DEDICATION
To James Bateman, a.k.a. Zen. He sent me a tape, out of the blue,
that was probably the single greatest gift I've gotten in years.
It was a subbed version of "Macross: Do You Remember Love" (I had
already purchased the dub some years ago, which is widely
considered one of the worst dub jobs of all time), and it allowed
me to remember how deeply affectionate my feelings were for
Robotech, and Rick and Lisa and Minmei. It was Zen's gift that
inspired me to write this story so I could once again reacquaint
myself with them, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
TO BE IN LOVE
by Richard Lawson
Lisa Hayes-Hunter looked at herself in the mirror, examining
herself for signs of age. Her skin was not creased, except a
little at the corners of her eyes. Her body was fit and trim; she
believed in keeping herself naturally in top shape. Her muscle
tone was good, her bones were strong, and her eyes were clear.
She hated the youthfulness of it all.
Her hair, however, was streaked with gray. She'd had to fight to
keep it that way; the bioagent used to counteract aging was not
terribly selective, and she didn't want to dye it. They'd had to
apply blockers around her scalp to keep her natural soft brown
from reasserting itself.
It was important to her. She needed to look old. After all, she
was one of the oldest human beings alive.
She leaned away from the mirror, done with the ritual for today.
She washed her hands, and stepped out of the bathroom. She walked
over towards her desk with the intention of sitting at it, and
instead stood facing the large window, her hands clasped behind
her back. It was exactly the right time of day: the sun stood
atop the twin pylons representing the main gun of the SDF-1,
making the monument in the middle of the park look as if it were
on the verge of firing. Some visitors to her office thought the
sight awe-inspiring. Lisa saw it as a grim reminder. The reason
why, at seventy-two, she was considered positively ancient was
because billions of her race had been eradicated in the Zentraedi
Rain of Death. Only the SDF-1 had survived. And of those who had
been older than her on board the fortress-cum-city, many had died
in the later wars that followed. Including Admiral Gloval.
Including Emil Lang. Including Claudia.
All because an alien spaceship had fallen from the sky over sixty
years ago.
Lisa turned away from the window and sat at her desk. So much
work to do, as always. So many responsibilities. So much that
needed to be done. No time for idle contemplation. No time for
gallivanting around and having fun and ignoring all the problems
that were so *obvious*...
She viciously cut off that train of thought. She'd brooded,
debated, and yelled about the subject far too often lately.
She spoke into the monitor. "Lieutenant Morales."
Immediately the visage of her adjutant appeared on the screen.
"Yes, Admiral?"
"Are we ready for our 1300 meeting?"
"Almost, Sir. Still waiting for a tactical evaluation from
Admiral Hunter."
Damn. Not again. "Try to reach him again. If you can't, just
have some charts available and I'll wing it. Other than that?"
"We're ready. In fact, Miriya wants us to hurry so she can join
the strike force."
Lisa snorted. Miriya was a strange creature. A micronized
Zentraedi, she'd had enough bizarre things happen to her to drive
ten other people insane. Yet she managed to fit in well with the
human society she'd married into while maintaining the ferocity of
her Zentraedi heritage. She'd officially resigned from any and
all military allegiances, but she still found ways to keep
involved. Lisa valued her input - she was second only to Exedore
in her understanding of human-Zentraedi issues. And Miriya's
skill with single-pilot combat machines - of *any* configuration -
was second only to the man she had married.
Miriya was also a good friend. One of the few Lisa had left.
Living, that is.
"Very good, Lieutenant. Also, make sure up-to-date telemetry is
available in the conference room."
"Aye aye, sir." Morales closed the connection. Lisa smiled
slightly; he had the uncanny knack of knowing when she was done
issuing orders. He was supposed to wait for a dismissal, but he
also knew that she didn't like to be kept waiting. She liked this
quirk of his, but one of these days he was going to be wrong, and
she was going to enjoy calling him on it.
The smile felt strange on her face; she'd had it on very seldom of
late. It quickly disappeared, leaving behind a strange aftertaste
of regret. Lisa put it all behind her and concentrated on the
task at hand.
***
Rick Hunter felt a buzzing in his ears. It was coming, of course,
from the implants. All he had to do was blink hard and the
message would appear in front of him.
He didn't feel like blinking.
He gave the mounting bolt a final turn, then applied the bonding
charge. Satisfied, he closed the access panel and stepped back.
The Veritech was one of the last remaining in the galaxy. Without
protoculture to power them, all transforming mecha were basically
useless. While other power sources could fuel them, only
protoculture had given them the responsiveness and flexibility
that had been almost life-like. So much had been lost when
protoculture had left the universe.
Rick snorted to himself. Good riddance.
His personal Veritech, which he still called Skull One, could
transform after a fashion - it just couldn't do anything useful in
Battloid mode. It could still function as a fighter, although
modern air- and spacecraft could out-perform it. He used it
mostly to get around from place to place, both on Earth and around
the galaxy - the Nichols drive he'd installed gave it FTL
capabilities.
He'd installed a lot of things into Skull One. Technology was
moving at such a rapid pace that any component he installed was
outdated within six months.
Rick had high hopes for technology.
He vaulted onto the wing, then clambered into the cockpit.
"Computer, initialize systems."
"Initialization complete." The computer's voice was a monotone
that was neither male nor female. He had never bothered loading a
personality into it, like everyone else did with their AI's. He'd
never quite trusted computers that far. Not after Haydon IV.
"Diagnostic."
"Systems nominal."
"Run program Alpha-one."
"Running."
The calculation would take a minute. Rick tried to control the
excited beating of his heart, the breath that wanted to come
rapidly. He stilled his body and his mind, patiently awaiting the
computer's output.
"Program Alpha-one complete."
Rick swallowed. "Results?"
"Forty-two point three seven percent."
"Damn." Rick pounded the console in frustration. He'd been so
sure. The new component was supposed to be an order of magnitude
more capable than its predecessor. He'd appropriated one of the
first production models to install into the Skull. All it had
done was add three points.
"Computer. Run program Alpha-two."
"Running."
Rick grunted and clambered out of the cockpit. He leapt to the
ground, absorbing the impact easily. Lisa grumbled sometimes, but
Rick enjoyed feeling twenty again. He sauntered along, wondering
idly if he would be on time for the briefing.
He was slightly disappointed that he was not the last to arrive.
He nodded at Miriya and sat next to Max. He didn't look at Lisa
sitting at the far end of the table.
Max leaned over and spoke quietly. "The Admiral is not favorably
disposed towards you, Rick. Are you ready?"
Rick shrugged as Major-General Walton arrived. Lisa tapped the
table to indicate the meeting was now commencing.
Her adjutant - Rick could never remember his name, and always
thought of him as Friday - rose. "Good afternoon, sirs. At 0045
Galactic Standard Time, the Karbarrans moved en force into the
Dialtre system. This is in direct violation of the ruling sent
down by the Tribunal three weeks ago. The Karbarrans have so far
refused to comment."
"The Karbarrans have had their eye on the Dialtre system's
habitable planets for some time now." Exedore spoke quietly and
deferentially, as always. Yet his voice demanded the attention
and respect of everyone in the room. Rick always wondered how he
did it. Spending centuries as Breetai's advisor probably helped.
"They have plans to rapidly colonize several marginally habitable
systems, and will need to provide those colonies with large
supplies of food. Dialtre II and Dialtre III will likely be
turned into purely agricultural planets."
Lisa shook her head. "They know that those planets have been
promised to the Perytons. Their need is much greater."
Rick saw the nods, and knew what people thought. The Perytons had
slowly come to realize that they could no longer live on the
planet where their race had undergone a generations-long torture.
They hoped that transplanting their race to a new home world would
allow them to put the past firmly behind them and begin to
revitalize their culture.
The problem was that there were far fewer habitable planets than
anyone had hoped for. While plenty were capable of sustaining
life of some sort, those that could support humans - or Perytons
or Karbarrans or *any* of the known sentient races - were
exceedingly rare. Haydon had apparently found all that were so
capable within a thousand light years and populated them with the
known sentients. Rick had witnessed the destruction of two of
them. And Earth had come damn close to being a third.
Exploration had been a high priority of the new UWG Space Force.
Dialtre had been a prize find: nearly three hundred light years
distant from Earth, it was not necessarily close but not so far as
to be unmanageable. Plans were being made to move the Perytons
there. Careful plans that the Karbarrans were disrupting.
Rick was certain that that, more than anything else, annoyed Lisa.
Lisa turned her gaze to Rick, her eyes flashing a challenge and
accusation that never reached her voice. "Can you brief us on the
tactical situation, Admiral Hunter?"
Rick tapped the table in front of him. As he suspected, that aide
of Lisa's had the tactical charts ready. He sent it to the main
display; from the center of the table, a holographic image
displayed the Dialtre system and Karbarran emplacements. Rick had
glanced at these pictures two hours ago, and had thought about
them on and off while working on the Skull.
"The Karbarrans have a perimeter of thirty-six sensor drones
outside the edge of the system, any one of which could detect a
ship entering the system from any direction. They have six major
carrier groups in relatively stationary positions just inside the
orbit of the sixth planet. Two more carriers guard each of the
planets. Twenty smaller groups of between three and six ships
move throughout the system in constantly changing patrol routes."
He heard a soft whistle from Max, and nodded in agreement. "This
represents the majority of the Karbarran fleet. I am certain that
they do not fear reprisals on any of their own systems." This he
said as neutrally as possible, trying not to let his contempt
show. "They are firmly entrenched and are not going to be
expelled without a major application of force."
"No one said anything about force," Lisa said, more to say she
understood Rick's implied criticism.
