Death Dance

by Jack McKinney

  As everyone began to move off, Lang mentioned that the Regent had come to Tirol of his own volition; that he was in fact on the fortress at that very moment.

  Wolff made a surprised sound-but not half the one Tesla uttered at overhearing the statement. Wolff was too wrapped up in Lang's subsequent remarks to hear it, however; but had he turned, he would have seen the look of near rapture on the Invid's suffused face.

  The Plenipotentiary Council convened in extraordinary session to listen to Colonel Wolff's report and hear out his requests. Because both Janice and Sarna were "civilians" according to the council's guidelines, Wolff had to face the twelve alone. The session was held in the council's private chambers aboard the fortress, with the usual secretaries and officials in attendance. Representing the RDF were Generals Reinhardt and Edwards. Wolff had yet to learn about Edwards's relationship with Minmei, but he loathed the man nonetheless. Lang had instructed Wolff before the session convened to meet with him afterward in the scientist's quarters. "No matter what the outcome," Lang had said. And those words were repeating themselves now as Wolff stood before the council recapping the events of the past four months.

  "...But it appears that the Praxians abandoned their world for good reason," Wolff was concluding a short time later. "Praxis is unstable. Admiral Hunter-"

  "I would caution Mr. Wolff from using any honorifics," one of the council members said. "The council no longer recognizes you as members of the Robotech Defense Force."

  "Some of the council," Niles Obstat objected.

  "Most of us."

  Wolff scowled at the woman. "Then why aren't Janice and Sarna here, if we're all civilians?"

  "Mr. Wolff," Senator Longchamps cut in, "we are just trying to set things straight for the record. You and the Hunters, Sterlings, and Grants are understood to be a part of the Expeditionary mission. The extraterrestrial Sentinels are another matter. And as for Ms. Em, she has never been affiliated with the RDF-or the mission, for that matter, if I'm not putting too fine a point on it."

  Wolff fought down an explosive urge to tear the man's throat out. "I apologize to the council if I may seem impatient," he continued more calmly, "but the fact is that our friends are out there, marooned on a planet that for all I know is just a memory by now! All I'm asking you for is one ship with a skeleton crew."

  "To do what, Mr. Wolff?" Thurgood Stinson asked. "To rescue your friends, to be sure. But what then-continue on your campaign, or return to Tirol?"

  Wolff tightened his lips. "I don't think I'm qualified to answer that, Senator."

  "And we're not certain we can spare a ship just now, Mr. Wolff."

  Justine Huxley broke the uncomfortable silence. "I think we're missing the point here." She motioned to Wolff. "Friends, is the term the colonel used. I ask you all to disregard for a moment the events of the past four months, and recall our first meeting with the Sentinels, especially the pledges that were exchanged then."

  As the council members grumbled agreement in their individual fashions, Wolff caught Exedore and Lang sending hopeful looks in his direction.

  Then Edwards got to his feet to address the twelve.

  "I'd be the first to admit that the Sentinels are both our friends and allies," he began, "but there's an important issue here that's being neglected-the Invid. The Regent's position is very clear: any assistance we render will be considered a further act of war. And he makes no distinction between Humans and XTs in this matter."

  Wolff's heart sank.

  Edwards waited for the room to quiet. "I don't think it's necessary for me to remind the council of the presence of the Invid fleet. I'm not saying that if it came right down to mixing it up with them we couldn't come out on top, but the results of an engagement in any case would have disastrous effects on our long-range goal-to repair our ship and return to Earth. I'm sure General Reinhardt and Admiral Forsythe concur in this matter."

  Reluctantly, Reinhardt inclined his head, averting Wolff's gaze. Edwards, however, was regarding Wolff.

  "The timing couldn't be worse, Wolff. I'm sorry. Perhaps if we wait until the truce is signed-say, six months or so-"

  "They don't have six months!" Wolff shouted. He looked to the council. "One ship! One goddamned-"

  "The council will take these things into consideration and render its judgment in a few days, Mr. Wolff," the senator bit out, his face flushed.

  "But-"

  "In a few days, Wolff."

  The senator's gavel went down.

  "It is fate at work!" Tesla roared jubilantly. "Do you see, Burak-does it escape you how we came to be here, how we were meant to be here?"

  Burak screwed up his devil's face and gestured to their surroundings. "Here? Meant to be here?"

  Tesla made a dismissive motion. "In this ship at this particular time," he emphasized. "With the Regent close enough to touch." His hands flexed around an invisible throat.

  The two conspirators were sequestered in the fortress's confinement area, opposite one another in separate laser-barred cells. Burak was sullen-faced, perched on the edge of an aluminum-framed bunk studying his hands, while across the corridor Tesla paced back and forth.

  "We must find a way out of here," the Invid said, coming to a halt. "I must...talk to him, convince him-" He whirled to face Burak. "You don't think they would keep my presence from him a secret, do you?"

  Burak shrugged.

