Aaaaannnnd here we are...
Later that evening, a meeting of the so-called shadow-cabal was called. Only this time was special because there were a few civilians that we decided to have read in on the matter.
The Mayor and his wife.
And Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle.
The latter two was something that Minmei had demanded - after just a few days she was already tired of tiptoeing around her Aunt and Uncle with the fact that I was more than I seemed. The risks were weighed carefully, and it was decided that they posed little risk to the matter. Besides, the Nyan-Nyan would make for a nice impromptu meeting place that was considered inconspicuous as everyone loved to visit the little restaurant anyhow.
In light of how large the meetings were starting to get, I added a separate lounge to my C-Space. The living room was nice, but it just didn’t have the seating arrangements or needed amenities (like a presentation screen and white board).
The center of the room was a large sunken space, lined with plush leather couches like the ones in my living area, and dominated in the center by an oak table.
Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle, along with the Mayor and his wife, all sat in stunned silence as they mulled it all over.
It was Uncle Lynn that broke the silence.
“This is the choice you presented to Minmei, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” asked the Mayor.
“Minmei needs to make an important decision - to go with Garrick and be his wife, or to stay here with us. It’s a mutually exclusive choice.”
“Oh my dear,” said the Mayor’s Wife. “Minmei, I am so sorry! We had no idea - it must be causing you all kinds of heartache!”
“It’s... alright, ma’am,” said Minmei a bit sheepishly. “It’s a lot but... It helps that Garrick is being so good about this.”
Minmei’s Uncle nodded. “I have to say, I gotta hand it to him. It takes a real man to give someone a chance to get away like that.”
“I think it best we move on, though, yes?” said Captain Gloval. “Miss Lynn, I believe, would welcome the change in subject. Now, Mr. Mayor, I do believe you now understand the desire for confidentiality?”
“I understand fully, Captain. But I’m still not sure why that means you had to drag us into this.”
Captain Gloval then looked to me and said, “If you would do the honors, Mr. Grimm?”
“Yes sir,” I replied, then described to the Mayor, in painstaking detail, exactly what had happened in the anime.
“TH... THOSE BASTARDS WROTE US OFF!? JUST LIKE THAT!?” screamed the man, his face absolutely florid with rage. His wife was aghast, as were Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle.
“I can see why they did it,” said Uncle Lynn. “But still... That’s just not RIGHT.”
“We agree with ya whole heartedly, Mr. Lynn, Mr. Mayor,” said Captain Duke. “But ya gotta admit, it did turn out to be fer our own good in the end.”
The Mayor sighed as that brought him back down to earth.
“Yeah, I get it. Just explaining this to the rest of the city isn’t going to be easy. So what is the plan now?”
“It largely depends on how High Command is going to react,” replied Captain Gloval. “Garrick says that in the original timeline we had no real proof. But this time? We have two sets of video, and even recorded dialogue. And it is blatantly clear that these people are not the sort to be reasoned with. And with the amount of force they’re going to bring to bear on us? I highly doubt that even the Grand Canon would be effective. If all the planned Grand Canons were operational, then I think we might have a bit of a chance. But just one will not suffice.”
“Well, what if you gave them a coupe de grace right off the bat?” asked Mr. Mayor. “Decapitate their command structure?” Everyone blinked at that, and then looked to me.
“That... that might actually work,” I said as I began to vocalize my thoughts. “The Grand Canon is not just huge, it has incredible armor piercing ability. It could punch through Budolza’s mobile fortress like it was made of tin foil. If we could get an idea of where Budolza is most likely to be on that monster, we could cause the whole fleet to go into panic.”
“Sound enough reasoning,” said Colonel Maistroff. “But to be safe, I recommend that we take every effort to destroy that thing. There is bound to be a second in command on that thing. The Grand Canon might just have enough firepower to do it.”
“Very good,” said Captain Gloval. “Hopefully High Command will pay heed to our recommendation. Although just to be safe, Mr. Grimm had an idea about sending the video and audio to a trustworthy party who could get it to the General Assembly in Geneva. Colonel, have you had any luck in making the arrangements?”
“I have indeed. My father, the British Ambassador to Japan, is quite keen on seeing this footage. Mr. Grimm? Tomorrow you’re to take Miss Lynn in her personal aircraft to Yokohama. To the populace here, we will explain that she has special permission to see her family due to her celebrity status.
“On the Japanese side, Father has made flightplan arrangements to make it look like you’re coming in out of Okinawa. Mr. Grimm? We are rigging a kill switch to the plane’s transponder. You’re not to turn it on until you have just left the local air traffic control space for Okinawa. This way to the regional controllers it looks like a normal hand-off.
“All the appropriate paperwork has been filed, including the flight plan, Mr. Grimm’s piloting credentials and visas, as well as the registration of Miss Lynn’s turbofan plane. We have even given Miss Lynn a false ID should she need it - you’re supposed to be dead, after all. With this, you should have no problems landing and getting to the restaurant Miss Lynn’s family operates.
“My father and his delegation will be there at 2pm sharp. Do not arrive late.”
##
The SDF-1’s sudden and hasty departure from Earth had done a real number on the Pacific Rim. A fifty kilometer diameter sphere may not sound like a lot, but it’s actually a helluva lot more volume than you’d think.
To put it simply, a lot of my favorite places on the eastern coast of Japan and the west coast of the USA were total write offs.
As was a good portion of the Philippines.
But Yokohama had been spared the worst of it by sheer dint of it’s location. Situated in a lee just at the very southern end of Tokyo Bay, it did get splashed, but it was nothing that they had not prepared for.
While reconstruction of the harbor was ongoing, the city itself was virtually untouched.
Minmei’s old neighborhood was, to put it simply, wonderful. Back in China, her people had to struggle to eke out even basic subsistence. But here in Japan, when they had mostly arrived at a time when there was dire need of unskilled labor? So much so that they could care less that the workers were Chinese, Korean, Russian, or American? They flourished. They banded together as speakers of a common tongue in a foreign land are wont to, cleaned up one of the poorest neighborhoods here in Yokohama, and made it into a virtual embassy of Old China.
Here, there were no Communists to beat down their door simply because someone had something that was not Chinese in origin in their home. Here, there was no Emperor to worry about offending through some unintended and offhand sleight. The only opposition to be truly had was the steady grind against destitution and hunger.
Minmei happily buzzed on my arm, going on about how nothing had really changed since she left Yokohama.
And really, I was happy for her. I knew very well what it was like to come back to a place you considered home after many years, only to find that so much has changed and that you had to reacquaint yourself with streets you thought you knew before.
And at the same time I felt terrible because of the mutually exclusive choice I had put before her: me and the strange wonders that awaited us, or to stay here and keep to the things that had helped make her the person she is.
Her home.
Her family.
She looked at me and then right away, I knew she could see it in my eyes. I knew she could see how I was actually sympathizing with her, even though I knew it would break both our hearts if she chose to stay.
And I could see how it struck her. How it hurt her to know that I was letting her have this choice - that I needed her to have that choice. My character - and yes, I will admit it gladly, even my ego - simply would not permit otherwise.
And I could see how that knowledge made her love for me grow... but it also turned the knife in her heart.
I knew that at some point, something had to give, but I worried over how that may go.
And then suddenly her arms were around me, pulling me down into a heartfelt kiss, not caring that we were out in public - a shocking thing for a girl raised in Japan to do in her home town. But I would not deny her this, because I knew she needed the reassurance as much as I did.
Minmei is a strong girl, but she is still a girl with a girl’s heart full of a girl’s insecurities. Try as she might to fight it, she still needed a bit of reassurance now and then.
We are all only human, after all. Minmei was so much closer than her peers to fully understanding that kernel of truth and wisdom.
“I love you, Garrick,” she whispered in my ear once she reluctantly broke the kiss. “Try not to look sad in front of my parents. I want them to see that we really love each other.”
I smiled a little and murmured in her ear, “I don’t think there’s going to be any question of that.”
##
The family restaurant had a typical name, but it worked: Tenryū no hyō - Heavenly Dragon’s Table. For there was no nobler creature in Asian myth than the Dragon that ruled over all of the Heavens, and this restaurant catered primarily to the upper class denizens of Yokohama.
This was not the type of place you simply brought a date to, or your family for some off-the-cuff celebration. This was a place for formal occasions where important meetings occurred - such as businessmen having a lunch or dinner meetings to discuss terms in a sociable setting, or for wealthy families to arrange the meetings between their younger members with the expectation that they would pair off.
It was both out of my element and also within it.
Outside in the sense that I am a mere soldier.
Within it as I was an officer and decorated war hero.
And that was before we even got into the whole Prince-of-an-Empire thing.
A waiter came out to greet us the moment we came in the door.
“Oh Chin!” said Minmei happily. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Huh!?” replied the man as his brain had a read error.
I then leaned over and whispered in Minmei’s ear, “They think you’re dead, remember!”
“Oh! Right!” said Minmei, surprised that she forgot that. “Chin! It’s me! Minmei!”
“OJOU-SAMA!!!” cried out the man, then bolted for the kitchen.
Minmei shrugged at me and I sighed. “So much for this being a quiet affair.”
Just then, a woman in a nice cheongsam dress and short-cropped wavy brown hair was pushed into the room by the waiter from before.
“Chin, just what has-” Whatever she was about to say died in her throat as she laid eyes on Minmei.
“Hi mom,” said Minmei a bit sheepishly. “I’m home.”
“Minmei?” said the woman weakly as she went to Minmei and, with shaking hands, traced the features of her face like as though she was worried her eyes might be deceiving her. Suddenly, she wrapped the girl up in her arms and began weeping. “OH MINMEI! I can’t... you’re alive! My beautiful daughter is alive!”
“What is all this-” came a stern, gravely voice, and a man entered. He was, for certain, Minmei’s father. I knew because the family resemblance with Uncle was a powerful one.
“MINMEI!” he cried out in shock. “How could you make us worry like that! They said you died in the Anti-Unification attack!”
“Father!” cried out Minmei as her mother made room for her father, who gently cup her face in his trembling hands. “I’m so sorry, Father. I would have sent a message but I couldn’t.”
Suddenly, his eyes turned to me.
“And who is this gaijin?”
Hoo boy.
“Father! Don’t be like that! This is Garrick Grimm, and he’s my boyfriend.
“WHAT!?” sounded off everyone at once.
“Minmei!” snapped her father. “I did not raise you to go gallivanting off with foreigners like this!”
I glared at the man, and then spoke in my utterly flawless Japanese, “Mister, you’re not exactly making a very good impression on me.”
The only way the reaction could have been better was if someone working a DJ’s turn table had suddenly dragged the stylus across the record.
I decided to go and break the ice.
“Greetings, Father, Mother. I am Grimm, Garrick. I am an officer and Valkyrie Fighter Pilot in the Spacey. I’m here to conduct business on behalf of the Captain of the SDF-1 Macross. Bringing your daughter here was something I wanted to do because I care about her that much.”
See, here’s the thing about the Asian mindset. Back in the good old days when reading, writing, and arithmetic was reserved for only a select few, being employed by the government typically meant you were one of those select few.
And being an officer counted as such in a very big way.
People that work for the government ranked very high on the social status ladder. The only way you could go any higher was to be a nobleman.
They may not have liked that her boyfriend was an American, but me being an officer in the Spacey at least made that idea somewhat palatable.
Both her parents bowed to me politely.
“Thank you for bringing our daughter home to us,” said her father. “Now, what is this business you need to attend to?”
“I’m carrying information that needs to get to the ambassador of the United Kingdom. He should be arriving here for a late lunch at about 2pm. There are also important matters that I need to discuss with you before hand.”
“What sorts of things,” said Minmei’s father as though he had some idea of what that might be and already didn’t like it.
He was probably going to like what I had to say even less than what he thought.
“The reasons why Minmei couldn’t send a message home, and why she needs to go back with me.”
As the man’s face purpled in rage, I couldn’t help but feel that sometimes I hated being right all the time.
##
We sat down at one of the tables as the waiter, Chin, brought out tea.
“It’s very good, thank you,” I said after I sampled my cup. “To get straight to the point, Minmei couldn’t send a message home because the ship had accidentally traveled out to Pluto’s orbit.”
“Is this true?” said her Father, directing the question at Minmei.
She nodded her head. “I brought some photos, too.” With that, she produced a series of glossy photo-prints of the debris field that had been South Ataria Island.
Once Minmei explained the images, her mother sucked in a horrified gasp and her father went pale as a sheet.
She then told them about how Hikaru had saved her life, and then about how I had helped them get rescued.
“It seems I owe you an apology, Grimm-san,” said her father grudgingly as he swallowed his pride. “Without you being there, our daughter would not be here now.
“But what is this business about you being reported dead?”
I shrugged helplessly. “I think that the idea of us suddenly disappearing like that would have been seen as an embarrassment, especially since it caused so much collateral damage. So they made up the lie about the Anti-UN people attacking like that.”
Her father nodded, seeing the reasoning behind it.
“And the reason for not sending a message home?” he asked.
I sighed. “That’s where things get very strange, Mr. Lynn. Forgive me, but I’m going to need to ask that you be patient with me until I’m done explaining.”
So I went on and explained the situation with the Zentradi, which Minmei helped with by adding her own testimony, corroborating my own story.
Her parents found it difficult to believe, but it slowly sank in as they realized that our story was far too well detailed to be some sort of falsehood.
And then, to bring home just how bad the situation was, I played the audio recording I’d made of mine and Commander Breetai’s last conversation.
“Oh Ancestors, they really are going to destroy us,” said Father quietly.
I nodded. “I am not only bringing Minmei back with me because the UN will not like it, but also because she’ll be safest there. Besides, she’s got her career ahead of her.”