Exedore sighed. "I am afraid the Karbarrans may not respond to
much else. They have cast themselves as the dominant race of the
galaxy now that the Masters have gone and the Invid returned to
dormancy. This is a direct challenge to the United Worlds of the
Galaxy; the Karbarrans will not abide by their rulings, and will
instead set their own policies, which they believe we will have no
choice but to follow. I am certain that within a few hours we
will be receiving a missive from them, offering their own solution
to the Peryton resettlement problem."
"We can't let them get away with this." Miriya had two distinct
voices: the almost humble tone she used when she was unsure of
herself or trying to fit in with humans and other races, and the
fierce, arrogant tone she used during times of crisis. Rick
rather liked the warrior voice. "We *must* stop them here before
they establish their own mastery of the galaxy."
Rick offered up a suggestion he was pretty sure would be hotly
debated for hours before being finally agreed to. "I think a
blockade is the only answer. We must prevent ships from entering
or leaving the system. If we can get place enough gravity wells
around the system, and position our fleets to protect them, that
puts the Karbarrans in a position of having to start a fight if
they want to keep the system. And *if* they start a fight,
they'll lose sympathy in the galaxy."
"It also sounds like an excellent way to start an all-out galactic
war." Lisa kept her voice one shade from disgust. "We given them
a choice between leaving the system in defeat or fighting us for
control of this part of the galaxy. Are we certain what their
answer would be?"
Exedore leaned forward. "We need to bring them to the negotiating
table, and the best way to do that is to place ourselves in a
position of strength, or at least equilibrium. Admiral Hunter's
proposal has merit."
Rick resumed his seat, satisfied. Lisa would rather talk for
years than take any decisive action. She was fortunate that she
had people like himself and Exedore who could talk some sense into
her.
He began to tune out the debate as it dragged endlessly to its
inevitable conclusion. Instead, he thought about forty-two
percent.
---
Lisa stared at the screen intently. "So, you understand,
Captain?"
"Yes, Admiral." The Captain's voice was dangerously close to
insubordination. It came, Lisa knew, from long experience of
ignoring the orders of superior officers and doing what the
Captain thought was right. It was only because the Captain *was*
right almost all the time that had kept her from being tossed out
of the service on numerous occasions.
Still, Lisa knew she had her respect. And the respect of Dana
Sterling was hard to earn. "All right, Captain, carry on. Just a
reminder, we are at Fleet Condition Two. We will be continually
monitoring your bridge and telemetry."
Dana's eyes flashed. "Understood, sir. Just stay out of my way
when the action gets hairy."
Lisa quirked a smile. "Aye aye, Captain," she said with just a
trace of gentle mockery.
A sigh escaped Dana's lips. "I mean, once you've given your
orders, Admiral."
Lisa nodded, satisfied. Dana's greatest strengths were her
tactical genius and ability to improvise. Channeling those
strengths in productive ways was a Herculean task sometimes. Lisa
trusted Dana, however, and knew that she wouldn't initiate any
unauthorized actions that would precipitate war. "Carry on,
Captain."
"Aye aye, Admiral." Dana cut the connection.
Lisa called up the tactical display. Dana commanded the
_Portland_, a mid-sized ship. There were many that were larger
and with more firepower. Dana called them 'slugs' and refused to
command one. The _Portland_ was among the fastest and most
maneuverable craft in the fleet, and it suited Dana perfectly.
>From it, she had been given direct responsibility for a group of
eighteen similar vessels. Their job would be to patrol around the
edges of the Dialtre system, ready to respond to any attempted
breakout. Dana would keep them occupied until help arrived in the
form of the more massive battleships stationed around the system.
Lisa looked at the setup for a while. It seemed adequate; Rick
really *was* good at these kind of things, and she could find no
flaws. She continued to try and probe for weaknesses, trying to
see it as an enemy would.
Eventually she gave up. From what she knew, the barricade should
hold. The Karbarrans would no doubt attempt something soon, but
without further intelligence Lisa could see no reason to waste
time going around in circles. She needed to rest and try to have
her mind and body fresh for when the inevitable flare-up occurred.
Unfortunately, this meant going home.
Bolstering her resolve as best she could, she stood up and let her
office, nodding at Morales as she strode by his desk. He'd leave
in a bit; he had to be at least as tired as she was.
She walked along the corridors, taking her time. Eventually she
reached her quarters. She spent a moment staring at the door,
then pressed her palm on the lock. The door slid open and she
stepped inside.
Rick was home, she knew that from the flashing lights and sounds
from the living room. She stepped down the hallway and looked in.
The living room had been transformed into a Veritech's cockpit. A
Martian landscape surrounded it, as well as a dozen Battlepods.
The Veritech had just finished destroying one, and was veering
around to acquire another target while evading the erratic fire of
the rest.
Lisa growled and turned away. Let him play his games, she didn't
care.
The lights and noise immediately diminished behind her. She
looked over her shoulder to see normal furniture restored, and her
husband powering down the VR system. He looked over to her.
"Anything interesting happening?"
She sniffed. "Nothing you need to worry about. Were you having
fun?"
His expression hardened; he'd heard the unspoken criticism. He
replied as if he hadn't heard it, though. "It's not terribly
realistic. No gee forces, for one. The training simulators are
much better."
"Then you should spend your time there." She looked forward again
and began moving down the hall towards the bedroom.
A hand on her arm stopped her. He was very quick when he wanted
to be. "Please, Lisa."
She didn't turn to face him. "Please, what?"
"Don't be like this. Do we have to be mad at each other all the
time?"
She whirled to face him. "Rick, we could be going to war very
soon. You don't respond to pages, make no effort to stay in
contact. Instead you sit here and play games and expect me to not
be mad!"
Rick tsked. "I didn't respond to your page because I didn't need
to. I was ready for the meeting. Afterwards, when everything was
set, I came home to relax, because I know very soon things will
get hot." He raised his chin a little. "You relax by trying to
find mistakes in everyone around you and yelling at them about
it."
"I do not." Lisa stopped herself before she got *very* angry. "I
don't need this, not now. I'm going to bed. Do whatever you
want."
Shaking her arm out of his hand, she walked stiffly into the
bedroom. She more or less ripped her uniform from her body, too
tired and angry to be neat at this point. She ran through her
bedtime preparations quickly before settling into bed.
Rick stood in the doorway. Lisa felt his eyes on her body and
shook her head. "Don't even think of it, Hunter."
His eyes found hers. "And when was the last time *you* 'even
thought about it'?"
Lisa blinked. It *had* been a while. It wasn't because her
desire was any less; she'd just never found the time. Or the
inclination. Too much time spent worrying. Too much time in
squabbling. In wallowing in what was going wrong, not focusing on
what was right.
She tried a slow, wide smile. "Well, perhaps I can be persuaded
to think of it now."
Rick was honestly surprised. Lisa felt her amusement rising; she
seldom surprised him any more.
He stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed with her, turning
out the lights as he did.
She felt his hand reach over her and grab her shoulder. He drew
her in and they kissed passionately. Lisa sighed through the
kiss; this *was* good.
He broke the kiss after a while. Her eyes had adjusted enough to
be able to make out the mischievous smile she loved so. "Y'see,
Admiral? It doesn't have to be all protocol and negotiation."
Irritation flared in her. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
The smile vanished. "Nothing, dammit. Don't make a big thing of
this."
"And don't make snide comments either, Rick." She pushed him
away. "I don't have the energy for this."
"You always have to make things so damned difficult." Rick rolled
away, positively radiating disgust. "Can't you ever just once let
yourself go?"
She turned on her side, facing away from him. "Can't you ever
just once try and stay in control?"
"Good night, *Admiral*."
Lisa didn't respond, didn't make a sound as the sheets below her
face grew increasingly wet.
---
Rick ran along the corridors. He didn't need to work out any
more, of course - a trip to the doctor's and an application of
bioagents could make any body physically fit in a matter of hours.
Rick agreed with Lisa, however, that keeping naturally fit was
better for the body and soul.
It was Lisa that filled his thoughts this morning. Lisa, that
strange mixture of needs, desires, and duties. Always trying to
balance them out, never quite succeeding.
It had gotten worse lately. Lisa was in charge of the fleet, the
cobbling together of the remaining RDF and Sentinel forces. All
of the remaining active sentient races supported the new fleet,
and abided by its decisions.
Technically, the fleet was under the control of the United Worlds
of the Galaxy. The UWG had been established as an ad hoc
government until the sentient races could devise a permanent form
of government. Such a task had proven much more difficult than
anyone had imagined. It was easy for the races to cooperate when
face with an implacable enemy like the Invid, or the Master-
controlled Zentraedi, or Haydon. Removing the threat of
extinction had brought to light how *different* the races were.
They each had unique ideas on how the UWG should govern. Even
finding a common terminology to discuss issues had proven almost
impossible. The end result was that after decades of effort, an
effective galactic government had yet to be established. Indeed,
more and more the sentiment was such that one would never be
formed.
With the UWG busy debating what "free will" meant, most planetary
governments had turned to the fleet to help adjudicate inter-
system disputes. Slowly over the years it was the fleet that had
assumed the task of governing the galaxy.
And Lisa assuming the mantle of benevolent dictator.
Rick shook his head. Lisa, of course, listened to her advisors
and depended on them heavily to help her run the fleet - and, by
extension, the galaxy. But when she gave an order, it was
understood that it would be carried out without further debate.
There was no one to check Lisa's power.
The power had changed Lisa. She had become obsessive about her
job, often spending twenty hours or more a day in her office
trying to stay on top of everything. Everything else had become
of secondary importance. She had become used to being obeyed
without question, to having her will decide the fate of the
galaxy. She almost took it as a personal affront when trouble
flared up, and would work ruthlessly to resolve all conflicts as
quickly as possible.
