"So we meet," said the man.
I sat on a chair facing a steel table. The man was dressed in this blue tunic, and had purplish-blue hair. Standing in the room, in the corner, was Supreme Commander Tom Washington. The man in the room was an envoy of the Robotech Masters.
The plan was to privately inform the Robotech Masters that I was alive and under the protection of the United Earth Forces. Washington had invited the Masters to send an envoy to negotiate my delivery into their custody. We all met in this interrogation room in the Spacy Police Headquarters in the Roswell Fleet Yards. The only light came from an overhead incandescent lamp.
"We will now take custody of the man who murdered two members of our Ruling Triumvirate," said the envoy.
"Not so fast," replied the Supreme Commander. "We did not say that we will turn him over to you. We simply informed your lady that we have him under our protection, and we are considering turning him over to your custody. I will decide whether to make a deal to turn him over. What do you have to offer?"
"We have been cooperative with your Plenipotentiary Council so far. We still have the protoculture matrix, and we still defend it. Turn him over, and we will continue to supply you with the protoculture."
"You still need us. You can not defeat the Invid by yourselves. They are coming to reclaim the protoculture, and that ship will be their first target."
"Which is why this issue needs to be resolved the soonest. We can not work together if we harbor murderers, especially murderers of heads of state. Would you cooperate with us, or anyone else, who harbored the murderer of the Chairman of your Plenipotentiary Council?"
"No, we would not."
"Then why keep him under your protection? Why conceal the fact that he is still alive?"
"We have reliable intel," said Washington, "that rogue elements orchestrated the murders of the two ladies from your Ruling Triumvirate, and that they also orchestrated the attempted murder of this man. We initially agreed with the Jamaican government to keep him in custody as they were trying him for those murders because of those concerns."
"Rogue elements?" asked the envoy. "You could be one of these rogue elements, even the mastermind."
"But why keep him under our protection. Why not kill him to eliminate a witness?"
"Maybe you owe him a favor. Rogue elements do not necessarily break their promises or betray their allies."
"Then help us. Help us find whoever was behind the attack in Kingston. We all want justice here."
"Justice is when we try him," said the Robotech Masters' envoy. "He will receive a fair trial, be permitted an advocate, and call witnesses. And the trial shall be open for all you Micronians to see. Remember that this galaxy is a big place, and there are thousands of worlds where the Robotech Masters can start over. I speak with the voice of my lady. Either turn him over right now, or we shall leave with the protoculture matrix and you to the mercy of our old enemies, the Invid."
"Let me tell you something," I said. "Your lady was the mastermind behind the whole thing. She had her sisters killed just to take all the protoculture for herself."
"How dare you attack our lady!" snapped the envoy.
"I will go with you just to tell it to her face!"
"Listen," said Supreme Commander Washington, "I'm sure we can all work…"
And then multicolored lights filled the room. I could hear footsteps of policemen outside running about, wondering what is going on.
"What is this?" asked Washington. "A hyperspace fold? But we're not on a ship."
Then the lights disappeared, and suddenly I heard a loud, air raid siren. A few seconds later, I heard the familiar sounds of gunfire and explosions.
"What is this?" asked the supreme commander. "You're attacking us?"
"They've come," said the envoy.
Several policemen entered, brandishing their M-9 Beretta semiautomatic pistols.
"General?" asked one of them.
"You two, our guests to safety," replied the Supreme Commander. "Lieutenant, I need an escort to the nearest command post."
"Yes, sir," replied the police lieutenant.
The envoy, two policemen, and I exited the building. The scene that greeted me was the chaos of a battlefield, a sight I had soon all too often. The attackers were these giant mechanical crabs- I could not tell if they were drones or piloted vehicles. They were in combat with the base's Space Marine detachment's destroids and veritech hovertanks. I also noticed some armored infantry, clearly the enemy, engaged in combat with the Space Marine infantry. The remains of combat drones littered the landscape.
Some Robotech masters soldiers ran up to us.
"Take him to our ship," said the envoy.
"Yes, sir," replied the soldier.
That meant me! They were taking me prisoner.
We sneaked through the base-turned-battlefield, with the occasional explosion kicking up dirt and debris. It was almost like walking through a movie. I could hear screams as some of the Space Marines were hit. The smoke was thin and somehow smelled spicy. Two Robotech Masters red bioroids covered for us. We somehow made it to the transport shuttle. I looked out the open door, and saw the bird's eye view of the attack. There were no clear battle lines. It was like the enemy was scattered throughout the base, exchanging fire with the defenders. Another crab-like war machine flew towards us, and was promptly destroyed in a hail of fire.
One of the soldiers strapped me to my seat. They clearly intended to keep my safe.
Safe for my execution, I thought.
A few minutes later, I saw the Robotech Masters capital ship. I had noticed that it sort of resembled the old SDF-1 Macross. The transport ship soon landed in one of the landing bays.
I was hauled through the corridors, escorted by armed guards. I suddenly noticed multicolored lights permeating the room; we were going through a hyperspace fold. It stopped just as I was led into a cell block and placed in a small cell.
