"Look, I know you're both being very kind," Minmei said. "And I appreciate it, really I do. But how could I possibly continue living under the same roof with the man I love, his girlfriend, and a broken heart? Would either of you be able to do that?"

"I don't know," Lisa said with a sigh. "I'm not saying it'll be easy. All I know is that we can't sit idly by and watch you walk out that door with no place to go. We just can't! Could you do that to someone? Just heartlessly kick them out and make them homeless?"

Minmei let out an enormous sigh. "No, I would never be able to do that to anyone."

"And neither can we," Rick said.

They were sitting around the kitchen table, just finishing breakfast. They'd been able to cook a decent meal because power had been restored some time during the night. Midmorning sunlight slanted through the window.

Lisa said, "You know, I don't want to pry, but...what happened to Kyle?"

Minmei pursed her lips. "I have no idea. I don't know where that drunk, soldier-hating ball of arrogance is, nor do I care, as long as he stays away from me. I'd rather live in a gutter than crawl back to him." Rick and Lisa could tell by the look on her face that she meant it.

"Well, look, I actually don't think staying here will be that bad," Lisa said. "With the battle fortresses gone and our sudden promotions, Rick and I are hardly going to be here at all. Sleeping is all we have time for, any more, and we're not going to get much of that. And...I don't want to make any presumptions about your plans, and I certainly don't want you to think I'm trying to push you...but if you resume your singing career, you'll be pretty busy, yourself, so you, too, would hardly be around much. And if you don't resume your singing career, then you'll have the house to yourself most of the time, anyway. I really don't think we'll be in each other's way."

Minmei thought about this for a long moment. Rick and Lisa gave her all the time she needed.

"Well, I can't argue with any of that," Minmei finally said. "And I hadn't given any thought to what I want to do with my life. I was all set to give up singing, but...there's no way I could do that."

"You have plenty of time to figure it out," Lisa said.

"Minmei," Rick said, "Lisa and I have to go on duty. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need. That's my solemn vow. If you move out, just promise us it'll be because you have another place to stay – a good place to stay – and that you're okay. I won't accept anything less."

Tears sprang to Minmei's eyes. "Thank you, Rick," she whispered, and looked at Lisa. "Thank you both."

"You're more than welcome," Lisa said, smiling warmly.

"On one condition," Minmei said sternly. "I take the couch. I won't accept anything less."

Lisa nodded, resigning herself to Minmei's insistence. "That would be fine."

Minmei looked at Rick. "And I wish you had something better than a baseball bat I could use for protection while I'm here alone."

"There's a gun in a holster taped to the bottom of the bed," Rick said. "On the left side."

Minmei face-palmed. "Now he tells me."

"All right, we have to go," Lisa said, and she and Rick got up. "We'll see you later."

"Let me know if you'll be home for dinner," Minmei said. "If you are, I can have it ready."

"Ha!" Rick said, as Lisa and Minmei hugged. "Housekeeper Minmei."

Minmei saluted. "That's right, Vice Admiral Hunter."

"Ugh," Rick said, rolling his eyes. "It's gonna take a long time to get used to that." He and Lisa strode for the door.

"And I need to know where you keep your screwdriver and other tools," Minmei said. "Including the drill I really hope you have."

"Everything's in the bottom of the bedroom closet," Rick said as he and Lisa stepped out the door. "Behind the shoes."

As the door closed behind them, Minmei shouted after him in mock exasperation, "Who keeps their tools there?"

 

Minmei checked under the bed, and yep, the gun was there. She spent a few moments with it, making sure she could pull it out quickly without needing to grope for it and without fumbling with it.

She kept busy through the morning and early afternoon, repairing the front door among other things. But she knew she was putting off the inevitable phone call she could see coming out of the corner of her eye.

Around two in the afternoon, she finally felt she was ready for it. She rummaged through the small backpack which contained all her worldly belongings (I'm probably the poorest superstar singer in history, she reflected sadly), and pulled out the scrap of paper she'd never been willing to throw away.

