Chapter 10

[Reality Check - Wednesday Jul. 22 2009, 2125 hours, Bay 5B] 

Thallin's face broke into a grin. "I was born on..." 

"Not that beginning!" Kay retorted, a snarl in her voice. She paused, taking a deep breath, then continued in a steadier voice. "All right... Let me see." Her eyes lost focus for a moment as she contemplated her next question, a finger to her chin. "Ah. Tell me about Izi. Who is she?" 

<Oh, great... What do I tell her?> "Her name is Izabelle Fate," he started, making it up as he went along, "and her rank is Lieutenant Junior Grade. She's twenty-one years old, and was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Claire and Jack. She's a Veritech Pilot who's working with me on the VX-001." Thallin felt he definitely was on a roll... "We're experimenting with a full immersion virtual interface system... er..." Which just gave out on him. "She's got brown hair..." he continued, sweating. 

"Thanks," replied Kay, saving him from trying to make up more information on the spot. "That should be enough about Lieutenant Fate's record for the moment." A pause. "Why was she completely naked when I came in earlier? And why did she say she didn't have any clothes?" 

<Yeah, Thallin... Why?> nagged the little voice in his mind. "She... er... was caught in a bad situation during the attack on Macross, and the only clothes she had were destroyed." <Lame, Thallin.> replied the voice. 

"But that was several weeks ago, Thallin." 

"We hadn't been able to acquire any until now. Er... Actually, I..." <Help> he whimpered. <Please, continue> said the voice. <I'd love to see how you'll get us out of this one.> "We've been so busy since the attack that we just haven't had time to think about it. In fact, I'd have to say she's been completely immersed in our work." Thallin grinned at this double-level pun. 

"Hrm. All right. Now, how come she clunked me over the head for my clothes, then?" She shifted the ice-bag atop her head and winced at the pain. 

<Well, waddayaknow... I can answer this one truthfully!> "I'm not quite sure about that. I'm sure she would be able to answer that question better than I can. I might venture to say that all the work and stress from the experiment has her more than a little addled, though. That could certainly be the reason for her odd behaviour." 

Kay nodded her agreement. <Oh good! She's falling for it.> "Okay, Thallin. That helps out on those points, but now you've got me wondering about this experiment you're working on. What's it about?" 

<Gulp> "The experiment... well..." <Need time, stall> "What did you say your clearance was again?" 

"I don't know the official term yet, but I'm a Commanding Officer in charge of sixteen pilots and a full support crew. That should account for something" 

<You're lying through your teeth, Kay. I've seen your security rating.> "Well, I don't know... I'll tell you the official spiel, though." Thallin's voice changed slightly as he drifted into 'lecture' mode. "The VX-001 project is an experiment in radio-controled Veritechs. Through the use of virtual reality and a complex control computer, we seek to take the pilot out of the danger of the combat field while simultaneously improving the capabilities of the Veritech. Once the pilot is removed from the equation, a mess of problems can be eliminated, such as the effects of G-force on pilots. A normal human pilot can only withstand nine gravities, and then only for a short time. The Veritechs themselves can handle forces much stronger. If a pilot doesn't have to worry about G.L.O.C., he can pull off some rather fantastic manoeuvres. Ones that would have killed him if he were in the plane." 

"Gee-lock?" asked Kay. "What's that stand for?" 

Thallin's suspicion started gnawing on his mind. "Oh, sorry. That's 'G force-induced Loss of Consciousness'. I'm sure you've experienced it before, or have come close to it, being a pilot." 

"All right. Go on, then" she urged, absent-mindedly wiping her palm on her flight-suit. 

"There are other advantages, too. The space that would normally be taken up by the pilot can be used for other things, except for the nominal amount of space that would be required by the additional control circuitry and computer hardware." Too late, Thallin remembered the requisitioned computer parts and realised he'd just made a blunder. 

"Computer Hardware? Tell me, Thallin: would this plane of yours use standard Veritech computers? The components would be the same, right? Things like navigational equipment, damage control systems, movement and transformation hardware and combat computers?" 

"Err..." <Give in, it's easier in the end.> "Yes... The components they use are very similar." Thallin scratched his chin, wondering just how much he should admit to. "In fact we can - and did - use stock-standard parts for our repairs." 

"Where and when, exactly, did you get these 'stock-standard parts', Thallin?" Her voice was cold and hard and brought to mind pictures of marble tombstones. 

