Epilogue       "You may stand at ease, Lieutenant." Kaz relaxed his posture. He stood before an assembled group of high ranking officers in his dress uniform. The 'big brass' of the fleet. He had given his report of the events transpiring on Venus days ago. The fact that fleet command wished to discuss its contents now did not sit well with Kaz. He felt responsible for everyone who died that day. He also felt there was something he could have done to prevent it, even though he knew there really wasn't. Being brought before fleet command on Earth did nothing to ease these anxieties. They sat at a high bench a few feet in front of Kaz. The portly one seated near the center began speaking. "Lieutenant Takagi, we have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" "I could use some good news right now, sir." replied Kaz. "The good news is we've reviewed your report of the Venus incident. We have found your actions both commendable and exemplary. It is for this reason that we have decided to award you the fleet's highest honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross. You are also to be promoted to the rank of Commander, effective immediately." He stood, beckoning Kaz to step forward and take off his hat. Kaz walked up to the bench. "Congratulations, Commander Takagi." He pinned Kaz's new rank insignia to his dress uniform and slipped the medal around his neck. Kaz stepped back, resuming his stance with his hat still under his arm. The portly man sat down. "And now the bad news. Able Squad is officially disbanded." Kaz's face dropped slightly. "I know the squad had a special meaning to you, Commander. But given its recent loses, we think it best to retire the name and start fresh. You are to report to the Exocarrier Hood in five days. You will assume your new command then." "Yes, sir." replied Kaz. "Dismissed." * * *       Ellen Wright walked the surface of Mars, her Mars. She was precisely four clicks from home base and couldn't be happier about it. Even after all she had seen and done, she would still rather be no place other than where she belonged. She spied a group below her trudging in the general direction of the base. She recognized them, it was her unit. She rushed down the hillside she found herself on. One of them spied her and drew his weapon, then slowly lowered it as she came closer. "Lieutenant?" he called. "Your damn right!" called back Ellen as she ran towards them. "I thought we'd lost you days ago!" "No such luck." replied Ellen. "You wouldn't believe where I've been, Mathison." Mathison motioned to someone hunched over on the ground near them. "You wouldn't believe what we caught. Bring her over here." he ordered. Ellen watched as they lifted an alien from the ground and brought it over to her. They push it down to its knees. It looked up at Ellen, very aware of its hopeless position. Ellen noticed it was a female. Not just any female, but one she was familiar with, in a manner of speaking. Ellen went down on one knee in front of her, removing her helmet in the process. She stared at the alien for a long time. The Eltorian merely stared back, not sure what else to do. "We caught her while out on patrol today. Gave us quite struggle but we still managed to bring her down. Its good you're here, Lieutenant. She doesn't speak any English, maybe you can get something out of her." "No." said Ellen. "She speaks English, but she won't talk. At least I don't think so." Mathison pulled his sidearm. "Then she's no use to us." He placed the barrel to the back of her head and prepared to fire. The Eltorian closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come. "Let her go." Mathison nearly fell over. "What?!" "I said, let her go." repeated Ellen as she stood up. "But Lieutenant-!" started Mathison. "That was an order." stated Wright matter-of-factly. Mathison put his sidearm away and pulled out a key for the binders which locked the alien's hands in place. The Eltorian female could scarcely believe what was happening, even as the binders were removed from her hands. "Let's move out!" ordered Wright. Her men began to hesitantly move away, still not believing what she had just done.       The female stood up and turned with her hands hanging by her sides. "Why?" she asked. Ellen halted, looking back. The alien had just voiced the question on everyone's mind. "You're name's Shanita, right?" The alien female stared back at her, more confused than ever. "How could you know that?" "You'd be surprised what I know about you, or someone like you." replied Ellen. "You're..." Shanita hesitated, not sure if she should say what she was thinking. "I'm what?" asked Ellen. "Not like what we were told." Ellen nodded. "Yeah, give us terrans a chance and we will surprise you." "I'll say." added Mathison. "Stow it, trooper!" hissed Wright. "But why?" asked Shanita again. Ellen shrugged. "I guess because some day this war is going to be over. But that day is never going to happen until someone tries holding out a hand instead of a gun. I just did. You're a good being Shanita, go back and tell them about us. Tell them...they were wrong." Ellen turned from her and continued on with her men following. Shanita watched them go, and did nothing. Her entire understanding of this conflict had just been totally and radically altered. She had always thought of it as ending in one of two ways: Victory or Defeat. With one elegant and simple gesture, a terran had shown her a third possibility.       