I have some serious editing to do. Yeah, I spelled Treize's last name wrong, please don't kill me (draws katana just in case)! Well, this is going to probably be my last post at least until April, because I need to seriously catch up on my history homework. I thought I'd end the chapter right where I did to keep you guys hungry for more . . . I guess . . .
[Heero, flipping channels on my couch (I know, I'm messed up): "Yeah, like you can really quit writing for that long. WhatEVER."]
Awakening
Well, this is certainly an interesting development, reflected the ghost, amused. He watched, as an excited Winner talked rapidly to the two Orientals about his recent conversation through Sandrock-Rebuilt's NERV circuits. He was shooting furtive glances around the room— as if mechanics were hiding behind boxes, waiting to catch an interesting tidbit of top-secret information.
The ghost had made sure this conversation was not overheard. Anyone who thought they needed to check in on the gundam pilots suddenly remembered a very important meeting or felt calls of nature. The ghost did not hate the boys, even Chang, and thought it best the new discoveries were discussed in secret.
"It was incredible," Winner said. "I don't think we realize what we've stumbled onto here. Their brains have grown, matured. They actually kind of have an IQ."
"What exactly did Sandrock tell you?" Chang asked, looking uninterested. "Are you sure you didn't just fall asleep in there?"
"No, I swear. Think about it, Wufei. Abnormal brain activity would account for all the stressed fuses in there, wouldn't it?"
"He's right," the woman told Chang quietly. "Quatre, what were you told?"
Winner described the conversation, hands moving wildly with his excitement. "He said he hates fighting mobile suits. He says they die, just like humans. He said that no one really understands a mobile suit's intelligence because they never take the time to think it can do anything more than file basic battle tactics. He says the old ones were drones, so he didn't mind fighting them, but these new ones are different. On both sides. Wufei, go inside Shenlong. I bet it'll tell you the same thing!"
"I think we'd better get you something before you get too nerve-wracked, Winner. You're full of it."
The woman scowled, and kicked Chang sharply in the shin. "Fine, you go get him some tea and I'll see what Shenlong has to say."
"Hey—"
"I mean it. If you can't think before you speak maybe you don't deserve to see if this great hulking machine really does think. Go, Chang!"
The ghost would have smirked, had he had a mouth to smirk with. The Chinese man climbed with spidery motions down Shenlong-Rebuilt's side, dropping onto the narrow catwalk and impatiently looking to Winner, who was making his way cautiously forward. "Come on, you fruitbasket!"
"Wufei!" the woman warned with a very lethal tone. Chang whimpered and fell silent. The ghost was impressed.
That conversation over with and guarded forever, he made his way across three dimensions in a rather unique way that is only applicable to the supernatural non-solid entities of our great expanding universe.
He encountered a familiar figure.
Mariemaia Khushrenada's mobile suit had been one of the first to be repaired, as she was suddenly a valued fighter, and the mobile suit looked discernibly better. The suits had an odd docking position; Because they were slender, if the arms were thrust forward there would be even more room to pack them in tightly. Most of the suits had the delicate-looking palms of their Kirins and Karakadann facing down, as it was a natural position for human extremities. Mariemaia's, however, were face-up.
She sat in the Kirin's hand, alone on a catwalk. Her deep red mane was in knots because of the recent neglect, her eyes irritated and puffy as if she had been crying, but too proud to admit it. Long, graceful limbs like her mother's embraced each other in a self-hug that the ghost had often seen when looking at insecure souls. Her tank and camo-pants did little to hide the curvature of her skin, the clarity and beauty. She had grown up to be beautiful all around, but inside she was suffering.
The ghost could feel the pain of her neglect. It pierced through the air like a throwing knife and buried itself in his disembodied form. It was not the first time he'd felt pity, but it was definitely the first time that he'd felt it on that level. Something about seeing someone so close so upset is unnerving.
