Intruder - Part Thirty-four
L6...
The group of six mobile suits hovered reluctantly above the colony.
"Ok wise guy, how we gonna get in, huh?"
Heero frowned, and tried running something up on his screens.
"Five full size, battle ready Gundams an' a custom Taurus ain't exactly usual y'know."
01 blanked him, and carried on with whatever it was that he was doing.
Duo was about to have another dig at the 'perfect soldier's' expense, when Quatre came up with the solution. The others listened as he clued them in.
"We're trying to get on to L6, right?"
"That was the idea."
"Well, L6's resource satellite happens to belong to-"
"Winner Estates?"
"Uh, no, but its one of my father's close friends', I'm sure he'll let us in."
"Sorted."
Wufei still didn't seem to be entirely convinced. Trowa wasn't either.
"I don't see-"
"We all park up at the satellite, and I'll get us a ship from there to the colony."
"Sounds fair enough." Said Hilde, trying to get a definite response.
Duo looked as if he was about to agree then remembered something, important.
"Uh, Quatre, pal, this family friend of yours, does he know that you are the pilot of Gundam Sandrock? Only it could prove hard enough to persuade him to you, let alone the rest of us coming in, y' see my point, right?"
"I believe my father told him after he knew. I mean, he was strictly pacifist and his only son and heir was going to war. He needed someone to talk to, so he knows." He continued silently, ~ I hope. ~. He tried to sound as confident as possible, and on anyone else it would have worked perfectly, but these people were some of his closest friends, and they knew him better than most. Although they didn't buy it completely, they did however trust him enough to go ahead anyway.
"Sound good to me." Maxwell agreed, with a smile.
The others decided to as well, it wasn't like they couldn't handle a little heat.
"Ok, we'll go in closer, and I'll make contact. We should be on L6 by 2pm."
The gang sat in a back-street café, eating pizza and drinking coffee and milkshake.
After a short conversation with the resource satellite, and a few small death glares at the colony security from the perfect soldier, they had passed with no problems.
Once on the streets, they'd wandered around, till Trowa had followed his nose and led them down an alley, to this quiet Italian restaurant. Well, quiet till they showed up.
After sitting trying to decipher the Italian menu lists for quarter of an hour, they were finally ready to order, and the waitress had returned ten minutes after that.
"Mmm...Trowa, this is really good! How did you find it?" Duo asked, still chomping his way through a large Hawaiian with added pepperoni, which he was sharing with Hilde. Heero looked up at this too, although only to look at the clock, to see what time it was.
~ Hmm, ten past two. Not a bad guess Quatre. ~
"Huh? Oh. Well, living with the circus, you get to know where all the good places are hidden. Especially if you want to escape Kathy's cooking."
Wufei until now carefully re-slicing the parts with his knife (the cheese was still sticking the pieces together) looked up to disagree.
"I thought she was quite a good cook."
(He appreciated a woman who knew her place - the kitchen)
"And how would you know, Chang?" Duo tried to get him to rise to it, but he didn't notice.
"After the New Edwards base mission. Trowa invited me back with him. We had soup."
"Oh, right, and it was 'good' huh?"
Wufei refused to answer, and Trowa intervened before Duo dug in further. If he brought up Treize, he mightn't leave this place in one piece.
"Yes. It is good once, or twice, or maybe even three times, but when you get it all the time, it gets very boring. So I went exploring in the local towns when we visited."
"Well however you found it, I'm sure we're all glad you did." Quatre said, finishing his cup. There were nods of conformation from around the huddled table.
"Yeah, I'm sure the manager is too. Has anyone got their wallets on them, cause I know I haven't? Didn't think I'd need it."
They all checked their pockets, and quickly realized the situation.
"I didn't think I'd need it either." Wufei confessed.
"I don't carry money, I haven't got much of a need for it." Trowa said, looking to Heero.
"I left my wallet in my other shorts."
Duo choked on his pineapple. ~ You mean you have other shorts?!? ~
Quatre checked his trousers, then his shirt, then his waistcoat pockets too. He frowned slightly. "I don't have mine either."
"Ah. Well, what d'ya say we disappear?"
