Max had long since ceased to be amazed at how quickly Millia could
get dressed. After all, he had translated his own mastery of the art of
pulling on a flight suit in seconds to civilian life, and since she was
his equal in so much else, it shouldn't surprise him to surprise him to
see that she had already pulled on undergarments, hose and slip.
"You heard?" he asked as he dropped the robe and yanked up his
shirt and pants from where they had fallen to the floor last night.
"Of course," she replied, efficiently buttoning up her blouse.
"Where the hell's my hat?" he asked as he pulled the short cape
around his shoulders.
Millia rose, fully dressed, and held it out to him. He reached out
to take it. She didn't release her grip on it as he pulled it toward
him.
"Max," she said, very calmly, "you are about to start charging off
in several directions at once. Stop it."
He blinked, saw the seriousness in her expression, and paused to
let out a deep breath. After a moment of silence, he met her gaze once
more. "I'm ready to listen."
She sighed. "How far are we from Megaload's last known position?"
"Last /officially/ known position, you mean?" Max replied. Having
been denied access to information about Megaload-01's last transmission
still rankled him, years later. "Roughly 34 light years. If not for the
Varauta situation, we'd probably have reached it by now."
"So it's not inconceivable that this could be just a distress
beacon, especially since it's been 32 years since she was lost. Are you
prepared to deal with that?"
He nodded, shortly.
"But you still hope that it's something else." She released her
grip on the hat.
"I have to hope, Millia." He looked down at the hat, turned it in
his hands. "That hope is part of the reason I took this job in the
first place."
She'd known that, of course. But if he chose to talk it out, she
would listen.
"When I first found out about the cover-up that the government was
perpetrating about her ... I can't remember being so angry. They lose
the flagship, and then try to claim that all's well?" He shook his head
in disgust.
Privately, Millia could almost see the reasoning behind the
government's actions. The loss of the first colonization ship, four
years into the plan, could have undone what little progress the UNG had
made, even toppled it. Of course, as the years passed, that rationale
must have grown very thin.
"I have to know what happened to them," Max continued. "No matter
what it was -- an encounter with the Protodevlin thirty years early,
another lost Zentraedi fleet, something else -- *we* need to know."
"So you're prepared for the worst?" she asked.
He turned, met her eyes evenly. "Always."
She nodded, satisfied. "All right. Get going -- but call me before
you make any major decisions, right?" There was just a hint of menace
in her voice.
He met the menace with the little boy smile that always made her
heart race a bit. "I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise, Madame Mayor."
She delayed a bit longer to pull on her shoes, and turned to look
over the quarters. Everything seemed as orderly as it was likely to
become -- if this situation panned out, who knew when the two of them
would have the chance to meet like this again.
Millia sighed. She couldn't regret; it wasn't part of her emotional
make-up. But annoyance at the wasted time they'd made of their personal
lives during the separation, sorrow, and hope -- definitely hope --
were all with her as she shut off the lights in their chamber, and went
out to work.
To Be Continued
Next Up: The message.
"Superdimensional Fortress Macross" and "Macross 7" were created by ...
let's not kid ourselves, it was a team effort. This story,
incorporating characters held under copyright by others, is copyright
2000 by Chris Davies.
Nobody Sue Me Okay?
=====
Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-time Champion of Light
"One begins to long to come across a female protagonist called,
say, Naomi the Castrator. One could tell her to look up John
Norman for a start." -- Michael Moorcock, "Wizardry and Wild Romance"
Fanfics: http://members.fortunecity.com/c_davies/
Fanfic Revolution: http://come.to/hauthor
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