Rick stopped running and leaned against a wall, enjoying the
tiredness he felt and the sweat running down his body. He also
forced himself to admit that Lisa had done a good job of running
the galaxy. Things had been good and relatively peaceful. Most
planets had been focusing their attentions on rebuilding after the
ravages of the Invid. Only the Karbarrans had focused more on
expanding their little empire. Rick certainly couldn't lay the
current crisis at Lisa's feet; it was perhaps inevitable given the
Karbarran's aggressive nature.
Shoving off the wall, Rick ran down the corridors again. What he
*could* blame Lisa for was forgetting what she worked so hard to
maintain. That family, friends, and time spent with loved ones
meant as much or more than working out trade disputes. She needed
to stop being so serious and have fun once in a while.
Rick tried to remember the last time they'd done nothing all day
but spent time together. He tried to remember the first time.
Any time. He couldn't. Their honeymoon had been a few hours
spent on a space station similar to this one before launching the
SDF-3 on its mission to Tirol.
As always, with Lisa it was duty. Duty above all else. Damn her.
Rick found himself in the hangar bay. He hadn't consciously
directed himself here, but he knew why his feet had led him this
way. He walked over to the Skull and looked up at it. Forty-two
was the answer so far. It wasn't nearly good enough.
He turned and ran back to his quarters, thinking of the duties he
had and the choices he'd made, and wondering if they'd been right.
---
Lisa sat at the small conference table in the center of her
office. She'd ordered lunch, then sent Morales off when hers had
arrived, with strict orders to enjoy his own lunch and not come
back for an hour or more. She wanted this time alone.
She idly picked at the salad, taking a bite or two. She was
certain that the anti-aging bioagents had diminished her sense of
taste. The doctors assured her that it was all in her mind, that
her senses were as sharp as ever. Lisa wasn't so sure. She was
certain that there was a price being paid somewhere for the
apparent immortality the bioagents offered like an apple.
The door to her office opened, and she smiled widely. At last, he
was here. "Lieutenant," she said by way of greeting, her voice
warm.
"Admiral," was his usual reply. He came up and kissed her on the
cheek. She basked in the affection, now as much as ever.
She indicated a seat opposite her, where another lunch was
waiting. "Please sit."
He did, his unaccountably tall, whipcord, handsome body settling
easily into the chair. He smiled at her, full of the confidence
and cheerfulness of youth. "Looks like things are getting
exciting, eh?"
That brought her out of her dream-like state very quickly.
"That's one way of putting it, yes. I wish I could tell you
more."
He raised his hand. "You know that I'd never expect our
relationship to be the reason you gave me classified information."
Lisa nodded. "I *do* know that. Sometimes, I wish I could share
the burden of that knowledge with someone I love."
A grimace crossed that gorgeous face of his, like a cloud blocking
the sun. "You mean, someone other than Dad?"
Lisa realized too late the trap she'd set herself. "Um, I didn't
mean-"
"Maybe not consciously. But, no matter how much you and Dad try
to shield me from it, it's obvious you guys are having a lot of
problems. I'm not blind, Mom."
"No, you're not. You always were an intelligent and observant
boy."
"And you're not going to change the subject. Anything you want to
talk about?"
Lisa took a sip of her orange juice, more to gain time than
anything else. "I appreciate the offer, Roy. Maybe I'll take you
up on it sometime. But I think it's best that you not be in the
middle of any problems your father and I are having."
Roy thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "I guess I
don't want either one of you to think I'm taking sides. I just
want you both to be happy."
"I know." Lisa sat back and rubbed her eyes. "Maybe after this
is over we can try... something."
She heard him get up and walk behind her. His strong hands began
massaging her neck and shoulders, and she sighed in contentment.
"You do that so well."
"Dad taught me."
"Yes." Lisa remembered when Rick used to give her such massages.
How long had it been since the last one? A decade? Lisa sighed,
allowing more of her sorrow show than she intended.
Roy heard and understood and didn't say anything. Lisa
appreciated that, appreciated her son more than anything else in
the galaxy.
And, as always, her thoughts drifted back to the confrontation to
come. She wondered, when all was said and done, if there would be
a galaxy left for Roy to exist in.
---
The buzzing Rick felt seemed to convey a sense of urgency he'd
never felt from it before. He looked up from the Veritech's main
display and stared at nothing at all before deliberately blinking
his eyes.
The message appeared in his field of visions, letters hanging in
the air that only he could see. KARBARRANS ATTEMPTING TO LEAVE
DIALTRE SYSTEM. CAPTAIN STERLING MOVING TO ENGAGE. YOUR PRESENCE
REQUESTED BY ADMIRAL HAYES-HUNTER.
Rick spoke to the words. "Message received. On my way." He
blinked again, and began scrambling out of the cockpit.
"Computer. Run program Alpha-two."
"Running."
He jumped to the ground and began running himself. Dana. He was
glad she would be the first to meet the Karbarran fleet. She was
a damn fine soldier, the best possible combination of talents from
her parents. Rick hoped it would be enough.
He flew into the situation room, finding that Lisa and Max were
already there, along with other staff. Rick stopped at the
railing and looked at the main tactical display floating in the
center of the room. Ten large cargo vessels protected by forty
small-to-medium fighter craft and two larger battleships were
being met by Dana's group. Rick glanced over to one side of the
room, where a flat viewscreen showed the bridge of the _Portland_
and Dana giving orders, positioning her forces. Her eyes gleamed
and her voice was intense and excited, but she was firmly in
control and speaking clearly.
He looked over to Max. "Time to intercept?"
"About three minutes." Max could just as well be talking about
when the next rainshower was due. Rick envied his friend's calm,
collected frame of mind.
"Any suggestions for Captain Sterling, Admiral?" Lisa's voice was
all business.
Rick looked over the formation and shook his head. "If she's
going to do what I think she's going to do, she's got it set up
about right. We've already talked about this, and she's got a
good plan in mind. If we're lucky this will all be over in
fifteen minutes and casualties will be minimal."
Lisa nodded. "Let's hope so."
Rick watched the conflict unfold. The Karbarrans had their main
fighting force forward, prepared to meet Dana's fleet head-on.
One battleship supported those fighters while the other hung back
to protect the cargo vessels.
As one, all of Dana's ships fired missiles. The representations
of their flight path turned the tactical display to spaghetti in
an instant. They all detonated in a wall two clicks long and one
click high, creating a temporary barrier between the two groups of
vessels. Rick nodded in approval as the enemy targets began
veering wildly, instinctively trying to avoid an attack that had
never actually reached them.
Meanwhile, Dana's fleet had dissolved as each ship broke off in
seemingly random directions. More missiles were fired by both
sides, most missing and a few exploding harmlessly on target
shields. Dana's ships weaved in and around the enemy vessels, and
on her signal suddenly reformed into formation behind the main
force of enemy vessels.
Rick studied the formation and shook his head in admiration. Dana
had played it beautifully. The heavier ships of her group
surrounded the smaller ones, protecting them from direct attack.
The small ships began firing volley after volley of missiles at
the cargo ships while the larger ones launched diversionary
missile attacks at both battleships.
The Karbarran forces appeared to be in disarray, caught between
defending the battleships and the cargo vessels. They were not
launching effective counterattacks on Dana's forces, so her
smaller ships had plenty of time to knock out the cargo vessels'
shields and disable their engines.
Rick waited until the third cargo vessel had fallen to Dana's
attacks, then spoke to Lisa. "That's enough. She needs to get
out of there."
Lisa nodded and pressed a button on the console in front of her.
"Captain Sterling. Withdraw."
Rick looked up to the viewscreen of the _Portland_'s bridge in
time to see a mild look of irritation cross Dana's face. Rick
couldn't help but smile; her Zentraedi heritage and her own
inclinations would have her stay until the last cargo vessel was
out of commission. But she also knew that it was a superior force
she faced, and if given time to organize, they would cause her a
lot of grief.
Dana barked her own orders, and Rick watched the tactical as the
smaller ships ceased firing on the cargo vessels and turned to
fire more missiles in a path leading away from the enemy fleet.
The few enemy targets in that path cleared quickly away, and the
small ships flew past their larger brethren to assume a position
where they could cover their retreat. Soon all of Dana's vessels
were disengaged and moving away from the Karbarrans.
Rick sighed when he saw that the Karbarrans were not pursuing.
Lisa spoke to Max. "Casualties."
"For Dana's fleet: minor damage to seven vessels. No loss of life
reported so far." Just a hint of pride colored Max's words, and
Rick smiled in response. "For the Karbarrans: four cargo vessels
incapacitated, three fighting craft with minor damage."
Rick nodded. "Great. The Karbarrans won't leave their vessels
behind. They'll tow them back to the system and come up with
another plan."
Lisa nodded again. "Yes. Next time won't be nearly so easy.
Dana used up most of her missile ordnance; we'll need to resupply
her quickly."
Max began tapping the console in front of him. "I'll see to
that."
"Good. Admiral Hunter, please continue to closely monitor the
situation."
Rick had to bite down hard on the growl that threatened to escape
his lips. "Aye aye, sir."
She looked into his eyes for a fraction of a second before turning
away. "I will be in my office, contacting the Karbarrans."
"You do that." Rick made a show of examining the tactical
display, pretending to ignore the way her shoulders stiffened
slightly as she left the situation room.
"Rick." As always, Max spoke softly. "You two need to work this
out. You can't go on like this. It's eating both of you up."
"I know, Max, I know." Rick watched lazily as Dana's forces began
to form a more orderly formation, with the damaged ships being
protected by the others. It was a wise but probably unnecessary
move, since the Karbarrans were not pursuing. "How do you do it,
Max? You and Miriya still seem as happily married as you were
that first night."
Max shrugged as he tapped into the console. He was, of course,
quite capable of doing two or more things at once. "I wish I had
a secret formula to give you, Rick. Some Zentraedi secret to
long-term thinking. But the simple fact of the matter is that our
love for each other has never stopped growing."
