windows were up. As Minmei was getting out of the limo, what seems to be a million flashbulbs from the cameras of the paparazzi started to explode and screams that sounded like it came from the throats of a thousand teenaged girls blasted Minmei and Rick. Minmei waved to the crowd and went to the door. Just as Minmei said, the bouncer let her and Rick through without checking their IDs. The club was choked with people on the dance floor and sitting on tables that were around the parameter of the dance floor.

"It's so loud in here! You can't even hear yourself think!", Rick yelled into Minmei's ear. The sound of hundreds of people talking along with the blaring music was so loud that Rick literally had to scream into Minmei's ear for her to comprehend what he was saying. Even then, she could barely hear him.

"Well, what do you expect Rick it's a nightclub!"

"Aren't you're worried that people will be asking you for your autograph all the time?"

"No people usually leave me alone! Sometimes someone will come by and ask me for an autograph but not all the time!"

"You want the first dance?"

"I thought you were never going to ask!"

Rick escorted Minmei to the dance floor has started dancing. Because they started dancing in the middle of the set. They stayed on the floor for a complete set. After they finished dancing and found an empty table, a waiter came to their table asking if they wanted anything to drink. Minmei ordered a bottle of sparkling water while Rick ordered a cola. Minmei looked at Rick in surprise.

"You're not going to buy anything hard to drink, Rick? You are of legal age!"

"Yeah, I know Minmei, but I never cared for alcohol! I never drank anything harder than soda in my life!"

"Good for you Rick!"

A young woman in her 20's came up to Rick. "Hi, my name is Amy! My friends made a bet with me that I cannot get you to dance with me! Will you dance with me?"

"Yes, I will!"

After dancing with the young lady, Rick escorted her off the dance floor.

"Excuse me Amy! If you do not mind me asking, what was the bet for?"

"The bet was that if I can't get you to dance with me, I have to go out on a date with one of my girlfriend's brother! Do you come here often?"

"No, I don't! I'm just here with Miss Minmei!"

The young woman did a double take before fixing her eyes at Minmei. "I'm sorry Miss Minmei I didn't notice you sitting there! I'm one of your biggest fans!"

"Thank you! It's okay you don't have to apologize!"

"Can I get your autograph?"

"Sure! Do you have a pen and a piece of paper?"

"Not with me but if you'll wait, I can go and get it!"

"That's fine! I'll wait!"

As the young lady left to get the pen and paper, Minmei leaned into Rick so he can hear her.

"I think that girl wants to ask you for a date!"

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm a young woman I know our species!"

Rick laughed at Minmei's snarky retort.

The young girl came back with pen and paper.

"Here you are Miss Minmei!"

"Oh, thank you! What do you want me to write?"

"Just write, "To Amy from Miss Minmei". That will be fine!"

"Okay!"

"Excuse me! I didn't catch your name!" Amy said to Rick.

"My name's Rick!"

"Hi Rick! Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead!"

"Can I ask you for a date?"

"Sorry, I have a girlfriend!"

A look of disappointment came across Amy's face. "Ah, that's too bad! You're a good-looking guy!"

"Thank you!"

Rick looked over a Minmei who was smiling a smile that said, "See, I told you she was going to ask you for a date." as she hands her autograph to Amy. Amy said "thank you" to Minmei then waved her hand at Rick as she was walking away.

"Okay Minmei you're right! You don't have to gloat!", Rick said humorously.

All throughout the evening and into the early night, Rick and Minmei danced with each other and with others who asked them for a dance. Rick looked at his watch, it was 2130 hours.

"Minmei we have to leave! I'm on reserve tomorrow!"

"That's fine with me Rick. I'm beginning to get a headache anyway!"

After Rick and Minmei left the club, Rick waved down a taxicab. After climbing in the back seat of the cab, the driver was shocked and surprised that Minmei was in his cab but quickly recovered. "Where to Miss Minmei?"

Minmei gave the driver an address that was not her uncle's restaurant.

"You're no longer living at your uncle's restaurant Minmei?", Rick asked.

"No, I had to move out. The tabloids and the paparazzi had been staking out the restaurant too much and customers had difficulty getting in."

