"How are you doing so far, Jack?" I asked.

We were having dinner in the officers' mess. The dinner that I was eating was a ground beef casserole with tomatoes and bell peppers. Jack was having some sort of fish, perhaps tilapia or cod.

"Everything's going great," said Major Jack Emerson.

The first few days after we returned kept us busy, as we unpacked everything and made sure to keep a record of it, some of it resulting in me being buried in paperwork for hours. Things have slowed down a bit, to as slow as a military combat unit could be during wartime; I had noticed Jack had been spending a lot of time out of the office.

And yet he was still reeling over Nina's death, and to top that off Lieutenant Colonel Lupon Kravshera was wounded and we did not even know if he would return to duty. Jack had not spent much time in grade to earn a promotion to lieutenant colonel under normal circumstances, and we would expect another lieutenant colonel to take command if Kravshera could not return to duty, but these were not normal times. I remembered reading somewhere that some of the officers and enlistees who served in the SDF-1 campaign got rapidly promoted.

"Just take care," I said. "You were training for this."

"I know," replied Jack. "I took some graveyard shifts before, but now I have complete charge. At least I know you and Lieutenant Chalmers and Master Sergeant Avital will support me."

Ooooooo

One afternoon, Jack was meeting with me in his office about some matter dealing with the readiness of the battalion.

"Yes," said Jack, looking towards the door where Master Sergeant Rebekah Avital was waiting.

"May I come in and talk to you alone?"

"I trust the lieutenant here," said Jack, referring to me. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of him. Just remember that what you say and hear stays in this office."

"Yes, sir," answered Avital, closing the door. "I have reservations about your command style."

"What reservations, Master Sergeant?" asked Jack, leaning back against his chair.

"You spent most of last day at logistics company."

"Logistics is very important to our combat readiness, Avital. I need to know how things are going. And Lieutenant Proudcloud tells me everything is going well."

"You don't need to look over the shoulders of the soldiers as they do their jobs, like you did when you were standing behind that clerk. I don't do that anymore; I leave that for the sergeants and staff sergeants. Yes, I understand that you have to meet with the troop and company captains. And yes, I understand this is the first time you had the responsibility to command an entire battalion. But you have to learn when to let us do our jobs, Major. That's as important as knowing when to tell us what to do."

The master sergeant did have a point here. Jack had a lot of responsibilities now that he was in command.

"Thank you for your advice, Master Sergeant Avital," said Jack. "I am sure you have important work to do. Dismissed. Both of you."

"Yes, sir," we replied, standing at attention and presenting arms.

oooooo

I walked along the sidewalk on the street in the family housing project, where soldiers with dependents were billeted. Houses lined the streets, with cars parked in some of the driveways. I approached one of the homes, a two-story house.

I rang the door, and a dark-haired woman answered it. I introduced myself.

"We were expecting you," she said.

I got a message from Lieutenant Colonel Lupon Kravshera, inviting me to his home. I wore casual clothes- jeans and a short-sleeved green collared shirt, as this was definitely not official military business. The woman who answered the door was his wife; I remembered meeting her at the Christmas party on base months ago.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the house was the prevalence of little kids' plastic toys, some of them in corners, others sitting in the middle of the wooden floor. Two kids, a boy with black hair and a girl with purple hair ran around. Neither of them looked to be more than six years old.

"Who is the man, Mommy?" asked the girl.

"A friend of your daddy's," replied Mrs. Kravshera.

I then saw the colonel.

He was not in military uniform. He wore shorts and a T-shirt and a cast on his left foot. He was sitting in a wheelchair, and a man in his late fifties to early sixties with streaks of gray in his black hair pushed the wheelchair to the living room. His skin was a ruddy brown, and it looked like harsh weather drew a pattern of lines on his face.

"Welcome to my home," said Colonel Kravshera. "You've met my wife Leslie."

"Yes," replied Leslie Kravshera. "I remember this young man from that Christmas party." She looked at me. "I thank you for saving my husband's life."

"You are welcome," I said in reply. It was hard to believe that happened almost a month ago. "He would do the same for me and his people."

The two kids ran up to me.

"Thank this man for saving daddy," said Mrs. Kravshera.

"Thank you," said the boy.

"And you are?" I asked the older man.

"Call me Johnny," he answered, clad in a plaid shirt and Levi's jeans. "I'm Leslie's father. I flew in from Arizona to help her take care of Lupon. So you are a soldier."

"Yes, sir," I said. "A third lieutenant and a VHT-1 Spartas veritech hovertank driver."

"I too am a veteran, Arizona National Guard, infantry, staff sergeant. I fought in the Global Civil War about thirty years ago."

I remembered learning about the war from history classes. "What was that war about?"

"I don't know," replied Johnny. "It was over so many reasons, and there were as many as six sides. One nation that was an ally one day would be an enemy the next day. All we accomplished was killing over a billion people and destroying so much of the planet. And there was never a real peace treaty. Sure, there was a truce among the big nations after that ship crashed here, but fighting continued in places like eastern Europe and central America."

"I've prepared lunch," said Mrs. Kravshera.

