And, somehow, nobody thought to scoff at her, not even the aloof, skeptical Nova. The way back to what they had known was shut to them forever; within seconds they were all telling her she could count them in. All save one.
“Wish you the best of luck,” he said, then shrugged a little. “You follow your own instincts, Dana, but somehow I figure my place is here. I think Earth’s gonna need me.”
She accepted that, knew that special knowledge was given where it was needed, and that she was far from unique in that regard. “If it’s what you want, Louie.”
Louie Nichols gave his patented clever-funny smirk. “There’s still a lot of things I want to know, and I can only find ’em out here. And besides, well—don’t laugh!—but maybe I’ve got my own part to play.” He adjusted the big, dark tech goggles selfconsciously.
Nobody laughed. There would be months, perhaps years, of preparation yet—in a world half in ruins—and only Dana had any coherent idea of what was to come. But somehow there was, on the crest of the little hill, a feeling very much like what the sundering of the Round Table must have felt like.
ATAC squad 15 (Hovertanks) turned to get the refugees formed up for the long hike back to Monument City; the assault ship would never rise again. There were already the pairings of Bowie and Musica, Sean and Marie. And now, Nova Satori stayed close to Dennis Brown; the looks they exchanged spoke eloquently.
Dana, sitting on a rock, was stripping off the armor that she hoped never to have to wear again. The spores still drifted everywhere. A sudden loneliness had come over her; there was so very much to do yet, and no one could possibly share her knowledge and her responsibilities—no one could ever understand her longing. She let go a long breath.
Something blocked the low, orange rays of the sunset from her. Angelo Dante stood there, stretching and scratching, having ditched his own armor, wearing a pack made up of most of the usable things he had managed to scare up in the assault ship. The weight of it didn’t seem to bother him. He was adjusting his rifle sling.
He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. “Lieutenant—Dana—you’re still callin’ the shots. I got ’em ready; you move ’em out.”
Before she knew it, she was on her feet, arms thrown around him. About her had spun the symmetries and vectors of the Second Robotech War; she alone had the powers of mind that would let a leader perform the job she had to do now. But her nineteenth birthday was still three weeks and three days away.
Angelo patted her back and spoke more softly than she had ever heard him. “There, there, now, ma’am: we can’t all be sergeants. But as officers go, I’ve seen worse than you. Dana, all we need is someone to show us the way.”
She knew he didn’t mean the way to Monument; the flames would do that. She surprised herself as much as him by pulling his head down to her and kissing Angelo Dante hard.
Then she let him go, took the sidearm from his belt and stalked off to the front of the disorderly mob while he was still recovering and turning to glower at the ATACs, who had seen what happened but kept discreet silence.
Dana saw that the 15th had gotten all the emergency supplies and lights, water and rations from the assault ship and even from her own little escape capsule. She tucked Angelo’s pistol into her belt and noted with approval the order of march, weakened or older refugees surrounded by stronger ones who could help at need.
Not that she thought there would be much call for it; the route was pretty straightforward and unobstructed, and the clones who had been so lethargic before now seemed somehow more vital.
She was about to call for a start when there was a little yipping sound nearby. Dana had put Polly down while stripping off her armor; she had assumed that he had disappeared. But he was practically sitting on her feet.
“Polly. In for the distance, are you, hmm?”
The Pollinator showed her a red postage stamp of tongue. She looked back to see that the 15th had the refugees formed up for the march. Angelo winked and gave her a look she hadn’t seen from him before. She wondered whether or not she would, at some point, return it; she had a feeling she might.
Later.
First Lieutenant Dana Sterling, 15th squad, Alpha Tactical Armored Corps, gave hand and voice signals, and all the rest began moving. The Pollinator fell in to waddle along beside.
ATACs and TASCs, GMP and clone refugees followed her down the slope and the Pollinator capered around her feet, as darkness came across the sky. They looked for her to point the way.
APPENDIX
Because the original printings of the Robotech novelizations pre-dated digital typesetting, it was not practical to re-typeset the entire book in a timely manner for this compilation. However, we have included the following errata list to note some discrepancies with the continuity of the animated series. Please visit Robotech.com for more information about the Robotech universe.
PAGE 8: At this time in 2029, Dana and Bowie were 16 years old. Her eighteenth birthday would not come until the end of the novel. (p.502)
PAGE 16: The discharge of energy from that destroyed the Zentraedi armada occured in 2012. The Robotech Masters have actually been traveling for about sixteen years.
PAGE 18: Though being described at Lagrange Five holding place, Space Station Liberty can transport itself like other factory satellites. However, this capability is limited by the availability of Protoculture supplies.
PAGE 21: Marie Crystal’s Veritech Fighter of choice is more specifically the VF-8 Logan. This dual-mode mecha can transform from a fighter to a Battloid mode that resembles the Guardian mode of the VF-1 (and is often identified as such).
PAGE 22: The first attack of the Zentraedi upon the Earth, occurred in 2009, not 1999.
PAGE 61: In the animated series, the fighter teams are seen taking off with non-transformable Falcon II interceptors (later seen again on p.204-205).
PAGE 141: Though early versions of the Alpha Fighter were in use by the Robotech Expedition, the aircraft that are seen in the corresponding episode of the animated series are Chimera fighters (later seen again on p.225).
PAGE 160: The SDF-3 was actually launched only seven years earlier in 2022.
PAGE 238: Carpenter’s ship in the animated series was based on the Tokugawa-class.
PAGE 238: The fighters that were launched in the corresponding episode of the animated series were Vulture space fighters.
PAGE 280: Though A-JACs is phonetically accurate, the television series uses the term Armored Gyro Assault Choppers, making A-GACs the correct acronym.
PAGE 344: The correct spelling is Invid “Regess” (feminine of “Regent,” later seen again on p.434).
PAGE 351: Dr. Miles Cochran does not suffer quite a grim fate and is seen aboard Space Station Liberty in Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles from DC Comics.
PAGE 353: Despite the mention of the equipment to generate a Singularity Effect, Major General Emerson’s tactic is described in the animated series as an “Orbital Warp Blast.”
PAGE 445: The map reference point is specifically mentioned as “SX Point 83” in the animated series.
PAGE 449: It is Nova, not Marie, in this scene.
PAGE 498: Like Dr. Cochran, Lazlo Zand meets a different fate in Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles from DC Comics.
—list compiled by Jonathan L. Switzer
Robotech: The Masters Saga: The Southern Cross is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 1987 by Harmony Gold USA, Inc., and Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd.
ROBOTECH® and associated characters, names, and indicia are the property of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-307-76168-2
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