Okay, and here's Chapter Thirteen, (yay!). I'm sorry that these are starting to take so long; aside from the fact that this part has been hard to write, school is killing me. Hopefully once the semester's over I'll be able to do a whole bunch of this over break.
Before we go on, I got some questions about where I'm coming up with these names, specifically Ivan 'Uzehasnyurieh'. So here's the deal: I am an absolutely huge history/poli sci dork, so almost every original character or group name or codename in this story is historically significant somehow. As far as Ivan Uzehasnyurieh goes, here's the story: Ivan is the Commander of the Oprichniki; in reality, the Oprichniki were a secret police/terror squad of sorts formed by Ivan the Terrible when his was the Tsar of Russia in 1565. Like in the story, they basically do all of the dirty work, spying, and terrorizing needed to be done. 'Uzehasnyurieh' is the closest phonetic translation I could come up with for the Russian word 'terrible', so in the story, we once again have Ivan the Terrible in charge of the Oprichniki . . . now do you believe me about my incredible dorkyness? (hope that helps Nihal and Tanukisaint)
Okay, but enough of that. A quick thank you to Purdy for the pointers, (thank you!) and for all the reviews! I really enjoy reading what everyone thinks about the story. And here I am blabbering again . . . on to the next part.
Chapter Thirteen – Choices
Occam's Razor
Tynan
- - - - -
Hilde's hand was shaking as she held the glass of amber colored liquid to her lips, but managed to steady them as she took a sip. She closed her eyes and let the cool fluid burn its way down her throat, laughing a little to herself as she did so. She never drank alone, it just wasn't appealing. But tonight . . .
Hours after Duo had called she still found herself replaying the conversation in her mind, almost afraid to believe it was true in case it turned out not be, but she couldn't help the small smile on her face.
Duo had been vague, unable to utter more than a very cryptic sentence for security reasons, but he had gotten his point across. He was in the Sanq Kingdom and would be home in several days; then he would explain everything.
Hilde took another sip of the bourbon she had in the cabinet above the refrigerator, Heero apparently having hidden it there at some point. The liquor was starting to get to her, but she did not fight the light feeling washing over her body, instead relishing in the sensation and thinking back to what Duo had told her just hours before.
'They found the Princess, she's locked in a tower, but her knight in shining armor's going to rescue her.'
After all these years, her best friend was alive, and Heero was going to find her and bring her back.
- - - - -
Heero leaned over the railing of the deck; off in the distance he could barely make out Istanbul which was just barely coming over the horizon, shadowed by the sun rising behind it. It was a spectacular sight, one someone in a less harried situation may have been able to take the time to appreciate. However as things stood now, there was only one thing on his mind: preparing himself for the rest of his journey.
It had been four days since he had left Brussels . . . four days since he left to find her. Wufei had been right; the journey would take over two weeks. The morning he left he had been introduced to Thomas Connelly, a 25 years old, nearly life-long Keiji member, and headed to Shitou with his brother and their guide. The first step was to get to Dublin to meet them. Dublin was probably the only city in the world where four people such as themselves could get on a plane and leave unhindered, but they could only get as far south as Barcelona. From there it had been a ferry to Rome where they had rented a car and in a matter of hours driven straight across the narrow peninsula to the port city of Bari, where they would meet the boat that was taking them to Istanbul.
This had been the easy part of the trip. They were able to pose as students on holiday from university and taking the time to backpack across the continent. However, the farther east they got the more difficult this became; Eastern Europe was one of the most contested areas on the planet. Josef and the Oprichniki knew full well that Keiji's main bases were hidden in China and thus were doing whatever they could to find and capture members of the organization as they were coming in and out. Considering the sheer size of the land they had to cover, the Oprichniki, commanding the Leon's Army forces, had managed to cut the number of viable routes in and out of southern Asia to one third of what they were before the war.
This made the next leg of their journey the most perilous; from Istanbul they would be taking a train across Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and into India where they would change trains in New Delhi and head to south to almost the very tip of the subcontinent, a city called Chennai. From there, it was another boat, this time across the Indian Ocean, and around the Malaysian Peninsula, then north to Hai Phong in the northern Vietnamese region. They would drive as far as they could but the next five or six days would be spent crossing the border and entering China on foot. Whether they would actually make it to Shitou on their own or be picked up by a Keiji outpost first, remained to be seen.
For the moment however, the immediate issue was surviving the three and a half day train ride that loomed ahead of them. The train would no doubt be stopped and searched by the Oprichniki at least once; they had to look as inconspicuous as possible. That was where Ling came in.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than its subject emerged on the deck, pausing only for a moment to look him over, before continuing on her way.
Heero tried not to roll his eyes; he didn't blame the girl for not entirely trusting him; after all, that attitude was undoubtedly what had kept her alive for so long. At twenty years old, Ling was one of maybe two dozen people capable of finding the hidden Keiji villages on foot. She was a regular guide for those going back and forth and, as she had made it very clear to Heero, did not trust those who were not members of the organization. Regardless, her orders had been to take Heero and the Connelly brothers (with whom she had worked before) to Shitou, and Ling was if nothing else, obedient and duty-bound.
She emerged from the direction that she had just left, her chin length, jet black hair obscuring her features.
"We'll make port in half an hour, be ready."
Heero turned so that he could nod to her as Ryan emerged from the door she was disappearing into. He smiled as he made his way over to Heero, and stood next to him against the railing, "She still hasn't taken a liking to ya then, eh?"
Heero shrugged.
"Eh, don't be taking it personally. She doesn't really like anyone all that much if we're perfectly honest. I don' think that she likes involving us Irish blokes in all this." He took a water bottle from his bag, offering another to Heero. "I've been meanin' ter ask you, surname's Yuy you've got a bit o' Asian in you, yeah?"
