Chapter 7

Homer slammed the phone down out of frustration. He would have at least felt better if the phone had been busy, but there had simply been no answer.

First he had tried to get hold of Nova to let her know that Derek had been given a mission, but there had been no answer. Then, slightly worried, he had tried his own home, since he knew his wife should have been home. Again, no answer.

No reason to worry, he told himself, maybe Wendy and Nova had met for lunch or gone shopping. He tried his best not to think of the possibility that they had been taken.

It was a big city, after all. There were lots of places they could be. The police estimated that it would be over a day before they completed their door to door inspection to figure out who had been taken by the invaders. That is why Homer had to find them. He had to know now. She had to be all right.

There was no other possibility.

He placed another call, but the phone still rang with no answer. With each ring, his agitation grew.

"Commander," he shouted across the room, "I'm sorry. I have to go. There is no answer at Wildstar's or my place."

Without waiting for an answer or approval, Homer grabbed his uniform jacket and rushed out the door.

Wildstar's place was on the way, so Homer slowed his aircar enough to give the house a good look. There was no sign of any internal lights being on, and the door was still closed tight. His mind was running too quickly to think about getting out and physically checking the door, he had to get home.

With a screeching whine, Homer stopped the aircar in the street in front of his house. Already he could tell something was dreadfully wrong.

He jumped out of the car and rushed to the house.

Part of the white picket fence that lined the front of their yard had been knocked down. Parts of the front flowerbed had been trampled. His front door was crooked, hanging open, held up by a single hinge.

In a panicked blur, Homer ran through each room of his house, giving each room the quickest glance making sure each was empty. All the while, shouting out Wendy's name.

The house was empty. He was alone. She had been taken from him, and there was nothing he could do.

That couldn't be right. He had to do something. He would get her back, and nothing, no one, no force, no empire could stop him. He would bring Wendy home again.

Commander Mizutani had studied the crew records of all the Star Force personnel, especially those who, like Homer, had been the Yamato's original crew. Actually, reading those reports was more of an art form, since one had to read between the lines to understand the full story.

Homer, for example, had always been a good kid, but excitable, and prone to over react. Some of the events in his record included his jumping ship in a space suit in an attempt to return home; only an extensive search had rescued him. On another occasion, Homer backed out of a mission and decided to stay on Earth in order to find some girl, but he later changed his mind. Homers record also gave several strong hints that Homer harbored a deep resentment towards Yamato's navigator.

Those insights into Homer's personality, combined with the experience of having worked with him for several years sent up a red flag shortly after Homer left to check on his home. When Homer failed to return in a timely fashion, a quick phone call to have someone swing by Homer's home confirmed that the worst had happened.

There wasn't much doubt in his mind what Homer would try to do. The Commander was half tempted to let Homer throw his career or life away. But Homer was a good man and it would be a waste of a good officer to let that happen. Homer just needed to be shown reason. Besides, he was going to need a man with just Homer's qualifications, which was why Homer hadn't been assigned to the restored Yamato.

Without wasting another moment, he grabbed two guards and rushed his way to the airfield.

The first row of planes were the fancy Cosmo Zeros used by the fighter aces, they were easily identified by their angular nose design that allowed for a wider field of fire, and extra fins that gave it added maneuverability. No sign of Homer with any of them.

That was followed by several rows of the basic Cosmo Fighters. The Cosmo Fighters were extremely streamlined and could be equipped for any mission. Their cockpits could hold up to two people, and they had a gun turret that could be manned on top that was nearly flush with the fuselage when not in use. In addition to its laser guns, they could also be equipped with missiles or torpedoes. They were easily one of the best fighters ever developed, which was why they had been the main fighter used by the Earth Defense Forces since just after the Gamilon War. Homer was nowhere around them either.

The Commander was about ready to give up by the time they came to the last row of fighters. These were the oldest fighters available, the ones the Commander thought had all been decommissioned, the old Black Tiger style of fighters. They were wide one man fighters that relied mainly on laser cannons. Their limited maneuverability had led to the rapid rise of the newer Cosmo line of fighters, but the older fighters would always be remembered for their gaudy black and yellow paint jobs, with the eyes painted on the nose. They may be old, but they certainly look mean, the Commander thought. That was where they found Homer.

Homer was sitting high in one of the cockpits, obviously having trouble running his pre-flight check list. The Commander was not as surprised at Homer's obvious difficulty as his two guards, since he knew that Homer did not know how to fly, but he couldn't help admiring the fact that Homer had no intention of letting that stop him.

The Commander stood and waited for Homer to notice him. What Homer noticed first, however, were the rifles being carried by the guards to either side of him... then Homer's focus widened to notice the guards themselves. Finally Homer swallowed and directed his attention to Commander Mizutani.

"You are late reporting back in, Homer," the Commander said.

Homer said nothing. He nervously shifted his eyes from the Commander, to the guards, and back down into the cockpit.

"They took Wendy." It was a statement, not a question since the Commander already knew the answer, but he voiced softly, with compassion.

Again, Homer did not respond in words, but the strength in Homers face faded away. He seemed to be quivering all over, barely containing his sorrow and worry.

"The Andromeda II is in pursuit. Captain Kitano will intercept and rescue our people. You would be completely useless, flying around alone in an outdated fighter."

The fire returned to Homer's eyes as he finally looked directly at his commander. "I have to do something!"

"You will. Your unique skills and experience make you the ideal candidate for tracking them with our Galactic Sensor Net. But, you can only do that from here. Not in that fighter, not even on Yamato."

For the first time, Mizutani saw the faintest hints of hope returning to Homer's face.

"Ok, Commander, I'll do it your way." Homer said, as he started climbing down from the fighter, but then turned his head to the sky. "Kitano, Wildstar... I'm counting on you."