She would never forget Vance's face when she told him Kyle would be taking over as her manager. She'd never seen Vance cry before.

"Well, in case you ever change your mind," he'd blubbered, handing her a scrap of paper with his number. Even though he knew that she knew his number.

That had been two years ago. She had no idea if the number was still good, or if Vance was even alive.

She dialed. After three rings it picked up. "Hello?" His voice sounded the same.

"Oh, Vance!" Minmei gushed suddenly. She hadn't expected her excitement to burst forth like that; it just came spilling out of her. "It's Minmei!"

"Minmei?" he asked, hardly daring to believe it. "Wow."

"Vance, I'm so sorry for everything. I really need to speak with you."

 

Vance sighed as he sat down at Rick's kitchen table. "I'd give you a place to stay if I could, Minmei. You know that. But I met this wonderful man. His name's Mark. We got married six months ago, and we live in this one-room unit that's so small we step on each other's toes when we sneeze."

"That's wonderful!"

"No, it sucks. It's really cramped. We have to move the bed to open the oven-"

"It's wonderful that you got married."

"Oh, right. Thanks."

"So what about my other proposal?"

"That's even worse." Vance sighed again. "The thing is, Minmei, there's really no money in show biz any more. There's no such thing as disposable income right now, and there won't be for many years."

"I know. The last three concerts I performed, I was paid with a bag of canned goods and a bag of produce."

"So what's the point?"

Minmei closed her eyes and resisted the urge to throttle him. "Vance, I know you're a business man, and the only thing you were ever concerned with was the bottom line. And that's okay; I get that. But I'm an artist. I need to sing. Depriving me of the chance to sing is like depriving me of oxygen."

"No one's depriving you of your chance to sing. You can stand in this kitchen and sing right now. Nothing's stopping you."

"Don't be a jerk. If I wanted to sing alone, I wouldn't have called you."

"I need to be paid in something other than groceries. Are you able to give me a paycheck?"

"You know I'm not."

Vance spread his hands wide in a what else have you got? gesture.

"Vance, I don't think I'm being egotistical to say that people feel better when I sing for them. I've boosted morale with every performance I've ever given. I've seen it in their eyes. I've received their notes after the show, saying I stopped them from killing themselves, given them strength to keep going one more day. I was never able to share them with Kyle, because he had nothing but scorn for such things. And I wouldn't have been able to share them with you, because you don't understand them. But I need you to understand that this is important, even if you don't understand why it's important."

"I get that it's important. I just need to have an income."

"What are you doing now?"

"Building houses."

Minmei blinked at him. "You?"

"Don't mock. I can hold a hammer if it means not starving."

"And what do they pay? Money or food?"

"Money. And even if it was food, it would still be a lot more than I would make arranging charity concerts."

Minmei sat back and eyed him appraisingly. "If you really feel that way, why did you come all this way to see me?"

Vance's face was full of compassion. "Because I wanted to see you with my own eyes, to see how you were doing." He suddenly choked up and tried to hide it. "I wanted to know you were okay. That you were alive and well."

He avoided her gaze and tried to pretend he wasn't emotional. Minmei just smiled at him lovingly. Long moments passed. He still couldn't look at her.

"So when can we start?" she asked.

He looked up sharply. "I can get you booked in the Monument Dome in three days. Five, if we need a full band."

She squealed and leaped forward to hug him.

Smiling through his tears, he hugged her back.

They pulled apart and Minmei sat down. She beamed at him.

"I just need two things," Vance said. "First, Mark has to approve. This affects him."

"Of course."

"Second, I want a military presence at the concert, in the background. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just a small presence, enough to handle any trouble which might happen. I'm not convinced the enemy is all gone, and a large crowd makes a tempting target." Vance rubbed his chin. "I just need to find some way to contact whoever the top brass is these days."

"That," Minmei said, "is not a problem."