The planet's indigenous beings paid the Invid little mind, and went about their mysterious business, hovering in groups of two or three in and out of Glike's spirelike buildings, across graceful bridges, and through parks too perfect to believe. But visitors, guests, and merchants from other worlds stopped to gaze upon the one whose race had most recently changed the face of the Fourth Quadrant. A few Karbarrans even had to be restrained from running forward to mock the Regent with reminders of their recent victory. "Sentinels! Sentinels!" they chanted, and succeeded for a moment in bringing the Regent around to confront them. No one, however, dared make a violent move, for beneath those very same plazas and parks lurked surprises of a decidedly punishing nature. Haydon IV had rules for citizens and strangers alike, and it enforced them without bias.
The Invid squad commander whispered as much to the Regent, while the ursine Karbarrans continued to hurl insults and imprecations. And at the same moment one of the Regis's servants approached, offering a brief and unconvincing genuflection.
"Your Highness," the servant said, with a condescending tone.
The Regent raised a fist. "How dare she refuse to honor my arrival!"
"Perhaps, my lord," the Regent's own lieutenant suggested, "she trembles in terror at the mere thought of your blinding presence."
"Grovel on your own time," the Regent snarled. He fixed his wife's servant with a gimlet stare. "Where is my shameful wife? Explain this breach of protocol, worm, before I find a place for you in the Pits."
The servant lifted its head. "She is gone, Regent."
The Regent knew as much already, and bristled at the servant's impertinence. "I'm aware that she is gone-her flagship has left orbit. But I want to know where."
"She left no word, m'lord. Save to say that she is not expected to return."
"Which explains your laxity." The Regent raised himself to his full height, and looked down his snout on the Regis's creature. "Perhaps I will make an example of you, grub. Now, lead me to our chambers before I forget myself...See that my pets are cared for," he said to his lieutenant as an afterthought, "and have the Sentinel prisoner brought before me."
Several other servants appeared to usher the Regent and his retinue to the same rooms his queen had occupied and abandoned, and along the way he could not help but take note of some of Haydon IV's wonders. The planet was unlike anything he had ever seen, and yet there was a sense of familiarity everywhere he looked. Here, a structure that was reminiscent of Tiresia; there, a patch of forest seemingly lifted from Garuda. Spherisian crystal palaces, Karbarran factories without the dirt or stench, Praxian arabesque carvings, totems, statues, pillars, and pedestals-even some things which could only have come from Optera itself: fields of Flowers and rows of Fruit-bearing trees, all sterile to be sure, but so faultless, so exquisite in appearance.
And yet nowhere a hint of instrumentality.
He understood, though, why the Regis would leave: there was no warmth to the world, no taste of life to its clear skies and reflective waters. No, she would not have been at home here, he told himself. It was a real world she required, one like the Optera of their past. He refused to believe that his arrival could have forced her hand-certainly not after the gift he had sent her. This, however, didn't stop him from complaining to his lieutenant once they had reached the tall spire's uppermost rooms and his throne had been positioned.
"Decamped!" he sneered, hands stroking the gem-collared necks of his Hellcat pets. "She expects me to win the war while she's off flitting around the cosmos preening her tubercles and hatching plots against me-"
"M'lord," a servant interrupted, bowing from the doorway. "We have the prisoner."
The Regent smiled as Rem was dragged in. A lieutenant "persuaded" the Tiresian to assume a groveling posture. But the Regent's smile began to fade as he studied Rem. Great suns! he thought. He does wear the face of the seducer!
Two scientists had entered on the heels of the Zor-Clone, and the 'Cats were suddenly snarling, pacing, and sniffing the air. "What did she think of him?" the Regent asked, rising from his chair.
One of the scientists made a coughing sound. "Uh, she was...amused, Your Highness."
"Yes, I can well imagine. Did you record their sessions together?"
The two Invid traded quick glances. "We did, my lord."
He turned to gaze at Rem. "I wish to view the results of their reunion. I want to see her guilt, the sadness in her heart, before I grant her forgiveness."
"But, Regent-"
The Regent slammed a massive fist down on the throne's contoured seat. "Bring me the recordings-now!"
There was silence on the bridge of the SDF-7 while Wolff and Vince waited for the ship's identification library to display its assessment. Wolff folded his arms and leaned away from the console when the data appeared.
"Well?"
"Signatures confirmed," Wolff said flatly. "Invid troop carriers the Regent's flagship. We're too late."
"Are they scanning us?"
Wolff exhaled loudly and swung to a peripheral monitor. "Affirmative. But it's low-level, cursory. Could be we're an unknown quantity. God knows there are enough other ships docked out here."
Vince had to agree; he had never seen so many different types and classes of starship. Haydon IV was obviously all that Veidt and Sarna had been telling everyone.
"So what do we do, Captain-open a hailing frequency, tell them we're just in for liberty, a
little R 'n' R?"
