Human and Zentraedi mecha met head-on, crisscrossing silently in space at skirmish speed. The Veritechs held back their fire until the last possible moment, then unleashed a storm of missiles and gatling rounds at the Battlepods and triple-fins. Spherical explosions threw short-lived light against the night. Below them was the dark face of the Earth, undisturbed and unconcerned.
Skull One's retros flared briefly to bleed the fighter of velocity as ventral thrusters provided its lift, tipping the ship over so that Earth was now above Rick for a moment. Most of the pods had also doubled back but had yet to return fire. VTs from Vermilion and Blue teams were blowing them out of space like sitting ducks. And where Lisa had been expecting a kamikazelike attack, there was only a full-scale retreat. Rick moved to within striking distance of two ostriches, his front fuselage guns blazing, but the enemy refused to engage him; they simply rolled and showed him the
red glow of their foot thrusters.
"Certain reluctance out here or am I imagining things?" said Vermilion Leader over the tac net.
"I copy that, V Leader," someone added. "Skull One, do we pursue?"
"Uh, affirmative, V Leader," said Rick. "Let's go see what they're up to." The Veritechs regrouped and boostered off after the fleeing Battlepods. Rick was the first to spot the Officer's Pod; it seemed to be taking aim at one of its own, herding the mecha back into formation with the rest. Rick hit his
afterburners and homed in on it.
He couldn't hold the enemy officer in the reticle but had a good view of the ship on his forward scopes. It had to be the same one! Rick convinced himself: There were no telltale markings of any kind-it was easily as worn, scorched, and scratched as the rest of them-but that pilot seemed to have his own signature. And from what the defectors had divulged, the name attached to that craft would be "Khyron"-someone they seemed to fear above all else.
Rick noticed two VTs from Blue making their approach against the Officer's Pod. But Khyron was alert to their scheme and went after them in a frenzy, handguns blasting away, top-mounted cannon erupting in salvos of death. Both Veritechs sustained hits and disintegrated in the ensuing explosions.
Meanwhile Rick was certain he had the drop on the pod. Distracted by the two fighters, his quarry had turned his back to him, all guns forward. But as Skull One sped in for the shot, the pod swiveled and caught sight of him. Rick launched three missiles regardless, but pulsed bombardment detonated the first, and the second and third fell to fratricide.
The tables were turned all of a sudden. The pod had a good opportunity to tail Rick and slide easily into position for that lethal cone release, but in the interim, Khyron's charges had escaped his control. So instead of jumping on Rick, the pod turned around to reshepherd its widespread flock. "They seem to be breaking off for good, Lieutenant," said the Vermilion
Leader.
Rick breathed a sigh of relief before he went on the net. "Have your teams pull back to the fortress." He then raised Max on the commo screen.
"Scanners show warships along our heading, Skull One."
"All right, Max. Looks like they decided to go home, after all. Let's do the same."
One by one the Veritechs retroed and began to reverse their headings. The SDF-1, reconfigured to Cruiser mode now, was waiting for them in the space above Earth's sunny side.
Later, Lisa met with Captain Gloval in his quarters. Ever since colonels Maistroff and Caruthers had walked out on the asylum session, she had been searching for some way to counteract their influence with the United Earth Defense Council. Should the UEDC leaders overturn Gloval's ruling, there was no telling what might become of the defectors. For all anyone aboard the SDF-1 knew, Rico and his companions could possess some means of spreading the word, good or bad, back to the Zentraedi fleet. They had stated that there were ten other micronized soldiers in hiding. And perhaps those ten were prepared to engage in acts of sabotage if asylum was refused. Things hadn't gone very well with her father the last time they met, but surely he would have to be open-minded now, in light of these recent developments and this new physical evidence of a possible link between Humans and Zentraedi. She told Gloval as much.
"You know I'm right, sir. When we granted asylum to those defectors, we changed this whole conflict. We're defending their desire to adopt our values. If I don't go to Earth and line up some support, we might very well be ordered to send them back."
Gloval had his back to her while he listened. But now he swung away from the starfield view out the portside bay and faced her. He was skeptical. "Our dealings with the Council have proved less than satisfying so far.
What makes you think you'll be able to convince them now?"
