*3 years later* “Michael!” Max shouted as he watched Michael’s ship blow into a million shattered pieces. “Bastards!” Max shouted. Inside he wanted to cry out in agony. “Damn it!” Max yelled forgetting that his radio was still on. “Don’t get mad Max, get even!” a voice over the radio challenged. The radio was fuzzy and Max couldn’t recognize who it was. Max was angry now and took it out on the person who disrespectfully called him Max. “State your name soldier! Do you not know respect?” “Colonel Guerin, General sir!” Michael yelled over the radio making fun of Max’s power trip. “Michael? What the hell? I just saw you get blown to bits?” Max questioned, confused at to what was going on around him. “Come back to the station Max, I’ll explain when you get here.” Max flew the craft to the station and docked it in its place. He got off of the ship and immediately made his way to the conference room where he knew that Michael would be debriefing the soldiers. “Colonel Guerin, the General is here,” one of the soldiers said walking into the room. “Ok, thank you,” Michael said. He turned to face the soldiers that he was debriefing, “Ok, some of you have been granted leave, check with Sergeant Johnson on your way out. Dismissed.” Max walked into the room. By the look on his face, he was furious with Michael. “Ok, Michael, what the hell happened out there?” “Max, calm down. I was hit and incapable of fighting, I returned to the station to have the damages repaired. The ship you saw wasn’t mine.” “Then who’s was it?” “Captain Maller,” Michael said handing Max the folder. “Did he have any family?” “Yes, a wife and a 4 year old daughter,” Michael responded sadly. “Oh God, I hate doing this,” Max said. “I know. And that is why we have to end this thing and soon.” *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* “Isabel!” Maria yelled from across the street. It was the beginning of their sophomore year of college and they hadn’t heard from Max or Michael in a little over two years. For the first year that they were gone, Isabel could get into contact with them through the orb. But, now they couldn’t. Isabel was told that they had to cut off communication because of security. Isabel walked over to Maria, knowing already what she was going to ask. “No Maria, I haven’t heard anything,” she said annoyed. “You don’t have to get bitchy. Just because you are lucky and have your boyfriend with you and not off fighting a war, possibly dead, don’t get bitchy!” Maria snapped. “I’m sorry Maria. It just gets frustrating. I guess I forget what it is like for you.” Liz walked up to the group trying to look cheerful. She had been really distraught about Max, but finally she tried to keep herself busy so as not to think about it. This mostly meant schoolwork. She hid in her room that she shared with Maria all day long and left only to go to class. She had lost hope and had figured the worst. “Liz, babe, you ok?” “I’m fine Maria, just going to class. I’ll see you guys later.” “No wait!” Maria called out. “Why don’t we have some fun tonight. It is a Friday, we are college students. Why don’t we go out? It would be a lot of fun and we need fun!” Liz looked at Maria and shook her head, “No, I think that I am going to try and catch up on my sleep.” When she heard what must have been Liz’s thousandth refusal, something in Maria snapped, “Ok, you know what, I’m tired of being bored. I am tired of doing absolutely nothing. I am tired of being trapped inside our room, doing absolutely nothing all day long! And you know what I am tired of most of all? You, Liz, I am tired of you and your terrible attitude. I understand that you are hurting, I understand your pain, but you have to keep your hope alive and go on with life as if nothing was wrong. You can’t lock yourself in a room and expect that to keep your mind off of the problem. So, since it seems that you do not want to do anything ever and are the boringest (I know that isn’t a word, but it sounds good) person alive, I am going to go and find myself something to do. And the first thing that I am going to do is disenroll myself from this college and set out to find something to do!” Maria marched off towards the administrative offices as Isabel and Liz just looked at each other, shocked at what Maria had done. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* “Michael!” Max called him from his office. “What?” Michael asked coming through the door. “I’ve got all of these soldiers on leave. Do we have any soldiers left?” “Well, the only way that we could obtain more troops is if we cheated the system. So, I applied for more troops, while putting a lot on leave, for morale of course, which provided the need for more. I have a stack of orders on my desk from incoming soldiers. They should be in processing this Friday, a day before our troops go on leave.” “Ok, then what we need to do is lay low for a week and start planning our next attack now. I think that if we can get in a good attack soon, we can finish off this station.” “I agree. Should I call the group commanders for a meeting?” “Yes, but not until the new soldiers are in processed.” *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* “Maria, are you crazy? Where are you going to go? What happens if you break down? And where are you going to get money?” “Isabel, I will be fine, don’t worry about me, I’m going to have some fun.” “Maria, this can not possibly be considered fun. All you are going to be doing is cruising the desert with nowhere to go.” “I have somewhere to go,” Maria said. “Where?” “I’m not going to tell you, because you won’t let me go.” “Maria, if you are going back to the bar, I don’t think that is a good idea. You will surely get raped there. You were lucky that Alex, Liz, and I were there the first time we went.” “Isabel, don’t worry about where I am going, I’m going that is all that has to be said.” “But Maria,” Isabel started. “But nothing Isabel, I’m leaving. I’ll probably be back in three days when I realize how much I miss you guys.” “Maria, I still don’t think that this is a good idea, but I am tired of arguing. So, please be careful and if you need anything, call me. I don’t want you getting hurt.” “I will. Thanks Isabel.” “You’re welcome,” Isabel sighed, “Oh, Maria?” “Yah?” “Crash my car and die!” “Got ya!” *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* Michael sat in the conference room staring at a map of the galaxies that was projected on the wall. He wondered through the stars and then his eyes landed on the Milky Way. “It’s awfully hard to brief soldiers when there aren’t any present,” Max said walking into the room. “Hey Max,” Michael mumbled. “What are you doing in here Michael?” “Thinking.” “About Maria?” “Yah. What do you think those girls are up to? You don’t think that they given up hope do you?” “I hope not,” Max said. “Max, since we’re laying low for a few days and we have to in process all of these new soldiers, why don’t you take a day or two of leave yourself and go visit the girls. I can always contact you if need be.” “Michael, we are in the middle of a war. I can’t just leave. I am the leader.” “General Lemark takes leave in the middle of the war, why can’t you?” “Michael, it just doesn’t seem right.” “Just do it Max. Raise your morale or whatever our excuse for leave is. It will be good for you.” “What about you Michael? Why don’t you go?” “I have too much work to do. I am in processing all of the troops this weekend. And I’m afraid that if I go, I won’t want to leave again.” “Oh and it will be easier for me?” Max asked. “No, it’s just you have more will power than I do.” “Are you sure Michael?” “I’m positive, now go!” “Ok, I will, any messages?” “Yes, tell Maria that I miss her terribly and love her very much.” “Ok. Thanks, Michael. Are you sure you can handle command for a couple of days?” “Maxamilion, look at me, do you think that I have problems giving orders?” “I guess not,” Max said and walked out of the room to catch the next flight to the planet’s surface. “Sergeant Hindsmith, please let the surface know that I am returning to be transported to earth immediately,” Max ordered the soldier. “Right away sir. Are you going on leave sir?” “Yes, I am.” “Who will be in charge while you are gone?” “Colonel Guerin.” “A little harsh on the new soldiers aren’t you?” “Exactly, Colonel Guerin will whip them into shape in no time.” TBC

Part 1