“Career?” said her father quizzically. “What career?”
Without a word, but a smile that lit up the room, she pulled out a jewel case CD - her very first single.
“I made it,” she said with quiet and tightly restrained glee. “I actually made it, just like I always dreamed of! I’m a pop idol now! And I’m also gonna be an actress, too!”
“Minmei!” cried out her mother in alarm. “But what about the family business? How can you be so selfish!?”
I snorted. “‘Kettle!’ cried out the Pot. ‘Thou art black!’”
They both turned to me with shock written across their faces.
“Excuse me, young man?” said Father slowly.
“You speak of her being selfish? Yes, you raised her. And she owes a great deal of thanks for that. But this? She did it entirely on her own. She worked in your brother’s restaurant and put all the money she made from that into the lessons she needed.” I then rolled my eyes. “Not that she needed much - she’s a natural at what she does.”
“Oh Gar-kun!” said Minmei as she blushed.
I grinned, then went on, “But she did it nonetheless. All on her own, by her own merits and the sweat of her brow. And now you want to turn around and invalidate all that just because you deem it so? Just because it doesn’t follow your perfectly mapped out plan for your lives? Because it breaks with tradition? I thought that this was the 21st Century we’re living in, not the 18th century.”
“You got a lot of nerve saying such bold things to my face, boy.”
“I’m an American. We’ve been pissing on tradition ever since we told the King of England where to shove it and how far.”
“GARRICK!” cried out Minmei, both scandalized and terrifically amused. “Jeeze, now I know how Misa feels when Claudia does stuff like that!”
I gave Minmei a lopsided grin. “Would you have me any other way?”
“Not even in ten-thousand years!”
Minmei’s father gaped at us. “This is no joke!? You really...”
“Love each other?” I finished for Minmei’s Father, leveling a deadly serious look in his direction.
“Don’t get me wrong, father,” said Minmei, her voice downcast suddenly. “There are things of a private matter that I must work out with Garrick.” She then looked her father in the eyes, and went on, “But if we do make it through this impasse, then I am absolutely going to be his wife.
“Garrick has not said so, but he is actually a very powerful person.” I gave a surprised look at Minmei, but she went on, saying, “I only wish that I could tell you how powerful he is. You would probably rather hide in shame than try to look down upon him.” The look Minmei was giving her father - her very own father! - was amazing. I have never in my life seen anyone look at their father in the eyes like this. It was not hatred, but it was very close. It was a righteous and utterly incandescent fury, one that promised a great and woeful retribution, clad in the mask of her utterly beautiful face. A beauty that I suddenly knew was far more terrifying once it found it’s true self and desires.
She then looked to me again with something in her eyes. Something that was more than just love and admiration. Something that felt like more than mere acceptance.
She opened her mouth and I felt my heart stop - only so that I could clearly and unmistakably hear what she was about to proclaim.
“What is going on?” came a voice from up stairs. They faint hint of derision that voice carried nearly made my lip curl. “You said it was important.”
He came down the stairs in a posture that was practically insouciant. Navy blue slacks, a mauve and black-trimmed short-sleeved jacket over a blue long-sleeved polo shirt. He looked very much like Minmei, except his face was longer and his features a bit sharper. His hair was just like hers, and therefor just as long as mine. But where I wore mine in a tightly braided queue (sometimes with the typical nasty surprises - which I had for today), his was allowed to flow freely over his ears and shoulders.
Lynn Kaifun.
Minmei’s cousin.
You know that feeling you get when you lay eyes on a person and then suddenly you cannot help but hate everything about them? I knew that Kaifun was not a great example of humanity, but the moment he appeared - the moment I laid eyes on him - I suddenly wanted to tear him apart!
To put this into perspective, I never even had this feeling about Tirek, and he wanted to all-but-destroy the world. Or better yet, I never even got this feeling that one time I stared down Kamjin... And he’s a murderous bastard of a man.
But Kaifun? For some reason, his very appearance rubbed at me the wrong way and I had this desire to remove him from existence.
Gar-kun! Calm down! came Katherine’s suddenly panicked voice in my head. You’re gonna call up your Lighthawk Wing if you don’t stop!!!
Surprised at my own reaction, I felt the tension dissipate - though not my intense dislike for Kaifun.
Katherine, what was that just then?
Passive Aura Detection. His... Gar-kun, he is HIDEOUS now that I am looking at him. I really can’t blame you for feeling the way you did just then.
Well. Looks like Twilight’s lessons on mental discipline were starting to pay off.
And not a moment too soon. Watch out for Minmei - she has no idea!
“MINMEI!” cried out Kaifun the moment he saw her.
“Kaifun! It’s you!” cried out Minmei in joy as she dashed over to give her cousin a hug.
“Am I dreaming?” said Kaifun as he hugged her back and laughed.
Okay. I can grant him this. I would be happy about seeing a cousin who I thought would be dead, so I can’t begrudge him that. But I still regarded him warily. After all, Katherine sensed it, too.
“Kaifun, I never expected to see you here!”
“Well, after I joined the Peace Movement I couldn’t stand to be near the Macross anymore, so I left home.”
I wanted to call bullshit on that so hard - it was such a whopper of a lie.
Thing is that I made a request for information on Minmei’s family, just to be safe. Shockingly, my request went as far up as the actual Office of Spacey Intelligence itself, and entire dossiers on Minmei’s family came back.
The one on Kaifun was especially thick because of his involvement with the so-called Peace Movement. The reality was that this group was actually a group of Anti-UN sympathizers that were starting to show signs of possibly becoming radicalized, hence the OSI’s attention.
But for the moment, I maintained my tacit silence.
“I was going to go back to visit Mom and Dad, but I stopped getting mail from them. And then I found out that the island had been destroyed!”
“It really was something!” said Minmei, somewhat sheepishly.
“Well, I’m just really glad you’re alright, Minmei.”
“Oh, your Mom and Dad made it out too!”
“Really! Where are they?”
“They’re onboard the Macross.”
“The Macross?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“No, I...” Kaifun turned and finally noticed my presence. “Oh! I’m sorry!”
“Garrick, let me introduce you. This is my cousin, Lynn Kaifun - he’s like a brother to me. Kaifun, this is Lieutenant Junior-Grade Garrick Grimm. He’s a Valkyrie fighter pilot in the Spacey and my boyfriend.”
“Your BOYFRIEND!?” Kaifun cried out in surprise. He then looked to me, noticed the look I was giving him - a sort of yeah so what look - and then schooled himself back into calm.
“Yes, that’s me. You can call me Garrick. Or Mr. Grimm if you would rather be formal.”
“Charmed,” said Kaifun, barely keeping himself from sneering. “You know, soldiers are supposed to help civilians.”
“That’s a misconception,” I said flatly. “Soldiers are supposed to fight on behalf of their country. Humanitarian aid is something we only do as a side job. Helping civilians is more of a job for the local National Guardsmen. It’s very important that you keep that distinction in mind, especially if you attempt to antagonize a soldier who is in the line of duty. No matter who you are, if you make yourself into any kind of threat, they can kill you where you stand. The mission comes first and foremost. Anyone that interferes can be considered an enemy.”
Kaifun stared at me, his expression caught somewhere between shock and utter contempt.
“So, you’re that kind of soldier then?”
“I’m no wind-up toy if that’s what you’re thinking. There are such things as illegal orders, and we’re perfectly within our rights to not follow such orders.”
“So you’d kill children if you had to?”
“KAIFUN!” said Minmei, aghast. Even her parents seemed to have been taken aback by the boldness of the question.
I held up a hand to forestall anything else.
“It’s okay. This is actually a thought exercise we’re taught pretty early on in basic training, and for a good reason, too. Children are usually supposed to be considered non-combatants. However, there are certain qualifying criteria at which point they can be considered an enemy. The most classical example of this is that of a child picking up a fallen soldier’s gun. At that point they’ve become a combatant, though not a moment beforehand.
“Threats like that are unpredictable and not to be tolerated - there are already enough threats as is. It’s horrible and unfortunate, but no less true. The child made a grievous mistake in picking up the gun of a combatant that had just been killed before their eyes.
“But hey, I guess it’s also okay to blow up an unarmed transport ship ferrying a couple thousand unarmed men from Mars to Earth. You know, soft targets. It doesn’t count as murder if they are military, after all. Am I right?”
Kaifun was almost choking in outrage.
“You bastard!” he snarled. He then turned to Minmei. “I do not know what you see in this man, but if you prefer him over me, then I want nothing more to do with you!”
And with that, Kaifun stormed out.
“GARRICK!” snapped Minmei. “HOW COULD YOU!?”
And then to my surprise, Minmei slapped me! Actually slapped me as hard as she could! And then without another word, she stormed out after Kaifun.
I then turned to her parents who were both giving me stern looks.
“I apologize for that,” I said with a bow, and then went on to explain myself. “I’m a well read man. As such, I’m very quick to spot false propaganda. While the UN had their own propaganda machine, the Anti-UN was all falsehoods all the time. Because they were in the minority, they decided to make soft targets their choice of prey. And I am not about to let someone who supported that faction, however indirectly, forget that fact.”
“Hmph,” grunted Minmei’s father. “I can understand where you’re coming from with this. I never really supported that worldview of Kaifun’s, and I’m actually glad that you were able to throw it back in his face like that. Though at the cost of estranging our daughter? Well, at the very least you have the decency to look ashamed. That is something, I suppose.
“Now, as to this mission of yours... You really think it will convince the UN that this is a real threat?”
I shrugged. “It convinced you, didn’t it?”
“I’m only one man, boy. The General Assembly numbers in the hundreds. But your evidence is compelling. And after hearing about it, I can fully agree that Minmei would be safer on that ship. Though there is only one other thing I wold ask of you, though I know you will probably balk at it.”
“What may that be, Mr. Lynn?”
“If Kaifun’s parents really are on that ship, then I want you to bring him back to them.”
I thought about what to say for a moment, then went on, “Sir, I cannot in good conscience take your nephew back with us.”
“And why is that?”
“Well, there is the hard and cold truth that the airplane we came on is meant for two people, not three.”
“That’s preposterous. The weight limitation for aircraft that made such a long flight is-”
“Is far less than you think it is. It may be a turbofan, but it’s a light sports aircraft. It’s maximum ferrying range is only 400 miles, and that’s only by virtue of its efficiency.
“Secondly, there is the issue of him supporting the anti-Unification faction.”
“I know Kaifun’s perspective might be unwelcome, but those were anti-war protests.”
“Protests that, regardless of whether they were for or against war, favored the Anti-Unification faction. It doesn’t matter how thin you slice it, it’s still bologna.
“Third, he wants your daughter for himself.”
“How did you learn of this?”
“The Office of Spacey Intelligence is nothing if not thorough in their background checks,” I replied, lying easily to the man’s face.
“...Regardless, that’s allowed here.”
“Yes. It is,” I conceded easily. “But is it what you want for her?”
“What about you, though. You two certainly seem to get along well, aside from just earlier.”
“Minmei had her eye on me first. She wanted me because not only does she know that I’m a capable man, but also because I would love her, treat her with kindness and respect, and most importantly allow her to be her own person and even support her in her endeavors.
“Kaifun is not that kind of person. He is a Randian Objectivist in the very worst way. He wants the world to order itself before him in the image of his whims. And that vision includes Minmei being his obedient little wife, always doing as she’s told, when she’s told to do it.
“He will not say it because it violates his precious world view, but he wants her as his very own little trophy, acting on his whims and to present to the world the image -he- wants presented.
“And how is this different from you?” growled Minmei’s father. “You seem to have my daughter wrapped around your finger.”
I glowered at the man, barely reigning in my outrage as I clenched my fists.
“Were you any other man... You apparently haven’t noticed that its mutual. She might cater to me, but only because I have earned it through my merits and my love of her. I do not restrict her. I empower her as best as I can. I want her to have wings so she can soar. Haven’t you noticed? Right now she’s more magnificent than she’s ever been before. She’s confident in herself and certain that whatever challenges come her way, if they are too much for her alone then she can count on me to help her shoulder the burden.
“Kaifun will do no such thing. He will scoff and deride her for being weak. He will trample and break her heart until she finally submits to his whim. Is that what you want for your daughter? Or do you want her to be happy?
“Who are you to say such things to me?” Snarled Minmei’s father as a vein pulsed on his forehead.
“I would have thought that would be obvious. I’m the man she wants to marry - that is who I am. And you have very little reason to stand against us. I am well educated, strong, talented, a government employee, and my only design for Minmei is to see to her happiness. Are you honestly going to tell me that is not what you want for her?
“Because if so, then that’s too bad. We will be married whether you give your blessing or not. This isn’t the old days where you can demand that she marry someone else. This is the 21st century. The time has come for you to stop living in the past and think about what will make her happy instead of what will make you look good.”
“You can’t be a fighter pilot forever,” he retorted. “You know that eventually you’re gonna make my daughter into a widow. And there can’t be anything else that a career solider like yourself can do for work.”
I grinned evilly. “You really think that a man that holds two doctoral degrees can’t find work doing something else?”
“You’re a Double-Doctorate?” came Kaifun’s voice as he came back down the stairs. “And yet you’re a trained attack dog of the UN? What a pitiful waste.”
“They were short on pilots and needed anyone they could get,” I said, rounding on him, even as Minmei was following him back down behind him. “So the logic follows: do my part and help avert death on a grand scale, or sit inside the battle fortress and wait for the inevitable.
“Besides, that’s pretty rich coming from someone who got expelled from college because he felt that it was more important to protest against the UN than show up for his classes, let alone study.”
Minmei gasped and Kaifun almost snarled at me.
“How did you know that?”