Heero nodded, ordinarily he wouldn't be inclined to answer such questions, but Ryan and Thomas had been as open with him as they could be, he felt he owed them the same, if nothing else to prove he was worthy of their trust and respect. "Japanese, why?"
Ryan shrugged in a way that reminded Heero of Duo, "Jus' that you don't look a think like it." He laughed a bit, "I mean, yeah you've got a darker skin tone than, say me and me brother, but yer features, hair color, and yer eyes, 'specially yer eyes." He took a sip from the water bottle in his hands, "Don' make a bit of difference to me, but I think Ling heard your name and was hopin' for someone that would blend in a little better with where we be goin'."
"The name isn't mine actually."
Ryan nodded with comprehension, "Ah, right then." He laughed in a way, that Heero had recently determined must be unique to the Irish, because most normal people couldn't managed to instantaneously be that happy over every little thing, "No worries mate, we get a lot of that 'round here. Sure you'll fit right in."
With that Ryan continued on to where ever he had been going. Heero watched him leave and could not help but feel a pang of guilt. Ryan, Thomas, and Ling had not been told why he was being taken to Shitou, only that he should be. Doyle had told him that it didn't matter why, he just had to get there. Apparently it was as Wufei said, only those closest to Relena knew who she really was; to the rest of the world she was Kimi, one of the Nanami and leaders of the Keiji factions.
Heero turned his attention back to the approaching coast line, taking a minute to reflect on the fact that this same sun that was dipping below the horizon was probably shining down on Relena somewhere in the forests of China . . . maybe she was looking at it right now as well.
He turned to go back down to his rooms and get his things together, giving the sun one last look.
Soon they would be looking at it together.
- - - - -
Trowa was doing everything in his power to keep himself from pacing, but if Ickes didn't get back soon . . .
Trowa took a minute to compose himself, reminding his brain of the fact that his intern was probably doing everything in his power to get the information he had requested. There were a lot of channels to check, a lot of people to contact, these things took time. He told himself again, that there might not even be a problem, that these operations were highly sensitive, that any number of things could be delaying her.
He sighed and leaned back against the wall, trying to push out the little voice in his head that screaming that all of that didn't change the fact that no one had heard from Liz since she left for Africa over a week ago.
- - - - -
Anthony got out of the passenger side of the car he and Une had driven to the designated rendezvous point: The house that Duo and Heero shared along with Duo's girlfriend.
He shut the door and waited for Cordell to extract himself from the back seat, behind them another car pulled up and Sally, Wufei, and Duo got out. Right behind them in another vehicle were Milliardo, Lucrezia, Quatre and Dorothy, each of them carrying a large cup of steaming coffee. Anthony surveyed the group as they waited for Duo before all following him up the stairs and into the house. Like himself, Sally, Cordell, Quatre, and Dorothy looked somewhat confused but were trying to hide. Une, as usual, was nearly impossible to read; Wufei and Duo both seemed a little frazzled.
Six days ago Une had called him with a simple message: Yalta was meeting in a week at an undisclosed location and to be at the airbase at 08:00 hours in six days. Anthony had not questioned what most would find strange, he was more than used to this lifestyle. What he did find strange was that Duo and Wufei had seemed to return from their assignment without Heero, but he knew better than to ask about the missing man's location in such a place. He also did not question why Une was getting off the plane with them, or why they were arriving from the Sanq Kingdom . . . or why in the world they were all going to Duo and Heero's house rather than back to HQ.
All of these facts were highly suspect, something was clearly very wrong. As he climbed the steps to the front door, Anthony took time in his head to go through the list of things that possibly could have happened that the public might not be aware of yet, but could come up with nothing that would warrant actions of this nature. He was the last through the door and just as it shut behind them as large mass of white fur bounded around the corner and made a beeline straight for Duo. Anthony watched as the braided man stopped to rub the dogs head, but after only a moment she began surveying the group, apparently not finding who she was looking for.
Duo opened a small closet off the side and started shoving coats into it, in the meantime Une was talking to him.
"You're sure that this place is secure Maxwell?"
Anthony couldn't help but smirk as Duo turned back to her with a look of disbelief on his face, "Commander, Heero lives here." He shut the door and indicated that they should all go into the kitchen.
As Anthony followed the group, he distinctly heard footsteps above him. Seconds later, those footsteps were thundering down the stairs in the back of the house. He looked to Duo who mumbled something that sounded like a curse under his breath before walking back to the stairs. Quatre, Dorothy, and Cordell were looking around the corner curiously.
Duo was talking to someone, presumably his girlfriend. Their tones were hushed but apparently Duo had not realized Hilde was on a later shift tonight and though that she would not be home. Hilde was apparently in no mood, she seemed anxious, He couldn't be sure if she realized they were all there. Her sudden outburst served to confirm that she indeed did not.
"Don't tell me later Duo! Six days ago you told me that my best friend's still alive and I've –"
The rest of the sentence was drowned out by Dorothy beginning to choke on her coffee next to him. At first Anthony did not move to held her, as Quatre was beside her . . . but as Anthony waited for him to make a move, he found the blonde man rooted to where he stood, all of the color suddenly gone from his face.
There was suddenly a great deal of commotion as sentences of disbelief were coming from all directions, Une was standing from her seat and demanding quiet, and a surprised looking Hilde was being ushered into the kitchen by her boyfriend. Lucrezia had all of a sudden burst into tears, Sally was looking back and forth between her and her fiancée, who refused to meet anyone's eyes, Dorothy was clawing her way towards Duo, screaming at him for answers of some sort, Quatre still had not moved from where he stood, Milliardo had put an arm around his wife and was now trying to calm down an equally upset Sally, the dog was running around their feet, barking randomly. Anthony watched the mild chaos around him, Cordell was standing next to him looking equally confused.