Over a year ago, I was a prisoner on this ship, and I was a prisoner again. I wondered what was happening back on Earth. Did those alien invaders overrun the whole planet? Did they conquer Jamaica? Were any of the people I knew still alive?
I had a lot of think.
Ooooooooo
Some time later, the guards hauled me out of the cell and marched me through some corridors. The ship could be anywhere in the galaxy, I thought. After a few rides in elevators and rail cars, I was brought to a conference room whose primary furniture was this long varnished wooden table.
Sitting in a chair at the end of the table was the ruler of the Robotech Masters, the lady with bluish green hair. She was adorned in this red dress.
"You wish to execute me in person?" I asked.
"It would be such a waste," she answered. "We should out our differences aside now that the Invid landed on Earth."
"Our differences? You sent people to kill me back in Kingston. Why? Were you afraid of the truth coming out?"
A hologram of Earth appeared above the conference table. "The Invid have established a foothold on strategic areas as well as the major Flower of Life farming areas," she said. "The people of your planet have withdrawn to easily-defendable areas. I will tell you that this ship is beyond Earth's solar system, and we are protected by some of our cruisers and two motherships. The protoculture matrix is safe."
"Why did you do it? Why did you have your sisters killed?"
"Oh, please. You think I am some big bad evil overlord that would reveal her plans to her enemies just before she kills them? Do you take me for a fool? I did not get to where I was by being a fool."
"It must have been pretty elaborate, though. I mean, making sure that every one of us you captured over a year ago was programmed to do your will, and that we stayed that way even after you released us. I also think it is awfully convenient that I was invited to the negotiations over the distribution of the protoculture."
"You keep coming at me with these baseless accusations! The Invid have landed on Earth. If we are to win, we must chase the Regent's forces off the planet!"
I heard a ringing sound, and the lady picked up a handset. I assumed it was some sort of telephone.
"Look like someone has come to greet you," she said. "She will be brought here."
And she was. She was this dark-haired woman dressed in a flight suit.
"Marie Crystal," she said. "Major, UNAF, Tactical Armored Space Corps. 35-156612."
"Drop it, Major," she said. "You are no prisoner of war- the Robotech Masters are at peace with the United Earth Government."
"You took a national of a member state of the United Nations to your ship."
"We rescued him from the Invid. And he is a suspect in the murder of my two sisters."
"You must have loved your sisters, right?" I asked the lady in red.
"We three were one, and you stopped that. But, given the circumstances, we can make an arrangement to put that aside."
"And yet they did not share your vision, did they?" I asked. "You had this vision, a vision of recreating the empire of the Robotech Masters, with Earth as its throneworld. A civilization run by protoculture, bringing peace, prosperity, and order throughout this Milky Way Galaxy."
"Yes, that is what I wanted, and that is what I fought for."
"Zor did not have this vision. Neither did the old Ruling Triumvirate, who had started this war. And neither did your sisters."
"Yes, they did not have that vision. Others had that vision. Some of the leaders of the nations of your world, including Jamaica's prime minister. And even the Invid Regent's advisors have had second thought about the course he is taking his people."
"The Invid?"
"There is dissent among the ranks of their advisors. They sought retribution against us and the Zentraedi, but after we were defeated over your world, some of them have wondered if a different course should be set. There could be peace- between the United Nations, the Robotech Masters, and the Invid. A new era of peace, if we all cooperate."
"And yet your sisters were in the way. They were in the way, so they had to go. They were in the way! In the way of your grand vision for the galaxy! I mean, your vision would have made life better for trillions of people for the next few centuries!"
"Yes, yes, it would."
"Trillions of people over the next thirty generations or so. Health, wealth, and peace. A new order based on protoculture and robotechnology. A new order where no one has to go hungry, or homeless. Trillions of people."
"Yes."
"So what were two people? What were they? Even if they were your sisters, how could their lives have been more important than those trillions who would reap the benefits of this new order? After all, two deaths does not compare to paradise in the grand scheme of things, do they?"
"How dare you," she said, glaring at me.
"But I understand. We all have to make sacrifices for the greater good. I saw many people sacrifice all for the greater good." Her eyes started to water. "I've attended so many memorial services. I like to think that they died for a greater good. So many lives lost, so many people left behind."
She started sobbing. "I still miss them," she cried. "I wish they didn't have to die. But it was for the greater good. I had to kill them."
"Tell everything."
"I had to make arrangements to make it look like you killed them. When it failed, I had the guards kill the others."
"You had to make it look like someone else did it, so you wouldn't take the fall."
"Yes. I had to do it. I had to make sacrifices for the greatest good."
"We know the truth," I said. I could not believe it worked. She just spilled the beans, just like that.
"So your plan was to get me to admit killing my sisters," she said, her eyes ceasing to shed tears. "You…you have not won anything. What I said will never leave this room."
Uh, oh, I thought. I really had not thought this through. But then I had been playing by ear ever since the Invid invasion interrupted the original plan.
"There must be no witnesses," said the lady in red. "Kill them."
"No witnesses, eh?" I asked, only barely noticing the sound of clicks as the weapons were readied. "You're all witnesses now. She betrayed and murdered her sisters! What makes you think she won't betray you? After all, you're witnesses. You might stand in the way of the greater good."