Every journey starts with a single step. And on that day the first step was taken...toward peace. * * *       It was a bright sunny day on Earth. The air was warm and without humidity. Most people would consider it a day that nothing could spoil. Unless, of course, you attended more than one funeral that day. Such was the day of Commander Kaz Takagi. First he was promoted, then his squad was disbanded, he was reassigned, and then he attended the funerals for Anthony Dirk, Hallas, and Shanita. To say he was feeling a little down was an understatement. Actually, Kaz found it difficult to articulate exactly what he was feeling. Part of him was excited about his new promotion and new assignment, another part badly missed those lost and wanted terribly for Able Squad to stay together. And yet another portion of him didn't seem to care. He was numbed by it all. And he didn't really know what to do about it, except take it one step at a time. He stepped from his hovercar and onto a plush green. Another cemetery, another time to say goodbye.       Rita Torres was typically a rock of fortitude. Today she was more like a pebble. She stood near Jared Mathison's grave, watching as they filled it in. She was still holding everything together, but also visibly shaken. "Hello Rita." She noted the man next to her. "Vince. Glad you could make it." Vince Pellegrino had his right arm in a sling, his shoulder had been badly hurt during the battle on Venus. He rested a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You did it then?" asked Rita. "Yes ma'am." Rita nodded. "I knew you would. Well that, or get yourself killed." She laughed a little, a kind of forced artificial laughter. She looked at him. "You were always a good friend to him and I appreciate that." She looked beyond him, at a young women that appeared to be waiting for him. "Who's your friend?" "That's Alexis." Rita smiled, but it was genuine this time. "The guard from that night?" Vince smiled back. "Yeah, who'd have thought, huh?" She approached, having decided that it was now exceptable to do so. "Hi." she said warmly. Rita shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Alexis. You hold onto this one." Vince took her hand in his own. "I'll certainly try." Alexis replied. "Good." said Rita. "Because he needs someone to keep him out of trouble. So do you, Kid." Kaz approached from behind Alexis. "So do I what?" he asked. "Need a good woman." stated Vince. "Look at you," began Rita, "with your big shiny metals and that new rank insignia." "Commander Takagi?" asked Vince, "Who would have ever thought it?" "Not me." replied Kaz. He pointed to his car. "Can I give you fellas a lift?" "A bunch of the old crowd is meeting at a restaurant not far from here." offered Rita. "I could go for some food." said Vince. "Then its settled, everyone pile in." * * *       Kaz sat down at the bar, noted a bowl of peanuts, and began draining it. The server approached and he ordered an ice water. Rita, Vince, and Alexis had wondered off somewhere. Kaz was feeling slightly antisocial so he found a quite spot for himself. "Hitting the hard stuff I see." Kaz looked up from his bowl of peanuts. "I wouldn't really call it hard, unless you're talking about the nuts." The young women smiled at him and sat down next to him, careful not to snag her blue dress. "You're a long way from Venus, Mandy." "Yeah, well I've had to give statements to this, that, and the other committee on everything that happened. I've been here all week." "How's it feel to be a hero?" asked Kaz. "You destroyed the missile." "You killed their leader." "Touché." offered Mandy. "So how is it that you're here?" asked Kaz. "Nara asked me to come." replied Mandy. Kaz smiled. "Figures." he mumbled. "She likes to meddle in my personal life. Boss's privilege I guess." "Since when am I part of your personal life?" asked Kaz. Mandy tapped her chin, "Oh, since you invited me to spend your leave with you." "Spend my leave with you?" asked Kaz. "Of course I will." answered Mandy. "Whoa, whoa, I -" "Just asked me to spend your leave with you." finished Mandy. "Didn't you?" "This is quite a change from before." noted Kaz. "Nara said I should try being more aggressive." "And that works for you?" asked Kaz. "Depends." answered Mandy nonchalantly. "On what?" asked Kaz. "What I'm doing over the next few days." answered Mandy. Kaz fiddled with the peanuts in his bowel for a bit. "You know, if you like I could..." "Yes." blurted out Mandy. Kaz leaned close to whisper, "Just so you know, I'd appreciate being able to finish my sentences. That way, I can at least pretend I'm smooth." "Sorry." said Mandy, "You go right ahead." "Thanks." Returning to his normal voice he continued, "Anyway, I know a few sights in the area. If you'd like I could show you around Chicago, say, over the next few days or so." "What a charming idea." said Mandy with a hint of sarcasm. "Would you?" "I'd be honored." "Then its a date." said Mandy.       "I don't believe it." Kaz looked away from Mandy. "Wolf Bronski, long time no see." Kaz extended his hand, allowing Wolf to give it a hardy shake. "Commander Takagi, never thought I'd live to see the day." "You almost didn't." commented Kaz. "So I've heard. Also heard they trashed the old squad." "Yeah, that they did." said Kaz. "Too bad, a lot a history with that group. I still can't believe it! You're a Commander." "And you're a college student, what's your point?" Wolf ordered something form the server. "Yeah, never really thought of it that way." "Thinking has never been your strong suit, Bronski." Wolf moaned, "I've only been here 10 minutes and already you're on me, Sarge!" "Old habits die hard." explained Rita. "Old friendships even harder." The group lightened at the entrance of an old and trusted friend, J.T. Marsh. His wife Colleen was with him. J.T. ran a finger over Kaz's new rank insignia. "Nice." "It makes an impression." noted Kaz. "Isn't there a tradition that a newly commissioned officer has to by a round for everyone?" asked Colleen. "I am unfamiliar with that one." said Kaz. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure it doesn't exist." "Sure it does, you have to get everyone ranked below you something to drink." stated Wolf. Kaz squirmed a bit as he said, "Well, since none of you are under my command, I don't think it applies." "Right here!" A short stocky man pushed his way past everyone with a taller blond haired woman in tow. "Stan Remes at your service. Set me up, boss man!" He said as he plopped into the seat next to Kaz. "What about you?" asked Kaz. "If you're feeling generous." commented Sue Worthington. Kaz got the server's attention. "I'll take a round for everyone." "That's the way kid." encouraged Wolf. "Ah, the burden of command." noted Remes. "Here's a familiar couple." he pointed past J.T. and Colleen.       "Alec, Maggie!" said Wolf with a belch. "Its been a while." "Not long enough." replied Maggie while waving a hand in front of her face. "Be nice, Maggs." cautioned Alec, half serious. Stan looked around, noting all the familiar faces. "Pretty much the whole gang is here." "Except Marsala." pointed out J.T. "Yeah, but we all know he's too big a politician to bother with stuff like this." returned Remes. "More like he's too busy." corrected Sue. "Either way, he's too big to be here. And speaking of big..." "Is that a weight crack, Remes?" Stan's face turned red as he was smacked from behind by Sue. Nara and Cy had arrived, and Nara was looking very pregnant. "I was talking about Cy, not Nara." said Remes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure you were." said Sue. "I was! Come on, son of High Counselor, war hero and now the first to do..." He stumbled in his speech, not quite sure what the right term was. "...whatever the hell it was you did, with that machine thingy and stuff." "Wow, you got bigger." blurted out Wolf. Nara glared at him. Cy helped her into a seat near the bar, then offered Bronski a means of escape. He flexed his biceps and spoke as if responding to the comment, "Yeah, I've been keeping in shape. Some weights, some running, even a little farm work here and there. Thanks for noticing." Wolf picked up his cue flawlessly, saying "No problem." "I don't know how you're doing it Nara, I had mine one at a time. But one right after the other?" Colleen shook her head back and forth. "I'll manage." replied Nara. "Someone should propose a toast." suggested Mandy. "Good idea." said Alec. "Any thoughts on one?" he asked. "I have one." Heads turned ever so slowly to Stan Remes, all of them doubting his sincerity. "Hear me out!" pleaded Stan. "The floor is yours." said Kaz. Stan nodded and held up his glass. "I want everyone here to think back to that first moment you joined Able Squad. Remember all your hopes, all your fears, and all your plans for the future. Did you ever in a million years picture yourself where you are now?" Those assembled stopped to consider Stan's words. Stan gazed from face to face, reading the same expression over and over again from them. "Neither did I. To Able Squad! It may be gone, but for those of us who were changed by it, it will never be forgotten." The group raised there glasses higher as they said in unison, "To Able Squad!" Sue rested her arm around Stan's shoulder. "That was very sweet." "I guess I do have my moments." replied Stan.       