Chapter 6
Nearly twenty-four hours later, the P2 was heading home, the warship and its crew fully intact, if somewhat weary. Operation Homefront had been a complete success; more than they could ever have imagined. The Commander's idea of turning the tables on the Spectrans, by attacking them after their two large mecha had been destroyed, had proven to be the correct decision. Between the P2 and the Red Ranger Team, the planetary defense net and the seven main aerospace bases the Spectrans had established on Earth had been obliterated, and these assaults had wiped out the only serious source of resistance to the Federation's offensive. The Red Rangers had attacked Fallon Aerospace Base in Nevada, North America, Pirassununga Aerospace Base in Brazil, South America, and Richmond Base in Southeastern Australia. The P2 had focused on Ramstein in Germany, Central Europe, Kadena in Okinawa, Southeastern Asia, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, Southern Asia, and the Lipetsk Base in Moscow, Central Asia.
The data that Princess had been able to download at Ramstein had been correct, and not only had G-Force and the Red Rangers been able to use it to concentrate on the greatest threats, the data about each individual Spectran base had been used to plan those attacks. Once they had cleared out the majority of the Spectran troops, the Federation Forces had landed on the planet and performed a ground-based operation to retake control of major cities and aerospace bases. These soldiers had been met with open arms by the Terran civilians, and the Snakeheads had quickly fled, putting up little fight. Jason had joked that the goons always knew when the time was good to go.
For their part, the Federation Forces had let the occupying troops flee the planet in small escape pods and Fighter Jets, although Galaxy Security had given orders to stop any large vessels from departing. The Spectran Empire had already raped the Earth of far too many of its precious resources in the past sixteen months, and Chief Anderson didn't want any more lost during these last few moments of the Spectran Occupation.
After dealing with the potential threats of the planet's biggest Spectran bases, the P2 and the Red Rangers helped the regular Federation Forces wipe out the two dozen or so smaller enemy bases around the planet, whose locations Princess had uncovered through her data search at Ramstein. Once the main bases had been destroyed, the other Spectran installations simply surrendered or fled, making G-Force's job much easier.
With the exception of Clytac's demise (the Federation Forces had discovered his body among the ruined remnants of his computer system in his apartment on the western coast of North America), everything had gone just about as well as anyone could have expected. Based on their brief transmissions with Galaxy Security, even Chief Anderson was pleased with the success of Operation Homefront.
There was only one problem.
It had been too easy.
Everyone was so excited about their victory, that no one else seemed to share the Commander's feeling of unease. It was almost as if once the G-Force Team had arrived and made a few offensive maneuvers, the Spectrans had simply given up and fled the planet.
Why?
Why would the Spectran Empire work so hard to take over the Earth, only to abandon it at the first sign of trouble? Of course, the Commander's strategy had been to catch the enemy unprepared, and perhaps the Federation had simply been more successful at that than he had foreseen.
After their return to Riga, the Eagle spoke with Chief Anderson about this matter, and while they both carefully investigated the possibility of Spectran response to their attack, no evidence could be found to refute the fact that the Federation had re-taken the Earth. While Mark still felt somewhat uneasy, after a few days he discovered that he had become more accepting of the Federation's victory, although as the G-Force Commander, he was of course ever vigilant for any sign of Spectran trickery.
Although the liberation of Earth was cause enough for celebration, Mark had another reason to be excited: his memories were coming back to him. There was no apparent rhyme or reason to their return, it was simply that little pieces of information were coming back to him as he experienced 'familiar' circumstances. Now that he was certain that his past was being restored to him, the time had come to tell Princess his exciting news.
That night, Mark took Princess back to their quarters earlier than usual. The moment he shut the door, the Swan sighed happily, winding her arms around the Eagle's neck and pressing her cheek against his.
"I can see that you wanted some time alone together…" she whispered, her fingers trailing along his jaw. "You just couldn't wait to get out of the Ready Room…"
"I do want to be alone with you." Mark murmured, gently removing Princess' arms from around his neck. "But not for that reason. We need to talk."
"Oh." Princess' face fell slightly, but she quickly smiled back at him.
"What's going on?" she asked brightly.
"Something good." Mark reassured Princess as he sat down next to her on the bed. "My memories are returning."
"They are?" Princess' eyes lit up. "How do you know?"