"You know, ma'am," I added, "in the Army we can lunch dinner and dinner supper."

"I'm an Army wife, Lieutenant."

She set up lunch at the dining table. There were tortilla chips and salsa, some tacos and other dishes, and this kind of bread. I tried it; it tasted different from most bread.

"That's corn bread," said Mrs. Kravshera. "It's a classic from the American Southwest, dating back before Columbus was a gleam in his daddy's eye."

"It tastes different," I said.

"The kids love it, though. I always tell them to behave good or else they don't get corn bread. I've also learned to cook new recipes."

"You know, Mrs. Kravshera, there's an Italian-Spanish-Lebanese fusion restaurant in Tangier. You might try going there for dinner some time. And I mean dinner as in the evening."

"Is everything all right back at the office?" asked Colonel Kravshera, taking a taco.

"Yes, sir," I said. "Jack, uh Major Emerson, he's growing into the role of battalion commander. Last time I checked, we were combat ready."

"I know the Army wasn't Emerson's first choice," said the colonel. "But he's able to do well."

And we talked some more. They learned about my life in Jamaica, even about jerk cuisine, and I learned about Mrs. Kravshera's old life in Arizona, before she got married.

"I joined the National Guard to get a chance to leave the rez once in a while and have the state pay for it," said Johnny. "Then I was overseas for a year at a time. I don't know if I would have left Jamaica though. It seems too much like paradise to want to join the military and be deployed on the other side of the world."

"Only parts of Jamaica are paradise," I said. "The interior is known for shantytowns and poverty."

"Sounds like the Arizona back country, away from the cities and the big ranches."

"Not all problems can be solved with guns," said Mrs. Kravshera. "But this war is probably one of those problems."

None of us had to speak it, but the war will be decided in space. Whoever controlled the space around Earth would be the winner.

Johnny was outside, a glass of cold beer in his hand.

"How do you like Morocco?" I asked.

"I was surprised when I first saw the scenery," said Johnny. ""I thought the whole place would be a desert."

"The desert is behind the mountains," I said.

"Yeah. A lot of people think desert when thinking of Arizona, and I don't blame them. A lot of the rez- the Navajo reservation- is desert. Phoenix and Tucson are in the middle of the desert. But we have grass and forests too in Arizona. I once worked at a ski resort near Flagstaff when I was sixteen."

"I worked a hot dog stand on the beach near Kingston when I was that age," I said.

"You have brothers and sisters?"

"One brother, Paul. He lives with his wife and son in Jamaica."

"I had a kid brother. He wanted to be an astronaut. He joined the Spacy and became an aviator, flying one of those transforming planes. He was killed during the SDF-1 campaign."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Some of the soldiers in our battalion were killed in combat."

"It wasn't until after the war was over that I learned about his death. The Zentraedi started living among us, some of them even shrinking to our size. I wasn;t concerned at first, there weren't too many Zentraedi wanting to live in northern Arizona, most of them settled in places like New York and Detroit. A lot of them went into the U.N. military, as they were warriors bred from a clone chamber. The U.N. had a base near Flagstaff, and that was how Lupon met my Leslie."

"They seem to be happy."

"I didn't agree with the relationship. My daughter was marrying an alien, an alien who fought against us. She might have been marrying her uncle's killer. I only went to the wedding because I didn't want her to hate me, and because of the food. It took a long time for me to get over it, to stop hating that she married a Zentraedi."

"The war'sover. The Zentraedi Nation is now a member of the United Nations."

We went back into the house. Soon all the food was finished.

"Mrs. Kravshera, thank you for this," I said to her.

"It was my pleasure having guests over," said Mrs. Kravshera.

"It was her idea," said Colonel Kravshera. "You had a duty to rescue me, just like I had the duty to do the same for you and the others. But you rescued her husband, and that's why you were entitled to a reward. For as long as I remembered, I thought that fighting was the meaning for life. But living among Micronians, and raising Micronian children, experiencing their cultures, I knew what I was fighting for."

"Good bye," said the Kravshera kids.

Ooooooo

The next afternoon, just about an hour before the day shift ended, Jack made an announcement.

"We need to get the troop and company captains here for a meeting," said the major.

So we did. I picked up a telephone and dialed a number.

"Lieutenant Meyers here," said Mike.

"Mike, Jack wants all troop captains to a meeting right away."

"All right, I'm coming."

Soon all of the troop and company captains arrived. We all met in the battalion briefing room, a room with very little furniture save for a table next to the wall. A coffee pot sat on the table. The room's walls had various maps and charts. Jack, Lieutenant Chalmers, and Master Sergeant Avital faced us all.

"We are being deployed to Moon Base ALuCE," said Jack. "Inform the troops, make sure we are all ready to go. I will be in contact with the Air Force transports. Once we arrive on base, I will brief you on our mission there."

"Yes, sir," we all said.

Today was going to be busy. I had the task of having to contact the headquarters of the Air Force transport wing that would be responsible for transporting us to the moon.

