Chapter 23

He leapt onto a nearby stallion and nudged it into action, racing towards the house. As he approached, the ringing sound grew louder, more piercing. The sky darkened, the clouds shading to grey, then to black. He clamped his hands over his ears - still the ringing grew louder. The stallion balked, shyed away, began to circle and stomp nervously. He tighted his legs around the stallion, trying to calm the animal. The ringing sound grew louder, until he felt that his teeth would shatter. The stallion reared up. He was thrown, fell backwards towards the ground. He screamed... 

[] 

David sat straight up in his bunk, gasping for air. He wiped at the sweat that was beaded on his face, his confusion rapidly dissipating. <What the hell kind of dream was that?> He turned to the alarm clock that was buzzing angrily and slapped the "off" button. Throwing off the covers that clung to his damp body, he jumped down to the floor. "God, that was a strange one." he muttered, stretching tense muscles. "I don't even know how to ride a horse." 

Turning up the lights, David glanced around his room. His uniform hung off the closet door, and a spit-shined pair of duty boots stood beside his desk. Smiling to himself, he spoke to the empty room, "Commander wants sharp, Commander gets sharp." He rubbed the stubble that coated his chin and grimmaced. Grabbing his shaving kit and towel, he opened the door and padded off in the direction of the showers. 

[] 

He stepped into the briefing room and glanced around, looking for any sign of the rest of his Wing. He noticed everyone watching him, some of them barely hiding smiles. He arched an eyebrow, and most of them turned away. Sergeant Nielsen stepped out of the crowd and walked over to him. His expression curious, Nielsen rubbed his chin. "Pardon me, do I know you?" 

David rolled his eyes. "Have you seen the rest of my Wing?" 

"Your Wing?" Nielsen harumphed. "Well, Sergeant Marshall's Wing is over near the podium over there. Have you seen him?" 

"God, I try and present a proper military air, and everybody makes fun of me." David threw his hands up in the air. "I just can't win!" 

Nielsen started laughing and slapped David on the back. "Sorry, David. I couldn't resist. Like I said, Tony and the rest of your Wing are over by the podium. Oh, by the way, thanks." 

"For what?" 

"Well.... the squadron had a bet going - whether or not you could actually wear a uniform without it getting wrinkled." Nielsen made a show of looking David over. "You won me a cool three hundred." 

"I did? Do I get a cut?" David laughed and walked over to the podium. He spotted Lauren and Charles, and walked over to them. 

Lauren whistled. "Whoa, look at that!" 

"Oh, cut it out. I don't need to hear about my uniform again." David looked around. "Where's Tony?" 

"He and Chris went off to talk." Charles commented, staring at David's feet. "How the hell did you get that shine?" 

"I borrowed a power buffer from the motor pool." David replied. >From a position over near the door, 

Sergeant O'Connell called out "Hey! The Commander's comin'! Everybody into formation!" 

There was a frantic burst of activity as everyone raced to get into their proper places. Everyone was arranged according to Flight and Wing assignment, Alpha Flight to the left of the podium, Theta Flight to the right, closest to the door. Beta Wing was standing behind Alpha Wing, Lambda Wing was behind Theta Wing, and Gamma Wing was standing in a line behind Delta Wing, with David on the left-most end of the line. David glanced to his left, over Lauren's head, to where Tony was standing. Tony was chewing on his lip, his eyes unfocused. 

David reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Everything okay, Tony?" 

Tony shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it." 

David was about to inquire further, but Sergeant McArthur stepped into the room and called out "Squadron! Ten-SHUN!!" Everyone snapped to attention in perfect synch. 

Commander Landers walked into the room carrying a sheaf of papers. She quickly stepped over to the podium and sat the papers down, then turned to face the Squadron. David didn't have to move his eyes to see past Sergeant Nielsen and catch a glimpse of her as she stood by the podium. <Damn, she looks good today.> He caught himself and shifted his gaze slightly. <Bad idea, David. Don't even think about it. As if I don't have enough woman troubles as it is.> 

The Commander smiled. "Good morning, Nighthawks. I see you _all_ recieved notice of today's inspection. It would be nice if you could maintain this level of quality all of the time, but that's too much to expect from any working squadron. I believe one of Murphy's laws of combat states: 'No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection, and no inspection ready unit has ever passed combat.' If you spend all your time polishing your buttons, rather than polishing your technique, you won't survive on the battlefield. Besides," A quick smile, "we're only human." She paused for a moment. "Ah well. Enough chatter, let's get started." 