  "I cannot take the chance," he muttered, back in motion once more. "Burak, do you still wish to see your planet freed from its curse?"

  "You know I do, Tesla. But how can I help you now? They've even taken your fruits from

  my care."

  "Never mind the fruits." Tesla cautiously pushed his hand into the lasers' field, and winced at the resultant burn. "Just do as I ask when the moment arrives. We have not come this far to be cheated out of our victory."

  Betrayal of a different sort had Minmei in tears in Edwards's quarters. The general was lying on the bed, his back against the headboard, hands clasped behind his head. Minmei was well within reach in a chair by the bed, but otherwise remote. He had found her waiting for him upon his return from the council chambers, still ruffled from her impulsive flight to the fortress, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. He didn't need to ask; so instead, he had fixed himself a drink, kicked off his boots, and settled himself on the bed while she cried.

  "He's alive," Edwards said now, reaching for the drink. "Isn't that what counts?"

  She lifted her face from her hands to stare at him. "That's the problem."

  "Oh, you wish he was dead."

  Minmei sobbed and shook her head. "You bastard," she told him.

  Edwards laughed derisively and took a long pull from the glass, determined not to give in to her. "What do you want from me, Minmei?"

  She wiped her eyes and glared at him. "Is it too much to expect some support?"

  "You don't need my support. You're feeling guilty because Wolff was stupid enough to think you'd just sit around and pine for him. And I suppose I don't count anymore-I was just a shoulder to cry on."

  "Stop it, T.R.-please." Minmei kneeled by the bed, resting her cheek on his thigh. "What am I going to say to him?"

  Edwards made a harsh sound and pulled himself away from her sharply. He got up off the opposite side of the bed and walked to the center of the room, turning on her. "I don't have time for this kind of nonsense. Tell him whatever you want. Just quit whining about it."

  He kept his back to her while he freshened his drink; but he could hear her slipping into her shoes and moving toward the door. "And tell him I said 'Hi,'" he managed before the door closed.

  His hand was shaking as he downed the second drink; he was about to head for the

  shower when his com tone sounded. It was Major Benson.

  "Some interesting conversation down in confinement," Edwards's adjutant reported. "Seems there's no love lost between Tesla and the Regent. He's pretty anxious to talk t
o his commander in chief, but it sounds to me like he's got murder on his mind."

  Edwards's head went back in surprise. "An unexpected development."

  "He's got some kind of deal going with that other alien. Can't make too much sense of it. Some payback after Tesla sets himself up as number one."

  While Benson continued to fill in the scant details, Edwards concluded that an assassination might prove an advantageous event. He didn't believe the Invid fleet would go to guns over the death of an imposter-there was simply too much at stake-and by allowing the murder, Edwards would be sending a clear message to the real Regent. More than that, Edwards could lay the blame for a complete diplomatic breakdown on Wolff, and by extension, the rest of the Sentinels.

  "Anything else from other quarters?" He heard Benson laugh shortly.

  "You'll love this. I think Lang is going to offer Wolff the SDF-7. Of course Wolff would have to make it look like he pirated the thing..."

  Edwards mulled it over. A murder, the theft of a ship, an escape...and the council's okay to hunt the assassins down-a chance to finish the job the Invid had begun.

  Edwards smiled down on the intercom. "I'll get back to you," he told Benson.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Somewhere along the line, everyone seemed to lose sight of the fact that love had won the First Robotech War. Now it was down to ships and body counts; it was no longer a fight for survival but a war for supremacy, a savage game.

  Selig Kahler, The Tirolian Campaign

  Love is a battlefield.

  Late twentieth-century song lyric

  "It's bad news, Colonel," Dr. Lang told Wolff two hours after the council had adjourned.

  They were in Lang's quarters now, along with Exedore, Janice, and the XT, Sarna. Wolff had spent the intervening time pacing the fortress's corridors like an expectant father. He had tried to locate Minmei, but no one seemed to know where she had disappeared to

  after leaving the docking bay with Edwards and his staff.

  "The council is going to rule against you," Lang continued, passing drinks to everyone but Sarna. "Huxley and Obstat are on our side, possibly Stinson, and Reinhardt's vote counts for something, but we don't have enough to sway the rest."

  Wolff scowled and sipped from his glass. "You know what's funny? In a crazy way I can see their point. You help us, and so-long any hopes of a truce."

  "You're correct, Colonel," Exedore affirmed. "The Sentinels were meant to be our ally, but instead they've become our liability. And as you yourself understand, Earth's safety remains the council's primary concern. A protracted war with the Invid will only diminish our chances of intercepting the Robotech Masters."

  Wolff exchanged looks with Sarna and Janice; both women seemed curiously detached from the scene, almost as if they served some unknown, greater cause. "Look," he said, putting his drink down in a gesture of finality, "now that we all understand the diplomatic angles of this thing, how in the hell are we going to help them?" He shot to his feet. "You think I can just sit around here, knowing what they're going through? They're stranded out there."