"Oh, I see."

The taxi stopped at the entrance to one of Macross' toniest neighborhoods. Minmei gave the driver the fare and told him to keep the change. After Minmei and Rick climbed out the back seat of the cab, the taxi took off.

"Wait for a minute after he leaves then we can start walking Rick.", Minmei said as she grabbed Rick's arm.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want him to know exactly where I'm living just in case he talks to his friends and they in turn blab it to the tabloids. That is why I purposely had him stop at the entrance."

"Smart thinking Minmei."

"Okay, we can no longer see him. We can start walking."

"How far away do you live?"

"It's only a couple of blocks from here. It's not a long walk."

"If you don't mind me asking Minmei, back at the dance club, how did you know that girl was going to ask me for a date?"

"Because when she said that if she could not get you to dance with her, she had to date one of her girlfriend's brother, it was really a lie. It is really one of the oldest tricks in the book that young women use to try to get a date with a guy. Women do not usually make bets with each other. Men usually do. Any woman with or without an intuition really knows what she was doing when she asked you for a dance, she was really asking you for a date and if she had to tell a little fib to do it, she'll do it."

It had taken about five minutes to reach Minmei's doorstep. Rick stood behind her as Minmei inserted her house key into the keyhole and turned the key.

"Thanks for a great evening Minmei."

"You're leaving?"

Rick nodded his head. "I told you that I'm on reserve."

"Well, why don't you stay with me for tonight? I have another bedroom."

"I don't know Minmei."

"C'mon Rick. I promise I will not bite. It will be better than sleeping alone. If you are worried about finding a ride back to the base, I have the limo drop you off at the entrance to the gate on my way to the recording studio."

Rick thought for several seconds. "Sure, why not. I'm not imposing on you, am I?"

"Of course not! Good God Rick I live by myself."

"Oh, okay."

"Make yourself comfortable Rick.", Minmei said after she turned on the living room light.

"Wow! Nice place Minmei.", Rick said as he was looking the place over. He then taken off his suit jacket and tie as he was sitting down on a couch.

"Thank you. It is not a bad place to live. It is quiet, it is the right size for me, and most importantly, I have privacy. My neighbors around me are not nosey. I can have friends here without the paparazzi snooping around. Like anything to drink?", Minmei asked from the kitchen.

"Got anything warm to drink?"

"Well, since it's late at night, I have chamomile tea, but it will take a while for the water to boil."

"Do you have decaffeinated tea? I'm not much of an herbal tea drinker. "

"Sure, I have decaffeinated tea. I am calling the limousine service. What time do you have to report for duty?"

"At 8:00am Minmei but I want to leave early so I can shower and do my usual morning routine."

"Is 6:30 good with you?"

"Yes."

A few minutes later Minmei came into the living room with a tray containing a tea kettle, two teacups, two tea bags, a sugar bowl, and a bowl of almond cookies. She laid the tray on the coffee table that was near the couch where Rick was sitting and sat down next to Rick.

"Okay Rick, it's all set. The limo will be here at 6:30am. Hope you don't mind but I thought you would like some almond cookies with the tea."

"Oh, thank you Minmei. No, I don't mind."

"Like to hear some music?"

"Sure, why not."

Minmei picked up the remote control to her MP3 player stereo system. As the music started playing, Rick immediately knew who the singer was.

"Hey, that's Elvis Presley."

"Umm-hmm. He's one of my favorite singers and my musical role model."

"Really?"

"Yes. He did not take the usual route to music stardom like many do today. He started with a small record label in Memphis, Tennessee and went on from there. He made a lot of movies, did concerts, and shows in Las Vegas. He did it all. I want to do the same thing he did."

"Well, you're on your way to doing it, Minmei."

"Before I left for Macross Island, as a going away present my parents took me on a trip to Memphis and Graceland. I saw the mansion, his grave, the museum that has his Cadillac. I had a wonderful time."

"Why don't you sing cover songs like that one night you sang "Imagine" on the David O'Brien Show?", Rick asked.

