Genesis

it never occurred to them that humans might be different.

Wave after wave of pods bounded into the ships, some trailing damaged parts or showing the effects of Veritech hits. There was plenty of room in the landing ships that would bear them back aloft; the pods' ranks had thinned considerably. The saucers lifted away, shedding seawater.

Breetai received the report in his command post. 'Recon force now returning to group orbit.'

'It appears only half of them survived,' Exedore observed.

'Where is the battle fortress now?' Breetai demanded of his techs. Though the missing pods represented a negligible loss, he seethed over it. That Zentraedi warriors should be thus resisted by mere primitives!

'It has passed through the uppermost atmospheric ranges and achieved orbit,' a voice reported. 'It is apparently on its way to rendezvous with the other orbital units.'

'What is your plan, Breetai?' Exedore asked.

Breetai considered. 'It would be a simple matter to shoot them down, but I don't want that ship damaged.'

Wisely, Exedore didn't point out that notwithstanding Breetai's preferences, that was the specific order that bound him: To capture the dimensional fortress intact. 'Once they're out of Earth's gravitational field, they can execute a hyperspace fold, taking them beyond the range of our weapons-perhaps to escape us completely across spacetime once again.'

Breetai nodded. 'You have a point there. Perhaps I'd better apply a little restraining force to slow them down a bit.'

He turned to give the order in his rumbling basso, his gleaming skullpiece and glittering artificial eye catching the light. 'Prepare a laser bombardment!'

The order was repeated all through the fleet, as guns were run out in their turrets and casemates-slender, tapering Zentraedi-style barrels like gargantuan steel icicles.

The order resounded through the fleet, 'All gun crews stand by for total bombardment of target area. Stand by for order to fire.'

Rick and Minmei were speechless at their first view of the SDF-1's interior.

They raced along in a four-seater troop vehicle driven by Roy, who showed his fondness for high speed and squealing tires. They barreled through holds and compartments so vast that there was no feeling of being inside.

Instead it was like driving through an immense metal metropolis studded with lights of all descriptions, reaching up and up, the levels disappearing into a dim ceiling/sky. Rick couldn't imagine what such stupendous amounts of unoccupied space were for.

'I've got a little surprise for you, Rick.' Roy smiled. 'Wait'll you see it.' He made another turn with two wheels off the deck.

At last he brought the jeep to a virtual panic stop, tires screeching, so that Rick and Minmei were thrown off balance. 'Well, here we are.' He hopped out jauntily. 'Come on!'

Rick glared, helping Minmei up. 'Was that really necessary? She could've been hurt!'

Roy ignored the comment because, of course, he was confident that he'd never let that happen. He flicked on a bank of overhead spotlights. Sitting in a small hangar bay was the Mockingbird.

'Golly, Rick! Look at that!' Minmei exclaimed.

'Somebody left this thing behind,' Roy said casually, 'so I had it stashed here and serviced.'

The little plane's booster rocket covers had been replaced, and the way the ship sat on its landing gear let Rick know that it had been completely refueled.

'My racer!' He jumped out of the carrier, dashing to his beloved Mockingbird, all but dancing around it. 'I thought I'd never see it again! You saved it!'

He had Roy's hand in his, pumping it, ready to give his friend an exuberant hug. 'Oh, thank you, Roy, thank you-'

Roy disengaged himself. 'Hey, cut it out, Rick! Take it easy! I just thought you'd be more comfortable flying in this thing than in one of our Veritechs. Mockingbird doesn't turn into a Battloid.'

'I don't know what to say, Roy!'

'I've seen that plane before,' Minmei said, joining them. 'It was in the air show this morning, wasn't it?'

Yeah, about a million years ago, Rick thought. But as he was about to explain, Claudia's voice came over the PA. 'Attention all hands. We are approaching rendezvous with Armor One and Armor Ten. Report to your docking stations immediately! All hands report to stations!'

Roy was already leaping back behind the wheel of the carrier. 'I have to get going now. You two stay here and don't wander around. If you start exploring, you'll get lost.'

The tires chirped as he broke traction briefly. 'You can't imagine how huge this ship is, so stay put!' Then he was gone.

The Armors and their tenders and destroyer escorts were coming up quickly, strung out in a line so that they could be mated to the SDF-1 in order.

'We have perfect docking alignment,' Vanessa announced.

'The enemy ships are preparing to dock, sir,' a Zentraedi tech reported.

'All right,' Breetai replied. 'Tell our gunners to fire their beams between the fortress and the other vessels and at the target ships themselves. I don't care how many of the smaller ones are destroyed, but the large one must not be damaged!'

The command was relayed as the long, slender Zentraedi cannon swiveled and came to bear. Then the order was passed: 'Gun commanders may fire when ready!'

The Zentraedi beams seemed to light up the universe.

A quick, orderly docking sequence became a bloodbath as alien beams zeroed in from far away, without warning, punching through hulls and turning ships into flowering explosions.

Destroyers, tenders, and escort ships were hit, and Armor Three went up in a ball of fury that lit the SDF-1's bridge in a harsh glare. Wreckage and debris rode the winds of the explosions as though tornado-driven.

Gloval, knocked from his feet, drew himself back up. 'Vanessa, what's the enemy's position?'

The bridge crew calmly went back to work. 'The current attack is from the exact same location as the first one: They're about ten thousand miles from here in a higher orbit.'

Lisa said, 'Reporting: Miranda, Circe, and Armor Three completely destroyed, as well as numerous smaller vessels and heavy damage throughout the Orbital Force.'

'They're tearing our fleet to shreds!' Gloval snarled. 'And what about our damages?'

'We've taken no direct hits, Captain,' Sammie declared, and Kim confirmed, 'No damage anywhere, sir.'

'What's our position?' Gloval snapped, squaring away his cap.

'We're just closing our initial orbit,' Vanessa told him. 'Approaching our original position over Macross Island, distance approximately one hundred miles.'

Gloval made up his mind. 'Claudia, take us down over Macross Island. At two thousand feet altitude activate the fold system for a position jump.'

Claudia debated whether she should question the order; this was a wartime situation. But at certain critical times allegiance to duty could demand something more than mere obedience. 'Are you sure you want to do that, Captain? The fold system hasn't even been tested yet!'

'I am well aware of how risky it is, Claudia, but you can read the situation displays and tactical projections as well as I.'

She could, and had, as they all had. The alien fleet had already been deployed in an inescapable net and was drawing the net tighter around SDF-1. 'If we stay in this position, we'll be totally defenseless,' Gloval