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Chapter 25

Mars Colony

Alpha Dome

Date: 1st March AC 198

Time: 11:45 MST [Mars Standard Time

Alpha Dome Shuttle Bay

Commander Patrick Simpson nodded briefly to his subordinates report on the continuing progress of unloading the passengers and equipment from the interplanetary shuttle. Dark eyes scanned the light reflecting down through the sealed shaft of the massive elevator unit, and he fought the urge to shudder. He had no liking for this mission. From the moment he had been briefed on the mission he had experienced forebodings. It was one thing to be told what he was to do, another thing entirely for him to find the means by which to do it.

Merquise and Noin. He had a very bad feeling about this. He had read their dossiers. He had more than just read the offered reports and psyche evaluations that had been given to him. He had performed a background search of his own, and his findings only added to his general dislike for this duty. Duty. That was the key word. It was his assigned duty to come to this God forsaken hunk of rock floating in space and kidnap babies.

Babies.

What was he, a glorified baby sitter? He was a Soldier, for the love of God. A soldier, not a nanny. If they wanted these kids why the hell did they have to pick him and his team to do the stealing? Simple enough answer, really, when he thought about it. They were terrified. Terrified of the skills owned by the parents of the babies. More than that, though, those who saw this as a necessary mission were afraid of the power still attached to the one called the Terror of Earth. All this trouble and expenditure of men, machines and finances was to ensure control over the Peacecraft siblings.

Did his superiors think he had no idea what this was really all about? Did they think him stupid? Did they even care what he or anyone else thought of the mission he was now undertaking? With a sigh he considered the distorted light coming from the shaft. What was life coming to, when an elite commando team had to resort to stealing babies for men ensconced in their cocoons of power and luxury to feel assured of their positions?

Relena Peacecraft Darlian. Too much power in so young a woman's hands. Too much will to use it. All of this because she had given no thought to the reactions of the old guard in politics and incurred their wrath. That was where this all stemmed from. He was the grandson of such a politician, no small reason why he had been given this odorous duty. He had listened to his grandfather expound on the failings of Ms. Peacecraft Darlian too often to not understand what this whole abduction was over. In her youth and ignorance she had failed to understand the proper protocol with which things in the political circle of the day should follow. Because of her presumption and her uncanny ability to actually get things done, despite attempts to reign her in, she had earned their attention and a means had to be found that would not fail to insure her cooperation.

She was, without doubt, efficient. Her father, the former Vice Foreign Minister had trained her well, and she had a certain natural aptitude for the work. She was a babe in arms, however, and she had tweaked too many noses to be permitted to continue. With the reappearance of her brother they had found the means by which to establish control over the fledgling politician and diplomat. Raised a Darlian, she was, nevertheless, a Peacecraft. She had found it in her to reconcile with her brother, and that could not be allowed.

He was just too dangerous to have wandering around without being adequately controlled. Should he ever decide to counter his sister's declarations and step into power himself he could do it. They did not doubt that. He was reared in Kushrenada's shadow, and they would not chance the education he would have gained. Kushrenada was enough of a warning about this younger generation who meddled on a grand scale in the affairs of the world. Largely Merquise was an unknown element, but he had proven already he could earn trust and gain followers. Should he team up with his sister, the old guard would undoubtedly have to make way for the new wave of infant politicians, who just could not understand the appropriate protocols that needed to be followed.

One Peacecraft running loose in political circles was bad enough, but a Peacecraft trained in the arts of war was unthinkable. Action had to be taken lest he have too much influence over his too young sister. She was infinitely preferable to having a warrior Peacecraft in control of any power base in the Earth Sphere. Relena Peacecraft would never be able to handle her brother and they had not allowed it to become a problem, choosing to act first. It was just fortunate for all parties concerned that Relena had forgiven her brother, and actually appeared to have developed a desire to get to know him. Or at least decided that she did not have sufficient family that she would allow him to be tried for war crimes and take the brunt of the world's anger over the wars. With the birth of the children matters had shifted firmly in favor of the politicians seeking to establish checks on the siblings. Control of both adult Peacecrafts would no longer be so tentative. Neither would do anything to chance the safety of the babies.