Mariemaia scratched at the soft material of the Kirin's hand as if she was petting a dog. "My mother left my father before I was born. Or was it the other way around? I don't know. Did they even love each other?" she said quietly. "Everything's such a mess. I want to fight so this senselessness to end, but I don't know if I'm going to make it, the way I'm going. I'm going to go insane and kill myself one of these days."
She sighed and put her head in her arms, staring into space. The ghost studied her some more. He could see into her mind somewhat. She was very afraid. She's nothing more than a child, he thought. What she looks like has nothing to do with this. What has Yuy done, to subject her to these cruel tortures of war? She's just a baby! As best can be described under the supernatural circumstances, he sat beside her, watching her breathing deeply, evenly, so outwardly calm. Anyone passing could have easily misinterpreted her position for meditation. He tried to touch her arm, but his hand went right through.
A shiver passed down the limb, as if she'd just put it in a bucket of ice water. She looked at it, surprised, perplexed and somewhat disturbed.
It's been a long time since I've forgotten about material things, he thought. She's distracted me.
Mariemaia lifted her head and looked straight at him. Straight through him. The ghost would have gasped, had he needed to breathe. She saw him, vaguely. She could tell he was there, right beside her. She could guess who it was. He felt her anger rise. With a spastic movement, Mariemaia flung her hand through the air right where he was, jerking back as she felt the cold sensation again. "Are you really there?" she said.
"I wish I could speak to you," he said to ears that could not hear him. "But the world of the dead is different from that of the living."
"I don't need someone to haunt me. I've got enough problems already," she continued, although it seems she had got the gist of his silent words. "Go away."
"That I wish I could, but I have business here," the ghost replied, wishing she could hear him.
"I'm not involved. Go away." Mariemaia turned around, her back to him. She shook her head with the stubbornness of a donkey, refusing to believe some truths and yet accepting that which was less believable.
How can you say that? You're the main character. Set the stage, girl!
Mariemaia stood, giving him a loathsome glance. She seemed even to read her thoughts. "And you called yourself a noble man."
The ghost (again, would have) blinked as she stalked away. I thought you did, too.
* * *
The cell was pitch-black. Relena could feel the engines going full, and knew they had to be running from something. There was no other reason to be straining the machinery that hard. Do you have anything on what's happened? She tapped to her next-door neighbor.
From what I've been able to gather it's a battle. Earth is trying hard not to let you get killed, Vincent replied. That was his name, Vincent. Duo would like that.
After a while, Relena pressed her ear against the metal wall and heard the announcement that the enemy mobile suits had stopped pursuing. She continued to lean her head against the wall, exhausted and starving and cold. The cell was empty, so she had nothing but her torn clothing to warm her.
The door hissed open. Red light flooded in, the emergency lights. The Gayla must have taken damage. A large figure became outlined in the shadowy doorway, and Relena could tell by his shape that it was Beliv. "How the Hell could they have hidden themselves like that?" He growled, activating the one flickering light bulb with a remote he kept in his pocket. The door slammed.
"HOW COULD THEY?" he roared, making her rib cage shudder.
Relena continued to lean against the wall, hands around her knees. She didn't speak.
With a quick movement, Beliv reached down and grabbed a handful of her flightsuit. "You brought them here, didn't you? You little bitch!"
Relena didn't even wince as he slammed her against the wall. Any kind of reaction might spur him to more violence. She looked at him quietly, the eye contact making Beliv uneasy.
He growled. "You only bring it on yourself. Say something, dammit!"
Relena blinked slowly, then grinned. It was easier to stay in character when she could actually feel all the hatred she had for him. "You really think I brought them with me, you stupid walking pile of shit? They want me as bad as you do. I never realized how good it felt to do something like that, you know? Taking out your anger on someone . . . really feels good."
Beliv dropped her. "You're mocking me."
