Interlude III: Epistolary Romance

…How much can happen in one month, Vee? Training flights leading to life or death rescues… rejection and hate turning to acceptance and celebration… a complete reversal of public opinion about resettling the ex-renegades, MZA building a new town in the Arkansas Protectorate to help them get started… Minmei dropping back into our lives out of nowhere… I thought things were strange before you left Earth. Now I wonder if we'll recognize anything when we're back together again.

I didn't used to think so much about what was happening around me. I guess that mostly came from being a Zentraedi soldier. Cryo-freeze. Wake up. Garrison duty for months, living in domes, patrolling empty planets or moons in a battlepod. Mindless routine. Back to cryo-freeze. Wake up half a galaxy away. Two hours of terrifying combat. Half the cohort dead. Back to cryo-freeze. When I sat here writing that, I had to stop for a while. It was too disturbing to think about. Was I that numb back when it happened, that I didn't feel anything? Or understand what I was feeling?

That changed when I went to the SDF-1. It was like being awake for the first time. And then knowing you, being with you, it's like you question everything. Maybe that's not the right way to put it. You seem to give almost everything serious thought, and so I've learned to pay more attention. Missing you is hard, but I can't even imagine living like I used to. Or I can, but it feels like a waking nightmare.

I tried talking to Rico about it, but he just looked really uncomfortable, and said that time doesn't exist for him anymore. So I decided to let it go. I'm sure you understand, though.

Rico and Mary finally told the Director of MZA about their being together. I think they're hinting around getting engaged. So now there's going to be a meeting with an HR person. I'm worried about Mary losing her job, but they told me they're thinking about a plan.

Konda is finally getting out more, which is good, but mostly he's visiting people like Cantor and the other members of the city council, and new arrivals from the Southlands. It's like everything he does now is work.

There's other news that's not so good. York has been a problem for awhile, but things are getting worse. Its neighbor, Manhattan, stayed independent, and took in a lot of the Zentraedi fleeing from the atrocities across the bay, but now York is getting much more aggressive. They're claiming Manhattan is harboring 'fugitives, terrorists, and alien agents,' and yesterday they blockaded Manhattan. There are tens of thousands of Zentraedi trapped there, along with the other civilians, and nobody knows if the UEG will step in if York attacks, since the entire region has refused to sign on to the UEG charter.

A lot of people are worried about a new war. Very few people in Monument are ready to see the fighting start again, but Mary told me some pretty terrible stories about what might happen in Manhattan if York attacks. I've seen first hand what the Zentraedi used to do to defeated worlds. Konda said that if York isn't stopped, a whole new time of warfare could start, with the anti-unification coalition collapsing and different independent states snapping each other up.

I thought we were so close to peace on Earth, and now it seems as far away as ever. It looks like if we want to keep the Zentraedi safe, there's a lot more to it than the UEG and the renegades. I know you have everything you can handle up there, and a mission to keep everyone on Earth safe, but it still helps me to know we're in your thoughts. We'll each do our best, and I know that we're not alone.

Loving you, every minute of every day,

Bron

Next time... mission failure, loyalty, and sifting the wreckage...