Chapter 19

"David hauled back on the stick, pulling his Veritech into a vertical climb as two enemy pods fired on him. The energy blasts streaked past the tail of his Veritech, close enough to darken the paint. He cursed and opened his comm line. "Lauren, you still with me?" 

Lauren's face appeared on the left screen. "Barely. I'm having a hard time keeping up with you." 

David sighed. "Sorry 'bout that." He glanced briefly at the battle that was raging around them. Reinforcements had been launched from the SDF-1 almost as soon as Gamma Wing had encountered the enemy attack force, and now a furious battle was being waged around the fortess. Veritechs and battle pods were locked in a deadly ballet as far as the eye could see. He had the general communications line open, and could hear Commander Landers, giving orders to Alpha Wing. David hadn't heard a word from Nielsen, or the rest of Theta Wing, since the battle began. "Tony, you read me?" 

After a brief moment, the right screen flickered and Tony appeared. "What is it, boss?" 

"Just checking to make sure you're in one piece. Give me you location." 

Tony glanced away from the video pick-up. "Ah... we're zipping past the main engines at the moment, bearing towards the Prometheus." 

David glanced down at his radar. "Lauren, form up beside me, echelon right formation. We're gonna make a run at that enemy formation bearing two six six five." He glanced at the right screen. "Tony, we'll join up with you in a minute. Keep an eye out." 

Tony smiled. "Roger." 

Tony's visage was replaced with an inertial guidance display. "Lauren, do you have any missiles left?" David asked as he checked him ammunition counter. "And give me an ammo count." 

"No missiles left, David." she replied, her voice wavering slightly. "Ammo counter reads two six four." 

"Oh well... we'll just have to strafe them. Follow me." David paused a moment, until he could see Lauren come up behind him, then banked sharply to the right, bringing his Veritech around on an intercept course with a formation of ten enemy pods, which were making a run against the Prometheus. "Hold your fire until we get within effective range. No use wasting ammunition." David lined up on the center of the formation. <Let's see... ten pods, all grouped close together. I can't miss now.> The range counter ticked down, and David fired. He saw tracer rounds to his right, from Lauren's plane. The two streams of fire connected with the enemy formation, which promptly broke apart. Three pods disappeared in fiery orange balls, while the others scattered in all directions. David smiled grimly. "Maintain course. Let's join up with Tony and Charles." 

Lauren nodded grimly on the left screen. "You got it, David." 

David released the harness and pulled himself out of the cockpit of his Valkyrie. One of the service technicians released the mecha's built-in ladder, and David quickly climbed down to the deck below. He turned away from the Veritech and glanced around the hangar, surveying the damage. There were several empty bays visible, and David wondered who hadn't made it back. 

A loud curse brought him out of his reverie. He glanced over to the source of the noise and saw Tom Charter standing by the Veritech's right wing, staring at a row of holes that had been torn in the surface, exposing control wiring underneath. David walked over and smiled. "At least it's in one piece, Tom." 

Tom favored him with a grunt. "Look at this damage! It'll take three hours just to patch all the holes!" 

David chuckled. "That's what they pay you guys the big bucks for, isn't it?" 

Tom grimaced for a moment, then his face broke into a grin and he began laughing. "Big bucks? Yeah, right!" 

David heard his name being called, and saw Tony, Lauren, and Charles walking towards him. "Gotta go, Tom. Be gentle with her, okay?" 

Tom patted the mecha's fuselage. "You got it." 

David sighed contentedly as he stood in the shower, the warm spray running down his face. He grabbed the soap and began lather up, his thoughts occupied by the debriefing that Commander Landers had given them. Black Squadron hadn't suffered any casualties in the battle, although several Veritechs had been shot up pretty badly. All of Theta Flight had to be towed back to the hangar after being caught in a devastating cross-fire near the SDF-1's massive "feet," and several others had suffered similarly. 

Still, all the pilots had survived, and the Veritechs would be repaired. Ready for another battle. David grimaced at the thought. The enemy had been dealt nearly 25 percent losses before they had pulled back, which was much higher than the losses suffered by the Defense Forces, but the RDF's reserves were limited, and the enemy seemed to have a nearly inexhaustable reserve of pods, causing some aboard the fortress to wonder how long it would be before attrition began taking its toll on the Defense Forces - sooner or later the materials needed to repair and re-arm the Veritechs and Destroids were going to run out. 