"Because I do not want to sing other people's music, I want to do my own thing. Besides, the first time a good song has been heard, it is good enough. It doesn't need to be re-done."

Minmei then grabbed Rick's hands. "Okay, enough about me. What happened between you and Lisa?"

Rick was hesitant to talk to Minmei about what happened but went on and told her the details. As he was telling Minmei, he began to tear up and cry. Minmei gently grabbed Rick's head and lead him to her shoulder. Rick began crying on her shoulder. Just then her stereo began playing "Are You Lonesome Tonight". Rick stopped crying and looked up to meet Minmei's eyes. They began gently kissing but Rick stopped.

"We shouldn't be doing this Minmei.", Rick said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because we're friends and I don't want to go beyond that. Besides, I have Lisa."

"And she is thousands and thousands of miles away on Earth doing something that is Mission: Impossible. There is nothing wrong with what we are doing Rick. All we are doing is kissing. It is just you and me. I am not looking for anything but to be with you. What we are doing is just between the two of us. No one else needs to know or will know.", Minmei quietly said as she is kissing Rick all over his face and neck. All the while, Rick was going over in his mind, 'This is wrong. Why am I not stopping her?'

She then stopped and looked at Rick, waiting to see what he will do. Rick could do nothing but to stare at Minmei. She then reached behind her dress and began to slowly unzip the back of her dress. The loose-fitting dress fell past her shoulders. She then slowly got up and let the dress fall to the floor revealing an almost sheer pastel purple bra and panties. Minmei then brought out her right hand and Rick reached for it and grabbed it. Rick then got up and without saying a word, Minmei led Rick to her bedroom.

Rick was wide awake when he looked over and saw Minmei sleeping. Her naked body was pressed up against his. Her arm was loosely draped across his chest. He looked at his watch. It read 0230 and his mind was a hurricane of emotions.

'My God, what have I done? I allowed Minmei to take advantage of me in my most vulnerable moment and let her have sex with me! What am I going to do? What's going to happen between Minmei and me? Should I tell Lisa what happened? God, I don't know what to do!'

Rick then forced himself to go to sleep knowing that if he reports to duty sleep deprived, he will be grounded for the day and Ben will have to take temporary charge of the flight and squadron. Ben has grown to become a capable leader, but he still has some ways to go. Also, this will be Roy's first day back on duty and he did not want to miss that. Rick slept restlessly for the rest of the night and awoke even before the alarm on his watch went off. He got up, put on the clothes he had on the night before and went into the kitchen to see Minmei in a white bathrobe and cooking breakfast. She saw Rick and smiled.

"Morning Rick. Like some breakfast?"

"Uh…yeah…sure Minmei. I would like some breakfast. Minmei, we need to talk. Can you sit with me at the kitchen table for a moment?"

Minmei knew what Rick wanted to talk about but feigned ignorance. "Uh…yeah…sure Rick. What do you want to talk about?"

Rick thought deeply for a moment then threw his head back and blew out a big sigh as if trying to find the right words to say to her without trying to hurt her feelings or sounding like he was angry. "Minmei…I think what happened last night was a mistake."

"How could you"

"Minmei, don't interrupt me, let me explain please. You and I have been friends for an awfully long time, and I want to keep that friendship. I knew that if we had sex it would destroy that friendship and it would complicate things."

"How do you know it won't?!"

"Minmei you caught me at my most vulnerable moment and used that to seduce me and have sex with me!"

"You didn't answer my question Rick! Don't change the subject on me just because you don't want to answer it!"

"I'm sorry Minmei."

"What you said was a lie and you know it! You knew exactly what I was doing when I started kissing you and when I led you to my bedroom! You could have said no! I would have been fine with it!"

"You're right Minmei, I could have and should have said no but I wasn't thinking clearly then."

Just then the smoke alarm in her kitchen went off and the kitchen began filling with smoke.

"Oh, damn it the Hell this is great! Now look what you made me do!" Minmei yelled as she sprang from her chair to turn off the burner and turn on the kitchen fan.

"I'm sorry Minmei. I didn't mean for you to burn breakfast."

"It's okay Rick. I'll get something to eat on my way to the recording studio."

