Apocalyptic tragedy had become the new normal for the human race within the previous three years. Even so, the destruction of the battle fortresses, just when humanity had been getting back on its feet, was a numbing blow. As always after a such a vicious punch to the gut, people were more subdued, still reeling. So the expectant crowd packed into the Monument Dome was much more quiet than an audience normally would have been.
A few lucky giant Zentraedi sat on the ground just outside the seating area.
Musical instruments stood ready on the stage. Vance had actually been able to find a full band in two days.
Various mecha, including some new designs the army had been forced to roll out early, stood outside the arena. Some were piloted by soldiers who had been cadets just days earlier, their unplanned graduation swift and sudden. Half of Skull Squadron, including Rick, circled the dome at 5,000 feet. The other half of Skull, along with all of Blue and Green Squadrons, were on standby.
Skull flew at half strength because a missile from Khyron's attack had flattened a protoculture warehouse. Protoculture was rationed until the rubble could be cleared and inventory taken.
Lisa sat at her desk in the new command center, which occupied the entire upper floor of a post office. Glamorous it was not, but it was functional. The postal workers downstairs had had to be given top security clearance so they could enter the building, which they had found deeply hilarious. They had spent the previous day joking that they were big shots now.
Multiple screens dotted the room, some seemingly at random, but Lisa only had eyes for the three in front of her: the one showing updates from Skull; the one showing updates from ground forces; and the one showing radar. Minmei's concert, due to begin any moment, was on a fourth screen to one side with the sound low, but Lisa mostly ignored it. She was recording it for later.
Lisa had no shame admitting she was nervous. She was in charge, now. Everything rested on her. In a way, she felt the concert was her first test. Protect it. Make it through the night safely. Chances of an attack were extremely low, so as first tests went, it was a softball. She was grateful for that; she knew a lot of hardballs were coming.
She wanted so badly to turn to her right and talk to Claudia, or turn around and tell Sammie to shut up.
At the moment, she shared the room with a couple of lieutenants, sitting behind her. She wanted them sitting in front of her where she could see them, like a proper commander, but the room's layout limited their setup. Not for the first time, Lisa opened the top drawer in her desk a tiny bit and peeked at the small piece of paper inside. It read, 1st Lt Brad Williams, 2nd Lt Sylvia Parfanelli. Lisa closed the drawer, silently repeating the names to herself.
Minmei walked onto the stage alone, with no fanfare or announcement. She wore a simple blue and gold dress and carried a microphone. The audience applauded half-heartedly, and a few cheered and whistled, but Minmei gave a small smile and politely motioned for silence.
"Good evening, Monument City," she said. "Hello, Planet Earth."
Her gaze swept the crowd, from one side of the dome to the other, then at the cameras.
"Tonight, we come together in heartbreak. Again. And we will rebuild and rise. Again. Because that's who we are, and what we do. How can we not? What could possibly keep us down? Evil forces may try, but they will never succeed. We can be hit. Hurt. Battered. Bruised. Bloody. But we will never be broken."
Lisa found herself watching that fourth screen. She hadn't been planning to. She couldn't remember switching her attention to it. She still kept an eye on her first three monitors, but she couldn't help but see and hear Minmei, a woman whose very soul seemed to fall like summer rain into the hearts of all who looked upon her.
"We have been robbed," Minmei said. "Robbed of good people, taken too soon. Robbed of peace. Robbed of those we love.
"But that will never, ever define who we are. Even robbed, we reach out to help each other. To protect one another. Because we haven't been robbed of our dignity, nor have we been robbed of our right to spread our wings and take our place among the stars.
"And to the looters I saw two days ago, shamelessly ransacking a house while the fires of the SDF-1 still burned, shame on you! I don't know who you are, but I hope you hear my words. Shame on you! You can do better! The rest of us are. You're not uncivilized animals, you have morals and dignity. I know you do! Reconnect with the rest of us, and stop living like animals in shame.