Vince frowned and put a hand on the ship's address-system stud...
"Haydon IV is an open world," Veidt was explaining in the briefing room ten minutes later. "I thought I had already made myself clear on this point. The planet has never been taken by force; its defenses are legendary. There are, in the central records, references to an attempted invasion some two thousand Earth-standard years ago. Several hundred vessels were destroyed in a matter of moments."
"But the Invid-" Jack started to say.
"The Invid did not engage Haydon IV's defenses," Sarna picked up. "Any who come in peace are free to stay and trade. The Invid came and insinuated themselves into positions of political authority; but they are quite tame here. We may land in safety, but we will surely be taken into custody."
"Then we can't go in under arms," Crysta said.
Jack grunted. "Maybe you don't have the courage to try, but I do."
Lron glared at him from across the table. "You dare impugn her courage? Perhaps you-"
"Stop this!" Jean interrupted. "Both of you."
"Exactly what are these 'defenses,' Veidt?" Vince wanted to know.
"I have never seen them. As I stated, they have not been put to the test in two thousand of your years."
"Come on," Jack said, looking around. "Then how do we know they're still functioning?"
"Do you hunger to challenge them?" Sarna asked.
Jack returned a sullen stare.
Jean shook her head and snorted. "So to utilize the medical facilities, we have to go in with our hands raised."
"Yes, straight into an Invid stronghold," Bela said.
"We are given no choice," Gnea added. "Our comrades will have to be surrendered. But who among us will escort them down?" The Praxian glanced around the table.
"I'll go," Wolff volunteered.
Jean caught her husband's eye. "I will, too."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Jack said, standing up. "I'm as concerned about Karen and Rick and Lisa as any of you. But just suppose the Invid deny the request for medical help. Then they've not only got Karen, they've got you and you and whoever else is crazy enough to volunteer." He shook his head. "Uh, uh. We need to find some way around this."
"The Invid cannot deny that which is promised by the planet to all," Veidt said, loud enough to cut through all the separate arguments Jack's objection had raised. Everyone heard the Haydonite's remark, but the bickering continued.
"All right, simmer dow
n," Vince told the table. "Max has an idea."
"Two landing parties," the Skull ace began when everyone was quiet. He was exhausted, having spent every minute by Miriya's side. Her condition had deteriorated after the fold to Haydon IV, and it was Jean's thought to number her among the patients. "Some of us take the four of them down; the rest of you go in unannounced to keep an eye on us."
"It will not work, Commander," Veidt said; but Jack, Lron, Bella, and Gnea were already enthusiastic. Even Burak added his voice to the group as a show of support.
"The' planet's defenses will detect you," Sarna tried to warn them. "We'll have to risk it," Vince answered her.
And the plan was put to a vote.
Jean and Wolff had already volunteered, and now Max and Vince and Cabell joined them. Veidt and Sarna would escort them. Jack, however, insisted that Karen's cause would be better served by his doing something more than crying by her bedside; so he opted for the second team. Burak, Kami and Learna, Bela, Gnea, Lron, and Crysta threw in with him. Janice was undecided until the last minute; then she allied herself with Jack's group-on one condition: that they take Tesla and the two Invid scientists along with them.
"He did help out back on Garuda," Jack was willing to concede. "But I still don't trust him."
"I don't either," Janice said. "I'd just like to see what would happen if Tesla and the Regent came snout-to-snout."
Only Wolff heard Burak's gasp; but he didn't think anything of it.
"Breetai and his Zentraedi are traitors and criminals," T. R. Edwards told the council, positioning himself where he was certain the cameras would close in on his polished skullplate and furious expression. "They've stolen the very thing we need to return to Earth, and thereby condemned our world to defeat at the hands of the Robotech Masters." He swung around and walked angrily back to his seat, facing the audience now. "Some of you are probably thinking that this is the Zentraedi's way of avenging themselves on the RDF. But I suspect they have an even darker purpose in mind. It's my belief that Breetai means to band together with the Sentinels and form a cartel to take control of the spaceways.
"And with the Invid Regent dead and our own forces stranded, there will be little to stop them from putting their plans in motion-unless we take quick and decisive action against them. For this reason, I'm asking for the council approval of my request for the four ships that comprise our new flotilla. The Zentraedi must be hunted down and destroyed!"
There were conflicting reactions from the crowd, all of which Senator Longchamps silenced with three determined gavel blows. "The council will not tolerate these continued outbursts," he warned the audience. "If this occurs again, I'm going to order the room cleared. Now," he said, turning to Edwards, "the council appreciates the generals's concern, but there are a few issues that need to be addressed." He consulted his notes, then said, "Mr. Obstat?"
"Isn't it true, General, that action of the sort you propose could quite possibly jeopardize the very ore we're so desperately in need of?"
Edwards stood up. "Do you propose to let them have it, then?" he asked evenly.