"Minmei, did you plan this all along?"

"OF COURSE, NOT RICK! I was being a friend that was all I was doing! I was concerned about you and I did not want you to be alone! God damn it Rick if you can't stop being suspicious about what my intentions are with you all the time then maybe we should stop being friends and I'll be happy with it because I am getting really tired of this shit you're always pulling!"

"Minmei I haven't been suspicious of your intentions lately until last night and I don't want us to stop being friends! But what happened last night…it shouldn't have happened!"

"Rick you're beginning to piss me off! I tried to be a friend to you but all I'm getting in return is you being a giant pain in the ass because you're always giving me the third degree about what happened last night!"

Minmei then stopped and began to blink and rub her forehead very vigorously. Rick became concerned.

"Are you alright Minmei?"

"No. I am beginning to get a migraine. I've found out that I'm a migraine sufferer from my doctor several days ago."

"Maybe you should stay home today."

"No, it's okay. I am going to have to take some pills. Then I am going to take a shower and get ready for the day. There's milk and cereal if you want it. The bowls are in the cupboard."

"That's okay Minmei, I'll get something to eat on my way to the commander's briefing but thanks for offering."

"Yeah whatever! Do what you want to do! I don't care!", Minmei said in a huff as she left the kitchen.

"Minmei." But Minmei did not stop, and Rick had a look of exasperation on his face as he threw his arms up in the air in frustration.

The limousine arrived at exactly 6:30am. Rick and Minmei climbed into the back seat while the chauffeur held the door. After closing the door, the chauffeur got into the driver's seat, turned on the ignition and in seconds the limo began driving away.

"Driver, can you drop Mr. Hunter off at the gate of the RDF base before going on to the record studio?"

"No problem Miss Minmei.", the chauffeur said before rolling up the partition glass.

Rick's feelings were hurt when Minmei said "Mr. Hunter" to the driver. "Minmei, that was uncalled for. You're acting like we're longer friends."

"That's because you're the one who's acting like you no longer want to be friends with me because you're the one who keep bringing up about what happened last night!"

"Minmei, never once did I say we should stop being friends and you know it! I am sorry to keep bringing it up but what happened last night was something that should not have happened. I know you were only trying to be a friend, but you went too far, and I did not stop you okay. We both did something we should not have done but we cannot go back to last night and fix it. We'll just have to move forward from there."

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want us to stop seeing each other?"

"Of course, not…but…I think we should step away and stop seeing each other for a while. I need time to think and sort everything out."

"Okay Rick, I'll do what you ask. Just call me when you want to talk to me again."

"I will Minmei."

The rest of the ride to the base was spent in awkward silence. Rick was sitting on the right side of the limo brooding while Minmei was trying to quietly sniff away tears.

"Okay, we're at the RDF base."

"Thank you, sir, I'll let myself out."

"Okay sir. You have a good day."

"You too sir."

"Rick.", Minmei said before Rick was about to close the door.

"Yes Minmei."

"I'm sorry for what happened last night. I was only trying to be a friend."

"I know you were.", Rick said before gently closing the door.

ALASKA BASE

After eating dinner Lisa went back to her room to try to relax but she knew she could not after the argument she had with Rick and the blow-up and screaming match she had with her father. She tried to read a romance novel but could only read several pages before she lost total interest in the book. She then turned on the television with the remote control and mindlessly kept flipping channels until she could not take the boredom anymore and turned the TV off. She then opened her one suitcase and took out a short pastel blue nightie.

Until she met Rick she always went to bed in a nightie. Even after she started dating Rick and spending some of the nights at his quarters, she usually brought a nightie with her from the times that she remembered to bring a change of clothes with her and she went to bed wearing a nightie. But because they usually end up being naked and making love, after a while she did not even bothered bringing a nightie with her. But because Rick was not there with her at Alaska Base (again), she brought a nightie with her because she knew it did not make any sense to her to sleep naked when Rick was not with her. She then settled in for a very sleepless night.