Hence his assignment to this planet, to round up the rebel Peacecraft and to secure the ultimate hostages to control the situation.

It was not an auspicious beginning though. Warning bells were already ringing. He had not been notified before leaving L4, or on the approach to Mars, of the change in landing procedures. Expecting to emerge from the shuttle into the hanger of Base Dome One, he had instead emerged to find himself beneath the glaring Plexiglas doors of the massive hanger of Alpha Dome's interplanetary shuttle port. Not a good beginning to a mission he was disturbed over in the first place. Perhaps a fair warning that more than just location was going to change from the mission briefing.

Standing under the sealed hanger doors, looking up the shaft to the sky far above, he resisted the urge to cringe. It was all wrong. The sky was all wrong. The colours were all wrong. The sky should not be pink. Skies should be clear, pristine blues, with white clouds or brooding gray with rain threatening or soaking the earth and bringing a renewal of life. Not that so wrong shade of pink. So far nothing was right.

"Commander. Company."

He grunted, glancing quickly around, getting his bearings. He had studied the blue prints for the Alpha Dome as well as those of Base Dome One, and while he would have preferred to deal with the matter at the smaller Base Dome, he could deal with it just as well here. His team was the best and he was certain the location would make no difference. He just needed to adjust for the unexpected when it happened, and happen it would. His targets were just too experienced for it to go smoothly if they chose to argue his mission statement.

To his right were the service bays for the huge interplanetary shuttles, where the vessel that had brought him to Mars would shortly be moved. Beyond that were the five smaller service bays for the local flight shuttles. Storage and engineering equipment lockers were clearly marked on the appropriate doors flanking the shuttle bays. To his left the huge shuttle was still being unloaded of men, women and equipment. He noted the placement of each of his men, including the three female officers included in his team, whose sole purpose here was to care for the charges he was to collect. All of his team were now off the shuttle and placed in surveillance positions, as agreed before they had arrived at the dome, all-be-it adjusted somewhat for the change of location. The remainder of the shuttle's passengers, the miners, designers, builders, and professionals whose job it was to make this colony a viable economic society, had disembarked and were now making their way to the luggage racks slowly filling with crates and packages.

Beyond the shuttle itself was the emergency equipment, at this time being returned to storage positions. The shuttle had landed without a problem, but he was pleased to see that all standard procedures had been undertaken, including the emergency vehicles deployment. Service personnel swarmed over the huge shuttle, some now spraying the engines with a cooling fluid that shed a foul odor into the air as it was pumped from the waiting tankers. Another group of ground crew personnel were attaching the towing cables to the ground vehicles, preparatory to moving the shuttle into the waiting service bay. Coming towards him and his second in command was a small party of individuals all wearing the navy blue coveralls of the colony terra forming administration, except one, who wore the black and green of the Preventers.

A quick glance at his Second whose nod confirmed these were the expected welcoming committee and he chose to wait, making no move in their direction. Let them come to him. He had expected certain individuals to greet the shuttle, and certain people to be conspicuous by their absence. The absentees had not disappointed him. No doubt they were in Base Dome, staying well away from the new arrivals. He was a little surprised when the welcome committee paused at the area where the new personnel for the project had gathered. Absently he listened to the welcoming speech delivered by the Asian who would have to be Mako, the Project Chief. While he was certain this was intended to be a snub by the committee, in truth he was pleased at the extra time to survey the hanger. He had added time to scout the area and it would allow the grunts to be cleared from the area following Mako's speech, and his own team to secure their position and complete their own surveillance.

"Commander Simpson. I am Joe Mako, Project Chief. Quarters have been arranged for you and your team, and office space has been assigned. Welcome to Mars."

Dark eyes clashed and there was instant dislike. Mutual dislike. Simpson forced a pleasant smile. He was here to do a job and it was not to set up adequate security arrangements to cover the new arrivals at the project. Both he and Mako knew that for the lame excuse it was, but it was unseemly to be blunt about it. His job did not involve slapping down the Project Chief, unless he interfered with the mission he had been assigned. Sometime in the next week, he suspected, it would be necessary to teach this upstart his place.