"We took them from your Veritech," admitted Thallin, "right before the transformation battle." He noticed that he had started to squeeze the ceramic mug and stopped, realising he had already started to crack it in some places. "I apologise sincerely for that. I had no idea that your Veritech had been stationed to this hangar, and I assumed that Izabelle had requisitioned it for replacement parts. I am terribly sorry if it inconvenienced you in any way." 

"Well, I could have been killed," Kay replied in a surprisingly sweet voice, "but I wasn't, so I guess I have to forgive you. But, Thallin, remember this: 'never assume anything, because it makes an Ass out of U and Me'." <You and I> Thallin corrected automatically, missing the point. "Don't worry about it too much, though, because it introduced me to a whole new concept of space flight. In fact, you probably saved my life." Kay looked straight at him a smiled the same smile that Izabelle had used on him. Thallin felt his knees go weak. 

The door to the bay sighed open, allowing Izabelle to walk in before closing again behind her. She was wearing one of Thallin's spare uniforms and fitted her about as well as a pair of shoes would fit a fish. She walked over to Thallin and Kay, trying to adjust the jacket to something more comfortable. "Thallin, I have come to the conclusion that Kay's suggestion had some validity. I believe I should acquire some suitable, and fitting, attire. I hope you may see to it for me." 

Thallin was about to answer when Kay cut him short. "Wait, Thallin... What time is it?" 

Thallin checked his wrist, but was beaten to the delivery by Izabelle's prompt response. "It is now fourteen fifty-five and forty-eight seconds, Kay. Why? You seemed troubled." 

"I'm late for class!" She jumped to her feet, followed by Thallin. "Thallin, Izabelle, I really have to go." She extended her hand towards Thallin before realising her mistake, but before she could pull it back into a salute, Thallin had reached out and shaken it. <Guess what, pal. You can keep the killing urge down.> Kay looked up at him in surprise, then smiled before walking past Izabelle and him. She paused at the door and turned towards the other woman. "It was... er, nice to meet you Lieutenant Fate. I hope to meet you again under less violent terms." She turned and ran out the door. 

Izabelle continued to look at the door as it closed behind Landers, a puzzled expression on her face. "Thallin... Does Kay know you assigned me to her squadron?" 


[Reality Check - Thursday Sep. 3 2009, 0627 hours, Bay 5B] 

"The only problem is that to build some of the circuitry in your 'brain', I've had to salvage parts from the control deck and the receiving unit in the VX. We may not be able to find replacement parts for those on-board the ship." Thallin's body was lying perpendicular to the grey Veritech, his head having disappeared into the confines of an access panel. The Valkyrie had been stripped of its paint so that the two could check its external plating for signs of metal fatigue after the Veritech's sortie in Macross Island. 

"So we have no way of controlling the plane?" asked Izabelle. 

"None. The ideal way would have been to have the pilots jack in to the control deck and control the Veritech with their thoughts as well as physical controls, but the interface still isn't working properly." 

"I thought the Veritech fighters were already controlled by thought. Through the helmet." 

"I'll let you in on a little secret..." Thallin paused. "Could you pass me the wrench for a second?" Izabelle handed him the implement he had requested and Thallin's hand disappeared into the access panel. "The so- called 'think-cap' is a myth. What you actually have inside the helmet is a set of receptors which take bio-physical readings of the pilot every .1 microseconds. That's for medical purposes, so that the Veritech does not damage its pilot through a rough manoeuvre or an over-abundance of Gs." Thallin re-emerged from his work. "Of course," he continued, throwing the wrench away in disgust, "the actual workings are a little more complex than that." He stood up and kicked the Veritech. "Goddamn piece of junk. All I need is a three-dollar piece of hardware and the only place I can get it is in Tokyo Research." 


The night had been long and the VX had fought repairs all through it. Thallin stepped back into his temporary-cum-permanent quarters next to bay 5B and was about to collapse onto the bed when he noticed that Izabelle had beaten him to it. Heading towards the desk, he collapsed in its chair and laid his head upon his arms, preparing to fall asleep. 

The console beeped. 

Swearing softly so as not to wake Izabelle, Thallin took the call. The screen resolved itself into the face of a dark-skinned, young female with an odd look of concentration upon it. "Lieutenant Braywater? This is Sergeant Tamara Sam'di of Supply and Requisitioning, Sir." 

Thallin closed his eyes, remembering the supply requests. <Oh boy.> 


Forward to Chapter 11.
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