Drawing in a breath he whistled, high and sharp, as loudly as he could. "What the hell are all of you talking about?!"
It was Une that stood from her seat and gestured for the two of them to come closer to the table. They complied and took a seat next to a now sniffling Lucrezia, looking expectantly at Une, and noticing that Quatre, Dorothy, Hilde, and Sally too were all waiting for her to confirm whatever this big secret was.
"Relena Peacecraft is alive."
Anthony felt a wave of confusion wash over him . . . Relena Peacecraft, Milliardo's little sister, had disappeared over three years ago. He had been undercover on the Lunar Base when it happened, but the search for her had even come there. He was very familiar with all aspects of the case and the conspiracy theories surrounding it that ran ramped on the internet; she was preemptively killed by Josef, she was abducted by aliens, she somehow knew about the coming Echidna Epidemic and went into hiding, she was involved Josef's rise to power and left so that she could rule the world from behind the scenes, she had taken on a new identity and was now living as a college student somewhere in the colonies, she had volunteered to go to Mars, there was even talk in some of the crazier chat rooms that the Gundam pilots had coming out of hiding to get rid of her. Personally he had always thought that she had taken on a new identity, there was a young woman living on L3 that bore a striking resemblance to the former minister, pictures of her were posted all over the conspiracy web-sites and chat rooms.
Anthony tried to sort this out in his mind as Une continued to speak. Apparently Relena was alive and Heero had gone to find her and bring her back . . . Anthony paused to remind himself that Heero had been the one in charge of her security team, Duo had been as well, and Wufei long before that . . . and Milliardo was her brother, Lucrezia her sister-in-law . . . actually, now that he thought about it, Sally had been her personal physician, Quatre was a colonial delegate that worked with her on many occasions, and Dorothy's role in establishing Relena as Queen of the World was widely known . . . and then there was this girl Hilde, screaming about her best friend. In fact it seemed most of the members of Yalta had some sort of connection to Relena Peacecraft, and Anthony Gord simply did not believe in coincidences.
There was more yelling, more crying, more demanding of answers, but Anthony sat silently and watched as Une ceded the floor to Wufei who began to tell them a story which began over six years ago. He listened, his heart racing as so many of the questions he had asked himself over the years were answered. He and several of his online friends had been right all along, it turned out that Relena Peacecraft had indeed known the identity and fate of the Gundam pilots all these years and had personally kept them hidden from the public, having Wufei help her for some unexplained reason. She received pictures of them, the Chinese man explained, both with her and in their current lives, but he did not say what those were. The situation had progressed for almost a year and soon it was clear that Relena was no longer safe . . . Anthony nearly choked on his tongue when Wufei revealed his connection to Keiji and that she had been sent there to hide. The threats had apparently come from Nicholas Josef and Relena, it appeared, had left just in time.
Wufei finished his story, stating that someone had sent Milliardo a tape of the night she disappeared, meaning that someone else knew she was alive, and Heero had set off to try to get to her first. Anthony glanced to his right where Cordell looked as though someone had just hit him in the side of the head with a baseball bat. After several failed attempts, he managed to speak, "So . . . Relena Peacecraft . . . she's Okimi?"
Wufei nodded.
Silence enveloped the room and Anthony couldn't stand it anymore, blurting out the question that he was sure everyone else in the room was dying to ask as well, "So what did she do about the Gundam pilots? She just left, how did she ensure that this person, these Cambridge Five people, wouldn't reveal their identities?"
Surprisingly, no one seemed to nod in agreement with his question, instead they all turned to Wufei, "Because with her gone, revealing who they were wouldn't have created the chaos they were looking for."
"So when she disappeared why didn't they just say that they're the ones who were responsible? It would have done the same thing." Anthony was incredulous that no one else found this odd, "How did they manage to hide themselves? Did she take them with her?"
"No," Wufei continued, "she left someone behind who would look out for their safety, and she's been continuing to do so herself from within Keiji. All of the information that she's gathered has led her to believe that there was no longer a threat to them."
"How the hell did she come up with that?" It was Hilde that spoke this time.
Wufei shrugged, "I don't really know. Before she left, she told me that I didn't have to worry about that possibility, that she had taken care of it and I just had to continue to keep an eye out."
Anthony's eyes widened in realization, "So it was you that she left to take care of things?" Wufei nodded, but Anthony was not satisfied, "Well how the hell are you supposed to do that if she didn't even tell you who the guys were?"
Wufei did not answer, instead he looked to Une, who in turn made brief eye contact with Quatre, Duo nodded towards her and she directed herself towards the group.
"Three of them are in this room with you."
He heard Cordell gasp beside him as his heart caught in his throat. Unable to speak, he surveyed the room trying to determine who, but immediately he knew.
Duo lifted his hand a bit, with a sheepish grin on his face, "Zero-Two."
"Zero-Four." came from Quatre's direction and Wufei mumbled "Zero-Five."
Anthony sputtered at them as Cordell continued to grow paler, "B-but . . . you guys . . ." he spun around to face Une, "You knew about this!?" then turned his attention towards the group, "All of you knew about this?!" His head began to throb, this was just too much, but then a thought struck him, "And Heero . . . he's . . ."
"Zero-One," Duo finished for him, "and Trowa was Zero-Three."
Anthony let his head fall to the kitchen table; it all made sense, why all of these people had some connection to Relena Peacecraft, because she had known who they were and kept them close, and they in turn had kept her safe. And her brother . . . Anthony lifted his head towards Zechs, "And what the hell's your story?!"