Sleeper agents had reported that Mako was on friendly terms with both Merquise and Noin. Simpson was, in fact, expecting the entire Project team to become involved and interfere, one way or another, in this matter. A serious mistake on their part if they should interfere. He wished to avoid the prescribed parameters of his mission should matters slip his control. For now, cool disinterest and disdain, not antagonism was needed. He would give no clue as to when he would strike. He needed to contact the Sleeper operatives before making a move and be briefed on the latest circumstances that might have a bearing on the mission.

"My team will set up a security rotation immediately to keep discipline within the ranks of your staff and the new arrivals. Some of the passengers from the shuttle will be feeling the need to let their hair down after the confines of the flight."

Mako nodded slightly. "We expected there may be a little trouble while they settle to their new environment, so I have placed our existing security team on alert. Simon Barker, Preventer Agent Eagle, heads our security division. I am certain you can liaison with his team. I want no trouble at the base, Commander. Of any sort."

Simon Barker was a big, gruff looking ex Alliance officer, who swept a hard glance over the Commander and his team, tagging them as ex Alliance commando's, Blue Squad. He recognized most from the latest information sent to him from Earth and knew there was, despite Mako's wishes, going to be trouble. He had known Blue Squad's reputation during the One Year War, and prior to that they had been notorious as the dirty deeds boys of the Alliance Commanders. Blue Squad still had a tendency to run riot, according to the reports forwarded to him by Preventer Earth, but this new Commander, the reports suggested, had managed to curb the worst excesses of the squad. Even so, Blue Squad was an unsavory bunch who delighted in being heavy handed.

"We were sent to maintain order during this integration of personnel, and to set up offices for ESUN Security when the division is formally installed here. You have a number of hard core ex miners now at your project, Mr. Mako. Do not expect them to play nice." He surveyed his team for a moment and turned back to the waiting officials. "I believe my team can handle anything they throw at us. I am also under orders to check on the security surrounding the Vice Foreign Minister's brother. It is my understanding there may be elements on the shuttle who are interested in him. The source of their interest is currently under investigation, but until then I have my instructions concerning his safety and the security of his family. I trust there will be no interference in the completion of my instructions?"

"That depends on what your instructions are. Zechs Merquise is a vital member of my construction team and I will not stand for his duties being interfered with. I have a schedule to maintain, and I have no intentions of delaying the opening of Alpha Dome to colonization because you and your team were heavy handed with my valued personnel. Run your security checks by all means, Commander, but do not interfere in the running of this project."

Barker held his breath at that comment from the Project Head, noting the flicker in the Commanders dark eyes that bored into Mako's cold stare. He had the uneasy feeling a confrontation between these two was not going to be bloodless. After a lengthy staring contest the Project Head spun on his heel and began to stride away, but not before delivering a final parting shot.

"There is a briefing scheduled at 09:00 in the command center of Alpha Dome. I will look forward to your attendance, Commander. All traffic to Base Dome is restricted to permit travel only. Earth seems to believe we do not have security protocols here. I assure you that we do, and we do not appreciate violations of those protocols. You will be shown the way to the conference room by designated guides in the morning. I suggest you settle your men for the night. My assistants will show you to your designated quarters. Now excuse me, I have a project to run."

//Cocky, arrogant little bastard. You won't be smiling for much longer. I can see you won't stay out of what does not concern you. Well, I'll enjoy restraining you. No one said I had to be gentle with anyone who aids and abets.//

"If you and your men will follow me, Commander Simpson, I will escort you to your quarters." The feminine, sultry voice broke the uncomfortable silence following Mako's departure.

Cold dark eyes flicked to the tall woman with flaming red hair and sea green eyes. She oozed sexuality, he thought as he turned, briefly enjoying the view she presented in her very well fitting tan work clothes. He had no trouble recognizing her, though the description and vidpic in her file had failed miserably in doing justice to her. She oozed sex appeal when she smiled like that, and knew its effects on men only too well. It was a pity for her game that he knew all too much about her reputation to be taken in by her charms.

"You are?"

