“Liz, come on cheer up. It is not your fault that Maria left. Come on we have pizza on the way and a movie. We will have some fun and when Maria comes back in a few days we’ll tell her that we actually had fun,” Alex said trying to cheer up the now depressed Liz. Liz didn’t think that Maria would do anything this drastic. When Liz found out, she blamed herself and locked herself in her room. There was a knock at the door and Isabel asked Alex to get it, knowing that it was probably the pizza man. “Come on Liz, please!” Isabel whined as she slid down the locked door. Alex opened the front door and was prepared to give money to the pizza guy when he noticed there was no pizza. Alex gasped. “Max!” The room that Liz was locked in flew open and Liz appeared at the door wide eyed. “Max? Is it really you?” Liz questioned cautiously. “It’s General Evans now,” Max said with a small smile. “Max!” Liz ran to him and gave him a huge hug while showering him with kisses. Liz started crying she was so happy. “Max, where’s Michael?” Isabel asked afraid that he was gone. “He’s still at the station. The war is not over. He just told me to take some leave, so I did.” “In the middle of a war?” Alex questioned. “I asked the same thing, but I have learned not to argue with Colonel Guerin,” Max joked. “Colonel? How come I am not seeing Michael as a colonel?” Isabel queried. “He actually makes a very good colonel. He’s very faithful and a good fighter.” “Oh,” Alex said as he noticed the evil glare that Liz was giving him. It was the please leave now glare. “Um, Isabel and I were just about to leave, we’ll catch you later Max. Enjoy your vacation.” “But, what about our pizza?” Isabel asked unaware of what was going on. “Come on Iz, we’ll get one at our apartment. Liz looked at Max. She still couldn’t believe that he was standing before her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck. “I still can’t believe you are here.” “Yep, I’m here. And glad to be.” “So, tell me everything. What have you been doing? How is the war going? Do you think it will be very long before it is over with?” “Well, I have been stationed at the same station for about two years now. That’s why you haven’t heard from either Michael or me. We’re both there. Oh, speaking of Michael. Where’s Maria, I have a message for her.” Liz’s face turned sullen as she responded, “She left this afternoon. She didn’t tell me or Isabel where she was going. She was sick and tired of me. It’s my fault that she left. I’m scared that she’ll get hurt. I may never see her again. And Michael, if he comes back and she isn’t here, he will hate me.” Liz was near tears now. She felt awful that while she was here sitting with Max being happy, Maria was out in the middle of nowhere trying to rebuild her life. Max put his arm around Liz knowing that she needed the comfort. “Don’t blame yourself Liz. Things always happen for a reason. She’ll be back soon.” “No, you don’t understand Max, she took everything with her. Not just a suitcase, she took everything. The only thing that she left was her computer. She said that if she needed it, she would come back.” Liz was now crying. Max hated to see Liz like this. He blamed himself for it. “Liz, come on, what happened to the optimistic girl that I used to know.” “It’s been three years Max. Things have changed.” Max’s eyes turned sad and he looked at Liz, “How much have things changed Liz?” Liz understood his question and was quick to answer, “Not that much Max. I could never stop loving you. And I will wait for you until the end of time.” Max smiled, “That’s good, because I just learned that you are my destiny. It was declared throughout my planet.” Liz’s eyes began to sparkle again as she realized what Max was saying, “Really?” “Really. But, they didn’t have to announce it. I knew before they did that you were my destiny.” “Max, let’s get married.” “What?” he asked taken off guard. “Get married, let’s get married tonight.” “Liz, why don’t we wait until after the war is over. Then we can have a big ceremony and I can even bring you to my planet to be wed. Then you can meet my family and we can have a huge celebration.” “But Max, I want to be with you now.” “We are together.” “No Max, that’s not what I mean,” Liz looked into his eyes trying to explain to him what she wanted. “Oh, Liz, that probably isn’t a good idea. I have to go back to the war and we don’t know anything about our compatibility.” “If I was named your destiny, then we were meant to be together. It will work,” Liz said being a little more forceful now. Max was surprised at how she pushed. She was not the forceful kind. Liz started to nibble on Max’s ear, then traveled down to his neck. She pushed Max onto the bed that he was standing next to and then laid down on top of him, kissing him passionately. “Liz, are you trying to seduce me?” Max said in between kisses. “Max, that is exactly what I am trying to do.” *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* “Welcome to Vyozidis Space Station. Our commander is General Maxwell Evans.  