Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, and am making no money off of this fic.
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First Contact by luvsanime02
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Chapter 1
Relena's not sure why she was asked to be present at this meeting. The Earth parliament members of the ESUN have been attending this conference all week, and frankly, she's been bored out of her mind the whole time. Not as badly as Heero has been while working behind the scenes with her security team, but still, Relena's long since run out of ways to quietly amuse herself, and is seriously contemplating bringing some Sudoku puzzles or something with her to the next meeting to try and save what's left of her sanity.
So why these three fellow parliament members want to meet with Relena now in private is beyond her. She agrees with none of them about imposing an increase in taxes onto the colonies. And Relena especially does not share a similar opinion with Senator Hittun, who she knows is secretly hoping that these talks, fruitless though they are, will open the door for future heavy taxation against Mars.
Do these three think that they can buy her brother's compliance by meeting with her in person first? She could have told them not to bother if they'd mentioned their reasoning to her beforehand. Relena's barely spoken to her brother in years. In her whole life, really.
She agreed to attend this private meeting, though, on the slight chance that they might want to discuss something else instead. Besides, even if Mars and her brother is what these three want to talk about with her, it's better for Relena to know that now. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.
"You see, Miss Peacecraft," Senator Hittun says, after the general meaningless greetings are over with, "we want to more closely examine the economic repercussions that a hung committee will have on this matter. Ideally, we want everyone to come to a happy consensus, of course."
Of course they do. Every one of them wants all of the other members of Earth's parliament to agree with their ideals. Relena mentally scorns these three for being so naïve. Not even a war is enough to make everyone agree with each other, she knows. They should have learned that too, years ago.
Relena leans back in her chair with an internal sigh, refusing to show on her face any of the tiredness that she feels inside. "The problem, gentlemen, is that the economic repercussions for Earth are negligible. The same cannot be said for the colonies if this proposal goes forward. The people would rebel."
She honestly believes that even if all of Earth's parliament members come to a unanimous agreement to increase taxation against the colonies, which they will never actually do, the decision will be appealed and overturned in a matter of years, once the situation in the colonies becomes truly restless.
The people of the colonies rebelled against Earth years ago, and Earth will never let them forget that. The topic of this week-long conference is just one issue in a long line of ways that the Earth side of the ESUN has been trying, subtly or not, to condemn the people of the colonies for daring to threaten them years ago.
Governor Kreely laughs. It would sound more believable if he wasn't so loud. "Come now, Miss Peacecraft, surely you can understand that there's no real danger of that. The colonies have been subdued by us time and time again. By now, they must know that we, the citizens of Earth, will always prevail. I hardly think they're going to raise a fuss over some measly credits."
Those 'measly credits' he and the others are proposing to take from the colonies would crash the L2 colony cluster's financial market within a decade.
Relena is considering how best to phrase her response when someone knocks on the door. A moment later, one of the hotel staff enters and serves them all tea, though Relena can't recall anyone ordering anything. Most likely, someone set it up beforehand to be delivered now.
"Perhaps if you stepped up to the podium?" suggests Senator Hittun. "To give the others some reassurances of the low risks and high gain there is to be had from this proposal?"
Do these three men really think that Relena's so ignorant of the economical repercussions? Or do they believe that they can somehow intimidate her with this show of solidarity?
Or are they trying something else?
A cup of tea is sitting innocently in front of her. Relena scoops up some sugar and stirs it in, looking at her swirling reflection on the liquid's surface. She doesn't even want tea right now, but she knows that it would be rude to refuse.
Relena's hand freezes when she notices, out of the very corner of her eye, that all three of them are suddenly watching her every movement intently.
It could just be that they're impatiently waiting for her response to their suggestion. That's probably what it is, she tries to reassure herself, but Relena can't quite quell the chills that run down her spine. She's being silly, isn't she?
Relena lifts her head, and immediately the three of them all seem preoccupied with their own teas, or their paperwork. Did she only imagine their interest in her? She doesn't think so.
"Is there something wrong with your tea, Madam?"
Relena blinks in surprise, reminded that the hotel employee is still in the room. He's giving her an anxious look, but under that she senses that he's impatient about something.
Relena forces herself to relax her tight hold on the spoon, and then she picks up the cup and swirls the liquid gently. They're all staring at her again, though they're pretending to be occupied. Relena knows that she's not just being paranoid.
Briefly, she thinks of Heero's likely response if Relena were to actually drink the tea.
"No, I'm sorry. I was lost in thought. It smells divine," she assures the man, trying her best to look unaware. Her heart is pounding so hard right now that she doesn't know how everyone else can't hear it in the quiet of the room.
Senator Miles takes a sip from his own cup, being very ostentatious about it. "An import, actually. Blackberry. I ordered it to be brought up."
His words are meant to soothe her. They don't, though Relena smiles falsely at him in return. The color is all wrong for blackberry tea. "How lovely," she says, keeping her voice calm through supreme effort and years of experience.
Slowly, Relena lifts the cup and brings the liquid gently to her lips. Keeping her mouth tightly closed, she swallows, waits a moment, and then lowers the cup a little, picking up a napkin to sneakily wipe off the excess tea from her lips. She doesn't know how strong whatever they've put in there is, so Relena forces herself to make an appreciative hum and pretend to take another drink, repeating the process.
"Gentlemen," she says, slowly lowering the cup back towards the table, "I'm afraid that we don't quite see eye-to-eye in regards to this matter. The people's hearts will not be so easily cowed. I think. They'll do. Whatever. Is…"
Relena droops forward, like her head is suddenly too heavy to keep upright, and lets the cup drop from her fingers before it reaches the table. It falls and spills over, the cup cracking. Hopefully, that'll be enough to keep them from realizing that she didn't actually consume any of the tea.
If she's wrong about this, she's going to feel so ridiculous in a few seconds. Relena's feeling a little silly already, even while she's nervously awaiting their reactions.
One of them laughs, this time low and dark. She hides a shiver.
"See, that worked well enough." The voice belongs to Senator Hittun. There's another knock at the door. It opens, and then there's silence before suddenly someone's hands are grabbing her arms. Relena almost screams in surprise, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort not to tense up too much when she's pulled sideways out of her chair.
Relena wants to clench her teeth tightly together in anger. She wants to hit her assailants, to fight and scream and call out for Heero, but she forces herself to be still instead. Calm. She has to remain calm. If she lashes out now, they'll have no trouble subduing her for real. She has to wait until the right moment.
"Take her to the room and keep an eye on her. I'll begin the proceedings for the next step." Governor Kreely, this time.
That's the last thing Relena hears before she is carried out of the room and off to somewhere unknown.