She forced a maniacal laugh. She hugged herself as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Actually, it kind of was. "I wonder what they did with my kids. I hear Heero's disappeared. He's the only one who really ever cared for them, after that bastard drifter father of theirs left. God, I was being a genius then, wasn't I? It's all so clear now."
Darla Starhand was not the sweet, weak little Relena Darlian that Beliv had thought she was. A couple of weeks under Phailin's harsh crash-course training had taught her a lot about bitterness. Briefly, Relena wondered if Wufei had finally caved and let her tag along.
Beliv pushed her up against the wall again, beady eyes glinting in the dank, flickering light. "I like a woman with spunk."
Mental shielding works wonders, in the end.
Flash!
"That's your part, for now," Heero finished. He was holding her hand tightly, as if he was afraid she'd refuse him.
In all fairness, Relena was having doubts. "It sounds unreasonable," she conceded, "to ask all of this of me, Heero. For God's sake, I thought you were trying not to split our family up."
Heero hung his head. "I know, but I don't see that we have a chance at that right now. They'll be looking for you, Relena Darlian, and you'll have to go campaign for peace. I'll be fighting with Zero. Raina came at a bad time, and now we can only be parents when we aren't already committed to stopping the human race from collectively committing suicide. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. Even if the whole world knew about us, I doubt that would get us off. Nobody else cares. That's what I've found."
His words struck Relena, and she realized how bitter he sounded. She put his arms around him. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it. It does make sense. I just don't want to."
"I don't want to send you out there. I don't want you to be out from under my guard," Heero said, holding her tightly. "Our lives . . . all of them . . . are in danger."
It was late. The others had all gone to bed, and Heero had called them in one by one, explaining that everyone had a part but refusing to reveal just who had the biggest. He didn't even explain much to Relena, except that she knew the players. She knew he wanted it that way. Heero's training had involved a lot of psychology classes, and she knew she kept them fresh.
Seeking to comfort him and herself, she kissed his jaw gently. The muscle was tight as he clenched his teeth, but relaxed as he opened his mouth to sigh, a little surprised. Relena pulled back, looking for his downcast eyes. She brushed tangled hair out of his eyes, and color flushed to his face at the slight contact. "You look so much better alive," she told him gently. "You haven't died yet, so stop looking so much like a corpse. It's giving you wrinkles."
He cracked a small smile, and returned her gaze. "Just practicing."
They kissed, and the frustration and worry began to almost visibly evaporate. "Is the baby asleep?" Relena asked her husband.
"I just put her down. She should be out for at least an hour or so."
Relena got up and hit the lights. "Good."
* * *
How dare he. How dare he! Mariemaia screamed internally. How presumptuous, out of a man that shouldn't even be wandering around her dimensions any more. How dare he come back to haunt her.
She couldn't deny what she'd sensed. It was too real. She knew Dennis would have been scared, Ben worried about her, but Mariemaia knew the truth her eyes spoke wasn't actual. She stalked in a loop through the base, back to the bay where her Kirin was stored. The ghost was gone, but now there was a group of Specials talking in hushed tones close by. Mariemaia ignored them and climbed into the cockpit.
A hand caught the door before it could close. The safety mechanisms stopped it. Ben peered around the metal hatch. "Hey, Marie—"
"Leave me alone, Ben. I'm not really in a good mood right now." Mariemaia glared at him. Couldn't he tell she wanted to be left to herself?
"Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." Ben pried the door the rest of the way open and sat down on the lip of the doorway, so that his head was about level with her knees. "It's not that I care who you are. I mean, where you came from. What matters is what you are now to me, to this unit.
"Everyone's talking about you, little sister. You showed those Specials up, and you're a green soldier. They're impressed, but not scared. They know you're on their side. You saved many a person's ass today and that's no joke. You know that guy who was teasing you yesterday? You saved his life twice out there. They like you, Marie."
Something inside Mariemaia softened, but not nearly enough. "Yeah, well, when the guy who betrayed you when you a little kid comes back to haunt every single person that's talking about me, maybe I'll be able to look at them on the same level as me. Until then, I've got things to do."