"We don't know why they took it in the first place," Justine Huxley argued. "I for one am not convinced that they mean to do as you suggest-band together with the Sentinels and embark on some sort of transgalactic campaign. Can't we simply continue to mine ore until the Zentraedi make their demands known to us?"
Dr. Lang spoke to that. "I'm afraid that Fantoma has yielded up the last of its monopole ores. Only trace quantities remain, and further mining is hardly justified at this stage."
"What about our reserves, Doctor, here and on Tirol," Harry Penn asked. "Don't we have enough to repair the fortress's fold systems?"
"Unfortunately not," Exedore asserted. "The...stolen ore represented more than three months of mining. It is crucial to our goals."
Edwards waited for the gasps and buzzing in the room to subside. "With the council's indulgence, I have reason to question Dr. Lang and Ambassador Exedore's assessment of the situation. It's no secret to the RDF that both of them have special interests in
furthering the Sentinels' cause-"
Longchamps banged his gavel. "General, I must caution you to refrain from using this session to cast aspersions on any members of this council. Is that understood?"
The cameras tracked in to catch Edwards's stiff and silent nod.
In Edwards's chambers aboard the SDF-3, where she was watching the proceedings, Minmei got up to fix herself another drink. Lang's face was on-screen when she returned to the edge of the bed.
"That's true, Senator," the Robo-wiz was saying. "Exedore and I were the first to discover that the material offloaded from the Valivarre was a type of 'fool's ore,' if you will. We immediately reported this to General Edwards-"
"After that ship had folded out of Tirolspace, Doctor," Edwards barked.
"General Edwards," Longchamps cut in, "weren't some of your own Ghost Squadron aboard the Valivarre supervising the transfer?"
Minmei saw Edwards's face drain of color; the cameras captured the fury in his single eye. "I'm certain that those brave men were killed, Senator."
The cameras cut to Lang. "Council members, I can personally attest to the presence of the general's men. And Exedore and I both found them very much alive."
Minmei sipped her drink, anticipating Edwards's comeback; he didn't surprise her.
"Yes, and exactly what motivated you and the ambassador to shuttle up to the Valivarre, Doctor?"
"We were merely going over the transfer schedule with Commander Breetai-"
Minmei touched the remote and the screen went blank. She drained her glass and thought, A few more of these and I'll be too numb to care. And numb was just what she was after. She had lost her friends, her faith, her voice, any sense of purpose she might have once called her own. Rick, Lisa, Janice, Dr. Lang, Jonathan...And lately she had even been thinking about Kyle. She wasn't sure why, but guessed that it had something to do with Edwards and the control he had begun to assert over her. She imagined she saw a curious pattern at work that coupled Rick and Lynn-Kyle, now Jonathan Wolff and Edwards-some slide into self-abuse when she came too close to genuine love and commitment. Property, she thought in disgust. That was how she was beginning to view herself. Her voice co-opted by the RDF, her dreams destroyed by war, her will at the mercy of men who wanted nothing more than to rule and posses her, body and mind.
Numb, comfortably numb, she told herself...
Thirty minutes later the door hissed open and Edwards strode into the room, grinning evilly. Minmei realized she had dozed off, and, startled now, she began to back herself onto the bed. Edwards leered at her, perhaps thinking she was toying with him, and came down on top of her, elbows supporting his upper body. She pressed her hands against his chest and said, "Please..."
"What's the matter with you?" he asked, face-to-face with her.
"I'm just...confused." She tried to roll out from under him, but his arms held her fast.
"Oh, no, you don't," he told her, bringing his mouth hard against hers-a kiss he liked to think passionate, but one she felt was simply rough. "The council gave their okay."
"W-what does that mean-that you're going to-"
"Precisely that," he said, rolling off her onto his back.
He gazed at the ceiling and laughed. "First the Zentraedi, then the Sentinels." He looked over at her.
Minmei was aghast, gaping at him; he had his right hand curled tightly around her left wrist.
"When this is over I want you to marry me."
Her right hand flew to her face. "What!"
"It'll be just like the Hunters' wedding," he said, as though thinking aloud. "Except it'll be you and me, and the destination won't be Tirol, but Earth." His grin was still intact.
"And the mission won't be for peace, but for war!" she screamed at all once, yanking her arm away.
Edwards sat straight up as she made a move for the door. "What are yo
u talking about? Minmei!"
She was slightly drunk and clumsy even through her fear and shock; she bumped against a table, sending some tapes to the floor, crashed against the bulkhead, fumbling for the door release.
"Minmei!" he yelled again, more harshly than before.
He was angry now and she was panicked. She left the room and ran barefooted along the ship's corridor. She heard someone behind her as she entered the elevator and swung around; but it wasn't Edwards. It was a VT pilot, wearing his helmet, oddly enough, a tall and slender bearded man she thought she had seen before. He was regarding her bare feet and disheveled appearance. She forced a trembling, smile, pushing and patting her hair back in place.
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