I think I got this chapter about ready. Ah well, always room to edit and re-post, huh? Speaking of which, I should go back and redo AC 206 a little bit. Dilemma: can't - postpone - work - on - n-e-x-t - c-h-a-p-t-e-r. ARGH! *Sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait until I've finished the entire trilogy. Yes, that's right, a trilogy. I know you're probably thinking, Man, I gotta read another one of these damn things? But hey, why not? Don't think you would have stuck around if you hated this story this much.

In any case, Vincent (both of them, really) and Duo have discovered something extremely odd, but exactly what does it mean? And how long will the bigmouth be able to keep the consequences a secret?

AC 207: The Hands of Fate

The Message

"Duo! What are you doing out here?" Quatre's shock was evident the microsecond Duo's face appeared on the vid screen.

"I have an urgent message for Lady Une," Duo said, his face grim.

Quatre gave him clearance to dock immediately. The messenger ship wasted no time locking in. Une met him right at the end of the ramp. "What's this all about, Maxwell?"

Duo swallowed. "Vincent and I have recovered some very disturbing information, General.

"Where is Vincent?"

"On Earth protecting our data. We decoded some information about their mobile suits which eerily matches that which Chang Phailin discovered about the Gundam Shenlong-Rebuilt."

"Really?" Une studied him coldly.

"Lady, the trade records for how Beliv's fleet obtained the material and equipment for their mobile suits indicate that they were trading with someone outside Earth or any of the colonies, political affiliations aside. It's likely—"

"It's likely a mining establishment that is newly established by our opponents, Maxwell," Une said quickly, trying to shut him up. "May I remind you that speculation is for private conferences, not freely accessible reports?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, General." Duo saluted nervously and glanced around. Nobody else was there, but it suddenly felt as if the walls had ears. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He admonished himself silently.

"Lets speak more about this in my conference chamber," she continued, waving a hand almost carelessly. Her voice softened considerably, and Duo knew she wasn't totally in gung-ho mode. Une had never really gotten rid of her split personalities, and lately she'd been entirely unpredictable.

Once there, Duo laid down the data disc he and Vincent had put together. "The material was shipped from outside our solar system, General. We don't have ships that travel that far that fast, period. Not even Beliv. Now, my teachings dictate that the human race is the only sentient life in the universe, but I can't deny what's in these records."

The door hissed open and Quatre stepped in. "Sorry I'm late. There was a bit of a problem with the navigation equipment again. The locators just keep going haywire. Hello, Duo."

"Hey Quat."

He looked to Une. "What's up?"

She sighed. "It appears Beliv's fleet has discovered an alien race, Quatre."

"What?"

"Yes, in fact we've known Beliv's been sending messages into deep space for some time, but all of us in Intelligence have been reluctant to admit what must be happening." Une shook her head. "It seems impossible to believe. You two must understand that the public, as delicate as relations are now, is not ready for this. We probably aren't ourselves. It will cause even more fear and distrust. We may even end up going to war with these people because they have supported Beliv, when in all truth they would have no idea we're at war or why, or possibly understand the significance of our politics."

"It sounds almost like you know who these people are," Duo accused. "In truth, we know nothing about them! Wouldn't it be best to cut Beliv's connection with them before their superior weapons destroy Earth and take the colonies?"

Une looked down at the table, a strange reaction, Quatre thought. "We can't risk intervening. It could be disastrous politically and militarily. We must watch and wait."

Duo studied the older woman critically. Something . . . seemed wrong.

~~@[~*,~]@~~

"There are few things the human race can't repair and make even better," Heero told his wife, arm around her shoulders. With some water to clean the stones and some money to redecorate, everything was almost back to normal.

"True," she sighed. "It seems like we've been having to rebuild constantly, though. It's tiring."

"Thus is war," he replied, sounding bitter. It was easy to forget how much he'd been hurt by fighting, Relena realized, a little embarrassed with herself. War had ruined Heero's life, and he was fighting hard to keep it far away from his family. That's why he was supporting the Peacecraft Kingdom so firmly. Most people respected it too much to do harm to them.

Relena shivered. The nights were getting colder, as was the summer slowly turning to autumn. Heero rubbed her bare arm, holding her close to him. He was always warmer than she was. "I suppose you'll be leaving early tomorrow?" she asked.