"She will never betray me," said one of the guards.
The other guards pointed their weapons at him and the lady in red.
"What are you doing?" asked the lady. "This is treason!"
"Our loyalty is to the Robotech Masters, not to you," said one of the guards, who was apparently the senior among them. "You betrayed your triumvirate."
"I will defend my lady!" yelled the guard who was apparently loyal to her.
"If you wish to spare her life, you will surrender."
"You…you can't do this! I was supposed to lead the whole galaxy to a new Golden Age! A Golden Epoch lasting a million years! You can't do this to me!"
"We just did," said Major Crystal. "You should have learned to handle your emotions."
"So what now?" I asked.
"We will contact the ship's command triumvirate," said the guard.
And so he did.
ooooooooo
A while later, some Space Marines boarded, dressed in olive-green arming doublets and bearing weapons. Major Crystal and I met with them. Another Air Force pilot, a Lieutenant Dennis Brown, had accompanied Crystal and hid somewhere on the ship, broadcasting its location.
"Colonel Kathleen Taney, UNSM," said the commander of the Marines, a lady with red hair who appeared to be in her early forties.
"We are in charge of the ship," said these three violet-haired men dressed in identical clothing. "We have learned of the betrayal. We will need a new leader to rule over the Robotech Masters."
"Here she is," said Colonel Taney.
This lady with bluish green hair stepped from behind the Space Marine escort. She looked like the lady in red!
"I am Octavia," she said. "I was with the old ruling triumvirate."
"We shall recognize your authority as ruler of the Robotech Masters," said the commander of the ship. "Provided that you in turn serve the Robotech Masters."
"You will come with us," the Space Marine colonel said to me.
And so I did.
Minutes later, I was sitting in a Space Marine transport shuttle, with Colonel Taney and the other Space Marines. I looked out the window and saw this huge, massive red ship, at least a mile long. It was the SDF-3 Pioneer, the flagship of the United Nations's Pioneer Mission, a mission to negotiate with the Robotech Masters. Obviously, the Masters were not willing to negotiate peacefully. The shuttle landed in one of the landing bays, and the door opened. I stepped through this movable tunnel connecting the shuttle to a pressurized corridor.
"Welcome aboard, Colonel," a Spacy crewman said to Colonel Taney.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Supreme Commander Washington wishes to speak directly to you," said the colonel. I was escorted through some corridors to this railcar. I sat on a seat in the open rail car and it moved along the tracks. Soon, we reached this railcar stop and my Space Marine escort got off the rail car, walked through some more corridors, rode some lifts, and we reached this conference room.
Inside the conference room, Supreme Commander Tom Washington sat at the wooden table. Ceiling mounted lights provided lighting. Major Jack Emerson was with him. Jack stood at attention.
"I have our guest here, sir," said Colonel Taney.
"You are dismissed for now," said Washington. "You will give my office a copy of your report."
"Aye aye, sir."
I had a seat. A few minutes later, Major Marie Crystal entered and reported.
"I can't believe this worked," said the Supreme Commander. "This was far from the original plan."
"Yes, sir," said Crystal. "The Invid invasion kind of tripped up our plan."
"Yes, and her admission was broadcast throughout the galaxy," said Jack. "She had a tendency to record all meetings."
"Betrayal of one's triumvirate is one of the worst sins among them," said Washington. "Now we must deal with the Invid."
Life was like that. People have all sorts of different plans, and they all trip over each other, trying to get what they want. But there was always One who always came out ahead whenever dozens of plans trip up against each other.
"Sir," I asked, "what is the situation down on Earth?"
"Some of Earth's nations have surrendered, others still resist. We have UEF units trapped on the surface. One of my concerns is the civilians who would be caught in the crossfire."
"There is something the former ruler of the Masters said to me," I said. "She said she had contacts with some of the Invid advisors, that she was plotting with them. Is there anything you can tell me about them?"
"I can say this," said Washington. "We've no contact with the Invid except skirmishes, ever since the Tokugawa first fought them fifteen years ago. We stumbled across them when we reached Tirol. From what we can tell, they were the original masters of protoculture. When Zor invented the first protoculture matrix and the Robotech Masters were founded, they sent the Zentraedi to carpet-bomb the Invid home world with some sort of herbicide that killed the Flower of Life, which was the raw material for protoculture. Their ruler, the Regent, waged a war against the Robotech Masters and the Zentraedi, but the sheer numbers of the Zentraedi forced the Invid to hide. The near total destruction of the Zentraedi after the First Robotech War changed the game. They went on the offensive, attacking civilizations using protoculture. That is all I can say."
Later, I was resting in the guest quarters on board the ship. The quarters were very simple, with only a bed and a desk and a small lamp on the desk. The nearest bathroom was down the hall.
"How are you holding up?" asked Jack.
"Fine," I said. "I'm worried about what's happened to my family."
"Our intel indicates that there is no Invid presence in Jamaica," he replied. "They concentrated their forces on regions where the flower grows, as well as strategic straits and mountain passes."
My family was safe.
For now.