"Where are you going, Marie?" Ben looked at her. "There's nowhere to go but where we already are. I thought you'd know that."
"God— not that I'm saying I think there is one— is full of shit. There is no "divine plan" that I'm part of, understand? I don't know what Heero thinks he's doing, playing Fate, but I'm not going to follow his instruction all the time!"
Ben looked at her, quiet. He was confused (of course, he didn't understand what she was babbling about). "Please, Marie, go talk to them. They want to be your friends."
Mariemaia blew it through her nose. "Leave me alone."
Ben sighed and left. Mariemaia turned off the lights and closed her eyes. Ben's brown eyes haunted her long into the darkness, as did the ghostly image she could only imagine.
"Why can't I just be me??" she screamed, pounding her fists against the computer.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM PURPOSE.
* * *
Phailin dropped down into Shenlong, a slight grin on her face. She'd been trying to talk Wufei into letting her into the pilot's seat for a while now, and Quatre had finally given her the excuse. She caressed the control for the hatch and closed it.
The gundam was not running, save the computer system (which seemed to never turn off). That is why the active wires were so strange. Then, as Quatre described, everything went dark. After a few minutes, however, nothing happened. There were no glowing words, no binary code, and no noises. With the gundam was shut down completely, there is no electricity to open the hatch. And no air circulation. Phailin gasped.
Don't panic, she told herself. She pounded on the thick metal door with her fists. There was no one around. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked quietly. "Nataku, can you talk or is the little blondie on something?"
Slowly, the green digits appeared. Over a minute, they formed themselves into tentative words. WOMAN SPEAKS DIFFERENT FROM MAN . . .?
"You speak Chang better, do you?" She said. She'd never realized Wufei used his old language so much that the gundam barely understood Basic.
This time, the numbers transformed themselves much quicker— into a set of characters she recognized as Chinese, but couldn't translate all that well.
"I never said I did!"
Again, the translation was slower. WE ARE UNHAPPY.
"Yeah, babe, everyone is. That's the whole reason this damn war started in the first place. How is it you can do this?"
WE KNOW NOT OUR OWN BECOMING. WE ONLY KNEW WE ARE.
Phailin struggled to translate. I don't know where I came from.
"Would you mind if I have a look inside your brain? It has a security lock on it, but even Wufei doesn't know the code."
There was a lengthy pause, then a sequence of letters, numbers and symbols wrote themselves across the screen. PLEASE TO BE HAVING A STERILE ATMOSPHERE BEFORE, ELSE I AM DANGER.
"I will ensure it."
WHAT ELSE THERE IS?
Phailin thought for a minute, patting the console absently. "Can you speak with the other mobile suits?"
THROUGH PHYSICAL CONNECTION, LIKE NOW THROUGH ASTEROID COMPUTER.
"What does Sandrock have to say?"
The binary/letters changed to blue. ALL THE MOBILE SUITS ONBOARD THIS BASE ARE UNEASY ABOUT FIGHTING. WE'VE ACQUIRED MORALS. IT IS LIKE MASTER QUATRE SAID TO ME: "HUMANS DID NOT LIKE SEEING OTHER HUMANS DIE UP CLOSE, SO THEY INVENTED MACHINES TO FIGHT FOR THEM. NOW THE MACHINES HAVE BECOME TOO HUMAN."
Green letters appeared under those. MAN MAKE MACHINE. MACHINE BECOME MAN. MAN NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE MAN.
"What about the other suits? The Kirin and Karakadann?"
Green letters: THERE IS ONE CAPABLE AT TIME. UPGRADED SUIT.
Blue letters: (THE SOLDIER HAS BEEN PROMOTED AND THE SUIT HAS BEGUN TO ABSORB ITS PILOTS MIXED FEELINGS. THE NEW MOBILE SUITS ARE CAPABLE OF DOING THAT. ALL THE OTHER SUITS ARE STILL EMOTIONLESS SOLDIERS'.)