"Gord," Une's voice came from behind him, "that's Zechs Marquise, the Lightening Count."
He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. He had long speculated that the Gundam pilots had gone underground, but certainly not in Preventers. Anthony almost laughed, all this time, after all the speculation, the wild theories, the occasional cybernetic hunt for information, they had been right under his nose.
"Gord, Cordell," Une's voice brought him back, "I realize that this is a lot to take in, but I need your word that –"
"Relax, Commander," Anthony interrupted, "the secret's safe with me."
Une nodded and turned back to the group, but Cordell spoke first, his voice quiet, "Commander . . . do you realize what this means?"
Une let out a small breath and took a seat, "Yes. Relena Peacecraft is alive and in a time where the alliances on this planet are becoming more and more fractured, she may be the only thing we have to unite the people of Earth behind us."
"Now just one minute!" Zechs was on his feet, "You can't just assume that Relena's going to want to be thrust back into the public spotlight! Do you have any idea the danger she'll be put in once Josef and those lunatics realize that she's alive."
"Especially seeing as they were claiming that they killed her." Dorothy added dryly.
"Unfortunately," Une continued, "we can't plan for that until Relena gets back here. The decision," she cut off Zechs who looked as though he was about to object, "will be hers to make."
"So what are we supposed to be doing in the meantime?"
"How are we going to explain that she's just suddenly back?"
"What if she won't come back?"
"Do you really think that after three years of war everyone's just going to fall in line behind her?"
"If we announce her to the world and something happens to her again, we'll never be able to beat back Josef."
"Alright, enough!" Une waved her arms for extra emphasis, "These are all very important questions that we need to come up with very specific answers to. This is why I've called you all here, while we wait for Heero to come back with Relena, we need to be planning." She turned toward Cordell, "Edward, you brought the research I asked you for?"
He nodded in reply, "Good. Milliardo and Dorothy, you and Cordell will go through as much of the ESUN legal code as possible. Try to find something, anything that would allow us to make sure Relena is legally made head of ESUN.
"Maxwell, Gord, and Chang, the three of you are to plan for Relena's return and how we are going to hide her until both us and she are ready to go public. Take into account the fact that someone else out there knows that she's alive and may be after her life.
"Sally and Lucrezia, the two of you must do everything in your power to come up with a way to cover Relena's tracks from the past three years. You have to account for every major event since her disappearance and find a suitable cover story as to where she was at that point in time and what she was doing. I will assist you with this.
"Does everyone understand their assignments?"
All but Quatre nodded, "Commander Une I –"
"Oh yes, Mr. Winner, I was hoping that you would –"
"It's not that, Commander." He interrupted, "There was something else that Dorothy and I needed to report to you today."
Une threw him a curious look before taking a seat and waiting from the blonde man to speak. He paused to remove several folders from his briefcase and handed them to Une. "I mentioned to Heero, Duo, and Wufei a week ago that Dorothy and I had uncovered information that Josef was building something in space."
"In the colonies?"
"No," Dorothy answered, "it seemed as though it was meant to rotate around Earth, and we've now determined that it does just that." She handed Une another folder, "Also that it's some sort of highly advanced piece of weaponry."
Une continued to scan the documents, "Agent Gord, I'm going to reassign you to work with Quatre." She looked up from her reading, "Find out everything you can about this piece of equipment and what Josef plans to do with it. We finally have a distinct advantage over Josef, we can't let him win with whatever this thing is."
She turned to Hilde, who unconsciously took a step back. "Officer Schbeiker, you will assist Mr. Winner and Agent Gord. Please review the information that they have uncovered and provide them with any technical advice that they need."
Hilde straightened up in response, "Yes ma'am." She turned to join the two men, but was stopped by Une's voice.
"And Officer Schbeiker, your codename is Potsdam. And as a member of Yalta, I expect that you pass the Agent's Exam by the end of the summer."
With that the groups began to break up, some going to another part of the house, others leaving in the cars outside. Slowly they trickled out the kitchen until only two figures were left at the table.
"So you knew this whole time?"
Wufei looked up at the sound of Sally's voice, "Yes, I . . . Sally, I couldn't –"
"I understand, Wufei." she cut him off, "You wanted to tell me but you couldn't." She spoke with a reassuring smile on her face, but her voice was dead and flat.
Wufei, was obviously not convince, "Sally, it wasn't that –"
She held up a hand, "Wufei, it's fine." but despite her resolve, her eyes were beginning to water, "It's the work that we do, sometimes we have to keep secrets from each other about things like this."
"I don't want there to be secrets between us."
Tears were starting to fall down her cheeks now, but she ignored them, "It's not as though we were even together when all of this first happened. You certainly didn't owe me any sort of explanation."
He hated seeing her like this, he hated himself for making her cry, "Sally –" he tried to take a step towards her.
But she spun on her heels and walked out of the room, muttering that Noin was waiting for her and leaving Wufei to further ponder his guilt and the consequences of his actions. Despite his personal situation he could not help but wonder about his co-conspirator.
How would they react when Relena came back . . . if she did at all.
- - - - -
Heero rolled over, trying not to fall off the side of his bed in the process. He had never been on a sleeper train before and vowed that he never would be again. He, Thomas, Ryan, and Ling were all cramped into a room the ticket seller had claimed was for four people. This was a lie and Heero had several thoughts of a strongly worded letter he would like to send explaining that two convertible benches, and two fold away beds did not meant that a room was fit for four people. Especially when three of those four people were full grown men . . . two of which snored worse than Duo.
