Jack McKinney RoboTech 09 The Final Nightmare

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matter what."
She had almost decided not to meet Dennis, fearing that her farewell
might be a jinx. She struggled to say something.
"Just take care of yourself until I see you again," he smiled.
"Isn't that my line, Dennis?" She felt as if she might start shivering.
He shrugged his armored shoulders. "Nothing to worry about. `Just
another day in the SCA.'" The stock Southern Cross Army crack didn't sound so
light, though.
She had a hard time understanding just how she had come to care so much
for him, especially in the midst of all the craziness about Zor and the
sadness over Captain Komodo. At first it had to do with her guilt over messing
up his clearance. Later she admired him for the way he took the fall for Marie
Crystal's stunt-driving exhibition, and for his role as getaway driver in
Dana's demented matchmaking scheme.
But there was something more to it than that, something that had to do
with the indestructible good humor with which he faced every misfortune. She
just felt that in some ways he was a kinder, a better person-more
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compassionate-than she could ever pretend to be.
The warning hooters were nagging. "Gotta go," he said.
He turned to leave, but she caught his wrist. "Dennis, be careful. Do
that for me?"
He nodded with a handsome grin. "Count on it. See you soon."
She nodded, watching him as if he were some apparition. She couldn't
quite work up the nerve to tell him, Come back safe to me, because I seem to
have fallen in love with you.
He was trotting toward his transport, and she had to hurry to reach a
bunker. Drives boomed again, and the next phase of the Second Robotech War
began in earnest.
The forces from ALUCE came on, unopposed. The Masters refused to react
to Humanity's drawing gambit, and played a waiting game. Earth's strikeforce
positioned for attack.
Dana found Bowie down in the cargo hold where the 15th's Hovertanks were
secured for flight. It took some prompting to get him to open up, but when he
did the words came out in a flood
"Since I met Musica and Zor, I don't feel the same about fighting those
Bioroids! The people in them just aren't to blame! It's like one of those
ancient armies where they drove innocent captives in first, to be slaughtered,
to gain a tactical advantage!"
"Bowie, I understand. There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling-"
She had put a hand on his shoulder but he shook free, batting it aside.
"I'm right on the edge, Dana, and I haven't got my mind right, don't you
understand? I can't handle it anymore! I'll let you all down!"
That was serious talk, because everyone in the 15th knew-as all soldiers
know-that you don't take that hill for the UEG council, the Promise of a
Brighter World, or Mom's fruitcake. No; you do it for your buddies, and they
do it for you.
"Bowie, we've always been straight with each other, and I'm telling you:
I get those same feelings, too."
"But Dana, that doesn't tell me how to deal with it! Ahhh! So, there it
is. Nothing you can do about it, Lieutenant. I'm gonna have to sort this one
out for myself."
"I'm only part Human," she blurted. "I, I guess I'm related to Zor and
the rest, in a way. I don't like the idea of killing any of the clones,
either. But Bowie, think about the alternative. Remember what Zor said!"
She threw her arms around his shoulders, pressing her cheek to him. "We
can't let that happen to Earth, Bowie," she whispered, "and we can't let that
happen to the Fifteenth."
A few weeks before, the Masters' fleet would have disintegrated the
impudent Human attack. Now it fought for its life, its energy reservoir
failing to a point where the battle was horribly even and attrition seemed to
be the not-so-secret weapon.
Terran energy volleys and alien annihilation discs crosshatched, thick
as nettles, as the Human strikeforce closed in.
The 15th cranked up and sealed their armor, preparing to follow Dana's
Valkyrie into the launch lock. They got word that their tactical area of
responsibility-their TAOR-had been increased by 50%, because the 12th squad
had been blown to bits along with everyone else aboard the battlecruiser
Sharpsburg when enemy salvoes fund it.
The earth fleet threw everything it had at the enemy, but the news that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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