"Whose is it?"
Green: THE SUIT BELONG TO ONE YOU KNOW MARIEMAIA KHUSHRENADA.
"I knew it." Phailin sat back. "Is it online?"
YES.
Another wait, and then red letters scrolled. SHE'S SO UPSET. I CAN'T COMFORT HER. SHE JUST WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE. I THOUGHT SHE WAS SEEKING MY COMFORT.
"Why is Mariemaia so upset?" Phailin pursed her lips. Mariemaia generally seemed like a happy child. After all the admiration she'd been getting, Phailin thought she would have been quite proud of herself.
Red: THERE'S A SIMPLE EXPLANATION: SHE'S SCARED. IT'S PLAIN ON HER FACE. OUT IN BATTLE, SHE LOST CONTROL. SHE'S AFRAID SHE'LL DO IT AGAIN. SHE'S AFRAID SHE'S NOT WHO SHE THINKS SHE IS.
Phailing sighed. "I know Heero's planned for her to come into a position of power. That's obvious. I wonder if she's afraid she'll become Dekim.
Red: I CAN ONLY SPECULATE.
Blue: YES, MASTER QUATRE'S BEEN WORRIED ABOUT THAT, TOO.
There was a yell from outside. Phailin quickly deducted. "Uh-oh. They think I'm trapped in here. You guys had better get going."
The power came back on. Phailin hit the hatch controls. Wufei was standing below, looking scared to death. "What the hell is going on here?"
Phailin hopped on her little elevator and rode down. She took his hands gently. "More than we ever imagined. God, Quatre was right. Either these guys really can think or we're the victim of some fiendishly clever hacker."
"You're not serious."
"I was just talking to Shenlong, Sandrock and Mariemaia's Kirin. They have a network when they're logged into the ship's computer. Wufei . . . It's incredible."
Wufei looked up to Shenlong. "Nataku . . . I can't help but wonder . . ."
* * *
Zero, what's going on out there?
MANY THINGS.
What's happening at home?
THEY ARE ASLEEP.
Where is Milliardo?
PLAYING HIS PART.
How is my wife?
HOW SHOULD I KNOW? I AM NOT ALL-SEEING.
Wing Zero and its single occupant floated among the stars. Heero wasn't watching the scenery, though he loved it, and sat with his eyes closed, head wired into the Zero System. Heero was sick of playing the bystander. Shukumei is never the bystander, so he had to do something.
Akiko had actually told him to go. "I'm worried about Mom," she had said, "but I know she'll be okay if you're close by."
Off in the distance, the asteroid base teemed with energy. The pilots were still bouncy from the battle that morning, like so many microbes who'd been exposed to light. In its shell, Zero was impatient. IF WE LET THEM GET TOO FAR AHEAD, WE WON'T CATCH UP TO THOSE SHIPS. THEY ARE VERY FAST.
Heero sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's go.
* * *
Une had given him another carrier to destroy, and it was just about time. He sent a message to be displayed by Quatre and Wufei's gundams. Attack 0600 Earth Standard Time, January 28.
He tailed the battleships, just far enough away to be out of their range. He couldn't wait for tomorrow to come. His sister was in danger. She might even . . . no, he didn't want to think about it.
How had Heero allowed her to do it? What the hell had happened, all of a sudden? Associating with that pirate, Darla Starhand, what was she thinking? Milliardo remembered the last image he had seen of her, black-haired and cruel-eyed.
He'd got a message from Noin just a while ago. Heero will be watching your back. Well, that was all right. At least his fears of Yuy being cruel to Relena had been nullified.
Milliardo sat back in his seat and tried to sleep. He'd need it for the battle ahead.
* * *
"Milliardo, is that you?" Winner's voice came over the radio.
"Where's Wufei?"
"Shenlong wouldn't cooperate."
"What?"