“I know a lot of things, Lynn Kaifun,” I replied, trying not to sound too dismissive of him here. “I may not be Office of Spacey Intelligence, but I am an officer who has been tasked with an important mission. And a legitimate request for information on persons I would be interacting with to that Office will yield a significant amount of information.
“Now, how about you let the adults here talk like a good boy or else your Uncle finding out why you had to leave Macross City will only be the second-worst thing to happen to you today.”
And indeed, the elder Mr. Lynn was giving Kaifun some absolutely furious looks. He didn’t need to question me on the matter any further. Kaifun had cleanly implicated himself when he demanded my source of information. That, and despite their differences in taste, Mr. Lynn knew his brother quite well.
At that point, my C-pod began chirping. It was ten minutes til two.
I turned to Mr. Lynn and ask, “I apologize, but if you could please direct me to the private room where I should be meeting with the Ambassador and his party?”
The Elder Lynn set aside his outrage and settled into a gruff front of a man who has Things To Do.
“Right away, Mr. Grimm. This way, please.” But before we went, Mr. Lynn turned to his nephew. “Kaifun. You and Minmei will go upstairs and we will speak about what will and will not be happening in the near future. Also, Mr. Grimm is not to be disturbed while he conducts his business. Am I clear?”
“Yes Uncle,” said Kaifun stiffly.
“Good. Now go.”
As Kaifun and Minmei went upstairs, he then turned to his wife. “While I deal with those two, please see to whatever Mr. Grimm and the Ambassador’s Party needs.”
“Of course, husband,” she replied, and went to make sure everything in the kitchen was ready.
##
I was left in a somewhat small room with a round table and six place settings. Also present was a computer with a large display connected to it so I could show the Ambassador and his men the footage. There was already a pot of the good Oolong tea I had enjoyed earlier, as well as a pot of Earl Grey.
Presently, the shoji at the far end of the room slid open and the Ambassodor, Colonel Maistroff’s father, stepped in followed by a woman and two other men.
I stood and went to meet them.
“The Honorable Lord Maistroff, I assume?” I asked the one that bore a strong resemblance to the colonel as I held out my hand.
“Yes,” replied the ambassador as he took my and and gave it a firm shake. “You must be the infamous Lieutenant Grimm we’ve been hearing about.”
“Thank you, sir, but I’m only an O-2.”
“Of course,” replied the man politely. “Introductions: this young lady here is my personal secretary, Miss Perdita Simmons.”
“Charmed,” replied the woman, a tall and regal blonde with blue eyes as she gave me a lady’s hand shake.
“Also here is our chief analyst from MI6, Mister Brosnan.”
The man, rail-thin, tall, and balding, regarded me coolly as we shook hands.
“A pleasure,” he said flatly. “I hope that you can shed some light on matters that have been eluding us.”
I nodded, and moved on the the fourth person.
“And this is our Liaison to the CIA in America, Jack Ryan.” I couldn’t completely hide my surprise.
“Good to meet you,” said Ryan as we shook hands.
“Likewise,” I replied. “I had no idea that I’d be meeting with someone from the CIA.”
“It was felt that given the nature of the information you were in possession of that it would be best if there was a second party on hand to bear witness. Also, you can imagine why we would be interested in the fact that a US Citizen who was originally reported to be dead is actually alive and well.”
Katherine, I thought desperately to my friend.
It’s okay, Gar-kun. I went and inserted all the right files in all the right places the moment we were in communications range of the satellite network. Unless you give them reason to dig deeper into your history, no one will be the wiser.
Thanks, Sprout. I owe you big time.
Try and spend a little more quality time with me and we’ll call it even! she replied impishly.
“Well, I imagine we’ll be getting into that here soon. Let’s be seated, please. I took the liberty of ordering appetizers and they’ll be coming soon, but I doubt that we’ll have much stomach for it once we get into this.”
##
We got settled in just as the appetizers arrived, and the preliminary questions began to fly. First of all, they wanted to know about the chain of events, as I knew of them, that lead up to our sudden disappearance, and then what came afterwards.
“Well,” said Jack once I got to describing how much we took with us when we folded out. “That would certainly explain the tsunami.”
Lord Maistroff nodded. “There’s going to be hell to pay for that fiasco. I don’t think Commodore Gloval could even be held responsible due to the circumstances.”
Ryan nodded. “It is doubtful. The system was as of yet untested. We had a lot of data that proved it would function, but we still needed a live test to fully determine how it works. And then there was the attack and then the order to launch. It’s a real mess.”
Lord Maistroff nodded. “Carry on, then, Mr. Grimm.”
“Yes sir,” I replied and went on, describing not only the journey, but the capabilities of the Zentradi forces and the sheer numbers they threw at us, which they found to be rather disquieting.
And finally, we got to our capture. It was already decided to leave out the parts about my being a slider, and would explain us getting away from Buldoza in that we still had hidden our survival weapons on our persons. It was believable as the Zentradi did not think to search us - from their perspective, why would we have weapons at that size?
They watched the footage with growing fascination, and then shock as Buldoza showed the destruction of the planet he used as an example of what would happen to Earth.
Then came the all-important question.
“Will they really do it?” asked Lord Maistroff.
In reply, I played a carefully edited version of mine and Breetai’s last conversation.
“God help us,” said Mr. Brosnan quietly. “They really are going to do it. And you theorize it’s because they think we’re this ‘protoculture’ they fear?”
I nodded. “It’s the only real explanation, sir.”
“We don’t have any time then,” said Lord Maistroff. “Ryan, you have your copy, yes? Good. Miss Simmons, I’m going to call a meeting of the General Assembly under the emergency clause. Have transportation ready for me at the absolute soonest possible. This is dire enough that I’m not even going to bother packing.”
“Then shall I have an overnight bag made for you?”
“If you can, that would be wonderful, but do not waste one second of time. The clock has already been running for some time now, and those bastards in Spacey High Command are going to have a lot to answer for.”
Lord Maistroff then turned to me and shook my hand. “Mr. Grimm, you have been a paragon of a man to bring this to us. If we make it out somehow, you can expect to be receiving honors.”
Before I could say anything, though, Lord Maistroff had left with his party in tow.
I then tapped my C-Pod. “Knife-One now on channel. Gunsight, Knife-One. It’s done, Sammy. They’re as panicked as a proper Englishman can be. And better yet they brought the CIA to the party.”
“Knife-One, Gunsight. Understood. The Colonel wishes to speak with you. Wait one...”
“Knife-One, SDF-1 Actual - The Commodore is on his way back and wanted me to let you know: it’s just as you feared. The brass is doubling-down on this outlandish idea of a carrot and stick routine. He’ll be glad to know that Lord Maistroff was the much more sensible party. Now you be quick, young man, and get back over here.”
“SDF-1 Actual, Knife-One. Understood. I’ll get underway as soon as circumstance allow it. Knife-One going off-channel.”
##
When I came out from the meeting room and back into the common dining area of the restaurant, Minmei and her family was waiting for me.
“Garrick Grimm,” said her father with a flinty look at me. “We’ve all come to a decision. With it being too dangerous to keep our girl here in the meantime, we will allow you to return to the Macross with her. Though we will be trying to find a way to get there ourselves. And once we do, we will oppose your marriage to our daughter with the strongest language possible.
“The very least you can do for us, though, is to take these letters to my brother.” Mr. Lynn then held up large manila envelope that, judging by its thickness, had more than just a few pages of correspondence. “I know that you Americans hold the sanctity of the post in very high regard, so I trust that you will ensure that these get to him, intact and unopened.”
I nodded. “Loathe as I am to accept the task - I can pretty much guess what’s in there. But I also know that there’s important words for your loved ones, so I have no choice in the matter.”
I took the envelope and carefully placed it inside my messenger bag.
“Either way,” I went on as I settled myself, “whatever happens, I have decided to leave it in Minmei’s hands. Though I would appreciate it if you didn’t make this any harder on her.” I then turned to Minmei and said, “I’ll wait for you outside while you say your goodbyes, but don’t be too long - we really have to get going.”
“Right,” said Minmei a bit stiffly, but she softened up a bit as she then said, “Thank you, Garrick.”
I simply smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before exiting the restaurant.
As I had thought, Minmei needed a few minutes to do this. But promised, she didn’t keep me waiting too long. When she came out, she was dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said as we started walking.
“It’s alright. I should have expected it. Especially Kaifun not liking you. But did you have to be that way with him?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Minmei. Just... attitudes like that just rub me so wrong. That smug sense of moral superiority.... ugh.”
“Well, what’s so wrong about being against war?”
“Nothing, really. It’s the motivations behind that sentiment that are wrong.”
“What?”
“Think about it, Minmei. The Anti-UN League struck first and they always aimed at soft targets. What was the UN supposed to do in the face of that? I mean, I know that there’s been some uncool things the UN has done.” I couldn’t say anything about the Bird Human Incident. That was still hushed up to the high heavens. “But that’s going to change soon, I hope.”
“What do you mean?” asked Minmei.
“The British Ambassador implied that the UN General Assembly had no idea of what happened. Heads at Spacey High Command are about to start rolling.”
“Good. Maybe things will change for the better, then. Maybe I can come back here to Yokohama...” Minmei fell silent at what she had just implied - that she would come and live here.
Without me.
I know she didn't really mean it like that, but I wasn't a fool, either. I knew this was one of the possibilities, and she knew that I knew as well. Even so, I could never punish her for having such a thought. It's a very human thing to do, and I'm not about to go around trying to get people to be what they're not.
I looked to her and smiled wanly, giving her hand a squeeze.
We walked on in silence for a moment before Minmei broke the silence between us again.
“How can you be so calm about this?” she asked suddenly. “Here I am, really, honestly thinking about leaving you, and it almost feels like you’re giving up on me here!”
I sighed. “Minmei... I don’t know what you want me to do here. I’ve already shown you everything I can. You know whats on the horizon. You know what the possibilities are. The only thing I can do now is wait for you to make your choice.”
“So... you won’t fight for me?”
“Fight for you?” I said. “Against who? Your family? I’m pretty sure you were just about to tell your father where to shove it just earlier.” I then sighed. “You really were about to say ‘Yes’ back there, weren’t you? And then Kaifun showed up.”
“What about Kaifun?” said Minmei hotly.
I took a deep breath because I knew this was something of a land mine for her. “Minmei... I don’t trust him. He’s read way too much Ayn Rand.”
“How can you tell?”
“His entire attitude screams it. This idea that the entire world is supposed to order itself before you just because you think it’s... that it’s righteous, when really it isn’t.”
“I don’t get it, Garrick. What’s so bad about wanting the world to be a better place?”
“What Kaifun wants is a logical fallacy. Look, you confirmed that he’s read a lot of Ayn Rand, so you probably know about Atlas Shrugged. The scene where the protagonist is being tortured, and he makes some bold speech about... I don’t know -WHAT- and somehow his torturers are suddenly in awe of what an incredible man he is? That’s not how it works. Real life? They would have let him go on for a few seconds, and then laughed as they clubbed him halfway to death.”
“But it’s-”
“It doesn’t matter what the message is. It’s fiction. Real life doesn’t work that way. I told you about everything that happened back when I was taken prisoner, right? You think that my words had any effect on Budolza? He almost killed the Lieutenant and I had to cut his hand off to save her. That is real life.
“What Kaifun wants would be like trying to argue with a typhoon. It’s not gonna care. It’s going to come, and if you’re still there when it does, it’s going to wash you away with the storm surge. And if Kaifun doesn’t watch it, that’s pretty much what’s going to happen to him.”
“How can you say that! There’s no way Kaifun would do something so dumb!”
“Minmei, I’m sorry, but Kaifun is nowhere nearly as bright as he thinks he is.”
“And you are!?” she snapped angrily.
I stopped and turned to look Minmei in the eyes. She was genuinely peeved at me. In fact, she never said a word about when she slapped me earlier.
“I would like to that that me being as old as I am would at least mean I have more life experience than Kaifun does. I’ll admit, I went through a similar phase when I was young, but when I was confronted with reality, I didn’t try to scream down the storm. I learned and became wiser for my experience.”
“You don’t seem all that smart now, though,” she said with a glare.
Shit. She was doubling down on this. Before, I’ve always been able to get people to see reason, and in the times I couldn’t I could usually just stand back and let them learn from their mistakes.
But with Minmei? Now? Regarding this? She was about to make a very poor choice, one that I knew she would regret for the rest of her life. And I didn’t wish that kind of fate on her. The only problem was how do I defuse this situation? I had to take some kind of action because ignoring it was as good as handing Minmei over to Kaifun, gift wrapped.
“I’m not about to sit here and try to prove how wrong you are about that. You know already how wrong it is. It was one of the things you liked the most about me. And by the way? You said that I wasn’t fighting for you? Congratulations: you just gave me an opponent.”
“Is that so then?” said Minmei with an enraged glare. “The only reason your not going back alone is because there’s no way I can get back there without you!”
“Alright then,” I said evenly. “We’d better stop making a scene of ourselves and get going. I promised your parents and Kaifun that I would deliver these letters, and that is exactly what I’ll do.”
“You had better if you know what’s good for you.”
##
The flight back was a quiet one. But that was fine. I needed the time to figure out how I was supposed to handle this. I knew that Minmei loved her cousin, but I never imagined that she’d defend him so vehemently, even though he was so horribly in the wrong.
She really is angry, isn’t she? asked Katherine quietly.
Yeah, Sprout. Don’t ask me how I missed this.
It never was such a big issue in the anime. I mean, yes, she stuck to her guns about Kaifun. But even then, she was also showing signs of getting tired of him.
Yes... but that took a while, though. Katherine, I fucked up. I should have seen this coming.
But what could you have done?
I’m not sure, Sprout. But I would have thought of something.
By the way, we just got another batch of letters. Do you want to read them now?