"I guess I should. The earlier Akiko gets to bed tomorrow night the less exhausted she'll be for school in the morning." School was in session back home before they'd realized. Relena hadn't meant to shave things that close, but it had happened anyway. "I'm going to miss you."

"The days and nights are long when we're separated," he said. "Do you have any idea how long you'll need to stay here?"

"Until we get things straightened out and I have people to run this place in my absence. We were lax about security before and look what happened."

"Be careful."

"I know you worry. I'll be fine."

She'd been restless all night. What felt like hours later she couldn't stand being in bed any longer and began to pace the stone passages again. She was tired enough that her imagination began to become overworked. Echoes of her childhood rang through the halls. Her father's deep voice rumbled in her chest and Milliardo's sticky childish hands made it necessary to clean the carpets and tapestries. They had been such the joy of their parents' lives. Father . . . father had given a diversion that had cost his life so that Milliardo could escape with his baby sister. Even so, they'd been separated.

There was a noise farther down the hall. It sounded like someone trying to break a chain. Relena quickened her pace, suddenly awake again, and saw a light coming from the room where they had stored everything salvageable from the fire. Heero's computer was in there.

The suit of armor nearby had an ornamental battle-ax. When they'd first been together, Heero had insisted she learn how to use weapons. She'd later realized it was because he feared for her safety, but his instruction had done her some good over the years. She grabbed the weapon. Even though it was not anywhere near as sharp as a real one, it could still do some damage.

She peered in the crack of the door and saw movement. She pushed it open slowly, trying to get a better view of the intruder. The sound she had heard was much clearer. They were trying to dismantle the lock Heero had over his computer. Relena gripped the ax tighter.

The door squeaked, and the figure spun around quicker than Relena would have imagined possible for someone to do. "Relena!"

She recognized the voice immediately. "Milliardo— ?"

Finally, she could see him. He was holding several small metal tools and a shocked expression, which she was sure she was mirroring. "What are you doing up at this time of night?"

"I could ask you the same thing! What the hell are you doing? That computer has Heero's private files on it!" She dropped the ax outside the door and glared at him. Never had she thought he'd have the nerve to violate her property like that. "What has gotten into you?"

He avoided her eyes. "That's a bit of a difficult explanation."

"Relena?" Heero was calling her name from down the hall.

"In here!" she shouted, deliberately calling Heero to seek her out.

"God, don't disappear like that. You scared me." He ran to her, not even noticing that his brother-in-law was in the room.

"Heero, Milliardo was trying to break into your computer." Relena refused to get off the subject. Heero's reaction, however, was less than expected.

"Yeah, I know." He turned to her brother, who had relaxed considerably. "You could have warned me about the fire, though. Lungs just don't un-blacken themselves."

"I meant to. I didn't get a chance. I've stumbled onto something way too big for me to handle at the moment." Milliardo sat down in the computer chair and rubbed at his eyes. "But right now, it'd be a good idea to explain some things I can't really find words for, Heero."

Relena had been looking back and forth between them for some time. Obviously, there had been something going on between the two men that had gone completely over her head.

Heero beckoned her out into the dark hall. "I had hoped it would be a while until you discovered exactly what was going on. I didn't mean for it to be like this. I know you're angry, and I'm sorry. Blame me."

"Blame you for what?" Relena felt as if she was missing something important.

Heero leaned against the shadowy wall, his face seeming shamed. "It was Shukumei messing with information. He's . . . I've been giving Milliardo information to pass on to Mariemaia, Beliv and Quatre. He's established himself as a carrier for information that's being passed between them, secretly. We've discovered a lot about the Colony Alliance that could be used to our befit."

"You're using him as a spy?" Relena got a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. "That's being careless and overparanoid! You can't play with people's lives and emotions like that!"

"Shinobi . . . Milliardo's in no danger, I promise. If he had been, I would not have asked him to do it, Relena. Beliv still thinks he's dead and Une trusts him. It's essential that no one knows who he is, regardless."

"Couldn't you have found someone else to play these little games of yours? He's my brother, Heero."

"I had to know I could trust them. I know how much he values your life and the lives of everyone in this game. I know he won't betray himself to any side."

She'd spent all this time trying to understand the politics of this war . . . and now Heero was adding another deck of cards and telling her to build a bigger house on top of the one she had. "I . . . I don't believe this," she muttered, storming off to her room.