"Duo! We can't just leave without paying, it's rude." The blonde was a bit shocked at this.
~ And illegal. ~
"Yeah, but it'd be fun to watch them try an' catch us." He joked.
No one laughed.
"Whaat?" he moaned. "You guys are too serious, honestly."
"Why, do you have yours?"
"No, I told you already."
"But -" he stopped, remembering who he was talking to.
"I never lie." he said, seriously. "I do not have my wallet." He grinned at the solemn faces around him. "...Hilde's got it."
"Duo!"
*Sigh! *
"Hilde, would you mind giving him his wallet, so he can reimburse the staff here?"
She passed him his wallet from the back pocket of her jeans.
"Hey, y' mean I gotta pay? All of it? Aw!"
"It's alright Duo, I'll pay you back." Quatre reassured him.
"It wasn't you I was worried about." He looked meaningfully across at Heero.
Heero shrugged, and smiled faintly back at him.
Duo sighed heavily, and called the attendant over.
"Hey! Can we have the bill over here, please?"
~ If it's a girl, I won't- ~ The waiter came over. Duo smiled into his sleeve.
"How much is that?"
"What are you paying in?"
"US Dollars."
"Ah, that's 30 bucks."
Duo sighed again, and opened his wallet. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised.
"What?" The others chorused.
Slowly, he opened it, and turned it upside down. Some quarters, a few dimes and a couple bills fell to the table. His companions frowned at him.
"Y' know, I'm sure I filled it up this mornin'."
Quatre studied his face carefully, and smiled. Wufei had done the same. Trowa noticed, and Heero glared at him.
"Aw, alright!" Heero didn't move. "Alright already! Jeez, can't I have any fun?"
"Apparently not." The waiter replied.
"He wasn't talking to you." Heero moved his gaze to him.
The attendant withered.
"Hey, no worries guys. Aw, c'mon." He reached for his back pocket.
It was empty.
His face looked as if he'd bitten a lemon, then he looked down at the coins on the table.
Quatre looked worried again. The waiter looked increasingly worried. Trowa didn't care. Wufei stood tall, arms crossed and ignored him. Heero was still watching the waiter, who seemed to be shrinking. Hilde made a noise, and tried to cover it with coughing. Maxwell looked up at her, and held out his hand. She gave him a bunch of bills.
There was a loud and resounding sigh.
He paid the waiter in full, and tipped him well, he'd need it after Heero's death glare.
The attendant nodded and flashed a tiny smile, before making a hurried retreat.
Duo stuffed the remaining bills back in his wallet, and put that back in his jeans.
All eyes were on him.
"Whaat?"
No reply.
"Let's just go back now huh?"
Much to Heero's disappointment, they didn't return to base. It was 4pm, and they were still on the colony. He didn't like to think what could be going on up there, anything seemed to be possible with this new enemy. He tried to ignore his imagination, and watched his surroundings. They were walking up a street full of shops. So far he had been lucky, and they hadn't stopped in any, but he knew it would only be so long until-
"Hey! Look! We've gotta go in there."
He looked, and too his surprise, he almost agreed. It was an electrical store, full of computer equipment, TVs, and other assorted stuff.
"Duo, you've got more stuff in your room than there is in that shop. Why do you need-?"
"I need some more cables! I ran out up the docking bay corridor that's why those other cameras weren't online yet. So can we go in?"
"Well, I guess we could. We should probably get some new kitchenware too."
"Sorted." He grinned. "Who's comin' with me?"
Hilde immediately said she would, and Wufei and Heero did too. Quatre had already made an excuse, so it was only Trowa who didn't reply.
"Trowa? Yoo-hoo! Trowa?"
"Wha- oh, sorry. Yes, I'll come too."
They'd all been in the store for at least half an hour, when a sales assistant noticed them and came over. Hilde nudged Duo, and he turned around.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"No, we're fine thanks." He smiled, and then turned back to inspect the rack full of cables in front of him. Hilde did the same.
"Ok. Well if you need anything I'll be right over here, so just call."
"We will."
"Hey, Hilde, I just thought of somethin'."
"What?"
"Well, if the guys don't have any money, why are they lookin' round a shop?"
"Dunno."