Thanks, Sprout, but I need to stay at least somewhat focused here. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened now.
Alright, Gar-kun.
##
We touched down with no incident on the Prometheus’s flight deck. Once we were cleard, Minmei jumped out of her seat without waiting for me to give her a hand, and then stormed off.
Hikaru came over with a concerned look on his face.
“What the hell happened?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She’s got a cousin of whom she’s incredibly defensive over. One that thinks that military forces should be a thing of the past.”
Hikaru’s face scrunched up in confusion and disgust. “Are you serious?”
“She is. Like a heart attack.”
Hikaru puffed. “You better do some damage control fast, Robber. There’s been a line of guys just waiting for you to screw up.”
I snorted. “Good luck to them. The mood she’s in now? I don’t know if they’ll ever even find the body.”
“That bad!?” he cried out.
“Oh yes. I think the only reason she didn’t try to flay me alive was because she needed me to fly the plane. We better get going, Fuzzy. I’m sure that Captain Gloval will want to debrief me as soon as possible.”
##
The Captain listened to me intently and patiently as I went over everything that happened, but he was especially curious about what happened with Kaifun and Minmei.
Finally, once the tale was told, and the Captain sat still and quiet for several minutes.
“Very troubling,” he said quietly as he reached down, opened the special drawer, and pulled out his special vodka and a pair of glasses. “I once had the pleasure of knowing a beautiful girl. She was a dancer. But then, one day, we had a disagreement. She wanted me to leave the Navy. But the Navy had been all I ever knew. What else could I do? Eventually, she left me, and here I am today.”
The old Russian officer poured the two drinks, then offered me one.
“This situation of yours though... very different. She seems upset that you think little of her cousin, yes? Hmph. If what you say about him is true, then I would find it difficult to tolerate him as well. BUt you must somehow find a way to make ammends. Otherwise... she may well slip away.”
Captain Gloval raised his glass to mine, and then we both downed the vodka.
It still boggled my mind - where did he find vodka that was this smooth?
“I’m at a loss, sir,” I said at length. “It’s... there is something just plain VILE about him.”
“Have you told her of the events in the fictional account of our tales?”
“Not yet. I haven’t really had a chance to.”
“You had better, then. Even if it is fictional, it’s been eerily close thus far. And I suspect that time may be an issue here. On that note, you should probably get going, Mr. Grimm. You do have those letters to bring to the Nyan-Nyan.”
“Of course, sir.”
##
When I got to the Nyan-Nyan, Aunt Lynn greeted me in the restaurant.
“Oh Garrick, I am so sorry about Minmei,” she said sympathetically. “I wish that there was something I could do.”
I thought about that for a second. “Auntie Lynn... What was Kaifun like before he left here... I mean, Macross City back on Earth.”
She gestured for me to sit down at one of the tables.
“He was... different. He’d always been such a good boy. So kind and caring. He’d always watch out for Minmei. They were almost inseparable. And then the war broke out and then he started reading those awful books.”
“And Minmei never took any issue with it?”
“She simply saw it as Kaifun being himself. You have to keep in mind, Kaifun is two years older than her, so she always saw him in a respectable light.”
“In other words, she was too close to see the bigger picture.”
“Very much so. In fact, we were worried that she might follow his lead, but fortunately that never happened.”
“Is she home right now?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s up in her room, but I wouldn’t bother her - she is very upset still.”
I shook my head. “I need to at least check in with her. Psychology. Gotta show her that I’m not giving up. Oh, and I need to give these to you,” I said as I dug out the envelope from Minmei’s family in Yokohama.
“What’s this?”
“Correspondence from everyone back in Yokohama. There should even be some from Kaifun there.”
Auntie Lynn’s face lit up in joy. “Oh THANK YOU!” she cried out as she eagerly accepted the envelope and then started digging through it.
“I wouldn’t thank me yet,” I said with a sigh.
“What?” asked Auntie ans she paused to look up at me.
“There is very likely an officially stamped letter in there from Minmei’s parents forbidding her marriage to me.”
Aunt Lynn sighed as she pulled out the letter in question. “I was afraid of this. My husband has always felt that his brother was far too stiff. My sister and I... I never told you, we’re actually sisters by blood! Probably why Kaifun and Minmei look like they could be brother and sister. Anyhow, we would always try to smooth things over between the two of them, but my brother-in-law could never let things go. He always derided my husband for his ideas about a more informal sort of restaurant. So, we left Yokohama, Minmei came with us, and...”
“And you opened the Nyan-Nyan,” I finished for her.
Aunt Lynn smiled and nodded. “Yes. Even though we’re such a modest sized establishment, we’ve been very successful. And part of that success has given Minmei the work she needed to fund her alternative education.”
I nodded. “Music, singing, writing, and dance.”
“All she really wanted was to be her own person. I could never see her being happy tied down the way her father wanted. The only reason why Minmei was able to come with us in the first place was because Honorable Mother interceded on Minmei’s behalf.”
“Oh? I hadn’t heard about this.”
“Yes, my mother-in-law... She’s quite the person. She’s seen so many things, you know. And while she is rather traditional, it’s more for maintaining our culture. She always wished for Minmei’s happiness, just as we did. Even so, it was a surprise for us when she came down on her eldest son like a maddened mother hen.
“Hah! I bet that was a sight!”
Aunt Lynn chuckled. “Oh, goodness, our Ancestors were probably rolling on their sides. I consider myself fortunate that Honorable Mother truly took my sister and I as daughters, because she can be quite the frightening woman when she wants to be.”
I chuckled. “I think I’m starting to get an idea of where Minmei gets it from, now.”
Aunt Lynn chuckled as well. “I do wish you luck, Garrick. Honorable Mother’s temper was legendary throughout Yokohama’s China Town. And only Honorable Father could ever seem to get her to calm down.”
“He must have been quite the sweet talker.”
“Well, their marriage was an arranged one, but Honorable Mother was fortunate in that her husband had truly fallen in love with her. It took a bit of time, but he did win her heart over. And it seems that now you must do the same with Minmei. Strange how the tables turn, is it not? That at first she chased you, and now it is you that must chase her.”
“Auntie, my life has been the definition of the word ‘strange’ for some time now.”
Aunt Lynn scoffed and shook her head. “You revealed such unbelievable things just a few days ago, and yet here we are talking as though it never happened. But that’s what gives me heart, Garrick. That even afterwards, you’re still the same man that came into our lives when this adventure began. You said you weren’t any different, and you were right. The only difference now is that we can talk about it. And that is a good thing.
“Now then, you go and check in with Minmei. I’ll make sure my husband sees these letters... though I’m sure he’s going to be unhappy with his brother once again.”
“Thanks Auntie.”
“You’re welcome, Garrick.”
##
I went upstairs to Minmei’s room and memories of that night almost two weeks ago invaded my conscious. Us in her bed, her body pressed close to mine as we both resisted the urge to give in to our baser desires. I remember having to put a hand against her hips to help still them because she had wrapped her legs with mine and I could fell the moist heat building against my thigh. She had more than understood, she quietly thanked me for it.
I know it’s just semantics at this point. Why bother anymore if no one is going to bother saying anything. But even so, that was wrong - the stuff that hubris is made of. All it would take was for one person to whisper in the wrong person’s ear, and then suddenly I’d be locked up in the brig awaiting a courts martial.
Besides, character is what you are in the dark. And Minmei and I both seem to have some pretty strong character, because it was very dark indeed in her room that night.
Pushing the memories back out of my head, I gently knocked on her door. For a moment, there was only silence.
“Come in, Garrick,” came Minmei’s voice, sounding somewhat tired.
I opened the door to find her sprawled across her bed, one arm, palm up, laying over her eyes.
“You’re not here to apologize, are you?” she said, not moving an inch otherwise.
“I’m sorry I’ve made you upset, Minmei,” I said as I sat on the bed next to her. “I’m not sorry for my feelings about your cousin.”
“Not good enough.”
“What if I showed you something that could change your mind?”
“What could that possibly be?” she said, finally taking her arm off her eyes so she could glower at me. It didn’t escape my notice that they were red and puffy.
“Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the animation.”
##
Minmei reluctantly followed me into my C-Space and I pulled up the series on my computer, going straight to the episodes of Kaifun when he was at his most condescending. And then I followed it up with the interview where he openly declared that he was going to marry Minmei.
“Wait, what!?” cried out Minmei. “There’s no way! It’s got to be wrong! I mean, they made me look like such an airhead!”
I sighed. “It could be wrong... but I don’t think it is, Minmei.”
Minmei opened her mouth, but I raised a hand to forestall her.
“I’m not going to try to argue. Let’s... just wait and see what happens.”
“But Kaifun isn’t even here!” snapped Minmei. “You made sure of that!”
I shook my head. “That was with Hikaru flying the plane. I’ve got about eighty pounds over him. If we took Kaifun plus the luggage... we would have been overweight, and that’s to say nothing of there only being two seats.”
“Why is the weight so important?”
“Here, let me show you something.” I quickly went to the internet and found a video of a Cesna, one grossly overweight with backpackers and all their equipment, take off, but it never quite cleared the tree line. What was more, the video was from within the cabin itself and Minmei gasped at what she saw.
“Were they alright!?”
“I think someone had a broken wrist, but otherwise... Minmei, those people were incredibly lucky. What would have happened to us if your plane had stalled out in the middle of the Pacific? Help would have been hundreds of miles away and we would have dropped like a rock.”
Minmei sighed and I knew that I had finally gotten her to see reason on this one point.
“Alright. I get it now. It was too dangerous. But that doesn’t make me any less happy about this! Kaifun is still over there!”
I sighed and reached over, gently squeezing her hand - the first time I’d touched her since Yokohama.
As though the floodgates had suddenly burst, Minmei then threw herself against me.
“Dammit, Garrick!” she cried out, her voice wavering. “Why do you have to do this to me! I’m so angry at you, but I still love you so much, and it’s making me hurt!”
I gently hugged her close, slowly rubbing her back until she began to relax.
“How can you be so calm about this, Garrick?” she said at last.
“It’s because I’ve had my own heart broken so many times that there’s not much left to break. Just pieces everywhere. And I was hoping that maybe you would stay with me and help me put it back together again.”
“Your... your fiancees?”
“Yes, that... but more so.”
Once again, I delved into my past. But not simply my time where I became part of Tenchi’s family.
I went all the way back to my very beginnings - where a woman had given birth to her first child, and then swore on everything holy that he smiled at her. Not even thirty seconds after she gave her last great heave.
I told her everything. The years we spent, my mother and I, seemingly in our own little bubble - her and I against the world, with her singing Just the Two of Us. Then came my stepfather and all the abuse because he simply could not understand what I was and how I was wired wrong. How it got so bad that I would flinch at the slightest sudden movements.
Minmei then gasped as she suddenly remembered one time she got me a drink while I was eating. She came in behind me and then suddenly thrust the glass into my peripheral vision, intending to hand the cup to me. Instead, I startled so badly that I almost upset the glass. And she never understood why I had that reaction until now.
And the abuse got worse. More and more, belittling me for everything I did. The nights I would cry, wishing that oblivion would somehow swallow me up because as much as I desperately wanted to die, I knew it would destroy my mother.
And then my faltering steps into the world, damaged far beyond what I seemed on the surface. Weighed down by depression and anxiety. Emotionally scared and only become more so as I tried to find love, only for it to rear back and bite me.
Finally, there as the accident.
Mother was gone. Father was distraught. My brothers and sister were lost, drifting apart. And me alone. No friends. No love. Barely any hope for a future.
And then I nearly drove my truck into Tenchi’s house.
The rest, Minmei knew already.
“So... yeah. I’m broken inside, Minmei. I was broken as a child, broken as an adult... I was completely shattered when I was taken away from my new family, and then I had to break my own heart again when I said goodbye to everyone I’d come to love on Equestria. Mother of Trees, I miss them all so much. I just try not to think about it. Compartmentalize. Keep moving. Keep hoping that maybe, just maybe, when I get to the next world, it’s going to be home. That I’m going to see the smiles of my beloved ladies.”
Minmei was quiet for a moment while she pondered that.
“You’ve been like this this whole time... And then I came along and acted like such a little floozy... God, Garrick, I am so sorry. At the very least... If I’d known I would have been a lot more gentle with you.”
“It’s in the past now. Besides, I guess I kinda needed a kick in the pants.”
Minmei smiled weakly, but honestly at the humor. But then her face fell again.
“Garrick. This still doesn’t change anything about Kaifun. Yes, I acknowledge he was being an ass. I won’t hide from that fact. But he’s still like a brother to me. And if you two meet again, then I will not tolerate you to being at each other’s throats.”
I sighed at that and then looked Minmei in the eyes. “If he ever does anything to mistreat you, I will fucking break him.”
Minmei’s eyes widened in shock. “GARRICK! Why on Earth would you think such a thing!”
“Because he’s in your blind spot, Minmei. You think to yourself, ‘It’s just Kaifun being Kaifun - there’s nothing really wrong.’ But if you keep ignoring warning signs, then you’re going to get hurt. And I don’t like seeing you cry.”
Minmei’s anger returned. “He is not like that, Garrick!”
I looked Minmei in the eyes and finally said, “You know that I don’t ever tell you anything that I think may even be remotely wrong, right?”
“Well you’re wrong about this.”
I sighed. I wasn’t going to get any further on this matter. But just to remind her, I pulled her into a hug. She turned her face away from me, a petulant glower on her face the whole time. But even so, I left a soft kiss on her cheek and I felt her resolve falter.
“I’m going to go ahead and get something to eat, and then head on back to the barracks. Goodnight, Minmei.”
She said nothing as I closed the door.
Annnnnd still not resolved yet. Heh-heh-heh....