Rick tsked. "Damn platitudes. I've been hearing them and
thinking about them for years, and they're not doing me any good
at all."
Finishing whatever task he was doing, Max looked up at Rick.
"Okay, try this. Expectations."
Rick blinked. "What?"
"Expectations. Miriya had literally no idea of what a marriage
was supposed to be like. Of what a relationship was supposed to
be like. Whatever happened between us was a miracle to her. Ben
Franklin said it best: Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he
shall never be disappointed."
"Disappointed." Rick grunted. "Why should I be disappointed in
Lisa? She's the leader of the whole freakin' galaxy."
Max looked back down at his console. "Why, indeed."
Rick frowned. "What? Spill it, Max."
Max's voice was soft and apologetic. "It is not my place to
comment."
"Max, you've been my friend for... what, fifty years? I'd never
hold anything against you, you know that. Tell me."
Silence reigned for a moment as Max continued to tap at his
console. Finally he looked up again. "Rick, your problem is that
you don't know what you want. In a way, it's been your defining
characteristic - wanting what you don't have. Now, at last, you
have everything you ever wished for. You've had it for years. If
you have nothing left to strive for - no impossible goal waiting
to be achieved - you get bored."
Rick felt his breath leave him. "Are you saying that I'm taking
out that boredom on Lisa?"
"I would not speak ill of either one of you. I'm only saying that
you either need to find someway to channel your energy, or find a
way to be satisfied with what you have."
"Damn." Rick looked up at the tactical display again. "Is it
possible, do you think, for people to do that? It didn't used to
be, not with most people being dead before they got as old as me.
Does living forever mean you gotta find a way to change who you
are every few decades?"
"I don't know the answer to that. All I can offer is that many
Zentraedi - including Miriya - had to completely change who they
were in order to live in a post-war society. Those who couldn't
followed Khyron into oblivion."
Max turned back to his work. Rick continued examining the ships
on the display and thought for a long time about Lisa and Miriya
and Khyron and how he fit into all of that.
---
Lisa walked slowly through the corridors, exhausted. Eight hours
spent talking with the Karbarrans had produced nothing useful. No
movement had been made, despite Lisa's attempts to offer some
middle ground.
It was looking more and more like the Karbarrans were using
Dialtre as an excuse to provoke an all-out conflict with the UWG
fleet. The Karbarrans wanted to impose their own version of
benevolent rule on the galaxy. And they apparently didn't care
how many died before that happened.
Lisa's shoulders sagged with that thought. Many *would* die.
Dana had made the Karbarrans look far more incompetent than they
were. The Karbarrans would be a tough, cagey foe. While the
Invid used little more than savage, brute force to win their
battles, the Karbarrans understood the tactics of war and would
use those tactics to make sure that any conflict with them would
be a long, bloody affair.
War. The thought horrified Lisa. Her whole tenure as Admiral had
been spent trying to prevent war from happening again. Despite
decades of effort, war was coming.
Lisa wondered which of her friends would die this time.
She palmed open the door and stepped in. The quarters were dark;
she assumed that Rick was in bed. She stepped into the kitchen to
prepare herself a cup of decaf tea to try and drive from her mind
the images of watching the world die in the Rain of Death while
she cowered with a few others in Alaska.
"Lisa?"
It took a few seconds for Rick's voice to register. She looked up
at him as she began to sip her tea. He was still dressed in his
uniform, although it looked a little rumpled. She imagined that
he'd been lying in bed waiting for her. "Yes, Rick?"
He spoke in a calm, serious tone of voice. "We need to talk."
Great. *Now* he wanted to talk. "This is not a good time, Rick."
The irritation flared on his face. "Why not?"
"Why not!" Lisa couldn't believe her ears. "Rick, the Karbarrans
are-"
"Duty? Is that all you can ever think about is duty? This is our
*life*, Lisa!"
She slammed her cup on the counter top, liquid flying everywhere.
"We've got other, more important concerns right now. We could be
going to war any day; now is not the time to start squabbling."
"Who says I wanted to squabble? Don't you listen to me any more?"
Rick pounded the door frame once with his fist. "You know, things
don't always happen the way you expect them to. You're not some
puppetmaster that can watch in amusement as her little charges
dance to her tune. We're real people, Lisa."
"Dammit, that is not fair! I've spent my whole life trying to
keep order. Don't you dare compare me to the Robotech Masters."
Rick laughed once. "I didn't make that comparison. Interesting
that you thought of it."
Lisa raised her hands. "I'm not going to do this, not now. I am
going to bed." She tried to push past him.
He didn't move. "Is that your answer? Run over anyone who
challenges your authority?"
"Oh, you're just *wonderful* with the analogies, Hunter. What do
you do next, break into song?"
She saw the hurt in his eyes, quickly turned to anger. "What the
*hell* was that? Your specialty - finding the enemy's weak spot
and exploiting it?" He was trembling slightly. "Am I the enemy
now?"
Lisa was losing control. Words flew off her lips. "No, you're a
spoiled child, doing what he wants, whenever he wants, and not
living up to his responsibilities as a husband, an admiral, or a
father. You hang on to your toy Veritech in the vain hope that it
will somehow transport you back to your youth, and you take it out
on me when it doesn't. Because deep down, I'm still the 'old
sourpuss' to you."
Rick seemed to have difficulty breathing. "Damn straight. More
caught up in duty than life. For some stupid reason I thought
there was more to you than that. It took me fifty years to find
out I had it right the first time."
Lisa looked up into his eyes, her jaw clenched, breathing rapidly
through her nose. He glared back at her. The anger saturated the
air and turned it to jello.
She reached up, put her hands on his chest, and shoved him bodily
backwards. "Get the hell out of my way." She walked into the
hallway and turned toward the front door.
"Running away? Afraid of the truth, 'Admiral'?"
She spun on her heel and shot him a look of such anger that he
recoiled. "If it weren't for our son I'd think that I'd wasted
the past fifty years with you. If I had it all to do over again
and it wouldn't affect Roy, I'd let you stay in that damn cottage
with *her*."
He took a step towards her, and for an instant she was certain he
was going to attack. She stepped back, bringing her hands up,
ready to meet him.
They stood like that for long seconds, and Lisa felt a barrier
dropping into place, one she feared would never be lifted.
Through his anger, something akin to anguish spilled through. "I
was waiting for you so I could tell you that I loved you."
She dropped her hands to her side. "Lack of love was never the
problem between us."
His face turned calm and neutral. "No. It wasn't."
Lisa stood for a while, waiting for him to go on. He seemed to be
waiting for her to say something. When it became clear that
neither of them had anything to say, she turned slowly around and
opened the door. She stepped through it into the corridor, then
looked over her shoulder at her husband until the door slid shut
behind her.
---
Rick stared at the door long after it had closed, hoping that the
pressure around his heart would eventually lift. And yet it
continued to be squeezed by the memory of his wife walking out on
him.
How could it have gotten so bad? Why did it have to be so
acrimonious? So painful?
He walked forward and the door opened for him. The corridor was
empty - it was late and most sensible people were in bed. And who
knew where Lisa was. Most likely returning to her office to do
her duty for King and Country. Except there was no King, no
Country. Just Lisa the heartless, soulless leader of the war
machine.
Rick ran down the corridors, trying to work off his adrenaline.
He remembered a time when he'd hated the military, had seen the
armies of the world as the reason for the endless fighting. The
fall of what would become the SDF-1 had brought a measure of peace
to the world as the unknown threat of alien invaders terrified
everyone into cooperating. And yet, even then Rick hadn't
understood Roy Fokker's decision to stay with the military.
And now, fifty years later, Rick was part of that same military.
He'd learned some painful lessons about why an army was necessary,
and how sometimes it was necessary to fight - and kill - to try
and protect life and peace. Somehow, though, it had changed.
Changed into just making sure that Lisa stayed in control of the
known universe.
He reached Skull One and jumped on the wing. "Computer, access."
The canopy obligingly popped open. He jumped in. "Computer,
current results of program Alpha-two."
"Forty-two point four six percent."
Still forty-two. If he let the program run for another year, it
might reach forty-three. If technology progressed at its current
rate, he might reach fifty in five years. Or ten.
If the galaxy didn't destroy itself before then.
Forty-two. Hell, he'd faced much worse odds all during the first
Robotech war. It wasn't so bad.
But back then, the stubbornly rational part of his mind whispered,
he'd had protoculture as his unknown ally. Protoculture was power
with a purpose, and it had followed Zor's shapings of it to allow
the impossible to happen - the defeat of the Zentraedi armada.
Now he would be alone. Protoculture was gone, Zor was gone, it
would be just Rick and his ancient Veritech and the computer's
forty-two percent.
Rick laughed, a strange laugh born of humor he couldn't trace.
"What the heck."
He strapped himself in and prepared Skull One for flight.
---
Lisa sat behind her desk, drinking tea again. Her eyes were
focused on reports of the situation in Dialtre but her thoughts
were full of Rick. Of the argument they'd just had, and how she
might have done things differently. Of how mad she was at him,
and how much she needed him. Of the pain that filled her from
head to toe, making every move and every thought an exercise in
agony.
Her display began flashing and an soft ringing filled the room. A
phone call, important enough to get through the filters she'd set
up. She sighed deeply. "Accept."
The display changed to a picture of Morales. His uniform had
obviously been put on somewhat hastily. He looked very tired, but
also quite concerned. "Admiral. My apologies for disturbing you.
Admiral Hunter has left the station and Earth System. He did not
receive clearance from Earth Control and did not indicate where he
was going."
Lisa took a sip from her tea. She found the news mildly
interesting. "Where was he heading?"
"His exit vector made Dialtre a highly likely destination."