"I'm not promising anything, Captain. But we do have new evidence on
our side. If I can just get my father behind us." "That's a very large if, Lisa."
"The results of Dr. Lang's lab tests should be enough to reopen a dialogue with the Council if nothing else. The Zentraedi race and the Human race are essentially the same. They could be our long-lost brothers and sisters. If that isn't compelling enough, I don't know what is."
"You're determined to make this work."
"Yes, sir. I'm aware of what you said after the session-that you're no longer going to let the council dictate to this ship-but I would hate to see things go in that direction. No matter how disaffected the civilians are, Macross will never be the same after that attack. They have to be disembarked and resettled on Earth. What can we do otherwise? Search the galaxy for some hospitable world? If we still had our fold generators that might be possible, but given the speeds we can attain...I don't have to tell you this, Captain."
Gloval waved his hand dismissively. "You're right to say it. I need to hear it sometimes."
Lisa perched herself on the corner of his desk. "We've been lucky. But how much longer can this go on? Even if the Zentraedi never achieve a decisive victory, they're going to succeed in whittling us down to nothing. Our stores are not inexhaustible. And God knows, our Defense Force isn't inexhaustible. And no matter what the Council proclaims-no matter what they threaten us with-this ship is not expendable. We are the only thing that stands between the Zentraedi armada and the Earth itself." Lisa motioned out the bay to the stars. "They have over one million warships out there! We're losing sight of that because we've been lucky and they've been foolish. But even in the best of winning streaks luck has an uncanny way of reversing itself. We have to come to terms with the Council and the Zentraedi. I think the appearance of the defectors is the first step in that process, and they took it. Maybe we've already done our part by offering asylum, but I'm convinced we have to go further. I've got to get to my father before Maistroff and Caruthers get to him."
it."
Gloval tugged at his mustache. "It could be risky, Lisa." "How, sir?"
"Because your father wants you off this ship. And if we lose you now..." She smiled at him. "You have Sammie, Captain. She'll get the hang of
Gloval snorted. "Sammie will someday make a proper First Officer, but
she lacks your overall knowledge of this fortress. You are needed here, Lisa." "Thank you, sir," she said, lowering her gaze. "But this war must be stopped. Let me try this approach, Captain. I promise you I won't let my
father prevent my return."
Gloval nodded and exhaled loudly. "All right, you have my permission. But think carefully before you decide to disobey any orders from the Council. Remember who and what you are, Lisa."
She stood up sharply and saluted him. "I'll begin working on a joint report tonight and have a draft for you in the morning."
Gloval stood up and extended his hand to her. "You'll leave as soon as possible."
Lisa was already formulating her report when she left the captain's quarters, experimenting with wording and editing, choosing the phrases and approach that would work best with her father. She was so wrapped up in this process that she got halfway to the bridge before realizing that she was supposed to be headed
to her barracks. Turning around, she became preoccupied with a different train of thought: It was possible that she might never set foot on the bridge again. Captain Gloval was right; her father wanted her off the SDF-1, and he would try to make good his demands this time-especially after hearing the news she was bringing. She could hear him now: What?! Aliens aboard the fortress?! A-and Gloval's granted them political asylum? A-and you expect me to allow you to return to that ship of fools?!
This started her thinking along a line of "last thoughts": This might be the last time she walked this corridor, the last time she slept in her quarters,
the last time she saw her crewmates-Claudia, Sammie, Kim, Vanessa...and Rick. What would Rick say if he knew she was leaving?
Had Lisa walked directly to the elevator, she would have had an opportunity to ask him in person, because the lieutenant had stepped off a moment before she arrived. And it would have been doubly interesting considering that he had been wondering how she might react to his asking her out to dinner.
But fate operated along the same lines then as it does today, and her autopilot wrong turn along the corridor had erased all chance of a meeting. Dinner would have to wait-for quite awhile if the truth be permitted at this stage of the narrative. And not onboard the SDF-1, either. Events were about to take a twist everyone had feared but no one had dared anticipate. The war was about to escalate. Death was about to gain the upper hand. Rick and Lisa would meet again, but against a landscape that would overshadow any joy such a reunion might ordinarily bring.
End RTUCN.COM
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