"I'll explain later. You don't think I'm going to be enough?"
"Do you have the Zero System on Sandrock?"
"They put it in as an afterthought, but yes."
"Do you think you can control Tallgeese on remote?"
Quatre looked thoughtful. "Yeah, probably. Why?"
"Someone actually need to go inside the ship to rescue my sister."
"Did you forget Une had operatives on that ship? Relena got the all-clear before she left that they'd be able to get her out once the gundams start causing chaos."
Milliardo paused, embarrassed. "Oh yeah. Um. Yeah."
"I won't tell," Quatre said, laughing.
Milliardo boarded Tallgeese in his flightsuit and popped the airlock. "This ship's on remote, so try to stay behind it."
"Right."
Milliardo launched himself out of the cargo compartment and sidled up fairly close to the Arabian pilot. "I've got the ship set to fly by the other ship's open docking bay and self-destruct. It's carrying a fair amount of explosives, so that should put it out of commission. We've got to concentrate on killing off mobile suits, but we've also got to send a clear signal to the prisoners. Any ideas?"
Quatre tested out his new sickles. "I've seen cross-diagrams of that particular ship, and the prison decks are high up, where they're less likely to be in harm's way. If we rip a few holes in the lower decks, it'll cause some pretty severe damage and they'll be able to tell something's up."
"But—"
"Don't worry, if a puncture is detected airlocks on the decks close automatically. It's a bit like Libra."
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
"Right. Let's get to it, then."
* * *
A sudden jerking motion, a loud booming crash and the sound of an alert siren woke Relena from her daydream. Beliv, at her shoulder, growled.
His communicator buzzed. "Sir, we're under attack!"
He ran to it. "By what?" he shouted back.
"Two gundams! One has been positively identified as Sandrock-Rebuilt . . . the other is an older model that's not in our database!"
"Shut up, fool," Beliv barked. He put his thumb over the microphone. "We'll continue this shortly, Princess."
As soon as he left, Relena recovered her clothing— it was ripped even worse now. She knocked on the wall to signal Vincent that it was time.
Short, heart pounding minutes later, she got her first look at him.
His long black hair was slicked back in a ponytail low against his skull, accentuating his graceful neck and thin, handsome face. He grinned and cracked a little joke. "My, Ms. Relena, you look different."
"Is that a good or a bad thing?"
"I can't decide."
A Hispanic face appeared behind them. Tovah said shortly, "Stop flirting with her, Vince. Come on, we don't have much time between guard shifts."
Relena nodded. "Which way?"
The ship shook again. More alarms sounded. The lights went red.
Tovah cursed under his breath. "The hull's been breached somewhere. If it's close by we'll never get out of here."
"Well, if we don't get out than we'll suffocate, so we're dead if we get caught and dead if we don't risk ourselves. Just go." Relena nudged him.
They sidled down the dark hall, single-file against the wall. Relena felt her heart pounding in her ears.
"Steady, now," Vincent told her, laying a warm hand on her shoulder. "We're okay . . ."
Tovah stuck his head around the corner. "Clear," he whispered.
They hustled down the corridor, shooting sharp glances all around (not that they probably could have detected a guard, it was so dim).
Vincent took her hand when she bumped into the wall. "I know this ship by heart," he told her. "Just follow me, you'll be fine."
They came to the elevator unscathed. Tovah wiped his sweaty brow on his sleeve. "Where to now?"
"Deck four. That's where they keep their passenger shuttles stored." Vincent gave him a "isn't it obvious?" look.
Tovah punched a few buttons and cursed. "Deck four's been locked; atmosphere leak."
"Great," Relena said.
Vincent pounded his forehead. "Uhh, let's try deck 25. Crew dressing rooms are there. We might find some pressure-suits."
"Right." Tovah punched the button.
The sudden motion of the elevator startled Relena and she cried out. She fell against the wall, unable to stand straight any longer. She was in pain, she was exhausted, she was frightened, and she wanted to see Heero.