"No."
Morales blinked. "Begging the Admiral's pardon?"
She sighed again and put her tea down, forcing her mind to work.
"Admiral Hunter's style is one of misdirection. It's how he won
his battles, by making the enemy think he was doing one thing and
then doing something completely different. If he really was going
to Dialtre, he'd try to make us think he was going somewhere
else."
"Oh." Morales absorbed her words, looking more than a little
confused. "Then, once again begging the Admiral's pardon, where
is he heading?"
Lisa closed her eyes, fighting against the sleep that wanted to
overtake her. Where, indeed? She was well aware of the extensive
modifications he'd been making to the Veritech, and had always
idly wondered what possible use he would get out of them. No
matter how skillful Rick was, he wouldn't last a minute against
modern fighting craft in that old tin can. So what could he-
And suddenly, it all came together in Lisa's mind. And her heart
dropped into her stomach. "My God."
Morales sounded alarmed. "Admiral?"
She flung open her eyes. "Morales, contact Captain Sterling and
order her to send her fastest ship to Ranaath's Star as quickly as
possible."
---
Rick sat in his Veritech and stared at the black hole.
Even at nearly a light year's distance, it was an impressive
sight. A hole in the fabric of space that sucked everything in.
Almost everything.
Rick swallowed. The trip here had dulled his certainty. Suddenly
his mind was full of his son and - as much as it pained him to
admit - his duty as an Admiral. He was about to risk his life.
And for what?
An alarm was triggered. His sensors showed three ships on an
intercept course. He had to chuckle; he should have known that
Lisa would figure it out.
He had to make a decision, and very soon. To go back to Earth
would be the sensible thing to do. He had things he needed to do
there, duties he had to fulfill. Even if it was over between him
and Lisa, there were so many possibilities for him to explore.
And yet, to go back would be to admit defeat to Lisa. It would be
an acknowledgement that she was right about certain things. And
he would never, ever live that down.
Besides, Rick had never been known for doing sensible things.
Smiling grimly, he spoke to the Skull. "Computer, compile program
Alpha-three using results from Alpha-two."
"Completed."
"Execute."
The ship moved forward. It made a quick jump with the Nichols
drive, then began to spiral in towards the black hole.
Rick studied the readouts. So far everything was lining up with
predictions. The Skull was barely shaking, the compensators
dealing with the added stress quite nicely. The Nichols drive
activated again, making sure space-time stayed where it should for
now. Rick felt his hopes rising; it was working. If the
Haydonites could do it, he could too.
He felt the first serious tremor, and his confidence faltered.
Then again, the computer usually knew what it was talking about,
and a forty-two percent chance of success meant that it was quite
likely he was about to die.
The Skull shook again, and the readings were begin to seriously
drift from the projections. "Computer, run program Alpha-one."
"Running."
The next tremor was accompanied by the groan of overstressed
metal. Rick looked at the readings with alarm. They were very
quickly approaching the limits of his scales.
"Program Alpha-one complete."
He was almost afraid to ask. "Results?"
"Seventeen point nine four percent."
Oh damn. Rick tried to swallow in a mouth gone dry. His arrogant
presumption had finally caught up with him. The computer now gave
him less than one chance in five that he'd live through this. And
he was certain that a fresh run, with the current set of readings,
would be even worse.
He looked around at the swirl of color that indicated that the
Nichols drive was still valiantly fighting the good fight against
the forces of the black hole. The Veritech shook again and didn't
stop shaking. The groaning rose again, along with an ominous
crunch.
Rick hoped the end would be quick and painless.
Oh God. Lisa, Roy, I am *so* sorry. In a moment of weakness and
insanity I threw away my life for foolishness. Please believe me,
I had no intention of hurting you, ever. Lisa. Oh God, Lisa,
*please*...
The crunching grew, and the shaking grew so violent that he was
regularly banging his head against the canopy. Enough force was
transmitted through his helmet to make coherent thought
impossible, and he squeezed his eyes shut preparing to feel heat
and gravity reduce him to a smoldering raisin.
The end, when it came, was surprisingly painless.
Rick listened to the silence, thankful that he didn't have to
listen to the Skull disintegrate any more. He idly wondered what
would happen next. Was there a God and would he forgive Rick his
sins?
Rick opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the Veritech's
control console, dark and lifeless. He stared at it for a while,
then looked outside the canopy. He still appeared to be in space;
the Veritech was floating in an inky blackness pierced with the
occasional point of light.
As he continued looking around, it slowly occurred to him that he
might have actually succeeded.
He looked back at the Veritech's controls. All indications where
that it was completely dead. He tapped ineffectually at a few
buttons anyway. When that didn't work he pulled out the emergency
kit. It had quite a few little items, among them an emergency
signal beacon. He took it out and tried to activate it, only to
find it was dead, too.
Rick bit his lip, thinking hard. The beacon should be working;
its power source was self-contained and would last a hundred
years. If he were still in his universe. This above all was an
excellent indication that he wasn't.
Rick stowed the emergency kit and looked around once more. His
plans had called for nothing more than to have him break on
through to the other side. Now that he was here, he had no idea
what to do.
"Computer," he said with no real expectation of success.
"Computer."
He hit the console in frustration and in the vague hope that it
would suddenly come to life. He unbuckled his harness and tried
to peer around the blackness.
Over his head and behind him one point of light seemed...
brighter. Rick frowned. Something was special about that point
of light. He couldn't quite place his finger on it. The point of
light seemed to be the focus of... something. Rick strained to
make out what it was that made it unique.
The point of light began to drift. It moved along the canopy,
slowly moving to a position directly in front of the Skull. Rick
studied it intently; it appeared to be growing.
He blinked suddenly and looked about. The dozen or so points of
light had changed position relative to the Skull. Which meant
that the light wasn't moving towards him; he was moving towards
it. A neat trick in a dead Veritech.
The Skull appeared to slow and stop. Rick frowned and chewed his
lip. He then looked at the small globe of light in front of him
and began to concentrate on it again. As he did, the Skull moved
forward.
Wow. This put a whole new slant on the 'thinking cap' concept.
The globe slowly expanded. It seemed to be... an island. An
island surrounded by water to the edge of the globe. There were
palm trees and lots of foliage and nice sandy beaches. On tall
hills in the middle of the island rested large metal containers
that looked vaguely familiar to him.
There appeared to be activity of some sort on the other side of
the island. How Rick knew this, he wasn't sure. Just that
something was happening, and somebody was watching it.
The Skull's nose reached the perimeter of the globe. Rick tried
to will himself through, wondering idly if all the air would leak
out or something. The Veritech slipped through the surface of the
globe like it was a soap bubble. Rick was inside.
And there was singing.
Rick gasped at the beauty of it. Pure notes of varying pitch and
intensity permeated his body, forming a free-flowing melody that
brought tears to his eyes. No words, no instruments, just a
voice, singing pure joy.
Rick wasn't sure how long he sat there, letting the voice carry
him away. When he finally attempted to regain his rationality, he
found himself still in the Skull, floating high above the water.
He drew in a shaky breath and tried to move the Skull down towards
the island. After a couple of false starts, it began descending
smoothly towards one of the beaches. Rick thought briefly about
the landing gear and felt it drop into place. He carefully slowed
his descent as the beach moved up towards him. The landing was
perfect.
Rick frowned at the canopy, and it popped open. He clambered out
onto the wing and examined the Skull. It looked to be in good
shape. More than good; perfect. It gleamed white and yellow and
black, and looked ready to tackle a hundred Battlepods at once.
Whatever had crunched and groaned during his trip through the
black hole had magically fixed itself.
The singing seemed to be increasing in intensity. Rick thought he
could detect a sliver of pain in the melody. Alarmed, he jumped
off wing and ran towards the trees.
He stepped through the vegetation. He glanced at it, looked at
it, stared fixedly at it. The plants were known to him. The
Flowers of Life. From whence came protoculture. Gone from the
universe, the key to Haydon's power, growing in abundance on this
island on the other side of the black hole. What that meant,
exactly, Rick didn't know. And he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
After a moment, he tore his gaze off the Flowers and looked
forward. There didn't appear to be a path, yet as he moved he
always seemed to find a clear spot in front of his feet. He
trotted along as the singing grew louder in his ears and soul.
He was coming to the center. Of what, he didn't know. The
universe, it seemed like. Everything that *was* in this universe
was focusing on a spot just ahead. He stepped around a tree,
pushed aside a fern leaf, and froze.
A person was on his knees about fifteen feet directly in front of
Rick. Whoever it was had their back to Rick and appeared to be
supporting someone who was lying on beach. Rick couldn't see that
other person, but he could hear the singing. It was rising again,
the intensity piercing Rick's soul. There was pain in that song,
pain and joy. It rose to a crescendo, and Rick gritted his teeth
trying to bear with it.
The song came abruptly to an end. The silence was filled with...
exultation. Exultation that originated not from the singer, but
from whatever was focusing its attention on this spot. The
universe, Rick decided, for lack of a better term.
And then, to Rick's ears, came the sound of wailing. Of a baby,
crying its lungs out.
A gentle cooing quickly quieted the baby. The person in front of
Rick rose to his - Rick thought it was a man - feet, evidently
helping someone else to theirs at the same time. The man stooped
his head, looking over the other person's shoulder, and Rick got a
glimpse of that person's hair. Black, jet black, and long.
A *presence* made itself known. Rick saw a newborn baby floating
in a tiny bubble in front of the couple. The baby cried for a
moment, then vanished.
The universe suddenly stopped caring about this island. Rick no
longer felt like the beach ahead was under the lens of a
microscope. He drew a breath, feeling free for some reason.
Ahead, a woman wearing a simple blue sundress stepped around the
man that had been holding her. She walked unhurriedly up to Rick.