Sighing, David reached out and grabbed the tiny shampoo bottle. Of more immediate concern was his meeting with Lieutenant Tallon later that evening. David fervently hoped that she would be able to shed some light on what had happened in corridor 12C the previous day. Someone seemed to had gone out of their way to try and make him look like he was losing his mind, and he was bound a determined to find out who it was. He suspected that it was either Izabelle Fate or Thallin Braywater, but no one was above suspicion. Then again, there was also the very real possibility that he actually _WAS_ losing his mind. He shuddered at the thought. 

David paused for a moment, remembering the newspaper article that he had read that morning. Sean Velk, the man who had committed suicide. Tamara's name in the obituary, as the sole person named in the will. David shook his head and began rinsing himself off. He'd stop in and check on Tamara before he went to seen Lieutenant Tallon. It was the least he could do. 

[] 

David hummed tunelessly as he walked up to the door of Tamara's quarters. He reached up to knock, then paused as he heard voices from the other side. He briefly considered coming back at another time, but he had that "date" that Tony had set him up with, and his nerves were frazzled enough. <No need to put this off any longer than necessary.> He rapped on the door twice. 

The door swung open, revealing the lithe form of Tamara Sam'di, dressed in a skirt and loose-fitting shirt. Her eyes were a little haggard, but otherwise she looked fine, both figuratively and literally. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Speak of the devil." 

<What? Never mind.> David managed a smile. "Hi. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" 

An odd look flashed across Tamara's face. "Of course not! Come in, pull up a chair, have a cup of coffee." She waved him into the room. "What can I do for you?" 

David stepped into the room and spotted an attractive blue-haired woman sitting on the bed, watching him intently. She was pretty, and had a look of intelligence about her, but David had other things on his mind at the moment. "I just stopped by to see how you were doing." <Now how do I put this...> "I heard about Sean's death and... If you need someone to talk to..." That odd expression flared up again, lasting a moment longer this time. David recognized it immediately - suspicion. 

She regained her composure and offered him a wan smile. "Thanks, I do appreciate it, but maybe another time might be better. I..." 

The blue-haired young woman stood up. "That's all right, I've got to go." Her voice was melodious, and David wondered who she was. She tapped her handbag and smiled. "I want to get this to the office before I go on my date tonight." <Ain't that the way it always goes... the nice ones are always spoken for. Oh well.> 

Tamara cleared her throat. "Guys, there's nothing worse than going on a blind date. You two might as well get introduced here." <Introduced? What the hell?> "Sarah Tallon, I would like to introduce you to David..." 

He was so taken with Sarah's appearance that it took him a moment to notice that Tamara was struggling with his last name. <That guy's death must've really hit her hard. No problem.> "Marshall, David Marshall" he interjected, realizing that he sounded like some James Bond wanna-be. <Excellent first impression, Dave.> "I am looking forward to our evening." 

Sarah walked up to him, her expression one of barely controlled awe and girlish delight, completely in contradiction with the look he had seen when he had entered the room. David's suspicious side rose up, but he beat it back down with an effort, realizing that Tamara was talking. He forced his gaze away from Sarah and focused on Tamara's words. "...to do. I... I need to be alone right now. I really would like to have that talk with you, David; and if that part doesn't suit, Sarah, give me a call and we'll try something else. But for now..." 

David nodded, silently empathizing with the distraught woman. "I understand." He turned to face Sarah and extended his hand. "May I escort you anywhere?" Sarah looked into his eyes, her own sparkling in the light, and simply nodded. <This is weird. Tony, what have you got me into?> Then he realized that he had no idea where to take her. "Uh, where?" 

"_Anywhere_" Sarah replied, her voice breathy and seductive. David's eyes widened slightly at that. <Yeee gods, this is going to be an interesting night.> He had enough clarity of thought to head for the door, Sarah beside him. 

Tamara stopped at the door. "Uh, thanks guys." she spoke softly, closing it behind them. 

Sarah spoke up, breaking David's train of thought. "So, where would you like to go?" 

"Well, didn't you say that you wanted to take something back to your office?" David offered, shrugging. "It'd be a start." 

She laughed. "True. Well, let's go!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him after her. 

[] 

David glanced around the spacious office complex, slightly intimidated by what he saw. Monitors were mounted everywhere, data continuously scrolling across them. Technical personnel watched the monitors, some scribbling madly on electronic tablets, others typing commands into hand-held controls. It was a scene of organized chaos. 

David watched as Sarah deftly wound her way through the crowd, speaking to some, patting others on the shoulder. Finally, she stepped up to David, who was still watching the monitors, and the data displayed on them. "Impressive, isn't it?" she asked, smiling. 