She was not able to sleep all night and kept tossing and turning all night in her bed. She woke up long before the alarm clock on the nightstand went off. When she got up the next morning to start her day, she suddenly began to get a queasy feeling in her stomach when she sat up at the edge of the bed. She then became violently ill and ran to the bathroom to throw up. She barely made it to the toilet when she started to throw up. After throwing up for almost over a minute, she finally began to feel better. She then went to the sink and turned on the water to rinse her mouth. 'I hope I'm not coming down with the flu. I need to be careful with the next several days.' Lisa said to herself. She then stayed in the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. She was glad that she did not have to give her presentation to her father until the next day because that gave her time to type up her presentation. After showering, putting on her makeup and putting on civilian clothes, she left her room to go the restaurant to eat breakfast.

She spent almost the whole day typing up her presentation. She typed and retyped, looking at what she typed over and over and when she was finished typing, she proofread it over and over. After what seems to be the tenth time of proofreading her presentation, she finally nodded her head in satisfaction. It was good enough to be printed and to be read to her father and the government. She then printed off her presentation. Before shutting her laptop, she decided to check her e-mail to see if she received a reply from Rick to her e-mail. There was no message from Rick in her inbox. She knew that Rick does not check his e-mail every day, so she was not worried about not getting a reply from Rick. She then looked at her watch, it read 1800 hours. '1800 hours! No wonder I am starving! I totally skipped lunch!' She then got her room key card and left her room for the restaurant. After coming back in her room, she turned on the TV. She watched TV until extremely late at night. She then turned off the TV and began to yawn and stretch her body. She then took off her clothes and put on a fresh nightie and climbed into bed. Because she had a restless night before and after working on her presentation for almost the whole day, she turned off the lamp that was on the nightstand and immediately fell asleep.

The alarm clock went off at 0530 hours. Lisa hit the snooze button and turned off the alarm. She began to sit up in the bed, she began to get the same upset butterfly feeling in her stomach. 'Oh no, not again!" Lisa said to herself as she ran to the bathroom. As she was throwing up in the toilet, she said to herself; "I must be coming down with the flu, but the funny thing is, I don't feel sick. Maybe I should go the base clinic before leaving just to be safe. Do not want to contaminate anyone. Well, since I'm here in the bathroom, I might as well do my usual thing.' She then turned on the shower faucet, stripped off her nightie and climbed into the bathtub to take her shower. After finishing her shower and drying herself, she went into the main room to put on her makeup and uniform. After putting on her uniform she packed up her suitcase and looked around to see if she left anything behind. She then walked out of her room and went to the restaurant to eat breakfast. After she finished eating and paying for her breakfast, she turned in her room key card and waited for the driver. At 0740, a young, small, and thin female enlisted RDF Marine with blue eyes and short brunette hair walked into the lobby and went up to Lisa.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you Commander Hayes?"

"Yes I am."

"Hello ma'am, I'm Corporal Shannon Dawson. I'm your driver for the time you are here at Alaska Base."

"Hello Corporal Dawson. Let us leave then."

"Yes ma'am. Stay in here ma'am while I go get the car. It's very chilly outside."

Corporal Dawson then went outside. A minute later, Lisa saw the corporal pull up to the front of the lodge with the car. Lisa began walking outside. Corporal Dawson then got out of the car, opened the trunk and stowed the suitcase inside the trunk. Lisa climbed into the back seat while Corporal Dawson went into the driver's side. Lisa went through the same two security check points she had to endure when she was with Captain Gloval. After arriving at the entrance of the underground security compound, Lisa got out of the car and walked inside. There inside was the tramcar waiting to take her to conference room. When the tramcar finally stopped, Lisa climbed out and walked over to the security desk. The desk sergeant picked up the phone and told Lisa that she can enter. Lisa marched into the cavernous conference room. Sitting on the other side of long and large conference table was her father and five senior RDF officers. Lisa marched to the middle of the table where her father was, stopped, came to attention, and saluted.

"Sir, Commander Lisa Hayes requesting to speak to you, the Joint Staff, and government officials on the behest of Captain Henry Gloval."

Admiral Hayes returned the salute. "As you were commander. Take a seat."

"Yes sir."