Later that evening, a meeting of the so-called shadow-cabal was called. Only this time was special because there were a few civilians that we decided to have read in on the matter.
The Mayor and his wife.
And Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle.
The latter two was something that Minmei had demanded - after just a few days she was already tired of tiptoeing around her Aunt and Uncle with the fact that I was more than I seemed. The risks were weighed carefully, and it was decided that they posed little risk to the matter. Besides, the Nyan-Nyan would make for a nice impromptu meeting place that was considered inconspicuous as everyone loved to visit the little restaurant anyhow.
In light of how large the meetings were starting to get, I added a separate lounge to my C-Space. The living room was nice, but it just didn’t have the seating arrangements or needed amenities (like a presentation screen and white board).
The center of the room was a large sunken space, lined with plush leather couches like the ones in my living area, and dominated in the center by an oak table.
Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle, along with the Mayor and his wife, all sat in stunned silence as they mulled it all over.
It was Uncle Lynn that broke the silence.
“This is the choice you presented to Minmei, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” asked the Mayor.
“Minmei needs to make an important decision - to go with Garrick and be his wife, or to stay here with us. It’s a mutually exclusive choice.”
“Oh my dear,” said the Mayor’s Wife. “Minmei, I am so sorry! We had no idea - it must be causing you all kinds of heartache!”
“It’s... alright, ma’am,” said Minmei a bit sheepishly. “It’s a lot but... It helps that Garrick is being so good about this.”
Minmei’s Uncle nodded. “I have to say, I gotta hand it to him. It takes a real man to give someone a chance to get away like that.”
“I think it best we move on, though, yes?” said Captain Gloval. “Miss Lynn, I believe, would welcome the change in subject. Now, Mr. Mayor, I do believe you now understand the desire for confidentiality?”
“I understand fully, Captain. But I’m still not sure why that means you had to drag us into this.”
Captain Gloval then looked to me and said, “If you would do the honors, Mr. Grimm?”
“Yes sir,” I replied, then described to the Mayor, in painstaking detail, exactly what had happened in the anime.
“TH... THOSE BASTARDS WROTE US OFF!? JUST LIKE THAT!?” screamed the man, his face absolutely florid with rage. His wife was aghast, as were Minmei’s Aunt and Uncle.
“I can see why they did it,” said Uncle Lynn. “But still... That’s just not RIGHT.”
“We agree with ya whole heartedly, Mr. Lynn, Mr. Mayor,” said Captain Duke. “But ya gotta admit, it did turn out to be fer our own good in the end.”
The Mayor sighed as that brought him back down to earth.
“Yeah, I get it. Just explaining this to the rest of the city isn’t going to be easy. So what is the plan now?”
“It largely depends on how High Command is going to react,” replied Captain Gloval. “Garrick says that in the original timeline we had no real proof. But this time? We have two sets of video, and even recorded dialogue. And it is blatantly clear that these people are not the sort to be reasoned with. And with the amount of force they’re going to bring to bear on us? I highly doubt that even the Grand Canon would be effective. If all the planned Grand Canons were operational, then I think we might have a bit of a chance. But just one will not suffice.”
“Well, what if you gave them a coupe de grace right off the bat?” asked Mr. Mayor. “Decapitate their command structure?” Everyone blinked at that, and then looked to me.
“That... that might actually work,” I said as I began to vocalize my thoughts. “The Grand Canon is not just huge, it has incredible armor piercing ability. It could punch through Budolza’s mobile fortress like it was made of tin foil. If we could get an idea of where Budolza is most likely to be on that monster, we could cause the whole fleet to go into panic.”
“Sound enough reasoning,” said Colonel Maistroff. “But to be safe, I recommend that we take every effort to destroy that thing. There is bound to be a second in command on that thing. The Grand Canon might just have enough firepower to do it.”
“Very good,” said Captain Gloval. “Hopefully High Command will pay heed to our recommendation. Although just to be safe, Mr. Grimm had an idea about sending the video and audio to a trustworthy party who could get it to the General Assembly in Geneva. Colonel, have you had any luck in making the arrangements?”
“I have indeed. My father, the British Ambassador to Japan, is quite keen on seeing this footage. Mr. Grimm? Tomorrow you’re to take Miss Lynn in her personal aircraft to Yokohama. To the populace here, we will explain that she has special permission to see her family due to her celebrity status.
“On the Japanese side, Father has made flightplan arrangements to make it look like you’re coming in out of Okinawa. Mr. Grimm? We are rigging a kill switch to the plane’s transponder. You’re not to turn it on until you have just left the local air traffic control space for Okinawa. This way to the regional controllers it looks like a normal hand-off.
“All the appropriate paperwork has been filed, including the flight plan, Mr. Grimm’s piloting credentials and visas, as well as the registration of Miss Lynn’s turbofan plane. We have even given Miss Lynn a false ID should she need it - you’re supposed to be dead, after all. With this, you should have no problems landing and getting to the restaurant Miss Lynn’s family operates.
“My father and his delegation will be there at 2pm sharp. Do not arrive late.”
##
The SDF-1’s sudden and hasty departure from Earth had done a real number on the Pacific Rim. A fifty kilometer diameter sphere may not sound like a lot, but it’s actually a helluva lot more volume than you’d think.
To put it simply, a lot of my favorite places on the eastern coast of Japan and the west coast of the USA were total write offs.
As was a good portion of the Philippines.
But Yokohama had been spared the worst of it by sheer dint of it’s location. Situated in a lee just at the very southern end of Tokyo Bay, it did get splashed, but it was nothing that they had not prepared for.
While reconstruction of the harbor was ongoing, the city itself was virtually untouched.
Minmei’s old neighborhood was, to put it simply, wonderful. Back in China, her people had to struggle to eke out even basic subsistence. But here in Japan, when they had mostly arrived at a time when there was dire need of unskilled labor? So much so that they could care less that the workers were Chinese, Korean, Russian, or American? They flourished. They banded together as speakers of a common tongue in a foreign land are wont to, cleaned up one of the poorest neighborhoods here in Yokohama, and made it into a virtual embassy of Old China.
Here, there were no Communists to beat down their door simply because someone had something that was not Chinese in origin in their home. Here, there was no Emperor to worry about offending through some unintended and offhand sleight. The only opposition to be truly had was the steady grind against destitution and hunger.
Minmei happily buzzed on my arm, going on about how nothing had really changed since she left Yokohama.
And really, I was happy for her. I knew very well what it was like to come back to a place you considered home after many years, only to find that so much has changed and that you had to reacquaint yourself with streets you thought you knew before.
And at the same time I felt terrible because of the mutually exclusive choice I had put before her: me and the strange wonders that awaited us, or to stay here and keep to the things that had helped make her the person she is.
Her home.
Her family.
She looked at me and then right away, I knew she could see it in my eyes. I knew she could see how I was actually sympathizing with her, even though I knew it would break both our hearts if she chose to stay.
And I could see how it struck her. How it hurt her to know that I was letting her have this choice - that I needed her to have that choice. My character - and yes, I will admit it gladly, even my ego - simply would not permit otherwise.
And I could see how that knowledge made her love for me grow... but it also turned the knife in her heart.
I knew that at some point, something had to give, but I worried over how that may go.
And then suddenly her arms were around me, pulling me down into a heartfelt kiss, not caring that we were out in public - a shocking thing for a girl raised in Japan to do in her home town. But I would not deny her this, because I knew she needed the reassurance as much as I did.
Minmei is a strong girl, but she is still a girl with a girl’s heart full of a girl’s insecurities. Try as she might to fight it, she still needed a bit of reassurance now and then.
We are all only human, after all. Minmei was so much closer than her peers to fully understanding that kernel of truth and wisdom.
“I love you, Garrick,” she whispered in my ear once she reluctantly broke the kiss. “Try not to look sad in front of my parents. I want them to see that we really love each other.”
I smiled a little and murmured in her ear, “I don’t think there’s going to be any question of that.”
##
The family restaurant had a typical name, but it worked: Tenryū no hyō - Heavenly Dragon’s Table. For there was no nobler creature in Asian myth than the Dragon that ruled over all of the Heavens, and this restaurant catered primarily to the upper class denizens of Yokohama.
This was not the type of place you simply brought a date to, or your family for some off-the-cuff celebration. This was a place for formal occasions where important meetings occurred - such as businessmen having a lunch or dinner meetings to discuss terms in a sociable setting, or for wealthy families to arrange the meetings between their younger members with the expectation that they would pair off.
It was both out of my element and also within it.
Outside in the sense that I am a mere soldier.
Within it as I was an officer and decorated war hero.
And that was before we even got into the whole Prince-of-an-Empire thing.
A waiter came out to greet us the moment we came in the door.
“Oh Chin!” said Minmei happily. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Huh!?” replied the man as his brain had a read error.
I then leaned over and whispered in Minmei’s ear, “They think you’re dead, remember!”
“Oh! Right!” said Minmei, surprised that she forgot that. “Chin! It’s me! Minmei!”
“OJOU-SAMA!!!” cried out the man, then bolted for the kitchen.
Minmei shrugged at me and I sighed. “So much for this being a quiet affair.”
Just then, a woman in a nice cheongsam dress and short-cropped wavy brown hair was pushed into the room by the waiter from before.
“Chin, just what has-” Whatever she was about to say died in her throat as she laid eyes on Minmei.
“Hi mom,” said Minmei a bit sheepishly. “I’m home.”
“Minmei?” said the woman weakly as she went to Minmei and, with shaking hands, traced the features of her face like as though she was worried her eyes might be deceiving her. Suddenly, she wrapped the girl up in her arms and began weeping. “OH MINMEI! I can’t... you’re alive! My beautiful daughter is alive!”
“What is all this-” came a stern, gravely voice, and a man entered. He was, for certain, Minmei’s father. I knew because the family resemblance with Uncle was a powerful one.
“MINMEI!” he cried out in shock. “How could you make us worry like that! They said you died in the Anti-Unification attack!”
“Father!” cried out Minmei as her mother made room for her father, who gently cup her face in his trembling hands. “I’m so sorry, Father. I would have sent a message but I couldn’t.”
Suddenly, his eyes turned to me.
“And who is this gaijin?”
Hoo boy.
“Father! Don’t be like that! This is Garrick Grimm, and he’s my boyfriend.
“WHAT!?” sounded off everyone at once.
“Minmei!” snapped her father. “I did not raise you to go gallivanting off with foreigners like this!”
I glared at the man, and then spoke in my utterly flawless Japanese, “Mister, you’re not exactly making a very good impression on me.”
The only way the reaction could have been better was if someone working a DJ’s turn table had suddenly dragged the stylus across the record.
I decided to go and break the ice.
“Greetings, Father, Mother. I am Grimm, Garrick. I am an officer and Valkyrie Fighter Pilot in the Spacey. I’m here to conduct business on behalf of the Captain of the SDF-1 Macross. Bringing your daughter here was something I wanted to do because I care about her that much.”
See, here’s the thing about the Asian mindset. Back in the good old days when reading, writing, and arithmetic was reserved for only a select few, being employed by the government typically meant you were one of those select few.
And being an officer counted as such in a very big way.
People that work for the government ranked very high on the social status ladder. The only way you could go any higher was to be a nobleman.
They may not have liked that her boyfriend was an American, but me being an officer in the Spacey at least made that idea somewhat palatable.
Both her parents bowed to me politely.
“Thank you for bringing our daughter home to us,” said her father. “Now, what is this business you need to attend to?”
“I’m carrying information that needs to get to the ambassador of the United Kingdom. He should be arriving here for a late lunch at about 2pm. There are also important matters that I need to discuss with you before hand.”
“What sorts of things,” said Minmei’s father as though he had some idea of what that might be and already didn’t like it.
He was probably going to like what I had to say even less than what he thought.
“The reasons why Minmei couldn’t send a message home, and why she needs to go back with me.”
As the man’s face purpled in rage, I couldn’t help but feel that sometimes I hated being right all the time.
##
We sat down at one of the tables as the waiter, Chin, brought out tea.
“It’s very good, thank you,” I said after I sampled my cup. “To get straight to the point, Minmei couldn’t send a message home because the ship had accidentally traveled out to Pluto’s orbit.”
“Is this true?” said her Father, directing the question at Minmei.
She nodded her head. “I brought some photos, too.” With that, she produced a series of glossy photo-prints of the debris field that had been South Ataria Island.
Once Minmei explained the images, her mother sucked in a horrified gasp and her father went pale as a sheet.
She then told them about how Hikaru had saved her life, and then about how I had helped them get rescued.
“It seems I owe you an apology, Grimm-san,” said her father grudgingly as he swallowed his pride. “Without you being there, our daughter would not be here now.
“But what is this business about you being reported dead?”
I shrugged helplessly. “I think that the idea of us suddenly disappearing like that would have been seen as an embarrassment, especially since it caused so much collateral damage. So they made up the lie about the Anti-UN people attacking like that.”
Her father nodded, seeing the reasoning behind it.
“And the reason for not sending a message home?” he asked.
I sighed. “That’s where things get very strange, Mr. Lynn. Forgive me, but I’m going to need to ask that you be patient with me until I’m done explaining.”
So I went on and explained the situation with the Zentradi, which Minmei helped with by adding her own testimony, corroborating my own story.
Her parents found it difficult to believe, but it slowly sank in as they realized that our story was far too well detailed to be some sort of falsehood.
And then, to bring home just how bad the situation was, I played the audio recording I’d made of mine and Commander Breetai’s last conversation.
“Oh Ancestors, they really are going to destroy us,” said Father quietly.
I nodded. “I am not only bringing Minmei back with me because the UN will not like it, but also because she’ll be safest there. Besides, she’s got her career ahead of her.”