David blinked several times. "I'll say. Amazing anyone can keep track of it all." 

"Eh, it's a living." She shrugged. "So, what do we do next?" 

David thought for a moment. "Well, I'm up for just about anything. Anyplace special you'd like to see?" 

"Let's head for downtown Macross. I know just the place!" She smiled. "You should love it!" 

<I bet.> "Sure, lead the way." He followed as Sarah left the busy room, and headed for one of the elevators. "I'm told you're a Media Resources programmer. Is that right?" 

Sarah glanced at him. "Who told you that?" 

"The guy who arranged our date." 

Sarah paused for a moment. "Well, yes. I suppose I am. Why?" 

<She supposes?> "Well, I've always been interesting in holographic technology, and what with the EVE system onboard and all..." he shrugged. "I thought it would be a great way to learn." 

Sarah stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the call button. "So, that's the only reason we're going out? To talk about holographic systems?" 

David shook his head. "No! I don't want to just talk." He blushed slightly as he realized what he had just said, and how it could be interpreted. "Uh... I mean, well, I mean that we don't have to talk about that at all, if you don't want to." 

She giggled. "That's always nice to know." The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside. "You coming?" 

"Of course." David answered, walking up beside her. David sighed, inhaled, and caught the alluring scent wafting off of her. <Oh MAN! This is definitely going to be one helluva long night.> He closed his eyes, counted slowly to ten, then opened them again. 

Sarah was watching him. "Are you all right?" 

He nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Just been a long day, that's all. What with flying against the aliens this morning and all..." 

Her eyes widened. "You mean you're a pilot?" Her voice held a note of awe. 

David smiled. "Yep. You didn't know?" 

"No, no I didn't." She gestured to his clothes. "I mean, you're not in uniform or anything." 

He laughed. "We're not required to wear them all the time, you know. Only when we're on duty or ready-alert status." 

"Oh." She contemplated this for a minute. "So, who do you fly with? Wolf Squadron? Skull?" 

<Oh brother.> "Not quite. I'm a member of the NightHawks." She looked at him curiously. "Black Squadron." he clarified. 

"Black Squadron? Really? That's wonderful!" Her smile broadened, and she looked for all the world like a young girl who just got a wondrous gift. "Then you know the pilot that saved the bridge crew by tackling an alien pod?" 

"Uh, yeah." 

"You don't sound happy about that. What's wrong, you two don't get along?" 

He chuckled softly. "Sometimes I wonder." She was looking at him strangely. "Bad joke. You see... how do I put this... _I'M_ that pilot." 

It looked as if her eyes were going to pop out. "YOU? You're kidding! Really? Oh, wow!" 

David nodded, only half-listening as she continued to gush praises on him. <Oh man, now I've got a groupie.> 

[] 

The Blue Diamond Restaurant was a small establishment nestled in the center of the city, between a furniture store and an apartment building. The staff was courteous and friendly, and the general atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. The savory smells of well-prepared food drifted lazily out of the kitchen. 

"So, how did you find this place?" David asked as he scanned the menu. 

Sarah blinked her baby blues at him. "Well, I live nearby, and it seemed like a nice place." 

He glanced around. "Yes, it does." He folded up the menu and sat it down. "Small crowd, too." 

"It'll get more crowded later, when they have the Karaoke machine out." 

"Karaoke?" David laughed. "God, I haven't seen a Karaoke machine in months!" 

"Well, they found it when they were recycling what was left of Macross City. The owner of the Club petitioned for it, and he got it." Sarah cocked her head to the side and gave him an appraising look. "Do you sing?" 

"Not very well." he admitted. "I can carry a tune, but not very far." He picked up his glass of water and stared at it, trying to formulate his next question. 

Sarah obviously noticed. "What is it?" 

He cleared his throat. "So how did you come to meet Tamara?" 

She started a bit, quickly regaining her composure. "Well, it's a long story.... Let's just say that we have some mutual acquaintances. You?" 

David noticed her surprised reaction to his question, but decided to say nothing about it. "We met a few days ago. She dropped some requisitioned items off at my quarters, and things grew from there." He sipped from his glass of water. "Shame about her friend." 

Sarah nodded slowly. "Yes, it is. They were really close. She's real broken up about it." 

"Losing someone you care for is never easy." David commented, thinking. "Wish I'd've apologized to her sooner." 