"Shanna McIntyre, Commander, your designated guide for this evening. I have been assigned by Mako to show you around the facilities of the Alpha Dome. I assure you, by the way, that he's not usually so grouchy. We had a few problems develop with the computers while bringing down the shuttle. Nothing serious, just minor glitches. No danger to anyone on the shuttle, I assure you. Come this way, please."

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12:54

"They are at Base Dome, Commander. At the present time Noin's roster places her in the command tower and Merquise is in the engineering bays, repairing the latest batch of damaged mobile suits."

He was not sure he believed his ears and glared at her. "The notorious Lightning Count is allowed access to Mobile Suits? I do not believe you people." Disgust was evident in his voice.

Shanna McIntyre laughed, a soft, sultry sound. "Really, Commander, think about it. Where can he go, hmm? Nowhere, that's where. This is Mars, Commander Simpson, not Earth. You are looking at the extent of civilization here as it stands. Civilization consists of Base and Alpha Domes and the smaller original dome we now use largely as storage for the obsolete equipment we have no further use for, or have not found time to revamp for additional uses." She smiled sweetly. "We make use of his skills to further the project. He is quite skilled at more that piloting mobile suits; and I assure you he can not access the shuttles. Our supply of construction Mobile Suits are very limited in the hours they can be used, and have a nasty tendency to break down at inopportune moments. Merquise is good at salvaging scrap and making it work. He is an excellent recycler of obsolete parts, and he has to have something to do, besides sit on his neat toosh and stare at the walls. This project has been assigned nothing but junk from the start, and Merquise skills have kept us on schedule."

He snorted at that. "You allow him too much freedom. The man is not a fool from all accounts and should not to be taken lightly. He is probably the most dangerous individual in the Earth Sphere, and you allow him free run of the facilities." He could not care less about the quality, or lack of it, in the equipment used at the base. His duty here would be brief.

"I assure you we do not take him lightly. He is under constant observation by my fellow agents, as is Lucrezia Noin. There is nothing they do that I do not know about. There is nowhere other than Base Dome and Alpha Dome for him to go. In case you had not noticed, it is not exactly possible to take a pleasant stroll outside. He is permitted limited computer access and no radio time at all. Certain sections of the base are off limits to him, and he has not tried to test his limitations."

That alone had warning sirens screaming in his mind. Merquise was said to be a sneaky bastard, and just because he had not been caught pushing their rules, did not mean he had not tried. He was not amused by the laxity of the security surrounding Merquise. Did they think the man was this easy to contain? He would not sit idle while they entertained the notion he was helpless under their measures.

"Where are the children?"

They were in Simpson's assigned quarters, a spartanly furnished room consisting of fold down bed, two chairs and a fold out table with small functional bathroom attached. They were taking the opportunity to relax and brief each other on their individual assignments. Her team was going about their day to day business of watching their prisoner and building a viable colony.

Her assignment of keeping her eyes open for the ESUN at the Terra Forming Project, and specifically on the prisoner, was now nearing its completion. His assignment was to take charge of the children and neutralize any possible retribution against the ESUN from irate parents. Said retribution was not limited to Zechs Merquise or Lucrezia Noin. Any one at the project who interfered would have to be dealt with, a fact they both knew only too well. He must secure the children and contain Noin, while Merquise was packaged for transfer to an appropriate facility where he could adequately be detained.

"At the present time, they would be on their way to their mother in the control room for feeding, otherwise they are placed in our equivalent of a crèche during working hours. We have four children and three pregnancies to date." Shanna shook her head in disgust. "If professionals would keep their legs closed we would not have this problem of juggling facilities to deal with unexpected pregnancies."

"I was led to believe that all women on the project were injected with long term contraceptives to avoid this type of thing."

"Typical male view. Pump a woman full of contraceptives with no thought to the long term consequences. Contrary to popular belief contraceptives are not infallible. Depending on the individual the chemicals term of suppression varies. In all honesty six pregnancies after so long a mission period is a good record, for a project of this size and duration. Now you tell me why it is women who should always take the precautions, hmm? There are male contraceptives out there, you know." She flipped her red hair, thinking of the men who were eager to make advances toward her, and how they responded to her advances. She was no one's fool and no casual tumble. No unwanted pregnancies for her, and she never lacked for a partner if she desired company. You could have sex and not chance an unwanted pregnancy if you were clever and simply took precautions. "Anyway, that has nothing to do with the mission. The twins are usually in an impromptu crèche set up in the third sector in the living quarters block. Their keeper's depend on the work rotation. I'll see what I can do to be the roster carer on the day you want to take custody of them."