“Career?” said her father quizzically. “What career?”
Without a word, but a smile that lit up the room, she pulled out a jewel case CD - her very first single.
“I made it,” she said with quiet and tightly restrained glee. “I actually made it, just like I always dreamed of! I’m a pop idol now! And I’m also gonna be an actress, too!”
“Minmei!” cried out her mother in alarm. “But what about the family business? How can you be so selfish!?”
I snorted. “‘Kettle!’ cried out the Pot. ‘Thou art black!’”
They both turned to me with shock written across their faces.
“Excuse me, young man?” said Father slowly.
“You speak of her being selfish? Yes, you raised her. And she owes a great deal of thanks for that. But this? She did it entirely on her own. She worked in your brother’s restaurant and put all the money she made from that into the lessons she needed.” I then rolled my eyes. “Not that she needed much - she’s a natural at what she does.”
“Oh Gar-kun!” said Minmei as she blushed.
I grinned, then went on, “But she did it nonetheless. All on her own, by her own merits and the sweat of her brow. And now you want to turn around and invalidate all that just because you deem it so? Just because it doesn’t follow your perfectly mapped out plan for your lives? Because it breaks with tradition? I thought that this was the 21st Century we’re living in, not the 18th century.”
“You got a lot of nerve saying such bold things to my face, boy.”
“I’m an American. We’ve been pissing on tradition ever since we told the King of England where to shove it and how far.”
“GARRICK!” cried out Minmei, both scandalized and terrifically amused. “Jeeze, now I know how Misa feels when Claudia does stuff like that!”
I gave Minmei a lopsided grin. “Would you have me any other way?”
“Not even in ten-thousand years!”
Minmei’s father gaped at us. “This is no joke!? You really...”
“Love each other?” I finished for Minmei’s Father, leveling a deadly serious look in his direction.
“Don’t get me wrong, father,” said Minmei, her voice downcast suddenly. “There are things of a private matter that I must work out with Garrick.” She then looked her father in the eyes, and went on, “But if we do make it through this impasse, then I am absolutely going to be his wife.
“Garrick has not said so, but he is actually a very powerful person.” I gave a surprised look at Minmei, but she went on, saying, “I only wish that I could tell you how powerful he is. You would probably rather hide in shame than try to look down upon him.” The look Minmei was giving her father - her very own father! - was amazing. I have never in my life seen anyone look at their father in the eyes like this. It was not hatred, but it was very close. It was a righteous and utterly incandescent fury, one that promised a great and woeful retribution, clad in the mask of her utterly beautiful face. A beauty that I suddenly knew was far more terrifying once it found it’s true self and desires.
She then looked to me again with something in her eyes. Something that was more than just love and admiration. Something that felt like more than mere acceptance.
She opened her mouth and I felt my heart stop - only so that I could clearly and unmistakably hear what she was about to proclaim.
“What is going on?” came a voice from up stairs. They faint hint of derision that voice carried nearly made my lip curl. “You said it was important.”
He came down the stairs in a posture that was practically insouciant. Navy blue slacks, a mauve and black-trimmed short-sleeved jacket over a blue long-sleeved polo shirt. He looked very much like Minmei, except his face was longer and his features a bit sharper. His hair was just like hers, and therefor just as long as mine. But where I wore mine in a tightly braided queue (sometimes with the typical nasty surprises - which I had for today), his was allowed to flow freely over his ears and shoulders.
Lynn Kaifun.
Minmei’s cousin.
You know that feeling you get when you lay eyes on a person and then suddenly you cannot help but hate everything about them? I knew that Kaifun was not a great example of humanity, but the moment he appeared - the moment I laid eyes on him - I suddenly wanted to tear him apart!
To put this into perspective, I never even had this feeling about Tirek, and he wanted to all-but-destroy the world. Or better yet, I never even got this feeling that one time I stared down Kamjin... And he’s a murderous bastard of a man.
But Kaifun? For some reason, his very appearance rubbed at me the wrong way and I had this desire to remove him from existence.
Gar-kun! Calm down! came Katherine’s suddenly panicked voice in my head. You’re gonna call up your Lighthawk Wing if you don’t stop!!!
Surprised at my own reaction, I felt the tension dissipate - though not my intense dislike for Kaifun.
Katherine, what was that just then?
Passive Aura Detection. His... Gar-kun, he is HIDEOUS now that I am looking at him. I really can’t blame you for feeling the way you did just then.
Well. Looks like Twilight’s lessons on mental discipline were starting to pay off.
And not a moment too soon. Watch out for Minmei - she has no idea!
“MINMEI!” cried out Kaifun the moment he saw her.
“Kaifun! It’s you!” cried out Minmei in joy as she dashed over to give her cousin a hug.
“Am I dreaming?” said Kaifun as he hugged her back and laughed.
Okay. I can grant him this. I would be happy about seeing a cousin who I thought would be dead, so I can’t begrudge him that. But I still regarded him warily. After all, Katherine sensed it, too.
“Kaifun, I never expected to see you here!”
“Well, after I joined the Peace Movement I couldn’t stand to be near the Macross anymore, so I left home.”
I wanted to call bullshit on that so hard - it was such a whopper of a lie.
Thing is that I made a request for information on Minmei’s family, just to be safe. Shockingly, my request went as far up as the actual Office of Spacey Intelligence itself, and entire dossiers on Minmei’s family came back.
The one on Kaifun was especially thick because of his involvement with the so-called Peace Movement. The reality was that this group was actually a group of Anti-UN sympathizers that were starting to show signs of possibly becoming radicalized, hence the OSI’s attention.
But for the moment, I maintained my tacit silence.
“I was going to go back to visit Mom and Dad, but I stopped getting mail from them. And then I found out that the island had been destroyed!”
“It really was something!” said Minmei, somewhat sheepishly.
“Well, I’m just really glad you’re alright, Minmei.”
“Oh, your Mom and Dad made it out too!”
“Really! Where are they?”
“They’re onboard the Macross.”
“The Macross?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“No, I...” Kaifun turned and finally noticed my presence. “Oh! I’m sorry!”
“Garrick, let me introduce you. This is my cousin, Lynn Kaifun - he’s like a brother to me. Kaifun, this is Lieutenant Junior-Grade Garrick Grimm. He’s a Valkyrie fighter pilot in the Spacey and my boyfriend.”
“Your BOYFRIEND!?” Kaifun cried out in surprise. He then looked to me, noticed the look I was giving him - a sort of yeah so what look - and then schooled himself back into calm.
“Yes, that’s me. You can call me Garrick. Or Mr. Grimm if you would rather be formal.”
“Charmed,” said Kaifun, barely keeping himself from sneering. “You know, soldiers are supposed to help civilians.”
“That’s a misconception,” I said flatly. “Soldiers are supposed to fight on behalf of their country. Humanitarian aid is something we only do as a side job. Helping civilians is more of a job for the local National Guardsmen. It’s very important that you keep that distinction in mind, especially if you attempt to antagonize a soldier who is in the line of duty. No matter who you are, if you make yourself into any kind of threat, they can kill you where you stand. The mission comes first and foremost. Anyone that interferes can be considered an enemy.”
Kaifun stared at me, his expression caught somewhere between shock and utter contempt.
“So, you’re that kind of soldier then?”
“I’m no wind-up toy if that’s what you’re thinking. There are such things as illegal orders, and we’re perfectly within our rights to not follow such orders.”
“So you’d kill children if you had to?”
“KAIFUN!” said Minmei, aghast. Even her parents seemed to have been taken aback by the boldness of the question.
I held up a hand to forestall anything else.
“It’s okay. This is actually a thought exercise we’re taught pretty early on in basic training, and for a good reason, too. Children are usually supposed to be considered non-combatants. However, there are certain qualifying criteria at which point they can be considered an enemy. The most classical example of this is that of a child picking up a fallen soldier’s gun. At that point they’ve become a combatant, though not a moment beforehand.
“Threats like that are unpredictable and not to be tolerated - there are already enough threats as is. It’s horrible and unfortunate, but no less true. The child made a grievous mistake in picking up the gun of a combatant that had just been killed before their eyes.
“But hey, I guess it’s also okay to blow up an unarmed transport ship ferrying a couple thousand unarmed men from Mars to Earth. You know, soft targets. It doesn’t count as murder if they are military, after all. Am I right?”
Kaifun was almost choking in outrage.
“You bastard!” he snarled. He then turned to Minmei. “I do not know what you see in this man, but if you prefer him over me, then I want nothing more to do with you!”
And with that, Kaifun stormed out.
“GARRICK!” snapped Minmei. “HOW COULD YOU!?”
And then to my surprise, Minmei slapped me! Actually slapped me as hard as she could! And then without another word, she stormed out after Kaifun.
I then turned to her parents who were both giving me stern looks.
“I apologize for that,” I said with a bow, and then went on to explain myself. “I’m a well read man. As such, I’m very quick to spot false propaganda. While the UN had their own propaganda machine, the Anti-UN was all falsehoods all the time. Because they were in the minority, they decided to make soft targets their choice of prey. And I am not about to let someone who supported that faction, however indirectly, forget that fact.”
“Hmph,” grunted Minmei’s father. “I can understand where you’re coming from with this. I never really supported that worldview of Kaifun’s, and I’m actually glad that you were able to throw it back in his face like that. Though at the cost of estranging our daughter? Well, at the very least you have the decency to look ashamed. That is something, I suppose.
“Now, as to this mission of yours... You really think it will convince the UN that this is a real threat?”
I shrugged. “It convinced you, didn’t it?”
“I’m only one man, boy. The General Assembly numbers in the hundreds. But your evidence is compelling. And after hearing about it, I can fully agree that Minmei would be safer on that ship. Though there is only one other thing I wold ask of you, though I know you will probably balk at it.”
“What may that be, Mr. Lynn?”
“If Kaifun’s parents really are on that ship, then I want you to bring him back to them.”
I thought about what to say for a moment, then went on, “Sir, I cannot in good conscience take your nephew back with us.”
“And why is that?”
“Well, there is the hard and cold truth that the airplane we came on is meant for two people, not three.”
“That’s preposterous. The weight limitation for aircraft that made such a long flight is-”
“Is far less than you think it is. It may be a turbofan, but it’s a light sports aircraft. It’s maximum ferrying range is only 400 miles, and that’s only by virtue of its efficiency.
“Secondly, there is the issue of him supporting the anti-Unification faction.”
“I know Kaifun’s perspective might be unwelcome, but those were anti-war protests.”
“Protests that, regardless of whether they were for or against war, favored the Anti-Unification faction. It doesn’t matter how thin you slice it, it’s still bologna.
“Third, he wants your daughter for himself.”
“How did you learn of this?”
“The Office of Spacey Intelligence is nothing if not thorough in their background checks,” I replied, lying easily to the man’s face.
“...Regardless, that’s allowed here.”
“Yes. It is,” I conceded easily. “But is it what you want for her?”
“What about you, though. You two certainly seem to get along well, aside from just earlier.”
“Minmei had her eye on me first. She wanted me because not only does she know that I’m a capable man, but also because I would love her, treat her with kindness and respect, and most importantly allow her to be her own person and even support her in her endeavors.
“Kaifun is not that kind of person. He is a Randian Objectivist in the very worst way. He wants the world to order itself before him in the image of his whims. And that vision includes Minmei being his obedient little wife, always doing as she’s told, when she’s told to do it.
“He will not say it because it violates his precious world view, but he wants her as his very own little trophy, acting on his whims and to present to the world the image -he- wants presented.
“And how is this different from you?” growled Minmei’s father. “You seem to have my daughter wrapped around your finger.”
I glowered at the man, barely reigning in my outrage as I clenched my fists.
“Were you any other man... You apparently haven’t noticed that its mutual. She might cater to me, but only because I have earned it through my merits and my love of her. I do not restrict her. I empower her as best as I can. I want her to have wings so she can soar. Haven’t you noticed? Right now she’s more magnificent than she’s ever been before. She’s confident in herself and certain that whatever challenges come her way, if they are too much for her alone then she can count on me to help her shoulder the burden.
“Kaifun will do no such thing. He will scoff and deride her for being weak. He will trample and break her heart until she finally submits to his whim. Is that what you want for your daughter? Or do you want her to be happy?
“Who are you to say such things to me?” Snarled Minmei’s father as a vein pulsed on his forehead.
“I would have thought that would be obvious. I’m the man she wants to marry - that is who I am. And you have very little reason to stand against us. I am well educated, strong, talented, a government employee, and my only design for Minmei is to see to her happiness. Are you honestly going to tell me that is not what you want for her?
“Because if so, then that’s too bad. We will be married whether you give your blessing or not. This isn’t the old days where you can demand that she marry someone else. This is the 21st century. The time has come for you to stop living in the past and think about what will make her happy instead of what will make you look good.”
“You can’t be a fighter pilot forever,” he retorted. “You know that eventually you’re gonna make my daughter into a widow. And there can’t be anything else that a career solider like yourself can do for work.”
I grinned evilly. “You really think that a man that holds two doctoral degrees can’t find work doing something else?”
“You’re a Double-Doctorate?” came Kaifun’s voice as he came back down the stairs. “And yet you’re a trained attack dog of the UN? What a pitiful waste.”
“They were short on pilots and needed anyone they could get,” I said, rounding on him, even as Minmei was following him back down behind him. “So the logic follows: do my part and help avert death on a grand scale, or sit inside the battle fortress and wait for the inevitable.
“Besides, that’s pretty rich coming from someone who got expelled from college because he felt that it was more important to protest against the UN than show up for his classes, let alone study.”
Minmei gasped and Kaifun almost snarled at me.
“How did you know that?”
