Ten - Finish The Job

	We were debriefed, paid, and let go. We had eighteen hours until we 
were to go and ruin the base. We'd spend eight hours sleeping. That left ten
hours to plan our next move, get drunk, and spend time with the ladies. 
However, we weren't worried about it right away. We were tired and wanted to
sleep. As soon as the briefing was over, we dragged ourselves to our 
quarters. I wearily opened the door to my room and slipped in. A quick 
change and I was in bed. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before 
I realized something was wrong. "Where's Stephanie?" I asked the ceiling. My 
answer was the door opening. I sat up to find Suzie slowly creeping in. 
"G'evening Suzie."
	She jumped. "Oh, Crash! You startled me." 
	I shook my head. "Sorry, but I would like to know what you're doing 
sneaking into my room." 
	She looked at me. "Stephanie wanted me to get something."
	That startled me. "Where is she?" 
	"She's in our quarters. Roxanne and Ashley are also there." I nodded. 
	"All right. What do you need?" 
	She regained her friendly demeanor. "I was looking for the six pack 
she said she had in here."
	I chuckled. "Unless she means me, I think it's in the fridge." 
	She smiled and got the booze. "Should I tell Stephanie you're here?" 
	"Unless you want me to come."
	"Sure! That'd be nice!" 
	"Well, let me get my pants back on and I'll catch up with you."

	Suzie and Amber's place was on the other side of the building three 
floors up. So it would be a five minute walk. "How have you been Suzie?" I 
asked. "I haven't seen you in a while." 
	"Oh, I've been all right," she said, hugging my arm. I looked at her, 
wondering why she was hugging it. 
	"Good. I don't want one of my friends hurt." 
	She smiled. "You're so caring! Can I ask you a question?" I nodded. 
"Why?" 
	I looked at her. "Why what?" 
	"Why do you care?" 
	I stopped for a moment. I've gone through this song and dance before. 
I usually always had an answer. But all I could manage was "I never really 
gave it thought." I sat down on a nearby bench. 
	She sat down next to me and started to rub my back. "Is there 
something you're hiding?" 
	"I don't know." She looked at me. I looked at her. Something struck 
me. I will always be loyal to Stephanie. That will never, ever change. But 
when I'm with Suzie....well....I cannot say exactly what goes wrong. 
Tonight, she was giving off a radiant beauty. Why was this happening to me? 
"I guess it's because I don't like to see anyone suffer," I said absently. 
	She smiled, her green eyes lighting up. "Oh, I see." 
	I gave her a hug, blowing the both of us away. "I don't know what's
wrong with me anymore."
	She blushed and patted my back. "Well, let's get going. They might 
start to wonder about me." 
	I nodded and got up. "Let's go."

	We arrived at her quarters soon after. "What took you so long?" 
Stephanie asked. She then saw me. "Hello Crash!"
	Suzie smiled and took a seat between Amber and Roxanne. "We weren't 
expecting you," Roxanne said. 
	I shrugged. "Suzie invited me. Didn't want to turn her down." I 
yawned. 
	"Are you sure you want to be here?" Stephanie asked. "You looked 
tired." 
	I shook my head. "Nah, I'll be fine." I found a chair and sat down. 
They smiled and turned back to their chatting, or whatever the hell it was 
they were doing before I showed up. They talked about something. I'm not too 
sure. Something about fashions. I'm normally into it, but for some reason, 
it was incredibly boring. I slowly dozed off.

	I awoke six hours later. I was sprawled on the couch. "What happened?" 
I asked, sitting up. 
	Suzie was there to greet me. "Good morning," she said. "You dozed 
off." 
	I rubbed my head. "What happened? Where's Stephanie?" 
	"Stephanie's over there," she said, pointing to a chair. Indeed, 
Stephanie was fast asleep. "Roxanne is in the bathtub. Don't know why, but 
she is." 
	I got to my feet. "Why didn't you wake me when the party was over?" 
	"You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you."  
	"You're sweet Suzie." I picked Stephanie up from the chair. "I can 
never forget that." I made sure Steph was asleep before kissing Suzie's
cheek and left for home.

	I opened the door with my foot and eased my way in. I set Stephanie up 
in bed and smiled. "Sleep well Angel," I whispered to her before I gave her 
a kiss. I got into some cleaner clothes and sat down at the table in our 
room. I put my feet up and stared off into nothingness. "God I wish I didn't 
have to do this," I told to myself. "I'd just like to quit, spend my time 
with Stephanie, Suzie, all of them. I don't wanna have to risk my life to 
make an honest dollar. Why?" I didn't expect an answer. I was stuck in this 
cylce. It was hard saving and even harder to break up the team. I didn't 
want to lose that. 
	*But you do it so that you can have all those things,* a familiar 
voice said. 
	I didn't bother to move my head; I knew who was addressing me. 
	"But why? Don't I have enough to keep her happy? I've got 8 mil in my 
personal account. Isn't that enough?" 
	There was a soft chuckle. *You've got your heart set on a little 
cottage on this planet. It cost more than that. Then you need a lot of money 
to furnish it and to fall back on in cases of dire need.* 
	I sighed. "But isn't there a safer way to do it?" 
	*No.* 
	I closed my eyes and began to think. Time passed. Soon I had to leave 
and nail the now crippled base. "Crash," Stephanie cooed as I started for 
the mech bay. "Do you have to go?" 
	I nodded. "Must. They will be able to rebuild if I don't go. Besides, 
no one else can work the Bulldog." 
	She sighed. "Be careful." 
	I looked at her. "How does dinner and dancing sound after I get back?" 
	She smiled and dove into my arms. "Definately." I gave her a kiss 
before I rushed out to battle.