~~@[~*,~]@~~

Heero followed and went to bed, although his wife sat awake through the night at her desk. She was still there in the morning, head pillowed against her arm on the brink of insomnia. Heero, feeling extremely guilty, kissed the top of her head gently. "I know you must feel terrible, and I am sorry. I don't claim that you'll understand what I've done, but I promise I have our best interests in mind at all times. I guess since you know what's going on we can tell you our plans, but . . . well, never mind the buts. Please don't be mad, saiai."

She didn't respond in the slightest. Heero decided it was best to just let her reflect on her own. He walked into the bathroom and started the shower. At least the hot water heater hadn't been damaged, he reflected gratefully, letting the steam clean his sinuses.

The bathroom door opened and closed, and he felt Relena's arms wrap around his waist. She put her cheek against his shoulder, and he couldn't help but smile with relief. It was what a marriage was all about, trust, he thought. Relena still trusted him to make the best decisions, even after all he'd forced her to go through the past weeks and months. He turned around and held her as she dozed a little, exhausted after several nights of little or no sleep. Considering everything they'd been through, he could understand her frustration.

~~@[~*,~]@~~

"Not until Christmas," Wufei insisted. "Besides, Mariemaia would get suspicious if it was too soon after she launched."

Phailin couldn't help but accept his desperation. "After Christmas, but before the new year, okay?"

"That will work." Wufei nodded, mostly to himself, and picked up the phone. "Hello? Trowa?"

~~@[~*,~]@~~

"Thank you, Trowa, this is wonderfully kind of you." She smiled and took the new ID he had extended to her. Trowa had, through contacts, gotten her a new identity.

"It's my job, Anja." Trowa flashed an ever-so-rare smile. "If anything, I should be thanking you."

"Oh?"

"This adventure has done wonders for my worrying. With my friends and family gone to war . . . it's been difficult here. Thank you for keeping my lonely soul company these past few days."

Anja Carey (as her new ID boasted, instead of Adrianne Shandler) smiled again. "I don't think I'll be able to go back to Canada now, seeing as how I'm a citizen of the British Isles. You aren't renting that room, are you?"

"Wouldn't think of it," he said immediately. "I'll accept no money from you. Stay as long as you need."

"That's very kind of you."

"I wish I could offer more."

She looked pensive for a moment. "How about dinner?"

Trowa blinked. "What?"

"Take me to dinner tonight? It's getting late and I, being trapped in this office all day, haven't eaten, you know."

"Dinner sounds great. I do have some things to tie up, though. Could you wait around for, say, twenty minutes?"

"I've got nowhere else to go." Anja got up and began to examine the photographs on the wall.

Trowa was just coming to a stopping point on his report of the bar fire when his phone rang. Anja squeaked, startled at the sudden loud noise, but settled down and shot him an embarrassed look. He hit the speakerphone. "Hello?"

"Hello? Trowa? It's me."

"Wufei?"

"Yeah. Look, Phailin and I have been talking a little and we decided I should go ahead and take that offer to look after Mariemaia for a while. I won't go until after Christmas, but I'll go. That is, if you haven't found someone else."

"I'd be very grateful if you planned to go on out there," he said, relief evident in his voice. "I know my worries are probably unjust, but I'd feel more secure for other reasons besides Marie."

"We'll work out specific arrangements at a later date, I suppose?"

"We'll talk at Christmas. I heard Relena was going to throw a special party in the Sanc Kingdom. We might as well all go, huh?"

"Sounds good. I'll probably talk to you soon."

"Bye. Oh, and Wufei, thanks again."

"Don't worry about it."

Trowa hit the button and turned to Anja, who was trying hard to look like she hadn't been listening in. "Just a few more minutes and I'll be done."

"You . . . you're the real Trowa Barton, aren't you?" she asked, as if she was in doubt of it.

He nodded. "I am. Just a little warning of what you're getting into, I suppose."

"You look different from the photos I've seen."

"I changed my outward appearance. I find the anonymity somewhat refreshing." He closed the file folder and stood. "Shall we go to dinner?"

"Yes, we should." She detached herself from looking at the pictures on his wall. "So tell me, what's Mariemaia really like? I've always wondered what's become of the poor thing."

Trowa turned his gaze away and locked the office door. "She's a sweet thing, my niece," he sighed. "With an independent streak and her father's courage, for sure. I'm very worried about her fighting."