“I know a lot of things, Lynn Kaifun,” I replied, trying not to sound too dismissive of him here. “I may not be Office of Spacey Intelligence, but I am an officer who has been tasked with an important mission. And a legitimate request for information on persons I would be interacting with to that Office will yield a significant amount of information.
“Now, how about you let the adults here talk like a good boy or else your Uncle finding out why you had to leave Macross City will only be the second-worst thing to happen to you today.”
And indeed, the elder Mr. Lynn was giving Kaifun some absolutely furious looks. He didn’t need to question me on the matter any further. Kaifun had cleanly implicated himself when he demanded my source of information. That, and despite their differences in taste, Mr. Lynn knew his brother quite well.
At that point, my C-pod began chirping. It was ten minutes til two.
I turned to Mr. Lynn and ask, “I apologize, but if you could please direct me to the private room where I should be meeting with the Ambassador and his party?”
The Elder Lynn set aside his outrage and settled into a gruff front of a man who has Things To Do.
“Right away, Mr. Grimm. This way, please.” But before we went, Mr. Lynn turned to his nephew. “Kaifun. You and Minmei will go upstairs and we will speak about what will and will not be happening in the near future. Also, Mr. Grimm is not to be disturbed while he conducts his business. Am I clear?”
“Yes Uncle,” said Kaifun stiffly.
“Good. Now go.”
As Kaifun and Minmei went upstairs, he then turned to his wife. “While I deal with those two, please see to whatever Mr. Grimm and the Ambassador’s Party needs.”
“Of course, husband,” she replied, and went to make sure everything in the kitchen was ready.
##
I was left in a somewhat small room with a round table and six place settings. Also present was a computer with a large display connected to it so I could show the Ambassador and his men the footage. There was already a pot of the good Oolong tea I had enjoyed earlier, as well as a pot of Earl Grey.
Presently, the shoji at the far end of the room slid open and the Ambassodor, Colonel Maistroff’s father, stepped in followed by a woman and two other men.
I stood and went to meet them.
“The Honorable Lord Maistroff, I assume?” I asked the one that bore a strong resemblance to the colonel as I held out my hand.
“Yes,” replied the ambassador as he took my and and gave it a firm shake. “You must be the infamous Lieutenant Grimm we’ve been hearing about.”
“Thank you, sir, but I’m only an O-2.”
“Of course,” replied the man politely. “Introductions: this young lady here is my personal secretary, Miss Perdita Simmons.”
“Charmed,” replied the woman, a tall and regal blonde with blue eyes as she gave me a lady’s hand shake.
“Also here is our chief analyst from MI6, Mister Brosnan.”
The man, rail-thin, tall, and balding, regarded me coolly as we shook hands.
“A pleasure,” he said flatly. “I hope that you can shed some light on matters that have been eluding us.”
I nodded, and moved on the the fourth person.
“And this is our Liaison to the CIA in America, Jack Ryan.” I couldn’t completely hide my surprise.
“Good to meet you,” said Ryan as we shook hands.
“Likewise,” I replied. “I had no idea that I’d be meeting with someone from the CIA.”
“It was felt that given the nature of the information you were in possession of that it would be best if there was a second party on hand to bear witness. Also, you can imagine why we would be interested in the fact that a US Citizen who was originally reported to be dead is actually alive and well.”
Katherine, I thought desperately to my friend.
It’s okay, Gar-kun. I went and inserted all the right files in all the right places the moment we were in communications range of the satellite network. Unless you give them reason to dig deeper into your history, no one will be the wiser.
Thanks, Sprout. I owe you big time.
Try and spend a little more quality time with me and we’ll call it even! she replied impishly.
“Well, I imagine we’ll be getting into that here soon. Let’s be seated, please. I took the liberty of ordering appetizers and they’ll be coming soon, but I doubt that we’ll have much stomach for it once we get into this.”
##
We got settled in just as the appetizers arrived, and the preliminary questions began to fly. First of all, they wanted to know about the chain of events, as I knew of them, that lead up to our sudden disappearance, and then what came afterwards.
“Well,” said Jack once I got to describing how much we took with us when we folded out. “That would certainly explain the tsunami.”
Lord Maistroff nodded. “There’s going to be hell to pay for that fiasco. I don’t think Commodore Gloval could even be held responsible due to the circumstances.”
Ryan nodded. “It is doubtful. The system was as of yet untested. We had a lot of data that proved it would function, but we still needed a live test to fully determine how it works. And then there was the attack and then the order to launch. It’s a real mess.”
Lord Maistroff nodded. “Carry on, then, Mr. Grimm.”
“Yes sir,” I replied and went on, describing not only the journey, but the capabilities of the Zentradi forces and the sheer numbers they threw at us, which they found to be rather disquieting.
And finally, we got to our capture. It was already decided to leave out the parts about my being a slider, and would explain us getting away from Buldoza in that we still had hidden our survival weapons on our persons. It was believable as the Zentradi did not think to search us - from their perspective, why would we have weapons at that size?
They watched the footage with growing fascination, and then shock as Buldoza showed the destruction of the planet he used as an example of what would happen to Earth.
Then came the all-important question.
“Will they really do it?” asked Lord Maistroff.
In reply, I played a carefully edited version of mine and Breetai’s last conversation.
“God help us,” said Mr. Brosnan quietly. “They really are going to do it. And you theorize it’s because they think we’re this ‘protoculture’ they fear?”
I nodded. “It’s the only real explanation, sir.”
“We don’t have any time then,” said Lord Maistroff. “Ryan, you have your copy, yes? Good. Miss Simmons, I’m going to call a meeting of the General Assembly under the emergency clause. Have transportation ready for me at the absolute soonest possible. This is dire enough that I’m not even going to bother packing.”
“Then shall I have an overnight bag made for you?”
“If you can, that would be wonderful, but do not waste one second of time. The clock has already been running for some time now, and those bastards in Spacey High Command are going to have a lot to answer for.”
Lord Maistroff then turned to me and shook my hand. “Mr. Grimm, you have been a paragon of a man to bring this to us. If we make it out somehow, you can expect to be receiving honors.”
Before I could say anything, though, Lord Maistroff had left with his party in tow.
I then tapped my C-Pod. “Knife-One now on channel. Gunsight, Knife-One. It’s done, Sammy. They’re as panicked as a proper Englishman can be. And better yet they brought the CIA to the party.”
“Knife-One, Gunsight. Understood. The Colonel wishes to speak with you. Wait one...”
“Knife-One, SDF-1 Actual - The Commodore is on his way back and wanted me to let you know: it’s just as you feared. The brass is doubling-down on this outlandish idea of a carrot and stick routine. He’ll be glad to know that Lord Maistroff was the much more sensible party. Now you be quick, young man, and get back over here.”
“SDF-1 Actual, Knife-One. Understood. I’ll get underway as soon as circumstance allow it. Knife-One going off-channel.”
##
When I came out from the meeting room and back into the common dining area of the restaurant, Minmei and her family was waiting for me.
“Garrick Grimm,” said her father with a flinty look at me. “We’ve all come to a decision. With it being too dangerous to keep our girl here in the meantime, we will allow you to return to the Macross with her. Though we will be trying to find a way to get there ourselves. And once we do, we will oppose your marriage to our daughter with the strongest language possible.
“The very least you can do for us, though, is to take these letters to my brother.” Mr. Lynn then held up large manila envelope that, judging by its thickness, had more than just a few pages of correspondence. “I know that you Americans hold the sanctity of the post in very high regard, so I trust that you will ensure that these get to him, intact and unopened.”
I nodded. “Loathe as I am to accept the task - I can pretty much guess what’s in there. But I also know that there’s important words for your loved ones, so I have no choice in the matter.”
I took the envelope and carefully placed it inside my messenger bag.
“Either way,” I went on as I settled myself, “whatever happens, I have decided to leave it in Minmei’s hands. Though I would appreciate it if you didn’t make this any harder on her.” I then turned to Minmei and said, “I’ll wait for you outside while you say your goodbyes, but don’t be too long - we really have to get going.”
“Right,” said Minmei a bit stiffly, but she softened up a bit as she then said, “Thank you, Garrick.”
I simply smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before exiting the restaurant.
As I had thought, Minmei needed a few minutes to do this. But promised, she didn’t keep me waiting too long. When she came out, she was dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said as we started walking.
“It’s alright. I should have expected it. Especially Kaifun not liking you. But did you have to be that way with him?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Minmei. Just... attitudes like that just rub me so wrong. That smug sense of moral superiority.... ugh.”
“Well, what’s so wrong about being against war?”
“Nothing, really. It’s the motivations behind that sentiment that are wrong.”
“What?”
“Think about it, Minmei. The Anti-UN League struck first and they always aimed at soft targets. What was the UN supposed to do in the face of that? I mean, I know that there’s been some uncool things the UN has done.” I couldn’t say anything about the Bird Human Incident. That was still hushed up to the high heavens. “But that’s going to change soon, I hope.”
“What do you mean?” asked Minmei.
“The British Ambassador implied that the UN General Assembly had no idea of what happened. Heads at Spacey High Command are about to start rolling.”
“Good. Maybe things will change for the better, then. Maybe I can come back here to Yokohama...” Minmei fell silent at what she had just implied - that she would come and live here.
Without me.
I know she didn't really mean it like that, but I wasn't a fool, either. I knew this was one of the possibilities, and she knew that I knew as well. Even so, I could never punish her for having such a thought. It's a very human thing to do, and I'm not about to go around trying to get people to be what they're not.
I looked to her and smiled wanly, giving her hand a squeeze.
We walked on in silence for a moment before Minmei broke the silence between us again.
“How can you be so calm about this?” she asked suddenly. “Here I am, really, honestly thinking about leaving you, and it almost feels like you’re giving up on me here!”
I sighed. “Minmei... I don’t know what you want me to do here. I’ve already shown you everything I can. You know whats on the horizon. You know what the possibilities are. The only thing I can do now is wait for you to make your choice.”
“So... you won’t fight for me?”
“Fight for you?” I said. “Against who? Your family? I’m pretty sure you were just about to tell your father where to shove it just earlier.” I then sighed. “You really were about to say ‘Yes’ back there, weren’t you? And then Kaifun showed up.”
“What about Kaifun?” said Minmei hotly.
I took a deep breath because I knew this was something of a land mine for her. “Minmei... I don’t trust him. He’s read way too much Ayn Rand.”
“How can you tell?”
“His entire attitude screams it. This idea that the entire world is supposed to order itself before you just because you think it’s... that it’s righteous, when really it isn’t.”
“I don’t get it, Garrick. What’s so bad about wanting the world to be a better place?”
“What Kaifun wants is a logical fallacy. Look, you confirmed that he’s read a lot of Ayn Rand, so you probably know about Atlas Shrugged. The scene where the protagonist is being tortured, and he makes some bold speech about... I don’t know -WHAT- and somehow his torturers are suddenly in awe of what an incredible man he is? That’s not how it works. Real life? They would have let him go on for a few seconds, and then laughed as they clubbed him halfway to death.”
“But it’s-”
“It doesn’t matter what the message is. It’s fiction. Real life doesn’t work that way. I told you about everything that happened back when I was taken prisoner, right? You think that my words had any effect on Budolza? He almost killed the Lieutenant and I had to cut his hand off to save her. That is real life.
“What Kaifun wants would be like trying to argue with a typhoon. It’s not gonna care. It’s going to come, and if you’re still there when it does, it’s going to wash you away with the storm surge. And if Kaifun doesn’t watch it, that’s pretty much what’s going to happen to him.”
“How can you say that! There’s no way Kaifun would do something so dumb!”
“Minmei, I’m sorry, but Kaifun is nowhere nearly as bright as he thinks he is.”
“And you are!?” she snapped angrily.
I stopped and turned to look Minmei in the eyes. She was genuinely peeved at me. In fact, she never said a word about when she slapped me earlier.
“I would like to that that me being as old as I am would at least mean I have more life experience than Kaifun does. I’ll admit, I went through a similar phase when I was young, but when I was confronted with reality, I didn’t try to scream down the storm. I learned and became wiser for my experience.”
“You don’t seem all that smart now, though,” she said with a glare.
Shit. She was doubling down on this. Before, I’ve always been able to get people to see reason, and in the times I couldn’t I could usually just stand back and let them learn from their mistakes.
But with Minmei? Now? Regarding this? She was about to make a very poor choice, one that I knew she would regret for the rest of her life. And I didn’t wish that kind of fate on her. The only problem was how do I defuse this situation? I had to take some kind of action because ignoring it was as good as handing Minmei over to Kaifun, gift wrapped.
“I’m not about to sit here and try to prove how wrong you are about that. You know already how wrong it is. It was one of the things you liked the most about me. And by the way? You said that I wasn’t fighting for you? Congratulations: you just gave me an opponent.”
“Is that so then?” said Minmei with an enraged glare. “The only reason your not going back alone is because there’s no way I can get back there without you!”
“Alright then,” I said evenly. “We’d better stop making a scene of ourselves and get going. I promised your parents and Kaifun that I would deliver these letters, and that is exactly what I’ll do.”
“You had better if you know what’s good for you.”
##
The flight back was a quiet one. But that was fine. I needed the time to figure out how I was supposed to handle this. I knew that Minmei loved her cousin, but I never imagined that she’d defend him so vehemently, even though he was so horribly in the wrong.
She really is angry, isn’t she? asked Katherine quietly.
Yeah, Sprout. Don’t ask me how I missed this.
It never was such a big issue in the anime. I mean, yes, she stuck to her guns about Kaifun. But even then, she was also showing signs of getting tired of him.
Yes... but that took a while, though. Katherine, I fucked up. I should have seen this coming.
But what could you have done?
I’m not sure, Sprout. But I would have thought of something.
By the way, we just got another batch of letters. Do you want to read them now?