"Me neither."
L6...
The group of six mobile suits hovered reluctantly above the colony.
"Ok wise guy, how we gonna get in, huh?"
Heero frowned, and tried running something up on his screens.
"Five full size, battle ready Gundams an' a custom Taurus ain't exactly usual y'know."
01 blanked him, and carried on with whatever it was that he was doing.
Duo was about to have another dig at the 'perfect soldier's' expense, when Quatre came up with the solution. The others listened as he clued them in.
"We're trying to get on to L6, right?"
"That was the idea."
"Well, L6's resource satellite happens to belong to-"
"Winner Estates?"
"Uh, no, but its one of my father's close friends', I'm sure he'll let us in."
"Sorted."
Wufei still didn't seem to be entirely convinced. Trowa wasn't either.
"I don't see-"
"We all park up at the satellite, and I'll get us a ship from there to the colony."
"Sounds fair enough." Said Hilde, trying to get a definite response.
Duo looked as if he was about to agree then remembered something, important.
"Uh, Quatre, pal, this family friend of yours, does he know that you are the pilot of Gundam Sandrock? Only it could prove hard enough to persuade him to you, let alone the rest of us coming in, y' see my point, right?"
"I believe my father told him after he knew. I mean, he was strictly pacifist and his only son and heir was going to war. He needed someone to talk to, so he knows." He continued silently, ~ I hope. ~. He tried to sound as confident as possible, and on anyone else it would have worked perfectly, but these people were some of his closest friends, and they knew him better than most. Although they didn't buy it completely, they did however trust him enough to go ahead anyway.
"Sound good to me." Maxwell agreed, with a smile.
The others decided to as well, it wasn't like they couldn't handle a little heat.
"Ok, we'll go in closer, and I'll make contact. We should be on L6 by 2pm."
The gang sat in a back-street café, eating pizza and drinking coffee and milkshake.
After a short conversation with the resource satellite, and a few small death glares at the colony security from the perfect soldier, they had passed with no problems.
Once on the streets, they'd wandered around, till Trowa had followed his nose and led them down an alley, to this quiet Italian restaurant. Well, quiet till they showed up.
After sitting trying to decipher the Italian menu lists for quarter of an hour, they were finally ready to order, and the waitress had returned ten minutes after that.
"Mmm...Trowa, this is really good! How did you find it?" Duo asked, still chomping his way through a large Hawaiian with added pepperoni, which he was sharing with Hilde. Heero looked up at this too, although only to look at the clock, to see what time it was.
~ Hmm, ten past two. Not a bad guess Quatre. ~
"Huh? Oh. Well, living with the circus, you get to know where all the good places are hidden. Especially if you want to escape Kathy's cooking."
Wufei until now carefully re-slicing the parts with his knife (the cheese was still sticking the pieces together) looked up to disagree.
"I thought she was quite a good cook."
(He appreciated a woman who knew her place - the kitchen)
"And how would you know, Chang?" Duo tried to get him to rise to it, but he didn't notice.
"After the New Edwards base mission. Trowa invited me back with him. We had soup."
"Oh, right, and it was 'good' huh?"
Wufei refused to answer, and Trowa intervened before Duo dug in further. If he brought up Treize, he mightn't leave this place in one piece.
"Yes. It is good once, or twice, or maybe even three times, but when you get it all the time, it gets very boring. So I went exploring in the local towns when we visited."
"Well however you found it, I'm sure we're all glad you did." Quatre said, finishing his cup. There were nods of conformation from around the huddled table.
"Yeah, I'm sure the manager is too. Has anyone got their wallets on them, cause I know I haven't? Didn't think I'd need it."
They all checked their pockets, and quickly realized the situation.
"I didn't think I'd need it either." Wufei confessed.
"I don't carry money, I haven't got much of a need for it." Trowa said, looking to Heero.
"I left my wallet in my other shorts."
Duo choked on his pineapple. ~ You mean you have other shorts?!? ~
Quatre checked his trousers, then his shirt, then his waistcoat pockets too. He frowned slightly. "I don't have mine either."
"Ah. Well, what d'ya say we disappear?"
"Duo! We can't just leave without paying, it's rude." The blonde was a bit shocked at this.