Simpson considered that. It would definitely make the transfer of custody of the children easier and less likely to get messy if this woman, or one of her other agents, could be with the children at that time. Depending on the difficulties of gaining access to the now restricted Base Dome, he might give the okay for that plan.

"How much trouble can I expect from Mako?"

Shanna considered that and shrugged. "Not really sure. He's very chummy with Noin, and at first I thought he was interested in her, but I think it's just friendship. He's definitely a Family Man, comes from a big family on L1, and he has become very protective of the children."

"What about his relations with Merquise?"

Shanna chuckled and moved to the window of the small room, taking in the view of the great expanse of Alpha Dome. Before her spread the cityscape, with young parklands breaking the sectors neatly, reminiscent of the slices in a great circular pie. Base Dome was not graced with views to compare with this. The best view on the above ground working dome she considered to be the view of the hydroponics domes, and that was down right boring. Alpha Dome was much more enjoyable to visit.

"Mako loves anyone who can help keep this project running on schedule, and Merquise has come up with some inventive jury rigging of systems to keep vital systems functioning. A lot of respect has developed there, for his skills if nothing else. That shuttle you came on had better have some decent equipment and replacement parts on it. If we keep having to repair junk someone will end up dead before too much longer."

// If this goes wrong someone will end up dead, alright. Why concern yourself with spare parts when there are more important considerations? If Merquise puts up a resistance you know as well as I do what we will need to do.//

"I don't care what is on the shuttle that is of no concern to me. My only concern is achieving my objective, and that is the safe removal of Merquise and the children to adequately secured institutions. Who would you say will be our major trouble? Noin or Merquise? The psyche evaluations on Merquise were not conducive to effective supposition."

"Noin. Never underestimate a female in defense of her young, especially when said female is a trained soldier. Don't let your guard down around her. She can be a cold bitch when it suits her, and I do not doubt for an instant that she will kill if she feels it necessary." For a long moment Shanna considered the view, reflecting that she had no idea herself how Merquise would react when the time came. He was a hard one to read and he seemed haunted, never truly relaxed, never quite 'there', in the room with you most of the time. Crazy, they said, and she was inclined to believe it. "When will you take them?"

Simpson glared at her, giving consideration to the greeting he had received from Mako and the additional information this agent had given him. Teamed with the 'bad feeling' he had entertained since receiving this mission he was certain trouble would not be long in coming. He had already decided that Noin was going to be serious trouble, and he was pleased that his instructions did not include keeping her alive if she resisted them. Merquise, of course, had to be handled with kid gloves. He could be battered and bruised, but largely he had to be taken alive and in reasonable condition for an extended space flight.

"When can you get me into Base Dome?"

"On the Q.T.? Or openly?" McIntyre turned from the view, green eyes dark and serious, no foolery or seduction now in evidence. It was time to be serious, and when she considered this entire affair seriously she shuddered at the thought of Noin finding out her deception. Noin would not be a forgiving sort.

"Both. I want to know when Mako would be likely to give us that permit to travel to the dome. He has informed me that travel to the Base Dome in now restricted, a circumstance I presume is new?" At her nod he snorted, amused. "I am, I am sure, expected to believe that that is a security measure against the new grunts now on this project. It takes no special genius to know why that measure has actually been taken. What about the Preventers at the base?"

"There are only four, and they are all currently in Alpha Dome. They have had little contact with Merquise or Noin, but they have kept an eye on their movements, and have reported back to Earth regularly concerning their security."

"Good." He did not need Preventer agents running around Base Dome when his team went into action. For all they were pests, Preventers were well trained. "When can you get my team into the Dome?"

//The sooner we get this over with the better. I want as few combat trained agents running around in there as possible.//

t.b.c.

Karina Robertson