Giving up on the idea of sleep for the night, Heero sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. They were going into day three of their train ride; in about ten hours they would arrive in Chennai where they would meet the passenger boat that would take them to Hai Phong. With any luck in about a week they would be in Shitou and he would find –
"Can't sleep either?" A voice startled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see Ling leaning over the side of her own bed. "They're always like this. Usually I can tune them out, but with the train moving and such a small space . . ."
"You don't seem like one who would sleep much anyway."
She shrugged in reply, "People like us don't have the luxury of sleep, Agent Yuy."
Heero couldn't help the expression on his face, but Ling just laughed, "Heero, you have 'Preventer' written all over you. I had you pegged the moment I saw you."
Heero still didn't move. Ling must have sensed his uneasiness because she continued, "Don't feel too bad about it, Thomas and Ryan still have no idea. I'm just better at spotting these things."
"In your line of work I would hope you'd be."
She laughed a little again and Heero realized that this was the first time he had ever seen her smile let alone express amusement. "I can't argue with you there. But I couldn't help but wonder why Doyle would arrange for a Preventer to get to Shitou, one that wasn't Agent Chang anyway."
Heero glance up at her, "You know Wufei then?"
Ling shrugged, "I know most everyone that comes and goes to the villages on a regular basis. But Chang Wufei is also a distant member of my clan." She sat up and let her legs hang off the side of the bunk, "So what I started wondering, is what is so important that Doyle would send an outsider specifically to Shitou village, when he knows who it is that lives there. Of course, I thought, that Shitou's most prominent resident and leader, may in fact be the reason that this outsider is being sent there." She tilted her head to the side in an almost childish way.
"So tell me Heero, what business do you have with Kimi?"
He remained impassive, "What makes you so sure that I'm going to see her?
"Are you going to honestly try and tell me that you're not?"
Heero let out a breath and tried to determine how best to phrase this without giving too much away . . . he owned Ling some sort of explanation, "I knew Kimi before she was Kimi, before she was with Keiji. I have to find her and get a message to her."
"And why couldn't Chang handle this task?" Her voice was teasing, as though she already knew the answer.
"Because it had to be me."
She smiled, "And it had nothing to do with the fact that Relena Peacecraft slipped through your fingers three years ago?"
Heero nearly hit his head on the bunk above him, this whole time she knew . . .
Ling smiled at him in a sincere way, "I'm the one who took Relena and Erin Shannon to Keiji three years ago." She hopped down from the bed and sat beside him, "Relena's a very dear friend of mine Heero, I personally see to it that those going back and forth to Shitou can't endanger her in anyway."
Heero was still shocked by the revelation, "You knew as soon as you met me who I was, didn't you?"
She shrugged, "How could I not? Relena would talk about you all the time." He gave her a questioning look, "She missed you very much."
"How many people actually know who she is?"
"Ten, maybe." She leaned back into the wall, "Myself, plus her personal team, and maybe one or two others who helped arrange for her to get to Keiji. When she first got to Shitou, she was just introduced as Lena . . . now she's Kimi."
Heero turned back to look at Ling, barely about to make out her features in the dark room, "Her team?"
"Yeah, each of the Nanami have a team of seven people that all serve as their advisors and stuff like that." She smiled and sat forward again, "Do you want to hear about what she's like now? What she's been doing the past three years?"
Heero nodded slowly, wondering what brought on this sudden change in Ling. He couldn't help but feel gratitude for the girl as he listened to her talk. Ling was somewhat vague, but described where Relena lived, the circumstances under which she became Kimi, and that once again she was adored by all around her.
But above all else, she would be happy to see him.
- - - - -
Trowa was beginning to lose patience. He had been on hold for Commander Une for almost twenty minutes now even after repeatedly telling her secretary that this call was of the utmost importance. Just as he was about to find Ickes to wait with the phone until Une picked up there was a click on the other side.
"Agent Barton?"
"Still here Commander."
"Yes, I'm very sorry about the wait we've, well a bit of a situation has arisen." He could hear her shuffling papers as she spoke.
"A situation Commander?"
"Trowa," her voice was deadly serious, "This line is secure and you're alone?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good, have a seat. I have to update you on something."
Trowa sat with rapt attention and listened to Commander Une's story, but really the important parts could easily have been summed up in four sentences: Relena Peacecraft is still alive. She and Wufei planned for her to hide with Keiji to protect the pilots. Heero has gone to get her and bring her back. Yalta is planning for a way to end the war.
His mind reeled but he would have to absorb the information later, right now there were other matters to attend to. "Commander, the reason I called you –"
"Oh yes, I'm very sorry Agent Barton."
"Commander, Agent Bentley left on an undercover operation eleven days ago."
"Yes, I remember. She's with the Eztli Gang trying to gather information on Josef's forces in Africa."
Trowa nodded despite the fact that Une could not see him. "Commander, Agent Bentley has missed all four of her designated check in times." He drew in a breath, "Commander, I think her cover was blown and she was discovered."
Une did not respond immediately, but Trowa knew what was coming. She, like the others on their team, would tell him that these sort of things happened in these operations, that she was fine and she'd turn up eventu –"
"I understand your concern, Agent Barton."
Trowa lifted his head in surprise as Une continued, "Do we have any way of tracking Agent Bentley?"
"No Commander, she went in completely cut off from us."
"I see. Unfortunately, we can't send a team to run all over Africa to look for her." Her voice was suddenly very sympathetic, making Trowa briefly wonder if she somehow knew about their relationship. He decided to lay everything out there.
"Commander, I can't wait here for her to contact us. By the time we determine that she's actually missing, it will be too late to try and find her."
"And what, Agent Barton, do you suggest?"
Trowa hesitated, "I want to retrace her steps myself, see what I come up with."