~ And illegal. ~
"Yeah, but it'd be fun to watch them try an' catch us." He joked.
No one laughed.
"Whaat?" he moaned. "You guys are too serious, honestly."
"Why, do you have yours?"
"No, I told you already."
"But -" he stopped, remembering who he was talking to.
"I never lie." he said, seriously. "I do not have my wallet." He grinned at the solemn faces around him. "...Hilde's got it."
"Duo!"
*Sigh! *
"Hilde, would you mind giving him his wallet, so he can reimburse the staff here?"
She passed him his wallet from the back pocket of her jeans.
"Hey, y' mean I gotta pay? All of it? Aw!"
"It's alright Duo, I'll pay you back." Quatre reassured him.
"It wasn't you I was worried about." He looked meaningfully across at Heero.
Heero shrugged, and smiled faintly back at him.
Duo sighed heavily, and called the attendant over.
"Hey! Can we have the bill over here, please?"
~ If it's a girl, I won't- ~ The waiter came over. Duo smiled into his sleeve.
"How much is that?"
"What are you paying in?"
"US Dollars."
"Ah, that's 30 bucks."
Duo sighed again, and opened his wallet. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised.
"What?" The others chorused.
Slowly, he opened it, and turned it upside down. Some quarters, a few dimes and a couple bills fell to the table. His companions frowned at him.
"Y' know, I'm sure I filled it up this mornin'."
Quatre studied his face carefully, and smiled. Wufei had done the same. Trowa noticed, and Heero glared at him.
"Aw, alright!" Heero didn't move. "Alright already! Jeez, can't I have any fun?"
"Apparently not." The waiter replied.
"He wasn't talking to you." Heero moved his gaze to him.
The attendant withered.
"Hey, no worries guys. Aw, c'mon." He reached for his back pocket.
It was empty.
His face looked as if he'd bitten a lemon, then he looked down at the coins on the table.
Quatre looked worried again. The waiter looked increasingly worried. Trowa didn't care. Wufei stood tall, arms crossed and ignored him. Heero was still watching the waiter, who seemed to be shrinking. Hilde made a noise, and tried to cover it with coughing. Maxwell looked up at her, and held out his hand. She gave him a bunch of bills.
There was a loud and resounding sigh.
He paid the waiter in full, and tipped him well, he'd need it after Heero's death glare.
The attendant nodded and flashed a tiny smile, before making a hurried retreat.
Duo stuffed the remaining bills back in his wallet, and put that back in his jeans.
All eyes were on him.
"Whaat?"
No reply.
"Let's just go back now huh?"
Much to Heero's disappointment, they didn't return to base. It was 4pm, and they were still on the colony. He didn't like to think what could be going on up there, anything seemed to be possible with this new enemy. He tried to ignore his imagination, and watched his surroundings. They were walking up a street full of shops. So far he had been lucky, and they hadn't stopped in any, but he knew it would only be so long until-
"Hey! Look! We've gotta go in there."
He looked, and too his surprise, he almost agreed. It was an electrical store, full of computer equipment, TVs, and other assorted stuff.
"Duo, you've got more stuff in your room than there is in that shop. Why do you need-?"
"I need some more cables! I ran out up the docking bay corridor that's why those other cameras weren't online yet. So can we go in?"
"Well, I guess we could. We should probably get some new kitchenware too."
"Sorted." He grinned. "Who's comin' with me?"
Hilde immediately said she would, and Wufei and Heero did too. Quatre had already made an excuse, so it was only Trowa who didn't reply.
"Trowa? Yoo-hoo! Trowa?"
"Wha- oh, sorry. Yes, I'll come too."
They'd all been in the store for at least half an hour, when a sales assistant noticed them and came over. Hilde nudged Duo, and he turned around.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"No, we're fine thanks." He smiled, and then turned back to inspect the rack full of cables in front of him. Hilde did the same.
"Ok. Well if you need anything I'll be right over here, so just call."
"We will."
"Hey, Hilde, I just thought of somethin'."
"What?"
"Well, if the guys don't have any money, why are they lookin' round a shop?"
"Dunno."
"Me neither."