Anja smiled. "I'm sure she's fine."

~~@[~*,~]@~~

"Hey, Commander Khushrenada?" The communications officer waved frantically from his station.

Sensing something out of place, Mariemaia stopped at his shoulder. "What is it?"

"We've got another call of unknown origin."

"Let me have this station," she said hurriedly. "Go busy yourself. It might be private."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Mariemaia hit the receive button. "Yes?"

It wasn't Shinobi, or even Trowa or one of the others. It wasn't someone, but merely an encoded, extremely odd computer document, attached to a note. The note said: Requesting the Scrutiny of Fortuna.

It was, she noticed, a streaming communication. Their connection was still live. She keyed in the message, which glowed in bright on the dim screen on the dark bridge. This is a message for my Gundam?

Yes. The screen shut down and left the files waiting on the active memory.

Mariemaia found an empty disc and loaded them on. She found herself entrusting her most precious machine to an anonymous message.

It wasn't until late in the night cycle when Mariemaia had time to go talk to Fortuna. The Gundam— for lack of a better denomination— had been fairly cold and to itself, much unlike her Kirin had been. Mariemaia found herself seeming ridiculous assigning her mobile suits personalities, but to her they did.

IT IS LATE, COMRADE. There had been some confusion on Fortuna's part over what Mariemaia wanted to be referred to as. She had blatantly refused to be called by a rank. She was done with the military. Fortuna didn't want to call her 'friend,' although Marie probably would have liked it.

"I got some things and I was told to give them to you. Don't ask me what it's about, because I don't know." She held the card up (although how was she supposed to know Fortuna could see it?) and then plugged it in.

The computer became very excited after a few seconds. Things flashed by on the screen and the strange pulsing noise the Gundam made quickened.

"What is it?" she asked.

It was a few seconds before the reply. IT IS HIGHLY PRIVATE, BUT THERE IS ALSO SOME INFORMATION ABOUT OUR ENEMY. YOU SHOULD TRANSFER THESE TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS BACK TO THE COMPUTER OF YOUR TRAVELING CRAFT. Fortuna spit the data disc out, and Mariemaia noticed it was now carrying about half of what it had been carrying originally. AND YOU SHOULD GET REST, AS SHOULD I. I AM PREDICTING A LONG DAY AHEAD.

~~@[~*,~]@~~

Shenlong flashed its cockpit lights and Phailin chuckled. "Intervening little thing, aren't you? I swear, it's like having a child around, Wu."

"A very large child," Wufei retorted sarcastically, kissing her again out of spite. "And you can shut your trap."

Phailin reached over her husband and plugged the data cables into the outlet. "I found some germanium cables, so be grateful for that. It wasn't easy, let me tell you. They weigh a couple of tons."

GERMANIUM IS ONE OF THE HEAVIER ELEMENTS, Shenlong said, AND FAIRLY RARE. IT IS NOT MY FAULT.

"Correction, Wu. He's a teenager." Phailin wrapped her arms and legs around the thick, slippery bundle of cables and slid the few hundred feet down to the computer room.

Wufei appeared on the monitor. "I'm glad we decided to continue these tests at this abandoned base. I was getting suspicious about what Une was doing with our reports. I hear most of the mobile suits have been recalled for conditioning."

"Doesn't surprise me. I was a little edgy about reporting our findings to the committee." Phailin got her bearings at the terminal and began to open the connection into Shenlong's brain.

"I'm sure Relena would object to being called a committee. She was the only one who really understood what this means, large-scale," Wufei said, running his fingers across the controls.

"I think Une might have a better idea than you think. She's a competent woman. Anyone who was as close to Treize as she was has to know a little bit about consequences."

"Point," he conceded. "Ah, wait— I'm getting an incoming transmission. Don't try anything or you'll disrupt it. Hello?"

"Hey Wuffie. Where've you been? I've been trying to call." Duo batted his eyelashes in the corner of the screen. Wufei sputtered, at a loss for a good retort, and Duo grinned and winked (obviously at Phailin, who was chuckling). "Thought maybe we could go out to dinner tonight. I found a nice French place downtown—"

"Speaking of kids," Wufei growled. "What do you want, Maxwell?"

"Aw, nothing. I just wanted to see if I could interrupt someone today. Heero and Relena are in separate countries, so you guys are my last resort—"

"Is something wrong, Duo?" Phailin caught on to his act and his words.