"Just you?"
"Yes ma'am."
Une seemed to consider this for a moment, "That's very dangerous Agent Barton, I'm not sure that I can spare an Agent of your caliber for something like this." He was about to object, but Une continued, "I will ask that you wait another 36 hours. If Agent Bentley has not contacted the Ichtaca Base by that point, I will allow for you and two officers to go look for her."
"Thank you, Commander. I'll report on the situation in –"
"Oh, and Agent Barton, one more thing. I saw your sister the other day."
A wave of guilt washed over Trowa as he berated himself for not thinking to ask about Cathy, "How is she?"
"Her doctors say that she has been responding well to the treatment. She asked me to tell you that she expects a good present from South America the next time you come back."
Trowa smiled a bit as Une terminated the line, but as soon as the sentiment came, it went. Was he being reckless? There was a good chance that if he went to Africa to look for Liz he might not come back. Was he choosing her over his sister? He loved both women and while he could not forsake Elizabeth, the thought of leaving Cathy along broke his heart.
Was Une that clever? Had she only mentioned Cathy to remind him of what he could leave behind?
Trowa stood from his chair, contemplating her motives as he walked to the door, and praying that Liz would make contact before the 36 hours were up.
- - - - -
Dorothy tried as best she could to stifle a yawn. She was sitting in a large armchair, all sorts of legal documents spread out before her, in Edward Cordell's apartment. To her left he was going on about something related to succession laws under the current ESUN Parliament, but she had long since lost interest.
It had been two days since she had learned that Relena was still alive and it had also been about two days since she had slept. She told Quatre that she just had work to do, that once she Milliardo, and Cordell came up with some sort of plan she'd be able to relax. In the back of her mind, she knew that he suspected otherwise.
It was just so hard to sleep when one of your good friends betrays everything that you thought they stood for.
Relena had done what Dorothy would never have thought her capable of and it had rocked the ESUN representative to her very core. She had been so angry, so bitter at her friend for leaving them like that. She had screamed and thrown things, and ignored Quatre's best efforts to calm her. Nothing could have calmed her, she just needed time.
They were all going to need time, time to adjust to the fact that the Relena Peacecraft they had known and loved might as well have died those three years ago, because Dorothy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what three years could do to a person.
Especially someone like Relena.
- - - - -
"How could this have happened?! You were supposed to be protecting her! You swore to me that you wouldn't let anything happen to her and now she's gone!"
Heero watched through bloodshot eyes as the woman before him let go of his jacket collar and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Outside his office door a small crowd had gathered, but was quickly dispersing as they realized the source of the commotion.
Only Duo stayed, stepping forward to lift Mrs. Darlian to her feet and help her into a chair. Duo was speaking to her, trying to reassure her that they were doing everything possible and that they would find her daughter. For her part Mrs. Darlian was mumbling incoherently about promises and her family.
Heero watched as the woman who, not two minutes before had burst into his office, screaming and leading while clutching at his collar, fall into hysterics again. When she had entered he had been powerless to speak or to act, too stunned by her actions. Now he would give anything for her to yell at him again, to be angry, to tell him that this was his fault, because no one else would.
He had failed to protect Relena and so many people, like the pathetic mass of a woman seated in front of him now, had suffered as a result.
Footsteps approached his office and a concerned looking Une entered. After a few softly spoken words she swept Mrs. Darlian way and down the hall, presumably to her own office. Heero watched them leave, but still did not move. Duo clasped a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was alright, but still he could not bring himself to react. This was his fault . . . and no one but this woman seemed to blame him. Didn't they understand his negligence? Didn't they know that this shouldn't have happened, that Relena should still be with them? How could they possibly be so forgiving and so understanding when she was gone? Why were they not furious with him? Why didn't they understand that –
- - - - -
A dull thundering noise from outside their door startled him from his sleep. The boat rocked back and forth, waves pounding against the side as it crossed the Indian Ocean, making it harder for Heero to determine where the noise had come from. He sat bolt upright in the tiny bed, to his left he could barely make out the figure of Thomas doing exactly the same, above him he could hear Ling shifting on her own bunk.
None of the four of them spoke; they were all straining their ears to listen for whatever they could hear. There had to be at least ten people outside, from the sounds of their footsteps they were making their way down the narrow hallway; he could faintly hear doors being flung open, muffled cries of confusion and panic, and softer footsteps being shuffled down the hall.
They were coming closer, they couldn't have been more than three doors away from theirs. Just as Heero was about to speak, Thomas leaned over the side of his bunk, "Stay where you are, we don't know who they are or what they're after. We play this as civilians."
The other three occupants of the room lay back down in their beds, feigning sleep, but all four of them quickly began stuffing various weapons and tools they kept on their person under their mattresses. No sooner had Heero laid his arm back down at his side than there was a pounding on the door. Thomas stood from his bed and signaled to all of them to stay where they were.
No sooner had he opened the door than he was jerked from sight and large, burly man wearing a dark blue uniform pushed his way through. Even in the dark Heero recognized the uniform immediately. This man was with the Oprichniki.
"Everyone up, on the deck!" He shifted the semi-automatic weapon he was holding to one hand so that he could gesture with the other, "I said move it!"
Wordlessly Heero slipped out of bed, pausing to help Ling down so as to maintain the appearance of normal people simply headed to Hai Phong. Ryan was just ahead of them, but as they joined the stream of people now crowding the hall, Heero lost sight of him.
With Ling behind him, they silently followed the crowd out of the lower deck and up the two levels to the open air. There they joined the rest of the 60 or so passengers, huddled together, all of them scared and unsure. Heero tried to scan the congregation for any sign of Ryan or Thomas, but without being obvious that he was looking he could not find them; beside him, Ling seemed to be having the same dilemma.