I am Colonel Guerin, the station vice-commander. How many of you came straight from training?” About half of the soldiers hands went up. “Ok, thank you. I will need a copy of your signed orders, so don’t forget to get that to me by tomorrow. There will be a safety briefing tonight at 1900 in conference room ‘B’. All in processing troops are required to go. When General Evans returns on Monday, there will be a meeting with him at 0800. After  that meeting we will begin briefing you for your first mission. Remember to leave me a set of your orders. Dismissed!” Michael gathered the orders that he was handed and walked towards his office to work on some paperwork. “Colonel Guerin?” “Yes Sergeant.” “Major James to see you, sir.” “Send him in.” Major James walked into Michael’s office and held out his hand, “Good afternoon sir.” “Hello Major, what can I do for you?” “I was sent here from Gursur Space Station to deliver a file for your eyes only.” Michael took the file from the Major and looked through it. He motioned for Major James to follow him. Michael walked into a secure conference room and shut the door. “Who’s your commander?” Michael asked. “Brig Gen Boysin, sir.” “Ok.” Michael looked at the file once more and then excused himself from the room. Michael went into Max’s office to use the secure communication line. “Brigadier General Boysin, Gursur Space Station,” Michael said out loud. “Security Access Code,” the machine responded. “Guerin 479ZZ0.” “Processing.” A minute later a picture popped up on the screen and Michael was standing face to face with General Boysin. “Colonel Guerin, how the hell are you?” “I’m good sir and you?” “Great! So, what can I do for you?” “Sir, a Major James just arrived at my office with this file,” Michael said holding up the folder, “is this legit? Or should I be weary?” “Yes, yes, I sent these files. Major James is my executive officer. Those pictures are very legit. And I suggest that you talk to General Lemark and use this file to your fullest advantage.” “Yes sir, I will do that immediately. Thank you very much,” Michael responded. “Is General Evans in?” “No sir, he’s away, he’ll be back on Monday, although I fear that he will be here sooner, judging by these pictures you just sent me.” “Ah, I see, well, when he gets in, let him know I said hi and good luck.” “Thank you sir.” Michael left Max’s office after securing it once again. “Sergeant, get me a flight to the surface as soon as possible and then I need an orb to get to earth with. And please get Col Sams on the communicator.” “Yes sir.” Michael walked back into the conference room. He dismissed the major and sat down to study the file some more. “Sir, Col Sams is on the communicator.” “Thank you Sergeant.” Michael talked to Colonel Sams and let him know that he would be in charge in his absence. He then called General Lemark to work out some details concerning the file. After this was all done, he was on his way to earth. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* The sunlight shone through the window warming the soft skin on Liz’s back. Liz was snuggled up next to Max. They had fallen asleep not bothering to cover up their naked forms. Liz watched Max asleep and enjoyed being in his arms. “Good morning sunshine,” Max said without opening his eyes. “Good morning,” Liz said. She gave Max a small kiss and then asked, “How did you sleep?” “Much better than I have in a long time.” Liz turned around in his arms to face him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long kiss. Hands started to travel, but a knock at the door interrupted them. “Ignore it,” Max said continuing what he was doing before. “Ok, I think that I can do that,” Liz said now covering his face with kisses. “Liz, oh, mmm.” There was another knock at the door and this time commentary to go along. “Max, get your clothes on, quit groping Liz, and come to the door!” “Michael?” Max questioned out loud. “Michael?” Liz pouted, “What’s he doing here?” TBC

Part 2