Without pausing, she stepped into Rick and hugged him closely, her
head resting on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, Rick."
Rick swallowed, putting his arms around her. "I will always come
for you."
"I know." Lynn-Minmei lifted her head and smiled into his face.
"We had better hurry while Haydon is focusing on baby Zor. While
right now they are not paying any attention to us at all, we had
better get out before one of them notices you and decides to trap
you here with us."
"Um, okay." He was completely nonplussed by Minmei's low-key
greeting. Like she had been expecting him. He looked down at her
legs; what he could see of them below the hem of her dress were
clean and perfect. For a woman who had evidently given birth five
minutes ago, she seemed to be in remarkably good condition.
Reluctantly, he removed his arms from her as she stepped back.
"I've got my Skull on the other side of the island."
"Hunter. How did you get here?" The words were knives of ice
shattering the mood. Rick turned to see the man - Rem, he finally
recognized him to be. He was covered head to toe in a blue
bodysuit that seemed to glow slightly. He peered at Rick with
ice-blue eyes full of anger.
Rick furrowed his brow. "I just told you; in my Veritech."
"That is not possible for one of your capabilities."
The hair on the back of Rick's neck rose. "Do you wanna try out
my capabilities some time, Rem?"
Rem raised an eyebrow. "I have abilities you cannot imagine,
Hunter. You do not know of what you speak."
"Oh, please." Minmei sounded a little distant, as if her
attention was elsewhere. "Must you two always be fighting?"
They both turned to look at her. Rick was running his
relationship with Rem over in his mind. The almost-clone of Zor
created by the Tiresian scientist Cabell. The only one of the Zor
clones to actually live for more than a few months. He had
apparently gained all of Zor's memories and knowledge. He had
been helpful during the conflict with the Invid Regent during
Rick's time with the Sentinels. While Rick had never been exactly
friendly with Rem, neither had they disliked each other. When the
SDF-3 had escaped the pocket universe created by the Invid Regis
and co-opted by the collective known as Haydon, Rem had been left
behind, evidently taken by Haydon.
As had Minmei.
The only thing Rick found to truly dislike Rem for was his
treatment of Minmei. They had become lovers, and Minmei had at
last found a measure of stability in her tumultuous life. But Rem
had always taken Minmei for granted, at least in Rick's eyes. She
had seemed nothing more than an interesting experiment to Rem, and
he didn't appear to have a deep emotional investment in her.
Minmei didn't seem to mind; she seemed willing to accept whatever
Rem gave her.
Rick had always thought Minmei deserved better than that.
Still, it had never come to a head between him and Rem, and they'd
worked well together. Or as well as anyone could work with Rem,
who had become cold and distant after having Zor's memories
reawakened in him.
Rem seemed as confused as Rick was. "Minmei, what are you
referring to?"
"Hmm?" Minmei frowned, the cute little pout Rick remembered well
and tugged at his heart. "Oh, maybe that hasn't happened yet.
I'm a little confused now." She took Rem's hand with one of hers
and reached for Rick's with the other. "Please, let's hurry."
Rick met Rem's gaze over Minmei's head. He could still see
hostility in those eyes, held barely in check. Rick shot back his
own challenge before deliberately looking away. Now was not the
time for stupid posturing.
He began moving, and the three of them strode abreast. As before,
the foliage seemed to part before them. Minmei began humming, a
soft, sad melody that evoked painful images of loss. Rick
suddenly had to swallow hard against the ache in his throat.
Soon the Veritech came into view. Rem released Minmei's hand to
stride forward and stare at it skeptically. "Minmei, you can't be
serious. We are supposed to use this to escape Haydon? We will
surely not succeed."
Minmei broke off her humming, to Rick's disappointment and relief.
"Love, we must try. I will not allow any more of my children to
be taken. It was necessary for Zor to go back and do what needed
to be done. I make this sacrifice because I have to. But no
longer. Trust me. Trust Rick."
Rem looked skeptically over at Rick and harumphed loudly. Rick
wanted to stride forward and knock some respect into him, but he
didn't want to let go of Minmei's hand.
She seemed to sense his restraint. She looked up at him and
smiled, giving his hand a squeeze. Rick looked into her eyes,
wanting to lose himself in them.
Her smile widened slightly, then she turned her head forward and
began leading him towards the Skull. "Come, dear. We really must
hurry."
Rick sighed and followed. They reached the Skull. Rick leapt
onto the wing and turned to lift up Minmei. Or he intended to;
instead, he watched wide-eyed as she floated slowly up and onto
the wing next to him. She landed daintily, her dress billowing
around her. She laughed prettily at his expression, then turned
towards Rem, still standing on the beach below. "Hurry, love."
Rem crossed his arms and came off the ground as if riding an
invisible escalator. He was deposited efficiently onto the wing
and looked around distastefully.
Rick looked into the cockpit. It was actually quite a bit roomier
than the original design, bioelectronics replacing much of the
bulkier older circuitry. Still, three would be a tight squeeze.
He bent forward and cleared out some of the miscellaneous junk he
had in the second seat, tossing it onto the sand below. "You guys
first. I, uh, think it'd be better if you had Minmei sit on your
lap, Rem."
Rem seemed aware of how uncomfortable that admission made Rick
feel. He smirked once at Rick, then stepped past him into the
Skull. Minmei followed, arranging herself easily into his arms.
Come to think of it, Rick realized, she'd done this before.
Rick jumped into the pilot's seat. He gazed at the canopy for a
while. It was more difficult this time for some reason, but
eventually it slid shut. The console was still dead, but after a
while he managed to lift the Skull off the ground. As the island
fell away beneath them, he reminded himself to retract the landing
gear.
The perimeter of the globe came up to meet them very quickly. As
before, the Skull passed easily through it. They were back out
into open space. Rick took them a small distance away from the
globe, then stopped.
He craned over his shoulder. "Now what?"
"You don't know?" Rem's voice was full of disdainful disbelief.
"Are you incapable of even the most basic-"
"Hush, love." Minmei's gentle voice easily cut off Rem. She
moved her head a little forward so she could look into Rick's
eyes. "You must remember how you got here, and repeat the
process."
Rick frowned, not having to look at the console to know that it
was still dead. "But none of my machinery is working. I can't
repeat it."
"It wasn't your machines that brought you here." Minmei's voice
was patient and gentle. "There are limits to what machines are
capable of. It is your soul that guided the machines here,
including the machine that is your body. Now you must use it
again to get us out."
This was well beyond Rick's ken. He wished Aurora was here. "Uh,
can you guys help?"
"We cannot. We are bound here by Haydon, who in this place holds
sway. But you are not, and you can take us with you. It must
only be you, or we will not escape."
Rick sighed and looked forward. His soul had guided him here.
How? Certainly he'd felt some yearnings for Minmei, some small
regrets that he hadn't done what was necessary to be with her.
That, and his desire to have a personal adventure of some sort had
driven him to attempt this crossing. Not to mention his crumbling
relationship with Lisa.
Lisa.
As the ship had begun to dissolve around him, he'd thought of
Lisa. His whole mind had been filled with images of her, of how
he wanted to survive so he could see her again. He'd been so
certain he was about to die, and he'd wanted thoughts of Lisa to
comfort him.
He closed his eyes and pushed Minmei from his thoughts. It wasn't
easy. Her presence, so close, was an intoxicant. Thoughts of her
had consumed so much of his life, both fifty years ago and most
recently. Now, her very existence so near to him took his breath
away.
And what of Lisa? While Minmei had floundered from one disaster
to another, bringing chaos wherever she went (however unintended),
Lisa had stood with him, providing stability and control. She had
been an anchor, her strength of character exactly what Rick needed
during the endless wars that followed the launch of the SDF-1.
Those wars had pushed his sanity to the limit several times, and
Lisa had been the one to keep him from falling over the edge.
She'd given him a son, the joy of both their lives, and raising
him had been the best thing Rick had ever accomplished.
He loved her, and wanted to go back to her and Roy. He wanted it
very, very much.
The sound of crunching metal slammed into his ears. He opened his
eyes to see readings off the scale on the console. He peered
through the maelstrom of color in front of him and tried to point
the Skull in the direction he thought was out. He tried to nudge
it forward, away from the well that wanted to suck him to
oblivion.
The problem was that he'd designed the systems to survive a trip
into the black hole, not to get him out. He'd been hoping that
would take care of itself. Now he pushed the already overstressed
Nichols drive even harder, hoping he could get away from the
crushing forces of the black hole before the drive exploded.
A vague shape loomed in front of him. Rick identified it as a
small fighter, one of many the fleet had in existence. It latched
onto him with a docking beam. Rick cursed, wondering what
possible good that could do. The other ship certainly didn't have
the power to pull him out of here.
And yet, as we watched with growing amazement, it *did* pull him
out. The readings began to go down and the Skull began to protest
less loudly. Rick eased back on the Nichols drive a little and
finally shut it off before it could take him FTL. He floated in
his seat, having forgotten to strap himself in. He was clear and
free of the black hole.
He looked ahead - his sensors were destroyed, so his eyes would
have to do - and saw about twenty similar fighters strewn around.
As he watched, the docking beams they'd used to hold on to each
other flickered out of existence, including the one from what had
to be the _Portland_.
Rick suddenly laughed. Dana had done it again. She'd linked all
of the fighters together, like people lying on the ice and
grabbing each other's ankles trying to reach one who had fallen
through the ice. Risky, to be sure - a single break and she could
have lost a lot of her pilots. But she inspired those she
commanded, enough for them to go along with a crazy stunt like
this. And, like always, she made it work.
Rick blew out a relieved breath and looked over his shoulder. He
blinked and knelt backwards in his seat to gaze at the empty spot
behind him. His stomach twisted violently as his thoughts raced
around in circles. Had Haydon's block of Minmei been effective
after all? Had they snatched her away as she had been about to
escape? Or - and this was truly terrifying - had it all been a
dream of some sort, an illusion born of panic and near death?