Thanks, Sprout, but I need to stay at least somewhat focused here. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened now.
Alright, Gar-kun.
##
We touched down with no incident on the Prometheus’s flight deck. Once we were cleard, Minmei jumped out of her seat without waiting for me to give her a hand, and then stormed off.
Hikaru came over with a concerned look on his face.
“What the hell happened?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She’s got a cousin of whom she’s incredibly defensive over. One that thinks that military forces should be a thing of the past.”
Hikaru’s face scrunched up in confusion and disgust. “Are you serious?”
“She is. Like a heart attack.”
Hikaru puffed. “You better do some damage control fast, Robber. There’s been a line of guys just waiting for you to screw up.”
I snorted. “Good luck to them. The mood she’s in now? I don’t know if they’ll ever even find the body.”
“That bad!?” he cried out.
“Oh yes. I think the only reason she didn’t try to flay me alive was because she needed me to fly the plane. We better get going, Fuzzy. I’m sure that Captain Gloval will want to debrief me as soon as possible.”
##
The Captain listened to me intently and patiently as I went over everything that happened, but he was especially curious about what happened with Kaifun and Minmei.
Finally, once the tale was told, and the Captain sat still and quiet for several minutes.
“Very troubling,” he said quietly as he reached down, opened the special drawer, and pulled out his special vodka and a pair of glasses. “I once had the pleasure of knowing a beautiful girl. She was a dancer. But then, one day, we had a disagreement. She wanted me to leave the Navy. But the Navy had been all I ever knew. What else could I do? Eventually, she left me, and here I am today.”
The old Russian officer poured the two drinks, then offered me one.
“This situation of yours though... very different. She seems upset that you think little of her cousin, yes? Hmph. If what you say about him is true, then I would find it difficult to tolerate him as well. BUt you must somehow find a way to make ammends. Otherwise... she may well slip away.”
Captain Gloval raised his glass to mine, and then we both downed the vodka.
It still boggled my mind - where did he find vodka that was this smooth?
“I’m at a loss, sir,” I said at length. “It’s... there is something just plain VILE about him.”
“Have you told her of the events in the fictional account of our tales?”
“Not yet. I haven’t really had a chance to.”
“You had better, then. Even if it is fictional, it’s been eerily close thus far. And I suspect that time may be an issue here. On that note, you should probably get going, Mr. Grimm. You do have those letters to bring to the Nyan-Nyan.”
“Of course, sir.”
##
When I got to the Nyan-Nyan, Aunt Lynn greeted me in the restaurant.
“Oh Garrick, I am so sorry about Minmei,” she said sympathetically. “I wish that there was something I could do.”
I thought about that for a second. “Auntie Lynn... What was Kaifun like before he left here... I mean, Macross City back on Earth.”
She gestured for me to sit down at one of the tables.
“He was... different. He’d always been such a good boy. So kind and caring. He’d always watch out for Minmei. They were almost inseparable. And then the war broke out and then he started reading those awful books.”
“And Minmei never took any issue with it?”
“She simply saw it as Kaifun being himself. You have to keep in mind, Kaifun is two years older than her, so she always saw him in a respectable light.”
“In other words, she was too close to see the bigger picture.”
“Very much so. In fact, we were worried that she might follow his lead, but fortunately that never happened.”
“Is she home right now?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s up in her room, but I wouldn’t bother her - she is very upset still.”
I shook my head. “I need to at least check in with her. Psychology. Gotta show her that I’m not giving up. Oh, and I need to give these to you,” I said as I dug out the envelope from Minmei’s family in Yokohama.
“What’s this?”
“Correspondence from everyone back in Yokohama. There should even be some from Kaifun there.”
Auntie Lynn’s face lit up in joy. “Oh THANK YOU!” she cried out as she eagerly accepted the envelope and then started digging through it.
“I wouldn’t thank me yet,” I said with a sigh.
“What?” asked Auntie ans she paused to look up at me.
“There is very likely an officially stamped letter in there from Minmei’s parents forbidding her marriage to me.”
Aunt Lynn sighed as she pulled out the letter in question. “I was afraid of this. My husband has always felt that his brother was far too stiff. My sister and I... I never told you, we’re actually sisters by blood! Probably why Kaifun and Minmei look like they could be brother and sister. Anyhow, we would always try to smooth things over between the two of them, but my brother-in-law could never let things go. He always derided my husband for his ideas about a more informal sort of restaurant. So, we left Yokohama, Minmei came with us, and...”
“And you opened the Nyan-Nyan,” I finished for her.
Aunt Lynn smiled and nodded. “Yes. Even though we’re such a modest sized establishment, we’ve been very successful. And part of that success has given Minmei the work she needed to fund her alternative education.”
I nodded. “Music, singing, writing, and dance.”
“All she really wanted was to be her own person. I could never see her being happy tied down the way her father wanted. The only reason why Minmei was able to come with us in the first place was because Honorable Mother interceded on Minmei’s behalf.”
“Oh? I hadn’t heard about this.”
“Yes, my mother-in-law... She’s quite the person. She’s seen so many things, you know. And while she is rather traditional, it’s more for maintaining our culture. She always wished for Minmei’s happiness, just as we did. Even so, it was a surprise for us when she came down on her eldest son like a maddened mother hen.
“Hah! I bet that was a sight!”
Aunt Lynn chuckled. “Oh, goodness, our Ancestors were probably rolling on their sides. I consider myself fortunate that Honorable Mother truly took my sister and I as daughters, because she can be quite the frightening woman when she wants to be.”
I chuckled. “I think I’m starting to get an idea of where Minmei gets it from, now.”
Aunt Lynn chuckled as well. “I do wish you luck, Garrick. Honorable Mother’s temper was legendary throughout Yokohama’s China Town. And only Honorable Father could ever seem to get her to calm down.”
“He must have been quite the sweet talker.”
“Well, their marriage was an arranged one, but Honorable Mother was fortunate in that her husband had truly fallen in love with her. It took a bit of time, but he did win her heart over. And it seems that now you must do the same with Minmei. Strange how the tables turn, is it not? That at first she chased you, and now it is you that must chase her.”
“Auntie, my life has been the definition of the word ‘strange’ for some time now.”
Aunt Lynn scoffed and shook her head. “You revealed such unbelievable things just a few days ago, and yet here we are talking as though it never happened. But that’s what gives me heart, Garrick. That even afterwards, you’re still the same man that came into our lives when this adventure began. You said you weren’t any different, and you were right. The only difference now is that we can talk about it. And that is a good thing.
“Now then, you go and check in with Minmei. I’ll make sure my husband sees these letters... though I’m sure he’s going to be unhappy with his brother once again.”
“Thanks Auntie.”
“You’re welcome, Garrick.”
##
I went upstairs to Minmei’s room and memories of that night almost two weeks ago invaded my conscious. Us in her bed, her body pressed close to mine as we both resisted the urge to give in to our baser desires. I remember having to put a hand against her hips to help still them because she had wrapped her legs with mine and I could fell the moist heat building against my thigh. She had more than understood, she quietly thanked me for it.
I know it’s just semantics at this point. Why bother anymore if no one is going to bother saying anything. But even so, that was wrong - the stuff that hubris is made of. All it would take was for one person to whisper in the wrong person’s ear, and then suddenly I’d be locked up in the brig awaiting a courts martial.
Besides, character is what you are in the dark. And Minmei and I both seem to have some pretty strong character, because it was very dark indeed in her room that night.
Pushing the memories back out of my head, I gently knocked on her door. For a moment, there was only silence.
“Come in, Garrick,” came Minmei’s voice, sounding somewhat tired.
I opened the door to find her sprawled across her bed, one arm, palm up, laying over her eyes.
“You’re not here to apologize, are you?” she said, not moving an inch otherwise.
“I’m sorry I’ve made you upset, Minmei,” I said as I sat on the bed next to her. “I’m not sorry for my feelings about your cousin.”
“Not good enough.”
“What if I showed you something that could change your mind?”
“What could that possibly be?” she said, finally taking her arm off her eyes so she could glower at me. It didn’t escape my notice that they were red and puffy.
“Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the animation.”
##
Minmei reluctantly followed me into my C-Space and I pulled up the series on my computer, going straight to the episodes of Kaifun when he was at his most condescending. And then I followed it up with the interview where he openly declared that he was going to marry Minmei.
“Wait, what!?” cried out Minmei. “There’s no way! It’s got to be wrong! I mean, they made me look like such an airhead!”
I sighed. “It could be wrong... but I don’t think it is, Minmei.”
Minmei opened her mouth, but I raised a hand to forestall her.
“I’m not going to try to argue. Let’s... just wait and see what happens.”
“But Kaifun isn’t even here!” snapped Minmei. “You made sure of that!”
I shook my head. “That was with Hikaru flying the plane. I’ve got about eighty pounds over him. If we took Kaifun plus the luggage... we would have been overweight, and that’s to say nothing of there only being two seats.”
“Why is the weight so important?”
“Here, let me show you something.” I quickly went to the internet and found a video of a Cesna, one grossly overweight with backpackers and all their equipment, take off, but it never quite cleared the tree line. What was more, the video was from within the cabin itself and Minmei gasped at what she saw.
“Were they alright!?”
“I think someone had a broken wrist, but otherwise... Minmei, those people were incredibly lucky. What would have happened to us if your plane had stalled out in the middle of the Pacific? Help would have been hundreds of miles away and we would have dropped like a rock.”
Minmei sighed and I knew that I had finally gotten her to see reason on this one point.
“Alright. I get it now. It was too dangerous. But that doesn’t make me any less happy about this! Kaifun is still over there!”
I sighed and reached over, gently squeezing her hand - the first time I’d touched her since Yokohama.
As though the floodgates had suddenly burst, Minmei then threw herself against me.
“Dammit, Garrick!” she cried out, her voice wavering. “Why do you have to do this to me! I’m so angry at you, but I still love you so much, and it’s making me hurt!”
I gently hugged her close, slowly rubbing her back until she began to relax.
“How can you be so calm about this, Garrick?” she said at last.
“It’s because I’ve had my own heart broken so many times that there’s not much left to break. Just pieces everywhere. And I was hoping that maybe you would stay with me and help me put it back together again.”
“Your... your fiancees?”
“Yes, that... but more so.”
Once again, I delved into my past. But not simply my time where I became part of Tenchi’s family.
I went all the way back to my very beginnings - where a woman had given birth to her first child, and then swore on everything holy that he smiled at her. Not even thirty seconds after she gave her last great heave.
I told her everything. The years we spent, my mother and I, seemingly in our own little bubble - her and I against the world, with her singing Just the Two of Us. Then came my stepfather and all the abuse because he simply could not understand what I was and how I was wired wrong. How it got so bad that I would flinch at the slightest sudden movements.
Minmei then gasped as she suddenly remembered one time she got me a drink while I was eating. She came in behind me and then suddenly thrust the glass into my peripheral vision, intending to hand the cup to me. Instead, I startled so badly that I almost upset the glass. And she never understood why I had that reaction until now.
And the abuse got worse. More and more, belittling me for everything I did. The nights I would cry, wishing that oblivion would somehow swallow me up because as much as I desperately wanted to die, I knew it would destroy my mother.
And then my faltering steps into the world, damaged far beyond what I seemed on the surface. Weighed down by depression and anxiety. Emotionally scared and only become more so as I tried to find love, only for it to rear back and bite me.
Finally, there as the accident.
Mother was gone. Father was distraught. My brothers and sister were lost, drifting apart. And me alone. No friends. No love. Barely any hope for a future.
And then I nearly drove my truck into Tenchi’s house.
The rest, Minmei knew already.
“So... yeah. I’m broken inside, Minmei. I was broken as a child, broken as an adult... I was completely shattered when I was taken away from my new family, and then I had to break my own heart again when I said goodbye to everyone I’d come to love on Equestria. Mother of Trees, I miss them all so much. I just try not to think about it. Compartmentalize. Keep moving. Keep hoping that maybe, just maybe, when I get to the next world, it’s going to be home. That I’m going to see the smiles of my beloved ladies.”
Minmei was quiet for a moment while she pondered that.
“You’ve been like this this whole time... And then I came along and acted like such a little floozy... God, Garrick, I am so sorry. At the very least... If I’d known I would have been a lot more gentle with you.”
“It’s in the past now. Besides, I guess I kinda needed a kick in the pants.”
Minmei smiled weakly, but honestly at the humor. But then her face fell again.
“Garrick. This still doesn’t change anything about Kaifun. Yes, I acknowledge he was being an ass. I won’t hide from that fact. But he’s still like a brother to me. And if you two meet again, then I will not tolerate you to being at each other’s throats.”
I sighed at that and then looked Minmei in the eyes. “If he ever does anything to mistreat you, I will fucking break him.”
Minmei’s eyes widened in shock. “GARRICK! Why on Earth would you think such a thing!”
“Because he’s in your blind spot, Minmei. You think to yourself, ‘It’s just Kaifun being Kaifun - there’s nothing really wrong.’ But if you keep ignoring warning signs, then you’re going to get hurt. And I don’t like seeing you cry.”
Minmei’s anger returned. “He is not like that, Garrick!”
I looked Minmei in the eyes and finally said, “You know that I don’t ever tell you anything that I think may even be remotely wrong, right?”
“Well you’re wrong about this.”
I sighed. I wasn’t going to get any further on this matter. But just to remind her, I pulled her into a hug. She turned her face away from me, a petulant glower on her face the whole time. But even so, I left a soft kiss on her cheek and I felt her resolve falter.
“I’m going to go ahead and get something to eat, and then head on back to the barracks. Goodnight, Minmei.”
She said nothing as I closed the door.
Annnnnd still not resolved yet. Heh-heh-heh....