"Wrong? Nah. What gave you that imp—" There was a muffled thump and the screen filled with snow for a moment. "— What was that? Are you in a building or something? Is this a bad connection?"

As Wufei made a face, about to yell at Duo that he'd probably hit his knee against the transmitter, saw his wife's expression and stopped.

"It isn't on my end," The God of Death insisted, diving under his console.

Phailin scanned their frequency. "No, Duo. We're secure. What's going on out there?"

"I seem the man to come to in desperate situations recently," Wufei muttered, finally catching on to Duo's act.

Duo took a seat again and instantly looked a lot more serious. "Did you guys get my message about that information Vincent and I uncovered?

"Yes, we did," Phailin said.

"Did you come to the same conclusion?"

"It's not the most positive outlook on part of the human race, but yeah." Wufei glanced over to the screen where Shenlong had been making comments for the past few moments. "Shenlong says he has an idea that we've known about it for longer than even Une is willing to admit."

"That's what Deathscythe said, too. You know, I wonder sometimes exactly how much our Gundams can sense about these new mobile suits. I went out with Quatre on a scouting mission near Mariemaia's fleet and Deathscythe got really flustered. He won't tell me what he was detecting, but it sure made him frightened. I've never known him to actually want to avoid confrontation before."

"I may be able to get you information." Wufei said. "Trowa has me going to join Mariemaia after Christmas. I don't know how much she'll trust me, but I should be able to find out why Deathscythe was so disturbed."

Duo snorted, although his expression said a lot less to Phailin about pity than his words did. "Good luck. She'll probably have beaten Beliv by then."

"Let's hope," she said.

"Yeah, well, happy trails you two. I'll call you if I find out anything more."

"Sure thing, Duo." The screen went blank and Phailin shut down the frequency.

"Where were we?" Wufei asked. "I've lost my place now."

The computer beeped insistently.

"What?" he asked, glancing over at the screen.

I SAID, The screen typed, projecting an air of irritation, THAT DEATHSCYTHE MIGHT HAVE FELT THE SAME STRANGE AURA THAT I FELT FROM THAT CARGO SHIP THAT LIFTED OFF FROM NHONG KAI. IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO PLACE, THOUGH I INTERPRETED IT AS A MOBILE SUIT POWER SIGNATURE. IT WAS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN EVEN ZERO CUSTOM-RB'S IS, AND THAT'S A COMPLIMENT TO ITS MAKERS. A MOBILE SUIT SUCH AS THAT MUST HAVE BEEN IN PRODUCTION FOR AT LEAST A DECADE.

"Could it have been another Epyon?" Wufei asked.

THIS SUIT'S POWER WOULD HAVE OVERWHELMED ANY MODIFICATION TO THE GUNDAM EPYON.

"Incredible," Phailin said. "It must have been stolen or donated for Mariemaia's organization."

THAT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE.

Phailin punched buttons on her computer. "Did you record the energy signature?"

YES.

Wufei whistled quietly as the data (or at least the bit that could be understood) scrolled by on his screen. "Wow."

"Simply put," Phailin breathed, reaching out to touch the screen, as if the information would leap into her head. "Under applied physics, this seems impossible."

WHICH IS WHAT CONFUSES MY SYSTEM, Shenlong said. MY COMPUTER IS NOT DESIGNED TO THINK IN THEORY, AND THAT IS MOSTLY WHAT MODERN PHYSICS IS. WHOEVER HAS BUILT THIS . . . THING . . . HAS A GREATER GRASP OF SCIENCE THAN ANYTHING OR ANYONE I KNOW OF.

Wufei grimaced. "This unnerves me."

"As it does me," Phailin agreed. "How could we acquire such technology?"

There was silence for a moment. Then Wufei said, "You just explained it. Duo . . . Duo was right all along."

***************************************************************

Everyone wants to play fate these days. Heero may think he can be Shukumei, and Duo may think he can be Shinigami, and as Shinobi Milliardo may think he's on top of things, but how much do they really know? How have outsiders intervened in the workings of the human race?

The Sanc Kingdom, fallen so many times, is still fragile with defeat. As Relena battles the reality of the past and the deception of her own family, Heero too must try and understand why his wife defies precedent and why he is so opposed to her optimism. The next chapter of AC 207: The Hands of Fate is "The Consequences of Repetition."