Love looms in times of war

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CHAPTER 16

Aftermath
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“Your direct orders were to protect those shuttles!” Captain Cooper yelled. “You chose to disobey and risk our people's lives to save those aliens!”  

“Those aliens are our allies and they needed medical attention, ma'am,” the handcuffed soldier answered. “It was my duty to--” 

“They are Invid for God's sake! They will stab us in the back sooner or later, if given a chance,” she said firmly. “No alien is an ally of humanity, Bernard. No alien is worth the sacrifice of one of our own!”  

“One of our own? What are you talking about? Our forces are made up of a mix of races. The Zentraedi and the Tiroleans have lived among humans for decades now. Themselves, their sons and daughters serve under the RDF.” 

“Humans have mixed with them,” she conceded, “sadly,” she added venomously. “Those creatures were capable of encroaching their genes in humanity's pristine pool... for now,” her mind seemed to wander to a place Scott didn't want to imagine. “Zentraedi and Tirolean share most of our genetic structure,” her mouth twisted downwards in disgust, “which has brought us nothing but legions of despicable half-breeds.”   

Despicable half-breeds... To Scott those words seemed to resonate off the walls of the small room, worsening an already strong headache. He was one, a half-breed, and he wondered what would the captain do if she knew it.  

Cooper paced around the room and turned her back on the restrained officer as she continued. “The slugs are repulsive! No one would attempt to mix with the Regiss' green-blooded spawn. Such an abomination has no place in this universe. I won't allow it!” 

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A narrow hallway had been turned into an impromptu hospital wing. Pale silent aliens waited for their turn in a chamber amidst a pent-up mess of equipment, nurses and doctors. Some were in stretchers, some struggled to keep themselves upright while their senses slowly left them. 

Not far away, Uld saw Kooren laying on the floor. She shivered violently when a group of nurses started to tend to her. Through their mental link, Uld noticed she was struggling to keep conscious. Judging by the nurses' expressions, his friend's chances were not good.  

Transfixed, the Invid pilot watched a human doctor examining Ariel. She had fallen unconscious shortly after they left the hangars. Her mind was fading and Uld  strained his own trying to keep her there. It is so dark, she kept repeating, I feel so tired...   

Suddenly, the doctor's attention left the resting Invid and fell on her companion. While Uld held ferociously to Ariel, the human directed his instruments at him. The Invid barely felt the examination, his senses were absorbed by the thinning tendrils of Ariel's thoughts. The mental effort combined with the effects of the radiation contributed to Uld's failing to hear the doctor asking him to step aside. “Let go of her!” came next from the impatient human but Uld didn't move. Then, he called for help from behind the obsidian mask of his anti radiation suit. Other humans came to join him and pulled, yanking the unyielding Invid from Ariel's side. Confused, the male was hauled away into a synchronization chamber.  

The burden of picking and choosing who went in the chambers first had fallen on the shoulders of the medical chief of staff. He was old and some thought, wise. Debilitated, the Invid could make little sense of the selection process. It was simple, however. The grim medic was giving priority to those aliens with better chances of surviving; those whose brains had yet to be destroyed by Groen's radiation.  

Although Uld had been among the lucky, he didn't feel relief. All the while, until after the door of the chamber cut him off from the noisy environment, he kept his senses fixed on Ariel. Her movements ceased. She lay still and alone exactly where the humans had left her. 

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Scott was tense like an arrow about to be shot. Lorna Cooper walked slowly until she was behind him. “I don't know what sick scheme brought the Invid to assume the human form, but I know the treachery they hide behind that facade.” the captain said. “Those blasted shape-shifting parasites wont get a chance to catch us unaware, like others did.”   

“They're not threats! They're risking their lives to help us!” Scott said turning his head in an attempt to look her in the eye. He caught a glimpse of her profile.  

“The slimy cowards don't know that the precaution we are using in our dealings with them entails some risk--”  

“Cowards?” he said angrily. “They don't know how dangerous those implants are, but they know the risks of battle. They put their lives on the line, just like we do. And all you gave them in exchange for their help is a deathly handicap, knowingly. You and that crazed scientist sent them out there to die!”  

“You are exhausting my patience, Bernard.” she told him. “I had plans for you, commander...maybe you aren't worth the time,” she added in a lower tone, but the officer wasn't taking any of it.   

“How can you treat them like slaves?” he yelled. “The Invid came here of their own will.  How--! I can't believe General Grant would go along with this madness!” 

She resumed walking, unfussed by his outburst. “Didn't you learn a thing from fighting against them for years?” she asked. “Don't you know about the vile experiments the Regiss conducted on Earth? Didn't you hear about the torture her research on live humans entailed? Didn't her hordes annihilate entire divisions of our men without remorse? Didn't your own fiancée die among those same divisions, Bernard?” The young officer quieted. “It seems their deaths and suffering didn't mean a thing to you.” 

“You know nothing about what means a thing or not to me!” he retorted. 

“You went out of your way to save their lives -or some of their lives, anyway...” Scott's mind rushed back to Ariel. Had she been treated? Had he brought her on time? 

Suddenly the door opened, letting Dr. Iskandar into the room. Scott looked at the new arrival with overt disgust. She smiled a tiny mocking smile that made the officer shudder.  

“Ah, Dr. Iskandar. Just the person that I needed,” said Captain Cooper. 

“Captain,” she greeted and looked at Scott. 

“We were just discussing your work, doctor,” Cooper looked at the prisoner. “I was trying make this soldier see how it serves a higher purpose,” she explained.  

“All I saw was a way to shackle our allies, force them to do your bidding or die trying!” Scott retorted. 

“Our allies, you insist... I guess you won't be getting this through your thick head,” she said looking at him in the eye, “we can't trust them or any alien race. Humanity stands alone and always will.” Scott saw irrational belief burning in her eyes before Cooper turned away. 

“It is murder...” 

“Now, now. Don't be dramatic. The implants simply have safety mechanisms. And not all of them will die... those who unfortunately do will do for a greater purpose.” 

“No life should be sacrificed to appease the whim of a lunatic!” 

“Lunatic!” she shrieked. “Their sacrifice will save the lives aboard the SDF3; lives far more valuable than those aliens' or their supporters'.” She looked at him hatefully. “There's no place for any friend of an alien among us. Betrayal is a punishable offense,” Lorna stated coldly in front of the unflinching officer.  

“Do what you will,” he said further sparking her ire. In the background, Iskandar's eyes danced as her tiny smile reappeared.  

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“All forces retreat immediately! I repeat, retreat immediately!” Grace's Hopkins' voice boomed into every pilot's receiver. The Robotech forces disengaged from the drones as best as they could and rushed away from the battle zone. The massive SDF-3 agonized at the mercy of its enemy.  

Intent on ramming the crippled giant's side, the alien mothership kept its devastating course. Yet, just before destruction tackled the unmoving fortress, its admiral's last order came into effect.   

As the last shuttle escaped the carnage, simultaneous explosions went off, blasting the fortress' left hull. The doomed ship was propelled with incisive force. Its front-right side hit the alien ship, embedding itself into it.  

Flames flooded every hallway and fed of everything left inside. Living quarters, hangars and control rooms all suffered the same fate. Desks, tables and human remains burned together. The SDF-3's molten innards opened a fatal wound on its monstrous enemy. As the heat wave reached the battle fortress' main furnace, it exploded, disintegrating both colossus in its wake. 

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