  "Perhaps there is a way," Lang said after a brief silence. He shook his head back and forth. "It could have disastrous consequences, Colonel, disastrous. And you'd have to prepare yourselves for hardships of an entirely new order..."

  Prison, Wolff thought. As an appeasement to the Regent after the rescue. Would Rick accept it, he wondered, or would they choose to die on Praxis-outcasts? "A ship," Lang was saying when Wolff looked up-a ship! He tried to follow the doctor's nervous movements as he went on to explain.

  "It's one of our prototypes-not large, and not especially well-armed. But it's capable of local fold operations, Wolff, and there's a skeleton crew standing by-volunteers, each one of them loyal to the admirals."

  Wolff's mouth dropped open; even Janice and Sarna were stunned by the doctor's revelation. "But when could we get it?" he asked.

  Exedore turned to him. "First, Colonel, you'll be required to steal it."

  Just then the door tone to Lang's quarters sounded. Lang looked around anxiously, then got up to answer it. A moment later, he was showing Lynn-Minmei into everyone's midst.

  "Janice," Minmei said, approaching her former partner.

  Janice evaded Minmei's embrace, and nodded coolly.

  "Lynn."

  The singer began to look around the room. Lang cleared his throat meaningfully. "I think we should give Minmei and the colonel some privacy," he said, already ushering Exedore, Janice, and Sarna from the room.

  When the door slid shut a moment later, it was Minmei who eased out of Jonathan's embrace. "Lynn, what's wrong?" he said, standing there with his arms open.

  She fumbled with the hem of her jacket and forced a smile. "Colonel, I can't tell you how hap-"

  "'Colonel'? Lynn, tell me what's going on. I saw you with General Edwards this morning and now you're calling me colonel after I haven't seen you in six months..." He tried to hug her once more, but she deftly took his hand between hers and motioned him to the couch.

  "Jonathan," she began hesitantly, "I know you're expecting us to take up where we left off, but things have changed."

  "So I keep hearing."

  Wolff was suddenly defensive, and she picked up on his tone. "You have to remember, we only had a few days together. And until yesterday I thought..."

  "You thought I was dead."

  Minmei nodded. "I didn't know what to do. I was practically crazy with grief and anger." She met his gaze and held it. "I hated you, Jonathan-hated you for leaving me, hated you for...so many things."

  Wolff considered her words, then smiled in sudden realization. "And you found someone to fill in all those lonely hours."

  Minmei's eyes flashed. "Why didn't you tell me you were married?"

  Wolff tried to keep his face from registering surprise. "We're separated," he said. "Besides, it never came up. I was going to tell you. It's just that everything got fouled up."

  "'Blame it on the Invid,'" Minmei said, almost cracking a smile. The phrase had become something of a catch-all excuse in Tiresia. Wolff was blushing. "Listen," she told him, "I'm not angry anymore. I'm just...happy that all of you are alive. How are Rick and Lisa? And Max-"

  "So when did you start seeing Edwards?"

  Minmei stood up and stepped away from the couch, wringing her hands. "I told you: you weren't there for me, Jonathan. I needed someone to turn to."

  "And you picked Edwards!" Wolff shook his head in amazement. "Don't you realize he's against everything we stand for? He's nothing but a self-serving, egotistical maniac."

  "I won't have you talking about him like that!" Minmei said angrily. "He treated me with kindness and respect, and what's more, he's the only one interested in making peace with the Invid and putting a stop to all this madness. Not like you and the rest of those...Sentinels, tearing around space stirring things up, not giving a damn what goes on back here!"

  Wolff was too numb to respond. Edwards, he thought, was like some kind of toxic spill, polluting everything he touched. Minmei had her arms folded across her chest, as though she were trying to hold herself together; her foot was tapping the floor. Wolff reached for his drink and drained the glass.

  "Well, I guess there's nothing more to say, is there?"

  Her lips were a thin line, trembling; then all at once she seemed to relax. "I want us to be friends, Jonathan. I've opened a kind of canteen in Tiresia, and I'd love you to see it. Will you promise to stop by?"

  He regarded her as one would a memory, mulling over her performance, the scene the two of them had just played out. "Sure," he told her absently, "I'll stop by."

  "There's a lot you'll be able to do here-all sorts of things. You'll see." Minmei seemed excited, like she had won a court case or something. She smiled at him from the doorway. "See you soon, okay?"

  Wolff forced a smile and raised his empty glass to her. "To friendship," he offered.

&nb
sp; She threw him a wink and stepped out.

  Applause, Wolff said to himself.

  While Wolff and Minmei were having their heart-to-heart and Exedore and Sarna were off somewhere discussing Haydon IV's curious history, Lang took his AI creation to his office and dumped Janice's memory into one of the lab's databanks. He scanned the android's recordings, briefly reviewing the events of the Karbarran and Praxian campaigns, but