<Got to remember to ask the Commander for simulator time for Charles and Tony.> David reminded himself. The Commander stepped off to the side and began the inspection. David fought hard to keep from fidgetting. <God, I hate inspections.> He heard her making comments, pointing out wrinkles, dangling strings, and such. As David watched, Commander Landers paused briefly in front of Sergeant Nielsen, her expression an odd combination of a smirk and a frown. "You've got a scratched buckle and your cuffs are wrinkled. And one point of advice... don't stuff cash into your pockets before an inspection." David almost winced when he heard that. <Sorry, Luke.> 

As the Commander continued on, David allowed himself a moment to relax. He flicked his eyes to the side to make sure she wasn't watching, then quickly wiggled his legs, restoring some circulation in them. Someone to his left giggled, and David glanced over to see Lauren watching him, a smile on her face. David blinked back at her and shrugged. At that moment the Commander stepped back to the second row. David came back to attention and tried to think about more pleasant things. For some reason, he could only think about Vanessa and Sarah. <God, that's pitiful.> David mused. <I've got to get out more, I do believe.> He paused. <I wonder if Sarah's ever going to call me back?> 

His thoughts were interrupted as the Commander stepped up and began inspecting Lauren's uniform. She reached out and adjusted Lauren's collar. Then, seemingly satisfied with what she saw, the Commander stepped up to David, who fought to keep perfectly still. Somehow he managed to keep his eyes from moving as she turned and began looking him over. She paused a moment when she looked at his boots, then continued her visual inspection. He saw her raise an eyebrow, then looked back up at him. There was a muffled snicker to the left - David recognized it as belonging to Tony - and the Commander scowled in that direction. She turned back to him. When she spoke, there was a trace of humor in her voice. "Good job, Sergeant. Keep it up." 

David sighed inwardly. <Thank God!> "Yes, sir!" 

She almost cracked a smile. Almost. "Good shine on those boots, too." 

David blinked, then said quietly, "I aim to please, sir." Sighing inwardly, David congratulated himself. <It's going to be a wonderful day. I just know it.> 

After what seemed like an eternity, the Commander finished her inspection and stepped back up to the podium. There she paused, her gaze drifting among the assembled ranks, fixing each member of the squadron with an unreadable gaze. Then she spoke up. "Congratulations, people. You've all done an excellent job. There were a couple things I could nit pick about, but that's all. Now we've all got work to do, and some of us are due out for patrol in about fifteen minutes, so... Dismissed." 

Immediately there was a "whoosh" of air as the entire squadron sighed in relief. The neatly aligned ranks broke apart and became a seething mass. David motioned for his Wing to gather around him. "Okay, we've got patrol duty in four hours." David told them. "Go out and get something to eat. Go back to bed. Whatever trips your trigger. Just make sure that you're in the hangar by eleven hundred hours. Any questions?" There were none, and David smiled. "Good. I'll see you all in four hours then." 

David reached out and laid a hand on Tony's shoulder, stopping him. "Tony? I'd like a word with you." 

"I'd really rather not, David." Tony groaned. 

"That wasn't a request, Tony." David warned. "Let's go get a bite to eat." 

"Whatever you say." Tony mumbled resignedly. 

As the two of them shuffled towards the door, they fell in behind the Commander and Sergeant Nielsen. She was smiling broadly, and patting Nielsen on the back. The Sergeant pulled out a handful of bills and handed it to her, but she waved them away, muttering something to him that David couldn't hear. David raised his eyebrows at that, wondering what was going on, but before he had time to think about it they were in the hallway and everyone went their own separate ways. David and Tony turned and headed for the cafeteria. 

David watched his friend for several minutes as they walked in silence. Finally he broke the silence. "Penny for your thoughts, Tony." 

"Is that all they're worth?" Tony grumbled. 

David blinked in surprise. "A quarter, then?" No response. "A dollar?" 

Tony glanced at him, his expression brooding. "I.... ah, it doesn't make any difference." 