Nara dropped her glass of juice. The breaking sound it made on the floor drew everyone's attention to her. "Oh...my." she said. "Nara? Are you okay?" asked Cy. Her knuckles turned white as she began to crush the arm rest of her chair. She spoke in a low voice, one that left little room for argument. "Hospital. Now." * * *       "You're not seriously going to do that?" asked Colleen. J.T. arched his eyebrow. "Its just guys having fun, honey." "What's going on?" asked Sue. "The fellas have a betting pool on the gender of the twins." explained Colleen. Sue glanced at J.T., "You can't be serious?" "Its not hurting anyone." said Stan. "What do I need to get in?" asked Stan. "Five credits." replied Wolf. "Winner gets the pot." Alec reached over Wolf's shoulder, dropping the required credits in the paper bag he held. "I'm in." Wolf whiped out a small writing pad and scrawled Alec's name onto it. "What's your guess?" "Boys, both of them." replied Alec. "Put me down for girls." said J.T., as he fished around inside his pocket for some credits. "You got it." Colleen rolled her eyes and walked away. Kaz wavered next to J.T., credits in one hand. "What's it gonna be, kid?" asked Wolf. "Oh, I'm in all right. I just gotta figure out what I'm putting my money on." "Think fast. Word is that she ain't got much longer." "Boys - no girls - boys, definitely boys." he dropped his credits into the bag. "Winners split the pot, right?" "Yup." said Wolf. "I don't suppose any of the ladies want to try?" asked Wolf. Mandy Wang snatched the pad from his grasp, wrote something on it and gave it back after dropping her money in the bag. "Okay! Anyone else?" asked Wolf. There wasn't. "I can't believe you did that." said Sue to Mandy. "It will all work out in the end." she replied. Sue seemed puzzled by the response. The waiting room was pretty much empty and time seemed to pass slowly as they waited for word. Finally Stan spotted Cy coming, "Here he comes!" The ladies casually made their way over to him as he emerged into the waiting room. The guys all but knocked each other over to find out the news first. "So? What are they? Boys or girls?" asked Wolf. "Yes." said Cy. "What?" replied Kaz. "One of each. I have a daughter and a son! Isn't it great!" The girls rushed forward to congratulate him as the guys acted swiftly to determine who won. "If nobody guessed it, all bets are off." announced Stan. Wolf ran down the list. "Boys...girls...boys...I don't think anyone...wait, someone did guess both." Mandy casually plucked the bag from Wolf and headed over to Cy. "How's Nara doing?" asked Maggie. "She's a little disappointed the twins couldn't be born on Venus rather than Earth, but other than that she's just fine." "We took up a collection, its not much, but maybe you can get teddy bear in the gift shop for them or something." Mandy handed him the bag she won. "You didn't have to do that. Its very nice of you though, I'll get the twins something nice from all of you." He rushed back into the hospital, eager to be with his wife and newborn children. Colleen, Sue, and Maggie smiled. Apparently pleased with the way Mandy had handled things. Kaz strode up next to her. "So. How did you know?" he asked. "There's an old wise tale about women and pregnancy. If she's big in front, she's having a boy. If she's big all around, then she's having a girl. As Remes pointed out, Nara was just plain...big. So I figured there had to be one of each." Kaz and the other men nodded, finding a certain logic in what she had said. Mandy wandered over to Sue. "Told you it would all work out." Sue smiled, finally getting it. Maggie tapped Wang on the shoulder. "So now that the men have dispersed, how did you really know it was one of each." "Took her for her last ultrasound." Maggie nodded. "You're a slick one, Wang." "Mandy?" Kaz offered his hand to her. "Go for a walk?" Mandy's face lit up. "I'd love to."       Nara Sterling cradled the twins in her arms, watching teary eyed as they slept. Cy sat next to her on the bed. She signed deeply, not wanting the moment to end. For at long last she had that which had been taken from her all those years ago: her family. "So what do you want to name them?" "I've always liked James." said Nara. "How about Wolf?" suggested Cy. "You can't be serious." "What's wrong with Wolf?" Nara stared at him. "Lorenzo?" He snapped his fingers, "Phaeton!" "Now your just being silly." said Nara. She laughed lightly, as did Cy. They began trading names once more. Not really making any decisions, but then, that wasn't really the point. They were together. They were a family. And that's all that really mattered. The End Note from the author:       At long last, the 'Rifts' saga draws to a close. This story marks the last time the entire 'Eltorian Incursion' cast will be used. That was the main reason I had some of them go out with a bang. This section proved exceptionally hard to get done. Its the longest thing I've ever written. I just hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to send me feedback, its always welcome! -J.P. 12/10/99