I remembered reading about the lunar missions. The first lunar landing was before my time, before my parents' time, even. Further manned missions and probes revealed a huge underground lake, as big as Earth's Arctic Ocean, which enabled the establishment of a permanent colony and a United Nations base there. Part of me was excited to visit the moon that I had seen all of my life.

And so we all worked, taking inventory of all equipment, ammunition, and supplies, making sure our veritech hovertanks were working, and making sure all of us soldiers were in top shape. Master Sergeant Avital was out in the garages, making sure to supervise everything, or at least follow up with the troop captains and executive sergeants.

"We're ready to go," said Jack. "All we have to do is wait for the Air Force."

The Air Force was not ready for us yet. We relied on the Air Force to shuttle us around the world or into deep space, much like how the Space Marines relied on the Spacy for those functions. It did annoy me a bit that we spent all that effort getting ready as fast as we could without the Air Force being ready when we were done. But I figured that the Air Force's transport wings must be very busy if they had to shuttle not only us, but other military units to ALuCE.

Finally, I got word that we were ready.

"Major, the 8th Transport Wing informs us that they are ready," I said to Jack.

"Perfect," said Jack. "Inform all troop and company captains that we are moving out now!"

And we did. We got into the trucks. After about an hour or so, we arrived at the air base in Spain from where we would be transported to the moon. I looked around the place. This was where Nina had been stationed, and where we had a battle a few months ago, a battle that Lieutenant Isamu Shirogane did not survive. It looked like the damage to the buildings had been repaired. We made sure everything on the list was here.

"All right, people," said Jack; we all stood at attention. "We are boarding the shuttles that will take us to the moon. We will be escorted by Spacy vessels that will cover us from attacks by the Robotech Masters."

I was assigned to board the Liewneuatzs cargo shuttle that was carrying our veritech hovertanks to the moon. I watched as the soldiers loaded the hovertanks and secured them with straps and bolts.

I spoke with the pilot, dressed in some green outfit.

"So you're not a butter bar anymore," I said. "Madam."

"I got promoted a few months ago," replied Second Lieutenant Shelby Porter. She looked pretty much the same as before, except for a scar on her forehead.

"Congratulations on your promotion, madam," I said. "So now you get to fly transports."

"I was transferred to this squadron after almost all of my squadron was destroyed in that offensive against the Robotech Masters," she replied. "Sometimes I can't believe they're all gone."

"Well, I have to babysit these hovertanks," I said even as the last of them were loaded into the cargo shuttle.

I entered the Liewneuatzs's passenger cabin, which was directly behind the cockpit. I could see the instrument panel. Shelby and another pilot, a man, sat in the seats. I sat down on this seat facing towards the cockpit window. An airman sat on the seat on the opposite side.

"All right," said the male pilot. "Everyone strap yourselves in."

I felt the shuttle taxi for a few minutes, and then I felt it tilt.

"What is this?" I asked.

"We are being loaded on a launcher," answered Shelby even as she checked the flight and engine instruments.

"Errand Flight Two Four, we are ready for takeoff," said the pilot. "We copy."

I sat in the seat, patiently. I knew the drill; we all had to work as fast as we could to get ready, but we could not go forth until the last person is ready. And there were almost always one delay or another. I took out a picture of me and Melissa, wondering what she was doing now.

"Copy that," said the pilot after a long while. "We are taking off."

I felt myself squeezed against the back of the seat as the Liewneuatzs cargo shuttle lifted off, flying into the sky. I felt vibrations, as if some invisible force was shaking me. The last time I had experienced this, I was a captive of the Robotech Masters. Now, while I was with friendly forces, I could not exactly step off the shuttle now.

"Altitude ten miles," said Shelby.

As I continued to feel the shaking, I could see the sky outside turn black; we were out of the atmosphere.

"Shutting off main thrusters," said the lead pilot, pressing buttons and flipping switches on the panel. "We are now orbiting the Earth. Awaiting instruction to begin lunar trajectory."

The rumbling stopped. I took a piece of lint from my pocket, and it started floating.

"Keep yourself strapped in, Lieutenant," said Shelby. "We will be burning the thrusters again to reach the moon."

Soon enough, I felt myself squeezed to my seat and felt the shuttle shake as the thrusters were burning, expelling reaction mass and placing the ship on a course to the moon.

"There," said the main pilot. "There might be slight bursts of acceleration to correct our course, but we should be able to coast to the moon most of the rest of the way."

"Wow," I said. "I thought you'd have to keep the engines running all the time."

"Most of the fuel is used during takeoff," said Shelby. "We let gravity take us most of the distance." She checked the gauges,. "We should have more than enough fuel to land at ALuCE."

Suddenly, this red siren went on.

"The enemy has decided to attack the convoy," said the lead pilot.

"What do we do, sir?" I asked.

"We stay on course for now. The space vessels will cover for us."

Outside, I could see some flashes. That must be the space battle.

"Strap yourselves in," said the lead pilot. "We need to make some evasive maneuvers."

And we did. I could feel the shuttle accelerating even as I saw more flashes through the window. I felt the ship suddenly shake really hard. I wondered if we were hit.

I wondered if we would make it to the moon alive.