	"Distance," I said. 
	"700 KM," Byrder replied. He was scouting overhead in an ArchAngel. 
	"Thanks Hawk-eye." I turned back to my instument pannels. "Heat at 
acceptable levels, weapons loaded, cannon online, autotarget ready, did I 
miss anything?" 
	There was a chuckle from the com link. "What about the Hell's Rain 
attachment?" Axen said. 
	I smacked my head. "That's right!" I quickly checked it. "It's clear." 
There were more chuckles. "Fuck you too, guys." 
	"We're at target area," Mohammed reported. 
	I looked at my radar. "We are," I said, stopping the mech. "Computer, 
activate Hell's Fire and charge up cannon." Above me, I heard things being 
moved and the cannon charging up. "Computer, auto target and fire on my 
command." I watched the cannon power display. It slowly rose. 1,000 DP....
2,000 DP....3,000 DP.... somewhere around 15,000 DP, the safest limit before 
overheat, I gave the order to fire. The cannon fired, but it wasn't a single 
bolt. The Hell's Rain attachment was doing it's job. Above me was a massive 
amount of energy going through a strainer. I watched as little bolts of 
energy flew from above me over at the base. The base was soon saturated with 
sub-accelerated particles. Targets began to disappear from the radar view. 
"Go again?" 
	"Might as well," I heard Ashley say. She was watching the whole thing 
from the base. "It'll make the landing team's job a lot easier." 
	I chuckled. "Is that all you think of?" I gave the computer the order 
to charge up again. Suddenly, the rest of the channels switched off by 
themselves. The only one on was Ashley's. "Ashley, what's up with this?" 
	She sighed. "I wanted to ask you a question. Stephanie mentioned to 
Suzie and Amber something about dinner and dancing when you got back. I 
figure you meant only you and Steph, but Suzie and Amber took it 
differently." 
	I nodded to myself. "Talk to Stephanie about it. Maybe she'll be 
generous. Don't forget to explain the situation." 
	She chuckled. "Thanks Crash."
	"Now, can I have my other com channels back? I had hacked into one of 
the Leo commander's bedrooms while he was in the middle of whoopie with one 
of his lieutenants." She laughed and I got my other channels back. I looked 
at my cannon power display. It was at 17,000 DP. I'd overheat, but fired 
anyway. We all watched as the base was battered. The Lupus landing craft 
flew overhead and landed. Slowly, the area on the radar went from the hot 
red of Leo to the cool gray of Lupus. We were victorious.

	Back at the base, Commander Williams paid us for our services and told 
us we had a week until the next base assault. After a round of the 
Commander's choice beers, we went our seperate ways. Of course, I went 
straight to my quarters to pick up Stephanie for our date. "Stephanie," I 
said as I opened the door. "You ready?" There was no answer. I asked again. 
Still no answer. In fact, she wasn't in our quarters. I was bewildered to 
say the least. I sat down at the table and decided to wait for her. I looked 
at the table and found a note. "At Suzie's," it read. "Pick me up there." I 
chuckled, got my jacket, and left.

	"It's open," Amber called when I knocked on their door. I opened and 
found the girls happily chatting over coffee. 
	"Hey Crash!" Ashley said from her seat. "How's it going?" I smiled. 
She wasn't expecting an answer. 
	"Where's Stephanie?" I said in a cheery tone. She got up, flew into my 
arms, and gave me a kiss. "I told you I'd be back," I joked. 
	She smiled and got her coat. "Ready?" I nodded. Amber, Suzie, and 
Ashley got up and got their coats. 
	"We're coming too," Amber said as she walked out the door. 
	"I hope you don't mind," Suzie said as she passed me. 
	"Not a problem," I said. "Did Stephanie accept it?" She hugged me, her 
little way of saying yes. 
	Ashley approached me. "We can hop the next transport into the nearest 
neutral zone town and stay at one of the hotels for a few nights," she 
explained. "I got a week of leave, so I wanna spend it with friends." 
	I shrugged. "It's okay. I guess it's all gonna be on me." I took my 
cash card out. 
	She shrugged and took her's out. "I thought we could split the bill," 
she said, smiling. I nodded and we left.