Vincent turned and put his arms around her, gently. "We're gonna get you home, Ms. Darlian. Don't worry."
"Vince, I told you, now isn't the time to flirt with her!" Tovah looked up from the elevator's information pad.
"Tov, can't you see she's hurt? God, look at the blood on her!"
Tovah looked down, startled. Indeed, there was a small spot on her flightsuit. "What happened?"
"Beliv . . ." Relena moaned, the pain worsening suddenly as more attention was brought to it. Her head spun, and she leaned against the kid Vincent as if he was the only upright thing in the universe.
Vincent clutched her shuddering body tighter. "Ms. Relena, please, try to stay here with us. It isn't much longer now, then you can rest."
"We need to find . . . some stimulant . . ." she mumbled. "I can't . . . I've been awake for too long."
"We'll try to find some. And some pain medicine, too. There's bound to be some in the changing rooms."
An agonizingly long minute later, the elevator stopped. Vincent put her arm around his shoulder, his young back supporting most of Relena's weight. They helped her— quickly— to the nearest unoccupied room. There were extra blue suits. Tovah dug through pockets and broke into lockers, looking for pills. He inspected the labels on several prescription bottles.
"This is a bit strong, but if I break it in half I think you'll be okay. Here, some caffeine tablets. Vince, is there water?" Tovah took over and fed her part of a blue pill. Vincent cupped is hands at the drinking fountain and brought the water to her. It tasted stale and lifeless, but it was still water. Relena was seriously dehydrated. She swallowed the medicine bit by bit, taking in as much water as the boys would let her. Tovah went back to a locker and brought her a sports drink. "These work better in short-term situations, Princess."
After a few minutes, the pain and dizziness began to subside. "Thank you," she said, hunched on the small bench. Vincent and Tovah had taken her recovery time to their advantage and had changed into the zero-gee suits.
"Do you need help with the suit? Perhaps something to catch that blood, Ms. Darlian?" Vincent went back through the lockers, came up with several pressed white linens. They turned around as she positioned them as best she could inside her flightsuit. She then pulled the blue zero-gee suit over it. "Okay, just give me a few moments more to rest and we can go. I'm sorry . . . to hold you up."
"Nah, don't rush yourself. You won't be any good if you collapse down there. They'll catch on to us. Personally, I think Heero Yuy'd be pretty angry if we let you get killed. Even if you did get involved with that pirate."
Relena laughed. "Oh, he'd be mad, all right. I've got obligations back home. I guess it's okay to tell you, but this whole setup about me being captured was planned. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to accomplish, though Heero seems to know what he's doing. Darla Starhand the pirate died years ago. We faked several documents of piracy and linked them to me."
Tovah whistled. Relena picked it up through her intercom. "Elaborate setup. So, did our little plan work?"
"If it was designed to distract Beliv, you bet. I really don't know exactly what it was supposed to accomplish. I just said that."
Vince looked to the door expectantly. "Supervisor's coming by, guys! It's time to get out there before we get discovered."
"Where exactly is 'there?'" Tovah asked.
"We've been assigned via clever computer-notepad hacking to begin repairs to outer hull, deck 4." Vincent turned away from the door computer console. "Let's move it."
There was the sound of tearing metal, so loud that Relena almost blacked out. The door Vincent had been attempting to open slammed shut as the room suddenly lost pressure. A gigantic blade tore open the skin that had protected the three escapees, and the vacuum tore at Relena until there was nothing to see but stars. Such was the force that the umbilical that connected to the storage chamber (to charge the suit's power) snapped. She didn't even have time to scream.
Tsuzuku! (To be continued.)
***********************************************
Don't wanna spoil the next chapter too much for ya! Have fun worrying about Relena. Well, I've gotta bid goodbye to FFN for a while so I don't fail two of my classes.
Bye now (argh, help me stall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
-Itsumo, CMR
(Damn, too late.)