"Apologize?" Sarah was gazing at him intently, and David realized that he had been thinking out loud. "Apologize for what?" 

Thinking quickly, he decided that honesty was the best policy. "Well, when we first met, I... uh... well, I pumped her for some information. Got her a little drunk, and talkative." 

"I see..." Sarah straightened slightly. "What kind of information?" 

<Maybe I shouldn't tell her everything.> "Well, it was about someone I knew. I thought she had been killed back on Macross, but people have been seeing someone that looked a lot like her, and I needed to know." <There, that's good enough.> He shrugged and took another sip of water from his glass. "I was desperate to know, and I've been regretting it ever since." 

"Hmmm...." A waiter stepped up to their table, and they both gave him their orders. Sarah glanced at David as the waiter hustled off. "Shame they don't serve liquor here." 

<Ain't it the truth....I could use a stiff one about now.> "Sure is." 

She took a sip of water from her glass. "Did you ever find her? The girl you were looking for?" 

David thought a moment. "I honestly don't know." 

The Karaoke machine was old, and most of the songs it played were of rather dubious quality, but people needed some way to relieve their frustrations, and singing like an idiot in front of a crowd seemed to be a good way to accomplish that. 

Currently, David was the idiot on stage, trying his best to keep up with the music, read the words to a song he'd never heard of before, and keep his voice from completely cracking. After what seemed like an eternity, the song came to an end and David climbed down from the stage, ignoring the cheers and boos being hurled from the crowd. "Man, this place does get packed, don't it?" he asked Sarah as he sat down. 

"Sure does. They might be one of the best places in Macross, if only the building was big enough to hold everyone that wanted in." She smiled and looked around. "Too many people, not enough entertainment." 

Cheering up his expression, he poked Sarah in the arm. "So, when are you going to climb up on that stage and sing?" 

"I only sing in the shower, David." She motioned for the waiter, and asked for another glass of water. David did the same. "So, what made you decide to talk to someone involved in the EVE project?" 

David sighed. "Well, there was an accident the other day, involving the EVE system." 

Sarah sighed. "I know. A Damage Control program got activated by mistake. Good thing no one was present at the target zone." 

He swirled the water around in his glass as he spoke. "The target zone was corridor 12C, outside mecha hangar three, wasn't it?" 

She glanced at him. "How did you know?" 

David hesitated a moment. "_I_ was in corridor 12C went it happened." 

Sarah put a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening. "What? You mean you were... oh..." Her eyes began to tear up. 

<What'd I say?> David wondered, pulling an handkerchief from his pocket and offering it to her. "What's wrong?" 

She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that anyone was there. <sniff> I feel so bad..." 

"Maybe I missed something here." David gave her his most comforting gaze. "Why do you feel bad about it?" 

"Because it was my fault!" she exclaimed with a sob. "I did it!" She began sobbing and buried her face in her hands. 

<What?> David jumped up and rushed over to her, placing an arm around her. "Sarah, it's all right! Calm down." 

"Things were going so good." she mumbled between sobs. "Now you'll hate me." 

"Hate you? Why the hell would I hate you?" David placed his hand under her chin and gently turned her face towards his. "I just met you. I have no reason to hate you." 

She blinked at him and sniffed. "You mean that?" 

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." He smiled at her tear-streaked face. "Now, what's this all about?" 

She blew her nose quietly and looked up at him through red-rimmed eyes. "I did it. It was my fault." 

"What do you mean?" David pulled a chair over and sat down. "Sarah, tell me what happened." 

"You sure you don't hate me?" she asked, her voice pleading. 

He smiled. "I don't hate you. It was an accident, after all. Right?" 

She sniffed again. "Yes... but it was my fault." 

"I'm not trying to blame you for anything." David offered. "I'm not O.S.I. or military police, for God's sake. I'm just a guy who's worried about you, that's all." 

"About me?" She blinked several times then asked, "You're really worried about me?" The plaintive tone in her voice aroused David's emotions, but he managed to fight them down. 

"Of course I am. Now tell me what's wrong." 

Dabbing at her eyes, she began speaking quickly. "I was in the main computer core, running a computer simulation of a holographic image I had been working on." She began shaking. "I had a cup of coffee with me, and I spilled it on the console. The system just freaked out! I... I didn't know what to do! The system activated a DC simulation and interlaced it with my own program, and they both ran simultaneously." David thought for a moment. 

"The image you were working on... it was Tamara, wasn't it?" 