"Well, at first I had a dream… about what happened the day of the Spectran Invasion. At the time I wasn't certain whether it was a true recollection, or just something my mind had conjured up. But in the past few days, I've had brief flashes of memory. Something will just trigger a recollection from my past…"
"So, you've been recalling the past for a few days…"
"Yes. But it wasn't until today that I felt that these were truly actual memories; not just imaginings. But everything is so real… so right… that I felt confident telling you this."
"I see…" Princess paused, as if she were searching for the right words. "Mark… have you had any recollections…. about me?"
Mark's head snapped up. The surprised expression on his face spoke volumes.
"Well, actually, I…"
He was sitting at a booth in a small restaurant. A young woman with long, dark hair was behind the bar, cleaning up and preparing drinks for a few customers. She turned his way, her green eyes brightening when she looked at him, sending a brilliant smile in his direction.
But he quickly averted his eyes, pretending not to notice her hurt expression as he looked away. It wasn't like this had never happened before…
"I did, just now." Mark admitted, his mind troubled. Why had he been ignoring Princess in this recollection?
"Oh." Princess lowered her eyes, staring at her hands in her lap. "What did you remember?"
"You…" Mark wasn't entirely certain what he wanted to say. Should he reveal that his memory of her wasn't entirely kindly?
"You were working in a restaurant." he said. "Behind a bar."
"Jill's." Princess said, looking up cautiously. "I used to work there part time, and I lived above the restaurant with Keyop."
"That sounds right…" Mark's brow furrowed as he considered it. "Yes, I think that was it. Jill's."
"Do you remember anything else about me?"
Princess' expression appeared pinched and nervous. Mark's heart went out to her.
"I remember that I love you." he smiled, before pulling her into his arms and capturing her mouth with his.
Princess responded eagerly, and before long they were lost in the intimate pleasures that never grew old between them. And yet, there was something different. Somehow, Princess' actions and reactions held an underlying note of sadness, and of desperation.
It was as if she felt that they would never be joined again.
Mark did his best to reassure her, uncertain as to what was going on in the Swan's mind. He let his actions speak for him, touching and caressing her in a manner meant to show her that there was no one else he would rather be with.
But after their immediate passions had been satisfied, she clung to him in a way that made Mark uncomfortable. He had never known Princess to be so emotionally needy.
"What's wrong, Princess?" he asked her gently, tipping her face upward so that she was forced to look him in the eye.
"I don't want to talk about it." she whispered sadly.
"Princess, if you can't talk to me…"
"You don't remember everything yet." she sighed sadly. "Let me just hold onto the hope that when you do remember, that things might not change, between us."
"What is it that you're afraid I will remember, Princess?" Mark's voice was tight. She knew how he had longed for his past, his identity, to be restored to him. And now she was exhibiting reluctance for this to happen?
This wasn't the Princess… the Kristin… that he knew.
"I guess it's better if I tell you, first." Princess admitted. "Although, I'm not exactly sure about all of it."
"What is it?" the Eagle was beginning to lose patience.
"Before… you didn't think of me 'this' way." Princess revealed, gesturing to their physical closeness as Mark held her unclothed form in his arms. "I had feelings for you, but you were never interested in me. I was your friend; always at arm's length."
"Always?"
"Well, occasionally you would say something a little more than that in Zark's Ready Room." Princess admitted. "But afterward, you would always act as if you hadn't. I understood that I had no place in your life, outside of the Team."
"You definitely have a place in my life outside of the Team." Mark reassured her. "We wouldn't have been together all of those months in Corsica, if there hadn't been something wonderful between us."
"And yet, you were never interested before." Princess pointed out. "I guess…. I'm just afraid that when you remember everything, you'll remember why that was…"
"I already know what it was."
"You do?"
"Jason told me." Mark shrugged. "I guess, before, the Chief told me that as Commander, I wasn't allowed to have personal relationships on the Team. Haven't you noticed that Chief Anderson seems uncomfortable with the idea of the two of us being together?"
"Well, yes, but I thought that was because we were his children…" Princess replied. "He actually told you that you weren't allowed to have a relationship with me?"
"That's what Jason said." Mark answered her. "But it doesn't matter what happened back then. What matters is that we are together now, and I'm not about to let us be separated over something like that!"
"You're not?" Princess' face was filled with joyous hope.
"No. I already said as much, to the Chief, months ago." Mark informed her. "How do you think I convinced him to allocate joint quarters for us?"
"Oh, Mark…"
The rest of Princess' words were lost as her mouth found other ways of expressing her joy. For his part, Mark wasn't about to protest such treatment.
It was some time before they drifted off to sleep, wrapped in each other's arms.