On giant HD video monitors that were in front of Lisa, the images of UEDC, UN and UEG officials came on.

"I believe all of us are here. Let's get this started then. Commander, I believe you have something to present to us.", Admiral Hayes said.

"Yes sir. With your permission, may I give a statement of the reason why I am here?"

"Permission granted commander."

"Thank you, sir."

Lisa started her statement by telling everyone the whole backstory of how the Zentraedi began to intercept television transmissions from the SDF -1 and later they inserted three spies onto the SDF-1 to spy on them. The same three spies who later defected and asked for political asylum. She continued her briefing by telling the officials about the spies having never been exposed to human culture became to know and appreciate our culture. She concluded her statement by saying that Gloval thought it would be worth a try to try to contact the Zentraedi and ask them if they are willing to negotiate a peace deal with them and that is why he sent her to Earth to try to seek permission to contact the Zentraedi. After she finished, everyone was stunned at what Captain Gloval was proposing.

Admiral Hayes started the questioning. "So, let me see if we got this straight commander. Your commanding officer wants us to try to contact an alien warrior race bent on total conquest and destruction to see if they are willing to negotiate a peace deal with us?"

"Yes sir."

"What makes him think that they will?", an RDF Navy admiral asked.

"To be truthful with you sir he did tell me that he has his own doubts that it would even work but he said we have to at least try."

"Has any effort been made to contact the Zentraedi?", an RDF Air Force general asked.

"Far as I know sir, no effort has been made to contact them. But I have not been able to contact the SDF-1 since I arrived here the day before yesterday because I have busy drafting my statement to you sir, so they may have been able to contact the Zentraedi since then, but I do not know for sure if they did."

"Has the three spies been arrested and charged with espionage?", An RDF Marine Corps general asked.

"No sir."

"And why not?"

"Because sir they came to us in peace asking for political asylum. It wouldn't have made any sense to arrest them when they were asking for political asylum."

"You would expect us to believe that a bunch of aliens who know nothing but annihilating other worlds should be given political asylum just because they have never been exposed to human culture?", an RDF Army general asked.

"In all honesty sir, no I don't expect you to believe me, but you should because I am not lying, and I never lie."

"She's right Scott. I have never known her to lie."

Lisa was taken aback by her father defending her because it was something that he had never done. She could not figure out what was his motive in him standing up for her, but she was not impressed, nor did she even care why he did it.

"And how do you know that they are telling the truth commander?", the Australian ambassador asked.

"Mr. Ambassador, you have the reports from the ship's J-2 and RDF Intelligence. It's up to you whether you want to believe them or not."

"Do you believe them commander?", the South Korean ambassador asked.

"Yes, Madam Ambassador I do."

"In your opinion commander do you believe what Captain Gloval is proposing will even work?", the German ambassador asked.

"To be perfectly frank with you and everyone else Madam Ambassador, no I do not."

"Then why did you come here?", the Russian ambassador asked.

"Because Mr. Ambassador I was ordered to by my commanding officer. I am a military officer and I obey what I am ordered to do by my superiors."

"In your opinion commander, what do you think we should do?", the Japanese Ambassador asked.

"My belief is the same as when I first reported to you over a year ago Mr. Ambassador that we should prepare ourselves for interplanetary war."

"What is our current defensive posture Admiral Hayes?", the Italian representative asked.

"Madam Ambassador our forces are currently at Global DEFCON 2 and our FPCON level is at Condition Charlie. We are still taking steps to ensure that Earth is more than adequately defended but we should be finished very shortly. Does anyone have any more questions for the commander?"

No one spoke.

"Very well then. We will vote by secret ballot. Commander, if you would step outside while we vote. We will let you know very shortly on how we voted."

"Yes sir."

Lisa marched outside the conference room to wait. Several minutes later the phone on the desk sergeant's desk rang. He picked it up and after only a few seconds, he put the phone back in its cradle.

"Ma'am they have just finished voting. You can go back in. Admiral Hayes says you do not have to report. Just go on in and have a seat."

"Thank you, sergeant."

"You're welcome ma'am."