The murmuring around them came to a dead stop. Heero looked up to see a dark haired man, of average height and stature make his was through the group of people to stand in front of it. The markings on the arms of his uniform indicated his rank to be a captain which immediately confirmed to Heero that it was indeed them that these men were seeking. Ling must have had come to the same realization because she slowly stepped away from his side and back into the crowd.
Without warning the man took his sidearm and fired it into the air; there was a collective gasp of surprise from those gathered before him, but he took no heed of it. "Well then, now that I have your attention, let's get down to business here so that everyone can get back to bed." He smiled in a twisted way at the group.
"For those of you simply making your way to Hai Phong, you have nothing to fear. My men and I are not in the business of causing undue harm in innocent individuals. We are however, in the business and arresting the criminals that frequent this area." He signaled to the five or so men standing behind him, who immediately interspersed themselves in the mass of people, quickly examining each as they went and pushing them aside when they were deemed to be of no significance.
All the while the captain continued, "We have reason to believe that several members of the terrorist organization known as Keiji may be hiding on this vessel. As all of you know, this group of rogues openly stands opposed to the legitimate rule of Nicholas Josef and his regime. They have waged unjustified war against the rightful leader of the Earth sphere and –"
"Sir, we found one!" A voice to Heero's right cut off the captain. He drew in a breath and looked up, but this was unnecessary, he already knew who they had discovered.
Ling stumbled as she was pushed through the throng of people to stand before the captain. One of his subordinates emerged behind her and presented his commanding officer with several sheets of paper, pointing out one section, "It's her, sir"
The captain lowered the papers from his eyes and glanced down at Ling, "So it is." He handed the papers back to the soldier and took a step towards her, "Well little girl, I must say that we've been after you for quite some time."
Heero was nearly oblivious to the soldiers continuing to make their way through the mass of people, he did not notice when they passed by him, some apparently too distracted by the spectacle taking place to pay him any attention. His mind was racing, he could not come up with a single way to get all four of them safely off the boat; they were still at least a hundred miles from shore, even they could get off the boat they'd have no where to go.
His attention was abruptly brought to the man in front of him again, when in one fluid movement he shoved Ling to her knees and held his gun to the side of her head. "Now then," his voice was suddenly cold, "I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but we'll give it a shot anyway. Why don't you tell me which of these nice people your friends are."
Ling did not speak, she did not move, her eyes were set in a firm resolve that turned Heero's stomach. As he again began trying to come out with something, anything, to get them out of this, a familiar voice whispered in his ear, "Whatever happens, do nothing." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ryan slip back into the crowd and out of sight.
The sound of a gun being cocked brought him back to Ling and the captain, "No? Well, I thought as much." He put a hand on her back and shoved her forward, seizing her arms and binding her wrists behind her back with a pair of handcuffs, then letting her drop to the floor so that she was lying on her stomach. He aimed the gun at her, but looked up to address those assembled before him. "I know that there are more of you on this boat, so I'll say this just once: You're little friend's got less than a minute here unless you come forward –"
"Don't any of you dare!" Ling had raised her head as much as she could; from where Heero was standing he could still see the hard look that coated her eyes. "I will never forgive any of you if you put me before the war!"
Above her the Captain cast her a look of disgust and leveled the gun at the back of her head, "Fine then." and without another word of warning pulled the trigger.
Heero could hear muffled screams around him as Ling's body fell to the wooden deck; the area under her head was quickly stained with an expanding crimson puddle. Heero felt his heart catch in his throat, beside him Thomas let out a soft groan and let his head fall to his chest, but there was no time to even think about what had just happened as the Captain was yelling at the crowd and his men again.
"Find out who was with her on this ship!" he turned back to the frightened people, "If any of you know I suggest you start talking, I can't guarantee your safety with –"
"He was with her!" Heero turned towards the sound of the frightened voice just in time to see the group around Ryan part, leaving him exposed. Two or three of he blue-clad soldiers began closing in on him, but before Heero could even form a coherent thought Thomas had launched himself in the direction of his brother. Reacting on instinct, Heero followed after him.
In the five seconds it took him to traverse the already parting crowd of people he realized that there was no way out; he'd revealed himself now, completely unarmed and surrounded by innocent civilians, to a ruthless enemy. The soldiers were closing in on them, Heero managed to land a fist on the face of one of them, he crumpled to the floor, but more were behind him. At that point however, it didn't matter, he could go no farther on this journey without Ling and it would only have been a matter of time until they had been found out, at least this way –
There was a sharp and sudden pain in the back of his head, distantly he heard Thomas calling after his brother as he fell to his knees and the world went black.
- - - - -
Ivan Uzehasnyurieh rushed down the hallway as fast as his feet allowed him. They had summoned him to the underground room almost an hour ago; he had been on assignment but he knew that they would not consider that an excuse.
As he rounded a corner one of the binders he was carrying slipped from his grip and he had to waster precious seconds in order to pick it up. He tired to keep his hands steady, but the effort was in vain. Despite years of training, his position, and the entire army at his disposal, after everything he had seen in his thirty-nine years on the planet, nothing scared him more than the five individuals waiting for him in that room.
Why this was he could not say, but if forced to give a reason it would be their anonymity. As far as he knew, he was one of less than a dozen people that knew of the existence of the Cambridge Five, five of those people being its members. If only the rest of the world knew, that it was they, not Nicholas Josef, who were truly running the show. That was not to say that Josef had not secured for himself a justified position as world leader . . . but he had only done it with their help.
