ttw6

Thicker than Water
six


He'd walked through the entire mansion and didn't find a thing, he told them. Wufei was driving back to the space port where a Preventer chartered jet was waiting. Nothing but the mangled body of a false Preventer guard. All the servants were gone, and nothing was misplaced. He was only five minutes away, and still it seemed like he was driving too slow to make a difference.

Agent Chang, buzzed the comm. link from the pocket of his jacket, strewn across the passenger seat. Relay your current position.

He grabbed the communicator and answered, That's enough bullshit, Sally. I'm almost there.

We haven't been able to contact the Peacemillion since yesterday, she said. I'm afraid that they took her.

Noin's voice cracked in instead of Sally's this time, I've got a creepy feeling about this.

Women's intuition. Go on. Wufei let the car coast down the freeway.

Rather than returning to HQ, go get you-know-who from the US.

Is that all I ever do? Play fetch? Roger that.

___

The next day...

It's daybreak, Wufei greeted, time to get to work.

Heero had already found his pistol. He loosed his grip on it, however, and glared at Wufei. What are you doing here?

Wufei sat as straight as a rail in an arm chair, right in the middle of Heero's apartment in Boston. I don't know if you've heard, but Relena's been kidnapped. There's also a terrorist group in outer space that we feel might have her.

That's entirely incorrect, Heero thought. He sat up, Preventer needs me to go get her?

Like you don't want to, huffed Wufei, sipping at a polystyrene cup of coffee. Do you want to team up with us?

Actually, I'm already on it, Heero got up and padded over to his lap top, wearing a pair of sweat pants, raking his hand through his unruly morning bed head. I already went up there yesterday and set bombs all through the Peacemillion.

Standing over his shoulder, Wufei looked at the plans Heero had marked. You did all that yesterday? He rubbed his chin. What about Relena?

Heero shook his head. She isn't in outer space.

What else do you know?

He walked off. You wait out here. I'm gonna get ready, then we can head back to Preventer. And don't bother contacting them, they really shouldn't know yet.

What kind of messed up ploy is this? I know about the Peacemillion, but where in God's name is the vice minister, and what in the hell is going on?

___

Harlequin wore his mask yet again, and opened a video control unit to speak with Joaquin Gershwin, having decoded the recipes and found out the information he needed from the Almond Smash club he'd visited the day before.

The screen cleared, and the face of Joaquin, unaided, appeared. I was beginning to wonder about where my transaction partner went, he chortled, but I can see now that he was handled by a jester.

He disregarded his snotty tone and spoke, You have two options, Mr. Gershwin. You can stop this right now and survive to see the sun rise tomorrow. Or you and all your men can die right now.

What a conclusion, after violence was prohibited, dear sir. Joaquin smirked, not caring that there were in fact, numerous charges placed strategically throughout the ship. Would you mind explaining how you plan on destroying us?

A single detonation switch was lifted before the camera. Dare to see exactly, first hand, Gershwin?



I sent a former soldier to space, Harlequin told him, and he successfully set every single explosive on board to explode automatically if tampered with.

Gotcha, Harlequin knew he had already won this war, had everything pinned down. Gershwin did have the man power to cause a bad dent, but he certainly didn't have the brains to pull it off. But, Harlequin didn't know that Gershwin was just clever enough to send a strike team to earth for a single, specific reason. To bring the Earth Sphere United Nation to its knees by the depletion of the world's sweetheart. Relena Darlian's destiny was beginning to make itself very redundant.

To be continued...