"The hell it doesn't." David retorted. "I'm your superior, and I want to know what's going on in that head of yours." David cocked his head to the side. "And I'm your friend, a friend who's worried about you. What the hell's the matter? Is it Chris?" 

Tony looked like he had just been slapped. "What? No! I mean.... well..." He sighed. "Yes." 

"Well?" 

Tony shook his head. "I don't know where to begin." He paused for a moment, deep in thought. "I mean, she's the most wonderful person I've ever met. She's funny, and intelligent, and pretty, and gentle... everything I've ever wanted." 

"That's a problem?" David asked, puzzled. 

"No... not that." he tapped his RDF insignia. "It's this. This is the problem." 

David began to understand. "The fact that you're in the military?" 

"Yes!" Tony cursed. "I mean, every day we're out there risking our lives. Any day could be the last one. ANY DAY Maybe today's the day I buy it. Maybe tomorrow." His voice faltered a bit. "It wouldn't be fair to subject her to that." 

"What does Chris think about it?" David asked, sympathizing with his friend. "I assume you talked to her about this?" 

"She doesn't see it the same way." Tony muttered. 

"Let me guess - she said something to the effect of 'Living one day at a time'?" 

Tony glanced at him. "How'd you know?" 

David smiled. "Because that's how I look at things, buddy." He shrugged. "You can drive yourself crazy if you think to hard about whether or not you're going to die today. Or tomorrow. Or next week." 

"But..." 

"But nothing!" David thought for a moment. "Listen, we're all in the same boat here. Any single one of us could die tomorrow. Or today. It doesn't matter whether you're in a Valkyrie or on the bridge or in downtown Macross. It could happen to anyone, at any time." David laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's okay to be worried about dying. Everyone worries about it at one time or another. But you can't let it ruin what little happiness you can find out here." David smiled. "Hell, we're floating around in deep space, millions of miles away from Earth, and you find someone you really like, and who likes you back. Buddy, I envy you." 

Tony looked at him curiously. "You envy me? What about you and.... Vanessa?" 

David shrugged. "She just wants to be friends. Maybe because I might die. Maybe because I'm not boyfriend material. Who knows?" He tapped his temple with a forefinger. "But I won't let it bug me. She and I are still friends - we go out, we have a good time. I don't worry about whether or not I'll be around tomorrow. I concentrate on making myself and my friends happy right now. Tomorrow's another day." 

Tony sighed. "Guess I sound like a worry wart or something, eh?" 

"Not in the least. It's hard not to wonder about when you're going to die. The trick is not letting it get in the way of your happiness." 

Tony shook his head. "A bit late for that now." 

"It's never too late, buddy." He thought about Tamara <At least I HOPE it's never too late.>. "Okay?" 

"Not really." Tony sighed. "I broke it off this morning." 

<It? Oh, Tony...> "You broke up with her?" David asked. Tony nodded. <Oh jeez!> "Brother...Tony, forget breakfast. You go track down that girl and undo what you did, like right now!" 

"Right now?" Tony glanced around. "Where do I look?" 

"I don't know!" David shook his head. "Start back at the briefing room. Check out the barracks. Maybe she's in the simulators." David had a sudden thought. "Doesn't Theta Flight have the first patrol rotation this morning?" 

Tony thought for a moment. "I think so." 

David glanced at his watch. "Well, that gives you ten minutes. Get going!" 

"But what if she doesn't want to talk to me?" Tony protested - half-heartedly, David noticed. 

David groaned. "Tony, do you love her?" 

"What?" Tony blushed. "I mean, well, I guess so." 

"'I guess so?' That'll have to do." David pointed towards a nearby elevator. "Now get down to the hangar deck and fix this mess, and I mean right now!" 

Tony blinked, a smile spreading across his face. "Is that an order?" 

"It shouldn't have to be." 

Tony glanced at the elevators, then back at David. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt any, right?" 

"Quit gabbing and get moving!" David almost yelled, slapping him on the back. Tony didn't say anything more - he simply turned and began sprinting towards the elevators. David watched him go, a small smile on his face. <God, I hope things turn out okay for him. He's a good kid.> Sighing, he began walking for the cafeteria. <Now, wasn't there something else I needed to do? Oh yes....simulator time for Charles and Tony. I'd better go see the Commander.> David's stomach growled loudly. <After breakfast.> 

Forward to Chapter 24. 
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