She nodded, tears brimming again. "We've been trying to simulate people for some time now, trying to get their actions and reactions right. I was tinkering with a program, using Tamara's image as a template." She began shivering. "I'm so sorry, David." 

David slid closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay. It was an accident. No one got hurt, so it's all right." 

She buried her head in his shoulder and mumbled "Thank you for understanding." She leaned back and gazed into his eyes. "So you don't hate me?" 

"I told you that I don't, didn't I?" He asked, his tone comforting. "There's no reason to." 

She leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the lips, pulling back almost before the fact registered in David's mind. "Thank you." 

His thoughts reeling, David hesitated the briefest moment. "Nooo problem." 

They left the club several hours later, both of their voices hoarse from numerous attempts at Karaoke. Sarah clung to David's arm and couldn't stop herself from laughing. He gave her a worried look. "It wasn't that funny." 

"But the expression on your face when you realized that you messed up was hilarious!" she gasped, then started laughing again. 

"So, where exactly is it that you live?" David asked, shaking his head. 

Sarah leaned close and whispered in his ear. "You see that apartment beside the club? That's where I live." 

David glanced over at the building, surprised that it was so close, trying to remember the address Tony had given him. "Apartment 7, right?" 

"Right!" Sarah laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face down to hers, kissing him hard. With an effort, David pulled her away. "Let's save that for later, okay?" 

She winked at him. "You got it, baby!" 

"If you had been drinking, I'd say that you'd had too much." David chuckled. <Brother, I don't want this to go the way I think it's going. Not yet.> 

She was obviously thinking along the same lines. "So, do you like me?" 

"I'm walking you home, aren't I?" 

Giggling, she smiled up at him. "Are you going to come inside for some coffee, too?" 

<Oh boy. This is gonna be fun.> "I might. Depends on how nice you are to me until then." 

She waggled her eyebrows at him. "I can't wait." 

"I bet." David pushed open the front door of the building, noticing immediately that there were no elevators. "What floor is it?" 

"Fourth." Sarah drawled. 

David regarded the steps in front of him. "Fourth floor? Wonderful." He set his teeth and began climbing the steps. 

By the time he reached the fourth floor, David was beginning to wonder what was up with Sarah. She was giggling constantly now, whispering seductive nothings into his ear, running her hands all over him, and generally doing anything and everything she could get away with. <This is weird. What the hell's going on?> She grabbed his crotch. <Then again, why ask?> 

He walked up to the door with a large bronze-colored "7" on it. He turned to face her. "You have the key-card, I assume?" 

She smiled at him. "Uh-huh" 

"Can I have it?" 

"You have to look for it." she whispered, holding her arms out and closing her eyes. He thought for a moment, wondering exactly what to do next. Sarah obviously wanted him to spend the night, but he wasn't quite ready to take that step - yet. He eyed her, his emotions in turmoil - lust and desire screaming for attention loudest of all. With an effort, he came to a decision. <I hope I don't regret this.> he mused, then reached out and grabbed her purse. 

Her eyes flew open. "Hey, no fair!" 

"Well, you said for me to look for it!" 

She planted her hands on her hips and gave him a withering gaze. "David, what are you doing?" 

"Looking for your key-card." he mumbled, studiously avoiding looking at her. 

Her tone was serious now, a slight pang of hurt detectable in it. "You know what I meant, damn it." 

He sighed and look at her. "Listen, Sarah. I do like you. A lot. But this," he gestured towards her apartment, "this is just a wee bit fast for my tastes. I prefer to take things a lot slower." 

She nodded slowly, her expression softening. "That mean you don't even want to come in for coffee?" 

David glanced at his watch. He felt himself blanche. <Jeeez! It's 0430!> "Ah, not right now. Actually, I'd better get moving, or I'm going to be late for patrol duty." He smiled at her. "But I would like to come back for it later, if you wouldn't mind." 

"Of course I don't mind!" she said, taking her purse back and rummaging through it. She pulled out her key-card and slid it through the wall-mounted reader. "I'll call you when I get some free time. We've been busy, what with the EVE system and all." 

"Okay." He hesitated a moment, then stepped forward and kissed her. She gasped in surprise, then relaxed into it. There was a sparkle in her eyes when they parted. 

"I'm definitely going to call you now." she said, grinning. 

He grinned back at her. "Well, I'd better hustle. Talk to you later!" He turned and began walking down the steps, humming happily as he went. 

Forward to Chapter 20. 
Back to Chapter 17. 

Return to the David Marshall contents page.