He turned slowly around and collapsed back in his seat, despair
draining him of all will. He was being towed towards the
_Portland_ and he didn't care. They could drop him back in the
black hole and he wouldn't care about that, either.
Light was blinking at him from the console. He wanted to ignore
it, but something made him read the words that had appeared on the
display:
Rick,
Thanks ever so much for coming and rescuing me. Again. My
love and gratitude go with you.
Rem and I no longer belong to the same worlds you do. We must
go our own way, find a new place for us to exist. My life is
bound with his, and his will governs mine just as mine governs
his. It is perhaps not the best kind of relationship to have,
but it is constant, and that is what I have always yearned for.
You were my first love, Rick. You always will hold a special
place in my thoughts, but my heart belongs to someone else. As
does yours.
I know that you looked for no reward, expected no payment as a
result of your coming to my aid. But Rem feels that we should
not be in your debt, and insisted that we give you something in
return. I hope you find it useful. I trust you will know what
to do with it.
I know this is not the result you were hoping for, Rick. But
it is the best I can offer. And, I think, it will be better
for you than you know.
Again, my heart-felt thanks. We will meet again, I promise.
Love Love LOVE,
L. M.
Rick read the words over and over again. They didn't change. He
had found her and lost her in one fell swoop, and it hurt more
than he would have thought possible.
Gravity suddenly reasserted itself. He fell into his seat and
looked around. The Skull was being lowered onto the hangar bay
floor of the _Portland_. He wondered how bad the Skull was going
to look; there was no magical universe to repair it this time.
He looked once more at the console, reading the message a final
time, burning the words into his soul. Then he cleared the
display. Another page popped up, filled with all sorts of
information.
He studied it as technicians outside the Skull tried to open the
canopy. Dana appeared and tapped on it, trying to get his
attention. He ignored her while he read through to the end. Then
he laughed loud and long as Dana looked on in concerned
puzzlement.
---
Morales's voice spoke from the computer. "The Karbarran
ambassador is online."
Lisa turned from the window. "Put him through."
The image of the Karbarran envoy - Kitelek, by name - filled her
display. Despite the thick fur that covered his face - and made
him look like a giant teddy bear - she had gotten pretty good at
reading his expressions. He seemed puzzled and wary. Which was
good.
"Sentinel Hayes-Hunter."
Lisa felt a warm glow. To the Karbarrans, the greatest title of
respect for an alien was "Sentinel", one of the ragtag disparate
fleet that had freed the local group from the Invid. Kitelek had
not given her that respect recently, trying to portray strength
and just a measure of contempt. Now he was unsure, and was
falling back on civility.
"As you may have noticed," she said as she sat, "we are
withdrawing our ships from Dialtre. We have lifted the blockade.
The Perytons have given up their claim to the system. Dialtre is
yours."
She looked serenely at him. Kitelek seemed to have trouble
believing her words. He moved his head from side to side, a
slightly nervous habit common to many Karbarrans.
After several repetitions of his movement, during which Lisa
maintained her calm, slightly superior demeanor, Kitelek spoke.
"Sentinel Hayes-Hunter is not know for such maneuvers. Hers has
been the bold attack, taking the fight to the enemy no matter the
odds. She is not one to back away from a challenge."
Lisa widened her smile. "No, she is not." She shrugged and
turned her expression neutral. "And if we were in need of Dialtre
for the Perytons, we would still be there. But Dialtre has become
superfluous."
"Superfluous?" Kitelek scratched his snout. "How so?"
Lisa made a show of checking another display on her desktop. "We
recently came across information about a group of systems rich
with planets capable of supporting the Perytons, or any of the
known sentients."
"Indeed?" Kitelek sounded suspicious. "Where might such planets
exist?"
Lisa touched a control, and a map appeared in the display. Over
twenty systems scattered along the rim on the far side of the
galaxy were blinking.
Kitelek studied the map. "Even if this information is accurate,
these systems are too far away to be of use to the local group.
It would take a year or more to reach them. Establishing colonies
would not be practical."
"Normally, that would be true. However, we also have information
about a new kind of fold system, one that works without
protoculture and is much more reliable. With it, we can precise
jumps to anywhere in the galaxy. Indeed, anywhere in the
universe."
Kitelek blinked once, a sign of great shock. "But how is this
possible? From where did you receive this information?"
Lisa leaned back in her chair. "Ah, those are good questions. I
would happy to answer such questions, to friends. To those who
work with their neighbors peacefully, who do not threaten and
bluster. Those we can trust, we give this wonderful new
information." She shrugged. "Those we cannot trust, we wish well
and hope that they are content with the planetary systems they
have, for they will surely obtain no more unless they can develop
such drives for themselves."
She sat up straight and put her finger on the disconnect button.
"When you and yours are ready to throw off the taint of the Invid
and the Masters and join the other sentients in peaceful
cooperation, we will gladly welcome you. I wait anxiously for
such a moment. I hope it will come soon."
She cut the connection and smiled again. War would come no more.
Thanks to Rick. And Minmei.
Lisa mulled those thoughts over against a backdrop of relief.
---
Roy Hunter looked up at the pseudo-sky of the station. The EVE
system that had so nicely simulated sun and sky over Macross City
during the SDF-1's long voyage had become standard on all large
space installations. Earth Station Three, in permanent orbit
around Earth, was large enough to comfortably support a million
people. Mother's office was in a building that overlooked a large
park that sported actual trees and grass.
Roy wandered through the park, enjoying the breeze. He was both
anxious and reluctant to keep his appointment, so he had
deliberately altered his path to come through here. The sun
shining on his brow made him feel good until an artificial cloud
blocked it.
He chuckled at the appropriateness of it. He'd always lived under
a huge cloud of expectations. The son of Rick Hunter, one of the
great pilots of the first Robotech War. The son of Lisa Hayes-
Hunter, one of the most extraordinary leaders of all time. Named
after Roy Fokker, another great pilot who had been among the first
to venture into the SDF-1 and bring back the secrets of Robotech.
It would have been easy to be crushed under the weight of those
shadows. Fortunately, his parents had shielded him well from
undue outside scrutiny. They had always encouraged him to be his
own person. He'd grown up in a nice, loving environment that had
made him feel very comfortable in himself.
But ever since he had moved out on his own - and, indeed, a little
before that - a sort of tenseness had grown between his parents.
Every time he'd seen them together, they'd been less civil towards
each other. Something troubling had boiled underneath the surface
of their relationship, until seeing them together had actually
begun to cause Roy pain. And then it had begun to erupt until it
was obvious to everyone how serious the problems between his
parents were.
And yet, Roy had reason to hope. Father had been quite open about
what had happened to him on the far side of the black hole at
Ranaath's Star. How thoughts of Mother had allowed him to pass
through unharmed, and how those same thoughts had allowed him to
escape that prison.
Father's adventure had made headlines, of course. As had the
knowledge Minmei had left in the Skull's computer. War had seemed
so inevitable; now everyone was rejoicing in the wonderful new
opportunities made available by the new fold system. Instead of a
future of death, the promise of new life. So wonderful. Roy
could now allow himself to worry about other things. Like his
parents.
Roy snorted. If truth be told, he'd never stopped worrying. He
loved them so.
He finally reached fleet headquarters. He rode the elevators, his
stomach doing all sorts of flip-flops. The doors opened, he
walked down the corridor, and was waved inside by a smiling
Morales.
Mother and Father were seated at the center conference table.
They were eating lunch, and had obviously just been laughing
together at some joke. They looked up at him, and the smiles that
were already on their faces grew wider in an instant. Mother
nodded at him. "You're late, Lieutenant."
He would have none of that. He walked up to her and hugged her
tightly. "Sorry, Mom."
She laughed and hugged him back. He was pulled out of her grip by
father, who hugged him as well. Roy exulted in all of the good
feeling around the table. Everything was going to be all right.
Father released him and indicated a chair where a third lunch was
waiting. "Eat, son. We've already started so you'd better hurry
if you want to catch us."
Roy laughed. His parents had always been fast eaters - as if they
always had much more important things to do than dawdle over their
food. Roy had developed the habit of eating very slowly, mostly
out of pure contrariness. It had become a family joke. And, at
this moment, a very comfortable one.
He sat and began picking at his food. His parents were both
looking at him, and their expressions were sobering. He took a
sip of soda and waited for them to get to the point.
As usual, Mother wasted little time. "Son, your father and I
asked you here to let you know what has happened between us."
Roy slowly nodded and put a fork full of salad into his mouth.
Father leaned a little forward. "Roy, your mother and I are
getting a divorce."
Roy stopped chewing.
He looked back and forth between them. He detected no anger, no
tenseness between them. But those words... Father could not have
just spoken them. Roy hastily swallowed. "But... why? I mean,
you told me... how Mother... how much your love for Mother..."
Father sighed. "Yes, I love your mother. Still. But... it's
changed. She's the mother of my son and I will always love her
for that. But..."
"But we can't live together." Mother's voice was gentle, not an
admiral giving orders but a person speaking of sorrow. "We can no
longer give each other the peace we both need. Our relationship
was built in a time when extraordinary circumstances had brought
extraordinary pressure on both of our lives. Now things are
different. We are different. And we don't offer each other the
right things any more."
Father reached over to grab Roy's shoulder. "It's important for
you to know that your mother and I have no regrets. Finding each
other was great, a wonderful, special thing. It brought you into
our lives." He shook Roy affectionately. "We could not have
asked for anything better."
The facts still did not compute. "But, Minmei..."
Father leaned back. "What Minmei allowed me and your mother to do
was to realize how much we had once loved each other, and also to
realize how much we still loved each other, but differently.