Who these five men and women were before they came to reside in this underground complex, Ivan did not know. He knew only their names as they had given them and the codenames that they had designated from themselves. Donald Maclean, codenamed Homer, was easily the youngest of the group. By his accent, Ivan guessed he was from somewhere on L4. Andrea Blunt, codename Johnson, always sat to his right; Ivan suspected that the two of them had known each other for a long time before becoming members of the secret group. Across the table sat Guy Burgess, codename Hicks and Duart Straight, codename Ernest. Both were old men and had no qualms sharing how many wars they had seen.
In theory, all of them were supposed to be equal, or so Ivan understood. This, however, was not the case, as the clear leader of the group was Kristen Philby, codename Stanley. While not completely dominating the faction, they dare not make a move without her approval.
Ivan approached the door at breakneck speed and the guard quickly stepped aside to allow him entrance. He was met with five blank faces
"Ah, Commander Uzehasnyurieh, so good of you to join us."
He stepped forward into the light to stand before the massive table, "My apologies, sir. I was delayed –"
"I don't really care all that much, Uzehasnyurieh!" Guy Burgess snapped at him as she leaned onto the table, "What I care about is whether or not your men have secured the girl yet."
He knew this was coming, but had planned for it, "N-no sir. Any plans to extract her are constantly being met with obstacles and –"
"A time, Commander! How long exactly do you think this is going to take?"
"At least three weeks ma'am, that's when my teams foresee the next available opportunity to take her. However, it will be a high risk operation –"
"It think, Commander" Kristen Philby sat up at the end of the table so that her soft voice might be heard, "that it would be wise for your men to wait for a less risky option, rather than chance that the operation does not go as planned as she is taken into even further hiding. Wouldn't you agree, Hicks?"
The old man grumbled and sat back in his chair while Kristen continued, "I don't care how long it takes you Commander, but see to it that it is done right." There was a murmur of agreement around her.
"Ma'am, there was one other thing." Ivan ventured.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Ma'am, my men have informed me that they have captured a prisoner of interest recently. They may be of use in our operation."
"And why is that?"
"Because ma'am," he continued, pleased by her interest, "we believe that the prisoner is a Preventer."
Kristen smiled in that way that made him uneasy, "Very well, see what information you can extract them and report back anything of interest."
Ivan saluted them sharply before spinning on his heels and marched for the door, but was stopped by Kristen's voice, "And Commander, have you made Josef aware of these developments?"
He tried to keep his voice steady, "No ma'am, as per your orders."
She nodded as he left the room, waiting for the door to close before speaking. "Well, these are certainly some interesting developments, wouldn't you agree Donald?"
The man in question turned to face her, "I don't understand what you think that you're going to accomplish with this girl Kristen. It's not as though she was ever on our side previous to her apparent death, what exactly do you plan to use her for?"
Kristen was still smiling as she answered, "To be perfectly honest with you Donald, I'm not entirely sure. But I will say this: at the very least she is a powerful bargaining chip."
To her left Andrea scoffed, "Bargaining chip for what? You think that all of ESUN will surrender in exchange for a girl they believe to be dead?"
"Ladies," Duart spoke, "we have a slightly more important issue to deal with her and now." He tossed a folder in the middle of the table, "Namely, Josef and his new toy."
"Oh yes," Andrea purred, "I'd quite forgotten about that coot. What's he gone and started building now?"
"Something in space from the looks of it." Donald turned the plans over in his hands, "Does he really think that this thing is going to work?"
"Don't underestimate his capabilities; he has some of the finest engineers in the world working on this piece of machinery."
Kristen took the folder from Donald and began flipping through the pages, "What we should be most concerned about is the fact that Josef felt he could hide this from us, more distressing is that he tried in the first place." She set the folder down, "Before we retire tonight, we must decide what we are going to do about this."
- - - - -
As best he could tell it had been at least six days. Six days since he, Ryan, and Thomas had been ambushed, six days since Ling had been killed, and six days since he had been brought to this place. Where this place was he couldn't say; it was humid and dark, but that probably meant they were underground. No light reached here save for what came from the small crack under the door. The walls and the floor were concrete, the room surprisingly clean, but completely empty. He lay on the floor in the sweat pants and tee-shirt they had arrested him in, his arms and legs bound with thick leather straps with metal locks on them.
He was alone in this room but knew that there were others out there somewhere, Thomas and Ryan probably, they wouldn't have split them up if they had been captured together. But that was not the reason he knew there were others.
No, it was the screaming, and it never seemed to stop.
He hadn't noticed it until yesterday, before then he would hear one of the cells around him opened and someone being dragged across a hard floor . . . then the screaming would come.
But now it didn't stop. Part of him was still sane enough to realize that it was in his head. How much longer he would be able to maintain that degree of coherency though, he couldn't say. He could feel himself slipping, the lines between what was real and imaginary were beginning to blur. He knew that at least part of this was the early symptoms of malnourishment. Since he had been locked in this room they had opened the door five times. Three times were to bring him food, once to drag him out, the other to throw him back in.
If he had the choice, he'd rather starve to death than have the door open again. They had taken him away and he had discovered the source of screaming and bore the marks of it all over his body. They did not ask him questions, and he knew why. They were trying to break him down, trying to make him crazy so that he would tell them anything in the hopes of being granted a quick death.
Death. That was what was waiting for him here. It had been two weeks since he had set out from Brussels, no one would start to look for him for at least another month and by then . . .
Heero tried to roll over without opening the wounds on him that were starting to heal. He tried to stretch his arms but the leather cut into the raw skin on his wrists that started bleeding again. The pain didn't mean anything to him, it was nothing compared to the crushing weight of defeat and hopelessness bearing down upon. To have come this far and go no further.
To die here in this place, without ever seeing her again.