"I don't know why we were cursed to live in this time of massive tragedy and hardship. I don't know why it fell onto our shoulders to save this world and build a better one for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a world many of us will never live to see ourselves. But I do know that if any generation," – her voice broke, just a bit; her lower lip began to tremble – "if any collection of humanity and living beings ever assembled, had the strength and the heart to fight this battle, to throw off the yoke of this ordeal and rise triumphant, it is this one! The one I see assembled before me, not just here but around the world. The one which carries in our collective heart the spirits of those taken from us, who now look down on us from a place of peace and give us their strength."
Lisa desperately choked back a sob. She didn't want the lieutenants behind her to hear.
"The strength to rise. The strength to win."
Minmei sang a cappella. Her song was slow and sad, yet steady and determined. The world listened.
Life is only what we choose to make it.
Let's just take it.
Let us be free.
We can find the glory we all dream of,
and with our love,
we can win.
Still,
we must fight or face defeat.
We must stand tall and not retreat.
With our strength, we'll find the might.
There's no fight we can't fight
together.
All together, we can win.
The crowd softly sang with her.
Blessed
with strong hearts that beat as one,
watch us soar.
And with love that conquers all, we'll win this battle.
This last battle.
We will win.
As the battle goes on we feel stronger.
How much longer
must this go on?
Each and every day we dream of winning,
and beginning
a new life.
Still,
we must fight or face defeat.
We must stand tall and not retreat.
With our strength we'll find the might.
There's no fight we can't fight
together.
All together, we can win.
Tears drifted down Minmei's face. They drifted down Lisa's face, too, as she watched, spellbound.
Blessed
with strong hearts that beat as one,
watch us soar!
And with love that conquers all, we'll win this battle!
This last battle!
We will win! We must win!
We can win!
Minmei spread her arms wide and smiled. "I love you all!"
The crowd cheered. It was a cheer which grew, and grew, and grew.
Behind her, the band took the stage and picked up their instruments.
The concert was a smashing success, not least because no one attacked it. Minmei left the stage for the third and final time around midnight. Lisa kept Skull airborne a further fifteen minutes while the crowd streamed out of the dome, then dismissed all sentry forces half an hour after that. She even remembered her lieutenants' names, so she declared the night a complete success.
Lisa arrived home before Rick and found Minmei already there. She was coming out of the bedroom in a robe, looking like she'd just taken a shower. Without a word, Lisa strode forward and wrapped her in a hug.
They held each other a long time.
"Thank you," Lisa finally said. "Thank you so much. I never knew how much we needed that until you did it."
They pulled apart, and Minmei's eyes were wet with tears. "Thank you for keeping us all safe," she said, and tenderly put a hand on the side of Lisa's face. "Not just tonight, but every night and every day for the past four years. Thank you for saving the world."
"Minmei, we defend the world," Lisa said softly. "You save it." And she kissed her.
It took both women by surprise, yet somehow felt completely natural at the same time. The moment lasted.
Lisa finished it and pulled back a little. They looked into each other's eyes.
A hint of a smile tugged at Minmei's mouth. "What was that for?"
"I don't know," Lisa breathed.
Minmei gave the tiniest giggle and sat on the sofa. "Where's Mister Rick?"
"I don't know that, either," Lisa said, joining her. "I expect he'll be along any moment."
Lisa felt strange. She had just suddenly kissed Minmei out of nowhere; she had never even thought about kissing another woman in her entire life; and ten seconds later she and Minmei were cruising along with their conversation like it was no big deal. One part of Lisa realized that she had just experienced something so subtly life-changing and incredible that no conscious thought was required. It was surreal.
Minmei lay on the couch with her head on Lisa's lap. Just like with the kiss, it felt completely natural. Lisa rested her hand on Minmei's head.
"It felt so good to sing again," Minmei murmured. "I guess I just needed to take a break from it so I could remember how much it means to me."
"Or maybe you just needed something to believe in, again."
"Ha. That, too."
"You really are one of the most incredible people I've ever met, Minmei."
"And yet, Rick still chose you."
Minmei suddenly sat up partially and looked at her. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry! That was such a shitty thing to say. It's not what I was trying to say at all. I was trying to pay you a compliment but it came out completely the wrong way!" Minmei reached up to stroke her face. "Lisa, I-"
Lisa kissed her again.
A moment later, Minmei kissed back.