Without Minmei, we would probably have gone through weeks or
months more of painful fighting before finally breaking up amidst
tons of acrimony."
"Minmei spared us that." Mother's eyes turned inward. "And, if
truth be told, I don't wonder if that wasn't her true gift to your
father."
Roy stared at Mother, stunned. She focused on him. "Son, how are
you feeling?"
"I... I don't know." He looked back and forth between his
parents. "I don't know why I'm supposed to be thankful that
you're getting divorced."
Father grimaced. "Bringing a marriage to an end is never
something to rejoice in, Roy. But we've brought an end to a
source of pain between us, something that was spilling out and
causing other people misery. You especially. Now, at last, we
can put the negative behind us and concentrate on some more
positive aspects. That is why your mother and I are happy and
relieved."
Mother stood up, walked behind Roy, and hugged his shoulders.
"Please don't hate us, son. We had to do this. We regret that it
will cause you pain, but if you'll work with us, we'll all get
over this and to the better times ahead."
Father nodded, rose, and hugged Roy from the other side of the
chair. Roy drew in a deep, shuddering breath and reached up to
awkwardly wrap an arm around each of his parents. He realized he
was crying, and that his parents were crying too. But there was a
release there, and Roy knew that eventually everything *would* be
all right. In time.
---
Rick stood with an arm around his ex-wife, looking out at the
monument of the SDF-1. The pseudo-sun was resting atop the twin
pylons, and he wondered if he could try to talk someone into
turning the monument ninety degrees or changing the route the sun
took. The image those two things created no longer seemed
appropriate.
Lisa sighed. "It's over."
Rick wondered if she meant the potential war with the Karbarrans
or their marriage. He decided probably both, and nodded.
The past couple of weeks since his return from the black hole had
been full of activity. The new ships were already in the
preliminary stages of construction in highly secure facilities.
The Karbarrans were desperately trying to make amends, and Lisa
had strung them along nicely so far. It would be a period of
months, perhaps years, but eventually Rick was sure that the
Karbarrans would become a willing part of the emerging UWG
government.
Which reminded him. "How did the meeting go today?"
"Amazingly well. Suddenly the whole assembly seems energized.
We've made more progress in the past few days then we've made in
the past few decades. I think the prospect of discovering new,
habitable worlds is finally giving everyone the impetus they
needed to come to terms. Already a charter is being discussed."
"Wow." That was far better than he'd hoped. "You realize, of
course, that they're probably going to insist that you step down
as Admiral of the fleet."
Lisa chuckled. "I know. I've wielded far too much power for far
too long. For any new government to succeed the old institutions
have to give way."
Rick laughed. "Well, Lisa, I've never heard of you being referred
to as an 'institution'."
She looked up at him, her eyes full of mischief. "Isn't that
another word for 'sourpuss'?"
Now Rick really laughed. Lisa joined him, and it felt good.
He wound down after a while. He wiped his eyes and managed to
sober his voice. "Will you be okay with that?"
Lisa nodded emphatically. "Yes. Something Winston Churchill once
said, after being voted out of office immediately after the Second
World War: 'They are perfectly entitled to vote as they please.
This is democracy. This is what we've been fighting for. Now,
hand me my towel.'"
"Towel?"
"He liked to take baths."
"Evidently." Rick cocked his head. "So what are you going to
do?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe go across the galaxy, retire
on one of those planets."
Rick raised an eyebrow. "Retire? You?"
Lisa chuckled, evidently still in a good humor. "Well, long
enough to write the next chapter of my memoirs."
"Didn't Churchill also say, 'I know history will treat me kindly
because I intend to write it.'?"
Lisa actually guffawed. She wiped her eyes and grinned. "Rick,
you haven't made me laugh this much in years."
"Too long. So, really, you're all right?"
She looked him in the eye again, her face serious. "Yes. I will
be all right." She reached up to touch his cheek. "Thank you for
caring."
Rick felt an old tingling, a memory of why he'd fallen in love
with her all those years ago. He smiled into her eyes for a small
eternity, and they shared pleasant memories in that space.
Finally she drew her hand away. "And you? What are you going to
be doing?"
Rick sighed and turned to look out the window again. "I don't
know yet. I've got a lot to sort through. For now, keep doing
what I've been doing. Only better."
"Will you rebuild Skull One?"
"No. That was just me holding on to the past. You know, in a
strange sort of way, I think I wanted war to happen. For some
reason, I thought I would return to the 'good old times' of the
SDF-1." He gestured towards the monument. "Thankfully, Minmei
helped me remember what made those times good. Not the war, but
the people."
"Minmei." Lisa spoke the name somewhere between a curse and a
blessing. "Will you go looking for her?"
"Well, I've thought about." Minmei had been in his thoughts a lot
lately. "But... well, she's not in love with me. She's in love
with Rem. Besides, she said we'll meet again. I can wait."
"Hmm." Lisa sounded thoughtful. "Eternal life puts an
interesting perspective on things."
Rick furrowed his brow slightly. "I don't know we've quite
reached that yet. Think of how close we came to killing each
other."
Lisa frowned as well. "Do you mean the UWG and the Karbarrans, or
you and me?"
Rick shrugged. "Either or both."
Lisa was silent for a moment. "I think you're right. We've still
got a ways to go as sentients. We have to be careful not to fall
into the same traps Haydon did."
"Yes."
"So, is that what we're each going to do in our own way?"
"Yes. With help."
"From each other?"
"Well, yes, that too. But I was thinking of someone else."
Rick heard Lisa draw in a sharp breath. "Minmei?"
"Amazing, isn't it, how well things have been going this past
couple of weeks? Everything we've done has been *right*. Beyond
our wildest expectations, as the saying goes."
"Are you saying... Minmei is God?"
Rick snorted. "No. I was thinking she's become something between
Zor and Haydon. You should have seen her, seen the way she
behaved. She's on a different level now. I don't know if she's
become less human or more human. I don't know if the word 'human'
applies to her anymore."
Lisa seemed slightly scared. "And you're still in love with her."
Rick considered that for a long time. "I'm willing to wait for
her."
Lisa turned and grabbed his forearm, squeezing it tightly.
"Rick."
"Yes?"
Her words were delivered with a sense of urgency. "Be careful."
He smiled. "Aren't I always?"
"I'm serious. I don't want to see you hurt."
His smile vanished. "I know. I'm sorry. I *will* be careful.
Rem especially seems to have it in for me. He's got her bound to
him somehow; I have to figure that out. There's a lot I have to
learn yet."
Lisa shook her head in disbelief. "And who's going to teach you?"
"I think our children. Roy, Aurora, the others. Remember what
they did for us when we were the ones trapped in that black hole?"
Lisa shifted uneasily. "Can we learn? Is it possible?"
Rick laughed quietly. "Lisa, after all we've done, do you think
there's anything we can't do?"
Lisa studied him for a long time before releasing his arm. "No
limits?"
"I think there were never any limits. I think Zor learned it, and
Haydon, and Minmei."
"And look what damage they did."
"And what good they accomplished."
"Rick." She moved forward a little, invading his space. "Do you
trust me?"
"Um." What a weird question. "Yes."
"Even when I'm no longer your commanding officer or your wife?"
"I will always trust you, Lisa."
"Good." She stepped back. "Then talk to me before you attempt
anything. Sometimes you lose perspective, and I want to be there
to balance you out."
Rick slowly nodded. "Okay. That sounds good. You've always been
my strength and rationality."
"And you've always been my sanity and joy of life."
"Will we lose those things now?"
"I don't think so. Fifty years means that there are parts of us
deeply ingrained in each other, and those parts will always be
with us."
"Good."
They stood side by side, looking out at the park again, very close
but not touching.
Lisa finally turned from the window. "I'm going to go see Roy. I
need some time with him."
"Give him my love."
"I will." She took two steps away, then stopped. "If... if you
ever see Minmei again tell her... tell her that I missed her when
she was gone, and that I would like to see her back with the human
race. That if she ever gets tired of godhood, we will always have
a space ready for her. Send her my love. And give her plenty of
your own."
Rick stared again into the depths of Lisa's eyes. As he did, the
last curtain of their life together fell shut. His heart skipped
a beat as it finally dawned on him that he and Lisa were no longer
together. And never would be again.
Of course, he thought to himself, eternity is a long time.
Lisa quirked her mouth one last time, turned, and left the room.
Rick looked at the monument again, the artificial sun setting
behind it and casting it into dramatic shadows. Something had
come to a close just now. He mourned its passing, but at the same
time felt excited for the new life ahead. So many possibilities.
And somewhere among those possibilities lay Minmei.
He found himself humming a song he knew well. A simple song from
his youth. He changed the lyrics in his mind a little to make it
appropriate for him to sing. He liked the feeling of the lyrics
so much he began to sing them out loud.
Something affectionate washed over him as he did, seemingly
flowing from the song. As he brought the song to a close and sang
the last four words, he was certain that, just for a moment, he
had accompaniment.
Rick grinned, turned, walked out of Lisa's office, and began
preparing for the day when the melody would be complete.
~*~
Author's Notes:
In case you're wondering: No, I did *not* hope Rick and Minmei
would get together during the original series. Like everyone
else, I was rooting for Lisa all along. However, the Rick/Lisa
marriage has known significant problems all throughout the
McKinney books, so I thought this was a logical outcome.
Minmei the demi-god is not my idea, but McKinney's. I merely had
her rescued from the black hole. What she does now that she's
back in the universe is anyone's guess.
Well, what do you think? I'd really like to know. Like I said,
Robotech is the series I have the greatest emotional investment
in, and I'd really like this story to be special, so *any*
suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for coming this far. ^_^ Please please, write back and
tell me your thoughts.
-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com
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