Lisa opened the door, marched in, and took a seat. Admiral Hayes spoke

"Commander Hayes, I'm not going to sugarcoat this, and I know you don't expect us or allow us to either…but it is the opinion of all of us that we will not negotiate with the Zentraedi because we believe it will be futile to do so or even try to. If Captain Gloval tries to contact the Zentraedi on his own initiative, he is free to do so but we order him no to. I'm sorry commander but I'm afraid that you have made this trip to Earth for nothing."

"No apologies are necessary sir. I understand. I will tell Captain Gloval of your decision. Permission to leave sir.", Lisa said as she stood up and saluted.

"Permission granted. Have a good day and please tell Captain Gloval that I said hello.", Admiral Hayes said as he returned Lisa's salute.

"I will sir.", Lisa said before she walked out of the conference room.

After she left the conference room, she took the tramcar to the surface, got out and saw that the driver was waiting for her. Lisa got in the back seat and closed the door. As she was driving Lisa to airfield, Corporal Dawson noticed in the rearview mirror that Lisa was looking pale. She became concerned.

"Ma'am pardon me for being nosey but you don't look so well. Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not corporal. I have been throwing up for the past two mornings. I must be coming down with the flu."

"That's funny ma'am, because I haven't heard anything about the flu going around and there haven't been any flu advisories posted. Do you want to stop at the base clinic to make sure you're okay before I take you to the air base ma'am?"

"Yes, that would be a good idea corporal. Take me to the base clinic."

"Yes ma'am."

Corporal Dawson drove Lisa to the base clinic. Before she got out of the car Lisa told Corporal Dawson to go inside the clinic with her so she can stay in a warm building instead of staying in a car that would eventually turn cold. Shannon followed Lisa inside the clinic and had a seat in the waiting room. Lisa went up to the intake and triage desk and told the nurse that she might have the flu. The nurse gave Lisa a form that was on a clipboard and told her to fill out the form and to have a seat until she was called by a nurse who then take her vital signs and ask some more questions. Lisa waited for almost an hour until a female nurse called her name. Lisa was taken to a back room where the nurse took her vital signs and asked some questions.

Five minutes later, a female doctor who looked and spoke like she is from India, but her name plate read Lieutenant Colonel Priya Spencer came in and asked Lisa more questions but more detailed. After telling the doctor what symptoms she has, the doctor told Lisa to take off her uniform and to put on a hospital gown. After doing some tests and feeling her stomach, the doctor ordered blood and urine samples be taken. After her blood was drawn and her urine was taken, Lisa waited for almost another hour before the doctor came in.

"Well, I have some news for you Commander Hayes and one of them is that you do not show any signs and symptoms of the flu, so you definitely do not have the flu."

Lisa was genuinely relieved to hear the news. "That's good news doctor. It must be something else then. It's not contagious isn't it?"

"No, it's not commander."

"That's good because I'm flying back to the SDF-1 just as soon as you clear me."

"I'm afraid that I cannot clear you or allow you to fly much less leave Earth commander."

"Why not?"

"You're pregnant."

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTES

MILITARY ACRONYMS:

For those of you who might be wondering from reading my story, DEFCON is different from FPCON.

DEFCON which is a United States military acronym for Defense readiness Condition, are graduated numeric levels of readiness or states of alert for the U.S. military going from DEFCON 5 (lowest state of readiness) to DEFCON 1 (war is imminent) to match varying military situations and it also assesses the number of military forces needed to be deployed in a situation with a certain likelihood of attack against the civilian population.

FPCON which is a United States military acronym for "Force Protection Condition" describes the number of measures needed to be taken by security agencies in response to various levels of terrorist threats against military facilities. Like DEFCON, FPCON has five graduated levels of condition. It goes from FPCON NORMAL (no terrorist activity) to PFCON DELTA (terrorist activity has occurred or has just occurred in the immediate area).

Wikipedia has a good article on both FPCON and DEFCON. Because Fanfiction does not allow hyperlinking, hotlinking, or the showing of other websites' URL, you will have look for them by searching at Wikipedia. Just type in "force protection condition" and "DEFCON" in the search box at Wikipedia's home page.