They started to kiss a little more passionately, their tongues touching, gently exploring. They continued for several minutes.
Minmei paused their kissing and blinked at her. "What's this all about?"
Lisa slowly explored a feeling which she only now realized had been building for several days. "I...I think I'm in love with you?"
Minmei was fascinated. "And Rick?"
"Oh, of course. With Rick, too. Always."
Minmei let out the slightest giggle and played with Lisa's hair. "Well...I guess that's one way to resolve a love triangle."
A memory flashed through Lisa's mind. She breathed in sharply and looked away. "Those bitches!"
Minmei was taken aback by the outburst. Lisa stared at nothing in particular, her jaw hanging open.
"Uh...sorry?" Minmei asked.
"Those three!" Lisa exclaimed. "The nerve!" She looked at the ceiling. "Trolling me from the afterlife?! Really?!"
"Lisa, you're scaring me. Please clue me in."
Lisa got up and paced furiously around the room. She could hear the laughter of the Terrible Trio from another dimension. "My friends in the bridge crew came to me in a dream. The night before their funeral. And I know it was them. It was real." She wept slightly. "They told me they were at peace, and it was so beautiful."
Minmei watched, fascinated. As far as she was concerned, this was the second massively abrupt change of topic in ten seconds.
"And in my dream, my friends talked about you, me, and Rick living together. And one of the things they said was, 'Well, that's one way to resolve a love triangle.' It was a joke about me falling in love with you." Lisa rubbed her forehead. "Because they knew. Dammit to hell, they knew. Even after dying, they found a way to prank me, those...argh!" Lisa wept. "I never could keep up with them."
Minmei did her best to take all this in. "What does this all mean?"
"It means I just became the victim of the biggest practical joke in the history of the universe. And it means I want you to stay."
Minmei blinked at her. "Really?"
"Really. And even if you're interested, I would need to discuss it with Rick; God knows what he'll think. But..." Lisa shrugged. "This is how I feel. And believe me, I'm more surprised than anyone. But I think I'm in love with you. And even though Rick ultimately chose me over you, I know he still thinks the world of you and loves you dearly. And Rick loves me. So..." Lisa shrugged again. "Why do we have to choose?"
Minmei smiled, and thought for a moment.
"I tell you what, Lisa. I'm not convinced this isn't a momentary infatuation which will fade in a few days. I'm not saying your feelings aren't real; they might be. All I'm saying is that they might not be real, so we should be slow and careful. The last thing in the world I ever want to do is rock the boat with Rick. His friendship, and yours, are too precious to me."
Lisa nodded. "I understand."
Minmei stood, went to her, and held her hands. "I'm going on a brief tour, starting tomorrow. Four concerts in seven days. And as far as you, me, and Rick are concerned, I am so grateful for the timing of this tour. Because first and foremost, I want you and Rick to have some time alone. I'm pretty sure you two haven't made love yet, and you need to. I want you to. Take advantage of my absence and enjoy each other.
"Also, while I'm gone, explore your feelings about me further. If you're still sure about them – and only if you're sure about them – then talk to Rick. Give him all the time he needs to figure out what he wants, because he'll be just as confused at first as you are now.
"Then, when I get back, you can tell me what you've decided. Does that sound like a plan?"
"It does. But I need to know...I know you're in love with Rick, but...do you think you could ever love me romantically?"
Minmei smiled and stroked Lisa's hair. "I could. I had never thought about it, but I could. And I could just as easily be only a friend. I would be perfectly happy either way."
Lisa smiled, too, and they hugged for a long moment.
As they pulled apart, a weary Rick Hunter came home.
"Hey, you," Lisa said. "You hungry?"
Rick shook his head. "I already ate." He yawned. "I just need a bed right now. Your concert was wonderful, Minmei. Thank you."
Minmei smiled. "It really was, wasn't it? I've done a lot of concerts, but tonight...tonight was something special." Then she yawned, too. "But listen, I'm about to hit the couch, and I gotta be on the road by noon."
"All right, we're off to bed, too," Lisa said. She and Minmei shared a look as Rick trudged to the bedroom.
Lisa held her hand for a moment. "I look forward to when you get back."